Container with intermeshable closure members
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorsShari J. Wilson, Roger H. Appeldorn, Robert N. Hamlin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A closure for use in joining together container portions to enclose an opening in a container. The closure includes a pair of intermeshable closure members, each having a structured surface. The structured surfaces adhere to each other when brought into contact to secure the container portions together.
Claims14
For use with a container having an opening providing access to an interior of the container and including a first container portion and a second container portion that enclose the opening when joined together, a closure for securing the first container portion and the second container portion together, comprising:
- (a) a first intermeshable closure member adapted for mounting on the first container portion;
- (b) a second intermeshable closure member adapted for mounting on the second container portion;
- (c) said first intermeshable closure member and said second intermeshable closure member each having a structured surface, with said structured surfaces being brought into contact with each other when the first and second container portions are brought together;
- and
- (d) each of said structured surfaces including a plurality of solid tapered elements, each of said elements having at least one side inclined relative to a common plane of each of said structured surfaces at an angle sufficient to form a taper such that each element may mesh with at least one corresponding element of the other of said structured surfaces when brought into contact with said corresponding element and adhere thereto at least partially because of the frictional force of adherence of said contacting tapered sides and wherein the tangent of the half angle of said tapered sides of said elements is no greater than the coefficient of friction of the material of the contacting tapered sides.
A bag, comprising:
- (a) a front panel;
- (b) a back panel joined to said front panel along side and bottom edges to form an opening providing access to an interior of the bag;
- (c) a first intermeshable closure member mounted on said front panel;
- (d) a second intermeshable closure member mounted on said back panel so that said first intermeshable closure member and said second intermeshable closure member may be brought together to join said front panel to said back panel and enclose said opening;
- p1 (e) said first intermeshable closure member and said second intermeshable closure member each having a structured surface, with said structured surfaces being brought into contact with each other when said front panel and said back panel are joined together;
- and
- (f) each of said structured surfaces including a plurality of solid tapered elements, each of said elements having at least one side inclined relative to a common plane at an angle sufficient to form a taper such that each element may mesh with at least one corresponding element of the other of said structured surfaces when brought into contact with said corresponding element and adhere thereto at least partially because of the frictional force of adherence of said contacting sides and wherein the tangent of the half angle of said tapered contacting sides of said elements is no greater than the coefficient of friction of the material of the contacting sides.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.