US20130077897A1

US20130077897A1 - Waterproof storage bag

Info

Publication number: US20130077897A1
Application number: US13/241,270
Authority: US
Inventors: Man Chiu Li
Original assignee: Potter Ind Ltd
Current assignee: POTTER INDUSTRIES Ltd; Potter Ind Ltd
Priority date: 2011-09-23
Filing date: 2011-09-23
Publication date: 2013-03-28

Abstract

A waterproof storage bag which comprises a bag body having an open end and a bag opening provided at the open end of the bag body to seal the bag body. The bag opening has inner surfaces which are smooth surfaces made of smooth and soft plastic material and the inner surfaces do not contain any self-adhesive material and are not disposed with any additional adhesive material thereon. A multi-porous resilient member is provided inside the bag body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a waterproof bag which could indicate to a user whether its waterproof function is still functioning properly. It has the advantages of simple structure, easy operation and low manufacturing costs.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a storage bag and specifically relates to a waterproof storage bag being a commodity used in daily life.
Currently, a waterproof storage bag generally comprises a bag body and a sealable opening. After a user has put an object such as a mobile phone, a camera or a portable personal computer into the bag body, the user could simply close the sealable opening so that water outside the bag body would not be able to enter the bag body. In general, the sealable opening could be tightened by a zipper. However, if a user inadvertently fails to fasten the zipper completely, or if the user fails to notice that the zipper is broken due to long-term use, water outside the bag body would then enter the bag body. As a result, the object inside the bag body would get wet and thus damaged. Therefore, there is a market demand for a waterproof bag which could indicate to a user whether its waterproof function is still functioning properly after the user has put an object inside the bag body and before the user puts the bag body into water.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the aforesaid disadvantages now present in the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a waterproof bag which could indicate to a user whether its waterproof function is still functioning properly. It has the advantages of simple structure, easy operation and low manufacturing costs.
In order to attain the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical proposal:
A waterproof storage bag comprising a bag body having an open end and a bag opening provided at the open end of the bag body to seal the bag body; the bag opening has inner surfaces which are smooth surfaces made of smooth and soft plastic material and the inner surfaces do not contain any self-adhesive material and are not disposed with any additional adhesive material thereon; a multi-porous resilient member made of natural cotton, fiber cotton, chemical fiber cotton, latex foam, natural foam or the like is provided inside the bag body.
The multi-porous resilient member is sized to cover entire surface area of the bag body or only a partial surface area of the bag body.
The multi-porous resilient member is removably provided inside the bag body so that it could be inserted or taken out according to user's need; it could also be fixed inside the bag body by means of heat pressing or the like.
The bag body is made of a compressible and resilient material; the compressible and resilient material is a plastic material which allows user to operate a touch screen of an object disposed inside the bag body from outside the bag body, for example, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) silica gel and the like.
The bag opening is generally provided at an upper end of the bag body; the bag opening or the bag body could also be provided with a hanging string and/or a string hole for increasing portability.
The multi-porous resilient member could be surrounded by an air-permeable member, and the air-permeable member may be made of air-permeable fabrics or plastic material disposed with pore openings. The air-permeable member is configured as thicker at four sides to leave a recess area in middle part so that an object is easily fixed in position inside the bag body.
Use of the present invention is described as follows:
Open the bag opening first and put the object into the bag body. After that, press air out of the bag body by hand and the multi-porous resilient member would then be compressed. After the air is pressed out, flatten the bag opening which comprises the smooth inner surfaces by hand or other soft objects so that the inner surfaces adhere to each other more smoothly. When the inner surfaces at two sides of the bag opening adhere to each other, there is neither air nor space between the two inner surfaces. Therefore, the two inner surfaces adhere to each other smoothly and automatically without any gap left between them so that water and air cannot pass through. At this time, air or water density as well as air pressure outside the bag body are high, while air pressure inside the bag body is low as there is less air. As a result, the inner surfaces are tightly adhered to each other and the bag body is then able to remain airtight and watertight.
