Title of Invention

A ZIPPER SLIDER ASSEMBLY WITH DIAPHRAGM FOR A THREE-SIDE GUSSET POUCH

Abstract

A zipper slider assembly with diaphragm for a three-side gusset pouch comprising: zipper profile consisting of male element (l.l)and a female element (1.4), said profile having a first flap (1.3) from the male element and a second flap (1.6) from the female element on single side, said male element having at least a pair of notches (1.2), which could be coupled to corresponding notches (1.5) on female elements, a slider (1.8) to close said zipper profile, - a diaphragm (1.9) of at least one metalized laminated film is sealed between said flaps to seal and make the pouch tamper proof and act as a barrier and - one of the walls of said pouch is sealed on three sides and open towards the zipper assembly and said wall is sealed with the one of the flaps after filling the pouch with the desired contents characterized in that the said pouch has a gusset on three sides (3.5,3.6) for increasing its volume and improving its stackability.

Full Text

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Section 10 A Zipper Slider Assembly With Diaphragm For A Three-Side Gusset Pouch CHATURVEDI Ashok, and Indian national, of 118-119 Damji Shamji Udyog Bhawan, 1st Floor, 25A Veera Desai Road, Andheri (West), Mumbai-400 053, Maharashtra, India The following specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed: 10-1-2005 ^ This invention relates to a zipper slider assembly with diaphragm for a three-side gusset pouch. Background of the invention Existing flexible packages having zipper assemblies suffer from problems such as not being able to retain aroma and freshness of food and other articles packaged inside them during transportation and storage. Hence, by the time the contents of the package reach the end user they are insipid. Furthermore, said zipper slider assemblies do not provide any tamper-proof features for informing the end user whether the package has been opened previously or not. US patents 5,435,864 and 5,425,825 disclose plastic bag having a reclosable plastic zipper and non-reclosable peel seal. In US patent 5,435,864, the peel seal is formed by co-extruding an adhesive onto a side strip adjacent to the interlocking zipper while, in US patent 5,425,825 the seal is formed by applying adhesive to the side strip. Further, the barrier provided by a peel seal is permeable and is not strong enough for preventing undesired aroma, microorganisms, and moisture from entering into packages containing food items, thereby making the packaged items vulnerable to fast deterioration. US Patent Application no. 2002/0021499A1 discloses a flexible reclosable package having a reclosable zipper construction openable and closable by a slider device, and a primary tamper evident structure disposed over the zipper for indicating whether access has been gained to the interior of the package. The package also has a second tamper evident structure consisting of a polymeric film or a peel seal, which is permeable. As a result, the structure has very limited barrier properties to prevent undesired aroma, microorganisms, and moisture from the atmosphere from entering the package. At the same time, the structure is not capable of retaining inside the package the desired aroma, 2 microbe free air and gases like nitrogen that are filled in the package containing food items for keeping them fresh. US 5788378 provides for a bag with three side gussets and a slider zipper. The document however, does not disclose the following features of the instant application :one wall of the pouch being left upon for subsequent filling by a vendor; and a metallized laminated film sealed between flaps extending from the zipper wherein the open side of the pouch is subsequently sealed to one of the flaps. US 5275491 does not disclose a pouch that has gussets on three sides and also does not disclose a pouch with a slider zipper assembly and having diaphragm of a metallized laminate sealed between the flaps of the zipper. US 6186663 discloses a bag with three side gussets but not having a slider zipper assembly to make the bag re-closable and one wall of the bag being left open for subsequent filling by a vendor 3 The further disadvantage of the above US patents 5,435,864 & 5,425,825 and US Patent Application no. 2002/0021499A1 using a polymeric film extruded together with the zipper profile for providing tamper evident structure is that it limits the choice of material in case a structure having special properties such as capable of being holographed or printed is required for the package. In our co-pending application number 428/Mum/2003 dated 29111 April, 2003 we have described a zipper slider assembly with a diaphragm for a standup pouch that helps in overcoming several aforementioned drawbacks. As shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, the slider zipper assembly consists of a male member 1.1 having interlocking element 1.2 and flap 1.3. A female member 1.4 having interlocking element 1.5, a flap 1.6 and rectangular shaped protrusion 1.7 extending from said flap 1.6. A slider 1.8 is shown in the figure for closing and opening the zipper profile. A diaphragm 1.9 is sealed between flaps 1.3,1.6 by ultrasonic or heat sealing device. One of the advantages of the diaphragm 1.9, as provided by the present invention, is that the diaphragm has the same barrier properties as the body of the flexible package. In prior art packages, even when the body of the package had strong barrier protection, the weak barrier provided by the tamper evident structures such as peel seal used to allow moisture, micro-organisms, undesired aroma and the like to enter into the package. However, the diaphragm 1.9 has the same strong barrier properties as the body of the package itself that provides better protection to the packed contents during storage and transportation. 4 In Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings, a slider assembly with a package 2.1 and diaphragm 2.2, a slider 2.3 and zipper assembly 2.4 is shown. The slider 2.3 and zipper assembly 2.4 are made of plastic. However, the stand up pouch described in our co pending application 428/Mum/2003 has a limitation of having curved surfaces on the front and backside resulting in difficulty in stacking of pouch and wastage of storage space. Objects and summary of the invention The object of this invention is to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks and provide an standup pouch having a three side gusset. Another object of this invention is to provide a side gusset standup pouch that maintains the desired aroma and freshness of food and other articles packaged inside the pouch during transportation and storage till the time they reach the end user. