Engineering:Bread clip

Short description: Closure device for plastic bags

A white bread clip

A bread clip is a device that is used to hold plastic bags closed, such as those in which sliced bread is commonly packaged. They are also commonly called bread tags, bread tabs, bread ties, bread buckles, bread-bag clips, or occlupanids. By sealing a bag more securely than tying or folding over its open end, and thus providing a nearly hermetic seal, the contents are preserved longer.

Designs

Simple

An assortment of simple bread clips

Most designs of bread clip consist of a single plastic part through which the neck of a plastic bag can be threaded. Because these clips are cheap, ubiquitous, and come in a variety of shapes and colors, some people collect them.

Most bread clips are made from plastic #6 polystyrene (PS), but Quebec-based bread clip manufacturing company KLR Systems released recyclable, cardboard bread clips in 2019, which they later switched to producing in 2022.

Mechanical

A more complex bread clip design involves two articulated plastic parts mounted on a pivot with a spring between them to provide tension.

History

A clip sealing a bag of buns displaying a best before date

Biodegradable bread clip in Quebec, Canada

The bread clip was invented by Floyd G. Paxton and manufactured by the Kwik Lok Corporation, based in Yakima, Washington with manufacturing plants in Yakima and New Haven, Indiana. Kwik Lok Corporation's clips are called "Kwik Lok closures".

The bread clip was developed in the early 1950s for a growing need to close plastic bags on the packaging line very efficiently. Manufacturers, using more and more automation in the manufacture and packaging of food, needed methods to raise production volumes and reduce costs. At the same time a hurried population of consumers wanted a fast and easy way to open and effectively seal food bags. The simple bread clip sufficed. In addition, re-closability became a selling point as smaller families and higher costs slowed consumption, leading to a potential for higher rates of spoilage.

Kwik Lok continues to be the main manufacturer of bread clips with Schutte as their European competitor.

"Occlupanids"

John Daniel, creator of the website horg.com, coined the term occlupanids to describe plastic bread clips, and created a mock phylogeny of the different clip designs, as well as a formal taxonomy including "families" and binomial scientific names. Researchers of occlupanids are called occlupanologists. These terms have since been referenced in popular media.

Health risks

Case studies in the medical literature document instances of inhalation and ingestion.