Flexible bags – With closure – Rib and groove
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-30
2003-06-24
Pascua, Jes F. (Department: 3727)
Flexible bags
With closure
Rib and groove
C024S585120
Reexamination Certificate
active
06582122
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a chuck which is to be attached to a plastic packaging bag, and a plastic packaging bag with a chuck, which utilizes the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Plastic chucks are easy to be repeatedly open and closed. For that reason, plastic chucks are attached to practical plastic packaging bags (which will be also hereinafter referred to as “packaging bags”) for many uses. Such a chuck has an opening/closing mechanism based on a zipper or bite. Most of chucks have an opening/closing mechanism based on a bite.
FIG. 7
is an illustration showing a conventional packaging bag with a chuck. This packaging bag
70
is provided with a chuck
71
which runs the length (shown by L in
FIG. 7
) of the inside face of an opening of the packaging bag
70
.
FIG. 8
is a perspective view of a bite-type chuck which is provided on the packaging bag
70
. The chuck
80
is designed to open and close the packaging bag
70
by the engagement and release of the male claw portion
81
a
of a male member
81
with and from the female claw portions
82
a,
82
a
of a female member
82
. The chuck
80
is fixed to the packaging bag
70
by fixing the base portions
81
c
and
82
c
of the male member
81
and female member
82
to the base material film of the packaging bag
70
by the heat seating (heat fusion).
Although the mechanism of the chuck
80
for closing the packaging bag
70
by means of the male and female claw portions
81
a,
82
a
and
82
a
may be expressed by the term “biting mechanism”, “fitting mechanism”, “engaging mechanism”, “locking mechanism” or the like, these terms may be used to be technically synonymous with each other. Throughout the specification, the term “bite” will be used hereinafter. Although the chucks
71
and
80
may be expressed by the term “biting device”, “fitting device”, “engaging device” or the like, these terms may be used to be technically synonymous with each other. Throughout the specification, the term “chuck” will be used hereinafter.
FIG. 9
is a cross-sectional view of another chuck which has been conventionally proposed. In this chuck, the male claw portion
90
a
of a male member
90
is designed to partially contact and engage the female portions
91
a,
91
a
of a female member
91
.
FIG. 10
is a cross-sectional view of a further chuck which has been conventionally proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-37816, etc.). In this chuck, the rounded male claw portion
100
a
of a male member
100
and the female claw portion
101
a
of a female member
101
are designed to have a bite. The chuck shown in
FIG. 10
relates to a proposal wherein intermediate layers
102
and
103
are provided between polyester packing bag base material films which are generally difficult to be head-sealed.
FIG. 11
is also a cross-sectional view of a still further chuck which has been conventionally proposed. In this chuck, the outside projecting portions of the double male claw portions
110
a,
110
a
of a male member
110
, which vertically project from the surface of the male member
110
and which extend in parallel to each other, are designed to contact and engage the female claw portions
111
a,
111
a
of a female member
111
.
In most of conventional general chucks, part of male and female claw portions are designed to contact and engage each other so as to have inferior sealing performance in order to ensure a practical smooth opening/closing operation (e.g., see
FIGS. 8
,
9
and
11
). In addition, since the male and female members of the chucks are molded by the profile extrusion molding method, the chucks can be formed by the profile extrusion molding method, and the male and female members are formed of a thermoplastic which is easily heat-sealed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-37816, etc.).
On the other hand, there is a tendency for packaging bags, such as refrigerating preserving bags and electronic oven heating bags, to be generally formed of a base material film having heat resistance, cold resistance and other characteristics (e.g., a polyamide (e.g., nylon
12
) or a polycapramide (e.g., nylon
6
)), so that it is difficult to fix conventional chucks to such packaging bag base material films by the heat sealing.
For that reason, the development of chucks has been generally directed to the improvement of base material films, which are difficult to be heat-sealed, and fixing means (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 9-37816, 9-156646, 9-94931, 9-216642, etc.), so that chucks have been generally attached to packaging bags for goods which do not require sealing performance. In the circumstances, a chuck capable of blocking liquid has been studied and proposed (see Japanese Patent No. 293878).
FIG. 12
is a cross-sectional view of a chuck having high liquid blocking performance (see Japanese Patent No. 293878, page 5, FIG.
1
). In this chuck, the double male claw portions
120
a,
120
a
of a male member
120
, which vertically project from the surface of the male member
120
and which extend in parallel to each other, are designed to be pushed by a pressing rib
120
b
to strongly contact and engage the female claw portions
121
a
,
121
a
of a female member
121
. In the experiment wherein a packaging bag with the chuck shown in
FIG. 12
is filled with water to be dropped from a height of 30 cm, water does not leak out (see Japanese Patent No. 293878, page 4, Example and Table 1). However, in the chuck shown in
FIG. 12
, the male claw portions
120
a,
120
a
are deformed as a whole during bite, so that there is some possibility that distortion may occur in the male claw portions
120
a,
120
a
by repeatedly opening and closing the chuck. Conventionally, even in the chuck realizing liquid blocking performance shown in
FIG. 12
(see Japanese Patent No. 293878), any contact mechanism in a contact portion in which the male claw portions contact the female claw portions has not been studied, and it is only suggested that a line contact or a surface contact can obtain target sealing performance (see Japanese Patent No. 293878, page 2).
With the advance of technology, packaging bags of a base material film having high gas impermeability (e.g., a film having gas impermeability which is increased by selecting the kind of a raw material and laminating) come into wide use, and are used for various goods (e.g., foods, medicines and so forth which deteriorate in the presence of oxygen) which essentially require gas impermeability (generally air impermeability).
However, it has been considered that the sealing performance of the chuck is limited to the blocking of liquid, and there has been no idea that gas blocking performance is given to the chuck, so that the gas blocking performance of the chuck has not been studied and proposed. In addition, the details of the contact mechanism of the male and female claw portions during the bite of the chuck have not been studied.
Therefore, the inventor studied the details of the contact mechanism of male and female claw portions during the bite of a chuck, and found that a chuck having sealing performance, such as gas blocking performance, can not be obtained unless both of line and surface contacts exist.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to eliminate the aforementioned problems and to provide a chuck which has sealing performance, such as gas blocking performance capable of blocking various gases, and which is capable of being smoothly open and closed, the sealing performance of the chuck being held after the chuck is repeatedly open and closed, and the chuck being capable of being easily produced and easily fixed to a base material film of a packaging bag by the head sealing.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a chuck capable of causing a packaging bag to serve as an airtight container.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a plastic packaging bag with a chuck, which has a housing region (typically, an airti
Kabushiki Kaisha Aichi Shokai
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
Pascua Jes F.
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