Patent Description:
<CIT> discloses a bag comprising a flexible body forming an interior chamber, a first opening to the interior chamber at a first end of the flexible body, a first seal at the first opening, wherein the first opening is configured to permit a user to load a food product into the interior chamber of the bag through the first opening when the first opening is unsealed and prevent the food product from exiting through the first opening when the first seal is sealed, a second opening to the interior chamber at a second end of the flexible body, and a second seal at the second opening, wherein the second opening is configured to prevent the food product from exiting through the second opening when the second seal is sealed and permit a user to dispense the food product through the second opening when the second seal is unsealed.

<CIT> discloses a decorator comprising a conical bag of flexible material having a slit extending along the side of the bag, a separable fastener extending along the edges of the slit to form a tight closure for said slit, a conical nozzle having a maximum diameter larger than the smallest diameter of said bag and adapted to fit in the lower end or said bag and be wedged into position therein, said slit extending from the top end of the bag to a point adjacent said nozzle so as to permit the removal of the nozzle through said slit.

<CIT> discloses a disposable piping bag comprising a thin flexible pouch.

Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved piping bag and method for expressing a thick, viscous flowable material therefrom.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved piping bag having a resealable closure.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved piping bag comprising a film material having a heat resistance permitting the melting of flowable materials in the piping bag.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved piping bag which includes indicia printed onto the surface.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved piping bag having an upper portion which facilitates folding down of the bag opening during filling,.

It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved piping bag including a double compartment for expressing two different color piping simultaneously.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

According to a first aspect, the present invention relates to a disposable piping bag as claimed in the independent device claim.

There is provided a disposable piping bag comprising a pair of side panels having joined side edges, the bag having a substantially conical configuration, the side edges extending downward to a sealed or unsealed tip and extending upward to an opening along upper edges incorporating an integral resealable closure in the side panels.

The resealable closure has corresponding and adjacent lengths of a closure having one or more mating male ribs and female sealing channels on the side panels extending along a width of the bag opening. The piping bag may further include a tab or slider and slider track with the resealable closure.

The piping bag may have a configuration with a substantially frusto-conical lower portion, a substantially cylindrical mid-portion, and a substantially frusto-conical upper portion.

The side panels may be made of a film material having a heat resistance of up to about <NUM> to permit the melting of flowable materials in the bag.

The side panels include indicia printed onto the surface, such as one or more tip cut lines for desired outlet diameters, measures for filled material, and labeling areas.

The tip may be cut to express flowable material directly out of the cut tip of the bag. The tip may employ an internally situated nozzle base and external tip sandwiching the bag film to express flowable material directly out of the external tip of the bag.

The piping bag may be a double bag with a sealed strip extending from the tip between the side edges of the side panels. The piping bag may be a double bag having an additional panel between the pair of side panels, the additional panel having side edges joined at the side edges of the pair of side panels.

The piping bag has an upper portion having a substantially cylindrical configuration adjacent the integral resealable closure to facilitate folding down of the bag opening during filling.

According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a method of using a disposable piping bag as claimed in the independent method claim.

There is provided a method of using a disposable piping bag, comprising providing a disposable piping bag having a pair of side panels having joined side edges, the side edges extending downward to a sealed or unsealed tip and extending upward to an opening along upper edges incorporating an integral resealable closure in the side panels, the integral resealable closure extending to opposite ends of the closure at the side edges. The method includes holding the bag at the opposite ends of the upper edges, exerting pressure from the opposite ends inward to cause the upper edges to bow outward and open the opening along the upper edges, and filling the bag through the opening along the upper edges with a material to be contained in the bag and expressed through the tip, the upper edges being maintained in a bowed-open position exclusively by the pressure exerted inward from the opposite ends of the integral resealable closure.

The width of the bag along the upper edges between the opposite ends may be less than or equal to the distance between a user's thumb and forefinger when the user's hand is extended open, and the pressure exerted inward from the opposite ends may be by a user's thumb and other finger to maintain the upper edges in a bowed-open position.

