WO2010149863A1

WO2010149863A1 - System for opening/closing a flexible packaging bag

Info

Publication number: WO2010149863A1
Application number: PCT/FR2009/051213
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eric Barbier; Jean-Pierre Barbier
Original assignee: Morance Soudure
Priority date: 2009-06-25
Filing date: 2009-06-25
Publication date: 2010-12-29

Abstract

The present invention relates to an opening/closing system (4) comprising a planar base part (7) delimiting an opening (8) therethrough, said base part (7) comprising a guiding means (10) parallel to the opening (8) engaging with a means (12) for guiding a slide (9) for blocking or freeing up the opening (8) which, prior to the first use thereof, is blocked by a layer of material (13), and in which the slide (12) comprises a means (14) for destroying the layer of material (13) to free the opening (8) when using the opening/closing system (4) for the first time, characterised in that said system includes a recess (15) including walls sealingly surrounding the means (14) prior to the first use and in which one wall (15a) is made of the layer of material (13) to be destroyed the first time the opening/closing system (4) is used, as well as to a packaging bag (2) provided with such an opening/closing system (4) and to a film for forming the walls of such a packaging bag (2).

Description

Soft bag opening / closing system

The present invention relates to an opening / closing system intended, in particular for packaging bags.

It is known from document EP1725134 to use packaging bag opening / closing systems comprising a flat base part at least partially delimiting an opening therethrough, this base part comprising guiding means co-operating with guide means for a slider for closing the opening or to leave it free, the flat base part being intended to be fixed to the wall of the bag so that the opening it delimits coincides with an opening in the wall of the bag.

This type of opening / closing system can in particular be fixed next to a precut forming a detachable strip at the first use, this precut thus ensuring the inviolability of the bag, a user can immediately identify if the bag has already been open.

It is also known from this document to seal the opening of the opening / closing system with a layer of molded material with the base piece and at least partially destroying itself during the first use of the system to increase sealing the contents of the bag and thus trap the odors that can be generated by the contents of the bag.

These are the variables that provide such an open / close system; however, it appears that the system is not perfectly sealed. As a result, it is difficult to maintain a controlled atmosphere inside the bag, whether the relative pressure inside the bag is positive or negative. In addition, the injection of a neutral gas for the preservation of the products is also made impossible.

It is also desirable to improve the protection against insect intrusion and to prevent odors from escaping from the bag.

In addition, this type of system is not always flexible enough to allow installation on a flexible bag without breaking or damaging said system. Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide an opening / closing system ensuring a perfect seal between the contents of the bag and the outside.

Another object of the invention will be to make the system more flexible while retaining the simplicity and efficiency of use and manufacture thereof.

Thus, according to a first aspect, the subject of the invention is an opening / closing system comprising a flat base part delimiting an opening therethrough, this base part comprising guiding means parallel to the opening cooperating with guide means for a slider for sealing or leaving free the opening which before the first use, is closed by a layer of material, and wherein the slider comprises means for destroying the layer of material to release the opening during the first use of the opening / closing system characterized in that it comprises a housing comprising walls hermetically surrounding the means before the first use and a wall of which is formed by the layer of material de esti ned to be de ned i re when first using the open / close system.

This arrangement makes it possible to obtain a perfect seal of the contents of the bag and thus to maintain a controlled atmosphere inside the bag, whether the relative pressure inside the bag is positive or negative. It is also possible to inject a neutral gas for the preservation of products. These provisions also make it possible to improve the protection against the intrusion of insects, and to prevent odors generated by the contents of the bag from spreading in the confined places of storage.

According to other features of the invention, the system according to the invention comprises one or more of the following optional features considered alone or according to all possible combinations.

According to one embodiment, the wall of the housing intended to be destroyed during the first use is oriented in the direction of movement of the slide to clear the opening.

This arrangement makes it possible to associate the layer of material of the wall with the layer of material closing the opening before the first use of the system. According to one embodiment, the means for at least partially destroying the layer of material are formed by a slider oriented towards the opening.

According to the same embodiment, the cursor has a bevelled portion.

