FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to closure devices. In particular, the invention relates to a closure device for resealing a bag.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Bread is one of the most commonly consumed staple foods in many households. Although bread has a shelf life, as is the case with many other food types, it is a common occurrence for the bread to go stale before the indicated shelf life if not preserved properly. There exist devices such as tags and clips that securely seal plastic bags and other deformable containers in which the bread is packaged to aid with the preservation of the bread after opening. The volume of bread purchased and consumed globally leads to an infinite number of tags and clips having to be disposed of, which is a concern worsened by the devices being made of plastic and thus not biodegradable.

The inventor has identified a need for a closure device that is less harmful to environment, intended for use in applications not limited to bread, and aims to address this need with this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Broadly according to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a closure device for resealing a bag which includes a biodegradable body having a gripping formation, operable to releasably attach transversely around a bag and crimp the bag closed.

The biodegradable body may be of any one or more of the following semi- hard biodegradable materials: bamboo or bamboo pulp, sugar cane or sugar cane pulp, cardboard, layered paper, pressed paper, wood, natural fibre, bio composites, bioplastic, and plant-based plastics or the like. The biodegradable body may be a compostable body. Cardboard and paper may be recyclable material. The biodegradable body may be a flat, planar body. In one embodiment, the biodegradable body may include a substantially central aperture, through which a portion of the bag is held in use. The biodegradable body may further include a slit from one edge of the biodegradable body leading to the central aperture, allowing the portion of the bag to be pushed through the slit into the aperture. Any one or both of the aperture and slit may define the gripping formation.

Typically, the biodegradable body may be manufactured by being cut or pressed out from a biodegradable sheet material, which sheet material may be recycled material or virgin material.

The biodegradable body may include two sections: a gripping section and a handling section. The gripping section having the gripping formation disposed thereon and the handling section, being shaped and dimensioned to allow for the handling of the biodegradable body whilst attaching and removing the closure device to and from the bag in use.

The biodegradable body may also include a pocket formed integral thereto. The pocket may be in the form of a cavity formed within the biodegradable body, alternatively the pocket may be in the form of a cavity on the biodegradable body which can be closed off with a cover or the like.

The closure device may include at least one seed of a plant associated with the biodegradable body. In one embodiment, the at least one seed may be any one of: attached to, embedded in, housed in or on, the biodegradable body. In a preferred embodiment, the seed may be located in the pocket of the biodegradable body. In another embodiment, the seed may be embedded in the biodegradable body during the manufacture of the closure device.

The seed may develop into an edible herb, vegetable or fruit upon the decomposition of the biodegradable body. It is to be appreciated that the decomposition of the biodegradable body exposes the seed to the environment, specifically, environmental conditions permitting sprouting of the seed. The planar biodegradable body may be any one or more of the following shapes: a disc, a square or the like. In one embodiment, the biodegradable body may have a barbed u-shaped appearance.

The biodegradable body may be deformable in shape such to permit any or more of the following movements: flexing, twisting, or the like. In one embodiment, the biodegradable body may be deformable transversely about the bag such to crimp the bag closed and receiving the bag within the gripping formation.

The biodegradable body may be operable to crimp bags that contain baked goods, dairy goods, hygiene products, or the like. In one embodiment, the biodegradable body may be operable to crimp a bag containing bread. It is to be appreciated that the biodegradable body is used to crimp the bag during packaging and to reseal the bag thereafter.

The bag may include any or more of the following: plastic bag, brown bag or the like. The bag may be deformable from an open orientation to a closed orientation. In the open orientation, the content of the bag may be removed therefrom. In the closed orientation, the bag may be resealed with the closure device to contain the content of the bag therein.

The gripping formation may include at least two oppositely arranged sections disposed on the biodegradable body, each with a toothed arrangement, the toothed arrangement of the one section facing the toothed arrangement of the opposed section, operable to grip the bag there between.

In one example, the biodegradable body may include two arms, on either side of the slit, and each arm having an inner toothed surface which surrounds the aperture formed within the biodegradable body. The toothed surface may aid with the crimping of the bag in use. The aperture may be shaped and dimensioned to thread the bag such that the bag is crimped by the gripping formation. The closure device may be in the form of a bread tag, a bread clip, a bread tie or the like.