As long as the bag body remains airtight and watertight, the multi-porous resilient member inside the bag body will not be able to absorb any air and therefore will not expand. Therefore, user would be able to know if the waterproof function of the bag body is normal by observing the expansion of the multi-porous resilient member. If the user's observation prior to disposing the bag body into water is that the multi-porous resilient member expands, the user is able to know immediately that the bag opening is not sealed properly. As such, the user could seal the bag opening again, therefore reducing the risk of damaging the object inside the bag body due to inflow of water into the bag body. Besides, since the bag body is nearly in a state of vacuum inside, if a product containing an electronic touch screen is disposed inside the bag body, there would not be any spaces left between the electronic touch screen and an inner surface of one side of the bag body. Therefore, even though the electronic touch screen is separated from the user by the bag body, the user could still be able to interact with the electronic touch screen and thus benefit from the convenience of operating an electronic product underwater. By virtue of the above design, the present invention has the advantages of simple structure as well as convenience and practicality in terms of use. Vacuum structure of the storage bag according to the present invention attains sealing effect mainly by mutually and tightly adhered smooth surfaces made of smooth and soft plastic material. Since the soft plastic material is relatively soft in texture and therefore easy to change its shape and restore its original condition, and since it is easier for smooth surfaces to adhere to each other and it is not easy to have gaps formed between the adhered surfaces, sealing effect is better whereas airtightness and watertightness are maintained for a longer period of time. Furthermore, the present vacuum storage bag does not contain any hard components and therefore would not break and damage the object inside the bag body or other objects adjacent to the bag body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic view of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of the multi-porous resilient member of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to embodiments and the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the description therein.
As illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the first embodiment of the present invention comprises a bag body 1 having an open end and a bag opening 2 provided at the open end of the bag body 1 to seal the bag body 1. The bag opening 2 has inner surfaces which are smooth surfaces made of smooth and soft plastic material and the inner surfaces do not contain any self-adhesive material and are not disposed with any additional adhesive material thereon. A multi-porous resilient member 3 made of natural cotton, fiber cotton, chemical fiber cotton, latex foam, natural foam or the like is provided inside the bag body 1. In the present embodiment, the multi-porous resilient member 3 is made of latex foam. The multi-porous resilient member 3 is sized to cover a partial surface area of the bag body 1 and it is removably provided inside the bag body 1 so that it could be inserted or taken out according to user's need. In other embodiments, the multi-porous resilient member 3 could also be fixed inside the bag body 1 by means of heat pressing and the like. The bag body 1 is made of a compressible and resilient material. The compressible and resilient material is plastic material which allows user to operate a touch screen of an object 4 disposed inside the bag body 1 from outside the bag body 1. In the present embodiment, the compressible and resilient material is polyvinyl chloride (PVC). In the present embodiment, the bag opening 2 is provided at an upper end of the bag body 1. The bag opening 2 is also provided at an upper middle part with a string hole 5 for a user to fasten a string for increasing portability. In the present embodiment, the multi-porous resilient member 3 is surrounded by air-permeable fabrics which is configured as thicker at four sides to leave a recess area in middle part so that an object is easily fixed in position inside the bag body 1.
Use of the present embodiment is described as follows:
Open the bag opening 2 first and put the object 4 into the bag body 1. After that, press air out of the bag body 1 by hand and the multi-porous resilient member 3 would then be compressed. After the air is pressed out, flatten the bag opening 2 which comprises the smooth inner surfaces by hand or other soft objects so that the inner surfaces adhere to each other more smoothly. When the inner surfaces at two sides of the bag opening 2 adhere to each other, there is neither air nr space between the two inner surfaces. Therefore, the two inner surfaces adhere to each other smoothly and automatically without any gap left between them so that water and air cannot pass through. At this time, air or water density as well as air pressure outside the bag body 1 are high, while air pressure inside the bag body 1 is low as there is less air. As a result, the inner surfaces are tightly adhered to each other and the bag body 1 is then able to remain airtight and watertight.
