Gift sack with drawstring or the like and method for making the same

A gift sack with a drawstring or the like member and method for making the same are disclosed. The method includes providing a sheet material of a predetermined dimension and including a heat-sealable resin-coating on one side thereof. The sheet material is spread flat on a support surface with the resin-coating facing upwardly and a heat-treatable drawstring member of a predetermined length is positioned thereon generally parallel to and along an edge portion thereof. The edge portion is folded over the drawstring about a fold line extending generally parallel to the drawstring. The sheet material portions lying adjacent the sides of the drawstring are sealed together simultaneously, without bonding the drawstring to the sheet material, by applying heat across and over the drawstring.

FIELD AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to gift sacks, and more particularly to a 
gift sack with a drawstring or the like and a method for making the same. 
The aspect of wrapping articles in various types of decorative paper or the 
like material is no more visible than in the well-rooted custom of 
exchanging gifts. The industry's response to this custom has been to 
provide cardboard boxes in which the articles are placed and decorative 
paper is then wrapped and taped around the box. In order to attain this 
objective, boxes of varying dimensions are provided for accommodating 
articles of different sizes. 
The conventional gift wrapping technique, however, is time-consuming, 
cumbersome and requires stocking a large number of boxes separate and 
independent from the stock of various decorative wrapping paper. In 
addition, it has been observed that conventional method of gift wrapping 
requires some training and expertise in terms of cutting the wrapping 
paper to size the dimensions of a given box without wastage, and then 
following a specific folding sequence in order to obtain a neatly and 
attractively wrapped package. Notwithstanding the training, it has been 
noted that the present technique requires a substantially long period of 
time in order to gift-wrap an article. 
Examples of various gift sacks, receptacles and accessories, and methods 
for making same are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 207,933; 291,447; 293,353; 
414,679; 1,605,481; 2,376,256; 2,710,639; 2,771,010; 2,799,611; 2,841,905; 
3,132,794; 3,301,387; 3,568,918; 3,632,464; 3,637,455; 3,772,968; 
3,913,648; 4,112,551; 4,270,247; 4,276,031; 4,329,382; 4,445,230; 
4,476,168; 4,515,837; 4,558,463; 4,608,283; 4,721,502; 4,824,425; 
4,832,677; 4,850,944; Des. 156,059; Des. 296,870; Des. 309,257; and, 
Glitterwrap and Duro Catalogs. 
In view of the drawbacks associated with conventional technique, there is a 
need in the art for a gift sack article which is easy to use, inexpensive 
to manufacture and saves time. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The principal object of the present invention is to provide a gift sack 
with a drawstring or the like which is easy to use, inexpensive to 
manufacture and does not require specialized training for wrapping various 
articles. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a gift sack which 
when wrapped produces a package having a neat and attractive appearance. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a gift sack which 
eliminates the need for separately stocking gift boxes and decorative gift 
wrap paper. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a gift sack 
which eliminates the need for stocking a large number of gift boxes for 
accommodating articles of various dimensions. 
Yet additional object of the present invention is to provide a gift sack 
which can be used repeatedly. 
Still yet an additional object of the present invention is to provide a 
gift sack which is easy to open and close for gaining access to the 
article contained therein. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a gift sack which 
can be easily folded into a compact dimension for shipping and further 
requires minimal storing or shelf space. 
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide gift sack which 
eliminates the need for accessory items, such as scissors, adhesive tape, 
etc. 
Still yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a gift 
sack which is self-contained and eliminates the use of various accessory 
items, such as boxes, ribbons, decorative bows, wrapping paper, etc., in 
order to gift wrap an article. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of making a 
gift sack with a drawstring or the like. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a unique method 
of attaching a drawstring or the like member to a sheet material for 
making a gift sack. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a gift sack 
wherein a drawstring is made of a material that prevents its bonding to 
the heat-sensitive resin-coating provided on the bag forming material, 
when heat is applied for securing the drawstring to the bag. The 
drawstring therefore remains free to slide between the bag forming panels 
upon completion of the bag assembly. 
Yet an additional object of the present invention is to provide a gift sack 
wherein a lubricating or release agent, or the like, is applied to the bag 
forming material, or to the drawstring, in order to prevent bonding of the 
bag material and the drawstring when heat is applied for securing the 
drawstring to the bag. The drawstring therefore remains free to slide 
between the bag forming panels upon completion of the bag assembly. 
