US20240300701A1

US20240300701A1 - Open container closure assembly and method

Info

Publication number: US20240300701A1
Application number: US18/117,888
Authority: US
Inventors: Lashawnda McDonald
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2023-03-06
Filing date: 2023-03-06
Publication date: 2024-09-12

Abstract

An open container closure assembly and method for attaching to an upper end of an open bag style container includes a sleeve including a front wall, a back wall, and a pair of lateral edges joining the front and back walls. The front and back walls abut each other. The sleeve has a top edge and a bottom edge, and each are open. A fastener is mounted on the sleeve adjacent to the bottom edge and engages an exterior surface of a bag style container such that an open upper end of the bag style container is positioned within the sleeve. A seal is attached to the sleeve adjacent to the top edge and closes the top edge in an air-tight condition.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

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

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to closure assemblies and more particularly pertains to a new closure assembly for attaching to an upper end of an open bag style container to facilitate creating an airtight closure for the bag.

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

The prior art relates to closure assemblies and includes a variety of closure assemblies closing off an access into an interior space of an open container. Known prior art does not include a method for effectively sealing bag type containers of various sizes.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a sleeve including a front wall, a back wall, and a pair of lateral edges joining the front and back walls. The front and back walls abut each other. The sleeve has a top edge and a bottom edge, and each are open. A fastener is mounted on the sleeve adjacent to the bottom edge and is configured to engage an exterior surface of a bag style container such that an open upper end of the bag style container is positioned within the sleeve. A seal is attached to the sleeve adjacent to the top edge and is configured to close the top edge in an air-tight condition.
Another embodiment of the disclosure comprises a method including the steps of extending an open upper end of a bag style container through a bottom edge of a sleeve such that the open upper end is positioned within the sleeve. The sleeve fastens to an exterior surface of the bag style container to form a seal around the bag style container with the sleeve. A top edge of the sleeve closes to prevent air from entering the bag style container.
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.

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 top isometric view of an open container closure assembly and method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a bottom isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

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

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken along Line 6-6 of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 7 is an in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 8 thereof, a new closure assembly 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 8 , the open container closure assembly 10 generally comprises a sleeve 12 including a front wall 14, a back wall 16, and a pair of lateral edges 18 joining the front 14 and back 16 walls. The front 14 and back 16 walls normally abut each other. The sleeve 12 has a top edge 20 being open and a bottom edge 22 being open. The sleeve 12 has an inner surface 24 and an outer surface 26 and is normally comprised of a flexible material being air and fluid impermeable. The flexible material typically is a plastic material and is normally translucent. The flexible material may also be colored or tinted, or may further having artistic or letter indicia positioned thereon.
A fastener 28 is mounted on the sleeve 12 adjacent to the bottom edge 22 and is configured to engage an exterior surface 32 of a bag style container 30 such that an open upper end 34 of the bag style container 30 is positioned within the sleeve 12. Alternatively, the fastener 28 may be configured to engage with an outside surface 37 of a box style container 35 such as a cereal box. The fastener 28 comprises a first adhesive strip 36 attached to the inner surface 24 of the front wall 14 adjacent to the bottom edge 22 and a second adhesive strip 38 attached to the inner surface 24 of the back wall 16 adjacent to the bottom edge 22. The first 36 and second 38 adhesive strips may comprise a pressure sensitive adhesive and the first 36 and second 38 adhesive strips extend entirely along the bottom edge 22 and to each of the lateral edges 18.
Each of the first 36 and second 38 adhesive strips has one of a pair of removable panels 40 positioned thereon. The removable panels 40 have an anti-adhesive coating positioned thereon to facilitate removal of the removable panels 40 from the first 36 and second 38 adhesive strips. Each of the removable panels 40 may include one of a pair of tabs 42. Each of the tabs 42 is attached to and extends from a boundary edge of one of the pair of removable panels. Each of the tabs 42 provides a grip for a user to grasp when peeling away one of the pair of removable panels 40 from one of the first 36 or second 38 adhesive strips.
A seal 44 is attached to the sleeve 12 adjacent to the top edge 20 and is configured to close the top edge 20 in an air-tight condition. The seal 44 extends from a first lateral edge 46 of the pair of lateral edges 18 to a second lateral edge 48 of the pair of lateral edges 18. The seal 44 normally includes a first mating member 50 attached to the inner surface 24 of the front wall 14 and a second mating member 52 attached to the inner surface 24 of the back wall 16. The first mating member 50 may comprise an elongated ridge and the second mating member 52 may comprise an elongated trough for receiving and frictionally engaging the elongated ridge. The top edge 20 may have a pair of flanges 54 such that each of the flanges 54 is attached to and extending upwardly from one of the front and back walls. The user may grab and pull each of the flanges 54 away from each other to disengage the first mating member 50 from the second mating member 52 such that the top edge 20 is opened.
Alternatively, the first 50 and second 52 mating members may comprise a plurality of interlocking teeth being frictionally engageable with each other and a zipper may be slidably coupled along the top edge 20 of the sleeve 12, wherein the zipper may slide from the first lateral edge 46 to the second lateral edge 48 to frictionally engage the interlocking teeth of the first 50 and second 52 mating members together and the zipper may slide from the second lateral edge 48 to the first lateral edge 46 to disengage the interlocking teeth of the first 50 and second 52 mating members from each other.
In use, the open upper end 34 of the bag style container 30 extends through the bottom edge 22 of the sleeve 12 such that the open upper end 34 is positioned within the sleeve 12. Each of the removeable panels 40 are removed from the first 36 and second 38 adhesive strips such that the first adhesive strip 36 of the front wall 14 and the second adhesive strip 38 of the back wall 16 are securable to the bag style container 30. The sleeve 12 fastens to the exterior surface 32 of the bag style container 30 to form a seal 44 around the bag style container 30 with the sleeve 12. The top edge 20 of the sleeve 12 closes to prevent air from entering the bag style container 30.
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.

