Patent Application
20050220369
This invention relates to flexible bags for use in bag-in-box container systems, and more particularly to means for facilitating removal of viscous or powdery materials from a bag in a box.
In recent years a number of industries have adopted the bag-in-box concept for storing and transporting liquid and particulate commodities in relatively large quantities. For example, the bag-in-box has been employed for transporting in bulk such diverse products as vegetable oils, salad dressings, syrups, soy sauce, peanut butter, pharmaceuticals, talc, motor oil, industrial chemicals, detergents in liquid or powder form, and toiletry products or ingredients. The bag-in box concept comprises a flexible bag that is chemically resistant and impermeable to water and air and serves as the container for a selected commodity, and a box that serves as a protective container for the bag and its contents. By way of example, a bag used for shipping commodities in bulk typically may have a volume in the order of 60 cubic feet and include at least a drain fitting whereby its contents may be removed. Some bags are formed with a second fitting for use in filling the bag.
The outer box is provided with a discharge opening near or at its bottom end through which the liquid or particulate contents can be discharged from the bag via its drain fitting. That discharge opening may be fitted with another drain fitting that mates with or accommodates the drain fitting of the bag, whereby to assure that material discharged from the bag will be directed to the intended receiving facility and prevented from accumulating in the bottom of the box. Where the bags have two fittings, the filler fitting is usually located at or close to the top end of the bag. The protective box usually comprises a cover or top panel that is removable to permit access to the bag.
An important financial consideration of the bag-in-box mode of shipment of materials in bulk is that it can be a non-returnable or one-way container, in which case the box is generally made of a corrugated fiberboard or the like which can be discarded after use. Alternatively, the outer box may consist of interlocking panels of metal, wood or a stiff or rigid plastic material, in which case the box may be disassembled and returned to the shipper after the associated bag has been emptied of its contents.
Further with respect to the bag-in-box concept as applied to bulk shipment of commodities, the plastic bags have taken various forms, including the so-called “pillow” type which consists of two sheets of plastic film sealed together at their edges and four sided bags made from a plurality of sheets of plastic film, e.g., bags that take the shape of a cube or rectangular parallelepiped when filled. A specific form of four sided bag is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,121, issued Aug. 4, 1998 to H. Sasaki et al. Regardless of the type of bag in the box, if the bag is large, e.g., a bag having a volume of about 275 gallons, complete removal of all of the liquid or particulate material from the bag is difficult. The problem of removing all of the contents is noticeably difficult in the case of viscous liquids. Depending on the form of bag construction, complete emptying of the bag may be impeded by its size or shape, the location of its drain and/or the fact that as its contents are discharged, the evacuated portion of the bag tends to collapse.
Heretofore efforts have been made to provide means for supporting and tilting the plastic bags as they are being emptied via their drain fitting, so that the drain fitting is kept flooded with the viscous or particulate contents. One such effort is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,723, issued Jun. 16, 1998 to D. E. Wilcox. The Wilcox invention consists of a windlass that is mounted on the box and has a connector cord that is attached to a gathered portion of the bag by a noose. Operation of the windlass serves to lift and draw the gripped portion of the bag across the container toward the drain side of the container, and subsequently to wind the gripped portion of the container onto the windlass shaft. The result of the bag lifting and winding process is to move the viscous liquid material more effectively toward the drain.
However, a problem arises in using the Wilcox invention for emptying plastic bags that have a generally cubic or rectangular parallelepiped shape when filled, e.g., substantially self-supporting bags like those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,121, cited supra, since those bags are difficult to grasp with a noose. One proposed solution was to make a cube-shaped or rectangular parallelepiped bag by providing a plastic tube having a square or rectangular cross-sectional configuration and attaching top and bottom panels of like plastic material to the opposite ends of the tube by means of heat seals, with the bottom wall panel conforming in shape and size to the bottom end of the tube and the top end panel differing from the bottom panel in that at one side it projects laterally outward of one side of the rectangular tube so as to provide a tab portion that can be grasped to support the bag as it is being emptied via a drain provided at the bottom end of the tube. The tab portion is long enough to be wrapped on itself around the windlass shaft, whereupon further rotation of the windlass shaft produces a lifting force on the bag that results in the bag's contents being urged toward the drain by gravity.
