ZIPPER SLIDER ASSEMBLY WITH DIAPHRAGM FOR FLEXIBLE PACKAGES

FERMETURE A GLISSIERE AVEC MEMBRANE POUR PAQUETS SOUPLES

English Abstract

This invention provides a slider to close a zipper profile having a diaphragm of at least one metalized laminated film sealed between the flaps of the zipper profile for sealing and making the package tamper proof and act as a barrier. The said flap has plurality of horizontal lines for the purpose of selective heat transfer and enabling one side sealing on zipper assembly, thereby preventing the zipper from sealing from inside after the pouch having said zipper assembly is filled with desired material.

French Abstract

La présente invention fournit un curseur pour fermer un profil de fermeture à glissière ayant une membrane d'au moins un film stratifié métallisé scellé entre les rabats du profil de fermeture à glissière pour rendre l'ensemble étanche et inviolable et agir comme une barrière. Ledit rabat comporte une pluralité de lignes horizontales dans le but d'un transfert de chaleur sélectif et permettant une étanchéité latérale sur l'assemblage de fermeture à glissière, évitant ainsi un scellement depuis l'intérieur de la fermeture à glissière une fois que la poche ayant ledit assemblage de fermeture à glissière est remplie avec un matériau souhaité.

Claims

I CLAIM:
1. A slider zipper assembly with a diaphragm for flexible packages comprising:
zipper profile consisting of a male element and a female element;
said profile having a first flap extending from said male element and a second
flap
extending from said female element;
said male element having at least a pair of notches, which are coupled to
corresponding notches on said female element; and
a slider to close said zipper profile,
characterized in that the diaphragm of at least one metalized laminated film
is attached to
and sealed between said first and second flaps to seal and make the package
tamper proof
and act as a barrier.
2. The slider zipper assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the metalized
laminated
film is holographed, printed or plain.
3. The slider zipper assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the sealing of the
film to
the flaps is carried out by ultrasonic or heat sealing device.
4. The slider zipper assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the zipper profile
and
said slider are made of plastic.
5. The slider zipper assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said flexible
package is a
pouch.
6. The slider zipper assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the flexible
package is a
stand up pouch with a base.
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7. The slider zipper assembly as claimed in claim 6 wherein one wall of said
pouch is
sealed on three sides and opens towards the slider zipper assembly.
8. The slider zipper assembly as claimed in claim 7 wherein the said wall is
sealed to
one of the first and second flaps of the slider zipper assembly after filling
the pouch with
desired material.
9. The slider zipper assembly as claimed in claim 8 wherein said flap having
said
wall sealed thereto has a plurality of horizontal lines for the purpose of
selective heat
transfer and enabling one side sealing on the slider zipper assembly, thereby
preventing
the zipper from sealing from inside after the pouch is filled with the desired
material.
10. The slider zipper assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the metalized
laminated
film includes at least one layer of aluminum foil.
11. A zipper assembly for a flexible package, said zipper assembly comprising:
- a zipper profile including a male element and a female element;
- said zipper profile having a first flap extending from said male element and
a
second flap extending from said female element;
- said male and female elements each having a corresponding interlocking
element
provided thereon for releasably coupling said male element to said female
element; and
- a diaphragm formed separately from said first and second flaps, said
diaphragm
being sealed to oppositely directed external faces of said first and second
flaps and being
wrapped around distal edges of said first and second flaps to seal the package
and act as a
barrier.
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12. The zipper assembly as claimed in claim 11 wherein the diaphragm is a
laminated
film including at least one metalized layer.
13. The zipper assembly as claimed in any one of claim 11 and claim 12 wherein
the
diaphragm is holographed, printed or plain.
14. The zipper assembly as claimed in any one of claim 11 and claim 12 wherein
the
diaphragm is joined to the flaps by ultrasonic or heat sealing means.
15. The zipper assembly as claimed in any one of claim 11 and claim 12 further
comprising a slider to close said zipper assembly.
16. The zipper assembly as claimed in claim 15 wherein the male and female
elements
and the slider are made of plastic.
17. The zipper assembly as claimed in any one of claim 11 and claim 12 wherein
said
flexible package is a pouch.
18. The zipper assembly as claimed in any one of claim 11 and claim 12 wherein
said
one of the first and second flaps has a plurality of lines formed on one of
the respective
external faces of said one of the first and second flaps for selective heat
transfer.
19. The zipper assembly as claimed in claim 12 wherein the laminated film
includes at
least one layer of aluminum foil.
20. A flexible package comprising a pouch with an opening, said opening
including a
resealable closure means wherein said closure means comprises the zipper
assembly of
any one of claims 11-19.
21. The flexible package of claim 20 wherein said zipper assembly is joined to
the
pouch by heat sealing.