The method may further include folding the upper edges of the bag outward and downward along the body of the bag prior to holding the bag at the opposite ends of the closure.

The upper edges of the bag may be unfolded prior to holding the bag at the opposite ends of the closure.

The bag may have an upper portion having a substantially cylindrical configuration adjacent the integral resealable closure to facilitate folding down of the bag opening during filling.

The method includes using any disposable piping bag described in the claims hereof.

The features of the invention believed to be novel and the elements characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The figures are for illustration purposes only and are not drawn to scale. The invention itself, however, both as to organization and method of operation, may best be understood by reference to the detailed description which follows taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:.

In describing the preferred embodiment of the present invention, reference will be made herein to <FIG> of the drawings in which like numerals refer to like features of the invention.

The present invention provides a disposable piping bag <NUM> made up of two (<NUM>) side panels 22a, 22b of similar configuration joined together by side seals <NUM> along or inside of the panel edges <NUM>. The present invention may use various sealing methods to join the plastic panels, such as hot melt sealing, lamination, ultrasonic sealing, hot sealing bars, hot stamped, and the like, and the terms joining or sealing therefore encompass any of these methods. When placed together side-by-side, sealed along the edges <NUM> and filed with flowable material, the side panels 22a, 22b of the piping bag may form a lower portion 20b having a substantially frusto-conical configuration, a mid-portion 20c having a substantially cylindrical configuration, an upper portion 20d having a substantially frusto-conical configuration, and upper portion 20e having a substantially cylindrical configuration. The lower portion 20b may end in a sealed tip portion 20a, or may be cut to have an outlet opening <NUM>. The tip portion 20a may have an included <NUM>° angle, or any other desired angle.

The upper opening edge <NUM> is left unsealed between the panels 22a, 22b, and a reclosable seal may be provided. As shown, the upper portion 20e of the flexible plastic bag may be repeatedly sealed and opened using an integrally formed reclosable zipper (having a single or double track) or "zip-lock" type closure <NUM> of the type having corresponding and adjacent lengths of a mating male rib and a female sealing channel closure along the width of the bag opening. Instead of the single track shown, there may be two or more tracks of male rib and female channels, and a slider track and tab or slider may be used with the resealable or reclosable zipper closure.

<FIG> shows a portion of the laminated or sealed side-seal <NUM>, which may have a width or thickness t of about <NUM> or more to have the required bag strength under use where pressure will be built up, to avoid bursting. The distance d between the panel edge <NUM> and the seal <NUM> shows a line of film remaining outside the seal, and is referred to as the skirt. This skirt width d plus the width of the sealing line t should be as small as possible, while still strong enough to prevent bursting, to avoid irritating or cutting the user's hands during use, and to prevent the skirt pieces from disturbing the flow of material out of the piping bag end. For example, if one is drizzling chocolate, it is best to have no skirt at all, since a skirt will inevitably be a hindrance to the clean flow of fluid out of the drizzling hole.

The piping bags may be made in HDPE (High-density Polyethylene) or LLDPE (Linear Low-density Polyethylene) or LDPE (Low-density Polyethylene) all monolayers, or coextruded combinations thereof. The piping bags may also be made of sealable BOPP (Bi-Oriented Polypropylene) film, or sealable CPP (Cast Polypropylene)-film, in which case they can incorporate reclosable zippers, sliders or other integral or separate closures. Preferably clear films are used, although colored film can also be used to allow color coding for specific bag content. The piping bags according to the invention are made of CPP.

These film thicknesses may be in the range of about <NUM> to <NUM> microns or more. The film can be as thin or as thick as the integrally formed male and female zipper tracks will allow. In practice, on normal LDPE zipper bags, the minimum gauge is usually about <NUM> microns, and the maximum is usually set by the cost restrictions or by the machine restrictions. For this invention, the bag should be as thin as possible to reduce on costs whilst being strong enough to withstand the expulsion of the content. The dimensions of the length of each portion 20b, 20c, 20d and 20e is shown in <FIG>, with a bag height of <NUM> or more. However, there is no limit on bag size, and the bag may be larger or smaller than the example.

