Flexible bags – With closure – Rib and groove
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-10
2001-12-25
Pascua, Jes F. (Department: 3727)
Flexible bags
With closure
Rib and groove
C383S061100, C383S089000, C383S104000, C383S120000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06332712
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to storage bags and more particularly, to an airtight, water-resistant, semi-foldable, and recloseable storage bag for enclosing items such as food products or cosmetics. The storage bag of the present invention is self-standing, disposable, and pressure sealed around its mouth
2. Description of the Related Art
Finding an appropriate carrying container for a person's lunch or other personal items that is properly sized, convenient to use, disposable, and consumer friendly is not easy. The consumer market is full of flexible containers made of different materials and having a variety of shapes and sizes. However, finding a flexible container that is appropriate for a specific need or that possesses the characteristics needed under specific circumstances can be challenging. A flexible carrying bag or a flexible storage container is often either too small or too large or too oddly shaped to meet a person's needs and requires frequent cleaning. For example, a flexible carrying bag may be easily carried by hand but may not fit conveniently into a larger enclosure, such as a purse. A flexible storage container may fit neatly onto a shelf but be very difficult to carry in a person's hand.
It would extremely advantageous to have a flexible container that could be readily used for both the storage and the transport of a wide variety of items. The prior art describes a number of flexible storage bags, for example, a recloseable container is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,182 issued on Mar. 14, 1995 to S.C. Gaible et al. The recloseable plastic bag has extruded plastic side walls with a profile strip or web along an open end of the bag for receiving printed information for identifying bag contents and related information.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,094 issued on Apr. 4, 1995 to M. Tomic describes a recloseable zipper for a recloseable bag. The recloseable zipper consists of a pair of closures that are disposed adjacent and opposite to one another. The closures are configured to interlock with one another over a predetermined length and at least one of the closures is provided with intermittent transverse notches to enhance the ease of interlocking the closures. A recloseable stand-up bag is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,378 issued on Aug. 4, 1998 to T. R. Thomas. The recloseable bag is manufactured in a generally vertical production line. The recloseable bag is suitable for stand-alone marketing, or placing inside of a rectangular box container such as a cereal box.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a durable, flexible, and disposable pressure sealed bag that is comfortable to grasp with the hand.
It is another object of the invention to provide a durable, flexible, pressure sealed bag that has the structural integrity to stand upright when placed on its bottom surface.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a durable, flexible, pressure sealed bag that is airtight and that will securely retain any spillage that might occur within the bag.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a durable, flexible, pressure sealed bag that has an economic design that results in the use of less material to manufacture the bag.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a durable, flexible, and disposable pressure sealed bag for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
To accomplish the foregoing objectives, the present invention provides a durable, flexible, and disposable pressure sealed bag that is airtight and that has the structural integrity to stand upright on its own. The pressure sealed bag of present invention is made of a durable yet flexible plastic gusseted bag having a conformation similar to the proverbial “brown paper bag.” Items inside the bag of the present invention are secured by a dual locking mechanism. The first is pressure seal at the mouth of the bag and the second is a pair of hook and loop fastening strips such as Velcro® that is horizontally disposed on one side of the bag. The upper portion of the bag folds over onto itself thereby establishing contact between the two mating surfaces of the fastening strips and further securing the contents of the bag. In a preferred embodiment, the pressure sealed bag is made of a polyethylene film and has a pressure sealing slider assembly such as a ZIP-LOC® seal at its mouth.
The pressure sealed bag of the present invention has a label or white section for writing information such as a person's name or the nature of the items in the bag. The sturdy, durable bottom portion of the bag is ideal for supporting heavy items such as a bowl or fruit when used as a lunch bag. In the preferred embodiment, the pressure sealed bag has a decorative exterior, for example, the exterior of the bag could display cartoon characters which makes an excellent lunch bag for children.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5244136 (1993-09-01), Collaso
patent: 5403094 (1995-04-01), Tomic
patent: 5490396 (1996-02-01), Morris
patent: 5713669 (1998-02-01), Thomas et al.
patent: 5788378 (1998-08-01), Thomas
patent: 5816709 (1998-10-01), Demus
patent: 6146016 (2000-11-01), Mucci et al.
patent: 0133747 (1991-06-01), None
Litman Richard C.
Pascua Jes F.
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