RECYCLABLE BAG

Abstract

A recyclable bag especially large and for large weights with a variable number of handles preferably four at the top, instant discharge by its bottom of all loading material, with a closure that is composed of three layers, the outermost of which has a quadrangular hole with loops that are tied to each other and that supports the other layers of the bottom.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of Application No. U4815 filed in Uruguay on Aug. 19, 2021 under 35 U.S.C. § 119, the entire contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to recyclable bags and, more particularly, to recyclable bags having openable bottoms.

Description of Related Art

It is known to use recyclable bags for all types of loads, from cereals to Portland cement, debris, etc. They have many advantages over any type of rigid container: their cost, their ease of manufacture, the small volume they occupy when empty, their easy repair, the adaptation of the shape to the volume of what they are loading, etc.

It is not so well known, however, the difficulty of fully opening the bottom of such bags and instantly unloading all their contents while they hang from the hook of a crane or similar machinery.

For example, European patent application no. EP3705421 discloses a flexible container including an internal bag and an external bag, a first joining element and a lid. The outer pouch includes a portion of the bottom surface where a lower opening is formed. The inner bag is tubular and is contained within the outer bag, being configured to be filled with the contents, and includes a discharge section. This download section forms a path to download the contents and extends to a lower level than the bottom of the outer bag, passing through the opening of the bag. The first joining element is tied around the discharge outlet of the inner bag to close the path. The lid is glued to the outer side of the bottom surface to close the bottom opening of the inner bag and thus cover the tubular discharge path, which is tied in such a way as to narrow the passage.

A great difference with the invention proposed here, having this antecedent tubular portions both at the entrance and at the exit, being that at the exit that tubular portion passes through the opening of the outer bag and goes well beyond it, having this inner bag its own tie independent of the one that closes the outer bag.

Japanese Patent No. JP2002337939A-1 discloses a device consisting of an external bag with a rigid frame, and an internal bag with a tie in the outlet tube, very much in the style of the aforementioned one. It has, in turn, a rigid frame that crosses the bottom in several directions.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,230,998 discloses a multi-layered paper bag, not designed to be used multiple times or to be opened by the bottom.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,587B1 discloses a container for items consisting of a flexible bag and an enclosure at the top end of said bag. The enclosure consists of a flexible member with a pair of anchors and a rigid member with a pair of pivots. Both members, the flexible and the rigid, are coupled when the bag is closed and separate when it is open. When the bag is open its opening is substantially circular, and when it is closed the enclosure is crescent-shaped. This bag does not open from below nor is it designed for unloading, but for the transport of tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Our invention aims, as will be seen in detail later, to a bag that can contain a very considerable volume and weight, which in practice turned out to be very in excess of 2 Ton., whose bottom opens instantly and completely when the operator wishes, thus discharging all its contents regardless of what it is or its state of humidity or agglomeration.

Until now, only the flowing loads were manageable with bags whose bottom opens, such as cereals. Conventional bags cannot handle, for example, wet cement, wet debris, or any other cargo that did not flow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a bag, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, with a whole in its bottom;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exterior of the bag with the whole sewn closed;

FIG. 3 illustrates an interior of the bag with the whole closed;

FIG. 4 illustrates the bag in a closed state;

FIG. 5 illustrates the bag from below and closed;

FIG. 6 illustrates a portion of the bag at the bottom; and

FIG. 7 illustrates the bag filled with cargo.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The specialized reusable bag for total and instantaneous discharge that is the subject of this request is essentially composed of a composite bottom closure bag, consisting of three flaps or “ears” and an external or lower closure with a strong enclosure system consisting of a tie that goes through a series of reinforced grips.

The bag can be tubular or formed by a sheet of flexible material (textile or not) with a longitudinal seam.

A “normal” bag is reinforced the bottom by sticking or sewing a flexible reinforcement, whether textile or not. Then this background is cut in a diagonal cross (from corner to corner), as shown in FIG. 1 extending outward to the three resulting triangles, and then folding inward, and sewn tightly, to an extension of about half of these triangles, depending on the size of the quadrangular hole to be obtained, as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates the reinforced and sewn hole from the inside side.

In the triangles turned inwards and reinforced, grips are sewn for the enclosure, equally reinforced as the bag, forming loops so that through them the rope that will close the bag passes. The minimum is one loop per side, and there may be more. Also, the cuts that go from the corners of the hole to the outer corners of the bag may or may not be sewn, this being irrelevant to the weight of the bag.

Subsequently, the loops are tied together, and the bag is thus closed in its external closure, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

Three of the sides of the bag have sewn from the inside, three ears or flaps, each the size of the bottom of the bag, and that once tied the lower closure, fold on it and one on the other, until forming a closure composed of these three flaps and the lower closure with the loops pierced and joined with a rope of the thickness to the load. This composite closure is not inferior in resistance, being able to be much superior, to a bag without modifications.

The unloading operation, once the bag hangs over the indicated place, consists simply of cutting the rope of the lower tie, with which everything opens instantly, thus discharging the contents, whatever it is and in any degree of aggregation and/or humidity.

It should be noted that the lower opening is not a part of the base of the bag, but is the entire base, so it is the maximum to which you can aspire. The flaps instantly unfold down and out once the tie was cut off, and the load, whether sliding or not, whether fluid or not, falls in a fraction of a second.

The handles of the bag, usually four but which can be more, are sewn to the upper sides of the bag with the corresponding reinforcements.

The entire bag can be used indefinitely times, occupying when empty and folded a minimum space, which is very useful for storage. It is noteworthy that the only “spare” that must be replaced for re-use is the piece of rope, about 50 cm, of the tie of the lower/outer closure. The opening is performed by an operator with a sharp instrument placed at the end of a long control, proceeding simply to cut the string of the outer/lower closure.

FIG. 5 illustrates the bag from below and closed, that is, tied the loops of the outer closure and folded the two inner flaps, in order to cover entirely (and in triplicate, including the closure with the tie) the bottom.

In FIG. 6, left, the piece at the bottom of the bag is shown. FIG. 6 illustrates the four “ears” sewn together from the bottom piece, the “buckles” through which the closing string passes, and the closing string itself. Above this piece folds the Flap 1 and Flap 2, as shown in the figure on the right. The cutting of the string causes a tear of the seams that go to the corners and everything comes out (down) allowing the load to fall.

To the left of FIG. 7, view of the bags full of cargo and ready to be lifted. On the right, seen from below the loaded bag, with the string joining the four “buckles”, and then the discharge by cutting that string.

Claims

1. A bag, comprising: a plurality of handles at a top of the bag;an outer closure composed of four flaps formed by a cutting the bag from corner to corner to form an “X” in a bottom of the bag, and forming four triangles in the bottom of the bag and creating a square or quadrangular hole in a center of the bottom of the bag, and edges of the four triangles being sewn together in a direction extending outwardly from a bottom of the bag;a loop or buckle sewn to a central part of an inner edge of each flap, the loops or buckles configured to receive a string that joins the four loops of the four flaps to close the bag; andtwo or more additional flaps sewn to adjacent or opposite sides of the bag, which unfold to cover the square or quadrangular hole.