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a tamper proof zipper slider assembly for a three side gusset standup pouch. A further object of the present invention is to improve aesthetics of the three side gusset standup pouch To achieve the said objectives, this invention provides a zipper slider assembly with diaphragm for a three-side gusset pouch comprising: zipper profile consisting of male element and a female element, said profile having flaps on single side, 5 said male element having at least a pair of notches, which could be coupled to corresponding notches on female elements, a slider to close said zipper profile, a diaphragm of at least one metalized laminated film is sealed between said flaps to seal and make the pouch tamper proof and act as a barrier and one of the walls of said pouch is sealed on three sides and open towards the zipper assembly and said wall is sealed with the other flap after filling the pouch with the desired contents characterized in that the said pouch has a gusset on three sides for increasing its volume and improving its stackability. The side gusset is a metalized laminated film. The metalized laminated film is holographed, printed or plain. Brief description of the accompanying drawings The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 shows a slider zipper assembly with a diaphragm described in our copending application 428/Mum/2003. Figure 2 shows the stand up pouch with a slider zipper assembly described in our copending application 428/Mum/2003. Figure 3 shows the zipper slider assembly with diaphragm for a three-side gusset pouch according to the present invention. Figure 4 shows the cross-sectional view of the zipper slider assembly with diaphragm for a three-side gusset pouch according to the present invention. Detailed description of the accompanying drawings Figures 1 and 2 have already been described in the "Background of the invention". Figure 3 shows three side gusset pouch 3.1 according to the present invention having a slider 3.2, zipper assembly 3.3 and a diaphragm 3.4. The gusset 3.6 of the pouch 3.1 is such that the pouch stands upright after it is filled with contents. The side gusset 3.5 is provided such that the pouch 3.1 takes a rectangular shape after it is filled with its contents. However, the other wall 3.7 of the pouch is left unsealed for allowing the contents to be filled inside the pouch 3.1. After the pouch has been filled, the other wall 3.6 also is sealed to one of the flaps 4.2 (explained in figure 4) of the zipper assembly. The said flap 4.2 has plurality of horizontal lines 4.1 for the purpose of selective heat transfer and enabling one side sealing on zipper assembly, thereby preventing the zipper from sealing from inside after the pouch is filled. The diaphragm 3.4 is a metalized laminate film for providing strong barrier properties that does not allow undesired aroma, moisture and the like in the atmosphere to enter inside the pouch through it thereby, protecting the packed contents from deterioration. At the same time, aroma of the packed articles, microorganism free air, and packaging gases like nitrogen are retained by the diaphragm 3.4 inside the pouch. Therefore, the diaphragm 3.4 helps in maintaining the desired aroma and freshness of the food article even during transportation and storage. In addition, the slider zipper assembly with 7 diaphragm 3.4 makes the pouch tamper proof. The said pouches can be used for carrying pharmaceuticals, stationary, tea leaves, coffee powder and other miscellaneous articles also. The constituent films of the laminate can be chosen to provide desired properties as desired in different kind of packages, e.g. the diaphragm 3.4 can be holographed for identifying the manufacturer and authenticating a genuine product where necessary. Figure 4 shows the cross sectional view of the zipper assembly wherein the male element 4.3 and the female element 4.4 of the zipper assembly are shown along with the diaphragm 4.5. The flap 4.2 has plurality of horizontal lines 4.1 for the purpose of selective heat transfer for one side sealing of the wall. j8 I Claim: 1. A zipper slider assembly with diaphragm for a three-side gusset pouch comprising: zipper profile consisting of male element (l.l)and a female element (1.4), said profile having a first flap (1.3) from the male element and a second flap (1.6) from the female element on single side, said male element having at least a pair of notches (1.2), which could be coupled to corresponding notches (1.5) on female elements, a slider (1.8) to close said zipper profile, - a diaphragm (1.9) of at least one metalized laminated film is sealed between said flaps to seal and make the pouch tamper proof and act as a barrier and - one of the walls of said pouch is sealed on three sides and open towards the zipper assembly and said wall is sealed with the one of the flaps after filling the pouch with the desired contents characterized in that the said pouch has a gusset on three sides (3.5,3.6) for increasing its volume and improving its stackability. 2. The zipper slider assembly with diaphragm for a three-side gusset pouch as claimed in claim 1 wherein the side gusset is a metalized laminated film. 3. The zipper slider assembly with diaphragm for a three-side gusset pouch as claimed in claim 2 wherein the metalized laminated film is holographed, printed or plain. 4. The zipper slider assembly with diaphragm for a three-side gusset pouch substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 7th day of December, 2003 Essenese Obhan of Anand & Anand, Advocates Attorneys for the Applicant [O

Documents:

1260-mum-2003-cancelled pages(10-1-2005).pdf

1260-mum-2003-claims(granted)-(10-1-2005).doc

1260-mum-2003-claims(granted)-(10-1-2005).pdf

1260-mum-2003-correspondence(17-1-2005).pdf

1260-mum-2003-correspondence(ipo)-(19-4-2007).pdf

1260-mum-2003-form 1(10-12-2003).pdf

1260-mum-2003-form 19(10-12-2003).pdf

1260-mum-2003-form 2(granted)-(10-1-2005).doc

1260-mum-2003-form 2(granted)-(10-1-2005).pdf

1260-mum-2003-form 3(17-1-2005).pdf

1260-mum-2003-other documents(10-12-2003).pdf

1260-mum-2003-petition under rule 138(17-1-2005).pdf

1260-mum-2003-power of attorney(21-4-2004).pdf