Trapezoidal shaped produce bag with plastic zipper

Abstract

A produce bag has a pair of perforated thin plastic side walls forming a trapezoidal-shaped envelope with an access opening. A plastic zipper portion is disposed along each of the single pair of side wall edges at the opening, the pair of side wall edges being adapted to nest with one another so as to be capable of zip-closing and zip-opening the access opening. In one alternative embodiment, a zipper closure clip is slidably attached to the single pair of side wall edges and is adapted to alternatively zip-close and zip-open the access opening.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/564,326, filed May 3, 2000, entitled METHOD OF MANUFACTURING TRAPEZOID-SHAPED PLASTIC ZIPPER BAGS, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/393,761, filed Mar. 21, 2003, entitled LOCKABLE BAG WITH PLASTIC ZIPPER CLOSURE, the entireties of which are incorporated herein by this reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates generally to plastic bags, and more specifically, to plastic bags having zipper openings.

SUMMARY

[0003] The invention is a produce bag comprising (a) a pair or perforated side walls forming an enclosed trapezoidal-shaped envelope with an access opening defined between a single pair of side wall edges; and (b) a plastic zipper moiety disposed along each of the single pair of side wall edges at the access opening, the pair of zipper moieties being adapted to nest with one another so to be capable of alternatively zip-closing and zip-opening the access opening.

DRAWINGS

[0004] These features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying figures where:

[0005] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plastic bag having features of the invention;

[0006] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a zipper closure useable in the invention;

[0007] FIG. 3 is a perspective detail view of the zipper closure illustrated in FIG. 2; and

[0008] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional detail view of the plastic bag illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along line 4-4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well.

[0010] The invention is a produce bag 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The produce bag 10 has a pair of perforated side walls 12 attached along three sets of abutting side wall edges 14 to form an enclosed trapezoidal-shaped envelope with an access opening 16 defined between a single pair of non-attached side wall edges 18.

[0011] Each of the pairs of perforated side walls 12 is typically made from a soft plastic material. Both of the pairs of perforated side walls 12 are typically of generally uniform thickness, most typically between about 0.0014 and about 0.002 inches.

[0012] In one embodiment, the access opening 16 is between about 8 inches and about 14 inches long, the bottom edge 20 opposite the access opening 16 is between about 4 inches and about 8 inches long and the distance between the access opening 16 and the bottom edge 20 is between about 8 inches and about 14 inches.

[0013] Typically, both perforated side walls 12 define round holes 22 wherein each of the round holes 22 has a diameter between about {fraction (3/16)} inch and about ½ inch. In one embodiment wherein the length of the access opening 16 is about 10 inches, the length of the bottom edge opposite the access opening 20 is about 6 inches and the distance between the access opening 16 and the bottom edge 20 is about 10 inches, the diameters of the holes 22 are about {fraction (5/16)} inch and the number of such round holes 22 is between about 55 and about 70, for example, 64.

[0014] A plastic zipper moiety 24 is disposed along each of the non-attached single pair of side wall edges 18 at the access opening 16. The pair of zipper moieties 24 are adapted to nest with one another, as is illustrated in FIG. 4, so as to be capable of alternatively zip-closing the access opening 16 and zip-opening the access opening 16.

[0015] In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the produce bag 10 further comprises a zipper closure clip 26 which is slidably attached to the single pair of non-attached side wall edges 18 along the access opening 16. The zipper closure clip 26 is typically made from a plastic material. The zipper closure clip 26 is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0016] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the zipper closure clip 26 has a pair of opposed clamping surfaces 28 which squeeze the single pair of non-attached side wall edges 18 so as to force the zipper moieties 24 together and to thereby close the access opening 16 when the zipper closure clip 26 is slid along the single pair of non-attached side wall edges 18 in a first direction. As also seen in FIG. 3, the zipper closure clip 26 further comprises an opener edge 30 capable of prying apart the single pair of non-attached side wall edges 18 so as to force the zipper moieties 24 apart, and to thereby open the access opening 16 when the zipper closure clip 26 is slid in a second, opposite direction.

[0017] Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove and as described hereinbelow by the claims.

Claims

1. A produce bag comprising:

(a) a pair or perforated side walls forming an enclosed trapezoidal-shaped envelope with an access opening defined between a single pair of side wall edges; and

(b) a plastic zipper moiety disposed along each of the single pair of side wall edges at the access opening, the pair of zipper moieties being adapted to nest with one another so to be capable of alternatively zip-closing and zip-opening the access opening.

2. The produce bag of claim 1 further comprising a zipper closure clip slidably attached to the single pair of side wall edges along the access opening, the zipper closure clip having a pair of opposed clamping surfaces which squeeze the single pair of side wall edges so as to force the zipper moieties together and to thereby close the access opening when the zipper closure clip is slid along the single pair of side wall edges in a first direction, the zipper closure clip also having an opener edge capable of prying apart the single pair of side wall edges so as to force the zipper moieties apart and to thereby open the access opening when the zipper closure clip is slid in a second, opposite direction.

3. The produce bag of claim 1 wherein each of the pairs of perforated side walls has a generally uniform thickness between about 0.0014 and about 0.002 inches in thickness.

4. The produce bag of claim 1 wherein the access opening is between about 8 inches and 14 inches long, the bottom edge opposite the access opening is between about 4 inches and about 8 inches and the distance between the access opening and the bottom edge is between about 8 inches and about 14 inches.

5. The produce bag of claim 4 wherein the perforated side walls define round holes, each of the round holes having a diameter of between about {fraction (3/16)} inch and about one half inch.

6. The produce bag of claim 4 wherein the perforated side walls define round holes having a diameter between about {fraction (3/16)} inch and about one half inch, and wherein the number of round holes defined in each of the perforated side walls is between about 55 and about 70.

7. A produce bag comprising:

(a) a pair or perforated side walls forming an enclosed trapezoidal-shaped envelope with an access opening defined between a single pair of side wall edges;

(b) a plastic zipper moiety disposed along each of the single pair of side wall edges at the access opening, the pair of zipper moieties being adapted to nest with one another so to be capable of alternatively zip-closing and zip-opening the access opening; and

(c) a zipper closure clip slidably attached to the single pair of side wall edges along the access opening, the zipper closure clip having a pair of opposed clamping surfaces which squeeze the single pair of side wall edges so as to force the zipper moieties together and to thereby close the access opening when the zipper closure clip is slid along the single pair of side wall edges in a first direction, the zipper closure clip also having an opener edge capable of prying apart the single pair of side wall edges so as to force the zipper moieties apart and to thereby open the access opening when the zipper closure clip is slid in a second, opposite direction;

wherein the access opening is between about 8 inches and 14 inches long, the bottom edge opposite the access opening is between about 4 inches and about 8 inches and the distance between the access opening and the bottom edge is between about 8 inches and about 14 inches.

8. The produce bag of claim 7 wherein each of the pairs of perforated side walls has a generally uniform thickness between about 0.0014 and about 0.002 inches in thickness.

9. The produce bag of claim 7 wherein the perforated side walls define round holes, each of the round holes having a diameter of between about {fraction (3/16)} inch and about one half inch.

10. The produce bag of claim 7 wherein the perforated side walls define round holes having a diameter between about {fraction (3/16)} inch and about one half inch, and wherein the number of round holes defined in each of the perforated side walls is between about 55 and about 70.