A side-gusseted bag having a slider-operated zipper. The zipper parts are joined only at one end, the free ends of the zipper parts being separable to allow the associated side gusset of the bag to be inverted to form a pouring spout. The zipper flanges at the joined ends of the zipper are inserted in a corner formed by one gusset panel and an opposing portion of the bag wall. The other gusset panel is sealed to the other bag wall at the elevation of the zipper flanges.
Reclosable fastener assemblies are useful for sealing thermoplastic pouches or bags. Such fastener assemblies often include a plastic zipper and a slider. Typically, the plastic zippers include a pair of interlockable fastener elements, orprofiles, that form a closure. As the slider moves across the profiles, the profiles are opened or closed. The profiles in plastic zippers can take on various configurations, e.g. interlocking rib and groove elements having so-called male and femaleprofiles, interlocking alternating hook-shaped closure members, etc.
Conventional slider-operated zipper assemblies typically comprise a plastic zipper having two interlocking profiles and a slider for opening and closing the zipper. In one type of slider-operated zipper assembly, the slider straddles the zipperand has a separating finger at one end that is inserted between the profiles to force them apart as the slider is moved along the zipper in an opening direction. The other end of the slider is sufficiently narrow to force the profiles into engagementand close the zipper when the slider is moved along the zipper in a closing direction.
Other types of slider-operated zipper assemblies avoid the use of a separating finger. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,621 discloses a slider-operated zipper assembly wherein one zipper profile has a pair of handles that cooperate with theslider. As the slider is moved in an opening direction, the handles are squeezed together to disengage the profiles. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,838, a slider-operated zipper assembly is disclosed wherein the zipper profiles are engaged and disengaged inthe course of a "rolling action". This "rolling action" is described as being achieved through cooperation between flanges on the profiles and shoulders which project inwardly from the arms of the slider. U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,450 discloses a zippercomprising a pair of mutually interlockable profiled structures. Portions of the two profiled structures form a fulcrum about which the profiled structures may be pivoted out of engagement when lower edges of the bases are forced towards each other
Gusseted bags having plastic zippers are well known in the reclosable packaging art. One advantage of such gusseted bags is that they may be opened more fully to facilitate filling the bag and later removing its contents. In some designs agusseted side of the bag can be used to form a pouring spout by pulling the gusset outward and then inverting the bag, in which event the pourable contents of the package can be made to pour down the V-shaped channel formed by the gusset panels.
In early concepts for such bags, the profiles of the plastic zipper had to be sufficiently large to capture a double thickness of the bag film in order to accommodate the gussets when the package was closed. Later designs for gusseted bags haveside gussets that include portions aligned with the interlocking zipper profiles that are relatively thin as compared with the remainder of the bag walls.
There is a need for alternative designs of gusseted bags having slider-operated zippers in which portions of the folded gussets are not captured between the zipper profiles, thereby allowing smooth uniform sliding of the slider along its entirerun.
One aspect of the invention is a bag comprising: first and second walls, a first side gusset on one side of the bag interconnecting the first and second walls, and a second side gusset on an opposite side of the bag interconnecting the first andsecond walls; a flexible zipper comprising first and second zipper parts, the first zipper part comprising a first profiled closure member and a first zipper flange connected to the first profiled closure member, and the second zipper part comprising asecond profiled closure member that is engageable with the first profiled closure member to close the zipper and a second zipper flange connected to the second profiled closure member; and a slider mounted to the zipper and configured to close portionsof the zipper as the slider is moved in a first direction along the zipper and to open portions of the zipper as the slider is moved in a second direction along the zipper opposite to the first direction, wherein the first zipper flange i s joined to thefirst wall, and the second zipper flange is joined to the second wall and to the first side gusset.
Another aspect of the invention is a bag comprising a receptacle portion having an interior volume and a mouth portion for providing access to the interior volume, wherein the receptacle portion comprises respective first portions of first andsecond side gussets on opposite sides of the interior volume, and the mouth portion comprises a slider-operated zipper comprising first and second mutually interlockable zipper parts, and respective second portions of the first and second side gussets. The first and second zipper parts have first ends that are joined and second ends that are not joined to each other. The second portion of the second side gusset can be expanded into a pouring spout configuration when the second ends of the first andsecond zipper parts are spread apart from each other, whereas the second portion of the first side gusset is not expandable.
A further aspect of the invention is a bag comprising a receptacle portion having an interior volume and a mouth portion for providing access to the interior volume, wherein the receptacle portion comprises respective first portions of first andsecond side gussets on opposite sides of the interior volume, and the mouth portion comprises a slider-operated zipper comprising first and second mutually interlockable zipper parts, and respective second portions of the first and second side gussets. The first and second zipper parts have first ends that are joined to each other by a permanent seal and second ends that are joined to each other by a peel seal. The second portion of the second side gusset can be expanded into a pouring spoutconfiguration when the peel seal is ruptured and the second ends of the first and second zipper parts are spread apart from each other, whereas the second portion of the first side gusset is not expandable.
Yet another aspect of the invention is a gusseted bag comprising front and rear walls interconnected by first and second side gussets, a zipper having a length equal to or less than the width of the front wall, and a slider mounted to the zipper,the zipper comprising first and second zipper parts that in turn comprise first and second profiled closure members respectively, wherein no part of the first or second side gusset is captured between the first and second profiled closure members whenthe latter are interlocked, the first side gusset is expandable into a pouring spout configuration proximal to one end of the zipper, and the second side gusset is not expandable into a pouring spout configuration proximal to the other end of the zipper.
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