Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US8202002?dq=%235,519,867
Timestamp: 2015-06-30 09:17:34
Document Index: 692479852

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 20', 'art 22', 'arts 20', 'art 20', 'art 22', 'art 20', 'art 22', 'arts 20']

Patent US8202002 - Reclosable vacuum storage bag having flat resealable means - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA reclosable vacuum storage bag that can be hermetically sealed by flat resealable means that extend across the full width of the bag. The flat resealable means are designed to provide a barrier to prevent ambient air from leaking into the evacuated interior volume of the bag. The storage bag is also...http://www.google.com/patents/US8202002?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US8202002 - Reclosable vacuum storage bag having flat resealable meansAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS8202002 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 12/719,830Publication dateJun 19, 2012Filing dateMar 8, 2010Priority dateFeb 19, 2003Also published asCN1891579A, CN100572214C, EP1739024A2, EP1739024A3, US7674039, US20050244083, US20100166341Publication number12719830, 719830, US 8202002 B2, US 8202002B2, US-B2-8202002, US8202002 B2, US8202002B2InventorsMichael J. McMahon, Donald L. VanErden, Kevin P. Olechowski, Steven Ausnit, Stanley PiotrowskiOriginal AssigneeIllinois Tool Works Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (50), Referenced by (2), Classifications (21), Legal Events (1) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetReclosable vacuum storage bag having flat resealable means
US 8202002 B2Abstract
A reclosable vacuum storage bag that can be hermetically sealed by flat resealable means that extend across the full width of the bag. The flat resealable means are designed to provide a barrier to prevent ambient air from leaking into the evacuated interior volume of the bag. The storage bag is also provided with a plastic zipper. The flat resealable means can be arranged on the product side of the zipper, on the user side of the zipper, or in between two zippers installed in the storage bag.
a receptacle having an interior volume and a mouth, said receptacle comprising first and second walls made of flexible material, said first and second walls being joined to each other along first and second side edges thereof to form first and second side seams and being joined or connected to each other along a bottom of said receptacle;
a first zipper made of plastic material and installed in said mouth, said first zipper comprising first and second mutually interlockable zipper parts joined to each other at opposite ends of said first zipper;
a first web of film comprising a first longitudinal portion joined to a first band-shaped zone of said first wall, and first and second ends incorporated in said first and second side seams, respectively, said first band-shaped zone of said first wall being disposed between said bottom edge of said receptacle and said first zipper; and
a second web of film comprising a first longitudinal portion joined to a first band-shaped zone of said second wall, and first and second ends incorporated in said first and second side seams, respectively, said first band-shaped zone of said second wall being disposed between said bottom edge of said receptacle and said first zipper,
wherein respective unattached portions of the first and second webs come into contact continuously from said first side seam to said second side seam when said interior volume is evacuated, and
wherein said first web further comprises a second longitudinal portion joined to a second band-shaped zone of said first wall so that said first web is joined to said first wall along its entire perimeter, and said first wall has at least one hole located within said perimeter of said first web, and said second web further comprises a second longitudinal portion joined to a second band-shaped zone of said second wall so that said second web is joined to said second wall along its entire perimeter, and said second wall has at least one hole located within said perimeter of said second web.
2. The bag as recited in claim 1, further comprising a second zipper made of plastic material, said second zipper comprising first and second mutually interlockable zipper parts joined to each other at opposite ends of said second zipper, said first zipper part of said second zipper being joined to said first longitudinal portion of said first web and said second zipper part of said second zipper being joined to said first longitudinal portion of said second web, and wherein said first zipper part of said first zipper is joined to said second longitudinal portion of said first web and said second zipper part of said first zipper is joined to said second longitudinal portion of said second web.
3. The bag as recited in claim 1, further comprising a valve assembly installed in a hole in said first wall for evacuating air from said interior volume.
