Reclosable disposable plastic storage bag for a pizza slice and a reclosable storage pouch therefor

Abstract

A reclosable, triangular shaped disposable plastic storage bag which is dimensioned to accommodate a single slice of pizza. The bags are preferably packaged and dispensed from a similar but somewhat larger triangular reclosable plastic pouch. The pouch is preferably provided with a hook hole to allow the pouch to be hung on a hook or a display rack.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/901,158 filed Feb. 14, 2007

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates broadly to plastic storage bags and pouches. More particularly, the invention relates to plastic storage bags specifically designed to contain a single slice of pizza and to a plastic storage pouch for containing a plurality of said storage bags.

2. State of the Art

Pizza (also known as pizza pie) is one of America's favorite foods. It is an oven-baked, flat, usually round bread covered with tomato purée and often mozzarella cheese, with other toppings left optional. Considered a peasant's meal in Italy for centuries no one can say who invented the very first pizza pie. Food historians agree that pizza like dishes were eaten by many peoples in the Mediterranean including the Greeks and Egyptians. However, modern pizza has been attributed to baker Raffaele Esposito of Naples. In 1889, Esposito, who owned a restaurant called the Pizzeria di Pietro, baked what he called “pizza” especially for the visit of Italian King Umberto I and Queen Margherita. The first pizzeria in North America was opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi on Spring Street in New York City. The first “Pizza Hut”, a chain of pizza restaurants, appeared in the United States during the 1930s.

Round pizza pies are typically cut into “slices” which are essentially triangular with a rounded base and two edges which extend from the base to converge at the tip defining an angle. The number of slices determines the angle at the tip of a slice. Pizza pies are usually cut into at least four slices, though eight slices are common and some large pies may be cut into twelve slices. Therefore, the angle defined by the tip of the slices may be as large as ninety degrees or as small as thirty degrees, with forty-five degrees (eight slices) being the most common.

As all pizza aficionados know, no matter how many people share no matter how-many pies, there are always slices remaining after a meal. Unlike most baked foods which taste best fresh out of the oven, many people think that reheated slices of pizza taste as good or better than fresh from the oven pizza. Some people even like eating day old cold slices fresh from the refrigerator.

The problem with left over pizza slices is how to package them for the refrigerator. Some people put the entire box that the pizza was delivered in into the refrigerator where it has a footprint occupying most of a refrigerator shelf. This may be an adequate solution for young single men who typically have plenty of space in their refrigerator. It is totally unacceptable, however, for a family where refrigerators are typically well stocked. Prior to 1968, busy mothers were forced to package pizza slices in folded wax paper or Saran wrap or aluminum foil. Anyone old enough will remember that these wrapping materials left much to be desired. In particular, when the slices were removed from the refrigerator and unwrapped, the wrapping material often took much of the pizza topping with it.

Then, in 1968, there was something of a left over pizza slice breakthrough. It was in that year that an employee of the Dow Chemical Company invented the “Ziploc” bag. Of course Ziploc bags have many admirable uses and it is impossible to say whether saving pizza slices was the inventor's intended first best use. Yet anyone who can afford both a pizza pie and a Ziploc bag knows that these bags are the state of the art in pizza preservation. These bags open easily to insert one or more slices and close snugly to preserve the moisture in the slice during its time in the fridge. However, for the last forty years there has been a glaring problem with Ziploc bags which has never been solved. The bags are rectangular but the pizza slices are not. Thus, in many instances much of the bag is not used to store the pizza slices. Frequently, half of the bag is unoccupied and the bag is folded over on itself to form a triangular shape but with lots of unoccupied space.

In recent times, environmentalism has become an important concern to most Americans, even corporate America. Many products are now advertised and marketed as being “eco-friendly” and eco-friendly products benefit the environment, the consumer, and the manufacturer as well. One of the most well known threats to the environment is petroleum and petroleum based products. However, until suitable replacements for petroleum and petroleum based products can be found, the best an environmentally conscious citizen can do is to minimize their consumption.

While petroleum consumption can be minimized by driving fuel efficient cars and by driving less, no one has suggested a way in which consumers can minimize the consumption of petroleum based Ziploc bags, until now.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention presents a disposable, triangular shaped plastic storage bag which is dimensioned to accommodate a single slice of pizza. The bags are preferably packaged and dispensed from a similar but somewhat larger disposable plastic triangular pouch. The pouch is preferably provided with a hook hole in the center of the base. The hook hole allows the pouch to be hung in a store display rack or on a hook in the home. According to the presently preferred embodiment, both the bags and the pouch have reclosable zipper seals of the Ziploc type. The bags are advantageously decoratively imprinted with trademarks, advertising, text and/or decorative designs to enhance its commercial appeal. It may also be advantageous to print the reclosable pouch in a similar manner. According to one embodiment, the triangular shaped bag preferably has an altitude of approximately twelve inches and a base of approximately ten inches and a tip forming an angle of approximately 45 degrees.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reclosable, disposable, plastic storage pouch for storing a multiplicity of reclosable disposable plastic bags for a pizza slice;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view thereof; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view thereof, the opposite side being a mirror image thereof;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a single, reclosable, disposable storage bag for a pizza slice;

