BAG WITH ATTACHED TIE MEANS

SAC A REBUTS AVEC ATTACHE INTEGREE

English Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A garbage bag tie system is provided in which the ties
are derived from a plastic tape which extends across the
bag near to its top, and which is sealed at its ends to
the side edges of the bag. The tape has a central line
of weakening which allows it to be separated into two
portions when the bag is to be tied. The tape normally
lies flat against the outer side of the bag, and does not
appreciably increase the bag thickness.

Claims

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The embodiments of the invention in which an
exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as
follows:-
1. An open-topped bag having front and rear wall
portions of flexible plastic sheet material connected
together along their side edges and along their lower
edges, and having tie means for closing the normally open
end of the bag, said tie means comprising an elongated
flexible tape of plastic material extending transversely
in front of said front wall portion and being such as to
lie flat against the exterior of said wall portion when
the bag is empty and lying flat, said tape having its
ends connected to said one wall portion at or adjacent to
said side edges at locations spaced from the top end of
the bag; said tape having a weakened area intermediate
its ends to allow the tape to be separated into two
portions suitable for being tied together for closing the
bag.

2. A bag according to claim 1, wherein said front
and rear wall portions are connected along their side
edges by joints, and wherein the ends of the tape are
united to the bag at said joints.


3. A bag according to claim 1, wherein said weakened


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area is substantially centrally situated between the ends
of the tape.
4. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the ends of
the tape are spaced from said open end by a distance
which is between 7% and 30% of the length of the bag.

5. A bag according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the
tape is made of material stronger than that of the bag.

Description

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The present invention relates to closure means or ties
for bags and especially bags made of plastic material and
suitable for garbage.

Presently, garbage bags are sold with twist ties, usually
made of wire and paper, or with draw strings. Twist
ties may be lost before they can be used, and after use
may slip off the end of the bag. Draw strings are
relatively expensive and do not always close the end of
the bag sufficiently tightly to prevent odours escaping.
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The present invention provides an improved end closure
for a garbage bag or the like which is inexpensive to
produce, cannot be lost, which closes the bag effectively
and cannot slip off the end of the bag.

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According to the present invention, an open-topped bag
1, 15 having front and rear wall portions of flexible plastic
`~vl sheet material connected together along their side edges
and also along their lower edges, has tie means for
closing the normally open end of the bag, which tie means
comprise an elongated flexible tape of plastic material
~, 20 extending transversely in front of the front wall
portion and having its ends connected to the said one
front wall portion at or adjacent to its side edges. The
tape is of substantially the same length as the bag width
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and such as to lie flat against the exterior of the front
wall portion when the bag is empty and lying flat. The
tape has a weakened area intermediate its ends to allow
the tape to be separated into two portions suitable for
being tied together for closing the bag.



The invention will be described in more detail with
. . .
, reference to the following drawings which show a
, . . .
preferred embodiment, and in which:
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-, Fig. 1 is a front view of a bag in accordance with the

3 10 invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the bag;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but in which the

~i tape has been separated into two portions; and

3 Fig. 4 is a view of the bag when closed.

As shown in Figs. 1-3, a bag intended for garbage has
front and rear rectangular wall portions 1 and 2
respectively joined together along their side edges by
joints 3 and 4 and along their lower edges at 5. The
longitudinal joints 3 and 4 are formed by heat sealing;

~j 20 the wall portions are integrally joined at the bottom 5
`~ by a fold.
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As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, tie means in the form of a

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tape (or ribbon) 7 of flexible plastic material is
provided, this tape having its ends sealed to the bag
edges at the longitudinal joints 3 and 4. This
construction allows the tape to be joined to the bag in
the same sealing step as is used to make the longitudinal
seams. The tape has a length equal to the width of the
bag, and is such as to normally lie flat against the wall
portion 1 and so does not appreciably increase the
thickness of the bag, as compared for example to the use
of a draw string. The width of the tape is preferably
between 2 and 3 centimetres. The tape is parallel to the
top of the bag and spaced from this top by between 5 and
20 centimetres, or in any event between 7% and 30% of the
length of the bag.


, ,: ,
:- 15 The tape may be made of the same plastic material as the
bag, but it is preferably stronger. For example, both
bags and tape may be made from polyethylene of between
0.02 and 0.06 mm thickness, but if the bag and tape are
cf the same thickness then the tape will preferably be
1 20 made of high density polyethylene while the bag is made
of low density polyethylene. Alternatively, the tape and
bag may be made of the same kind of polyethylene, but the
tape material may be thicker than that of the bag.
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~, Centrally of the tape 7 is provided a tear line 10,




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transversely of the tape, and this provides a weakened
area at which the tape can readily be torn. The two
parts of the torn tape can then be wound around the
closed top of the bag and tied together, as shown in Fig.
4.

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From the foregoing, it will be seen that the invention
provides a tie system which can easily be joined to the
bag during its manufacture, which lies flat with the bag
and takes little space, which provides a tie which cannot
be lost and which cannot come off the end of the closed
bag.

.,

In order to prevent displacement of the tape during
handling and storage, portions of the tape intermediate
the ends may be secured to the bag wall by readily
releasable adhesive.


.
The invention may also be used with bags of the kind
produced from tubular material and which are seamed only
along the bottom. In such case, the ends of tape 7 will
be joined by independent joints which will be adjacent
the side edges of the bag front wall.




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Representative Drawing