EP1321373B1 - Opening/closing system for bag and bag equipped with such a system - Google Patents

Abstract

The opening/closing system consists of two lengthwise elements a base (11) fastened to the bag on either side of its opening, and a slider (12) that engages with the base in the closed position and separates from it to reveal the opening. The base and slider engage by a system of grooves and projections (30), and the slider has a tab (34, 35) at each end for pulling it open and closed.

Description

The present invention relates to a packaging bag opening / closing system, and a packaging bag equipped with this opening / closing system.

This bag is particularly intended for packaging relatively heavy products in granular or powder form. The bag according to the invention finds a particularly advantageous application for the packaging of animal feed products, such as croquettes or pasta, food products sold in half-size, for example coffee, gardening products such as potting soil, fertilizer or seeds, construction products such as cement or lime, or others.

The packaging of relatively heavy products in granular or powder form is currently carried out by means of paper bags comprising loops at their upper ends, forming two carrying handles. These handles are constituted by reinforced paper strips and are attached to the walls of the bag.

The upper part of such bags is closed by gluing or seams.

These bags have the important disadvantage of not being very easy to open and having to be more or less torn to allow their opening, which makes the flow of products relatively inaccurate and can lead to reversals.

There is a packaging bag opening / closing system comprising a profiled longitudinal member engageable in another shaped longitudinal member having a complementary shape.

This system does not give perfect satisfaction. Indeed, it is not very easy to handle and does not have a very good seal. In addition, it has the disadvantage of clogging when the product contained in the bag generates dust, as is the case of animal feed in the form of croquettes. In addition, the assembly of said longitudinal members may not be sufficiently strong to allow the use of the system on packaging bags containing relatively heavy products.

Existing bags also have the drawback of not being very practical to handle when it comes to reversing them to achieve the flow of the product they contain, and the conformation of openings of these bags is not always well suited to a controlled flow of the product.

Existing paper bags also have the drawbacks of poor sealing, which causes odor problems at the point of sale for certain products, in particular kibble-type pet food products, or trade problems. fluidic generally through the walls of the bag the time required for the sale of products, consisting in particular of the uptake of moisture by the product or desiccation of this product.

The walls of these bags may also not be perfectly assembled at the folds to form the bottom or top of the bags, and there may be openings at these folds, which allow entry into bags of insects such as cockroaches. US 6,059,456 discloses an opening / closing system according to the preamble of claim 1.

The present invention aims to remedy all of these important disadvantages.

Its main objective is to provide an opening / closing system that is easy to handle, allowing an easy and quick opening to be achieved, having a good seal, not clogging when the product contained in the bag generates dust, and being resistant enough to be used on packaging bags containing relatively heavy products.

The invention also aims to significantly improve the handling of the bag at the time of the reversal thereof for the flow of the product, and to ensure perfect control of this flow.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bag having a perfect seal especially with regard to odors and moisture.

An additional object is to provide a bag having, compared with prior art bags, an improved visual appearance, particularly having a reduced tendency to wrinkle and having a shiny and smooth appearance.

• deux éléments longitudinaux formant chacun un moyen de guidage en coulissement, l'un de ces éléments longitudinaux étant destiné à être relié, directement ou non, à l'un des bords du sac délimitant l'ouverture que comprend ce sac et l'autre de ces éléments longitudinaux étant destiné à être relié, directement ou non, à l'autre des bords du sac délimitant cette ouverture ;
• un coulisseau comprenant :
  1. (i) deux éléments longitudinaux formant chacun un moyen de guidage en coulissement, l'un de ces éléments longitudinaux étant destiné à venir en prise avec l'un desdits éléments longitudinaux destinés à être reliés au sac et pouvant coulisser par rapport à celui-ci, et l'autre de ces éléments longitudinaux étant destiné à venir en prise avec l'un desdits éléments longitudinaux destinés à être reliés au sac et pouvant coulisser par rapport à celui-ci ;
  2. (ii) une paroi médiane reliant les deux éléments longitudinaux du coulisseau l'un à l'autre.