Unfortunately the structural integrity of the foregoing tab construction is limited by the strength of the seal made by the end panels with the ends of the tube. Those seals are narrow and when the tab is wound on the windlass shaft, the weight of the bag and its contents tend to stress the top end panel to the extent that it may tear or separate where it is joined to the tube. That method of making a bag with a flap is labor intensive and hence costly.
Accordingly it is desirable to provide a new and improved tab construction that is characterized by a structural integrity sufficient to support the weight of a bag and its contents as it is being wound on a windlass.
The primary object of this invention is to provide a bulk storage bag of the kind having a drain with an improved form of tab for use in supporting the bag so as to facilitate complete emptying of its contents via the drain.
Another object is to provide a bulk storage bag for a bag-in-box application that is provided adjacent its top end with an improved tab for use in supporting the bag as its contents are emptied via a drain located at or adjacent to its bottom end.
A further object is to provide a bag for storing a liquid or powdery material that is formed from several portions of single or multi-ply sheet material and comprises a tab for use in supporting the bag as its contents are emptied via a drain, characterized in that the tab is formed by an additional portion of single or multi-ply sheet material that is secured to and extends parallel to one of those several portions.
Still another object is to provide a bag, formed of flexible single or multi-ply sheet material having the general shape of a rectangular parallelepiped when filled, with a tab that can be used to support the bag as it is emptied of its content via a drain located at or adjacent its bottom end.
A more specific object is to provide a bag that is formed by sealing together portions of single or multi-ply sheet material with one of those portions including a drain device for emptying the bag of its fluid contents and another of those portions being adapted to form a tab for supporting the bag when it is being emptied of its contents.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, these and other objects that are rendered apparent by the following detailed description are achieved by sealing together five portions of single or multi-ply sheet material, with four of those portions forming a bag of generally cubic shape and one of those four portion including a drain device for emptying the bag of its fluid contents, and the fifth portion of single or multi-ply material overlying one of the other four portions and being adapted to form a tab for supporting the bag when it is being emptied of its contents. A like flap construction can be provided for bags made from tubular webs. Other details and features of the bag and tab construction are disclosed or rendered obvious by the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
In the several figures like numerals designate like elements.
The preferred embodiment of the invention is a four side-seal type bag 2 composed of five discrete portions or panels 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 of flexible, heat-sealable packaging material in sheet form. The packaging material is impervious to water and also preferably to oils and other liquid materials. By way of example but not limitation, the packaging sheet material may consist of polyethylene or polypropylene or some other thermoplastic material or be a laminate of two or more packaging materials bonded to one another. Each of the portions or panels 4-12 may comprise a single sheet of packaging material (“single ply”) or two or more sheets of packaging material (“multi-ply”). In the case of multi-ply portions, the individual sheets (“plies”) may be of like or different material and, as is rendered obvious by the following detailed description, they are secured to one another only in selected areas. The preferred embodiment is a two-ply bag. For convenience and simplicity of illustration, the two-ply construction is evidenced only in
Referring to
The portion 4 is sealed along its two longitudinally extending side edges to the adjacent side edges of folds 13 and 15 of portions 8 and 10 respectively, as represented by seal lines 23 and 24 (
At the top end of the bag the five portions 4-12 are sealed together by a cross seal 40 that extends to and intersects the seals 27-30. At the opposite end of the bag the five portions 4-12 are secured together by a cross-seal 42 that extends to and intersects seals 31-34. Preferably the eight oblique seals have angular extensions as shown at 44 and 46 that extend to and intersect the cross seals 40 and 42.
