Patent Grant
8661772
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bag with a gas filling compartment made of an inner bag and an outer bag having a gas filled in between the inner bag and the outer bag to protect the contents packaged inside the inner bag from shock or the like and also relates to a manufacturing method of such a bag and further to a gas filling method in such a bag and a packaging method for such a bag.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bag with a gas filling compartment (or with an air bag) comprising an outer bag and an inner bag that is provided inside the outer bag, made so that a gas is filled in between the inner bag and the outer bag, are commonly known and disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. 64-2745 and 8-1398; Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. 64-84869, 2-98563 and 9-132213; and Japanese Patent Nos. 2800034 and 3015323
However, conventional bag with a gas filling compartment does not have a structure suitable for automating the process of sealing gas into the bas filling spaces or for automating the entire packaging process including such a gas sealing process, and the gas sealing process disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (Kokai) 8-1398 is also not suitable for being automated.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention, which is devised in view of the points noted above, to provide a bag with a gas filling compartment (or with an air bag) that has a structure suitable for automating the process of sealing gas into the gas filling compartment and for automating the entire packaging process inclusive of that sealing process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a gas sealing method suitable for being automated and to provide a packaging method that uses the gas sealing method.
The above objects are accomplished by a unique structure of the present invention for a bag that has a gas filling compartment and is made of an outer bag and an inner bag which is provided inside of and is substantially equal in width to the outer bag; and in this bag:
In the above-described bag of the present invention, it is preferable that the above-described means for introducing gas (cut-ins or holes) be formed either in the vicinity of the upper edge sides or in the vicinity of the lateral side edges of the films of the outer bag, and it is particularly preferable that they be formed in the vicinity of the upper edge side corners on mutually opposite sides.
In a desirable form for the sealed portion surrounding the periphery of the above-described means for introducing gas (cut-ins or holes):
In this structure, it is preferable that the supplemental sealed portion be formed so as to be continuous to the upper edge sealed portion and/or one of the lateral side edge sealed portions.
The above objects are accomplished by unique steps of the present invention for a method for manufacturing a bag with a gas filling compartment, and the unique steps of the present invention includes:
The above objects are accomplished by unique steps of the present invention for a method for manufacturing a bag with a gas filling compartment, and the unique steps of the present invention includes:
The above objects are accomplished by unique steps of the present invention for a method for manufacturing a bag with a gas filling compartment, and the unique steps of the present invention includes:
In the above method, it is also possible to:
The above objects are accomplished by another unique structure of the present invention for a bag that has a gas filling compartment and is made of an outer bag and an inner bag which is provided inside of and is smaller in width than the outer bag; and in this bag:
In the above structure, it is preferable that the above-described means for introducing gas (cut-ins or holes) be formed in the vicinity of the upper edge sides or in the vicinity of the lateral side edge sides, and it is more preferable that they be formed in the vicinity of the upper edge side corners.
In a desirable form for the sealed portion enclosing the periphery of the above-described means for introducing gas (cut-ins or holes):
In this structure, it is preferable that the supplemental sealed portions are formed so as to be continuous to the upper edge sealed portions or one of the lateral side edge sealed portions.
The above objects are further accomplished by unique steps of the present invention for method for sealing-in a gas in a bag with a gas filling compartment, and the present invention takes take the steps of:
In the above steps of the present invention, the sealing of the means for introducing gas (cut-ins or holes) is effected by sealing two surfaces of the bag at the location of the means for introducing gas. In cases where the cut-ins or holes are formed in the vicinity of the upper edge side corner, when the bag mouth is sealed from both surfaces at the end of the packaging process, the cut-ins or holes can be sealed at the same time as the sealing of the bag mouth, and it is preferable that that be done in that way.
The above objects are further accomplished by unique steps of the present invention for a method for packaging a bag having a gas filling compartment; and in the present invention, the method uses, for instance, a commonly known rotary type packaging apparatus and endless track type packaging apparatus in which bags, held at both lateral side edges thereof by grippers and suspended, are continuously or intermittently conveyed, and, during the course of the conveyance, various packaging processes including bag mouth opening, filling the bag with contents to be packaged, and bag mouth sealing are successively performed; and further, in the present invention,
With the use, using also a bag with a gas filling compartment made by the present invention, of the above-described gas seal-in method of the present invention, the process of sealing gas into a gas filling compartment (or an air bag), which has been done almost entirely manually, and the entire packaging process, which includes gas seal-in process, can be performed automatically and performed efficiently.
