Heat seal assembly with perforating teeth for mono-material enclosure and method for sealing the mono-material enclosure

A heat sealing assembly for a resealable enclosure, the heat sealing assembly comprising:

• opposing bodies configured to receive facing portions of a mono-material film and a zipper assembly therebetween, at least one of the opposing seal bodies including a heated sealing land and a perforation land that is thermally insulated from the heated sealing land, the heat sealing land having perforating teeth projecting therefrom;
• the heated sealing land configured to, upon closure of the seal bodies, apply heat and pressure to form heat seals joining the facing portions of the mono-material film to flanges of the zipper assembly;
• and
• the perforation land configured to, during the closure of the seal bodies, simultaneously perforate consumer-side regions of the facing portions of the mono-material film with the perforating teeth to form one or more lines of weakness having discrete perforations on a consumer side of the zipper assembly,
• the perforation land being thermally insulated from the heat sealing land to suppress heat flow into the perforation land and prevent fusion of the facing portions of the mono-material film to each other or to the zipper assembly along the at least one line of weakness.

A method, comprising:

• positioning facing portions of a mono-material film and a zipper assembly between the facing portions between seal bodies having perforating teeth;
• heat sealing the facing portions of the mono-material film to the zipper assembly therebetween;
• and
• during the heat sealing of the facing portions, simultaneously perforating the facing portions of the mono-material film with the perforating teeth of the seal bodies on a consumer side of the zipper assembly;
• wherein the perforating of the facing portions of the mono-material film cuts into the mono-material film and forms one or more lines of weakness on the consumer side of the zipper for a consumer to tear off a top of a resealable enclosure formed by the mono-material film and the zipper assembly.