In summary, the main object of the present invention is to provide a gift 
sack with a drawstring or the like and a method of making the same.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
As illustrated in FIG. 1, gift sack G includes a top portion 10 with 
opening 12 and a closed bottom portion 14. The sack G may be made of any 
suitable material that has a backing layer 16 made of a conventional 
material, such as foil, paper, plastic or the like, and has a 
heat-sealable resin-coating 18 applied thereto on one surface thereof (see 
FIG. 10). The coating 18 is made of any suitable thermoplastic 
polymeric/resin material, and functions as an adhesive to bond two 
portions of the bag, as described below in detail. The backing 16 may have 
surface color or decoration applied thereto on the side opposite to 
resin-coating (18) side. The top portion 10 includes a drawstring or 
drawtape 20 or the like member which when pulled in the direction of 
arrows A, shown in FIG. 1, closes opening 12 by gathering top portion 10. 
As shown in FIG. 2-3, the method of making gift sack G of the present 
invention includes first securing drawstring 20 to a bag forming panel 22 
of a suitable material as described above. The panel 22 is of a dimension 
that would produce a sack of a predetermined size. The panel 22 is then 
spread flat on a support surface (not shown) with the resin-coating side 
24 facing up and print side 26 facing the support surface (print omitted 
from FIGS. 3, 5-9 for clarity). The drawstring or drawtape 20 of a 
suitable width, preferably one inch, is then placed across panel 22 on 
side 24 such that drawstring ends 28 and 30 extend past side edges 32 and 
34 of panel 22, respectively. It is preferable that drawstring ends 28 and 
30 each extend past side edges 32 and 34 by at least five inches. The 
drawstring 20, it should be noted, is positioned so as to be parallel to 
top edge 36 of panel 22. The portion 38 of panel 22 that lies adjacent 
edge 36 and on one side of fold line 42 is then folded over inwardly about 
fold line 42, as indicated by arrows B in FIG. 2, so as to overlie 
drawstring 20 and lower portion 40. In this manner, the resin-coating side 
25 of upper portion 38 directly faces resin-coating side 24 of lower 
portion 40. 
The drawstring 20 is made of nylon or a suitable heat-treatable resinous 
material. It should be noted, however, that although drawstring 20 is made 
of a heat-treatable material, it is non-bondable with resin-coating 18. 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 11, heat is then applied across and over drawstring 
20 by using conventional means (not shown), in order to seal 
simultaneously sections 39 and 41 of upper portion 38 with corresponding 
underlying sections 43 and 45 of lower portion 40, lying adjacent the 
sides of drawstring 20 thereby providing seal or bonding strips 44 and 46 
(FIG. 3). The top edge portion 36 may then also be sealed to provide top 
seal or bonding strip 48. The sections 47 and 49 of upper and lower 
portions 38 and 40, respectively, lying between seal strips 44 and 48, 
therefore, remain unbonded (see FIG. 11). Unbonded section 47 defines a 
ruffle-forming portion which forms a ruffle when drawstring 20 is pulled 
to close opening 12 by gathering top portion 10. 
The heat-sealing step is preferably carried out by passing a hot-roller 50 
across the entire upper portion 38 such that the entire upper and lower 
portions 38 and 40 are sealed together simultaneously, as shown in FIGS. 5 
and 12, thereby forming upper and lower seal or bonding strips 51 and 55, 
respectively. The upper strip or ruffle forming portion 51 is considerably 
wider than lower strip 55. Accordingly, when drawstring 20 is pulled to 
close bag opening 12, upper wider strip 51 forms an attractive ruffle. 
Preferably, the width of strip 51 is about two to four inches. 
It should be noted, however, that since drawstring 20 is made of a material 
that does not bond with resin-coating 18, the sections 52 and 53 of upper 
and lower portions 38 and 40, respectively, that over and underlie 
drawstring 20, do not bond together and drawstring 20 remains free to 
slide therebetween, shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. The panel 22 is then folded 
in half about vertically extending fold line 54 such that right side edge 
34 thereof overlies left side edge 2, and are sealed together to form seal 
or bonding strip 56, shown in FIG. 4. The bottom edge portion 58 of panel 
22 is likewise sealed to form bottom seal or bonding strip 60. 