a) is a schematic front elevational view of a bag with a gas filling compartment according to the present invention,
a) is a schematic side elevational view of the overall manufacturing method of the bag with a gas filling compartment, and
a) is a schematic side elevational view of another overall manufacturing method of the bag with a gas filling compartment, and
a) is a schematic side elevational view of still another overall manufacturing method of the bag with a gas filling compartment, and
a) through 5(d) shows the steps of a gas seal-in method and packaging method of the present invention for the bag with a gas filling compartment;
e) through 6(g) show the step continuing from the step of
a) through 7(c) are front elevational views, respectively, of the filling step position for the contents to be packaged, the gas filling step position, and the bag mouth sealing step position in the gas seal-in method and packaging method;
a) is a schematic front elevational view of another bag having a gas filling compartment according to the present invention,
a) is a schematic front elevational view of still another bag having a gas filling compartment according to the present invention,
a) is a schematic front elevational view of still another bag having a gas filling compartment according to the present invention,
The present invention will now be described specifically with reference to
In
The films 4 and 5 of the inner bag 2 and films 6 and 7 of the outer bag 3 are sealed together along the upper edges thereof on each side of the respective bags (in other words, the adjacent film 4 of the inner bag 2 and film 6 of the outer bag 3 both on one side are sealed together to form a sealed portion 8, and the adjacent film 5 of the inner bag 2 and film 7 of the outer bag 3 both on another side are sealed together to form a sealed portion 9), along the upper edge B of the bag 1. These sealed portions 8 and 9 are indicated by crosshatching in
Along the two lateral side edges C and D and lower edge E of the bag 1, moreover, the films 4 and 5 of the inner bag 2 and the films 6 and 7 of the outer bag 3 are sealed together. These lateral side edge sealed portions 11 and 12 to and the lower edge sealed portion 13 are indicated similarly by crosshatching in
By these sealed portions 8, 9, and 11 to 13, as seen from
In the vicinity of the upper edge side corner of the bag 1, a supplemental sealed portion 16 is formed, to be connected to the sealed portion 8, of a prescribed length in the longitudinal direction, wherein, as in the sealed portion 8, a part of the film 4 of the inner bag 2 and a part of the film 6 of the outer bag 3 are sealed together; and further, in the vicinity of the upper edge corner on the opposite side, a supplemental sealed portion 17 is formed, to be connected to the sealed portion 9, in the longitudinal direction, wherein, as in the sealed portion 9, a part of the film 5 of the inner bag 2 and a part of the film 7 of the outer bag 3 are sealed together. The reason why the expression “supplemental” sealed portion 16 and 17 is used here is that, as will be described further below, these sealed portions 16 and 17 are necessary, in a supplementary way, upon charging gas into the gas filling compartments 14 and 15. Furthermore, in the supplemental sealed portion 16, only a part of the film 4 of the inner bag 2 and a part of the film 6 of the outer bag 3 are sealed, while, in the supplemental sealed portion 17, a part of only the film 5 of the inner bag 2 and the film 7 of the outer bag 3 are sealed; however, the functions of the auxiliary seals can be effected even if respective parts of all of the films 4 to 7 in the inner bag 2 and outer bag 3 are sealed, in the two supplemental sealed portions 16 and 17. In that case, however, the interior of the inner bag 2 would become substantially narrower.
Furthermore, at places even closer to the corners than the sealed portions 8 and 9, circular arc-shaped cut-ins 18 and 19 for gas blow-in (the cut-ins thus forming a means for introducing a gas into the gas filling compartments) are formed, respectively, in the surfaces of the films 6 and 7 in the outer bag 3. The cut-in 18 has its vicinity surrounded, above by the sealed portion 8, to the inside in the width direction by the supplemental sealed portion 16, and to the outside in the width direction by the sealed portion 11 (at which sealed portion 11, the film 4 of the inner bag 2 and the film 6 of the outer bag 3 are of course sealed together); while the cut-in 19 has its vicinity surrounded, above by the sealed portion 9, to the inside in the width direction by the supplemental sealed portion 17, and to the outside in the width direction by the sealed portion 12 (at which sealed portion 12, the film 5 of the inner bag 2 and the film 7 of the outer bag 3 are of course sealed together); thus leaving an unsealed part only below, respectively, that is, leaving and forming gas flow paths 21 and 22 that communicate with the inside of the gas filling compartments 14 and 15. Accordingly, gas blown into the bag 1 from the cut-ins 18 and 19 enters into the gas filling compartments 14 and 15 through the gas flow paths 21 and 22.
An example of the manufacturing method of the bag 1 will be shown in
On two source rolls 23 and 24 are wound tubular films 25 and 26, respectively, folded in a two-ply stacked condition (in a condition wherein they are mashed flat). The tubular films 25 and 26, in the folded condition, are paid out continuously by feed rollers 27 and, from guide rollers 28 on, are conveyed intermittently, one bag-length at a time, and are successively subjected to such operations as the following:
In the embodiment described above, the supplemental sealed portions 16 and 17 are formed after the sealed portions 8 and 9 are formed, but this order may be reversed; and the sealed portions 8 and 9 and supplemental sealed portions 16 and 17 can also be formed in a one-time operation. Also, the sealed portion 13 is formed after the sealed portions 11 and 12 are formed, but this order may be reversed, and the sealed portions 11 to 13 can also be formed in a one-time operation. The important thing is that the sealed portions 8 and 9 and the supplemental sealed portions 16 and 17 are formed before the tubular films 25 and 26 are stacked together, and the sealed portions 11 to 13 are formed after such stacking together.
