Method and apparatus for making reclosable plastic bags using a pre-applied slider-operated fastener
AssigneePactiv Corporation
InventorsWilliam Mark Dutt, Toby R. Thomas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for making reclosable plastic bags is provided. In the method and apparatus, a fastener is attached to a moving flat web of plastic film, preferably in the direction of web movement and near the center of the web. A plurality of sliders are mounted to the fastener either before or after the fastener is attached to the flat web, but prior to conveying the web to a FFS machine. The flat web, with the slider-operated fastener already attached thereto, is then conveyed to a vertical or horizontal FFS machine where the flat web is formed into bags, and the bags are successively filled and sealed.
Claims13
A method of making reclosable plastic bags, comprising the acts of:
- mounting a plurality of sliders to a continuous length of fastener by inserting the plurality of sliders through notches in the continuous length of fastener, the fastener including mating male and female profiles, each of the notches extending into the male and female profiles and having a length parallel to the lengths of the profiles that allows for insertion of one of the sliders;
- attaching the continuous length of fastener to a moving web of plastic film;
- after mounting the sliders to the fastener and attaching the fastener to the moving web, forming the web into successive bags including folding the web;
- and
- successively filling and sealing the successive bags.
A method of making reclosable plastic bags, comprising the acts of:
- mounting a plurality of sliders to a continuous length of fastener by installing the plurality of sliders at spaced locations along the continuous length of fastener, the fastener including mating male and female profiles, the mounting including inserting the sliders through notches in the fastener, each of the notches extending into the male and female profiles and having a length parallel to the lengths of the profiles that allows for insertion of one of the sliders;
- subsequent to the mounting of the sliders, attaching the continuous length of fastener to a moving web of plastic film at an attachment location on the web, the attachment location on the web being flat and unfolded;
- and
- after attaching the continuous length of fastener to the moving flat web, directly conveying the moving web to a form-fill-seal machine where the web is formed into successive bags that are successively filled and sealed.
A method of making reclosable plastic bags, comprising the acts of:
- mounting a plurality of sliders to a continuous length of fastener by inserting the plurality of sliders through notches in the continuous length of fastener, the fastener including mating male and female profiles, each of the notches extending into the male and female profiles and having a length parallel to the lengths of the profiles that allows for insertion of one of the sliders;
- attaching the continuous length of fastener to a moving web of plastic film;
- and
- after mounting the sliders to the fastener and attaching the fastener to the moving web, conveying the moving web to a form-fill-seal machine where the web is formed into successive bags that are filled and sealed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.