4. The bag as recited in claim 1, wherein said film has the property that it adheres to itself and to non-adherent surfaces.
a first web of film comprising a first longitudinal portion joined to a first band-shaped zone of said first wall, and first and second ends incorporated in said first and second side seams, respectively, said first band-shaped zone of said first wall being disposed between said bottom edge of said receptacle and said first zipper;
a second web of film comprising a first longitudinal portion joined to a first band-shaped zone of said second wall, and first and second ends incorporated in said first and second side seams, respectively, said first band-shaped zone of said second wall being disposed between said bottom edge of said receptacle and said first zipper; and
a second zipper made of plastic material, said second zipper comprising first and second mutually interlockable zipper parts joined to each other at opposite ends of said second zipper, said first zipper part of said second zipper being joined to said first longitudinal portion of said first web and said second zipper part of said second zipper being joined to said first longitudinal portion of said second web,
wherein respective unattached portions of the first and second webs come into contact continuously from said first side seam to said second side seam when said interior volume is evacuated.
a second zipper made of plastic material and comprising first and second mutually interlockable zipper parts joined to each other at opposite ends of said second zipper and joined to said first longitudinal portions of said first and second webs respectively, said first and second zippers being generally parallel and separated by a distance,
wherein unattached portions of the first and second webs within their respective perimeters come into contact continuously from said first side seam to said second side seam when said interior volume is evacuated.
7. The bag as recited in claim 6, wherein said first web further comprises a second longitudinal portion joined to a second band-shaped zone of said first wall so that said first web is joined to said first wall along its entire perimeter; said first wall has at least one hole located within said perimeter of said first web; said second web further comprises a second longitudinal portion joined to a second band-shaped zone of said second wall so that said second web is joined to said second wall along its entire perimeter; said second wall has at least one hole located within said perimeter of said second web; and said first zipper part of said first zipper is joined to said second longitudinal portion of said first web and said second zipper part of said first zipper is joined to said second longitudinal portion of said second web.
8. The bag as recited in claim 6, further comprising a valve assembly installed in a hole in said first wall for evacuating air from said interior volume.
9. The bag as recited in claim 6, wherein said film has the property that it adheres to itself and to non-adherent surfaces.
a dual zipper comprising first and second mutually interlocked zipper parts joined at opposite ends of said zipper, said first zipper part comprising a first base strip and first and second closure profiles projecting from one side of said first base strip, said first and second closure profiles being parallel to and spaced apart from each other, and said second zipper part comprising a second base strip and third and fourth closure profiles projecting from one side of said second base strip, said third and fourth closure profiles being parallel to and spaced apart from each other and respectively interlockable with said first and second closure profiles to form first and second closures, wherein said first base strip is joined to said first wall in a first band-shaped zone of joinder, and said second base strip is joined to said second wall in a second band-shaped zone of joinder;
a first web of film joined to said first base strip along a perimeter of said first web, said first web comprising first and second longitudinal portions joined to first and second band-shaped zones of said first base strip, respectively, and first and second ends incorporated in said respective joined zipper ends, said first and second band-shaped zones being disposed at different elevations within said dual zipper; and
a second web of film joined to said second wall along a perimeter of said second web, said second web comprising third and fourth longitudinal portions joined to third and fourth band-shaped zones of said second base strip, respectively, and third and fourth ends incorporated in said respective joined zipper ends, said third and fourth band-shaped zones being disposed at different elevations within said dual zipper;
wherein said second closure is disposed between said receptacle bottom and said first closure, and at least one of said second and fourth closure profiles has at least one evacuation hole, and
further wherein unattached portions of the first and second webs within their respective perimeters come into contact continuously from said first side seam to said second side seam when said interior volume is evacuated via said at least one evacuation hole.
11. The bag as recited in claim 10, further comprising a valve assembly installed in a hole in said first wall for evacuating air from said interior volume.
12. The bag as recited in claim 10, wherein said film has the property that it adheres to itself and to non-adherent surfaces. Description
This application is a divisional of and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/173,848 filed on Jul. 1, 2005, which issued on Mar. 9, 2010 as U.S. Pat. No. 7,674,039, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/370,310 filed on Feb. 19, 2003 and entitled “Zipper for Vacuum Storage Bag”, which issued on May 2, 2006 as U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,988.