Another example of the manufacturing method of the bag 1 is shown in
On two source rolls 44 and 45 are wound single-ply films 46 and 47, respectively. The films 46 and 47 are paid out continuously by feed rollers 27 and, from guide rollers 28 on, are conveyed intermittently, one bag-length at a time, during which time they are successively subjected to such operations as the following:
Yet another example of the manufacturing method of the bag 1 is shown in
On two source rolls 44 and 45 are wound single-ply films 46 and 47, respectively. The films 46 and 47 are paid out continuously by feed rollers 27 and, from guide rollers 28 on, are conveyed intermittently, one bag-length at a time, during which time they are successively subjected to such operations as the following:
In the embodiments described above, the sealed portions 8 and 9 and the supplemental sealed portions 16 and 17 are formed in a one-time operation, but the supplemental sealed portions 16 and 17 can be formed after the sealed portions 8 and 9 are formed, or, alternatively, the sealed portions 8 and 9 can also be formed after the supplemental sealed portions 16 and 17 are formed. Moreover, the sealed portions 11 to 13 are formed in a one-time operation, but the sealed portion 13 can be formed after the sealed portions 11 and 12 are formed, or, alternatively, the sealed portions 11 and 12 can also be formed after the sealed portion 13 is formed.
In the embodiments described above, moreover, the sealed portions 8 and 9 and the supplemental sealed portions 16 and 17 are formed after folding the two stacked-together films 46 and 47 to make a four-ply stack, but the upper edge sealed portions and supplemental sealed portions may also be formed one at a time on the left and right sides of the two films 46 and 47, to make a total of two, after stacking the two films 46 and 47 together but before folding them double in the longitudinal direction to make a four-ply stack.
Next, a method for manufacturing a product bag with a gas filling compartment with, for instance, a rotary type packaging apparatus using the bag with a gas filling compartment 1 show in
In a rotary type packaging apparatus, in general, a plural number of pairs of grippers is set at equal intervals about the periphery of a table that turns intermittently, bags are supplied to the grippers, the edges at the two sides of the bags are gripped by the grippers, held suspended, and then moved along intermittently; and various packaging processes such as opening the bag mouths, filling the bags with the contents to be packaged, and sealing the bag mouths are successively performed at each stop position. When the bag with a gas filling compartment 1 is used, auxiliary grippers (blocking grippers) for gripping prescribed places on the bag 1 from both sides of the bag are set in correspondence with the grippers in that type of rotary type packaging apparatus. The rotary type packaging apparatus used in the present invention differs on that point from the common rotary type packaging apparatus.
Auxiliary grippers 61 and 62 are, as shown in
In this packaging method, the known operations are performed up to the filling of the contents to be packaged. From the contents to be packaged filling process on, the gas sealing-in process (comprising a gas filling process and a cut-in sealing process) of the present invention is conducted as follows:
The cut-ins 18 and 19 formed in the films 6 and 7 of the outer bag 3 are cut lines having no planar size, which themselves have no planar size. Ordinarily they are in a substantially closed condition, but open due to air (gas) pressure when air (gas) is blown in; and when the bag surfaces are held by the auxiliary grippers 61 and 62 and the gas flow paths 21 and 22 are cut off, and the blow-in nozzles 66 and 68 have moved back, they return to the closed condition. Also, when the bag mouth is heat-sealed, the film 6 of the outer bag 3 wherein the cut-in 18 is formed is sealed with the film 4 of the inner bag 2, and the film 7 of the outer bag 3 where the cut-in 19 is formed is sealed with the film 5 of the inner bag 2 (the films 4 and 5 of the inner bag 2 also being sealed together). However, at that time, the films 6 and 7 of the outer bag 3 are sealed with the films 4 and 5 of the inner bag; accordingly, the condition becomes one wherewith, by outward appearance, the cut-ins 18 and 19 are substantially non-existent.
