Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi – Container making – Pliable container
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-25
2001-01-09
Kim, Eugene (Department: 3721)
Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi
Container making
Pliable container
C493S230000, C493S233000, C493S226000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06171226
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to plastic bag and film products that may be used for a multitude of purposes such as, but not limited to, fast foods, supermarkets, retail merchandise and point-of-purchase bags.
More specifically, this invention relates to the ways in which these bags are bundled together into bag packs and then dispensed in their respective systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Common plastic bag styles used by retailers in fast food chains, supermarkets, and general merchandise, as well as in point-of-purchase applications usually have an open bag mouth at the top and are of the bottom seal variety, which are gusseted along their sides, or of the sideweld variety, which are gusseted along the bottom. Many of these common bags have carrying handles, most of which are of the strap variety or die-cut holes near the bag top. Typical plastic bags used in supermarket applications are about 0.0005 to 0.00065 in gauge; those used in retail merchandise bags are from 0.0005 to 0.0001; fast food bags are usually from 0.0007 to 0.00125, and; those used in point of purchase applications are typically from 0.001 to 0.004 mil thick. Many of these bags are typically stacked up in the manufacturing process and are then bonded into bag packs of 50 to 100 bags which are then packed into shipping cartons. It is desirable to have them in bag packs for handling purposes as is well known in the art. The bundled bags with their detachable tabs or severable apertures are then usually put onto racks and holders for easy dispensing. It is also desirable to have plastic bags self-open as is also well known in the art.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,378 Baxley, et al., adhesives may be used to cause plastic bags to self-open when dispensed from their T-shirt rack holders, such as the rack in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,985. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,158, Boyd and U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,580, Beasley, et al., cold seals may selectively cause the self-opening of the next bag in sequence. The key to using cold seal processes for selectively bonding bags in a bag pack is revealed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,290, which discusses having an inside bag surface with low coefficient of friction and an outside surface with a high coefficient of friction, thereby selectively bonding the high coefficient surfaces together. As distinguished from the disclosure that follows, this patent relies upon a fused wicket and flaps having the high/friction and low/friction interfaces.
Beasley, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,788 illustrate the use of cold seals when applied to the top regions of plastic bags which cold seals may also be used to bond the plastic grocery sacks together in bag packs.
It is well known that these common plastic grocery sacks when manufactured are stacked up, die cut, and bonded into bag packs of 50 bags or more bags. The bags and their respective die-cut detachable tabs may be heat sealed together forming the bag pack. A form of heat-sealing merchandise bag tabs together is also revealed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,639 commonly known as Dual-Tab® bags. Furthermore, some bag packs have been formed by using wire twist ties to bundle them together by securing the twist tie through the die cut bag handles that are aligned one atop the other. The bag handles can then be mounted onto a handle holder. U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,561, Suominen, reveals one of these types of handle holders. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,173 Wilfong, et al., reveal a similar compact rack for T-shirt bags.
Having a bag system and a means of bundling, self-opening, and using plastic bags on racks, holders and hooks is desirable—especially if the method of bundling and self-opening enhances the handling of bags and can be made cost-effectively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A process of serially dispensing and opening a bag from a bundle of bags includes providing a bundle of bags having at least a leading bag and a plurality of trailing bags. Each bag of the bundle of bags has a front bag wall with a top, a bottom, and two parallel side edges; a rear bag wall with a top, a bottom, and two parallel side edges. The bags further include two bag sides, each bag side joining one of the side edges of the front bag wall to one of the side edges of the rear bag wall to form a closed continuum around the front bag wall and the rear bag wall. A sealed bottom joins the bottom of the front bag wall and the bottom of the rear bag wall to form a closed bottom to the closed continuum of the bag. The support of the bag to at least one support is provided by at least one front support tab fastened to the front bag wall. The front support tab has a front support aperture for severance from a support through the front support aperture under a first force. At least one rear support tab is fastened to the support at the rear bag wall. The rear support tab has a rear support aperture for severance from a support through the rear support aperture under the first force. A fastening adjacent the top of the rear bag wall of a leading bag joins to the top of the front bag wall of a trailing bag, this fastening severing under a second force. Pulling on the front bag wall of the leading bag to sever the front support tab of the leading bag from the support; continued pulling on the front bag wall of the leading bag severs the rear support tab of the leading bag. The front support tab of the trailing bag from the support is also severed. The rear support tab of the leading bag pulls on the front support tab of the trailing bag to sever both the rear support tab of the leading bag and the front support tab of the trailing bag from the support. Further continuing pulling on the front bag wall of the leading bag causes severing of the first force of the front support tab of the trailing bag. Thereafter, the second force fastening the rear bag wall of the leading bag to the front bag wall of the trailing bag is exceeds the second force. This second force attaches the rear bag wall of the leading bag to front bag wall of the trailing bag to cause separation of the leading bag from the trailing bag in a bag open disposition.
The present invention refers to several simple—yet related—means of using adhesives or cold seals and a die-cutting operation to bundle plastic bags into bag packs and thereby improve the handling of the bag packs. It also includes using this adhesive or cold sealing process to cause the bags in their bag packs to self-open when they are dispensed from their bag packs and respective holders.
One of the key elements of the present invention is the use of cold sealing or adhesively sealing extended portions above the bag mouth or extended flanges in a die cut handle to bond bags together into bag packs, instead of using heat sealed tabs or cold sealing portions of the bag body. The advantages are many. First, when the extended portions above the bag mouth are apertured, it then easy for a user to locate and mount them onto a hook. This extended portion, when releasably bonded together, also creates a superior self-opening means then it does when placed in a bag body. Part of the reason for this is due to the superior leverage point it has. Pulling a weak bond near a bag mouth makes it easier to pull the front bag wall open and apart from its rear wall, thereby opening the bag mouth, as it is to pull from a leverage point anywhere below the bag mouth, such as the upper bag body region. The thin bag walls in the body region typically resist opening due to the fact that there is no air inside the walls allowing them to easily separate. When bonding flanges at the handle region such as those in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,118 the flanges perform four functions: one, strengthen the die-cut handle; two, soften the handle for the end user; three, bond the bags together into a bag pack and; four, causing it to self-open when placed on the appropriate handle hook when dispensed. Since the flange is also near the cut-out edge of the die cut handle, it has a similar superior self-opening leverage as being near the bag mouth.
The present invention also illustrates a parti
Bob Dematteis Co.
Kim Eugene
Townsend and Townsend / and Crew LLP
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