Claims
- 1. A flat bottom, stand-up bag comprising:
a body having a sidewall and a bottom wall; the sidewall and bottom wall cooperating to define a storage compartment; the sidewall having a longitudinal direction disposed along the length of the sidewall; the body being formed from a section of material having overlapped edges connected together in a first flat seam; the first flat seam being disposed in the longitudinal direction along the sidewall; the first flat seam extending from the sidewall to the bottom wall; and the bottom wall being flat and free of protruding flaps.
- 2. The bag of claim 1, wherein the sidewall is continuous.
- 3. The bag of claim 1, wherein the material is weldable.
- 4. The bag of claim 3, wherein the material is one of a plastic, metal, and blown film.
- 5. The bag of claim 4, wherein the blown film is mono layer.
- 6. The bag of claim 3, wherein the material is a multi layer material.
- 7. The bag of claim 1, wherein the first flat seam extends across a portion of the bottom wall.
- 8. The bag of claim 1, wherein the sidewall is tube-shaped in cross section when viewed in a direction normal to the bottom wall.
- 9. The bag of claim 8, wherein the sidewall has a rectangular cross section when viewed in a direction normal to the bottom wall.
- 10. The bag of claim 1, wherein the sidewall defines opposed front and back walls connected by opposed sidewalls.
- 11. The bag of claim 10, wherein the opposed sidewalls are gusseted.
- 12. The bag of claim 10, wherein the first flat seam is disposed in the middle of one of the sidewalls.
- 13. The bag of claim 10, wherein the first flat seam is disposed in the middle of one of the front and back walls.
- 14. The bag of claim 1, wherein the body is fabricated from a tube having an end wall; the end wall being overlapped to form a second flat seam at the bottom wall.
- 15. The bag of claim 14, wherein the second seam is welded.
- 16. The bag of claim 15, wherein the second seam extends across the bottom wall.
- 17. A flat bottom, stand-up bag comprising:
a body having a sidewall and a bottom wall; the body being formed from a tube of material having overlapped longitudinal edges and an end; the sidewall and bottom wall cooperating to define a storage compartment; the sidewall having a longitudinal direction disposed along the length of the sidewall; the overlapped edges being disposed in the longitudinal direction along the sidewall to form a first flat seam; and the end of the tube being overlapped and flat to form a portion of the bottom wall.
- 18. The bag of claim 17, wherein the overlapped end of the tube is welded.
- 19. The bag of claim 18, wherein the sidewall and bottom wall is formed from a single section of material.
- 20. A method for forming a flat bottom, stand up bag having a bottom wall and a sidewall; the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a tube of weldable material having an end; (b) moving at least a portion of the tube over a collapsed former that is movable between collapsed and expanded positions; (c) expanding the former from the collapsed position to the expanded position after step (b); and (d) welding the end of the tube together to form a flat seam that forms a portion of the bottom of the bag.
- 21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of forming the tube of material by drawing the tube from a sheet of material having opposed longitudinal edges.
- 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of overlapping the opposed longitudinal edges to form a longitudinal flat seam.
- 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of welding the overlapped opposed longitudinal edges to form the longitudinal flat seam.
- 24. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of moving the tube over a linear actuator that is connected to the former.
- 25. The method of claim 20, wherein step (d) includes the step of clamping a portion of the tube of weldable material between clamp plates and the former such that the end of the tube is overlapped with itself.
- 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of spacing the clamp plates apart with the overlapped end of the tube positioned intermediate the clamp plates.
- 27. An apparatus for performing the steps of claim 20.
- 28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the former includes a plurality of links that pivot with respect to each other.
- 29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the former is connected to a linear actuator movable between retracted and extended positions.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from United States Provisional Patent Application serial No. 60/323,588 filed Sep. 19, 2001; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60323588 |
Sep 2001 |
US |