A hole can be formed instead of the cut-ins 18 and 19; however, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H11-227803, when a hole is made (which forms a means for introducing gas), the melted sealant material (film) adheres to the sealing hot plates, and overruns from the hole to the periphery; accordingly, a cut-in capable of preventing such a problem is preferable.
a) through 9(c) show a bag with a gas filling compartment 75 of another embodiment of the present invention. In
The bag 75 differs from the bag 1 shown in
In
a) through 10(c) show a bag with a gas filling compartment 79 of still another embodiment of the present invention. In
In the bag 79, a supplemental sealed portion 80, where the film 6 of the outer bag 3 and the film 4 of the inner bag 2 are sealed, is formed continuously with the sealed portion 8 along the upper edge and the sealed portion 12 at the lateral side edge. On the back surface also, a supplemental sealed portion (reference symbol omitted) where the film 7 of the outer bag 3 and the film 5 of the inner bag 2 are sealed is formed continuously with the sealed portion 9 along the upper edge and the sealed portion 11 at the lateral side edge. The bag 79 differs from the bag 1 only in the form of this supplemental sealed portion 80 (and of the other supplemental sealed portion) and is the same otherwise as the bag 1. The supplemental sealed portion 80 (and the other supplemental sealed portion) of the bag 79 have the same functions as the supplemental sealed portions 16 and 17 of the bag 1.
In
a) through 11(c) show a bag with a gas filling compartment 81 of still another embodiment of the present invention.
The bag 81 comprises a tubular inner bag 82 and an outer bag 83 having a greater width than the inner bag 82, with the inner bag 82 being inside the outer bag 83. The bag mouth A of the inner bag 82 is open; and, along the upper edge B of the bag 81, the films 84 and 85 of the inner bag 82 and the films 86 and 87 of the outer bag 83 are sealed together on each side of the respective bags (in other words, the adjacent film 84 of the inner bag 82 and film 86 of the outer bag 83 both on one side are sealed together to form a sealed portion 88, and the adjacent film 85 of the inner bag 82 and film 87 of the outer bag 83 both on another side are also sealed together to form a sealed portion 89). The sealed portions 88 and 89 are indicated by crosshatching in
By these sealed portions 88, 89, and 91 to 97, a gas filling compartment 98 is formed between the inner bag 82 and the outer bag 83. In
In the vicinities of the upper edge side corners of the bag 81, supplemental sealed portions 101 and 102, where the films 86 and 87 of the outer bag 83 are sealed together, in like manner as the sealed portions 96 and 97, are formed, in mutual symmetry, in angled or hooked shapes, continuously with the sealed portions 96 and 97. The supplemental sealed portions 101 and 102 respectively comprise lateral portions 101a and 102a, which are continuous to the sealed portions 96 and 97, and longitudinal parts 101b and 102b, which are continuous to the ends thereof.
Also, at a position surrounded by the supplemental sealed portion 101 and the sealed portion 96 and a position surrounded by the supplemental sealed portion 102 and the sealed portion 97, circular arc-shaped cut-ins 103 and 104 for gas blow-in are formed, respectively, in the surfaces of the films 86 and 87 of the outer bag 83. In other words, the cut-in 103 has the vicinity thereof surrounded at the top and on the inside in the width direction by the supplemental sealed portion 101 and on the outside in the width direction by the sealed portion 96, while the other cut-in 104 has the vicinity thereof surrounded at the top and on the inside in the width direction by the supplemental sealed portion 102 and on the outside in the width direction by the sealed portion 97, leaving unsealed parts only downward, respectively, and thus forming gas flow paths 105 and 106 that communicate with the gas filling compartment 98. Accordingly, the gas blown inside the bag 81 from the cut-ins 103 and 104 passes through the gas flow paths 105 and 106 and enters inside the gas filling compartment 98.
To this bag 81, as in the bag 1, the gas seal-in and packaging methods described thus far can be applied. In
In the embodiments described above, all of the cut-ins are formed in the vicinity of the upper edge of the bag, and the seals thereof are made together with the bag mouth seal. However, the positions where the cut-ins are formed are not limited to the vicinity of the upper edge of the bag, and the cut-ins can also be formed at other locations. Alternatively, the cut-ins and the sealing about the peripheries thereof can also be made independently of the bag mouth sealing. However, when the cut-ins are formed in the vicinity of the upper edge of the bag, the advantage is that the bag mouth sealing process can be effected so that cut-in sealing is done at the same time. Also, all of the cut-ins in the above embodiments are formed in the vicinity of the lateral side edges of the bag, because that facilitates holding the gas flow paths by the auxiliary grippers from the sides of the bag. In other words, it is preferable that the cut-ins be formed in the vicinity of the upper edge side corners of the bag.
In the embodiments described above, only one supplemental sealed portion is formed for each cut-in or hole, but two or more supplemental sealed portions can be formed for each cut-in or hole and thereby the cut-ins or holes surrounded.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-310525 | Oct 2005 | JP | national |
This is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/585,727, filed Oct. 24, 2006, now abandoned, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20130167481 A1 | Jul 2013 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11585727 | Oct 2006 | US |
| Child | 13675876 | US |