According to the invention, the opening / closing system comprises:

• two longitudinal elements each forming a sliding guide means, one of these longitudinal elements being intended to be connected, directly or not, to one of the edges of the delimiting bag the opening that includes this bag and the other of these longitudinal elements being intended to be connected, directly or not, to the other edge of the bag defining this opening;
• a slider comprising:
  1. (i) two longitudinal elements each forming a sliding guide means, one of these longitudinal elements being intended to engage with one of said longitudinal elements intended to be connected to the bag and slidable relative thereto , and the other of these longitudinal elements being intended to engage with one of said longitudinal elements intended to be connected to the bag and slidable relative thereto;
  2. (ii) a median wall connecting the two longitudinal elements of the slider to one another.

According to the essential characteristic of the invention, the system comprises a flat base part at least partially delimiting an opening therethrough and comprising the two longitudinal elements intended to be connected to the bag, this base piece being thus able to receive the slide and being intended to be fixed to the wall of the bag so that the opening it delimits coincides with the opening in the wall of the bag.

This base piece allows, in addition to the assembly of the system to the wall of the bag, to stiffen the areas of the bag bordering the opening in the wall of the bag, so as to promote the movement of the slide.

This central wall of the slider thus covers the opening of the bag when said longitudinal elements intended to be connected to the bag are connected to the wall of the bag and that said longitudinal elements of the slider engage with these longitudinal elements intended to be connected to the bag.

Opening or closing the bag is achieved simply by moving the slide relative to the wall of the bag.

The opening / closing system according to the invention thus involves no assembly by the consumer of a longitudinal element with another, but simply the displacement of the slider relative to the longitudinal elements to be connected to the bag.

This opening / closing system is easy to handle and allows easy and quick opening of the bag. It does not become dirty when it equips a bag containing a product that generates dust, the dust being extracted from the guide means that form said longitudinal elements with each movement of the slide.

In the closed position, the slide fully covers the opening of the bag, which allows a closure with a good seal.

In addition, the two pairs of longitudinal elements give the system according to the invention a resistance allowing the use of this system on packages containing relatively heavy products.

Advantageously, the slide comprises at least one tab intended to be grasped by the user to operate the movement of the slide. It may in particular comprise a tab at each end allowing its displacement by traction on these tabs in the direction of opening and in the direction of closure of the bag.

Preferably, said longitudinal members to be connected to the bag and said longitudinal members of the slider are shaped to be brought into snap engagement, which makes it very easy to manufacture and assemble the system.

Advantageously, said longitudinal elements intended to be connected to the bag, said slider, and / or said longitudinal members of the slider comprise means forming stops limiting the movement of the slider in the direction of opening of the bag.

This stop eliminates the risk of the longitudinal elements of the slider out of engagement with the longitudinal elements to be connected to the bag.

These same longitudinal elements intended to be connected to the bag, this slider and / or these longitudinal elements of the slider may also comprise means forming stops limiting the movement of the slider in the direction of closure of the bag, to clearly define the position of the slider. closing the slide.

This clear definition of the closing position of the slider greatly reduces the risk of mishandling the system.

Advantageously, the slider comprises a gripping tab connected to it by a connecting portion, and extends on one side of said base piece while said gripping tab extends from the other side of the base piece, said connecting portion being thus engaged through the opening that defines the base piece.

The latter can thus be fixed against the inner face of the wall of the bag, which allows to hide and hide the slide it comprises. In addition, only the gripping tab protrudes on the outside of the bag, which has the advantage of making the handling of the system obvious to the consumer, that is to say the gripping of this gripping tab for the purpose of moving of the slider.

Preferably, the base part delimits the entirety of the opening which it comprises, in particular the ends of this opening, and the zones of this base part which delimit these ends of the opening, as well as said portion of link, are dimensioned to constitute said limit stops limiting the movement of the slide.

Advantageously, each of said zones of the base part delimiting an end of said opening forms a flap projecting towards the interior of this opening.