The invention is directed to a reclosable vacuum storage bag that can be hermetically sealed by flat resealable means that extend across the full width of the bag. The flat resealable means are designed to provide a barrier to prevent ambient air from leaking into the evacuated interior volume of the bag. The storage bag is also provided with a plastic zipper. The flat resealable means can be arranged on the product side of the zipper, on the user side of the zipper, or in between two zippers installed in the storage bag.
FIG. 1 is a generalized depiction of an evacuable storage bag 10 that comprises a front wall 12 and a rear wall (not visible in FIG. 1) formed by folding a sheet of bag-making film and then heat sealing the side edges of the front and rear walls to form a receptacle having an open mouth 18. Prior to folding, a valve assembly 16 is attached through an aperture formed in the sheet of bag-making film. Also a zipper assembly is attached to the film. This can be done in numerous ways. For example, one zipper part 20 could be attached to one margin of the film and then the web of film is folded. After folding, a margin of the folded-over portion of the film is attached to the other part 22 of the zipper assembly. Alternatively, a closed zipper assembly is placed between the opposing margins of a folded web and both zipper parts are sealed to the web in one operation. In either case, after zipper attachment, the side edges of the overlapping portions of bag-making film are heat sealed to form bag side seams. The ends of the zipper parts 20 and 22 can be crushed and fused together to form a zipper with joined ends. This operation can be performed in an operation separate from the side sealing operation.
The zipper part 20 is joined to the upper marginal portion of the front wall 12, and the zipper part 22 is joined to the upper marginal portion of the rear wall 14, e.g. by means of respective layers of sealant material (not shown in FIG. 4) laminated to the backs of the base strips. This is typically accomplished by co-extruding the zipper part and the sealant layer. The front and rear bag wall panels are respectively sealed to the zipper halves by heat fusion or welding (also referred to as “heat sealing”). Alternatively, the interlockable zipper halves can be attached to the wall panels by adhesive or bonding strips or the zipper profiles can be extruded integrally with the bag material. The walls of the bag may be formed of various types of thermoplastic material, such as low-density polyethylene, substantially linear copolymers of ethylene and a C3-C8 alpha-olefin, polypropylene, polyvinylidene chloride, mixtures of two or more of these polymers, or mixtures of one of these polymers with another thermoplastic polymer. The person skilled in the art will recognize that this list of suitable materials is not exhaustive.
FIG. 6 shows an embodiment similar to the embodiment of FIG. 5, but having different zipper profiles. This embodiment employs a so-called “variable alignment” zipper. In this example, one zipper part comprises a trio of male closure profiles 42, 42′ and 42″, while the other zipper part comprises a dual female closure profile 54 having two grooves for receiving two of the three male closure profiles. As seen in FIG. 6, the male closure profiles 42 and 42′can be inserted in respective grooves formed in part by a common central leg with oppositely directed detents and by respective outer gripper jaws that cooperate with the central leg. Alternatively, full interlocking of the zipper profiles could be achieved by inserting male closure profiles 42′ and 42″ in the respective grooves of the dual female closure profile 54.
As shown in FIG. 8, zipper part 20 comprises a base strip 32 and a pair of female closure profiles 44 and 46 that are mutually parallel and spaced apart, while zipper part 22 comprises a base strip 34 and a pair of male closure profiles 40 and 42 that are received in and interlock with the female closure profiles 44 and 46 respectively. Although not shown in FIG. 8, the zipper parts 20 and 22 are joined at opposite ends of the zipper, for example, by fusing the confronting ends of the zipper parts together by application of heat. After the article or matter to be stored has been placed inside the bag, the open mouth can be closed by pressing the respective pairs of complementary closure profiles together into interlocking relationship, as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, an inverted U-shaped clip (not shown) can be mounted on the double zipper. Such a clip is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/910,724 filed on Aug. 3, 2004 and entitled “Evacuable Storage Bag Having Resealable Means Activated by Slider”. The clip presses the incoming section of the double zipper together when moved in either direction. The mouth can be completely closed by sliding the clip from one end of the double zipper to the other.
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JOHNSON & SON, INC., WISCONSINFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.;REEL/FRAME:028908/0596Effective date: 20120817RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services