Snap and fill plastic film bags and process

A process of opening and placing product in a plastic film bag having a front wall and a back wall joined together and defining a bag cavity therebetween, an opening between the front and back walls leading to the bag cavity and complementary separable zipper profiles at the opening for opening and closing the bag, the profiles being joined to one another and the bag opening being closed, a lip attached to the front wall above the zipper profiles, a header portion attached to the back wall above the zipper profiles, a part of the header portion being supported on a support structure for carrying the bag, and a perforation on the header portion extending between header edges and located between the header portion supported part and the zipper profiles, said process comprising the steps of:

• gripping a portion of the bag front wall lip;
• pulling the lip away from the support structure and separating the complementary zipper profiles and opening the bag;
• further pulling the lip away from the support structure and severing the bag from the header portion at the perforation;
• and,
• placing product in the bag cavity through the bag opening.

A process of opening a plastic film bag having a front wall and a back wall joined together and defining a bag cavity therebetween, an opening between the front and back walls leading to the bag cavity and complementary separable zipper profiles at the opening for opening and closing the bag, the profiles being joined to one another and the bag opening being closed, a lip extending from the front wall above the zipper profiles, a header portion extending from the back wall above the zipper profiles, and a perforation on the header portion extending between header edges, said process comprising the steps of:

• gripping a portion of the bag front wall lip;
• pulling the lip away from the header and separating the complementary zipper profiles while the back wall remains attached to the header portion at the perforation;
• wherein, during the step of pulling, tension is created along the perforation;
• further pulling the lip away from the header and opening the bag, and creating tension along the header edges;
• and,
• severing the bag from the header portion at the perforation, initially at the header edges and thereafter along the perforation toward the middle thereof until the bag is fully severed from the header.