According to another aspect of the invention, a plurality of cavities is disposed on the base and on the slider.

Thanks to the presence of cavities on the system according to the invention, the latter has a lightening material while ensuring sufficient mechanical cohesion to ensure the operation of the system of the invention in opening and closing.

In addition, the presence of cavities makes the system of the invention more flexible and thereby facilitates the folding of the closure.

According to another embodiment, the cavities have a substantially hemispherical shape.

According to the same embodiment, the cavities have a diameter of between 2 mm and 3 mm.

Advantageously, the cavities are spaced apart by a distance of between 10 mm and 20 mm.

According to a mode of real isation, the cavities have a substantially parallelepipedic shape

According to a second aspect, the subject of the invention is a packaging bag equipped on at least one of its walls with an opening / closing system of the invention.

According to yet another aspect, the subject of the invention is a film intended to form the walls of a packaging bag comprising at least one opening / closing system according to the invention.

Preferably, the film is packaged in the form of a coil.

The invention will be better understood on reading the nonlimiting description which follows, with reference to the appended figures below.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the system from the outside of the bag;

Figure 2 shows a partial view of the slide seen from below and a partial cutaway view of the base piece seen from above.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the system comprising the slide engaged in the base piece. Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the system comprising the slider with its slider engaged in the base piece, with its housing.

Figure 5 is a top view of the slide of the opening / closing system.

FIG. 6 is a view from below of the base part of the opening / closing system.

Figure 1 shows a wall portion 3 of a flexible plastic bag 2 on which is arranged an opening / closing system 4 according to the invention.

This pa ro i 3 is made of a heat-sealable material.

This opening / closing system 4 may be, as described in document EP1725134, fixed opposite a pre-cut delimiting a strip having rounded ends.

These ends of tape are cut and can be lifted and seized to allow removal of this band by manual pulling, the withdrawal of this band thus delimiting the opening 5 in the wall 3 of the bag 2.

A user can therefore, during the first use, remove the band by manual pulling, then open and close the bag 2 using the opening / closing system 4.

As shown more particularly in Figure 1, the opening / closing system 4 comprises a flat base part 7 at least partially delimiting an opening 8 through it, this base part 7 having guide means 10 parallel to the opening cooperating with guide means 12 of a slider 9 for sealing or leaving free the opening 8.

The opening 8, before the first use, is closed by a layer of material 13 integrally molded with the base part 7, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6.

The slider 9 comprises a slider 14 oriented towards the opening 8 making it possible to destroy at least partially the layer of material 13 to release the opening 8. The slider 14 is located on one end of a median wall 19 connecting over their entire length the guide means 12 profiled on the slider 9.

A housing 15 for the slider 14 is provided at one end of the opening 8. This housing 15 has a substantially parallelepipedal shape and comprises dimensions slightly greater than the dimensions of the slider 14 which is thus housed inside this housing 15. One of the walls of this housing 15 is made with the layer of material 13 and is also intended to be at least partially destroyed during the first use of the system. The connection of the housing with the material layer 13 closing the opening 8 ensures that the opening / closing system 4 is in contact with the opening / closing system 4 before it is used for the first time.

In order to facilitate the destruction by the slider 14 of the layer of material 13 covering the opening 8 and forming the wall 15a of the housing 15, the layer of material 13 has a weakened zone 16 where its thickness is smaller and the slider 14 has a beveled portion oriented towards the opening direction of the system 4.

This zone of weakness 16 extends substantially over the entire length of the opening 8 and in the center of the wall 15a of the housing 15.

In the operative position, the slider 14 protrudes inside the opening 8, which allows it to abut against the end 17 of the opening 8 opposite that with the housing 15, in order to limit the stroke from the cursor 14 to the length of the opening 8.

The layer of material 1 3 makes it possible to ensure the tightness of the opening 8 during the storage of the bag 2 before it is sold, that is to say when it is in stock or in a rack.

In the embodiment shown, the slider 9 has at each of its ends, a gripping tab 18, facilitating handling by a user.

It is also possible to make the layer of material 13 by bringing it back after the manufacture of the base part 7. However, this solution considerably complicates the manufacture and increases the cost of this part.