FIG. 6 is front elevational view thereof;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view thereof, the opposite side being a mirror image thereof; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a plurality of disposable storage bags contained within the reclosable storage pouch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED AND ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

Turning now to FIGS. 1-4, a reclosable, generally triangular pouch 10 according to the invention includes two triangular sheets or panels 12, 14 of flexible clear plastic which are fused at the edges 16, 18 by RF or sonic welding or the like. A zipper closure 20 preferably of the Ziploc® type is provided at the base of the triangular sheets 12, 14. A pair of generally rectangular plastic sheets or panels 21, 23 are joined to and extend upwardly from the zipper closure 20 each defining a central hook hole 22. The panels 21, 23 are joined at their lateral ends 24, 25 and cooperatively defining a top end 26 which, when torn open, provides access to the triangular interior or cavity of the pouch defined by triangular panels 12, 14 via zipper closure 20. The pouch 10 is designed to contain a plurality of bags (FIG. 8) one of which is illustrated in FIGS. 5-7.

Turning now to FIGS. 5-7, a reclosable bag 110 according to the invention includes two triangular sheets or panels 112, 114 of flexible clear plastic which are fused at the edges 116, 118 by RF or sonic welding or the like. A pair of generally rectangular, plastic, horizontally ribbed panels or sheets 121, 123 are joined to and extend upwardly from the base of the triangular sheets 112, 114 via a zipper closure 120 preferably of the Ziploc® type. The panels 121, 123 are joined at their lateral ends 124, 125 and cooperatively define an open end 126 which provides access to the triangular interior or cavity of the pouch defined by triangular panels 112, 114 via zipper closure 120. The bags 110 are shaped and dimensioned so that a plurality of bags (e.g. 110, 110′, 110″) can be contained within pouch 10 as shown in FIG. 8

According to one embodiment, the triangular shaped Ziploc® storage bag 110 has an altitude of approximately twelve inches and a base of approximately ten inches and a tip forming an angle (theta) of approximately 45 degrees. The bags are preferably packaged and dispensed from a similar but somewhat larger triangular pouch 10 which has a tip forming the same or larger angle (alpha). The pouch 10 is preferably provided with a hook hole 22 in the center of the rectangular base 21. The hook hole allows the pouch to be hung on a display stand or rack.

In a preferred embodiment, the size of the triangular shaped plastic storage bag 110 is approximately 10⅜″ across the top of the bag, and 12⅝″ from top to bottom. The thickness of the triangular sides is approximately 1.5-1.75 mm thick. The two long sides 116, 118 of the bag are placed at approximately a 49-degree angle to each other, approximating the angle of a slice of pizza. The plastic zipper type closure 120 of the storage bag allows the pizza slice to be sealed in the bag for storage. This closure is located approximately 11/21/32″ from the bottom of the bag, and 15/16″ from the top of the bag. This 15/16″ allows for the easy separation of the two upper panels 121, 123 of the bag, and in turn, the zipper closure to be opened, to permit a slice of pizza to be inserted within the triangular cavity of the bag, following which the bag can then be resealed. This area is preferably provided with some texture to it, such as via the horizontal ribbing. This allows for a better grip when opening/closing the bag. The zipper closure 120 allows the bag to be opened and resealed. The bag may be stored in the refrigerator, or the freezer with the slice of pizza enclosed.

There have been described and illustrated herein reclosable bags for storing individual slices of pizza and a reclosable pouch for containing the bags. While particular embodiments of the invention have been described, it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.

Claims

1. A reclosable plastic storage bag, comprising:

a first flexible triangular sheet defining a base and two edges each forming an acute angle with the base;

a second flexible triangular sheet defining a base and two edges each forming an acute angle with the base, the edges of said first sheet being welded to the edges of the second sheet so as to define a generally triangular interior space for receipt of a slice of pizza; and

a zipper lock coupled to the bases of the first and second sheet.

2. A reclosable plastic storage bag, according to claim 1 further comprising:

a pair of plate sheets joined to and extending upwardly from said zipper lock and defining an open end.

3. The bag according to claim 1, wherein said storage bag has an altitude measured from the base to the apex of the edges of approximately twelve inches and a base of approximately ten inches.

4. A reclosable plastic pouch containing a plurality of reclosable plastic bags as claimed in claim 1, said pouch comprising:

a first flexible triangular pouch sheet defining a base and two edges each forming an acute angle with the base;

a second flexible triangular pouch sheet defining a base and two edges each forming an acute angle with the base, the edges of said first sheet being welded to the edges of the second sheet, and wherein said first and second pouch sheets cooperatively define a generally triangular interior space for receipt therein of a plurality of reclosable generally triangular storage bags.

5. The reclosable plastic pouch according to claim 4, wherein:

said storage bag has an altitude measured from the base to the apex of the edges greater than the altitude of the bags and a base longer than the base of the bags.

6. A reclosable plastic pouch according to claim 4, further comprising:

a pouch zipper lock coupled to the bases of the pouch sheets.

7. A reclosable plastic pouch according to claim 3, further comprising:

a pair of rectangular flexible plastic sheets extending from, and joined to said pouch zipper lock said rectangular flexible plastic sheets also defining a central hook hole.

8. A reclosable plastic pouch according to claim 6, wherein:

said rectangular plastic sheets are decoratively imprinted.