Patent attributes
A composite or so-called “half and half” bag has a first side wall formed from a synthetic resin mesh material and a second side formed from a synthetic resin film material. A reinforcing strip extends horizontally along the upper end portion of the mesh side wall of the bag. The reinforcing strip overlaps the upper edge of the first side wall such that it is joined to the first side wall through a horizontal seam positioned well beneath the top edge of the reinforcing strip to form an extension that protrudes well above (e.g., ½ inch to 1½ inches or even more) the upper edge of the mesh side wall. In order to strengthen the seam at the sides of the bag, the side edges of the reinforcing strip are joined to the second film side wall along at least most of the vertical extent of the extension. This film-to-film bond is considerably stronger than a bond through an intermediate mesh layer, as occurs along the remainder of the side seams of the bag. In addition, the relatively long extension provides an improved contact point for suction cups or other equipment used on automated bag filling equipment to open a bag during a bag filling process.
