CLOSURE APPARATUS FOR ATTACHMENT TO A BAG

Description

(b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

(c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

(d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

(e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

Not Applicable

(f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to closure apparatuses and more particularly pertains to a new closure apparatus for releasably closing and sealing an opening to a bag.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art discloses closure apparatuses for releasably closing and sealing an opening to a bag, including such apparatuses which adhere a pair of mating members to the bag which mate via a zipper connector. However, the prior art fails to describe such an apparatus in which a pair of strips attached at their ends to each other carry the mating members of the zipper connector, and flanges extend below the strips and carry adhesives on inner and outer surfaces such that openings of different sizes may be closed.

(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a first strip and a second strip, each of which is elongated and comprises a flexible material such as plastic, paper, foil, or the like. A zipper assembly removably couples an inner surface of the first strip to an interior surface of the second strip. The zipper assembly is openable to define a gap between the inner surface of the first strip and the interior surface of the second strip. The zipper assembly forms a seal across the gap when the zipper assembly is closed. A first flange is coupled to and extends downwardly from the first strip, and a second flange is coupled to and extends downwardly from the second strip. A first adhesive is coupled to the first flange, and a second adhesive is coupled to the second flange.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a closure apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken from Line 2-2 in FIG. 1 depicting a zipper assembly in a closed position.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of an embodiment of the disclosure from a similar perspective to FIG. 2 in which a zipper assembly is open.

FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a detail view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken from Window 6 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a cross-section view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken from Line 9-9 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure in which first and second outer adhesives of the embodiment attach to an interior side of a bag adjacent to an opening of the bag.

FIG. 11 is an in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure in which first and second inner adhesives of the embodiment attach to an exterior side of a bag adjacent to an opening of the bag.

(j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 11 thereof, a new closure apparatus embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, the closure apparatus 10 generally comprises a first strip 12 and a second strip 22, each of which is elongated. Each end 14 of a pair of ends 14 of the first strip 12 is coupled to an associated end 24 of a pair of ends 24 of the second strip 22. Each of the first and second strips 12, 22 comprises a flexible material such as a paper, a plastic, a fabric such as canvas, linen, cotton, or any other suitable material.

A zipper assembly 32 removably couples an inner surface 16 of the first strip 12 to an interior surface 26 of the second strip 22. The zipper assembly 32 is openable to define a gap 44 between the inner surface 16 of the first strip 12 and the interior surface 26 of the second strip 22. When closed, the zipper assembly 32 forms a seal across the gap 44. The zipper assembly 32 comprises a pair of first mating members 34 and a pair of second mating members 38, wherein the pair of first mating members 34 is mounted on the inner surface 16 of the first strip 12 and the pair of second mating members 38 is mounted on the interior surface 26 of the second strip 22. Each first mating member 34 is releasably coupled to an associated second mating member 38 of the pair of second mating members 38. Each first mating member 34 comprises a rail 36, and each second mating member 38 comprises a receiver 40 which defines a groove 42. The rail 36 of each first mating member 34 of the pair of mating members is receivable via a snap fit into the groove 42 of the receiver 40 of the associated second mating member 38. The first mating members 34 are oriented parallel to each other and to an upper edge 18 of the first strip 12. The second mating members 38 are oriented parallel to each other and to a top edge 28 of the second strip 22.

In other embodiments, the zipper assembly 32 may have just one first mating member 34 and one second mating member 38. Or the zipper assembly 32 may have more than two first mating members 34 and more than two second mating members 38. The zipper assembly 32 may include sliders which alternately draw the first and second mating members 34, 38 together and separate the first and second mating members 34, 38 in some embodiments.

A first flange 46 is coupled to and extends downwardly from the first strip 12, and a second flange 54 is coupled to and extends downwardly from the second strip 22. Each end 48 of a pair of ends 48 of the first flange 46 is coupled to an associated end 56 of a pair of ends 56 of the second flange 54. The first flange 46 has a first inner attachment surface 50 and a first outer attachment surface 52, and the second flange 54 has a second inner attachment surface 58 and a second outer attachment surface 60. The first flange 46 extends a full length of a lower edge 20 of the first strip 12, and the second flange 54 extends a full length of a bottom edge 30 of second strip 22.

A first inner adhesive 62 is coupled to the first inner attachment surface 50 of the first flange 46, and a second inner adhesive 64 is coupled to the second inner attachment surface 58 of the second flange 54. A first outer adhesive 66 is coupled to the first outer attachment surface 52 of the first flange 46, and a second outer adhesive 68 is coupled to the second outer attachment surface 60 of the second flange 54. A first inner cover sheet 70 is removably mounted over the first inner adhesive 62, and a second inner cover sheet 72 is removably mounted over the second inner adhesive 64. A first outer cover sheet 74 is removably mounted over the first outer adhesive 66, and a second outer cover sheet 76 is removably mounted over the second outer adhesive 68.

In use, the closure apparatus 10 is attachable over an opening 79 to a bag 78 in order to close and seal off the opening 79. This may be beneficial, for example, when a user wants to preserve food in the bag 78 by sealing it off from surrounding air. Depending on the size of the opening 79 to the bag 78, the first and second inner adhesives 62, 64 may be secured to an exterior side of the bag 78 near the opening 79 or the first and second outer adhesives 66, 68 may be secured to an interior side of the bag 78 near the opening 79. To apply the first and second inner adhesives 62, 64 to the bag 78, the first and second inner cover sheets 70, 72 may be removed, and the first and second outer cover sheets 74, 76 are left alone in order to prevent attachment of the first and second outer adhesives 66, 68 to nearby surfaces. To apply the first and second outer adhesives 66, 68 to the bag 78, the first and second outer cover sheets 74, 76 may be removed, and the first and second inner cover sheets 70, 72 are left alone in order to prevent attachment of the first and second inner adhesives 62, 64 to nearby surfaces.

When the closure apparatus 10 is substantially larger than the opening 79, portions of the first and second inner adhesives 62, 64 may be bonded together to ensure the opening 79 is sealed off properly. When the closure apparatus 10 is substantially smaller than the opening 79, portions of the bag 78 may be folded in order to cinch the bag 78 around the closure apparatus 10 and ensure the opening 79 is properly sealed off.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.