The shutters thus formed are covered by said connecting portion in the closed position, which ensures a perfect seal to the opening / closing system according to the invention.

These flaps preferably have a substantially semicircular shape.

The bag according to the invention is, for its part equipped with the opening / closing system as mentioned above.

• deux parois réunies l'une à l'autre au niveau de leurs parties supérieures, le long d'une ligne de jonction, dont une comprend ladite ouverture le long de cette ligne de jonction et à proximité de celle-ci, et
• une poignée aménagée au niveau de ces parties supérieures, dans la zone médiane de ladite ligne de jonction.

Preferably, this bag comprises:

• two walls joined to one another at their upper parts, along a junction line, one of which comprises said opening along the junction line and close thereto, and
• a handle arranged at these upper parts, in the middle zone of said junction line.

Traction exerted on the handle to lift the bag causes a lifting of the median zone of said junction line with respect to the extremal zones thereof, which tends to bring these two extremal zones closer to one another. This approximation tends to impart a concave curvature to the bag above said opening and, correspondingly, a convex curvature to the bag below this opening. opening. This simple lifting thus tends to form a product flow chute.

The handling of the bag for a reversal for the flow of the product is particularly simple to achieve since it is sufficient, after said cutting has been performed, to grip said handle with one hand to lift the bag, to grasp the bottom bag with the other hand and lift the bottom until the product slides into the chute.

Advantageously, the walls of the bag joined to one another extend above said junction line so as to form a double-walled band, and this band comprises openings for fitting said handle.

This handle is thus made in a simple, easy and inexpensive way, and is particularly strong, which ensures total security as to the strength of this handle during transport of the bag.

Preferably, the walls of the bag are of synthetic material that can be welded.

This weldability makes it possible to obtain a perfect seal, which eliminates odor diffusion problems as well as fluid exchanges between the inside and the outside of the bag, or insect penetration inside the bag.

In addition, the use of such a material allows to obtain a bag having an improved visual appearance, resulting in particular from a reduced tendency to wrinkle and a glossy and smooth appearance.

This material can be formed by "bubble" extrusion with a polyethylene - EVOH - polyamide - polypropylene structure, and any type of polyethylene at medium, low or high density, and be complexed on aluminum, polypropylene, polyester, aluminized polyester, paper, etc.

This material is found, by its structure, a perfect seal against fluid transfers between the inside and outside of the bag.

The problems of diffusion of odors and moisture capture or desiccation of the product the time of exposure of bags for sale are eliminated.

• La figure 1 en est une vue en perspective ;
• la figure 2 en est une vue partielle, à échelle agrandie, en coupe selon la ligne II-II de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 3 en est une vue similaire à la figure 1 après ouverture, dans la conformation qu'il prend lorsqu'il est soulevé par traction sur une poignée de portage qu'il comprend à sa partie supérieure ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en coupe transversale du système d'ouverture/fermeture qu'il comprend ;
• la figure 5 est une vue en perspective de deux pièces constituant ce système, avant assemblage ;
• la figure 6 est une vue du système d'ouverture/fermeture similaire à la figure 5, après assemblage desdites pièces ; et
• les figures 7 à 11 sont des vues en coupe transversale de différentes possibilités de réalisation d'éléments longitudinaux de guidage en coulissement, que comprend ce système.

For a good understanding, the invention is again described below with reference to the attached schematic drawing representing, as a non-limiting example, a preferred embodiment of the packaging bag it relates.

• The figure 1 is a perspective view;
• the figure 2 is a partial view, on an enlarged scale, in section along the line II-II of the figure 1 ;
• the figure 3 is a view similar to the figure 1 after opening, in the conformation that it takes when it is lifted by traction on a carrying handle which it includes at its upper part;
• the figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the opening / closing system that it comprises;
• the figure 5 is a perspective view of two parts constituting this system, before assembly;
• the figure 6 is a view of the opening / closing system similar to the figure 5 after assembly of said parts; and
• the Figures 7 to 11 are cross-sectional views of different possibilities of realization of longitudinal sliding guide elements, that includes this system.