Description

CA 02437269 2004-07-29
ZIPPER SLIDER ASSEMBLY WITH A DIAPHRAGM FOR
FLEXIBLE PACKAGES
Field of the invention
This invention relates to a zipper slider assembly with a diaphragm for
flexible packages.
Background of the invention
Existing packages having zipper assemblies suffer from problems such as
io not being able to retain aroma and freshness of food and other articles
packaged inside them during transportation and storage. Hence, by the
time the contents of the package reach the end user they are insipid.
Furthermore, said zipper slider assemblies do not provide any tamper-
proof features for informing the end user whether the package has been
opened previously or not.
US patents 5,435,864 and 5,425,825 disclose plastic bag having a
reclosable plastic zipper and non-reclosable peel seal. In US patent
5,435,864, the peel seal is formed by co-extruding an adhesive onto a side
strip adjacent to the interlocking zipper while, in US patent 5,425,825 the
seal is formed by applying adhesive to the side strip. Further, the barrier
provided by a peel seal is permeable and is not strong enough for
preventing undesired aroma, microorganisms, and moisture from entering
into packages containing food items, thereby making the packaged items
vulnerable to fast deterioration.
It is known in some applications to use a flexible
reclosable package having a reclosable zipper construction openable and
closable by a slider device, and a primary tamper evident structure
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CA 02437269 2004-07-29
disposed over the zipper for indicating whether access has been gained to
the interior of the package. The package also has a second tamper evident
structure consisting of a polymeric film or a peel seal, which is
permeable. As a result, the structure has very limited barrier properties to
s prevent undesired aroma, microorganisms, and moisture from the
atmosphere from entering the package. At the same time, the structure is
not capable of retaining inside the package the desired aroma, microbe
free air and gases like nitrogen that are filed in the package containing
food items for keeping them fresh.
The further disadvantage of the above US patents 5,435,864 & 5,425,825
and some other known reclosable packages using a polymeric film
extruded together with the zipper profile for providing tamper evident
structure is that it limits the choice of material in case a structure having
special properties such as capable of being holographed or printed is
required for the package.
Objects and summary of the invention
The object of this invention is to maintain the desired aroma and
freshness of food and other articles packaged inside a flexible package
during transportation and storage till the time they reach the end user.
Another object of this invention is to provide a tamper proof zipper slider
assembly for a flexible package.
To achieve the said objectives, this invention provides a slider zipper
assembly with a diaphragm for flexible packages comprising:
- zipper profile consisting of male element and a female
element,

CA 02437269 2003-08-12
- said profile having flaps on single side,
- said male element having at least a pair of notches, which
are coupled to corresponding notches on female elements,
- a slider to close said zipper profile
characterized in that a diaphragm of at least one metalized
laminated film is sealed betureen said flaps to seal and make the
package tamper proof and act as a barrier.
The metalized laminated film is holographed, printed or plain.
The sealing of the film to the flaps is carried out by ultrasonic or heat
sealing device.
The said zipper profile and slider are made of plastic.
The said flexible package is a pouch.
The flexible package is a stand up pouch with a base.
One wall of the said pouch is sealed on three sides and open towards the
zipper assembly.
The said wall is sealed to one of the flaps of the zipper assembly after
filling the pouch with desired material.
The said flap has plurality of horizontal lines for the purpose of selective
heat transfer and enabling one side sealing on zipper assembly, thereby
preventing the zipper from sealing from inside after the pouch is filled
with desired material.