In addition to the alternating conical and cylindrical configuration shown in the drawings, the piping bags of the present invention are made as a simple cone-shaped bag.

An example is shown in <FIG>, where the triangular shaped panels 22a, 22b are laminated or sealed <NUM> within side edges <NUM> to form bag <NUM>'. The two triangles or sides 22a, 22b can be joined together by using any of the aforementioned methods whereby the width of the seals can be varied, depending on the strength of the seal one is aiming to achieve. Considering that the content has to be pressed out of the bag, then the seals must be strong enough to withstand this pressure. This means that there are no limits on the width of the seal chosen. The only limits set are when considering that the bag must also sit comfortably in the hand when pressing the contents out of the bags. Therefore when using lamination for sealing the bag, it would be preferable to make the seals as thin as possible. For the same reason, it is preferred to avoid or at least keep any skirt width d to a minimum in order not to be a hindrance during use.

Another example is shown in <FIG>, where the bag <NUM>" is hot stamped from two pieces of film in the final triangular shape and welded together using heat sealing bars to form a welded side seal along edges <NUM> and no skirt. The resulting width of the hot stamped seals is usually much less than the width of the laminated seals.

The piping bags of the present invention may be provided in different versions, either separated from one another so that they are loose in bundles, or still connected on rolls or blocked. When making a piping bag on rolls, the film is provided in two long sheets 21a, 21b and superimposed over one another as shown in <FIG>. The film sheets 21a, 21b then pass through the converter and the individual bags <NUM>‴ are converted by sealing bars whereby the area between the seals <NUM> are divided by perforations <NUM> so that the bags can be pulled off individually. There will have to be a skirt of width d after the sealing line <NUM> (Fig. 5a), in which the perforated line <NUM> is cut by tearing to form the edges <NUM>. However, this kind of skirt can be a hindrance when using the piping bags for very fine work, like piping thin chocolate lines, where the skirt would be in the way of creating a clean line. Therefore when using the bags for such work it would be preferable to make as thin a skirt as possible.

As shown in <FIG>, when the piping bag <NUM> of the present disclosure is to be used, i.e., filled, the user would typically fold down the top <NUM> with the zipper or slider <NUM> to position shown in phantom lines, with top opening edge <NUM>' and zipper <NUM>' facing downwards to create new opening <NUM>'. The user would then fill the desired flowable material <NUM> through folded down opening <NUM>' as indicated by the arrow, and subsequently fold the top part <NUM> back up again and seal the closure <NUM>.

A professional would typically fill a piping bag by folding over the top edges <NUM>' of the bag <NUM> over the hand <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. In doing this, one needs to spoon in the content to the folded down opening <NUM>' and one may clean the spoon or spatula <NUM> on the edge of the bag. For those not so experienced in this practice, one would simply use a jug or a piping bag stand to hold open the entrance of the bag. If the bag is intended for reuse or if the zipper closure <NUM>' needs to be used more than once, the zipper closure must be kept clean, otherwise it may not close properly. The bag configuration as shown in <FIG> and <FIG> are particularly useful since the shape of the bag end 20d at the opening allows for the fluted cuff of the bag to be folded down easily during filling of stiffer fillings (e.g., cream, icing) to avoid getting the zipper or slider tracks closure dirty.