As long as the bag body 1 remains airtight and watertight, the multi-porous resilient member 3 inside the bag body 1 will not be able to absorb any air and therefore will not expand. Therefore, user would be able to know if the waterproof function of the bag body 1 is normal by observing the expansion of the multi-porous resilient member 3. If the user's observation prior to disposing the bag body 1 into water is that the multi-porous resilient member 3 expands, the user is able to know immediately that the bag opening 2 is not sealed properly. As such, the user could seal the bag opening 2 again, therefore reducing the risk of damaging the object 4 inside the bag body 1 due to inflow of water into the bag body 1. Besides, since the bag body 1 is nearly in a state of vacuum inside, if a product containing an electronic touch screen is disposed inside the bag body 1, there would not be any spaces left between the electronic touch screen and an inner surface of one side of the bag body 1. Therefore, even though the electronic touch screen is separated from the user by the bag body 1, the user could still be able to interact with the electronic touch screen and thus benefit from the convenience of operating an electronic product underwater. By virtue of the above design, the present invention has the advantages of simple structure as well as convenience and practicality in terms of use. Vacuum structure of the storage bag according to the present invention attains sealing effect mainly by mutually and tightly adhered smooth surfaces made of smooth soft plastic material. Since the soft plastic material is relatively soft in texture and therefore easy to change its shape and restore its original condition, and since it is easier for smooth surfaces to adhere to each other and it is not easy to have gaps formed between the adhered surfaces, sealing effect is better whereas airtightness and watertightness are maintained for a longer period of time. Furthermore, the present vacuum storage bag does not contain any hard components and therefore would not break and damage the object 4 inside the bag body 1 or other objects adjacent to the bag body 1.
FIG. 3 illustrates the second embodiment of the present invention with a structure identical to that of the first embodiment except for the following: In the present embodiment, the string hole 5 is provided at an upper part of the bag body 1.
FIG. 4 illustrates the third embodiment of the present invention with a structure identical to that of the first embodiment except for the following: In the present embodiment, the string hole 5 is provided at an outer side of the bag opening 2.
FIG. 5 to FIG. 6 illustrate the fourth embodiment of the present invention with a structure identical to that of the first embodiment except for the following: In the present embodiment, the multi-porous resilient member 3 is sized to cover only a partial area of the bag body 1. In other words, the multi-porous resilient member 3 is sized to cover only three sides of the bag body 1 in a shape of an inverted “U” without covering the middle part of the bag body 1. In other embodiments not illustrated by any figures, the multi-porous resilient member could also cover only four sides of the bag body without covering the middle part of the bag body.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A waterproof storage bag comprising a bag body having an open end and a bag opening provided at the open end of the bag body to seal the bag body; characterized in that, the bag opening has inner surfaces which are smooth surfaces made of smooth and soft plastic material and the inner surfaces do not contain any self-adhesive material and are not disposed with any additional adhesive material thereon; a multi-porous resilient member is provided inside the bag body.

2. The waterproof storage bag as in claim 1, characterized in that, the multi-porous resilient member is made of natural cotton, fiber cotton, chemical fiber cotton, latex foam or natural foam.

3. The waterproof storage bag as in claim 1, characterized in that, the multi-porous resilient member is sized to cover entire surface area of the bag body.

4. The waterproof storage bag as in claim 1, characterized in that, the multi-porous resilient member is sized to cover a partial area of the bag body.

5. The waterproof storage bag as in claim 1, characterized in that, the multi-porous resilient member is fixedly provided inside the bag body.

6. The waterproof storage bag as in claim 1, characterized in that, the multi-porous resilient member is fixed inside the bag body by heat pressing.

7. The waterproof storage bag as in claim 1, characterized in that, the multi-porous resilient member is removably provided inside the bag body.

8. The waterproof storage bag as in claim 1, characterized in that, the bag body is made of a compressible and resilient material; the compressible and resilient material is a plastic material which allows user to operate a touch screen of an object disposed inside the bag body from outside the bag body.

9. The waterproof storage bag as in claim 1, characterized in that, the bag opening is provided at an upper end of the bag body.

10. The waterproof storage bag as in claim 1, characterized in that, the bag opening or the bag body is also provided with a hanging string and/or a string hole.