Plastic bag with non-metallic closure

Abstract

A thermoplastic bag includes a front and rear wall continuously joined together along a bottom and side edges, the bag being open at the top along the top edges of the front and rear walls, and a first strip of a non-metallic hook and loop fastener secured to one of the bag walls adjacent the open top edge of the bag, the first strip extending away from each of the side edges for a predefined distance.

Description

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/957,227, filed Aug. 22, 2007 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/979,102, filed Oct. 11, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a bag structure. Particularly, the present invention relates to thin wall bags fabricated from thermoplastic materials such as polyolefins, including polyethylene and polypropylene.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the past, thin walled thermoplastic bags were usually closed by gathering the top end of the bag over the contents, twisting the gathered end and tying the twisted neck of the bag, for example, with a rubber band or a length of paper coated wire commonly referred to as a twist-tie. Such closing means are often supplied by the bag manufacturer as a separate item in the package of bags.

More recently, however, thin walled thermoplastic bags have been devised with interlocking strips of a plastic closure mechanism commonly referred to as zip lock. These prior art thermoplastic bags do not have any mechanism for fastening the bag to a structure.

In the commercial nuclear power plant industry, there is a need for plastic bags to house dosimetry and other small articles of tooling so that they will not become contaminated while personnel are performing work activities. The closure for these plastic bags are manufactured with a thin piece of wire that is adhered to each side of the bag which will enable the two wire ends to be twisted thus closing the bag. These bags are typically manufactured of low density polyethylene (LDPE), either tinted or portions thereof tinted so that workers can see into the bag enabling them to read the dosimetry readings.

A problem with this prior art bag is the wire tie mechanism. If either the bag in its entirety or the wire tie becomes separated from the bag there is a concern that this foreign matter can become lost or displaced into the plant operating systems. In commercial nuclear power plants, the reactor cavity and/or spent fuel pool are critical areas. If the wire from a bag is dropped into the pool it will sink to the bottom becoming foreign material. If this happens, it could potentially cost the utility company hundreds of thousands of dollars and potentially millions to retrieve the wire. A worst scenario is that the wire could potentially be permanently lost and eventually cause failure to a plant's vital equipment, which could cost millions of dollars to repair.

The metal wire can cause major component damage to plant systems including fuel leakage which ultimately lowers the plants efficiency and could potentially raise radiological levels within the plant.

Therefore, what is needed is a bag for use in critical plant areas particularly in nuclear power plants that reduces the risk of potentially causing major component damage if inadvertently dropped.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bag for use in critical plant areas that reduces the risk of potentially causing major component damage if inadvertently dropped.

The present invention achieves these and other objectives by providing a bag with a non-metallic tie mechanism. The bag is preferably made of a flexible, plastic material with a non-metallic mechanism attached at or near the open end of the bag. Thus, the bag is a thermoplastic bag that includes a front and rear wall continuously joined together along a bottom and side edges where the bag is open at the top along the top edges of the front and rear walls, and a first strip of a non-metallic hook and loop fastener secured to one of the bag walls adjacent the open bag top. The first strip extends away from each of the side edges for a predefined distance.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the bag includes an elongated strip of a hook and loop fastener extending from each side of the bag substantially parallel to the open end of the bag. In another embodiment of the present invention, the elongated strip is attached to the bag along the entire side of the open end. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the elongated strip is disposed in a hem along one side of the open end. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the hem has a plurality of windows exposing portions of the hook and loop strip.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the bag includes a first elongated strip fastened to one side of the open end with a portion extending from one side of the bag and a second elongated strip fastened to the other side of the open end with a portion extending from the opposite side of the bag. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the first elongated strip is a hook portion of the hook and loop fastener mechanism and the second elongated strip is a loop portion of the hook and loop fastener. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first and second elongated strips of hook and loop fastener are disposed in a hem along the open end of the bag.