Alternatively, one can take the bag and, as shown in <FIG>, use the strength of the zipper closure <NUM> to "pop" open the bag <NUM> by applying pressure at the at the opposite ends of the closure at the opening and holding the bag open using a finger and thumb while pouring in a flowable material or fluid (e.g., jam) or pellets (e.g., chocolate) for melting in the bag. The bag width, i.e., the length of the bag between the opposite ends at the opening, would need to be small enough to be able to pop it open with one hand, i.e., less than or equal to the distance between a user's thumb and forefinger when the user's hand is extended open. The pressure exerted inward from the opposite ends by a user's thumb and other finger is sufficient to maintain the upper edges in a bowed-open position without any other structure or force. The present invention may include reinforcement of the zipper closure <NUM> or the lip portion (20e, <FIG>) above the zipper closure to achieve this. The bag may be "popped" open either with or without folding the upper edges of the bag outward and downward along the body of the bag prior to holding the bag at the opposite ends of the closure. Whether or not the bag width may be held between a user's thumb and finger, the "popping" action of the reinforced lips would assist in folding the bag over the hand or bag stand, as described above.

After filling, a special clip (not shown) may be employed to insert across the upper conical portion <NUM> and upper straight portion 20e of the bag to allow the user to gradually glide the clip downward along the outer surface of the panels and thereby squeeze and empty the contents effectively until the last portion is emptied and removed from the bag. A clip is not necessary, however, and the bag may be emptied by hand pressure.

Where the film material quality allows for use with heat, the present invention can be used in connection with a hot or warm water bath or the microwave whereby the content is filled into the bag, then the bag sealed with the zip and the bag suspended in a hot or warm water bath or put into a microwave. Once the content is molten and cooled enough to allow one to hold the bag in the hand, the tip 20a can then be cut off and the bag used to dribble the content over a cake or elsewhere. The zipper closure makes it ideal to reclose the bag during use, allowing renewed heating of the content throughout use until the bag is empty. Alternatively, the bag can be refilled with content. When using molten content, less pressure is needed to press the content through the opening at the end of the bag.

An advantage of using the CPP film material is that the film may be produced with the zipper closure already formed therein before the individual bag walls are sealed together. As shown in <FIG>, the bags may be formed in a manner similar to that shown in <FIG>, except that the zipper closures <NUM> would be formed continuously on the opposite edges of each film sheet. The CPP film material has relatively strong mechanical properties, and a heat resistance of up to <NUM> - <NUM>, which permits the melting of flowable materials, such as chocolate, to be used for decoration. The CPP film also permits precision printing of any desired indicia onto the bags, such as one or more tip cut lines <NUM> for desired outlet diameters, approximate measures for the filled material <NUM>, labeling areas <NUM>, and the like, as shown in <FIG>. The <NUM>° tip angle makes it possible to cut the tip to squeeze and express any flowable material directly out of the opening at the cut tip <NUM> of the bag (<FIG> and <FIG>). If however, the bag is used in connection with a stiffer content (e.g., icing) it may be desirable to employ an internally situated nozzle base <NUM> and external tip <NUM> sandwiching the bag film (<FIG>), as in <CIT>. This would permit one to extract the content in different designs as provided in the nozzle tip <NUM>. In this case, again the zipper closure allows an easy short-term storage of the content during use. It further allows the bags of for example different colored icing to be prepared in advance of the decorating and avoiding spillage or the drying out of the bag content. Since icing has a tendency to dry out very quickly, unless a bag is sealed, this can become a very real problem for the person doing the decorating.

Claim 1:
A disposable piping bag (<NUM>) comprising a pair of side panels (22a, 22b) having joined side edges (<NUM>), the side edges (<NUM>) extending downward to a sealed or unsealed tip (20a) and extending upward to an opening along upper edges (<NUM>), incorporating an integral resealable closure (<NUM>) in the side panels (22a, 22b),
wherein the resealable closure (<NUM>) has corresponding and adjacent lengths of a closure having one or more mating male ribs and female sealing channels on the side panels (22a, 22b) extending along a width of the bag opening,
wherein the bag (<NUM>) has a substantially conical configuration; and
the bag (<NUM>) has an upper portion (20e) having a substantially cylindrical configuration adjacent the integral resealable closure (<NUM>) to facilitate folding down of the bag opening during filling; and
characterised in that
the bag (<NUM>) is made from CPP (Cast Polypropylene); and
the side panels (22a, 22b) include indicia printed onto the surface (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), the indicia representing approximate measures for the filled material (<NUM>).