MXPA01010601A - Sliding mechanical closure with color position indicator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a flexible storage bag (20) having an opening (30) and a color indicating element (50) adjacent to the opening, a mechanical interlocking seal (40) for closing the opening, and a slider (60) for sealing the mechanical interlocking seal. The slider includes an aperture (70), and the color indicating element (50) is viewable through the aperture when the slider reaches a position along the mechanical interlocking seal to register the aperture with the color indicating element (50). The color indicating element (50) is preferably positioned adjacent to an end of the mechanical interlocking seal, preferably positioned so as to indicate that the mechanical interlocking seal has been fully closed. The color indicating element may be a plastic insert of a different color than its surroundings or may be printed or painted in place.

Description

MECHANICAL SLIDING CLOSURE WITH CHROMATIC POSITION INDICATOR FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to mechanical sliding seals such as those commonly employed in flexible storage bags, particularly those suitable for use in the containment and protection of various articles including perishable materials.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Flexible storage bags for use in the containment and protection of various items, as well as preservations of perishable materials, such as food items, are well known in the art. Said pockets typically comprise a rectangular sheet of polymeric film folded on itself and sealed along the two edges to form a semi-enclosed container having two opposed opposed side walls, three sealed or bent edges, and an open edge. An integrally formed closure with the bag such as a rib-type seal or separately provided as a wire tie coated with plastic or paper completes the containment assembly. As used herein, the term "flexible" is used to refer to materials that are capable of being flexed or bent, especially repeatedly, so that they are flexible and capable of yielding in response to externally applied forces. Accordingly, "flexible" is substantially opposite in meaning to the terms inflexible, rigid or non-yielding. The materials and structures that are flexible, therefore, can be altered in form and structure to adapt to external forces and conform to the figure of the objects brought in contact with them without losing their integrity. The flexible storage bags of the above variety are typically formed from polymeric film, such as polyethylene or other members of the polyolefin family, in thicknesses of between 0.0002 inches to about 0.002 inches. Said films are often transparent but are also sometimes opaque and / or colored. Flexible storage bags of the currently commercially available variety conveniently provide storage media for a wide range of objects and materials in a generally disposable containment device. Although the flexible storage bags of the previous variety have enjoyed a fair degree of commercial success, their confidence in mechanical closures tends to cause difficulty in the operation for individuals who have impaired manual ability such as children, elderly, patients with arthritis. , etc. On the other hand, such mechanical seals typically require alignment of the mechanical elements for operation which may prove a challenge for those in impaired vision or impaired hand-eye coordination. Flexible storage bags with mechanical sliding seals have been developed to improve the ease of opening and closing mechanical seals. Although the sliding mechanical seals have proven to be suitable for such uses, there remains the problem of determining whether the slide mechanism has in fact been completely moved through the mouth of the bag to achieve the consummation of the closing operation. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a sliding mechanical seal that provides a positive indication of when the complete closure has been achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a flexible storage bag having an opening and a chromatic indication element adjacent to the opening, a mechanical seal for closing the opening, and a slide for sealing the mechanical seal. The slider includes an opening, and the chromatic indication element is visible through the opening when the slider reaches a position along the mechanical seal to register the opening with the chromatic indication element. The chromatic indication element is preferably positioned adjacent to one end of the mechanical seal, preferably positioned to indicate that the mechanical seal has been completely closed. The chromatic indication element can be a plastic insert of a different color than its surroundings or it can be printed or painted on the spot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Although the description concludes with the claims pointing out in a particular manner and claiming the present invention differently, it is believed that the present invention will be better understood from the following description in conjunction with the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference numbers identify similar elements, and wherein: Figure 1 is an elevation view of a flexible storage bag employing a mechanical sliding seal according to the present invention in an open, empty condition; and Figure 2 is an elevation view of the flexible storage bag of Figure 1 in a fully closed condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 represents a preferred embodiment of a flexible storage bag 10 according to the present invention. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the flexible storage bag 10 includes a bag body 20 formed from a piece of flexible sheet material folded on itself along fold line 22 and attached to itself along the side seams 24 and 26 to form a semi-enclosed container having an opening along the edge 30. The flexible storage bag 10 also includes a mechanical seal 40 located adjacent the edge 30 to seal the edge 30 to form a container or container completely enclosed as shown in Figure 2. Bags such as the flexible storage bag 10 of Figure 1 can also be constructed from a tube of continuous sheet material, thus eliminating side seams 24 and 26 and replacing a lower seam with the fold line 22. As shown in Figure 1, the mechanical seal 40 includes a mechanical seal of any conventional suitable design and an indication chromatic element 50 located at a given position along the edge 30, preferably adjacent to one end of the edge 30. The color indication element can be, for example, a plastic insert of a different color than its surroundings and / or that the slide, or can be printed or painted on the spot. The chromatic indication element may be visible from one or both sides of the bag. The mechanical seal 40 also includes a slider 60 of conventional design suitable for the type of mechanical seal used, but in accordance with the present invention including an opening or window 70 that penetrates at least one side of the slide (the two sides if observed from both sides of the bag). The chromatic element of indication is placed so that the window in the slide will allow to observe the chromatic element of indication when the window of the slide is in registry with the same. The combination of the window in the slider element with the chromatic indication element provides a means to indicate when the slider has reached a particular location along the edge 30, and when it is placed adjacent the end of the edge 30 when the Sliding reaches the end of your trip provides an indication that a fully complete closing operation has been achieved. The indication multicromatic elements can be used to indicate the different positions of the slide. The various compositions suitable for constructing the flexible storage bags of the present invention include substantially impermeable materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC); polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), aluminum foil, coated paper (waxed, etc.) and uncoated, coated nonwoven materials, etc., and substantially permeable materials such as canvas, meshes , woven materials, non-woven materials, or perforated or porous films, if they are predominantly two-dimensional in nature or formed in three-dimensional structures. Said materials may comprise a single composition or layer or may be a composite structure of multiple materials, including a substrate material used as a carrier for a substance. Once the desired sheet materials are manufactured in any of the desirable and suitable ways, comprising all or part of the materials to be used for the body of the bag, the bag can be constructed in any known and suitable manner such as those known in the art for making said bags in the commercially available form. It can be used thermal sealing technologies or with adhesive to join the various components or elements of the bag to themselves or each other. In addition, the bodies of the bag can be thermoformed, blown, or otherwise molded instead of relying on the bending and joining techniques to build the bodies of the bag from a web or sheet of material. Two recent United States patents which are illustrative of the prior art with respect to flexible storage bags similar in structure to those illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 but of the commercially available types are Nos. 5,554,093, issued on September 10, 1996 to Porchia and others, and 5,575,747 issued on November 19, 1996 to Dais et al. Although the particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, attempts are made to protect all the changes and modifications within the scope of this invention in the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. A flexible storage bag comprising: (a) a bag having an opening and a chromatic indication element adjacent to the opening; (b) a mechanical closing seal to close the opening; (c) a slide to seal the mechanical seal, the slide including an opening; wherein the chromatic indication element is visible through the opening when the slider reaches a position along the mechanical seal to register said opening with the chromatic indication element.

2. The flexible storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the chromatic indication element is positioned adjacent one end of the mechanical seal.

3. The flexible storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the indication chromatic element comprises a plastic insert and a different color than its surroundings.

4. The flexible storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the chromatic indication element is printed or painted in place.

5. The flexible storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the chromatic indication element is positioned to indicate that the mechanical seal has been totally closed.

6. The flexible storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the chromatic indication element is of a different color than the slider.

7. The flexible storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the chromatic indication element is visible from one side of the bag. The flexible storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the chromatic indication element is visible from both sides of the bag. 9. The flexible storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the bag includes multicromatic indication elements. 10. The flexible storage bag according to claim 1, wherein the slide includes two openings.