In use, the bag's contents are retained within the bag by folding the open end of the bag over upon itself a plurality of times and then connecting the strips of hook and loop fastener extending from the sides of the bag together to maintain the bag open end in a closed position. The elongated strips can optionally be looped around or through a loop on clothing prior to connecting the strips of hook and loop fastener together thereby securing the closed bag onto the user. This is particularly important when the user is in a critical area of a plant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the present invention showing a thermoplastic bag with a non-metallic closure device.

FIG. 1A is a top view of the embodiment in FIG. 1 showing multiple configurations of the non-metallic closure device and thermoplastic bag.

FIG. 2 is a front view of another embodiment of the present invention showing a thermoplastic bag with a non-metallic closure device.

FIG. 2A is a top view of the embodiment in FIG. 2 showing multiple configurations of the non-metallic closure device and thermoplastic bag.

FIG. 3 is a front view of another embodiment of the present invention showing a thermoplastic bag with a non-metallic closure device disposed within a hem.

FIG. 3A is a top view of the embodiment in FIG. 3 showing multiple configurations of the non-metallic closure device and thermoplastic bag.

FIG. 4 is a front view of another embodiment of the present invention showing a thermoplastic bag with a non-metallic closure device disposed within a hem.

FIG. 4A is a top view of the embodiment in FIG. 4 showing multiple configurations of the non-metallic closure device and thermoplastic bag.

FIG. 5 is a front view of another embodiment of the present invention showing a thermoplastic bag with a non-metallic closure device disposed within a hem that has openings on the inside of the bag to expose portions of the closure device.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the embodiment of the present invention in FIG. 5 showing a thermoplastic bag with a non-metallic closure device disposed within a hem that has openings on the inside of the bag to expose portions of the closure device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 1-6. FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of one embodiment of a bag with a non-metallic closure mechanism 10 of the present invention. Bag 10 has a front wall 20 and a rear wall 30 continuously joined together along a bottom edge 12 and side edges 14, 16, an open end along a top edge 18 of front and rear walls 20, 30, and a first strip 40 of a non-metallic hook and loop fastener. First strip 40 is secured to one of front wall 20 or rear wall 30 adjacent the open top edge 18 and has a first strip portion 41 and a second strip portion 42 where each extends away from one of the side edges 14, 16. First strip portion 41 has the hook surface portion 44 of the hook and loop fastener while second strip portion 42 has the loop surface portion 46 of the hook and loop fastener. It should be understood that first and second strip portions 41, 42 may have both hook and loop surface portions 44, 46 where the hook portion 44 is on one side of strip 40 and the loop portion 46 is on the other side of strip 40. Bag 10 may optionally include a vent opening 60 in one or both of front and rear walls 20, 30.

Bag 10 may also include a second strip 50 secured to the wall opposite the wall upon which first strip 40 is secured. FIG. 1A shows several top views of the embodiment of bag 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 with first strip 40 and first and second strips 40, 50. Where first and second strips 40, 50 are used, first and second strip portions 41, 42 in one embodiment preferably form a single, combined strip portion with first and second strip portions 51, 52 for ease of use. In another embodiment first strip 40 has only a first strip portion 41 that extends from side edge 14 while second strip 50 has only a second strip portion 52 that extends from side edge 16. For an example, see FIG. 4A.