The figures represent a packaging bag 1, particularly intended for the packaging of a relatively heavy product, in granular or powder form, such as kibble for animal feed.

The bag 1 has two main walls 2 and two side walls 3 of smaller dimensions.

These walls 2, 3 are made of a heat-sealable material.

The main walls 2 are joined to one another at their upper parts, by heat sealing, along a junction line 4, and each wall 3 is connected by heat sealing to the adjacent wall 2, along junction lines that extend line 4.

The walls 2 extend above the line 4 so as to form a double-walled strip 5 in the middle part of the bag 1.

The walls 2, 3 comprise two openings 6 arranged in the median zone of the band 5, making it possible to arrange a handle 7 for carrying and handling the bag 1.

Two pieces of material may be attached to the inner face of the walls 2 at these openings 6, to reinforce these walls at these openings.

The wall 2 has a precut defining a strip 9 below and along the line 4, and comprises a closure system 10 fixed on its inner face below this strip 9, as shown in FIG. figure 2 .

The band 9 has rounded ends, which are cut and can thus be lifted and seized to allow the withdrawal of this band 9 by manual pulling.

As shown more particularly by Figures 4 to 6 , the closure system 10 comprises a base piece 11 and a slider 12.

The base part 11 is made of a synthetic material that can be fastened to the wall 2, in particular by heat-sealing. It has an elongated shape and rounded ends, and defines a central opening 15 in the form of a slot.

On one of its faces, it comprises two longitudinal profiled elements 20 forming slides, which extend along the edges of the part 11 longitudinally defining the opening 15, beyond the ends thereof.

• deux parois longitudinales parallèles 21 pourvues de nervures extérieures 22, comme le montre la figure 7,
• deux parois longitudinales parallèles 21 pourvues de retours intérieurs 22 de différentes formes, comme le montrent les figures 8 à 11.

Each of these elements 20 can have one of the shapes shown on an enlarged scale on the lower parts of Figures 7 to 11 , to know :

• two parallel longitudinal walls 21 provided with external ribs 22, as shown in FIG. figure 7 ,
• two parallel longitudinal walls 21 provided with internal returns 22 of different shapes, as shown by the Figures 8 to 11 .

In all cases, these ribs and returns 22 are shaped to allow a snap of elements 30 shown on the upper parts of the Figures 7 to 11 in the elements 20 shown on the lower parts of the Figures 7 to 11 .

Each of the elements 20 may have a median rib 23 forming an additional sliding surface, as it appears on the figure 8 .

With reference again to Figures 4 to 6 , it appears that the base part 11 has, at one of its ends, a transverse slot 24 sized to receive the slide 12 through it, with the possibility of sliding.

In addition, the zones 11a of the part 11 which delimit the ends of the opening 15 form hemi-circular flaps.

• deux parois longitudinales parallèles 31 présentant des rainures intérieures 32 aptes à être engagées par encliquetage sur les nervures 22 de l'élément 20, comme le montre la figure 7, ou
• une ou deux parois 31 à nervures d'encliquetage extérieures 32 aptes à être engagées par encliquetage sur les retours 22 des éléments 20, comme montré sur les figures 8 à 11.

The slider 12 comprises two profiled longitudinal members 30 each of which may have one of the shapes shown on an enlarged scale on the upper parts of the slats. Figures 7 to 11 , to know :

• two parallel longitudinal walls 31 having internal grooves 32 adapted to be engaged by snapping on the ribs 22 of the element 20, as shown in FIG. figure 7 , or
• one or two walls 31 with external ratcheting ribs 32 adapted to be engaged by snapping on the returns 22 of the elements 20, as shown in FIGS. Figures 8 to 11 .

This or these walls 31 may be received against the bottom formed by the elements 20 or, as shown in FIG. figure 8 , on the additional slip rib 23.