Claims

I claim:

1. An open container closure assembly for closing an opening in an open upper end of a bag style container to inhibit air from entering the container, said open container closure assembly comprising:

a sleeve including a front wall, a back wall, and a pair of lateral edges joining the front and back walls, said front and back walls abutting each other, said sleeve having a top edge and a bottom edge each being open;

a fastener being mounted on said sleeve adjacent to said bottom edge, said fastener being configured to engage an exterior surface of the bag style container such that the open upper end is positioned within the sleeve; and

a seal being attached to said sleeve adjacent to said top edge, said seal being configured to close said top edge in an air-tight condition.

2. The open container closure assembly of claim 1, wherein said sleeve has an inner surface and an outer surface.

3. The open container closure assembly of claim 1, wherein said sleeve being comprised of a flexible material, said flexible material being air and fluid impermeable, said flexible material being a plastic material, said flexible material being translucent.

4. The open container closure assembly of claim 2, wherein said fastener comprises a first adhesive strip attached to said inner surface of said front wall adjacent to said bottom edge and a second adhesive strip being attached to said inner surface of said back wall adjacent to said bottom edge, said first and second adhesive strips comprising a pressure sensitive adhesive, said first and second adhesive strips extending entirely along the bottom edge and to each of said lateral edges.

5. The open container closure assembly of claim 1, further including a pair of removable panels, each of said first and second adhesive strips having one of said removable panels positioned thereon, said removable panels having an anti-adhesive coating positioned thereon to facilitate removal of the removable panels from the first and second adhesive strips.

6. The open container closure assembly of claim 2, wherein said seal extends from a first lateral edge of said pair of lateral edges to a second lateral edge of said pair of lateral edges, said seal including a first mating member attached to said inner surface of said front wall and a second mating member attached to said inner surface of said back wall, said first mating member comprising an elongated ridge and said second mating member comprising an elongated trough for receiving and frictionally engaging said elongated ridge.

7. An open container closure assembly for closing an opening in an open upper end of a bag style container to inhibit air from entering the container, said open container closure assembly comprising:

a sleeve including a front wall, a back wall, and a pair of lateral edges joining the front and back walls, said front and back walls abutting each other, said sleeve having a top edge and a bottom edge each being open, said sleeve having an inner surface and an outer surface, said sleeve being comprised of a flexible material, said flexible material being air and fluid impermeable, said flexible material being a plastic material, said flexible material being translucent;

a fastener being mounted on said sleeve adjacent to said bottom edge, said fastener being configured to engage an exterior surface of the bag style container such that the open upper end is positioned within the sleeve, said fastener comprising a first adhesive strip attached to said inner surface of said front wall adjacent to said bottom edge and a second adhesive strip being attached to said inner surface of said back wall adjacent to said bottom edge, said first and second adhesive strips comprising a pressure sensitive adhesive, said first and second adhesive strips extending entirely along the bottom edge and to each of said lateral edges;

a pair of removable panels, each of said first and second adhesive strips having one of said removable panels positioned thereon, said removable panels having an anti-adhesive coating positioned thereon to facilitate removal of the removable panels from the first and second adhesive strips; and

a seal being attached to said sleeve adjacent to said top edge, said seal being configured to close said top edge in an air-tight condition, said seal extending from a first lateral edge of said pair of lateral edges to a second lateral edge of said pair of lateral edges, said seal including a first mating member attached to said inner surface of said front wall and a second mating member attached to said inner surface of said back wall, said first mating member comprising an elongated ridge and said second mating member comprising an elongated trough for receiving and frictionally engaging said elongated ridge.

8. A method of closing an open bag of food product comprising the steps of:

extending an open upper end of a bag style container through a bottom edge of a sleeve such that the open upper end is positioned within the sleeve;

fastening the sleeve to an exterior surface of the bag style container to form a seal around the bag style container with the sleeve; and

closing a top edge of the sleeve to prevent air from entering the bag style container.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of fastening the sleeve to the exterior surface further includes the steps of:

removing a first panel from a first adhesive strip positioned on an inner surface of a front wall of said sleeve and securing the front wall to the bag style container with the first adhesive strip; and

removing a second panel from a second adhesive strip positioned on an inner surface of a back wall of said sleeve and securing the back wall to the bag style container with the second adhesive strip.