As illustrated in all the figures except Figure 4, cavities 20 are formed on the surfaces of the base part 7 and the slide 9. These cavities 20 are aligned substantially in the direction of sliding and arranged on either side of the guide means O on the base part 7 and arranged on either side of the guide means 12 on the slider 9.

The cavities 20 formed on the base part 7 are on the inside of the same base part 7, that is to say on the face facing towards the inside of the bag 2, and have on the example shown in Figure 6 a parallelepipedal shape with a length of between 2 and 3 cm over a width of about 1 mm. They do not pass through the thickness of the base piece 7 and are separated from their adjacent cavity by a distance of about 1 mm.

The cavities 20 formed on the slider 9 illustrated in FIG. 5 are located on the upper face of this same slide 9, that is to say on the face facing towards the outside of the bag 2, and also have a parallelepipedal shape but a length between 10 and 15 mm over a width of about 1 mm. Again, these cavities are not through and do not cross the slide 9.

When a flexible bag 2 on which has been installed an opening / closing system 4 according to the invention is deformed due to its manipulation, the cavities 20 will allow the base piece 7 and the slider 9 to partly follow this deformation by giving them increased flexibility.

This flexibility prevents the premature breaking of these elements 7, 9.

In addition, the use of these cavities 20 reduces the overall structure and can reduce manufacturing costs. Indeed, these cavities 20 if they are derived from molding condicionnent a contribution of less material for the manufacture of the system of opening / closing 4.

Nevertheless, these cavities 20 can be obtained by any machine adapted to produce such cavities 20.

The use of a milling machine or drill for making the cavities 20 produces falls that can be recycled to the manufacture of other opening / closing systems 4.

It is advantageous to equip the film intended to form the walls 3 of a packaging bag 2 with opening / closing systems 4 described above before shaping the bags 3. In particular, this film can be conditioned in the form of coils which can then be used on known machines for making bags. As goes without saying, the invention is not limited to the forms and preferred embodiment described above, by way of non-limiting example; it encompasses all variants, in particular the shape of the cavities can be adapted according to the flexibility of the bag 2 considered.

Thus cavities of hemispherical shape easier to achieve may be arranged instead of the parallelepiped cavities described above as an example.

Claims

1. Opening / closing system (4) comprising a base piece (7) defining an opening (8) through it, this base piece (7) having guide means (10) parallel to the opening (8) cooperating with guiding means (12) of a slider (9) for sealing or leaving free the opening (8) which, before the first use, is closed by a layer of material (13), and wherein the slider (12) has means (14) for destroying the layer of material (13) to release the opening (8) during the first use of the opening / closing system (4) characterized in that it comprises a housing (15) comprising walls hermetically surrounding the means (14) before the first use and a wall (15a) of which is formed by the layer of material (13) intended to be destroyed during the first use of the system opening / closing (4).

2. System according to claim 1 wherein the wall of the housing (15) intended to be destroyed during the first use is oriented towards the direction of movement of the slider (9) to clear the opening (8).

3. System according to one of claims 1 to 2 wherein the means (14) for destroying at least partially the layer of material (13) are formed by a slider (14) facing the opening (8).

4. System according to claim 3 wherein the slider (14) comprises a bevelled portion.

5. System according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a plurality of cavities (20) is disposed on the base (7) and on the slider (9).

The system of claim 3, wherein the cavities (20) are substantially hemispherical in shape.

7. System according to one of claims 5 to 6, wherein the cavities (20) have a diameter of between 2 mm and 3 mm.

8. System according to one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the cavities (20) are spaced a distance of between 10 mm and 20 mm

9. System according to claim 5 wherein the cavities (20) have a substantially parallelepiped shape.

Packaging bag (2) equipped on at least one of its walls (3) with an opening / closing system (4) according to one of claims 1 to 9.

11. Film intended to form the walls of a packaging bag (2) comprising at least one opening / closing system (4) according to one of claims 1 to 9.

12. Film according to claim 11, characterized in that it is packaged in the form of a coil.