With reference again to Figures 4 to 6 , it appears that the elements 30 extend parallel to one another and are shaped and positioned to snap into engagement with the elements 20, this snap allowing the sliding of the slider 12 relative to the workpiece basic 11.

The slider 12 has a medial wall 33, connecting the elements 30 to each other, and comprises two rounded portions 34, 35 connected at its ends, having a width greater than its own. These rounded portions 34, 35 form pull tabs which can be grasped by the consumer and which facilitate the displacement of the slider 12.

One of these lugs 34 is separated from the slider 12 by two transverse slots, which delimit a connecting portion 36 of the tab 34 to the slider 12, this connecting portion 36 having a width less than the width of the opening 15.

The other tab 35 is adjacent to the slider 12 and forms two transverse flanges 37 adapted to bear against the zones 11b of the part 11 which delimit the opening 24.

The slider 12 further comprises a transverse piece 38 fixed to it close to the slots separating the slider 12 from the tab 34. This piece 38 protrudes from both sides of the slider 12 and can bear against the zones 11b of the room 11.

As can be understood by comparing Figures 5, 6 and 4 , the slider 12 is intended to be engaged through the slot 24 so that the elements 30 can engage with the elements 20 by snapping the ribs or grooves 32 behind the returns or ribs 22.

The tab 34 is engaged through the slot 15 and therefore extends on the side of the piece 11 opposite to that on which the slide 12 is located, said connecting portion 36 extending through the opening 15.

The portions of the piece 38 projecting from either side of the slider 12 bear against the piece 11.

As can be understood with reference to the figure 6 , the slider 12 can be moved relative to the part 11 between a position of complete concealment of the opening 15 and a position of complete release of this opening 15. In the position of complete concealment, the connecting portion 36 comes against the flap 25, which ensures a closure of the opening 15 with a good seal, and the flanges 37 come to bear against said zones 11b, thus clearly limiting the displacement stroke of the slide 12. In the position of complete release of the opening 15, the portions of the piece 38 protruding on either side of the slider 12 come against the zones 11b of the part 11, also limiting the displacement stroke of the slider 12.

In practice, as appears with reference to the figure 1 , the band 9 is torn off so as to allow access to the system 10 and to release the sliding of the tab 34, and thus of the slider 12.

The tab 35 is grasped by the consumer and is moved in the direction of the opening of the bag 1.

The handle 7 is then gripped, which causes the central zone of the line 4 to rise with respect to the extremal zones thereof, and tends to bring these two extremal zones closer to each other. This approximation tends to give a concave curvature to the upper part of the bag 1 and correlatively a convex curvature to the part of the wall 2 situated below the system 10, as shown in FIG. figure 3 . This lifting thus makes it possible to form a chute 40 for the flow of the product.

The handling of the bag 1 to a reversal for the flow of the product is particularly simple to achieve since it is sufficient to grip the handle 7 with one hand to lift the bag, to grasp the bottom of the bag with the other hand and lift the bottom until the product slides into the chute 40.

After pouring, the bag 1 is closed by simply grasping the tab 34 and moving the slide 12 until the opening 15 is concealed.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the invention provides an easy-to-use packaging bag opening / closing system, allowing easy and quick opening to be achieved, having a good seal, not fouling when the product contained in the bag generates dust, and being strong enough to be used on packaging bags containing relatively heavy products.

The invention also provides a packaging bag whose handling is significantly improved and whose seal is perfect especially with regard to odors and moisture.

It goes without saying that the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above by way of example but that it encompasses all the embodiments defined by the claims. Thus, the bag may be of welded bellows edge type, as shown in the figures, or may be of the square bottom or bottom bellows type, or may still be devoid of bellows.