The portion 4 is formed with two openings, and mounted in those openings are two like tubular fitments 50 and 52. Fitment 50 is intended to function as a drain and is located equidistant from the two longitudinal side edges of bag portion 4 at a point that is almost even with the intersections of oblique seals 31 and 32 with longitudinal seals 23 ands 24 respectively. Fitment 52 is for filling purposes and is located close to the junctions of cross seal 40 with oblique seals 27 and 28. Referring to
Referring now to
Referring now to
The inflated or filled bag is self-supporting in the sense that it tends to remain erect and not fall over when its bottom end is resting on a flat floor or platform. When the un-inflated bag is inserted in a box for a bag-in-box application, the flexibility of the bag allows the drain fitment to be properly positioned in any commodity discharge opening provided in the bottom of the box. Positioning the drain fitting in the discharge opening of the box assures ready access to its cap 62 from outside of the box after the bag has been filled, which is important since removal of the cap of the drain fitment is required to initiate the bag-emptying process.
Because of the flexibility of the portions 4-12 of packaging material, when the bag is being emptied of its contents via drain 50, the upper portion of the bag tends to collapse, making it difficult to completely empty the bag of viscous contents such as peanut butter, industrial oil or the like and making it desirable to have a flap that can be grasped to support the bag. To provide a flap, the operator need only grasp the edge of portion 12 at the slit 69 and exert a pulling force down away from the top of the bag, whereupon the portion 12 will tear along the two lines of perforations 66 and 68. The tearing action stops at the cross seal 70, resulting in a generally triangular flap 74 as shown in
Because the cross seal is on the back side of the bag and diagonally opposite to the location of the drain fitment 50, exerting a vertical pulling force on flap 74 has the effect of raising the back side of the bag and providing a tilting effect that causes the drain to remain flooded with the contents of the bag until the bag is substantially completely empty. Because the flap is an integral part of portion 12 which is sealed along its edges and also along seal 70 to portion 6, its strength is more than adequate to support the weight of the bag and its contents as the bag is being emptied. The remainder of portion 12 also serves to reinforce the side of the bag formed by portion 6. It is to be noted that where the bag is supported by winding flap 74 on a roller or mandrel of a winch or windless apparatus, after emptying has started, the winding may be extended to flatten and wind up the newly emptied upper portion of the bag, thereby helping to promote complete discharge of the bag's contents.
As indicated hereinabove, the portions 4-10 that make up the bag and the portion 12 that is used to provide the flap 74 may consist of a single ply or two or more plies. In the case of two or more plies, it is to be understood that the plies are separate from one another except in the areas of the seals described above, and that each ply may consist of a single plastic film or be a laminate of two or more materials. Also it is contemplated that the portions 4-10 may be multi-ply while the portion 12 is a single ply, in which case the portion 12 may be of a heavier gauge, i.e., thicker, than the portions 4-10 in order to assure that it will have the tensile strength required to support the load of a bag and its contents.
Referring to
The alternative embodiment shown in
The invention is susceptible of other modifications. For example, the two lines of perforations 66 and 68 may be formed as a single line curved in an arc, with the apex of the arc being tangent or close to the slit 69. The fitments 50 and 52 may have different structures as, for example, the form of fitment disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,072, issued Dec. 22, 1998 to L. LaFleur. The drain fitment may be adapted for attachment thereto of a faucet or discharge valve or a flexible hose line for use in directing the discharged commodity to a desired storage or use facility. Also, the filler fitment 52 may be omitted, in which case drain fitment 50 may also serve as a filler means for the bag.