Turning now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated another embodiment of bag 10 with the hook and loop fastener. In this embodiment, first and second strip portions 41, 42 are not part of a single continuous strip 40 but are individually secured adjacent side edges 14, 16, respectively. First and second strip portions 41, 42 may be secured to front wall 20, rear wall 30 or both as illustrated in FIG. 2 A.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show additional embodiments of bag 10. In these embodiments, first strip 40 is secured to front wall 20 within a front wall hem 22. When second strip 50 is also incorporated and used, second strip 50 is also preferably secured to rear wall 30 within a rear wall hem 32. Like the embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2, the embodiments in FIGS. 3 and 4 that include first and second strips 40, 50, there may be only one strip portion that extends from each of side edges 14, 16. FIGS. 3A and 4A illustrate this more clearly.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, there is illustrated another embodiment of bag 10. In this embodiment, bag 10 includes a front wall 20 and a rear wall 30 continuously joined together along a bottom edge 12 and side edges 14, 16, an open end along a top edge 18 of front and rear walls 20, 30, a first strip 40 and a second strip 50 of a non-metallic hook and loop fastener. First strip 40 is secured to front wall 20 within a front wall hem 22 adjacent the open top edge 18 and has a first strip portion 41 that extends away from side edge 14. Second strip 50 is secured to rear wall 30 within a rear wall hem 32 adjacent the open top edge 18 and has a second strip portion 52 that extends away from side edge 16. Front wall hem 22 and rear wall hem 32 have a plurality of aligned openings 25 and 35 formed in the inside surface portion of front wall 20 and rear wall 30 that forms hems 22, 32, respectively. In other words, the openings 25, 35 of hems 22, 32 are positioned on the inside of bag 10. The hook surface 44 of first strip 40 is exposed at openings 25 while the loop surface 56 of second strip 50 is exposed at openings 35 so that there is positive closure of the bag by the facing and opposed hook and loop fastener within openings 25, 35. This embodiment provides a closure mechanism that is not reliant upon the bag having to be twisted to be closed while still providing a means for securing bag 10 to a structure by attaching first strip portion 41 and second strip portion 52 to each other after looping first and second strip portions 41, 52 around the structure. It should also be understood that first strip 40 within hem 22 and second strip 50 within hem 32 may be one continuous piece or may be segmented where the segments are aligned with openings 25, 35, respectively.

In use, bag 10 is typically closed by holding each end of the hook and loop strips (first strip portions 41, 42 and/or second strip portions 51, 52) and then spinning bag 10 about the stationary and held strips thus sealing bag 10. To prevent air buildup during the closing process, a vent opening 60 is optionally included in the front wall 20, back wall 30 or both to allow captured air to escape. The ends of the hook and loop strip can then be attached to each other or looped around a structure before being attached to each other. The latter option provides a way to not only maintain closure of bag 10 but also secure bag 10 to a structure.

The relative positioning of the hook and loop surfaces to each other of the hook and loop strip on bag 10 is important only for packaging because bag 10 is typically provided in packages containing a plurality of bags. For instance, the hook and loop portions are arranged on bag 10 so that when a user needs to use a bag, the bags will not be stuck to one another and just one bag can be pulled from the plurality of bags in a package without attaching itself to other bags beneath it or within the package.

Unlike prior art bags, if the thermoplastic bag of the present invention becomes foreign matter, it is not likely to create damage to vital plant equipment. Further, if the thermoplastic bag does become foreign matter and is left in the plant system, it would either just melt away or disintegrate into microscopic pieces which would not harmfully impact plant equipment. Another feature of the hook and loop closure bag is that the bag and hook and loop fastener will float either together as one or as separate pieces if the hook and loop closure bag is introduced/dropped into water.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, the above description is merely illustrative. Further modification of the invention herein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the respective arts and all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A thermoplastic bag comprising:

a front and rear wall continuously joined together along a bottom and side edges, the bag being open at the top along the top edges of the front and rear walls; and

a first strip of a non-metallic hook and loop fastener secured to one of the bag walls adjacent the open bag top, the first strip extending away from each of the side edges for a predefined distance.

2. The bag of claim 1 wherein the first strip is secured within a hem formed in the bag walls adjacent the open bag top.

3. The bag of claim 1 further comprising a second strip of hook and loop fastener secured to the other of the side walls adjacent the open bag top, the second strip extending from at least one of the side edges for a predefined distance.

4. The bag of claim 3 wherein the first strip and second strip are secured within a hem formed in the bag walls adjacent the open bag top.

5. The bag of claim 4 wherein the hem has a plurality of spaced and opposed openings on the inside of the bag and exposing one or more portions of the first strip and the second strip.

6. The bag of claim 1 further comprising a vent hole in one of the front and rear walls.