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a side strip 61 bound by edges 62, 63, 65 and 
67, preferably one-half inch in width, is cut-out from upper portion 38 of 
panel 22 before heat-sealing upper and lower portions 38 and 40. This 
leaves a corresponding underlying strip 64 of lower portion 40 unsealed 
when heat is applied over drawstring 20 to bond portion 38 and 40 
together. Therefore, when panel 22 is folded in half, the resin-coating 18 
on strip 64 comes into contact with corresponding portion 66 of upper 
portion 38 lying adjacent side edge 32 of panel 22, and is sealed 
therewith when heat is applied. 
Subsequently, a base 68, preferably made of a cardboard material and square 
in dimension, is placed inside the sack thus formed for creating a gift 
sack with a defined bottom, shown in FIG. 6. The bottom end portions 70 
and 72 are subsequently folded underneath base 68 and sealed together in 
the conventional manner by placing a self-adhesive sticker 74 or the like. 
FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate an alternative method of making the gift sack G of 
the invention. In particular, the fold-over upper portion 38 shown in FIG. 
2, is substituted by a separate panel 76 that is positioned over 
drawstring 77 having been earlier placed on bag-forming panel 78. Both 
panels 76 and 78 are made of a like material that has a backing layer with 
a resin-coating on one side thereof. The panel 76 is placed such that the 
resin-coating side 80 thereof faces the resin-coating side 82 of panel 78, 
and the two panels are heat sealed in the manner described above. 
FIG. 9 discloses an embodiment of gift sack G shown in FIG. 8, where the 
top edges of over-panel 76 and bag forming panel 78 have scalloped edges 
84 and 86, respectively. This arrangement produces a bag with a scalloped 
edge opening. It should be noted that over-panel 76 would be disposed on 
the inside perimeter of bag opening 12, when the gift sack has been sealed 
and fully assembled. Therefore, it may be desirable to omit any printing 
or color from the side 88 of panel 76 which lies opposite to the 
resin-coating side 80 thereof. 
Preferably, side 88 of over-panel 76 is silver colored with no printing and 
side 80 thereof includes decorative printing thereon. Likewise, side 82 of 
bag-forming panel 78 is silver colored with no printing, and side 90 
thereof includes printing thereon. 
While it is not necessary to apply a chemical (lubricating) or release 
agent to drawstring 20 or 77 to prevent its bonding with the resin-coating 
on the bag forming material, it may be desirable in certain circumstances 
to do the same. More specifically, talc, talcum powder, or the like 
material can be sprayed onto the sections of bag-forming panels 22 or 78 
that over and underlie drawstring 20 or 77 so that when heat is applied, 
the drawstring 20 or 77 remains unbonded to the bag-forming material. 
For example, in the embodiment disclosed in FIG. 13, a lubricant 96 has 
been applied on sections 92 and 94 of facing surfaces 18 of each of upper 
and lower portions 38 and 40, respectively, prior to positioning 
drawstring 20. 
It should be noted that it is not necessary that both over-panel 76 and 
bag-forming panel 78 include a resin-coating applied on one side thereto. 
In other words, it is sufficient that either the side 80 of panel 76 
facing panel 78, or the side 82 of panel 78 facing panel 76 has the 
resin-coating such that when heat is applied, panels 76 and 78 are sealed 
together. 
In use, a user simply needs to place an article inside the gift sack G 
through top opening 12 and pull drawstring ends 28 and 30, as shown by 
arrows A in FIG. 1. The pulling forces cause drawstring 20 to constrict 
top opening 12 and gather top portion 10 in the known manner. The 
drawstring ends 28 and 30 can then be tied together to form a bow for 
making a decorative package. FIG. 14 shows a top portion of gift sack G 
after the drawstring has been pulled in direction A and the bow has been 
tied in the known manner, seal strip 48, unbonded section 47, seal strip 
44, drawstring 20, and seal strip 46 being shown in hidden line. 
While this invention has been described as having preferred designs, it is 
understood that it is capable of further modifications, uses, and/or 
adaptations of the invention, and including such departures from the 
present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art 
to which the present invention pertains, and as may be applied to 
essential features hereinbefore set forth, and fall within the scope of 
the invention or the limits of the claims appended hereto.