In the construction shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, the portions 8 and 10 have substantially the same width when unfolded as portions 4 and 6, whereby the inflated bag has a substantially cubic shape. However, the bag also may be formed so that the portions 8 and 10 have smaller widths when unfolded than portions 4 and 6, whereby the bag will have a rectangular parallelepiped shape when inflated. Although the seals whereby the portions 4-12 are connected together are illustrated by single lines, it is to be understood that the cross-seals and the longitudinal and oblique seals that connect portions 4 and 6 to portions 8 and 10 and portion 12 to portion 6 may vary in width and, for example, may extend out to the edges of portions 4-12. Also slit 69 may be replaced by a line of perforations between perforation lines 66 and 68 to help prevent accidental tearing out of flap 74. Seal 70 also may be modified in form, shape and location. By way of example but not limitation, it can be formed as an uninterrupted straight or curved line seal of suitable width and moved closer to or further from the end edge 18. Also the length of seal 70 may be adjusted so that it will intersect or terminate close to perforations 66 and 68, or oblique seals 29 and 30 or side seals 25 and 26. It is to be noted also that the bag shown in
The invention also may be practiced with bags of different constructions having drain fitments at their bottom ends. For example, the four side seal bag shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,121, issued Aug. 4, 1998 to H. Sasaki et al., may be modified by the addition of another portion of flexible packaging sheet material that is perforated to form a flap like flap 74. More specifically, the spout 12 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of Sasaki et al. would be moved to the bottom end of the bag and a portion of packaging sheet material corresponding to portion 12 of the bag shown in FIGS. 1 to 8 hereof would be added to the side of the bag that is opposite to the spout.
Furthermore, although the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a bag formed from portions of four sheet webs connected by four longitudinal seals, the invention also may be incorporated in bags made using tubular webs. Thus, by way of example but not limitation, the present invention may be embodied in bags constructed in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,445, issued Mar. 4, 2003 to L. LaFleur et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,646, issued Apr. 16, 2002 to L. LaFleur; U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,482, issued Oct. 31, 2000 to L LaFleur; U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,984, issued Jul. 6, 1999 to L. LaFleur et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,254, issued Apr. 8, 1997 to N. C. Derby. The teachings of the foregoing patents are incorporated herein by reference. For purposes of utilizing the present invention, bags having the constructions described and illustrated in the aforesaid patents would be provided with a drain fitment located as shown in
It is to be noted also that two-ply bags may be made by inserting a first tubular web inside of a second tube web, folding the two webs inward to provide a pair of opposite side gussets (e.g., as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,445 (FIGS. 4 and 5), U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,984 (FIG. 4) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,254 (FIG. 2), and then sealing the webs lengthwise and also with cross-seals and or oblique seals (in accordance with the teachings of the foregoing specification or the aforementioned patents) to form a bag of cubic or rectangular parallelepiped shape. Alternatively the gussets may be formed in the two tubular webs before they are inserted inside one another. Drain fitments would be attached to the tubular webs. Incorporating the present invention in two ply bags made from two tubular webs, one inside of the other, is achieved by attaching an extra single or multi-ply sheet corresponding to sheet portion 12 to the outer tubular web on one of the four sides of the uninflated bag, with the flap corresponding to flap 74 being located at the top end of the bag diagonally opposite to the drain fitment. Alternatively a third tubular web of like cross-sectional shape could be slipped over and attached to the first two webs, with the third tubular web being adapted along one side of the bag to provide a flap corresponding to flap 74.
In addition to proving a strong and readily usable flap, the present invention offers the advantage that it may be incorporated in bags of different sizes and is not limited to bag-in-box applications. A further advantage is that existing bag-making machines, particularly those of the type designed to make a series of four-side-seal bags using four webs of flexible packaging material or those designed to make bags using two or more tubular webs, are easily modified to manufacture bags incorporating the present invention, such modification requiring merely the capability of introducing an additional web of packaging material into the bag-making process for use in forming the portion 12 described above. In comparison to the prior method of forming a bag with a flap as previously described, bags incorporating the present invention can be made more rapidly and at lower cost. Other modifications and advantages will be obvious to persons skilled in the art from the foregoing description.