The biodegradable body may include any or more of the following details printed thereupon: packaged date, expiry date, contents of the container, branding, type of seed contained therein, use directions or the like.

The biodegradable body may be manufactured in any one or more of the following colours: natural, red, blue, green, or the like.

The biodegradable body may be manufactured in a specific colour associated with any one of more of: packaged date, expiry date, contents of the container, type of seed provided in the closure device or the like.

The invention is now described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying figures:

FIGURE(S)

In the figure(s):

Figure 1 shows a three-dimensional view of a closure device in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 shows a two-dimensional front view of the closure device of Figure 1 ; and

Figure 3 shows an illustrative view of the closure device of Figure 1, when in use.

In the figures, like reference numerals denote like parts of the invention unless otherwise indicated.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In Figures 1 to 3, reference numeral 10 refers broadly to a closure device for resealing a bag (100). The closure device (10) includes a biodegradable body (12) having a gripping formation (14), operable to releasably attach transversely around an open neck of a bag (100) and crimp the bag (100) closed. Importantly, the closure device (10) is of a biodegradable material which is capable of being decomposed. In this example, the biodegradable body (12) is of a semi-hard biodegradable material in the form of layered paper, which, advantageously is also compostable.

As shown the biodegradable body (12) is a flat, planar body having a central aperture (16), through which a portion of the bag (100) is held in use. The biodegradable body (12) further includes a slit (18) from one edge of the biodegradable body (12) leading to the central aperture (16), allowing the portion of the bag (100) to be pushed through the slit (18) into the aperture (16). The aperture (16) and slit (18) in combination, define the gripping formation (14).

The biodegradable body (12) also includes a pocket (50) in the form of a cavity formed within the biodegradable body (12). The closure device (10) also includes a seed (not shown) located in the pocket (50) of the biodegradable body (12). It is to be appreciated that in another embodiment, the seed is embedded in the biodegradable body (12) during manufacture of the closure device (10).

The seed may develop into an edible herb, vegetable or fruit upon the decomposition of the biodegradable body. It is to be appreciated that the decomposition of the biodegradable body (12) exposes the seed to the environment, specifically, environmental conditions permitting sprouting of the seed.

In this example, the biodegradable body (12) includes two arms, on either side of the slit (18), and each arm having an inner toothed surface which surrounds the aperture (16) formed within the biodegradable body (12). The toothed surface may aid with the crimping of the bag (100) in use. The aperture (16) is shaped and dimensioned to thread the bag (100) such that bag (100) is crimped by the gripping formation (14).

The biodegradable body (12) comprises of two sections, specifically, a gripping section and a handling section with the gripping section having the gripping formation (14) disposed thereon and the handling section being shaped to allow it to be easily handled whilst attaching and removing the closure device (10) to and from the bag (100) in use.

The biodegradable body (12) is a planar body having a barbed u-shaped appearance as a result of the manufacturing of the biodegradable body (12). In use, the biodegradable body (12) is deformable in shape such to permit movement of the biodegradable body (12), specifically flexing of the biodegradable body (12) such that the biodegradable body (12) is deformable transversely about the bag (100) to crimp the bag (100) closed, receiving the bag (100) within the gripping formation (14).

Typically, the biodegradable body (12) is manufactured by being cut or pressed out from a biodegradable sheet material. In this example, the biodegradable body (12) is manufactured from layered paper via CNC. The layered paper decomposes to expose the seed (50).

The closure device (10) is useful for closing bags (100) that contain baked goods, particularly for closing bags (100) containing bread. It is to be appreciated that the closure device (10) is used to crimp the bags (100) containing bread during packaging of the bread and resealing of the bag after use.

The bag (100) includes a plastic bag, deformable from an open orientation to a closed orientation. In the open orientation, the bread contained within the bag (100) can be removed from the bag (100). In the closed orientation, the bag (100) is resealed with the closure device (10) to seal the bread within the bag (100). It is to be appreciated that the resealing of the bag (100) contributes to the preservation of the bread.

The inventor believes that the invention provides a closure device that is environmentally friendly thereby alleviating concerns associated with pollution. Advantageously, the present invention provides an additional benefit of contributing to the environment in that seeds embedded into the closure devices sprout into edible foods upon the decomposition of the closure devices. The closure device also has many applications and is not limited to resealing bags containing bread.