Claims (15)

1. An opening/closing system (10) for packaging bags (1), comprising an opening arranged in one of its walls (2), defined by the edges of this wall (2), comprising:

   - two longitudinal elements (20) each forming a sliding guide means, one of these longitudinal elements (20) being designed to be connected, directly or not, to one of the edges of the bag (1) defining the opening comprised by this bag and the other of these longitudinal elements (20) being designed to be connected, directly or not, to the other of the edges of the bag (1) defining this opening;

   - a slider (12) comprising:

   (i) two longitudinal elements (30) each forming a sliding guide means, one of these longitudinal elements (30) being designed to engage with one of said longitudinal elements (20) designed to be connected to the bag (1) and able to slide relative thereto, and the other of these longitudinal elements (30) being designed to engage with one of said longitudinal elements (20) designed to be connected to the bag (1) and able to slide in relation thereto;

   (ii) a median wall (33) connecting the two longitudinal elements (30) of the slider (12) to each other,

   characterized in that it comprises a flat base piece (11) at least partially defining an opening (15) through it and comprising the two longitudinal elements (20) designed to be connected to the bag (1), this base piece (11) thus being able to receive the slider (12) and being designed to be fixed to the wall of the bag (1) such that the opening (15) it defines coincides with the opening arranged in the wall (2) of the bag (1).
2. The opening/closing system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the slider (12) comprises at least one tab (34, 35) designed to be seized by the user in order to move the slider (12).
3. The opening/closing system (10) according to claim 2, characterized in that the slider (12) comprises a tab (34, 35) at each end.
4. The opening/closing system (10) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said longitudinal elements (20) designed to be connected to the bag (1) and said longitudinal elements (30) of the slider (12) are formed to be able to be engaged through locking.
5. The opening/closing system (10) according to one of claim 1 to 4, characterized in that said longitudinal elements (20) designed to be connected to the bag (1), said slider (12), and/or said longitudinal elements (30) of the slider (12) comprise means (11b, 38) forming stops limiting the movement of the slider (12) in the direction of opening of the bag (1).
6. The opening/closing system (10) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said longitudinal elements (20) designed to be connected to the bag (1), said slider (12), and or said longitudinal elements (30) of the slider (12) comprise means (11a, 36, 37) forming stops limiting the movement of the slider (12) in the direction of closing of the bag (1).
7. The opening/closing system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the slider (12) comprises a gripping tab (34) connected to it by a connecting portion (36), and extends from one side of said base piece (11) while said gripping tab (34) extends from the other side of the base piece (11), said connecting portion (36) thus being engaged through the opening (15) defined by the base piece (11).
8. The opening/closing system (10) according to claim 7, characterized in that the base piece (11) defines the entirety of the opening (15) it comprises, in particular the ends of this opening, and in that the zones (11 a) of this base piece (11) which define these ends of the opening (15), as well as said connecting portion (36), are dimensioned to constitute said stops limiting the movement of the slider (12).
9. The opening/closing system (10) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that each of said zones (11a) of the base piece (11) defining one end of said opening (15) forms a flange (25) protruding towards the inside of this opening (15).
10. A packaging bag (1) equipped with the opening/closing system (10) according to one of claims 1 to 9.
11. The packaging bag (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that one of its walls (2) has a score defining a strip (9) and in that said opening/closing system (10) is fixed on the inner surface of this wall (2) below this strip (9).
12. The packaging bag (1) according to claim 10 or claim 11, characterized in that it comprises:

    - two walls (2) connected to each other at the level of their upper parts (5), along a seam (4), one of which comprises said opening of the bag, arranged along this seam (4) and close to it, and

    - a handle (7) arranged at the level of these upper parts (5), in the median area of said seam (4).
13. The packaging bag (1) according to claim 12, characterized in that its walls connected to each other extend above said seam (4) so as to form a double-walled strip (5), and in that this strip (5) comprises openings (6) making it possible to develop said handle (7).
14. The packaging bag (1) according to one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that its walls (, 3) are in a synthetic material able to be welded.
15. The packaging bag (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that said material is formed via "bubble" extrusion with a polyethylene - EVOH - polyamide - polypropylene structure, and any type of polyethylene with middle, low or high density, and can be complexed on aluminum, polypropylene, polyester, aluminized polyester, paper.

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