CA 02437269 2004-07-29
Brief Description of the Drawings
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
s
Figure 1 shows a slider zipper assembly with a diaphragm / laminate
provided on the flaps of said profile, according to this invention.
Figure 2 shows the package with a slider zipper assembly according to
to this invention.
Figure 3 shows the second embodiment of the flexible package.
Figure 4 shows the cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the
15 flexible package.
Detailed description of the preferred embodiments
Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows the slider zipper assembly
consisting of male member 20 having interlocking element 22 and flap
20 24. A female member 26 having interlocking element 28, a flap 30 and
rectangular shaped protrusion 32 extending from said flap 30. A slider 34 is
shown in the figure for closing and opening the zipper profile. A
diaphragm 36 is sealed between flaps 24, 26 by ultrasonic or heat
sealing device.
The diaphragm 36 is a metalized laminate film for providing strong
barrier properties that does not allow undesired aroma, moisture and the
like in the atmosphere to enter inside the package through it thereby,
protecting the packed contents from deterioration. At the same time,
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CA 02437269 2004-07-29
aroma of the packed articles, microorganism free air, and packaging gases
like nitrogen are retained by the diaphragm 36 inside the package.
Therefore, the diaphragm 36 helps in maintaining the desired aroma and
freshness of the food article even during transportation and storage. In
addition, when the slider zipper assembly with diaphragm 36 is applied
to flexible packages, it makes the package tamper proof. The said flexible
packages can be used for carrying pharmaceuticals, stationary, tea leaves,
coffee powder and other miscellaneous articles also.
io The constituent films of the laminate can be chosen to provide desired
properties as desired in different kind of packages, e.g. the diaphragm
36 can be holographed for identifying the manufacturer and
authenticating a genuine product where necessary. The metalized
laminated film may be made from multi-layers of films, one of which
may be a metal layer, such as an aluminum foil.
The zipper assembly and slider are made of plastic.
In Figure 2, a slider assembly with a package 38, diaphragm 36, a
slider 34 and zipper assembly 40 is shown. The slider 34 and
zipper assembly 40 are made of plastic.
Figure 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention wherein the
flexible package is a standup pouch 44 according to the present
invention having a slider 34, zipper assembly 40 and a diaphragm 36.
The bottom 42 of the pouch 44 is such that the pouch stands upright
after it is filled with contents. One wall 46 of said pouch 44 is
sealed with zipper assembly 40.
However the other wall 48 of the pouch is left unsealed for allowing the
contents to be filled inside the pouch 44. After the pouch has been filled,
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CA 02437269 2004-07-29
the other wall 48 also is sealed to one of the flaps 24 of the zipper
assembly. The said flap 24 has a plurality of horizontal lines 50 for the
purpose of selective heat transfer and enabling one side sealing on zipper
assembly, thereby preventing the zipper from sealing from inside after the
pouch is filled.
The diaphragm 36 is a metalized laminate film for providing strong
barrier properties that does not allow undesired aroma, moisture and the
like in the atmosphere to enter inside the pouch through it thereby,
io protecting the packed contents from deterioration: At the same time,
aroma of the packed articles, microorganism free air, and packaging gases
like nitrogen are retainded by the diaphragm 36 inside the pouch.
Therefore, the diaphragm 36 helps in maintaining the desired aroma and
freshness of the food article even during transportation and storage. In
addition, the slider zipper assembly with diaphragm 36 makes the pouch
tamper proof. The said pouches can be used for carrying pharmaceuticals,
stationary, tea leaves, coffee powder and other miscellaneous articles
also.
zo The constituent films of the laminate can be chosen to provide desired
properties as desired in different kind of packages, e.g. the diaphragm 36
can be holographed for identifying the manufacturer and authenticating a
genuine product where necessary.
Figure 4 shows the cross sectional view of the zipper assembly wherein
the male element 20 and the female element 26 of the zipper
assembly are shown along with the diaphragm 36. The flaps 24, 30
have plurality of horizontal lines 50 for the purpose of selective
heat transfer for one side sealing of the wall.
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For clarity, slider 34 shown in Figure 3 is not included in Figure 4.
Additionally, Figure 4
shows more clearly one wall of pouch 44, namely wa1148, still umaled so that
contents
for the pouch may be filled.
After the pouch is filled, wa1148 is sealed. At the site of use, a user may
gain access to the
interior of the pouch by breaking diaphragm 36, for example, by tearing,
piercing or
cutting.
Various embodiments of the invention have now been descxibed in detail. Those
skilled in
the art will appreciate that numerous modifications, adaptations and
variations may be
made to the embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.
Since
changes in and or additions to the above-described embodiments may be made
without
departing from the nature, spirit or scope of the invention, the invention is
not to be limited to
those details but only by the appended claima.
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Representative Drawing