U.S. patent application number 10/103808 was filed with the patent office on 2002-11-28 for open mouth bag.
This patent application is currently assigned to AMCAD Holdings Limited. Invention is credited to Crawley, Alan Mark.
Application Number | 20020176639 10/103808 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 19926380 |
Filed Date | 2002-11-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020176639 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Crawley, Alan Mark |
November 28, 2002 |
Open mouth bag
Abstract
A rigid mouth bag with a rigid mouth that places no stress on
the bag and which leaves no entrapment areas between the bag and
the rigid mouth for product inside the rigid mouth bag to egress
into. The rigid mouth is formed as a "Y" joint and the bag inserted
between the prongs of the joint. The joint is closed and
sealed.
Inventors: |
Crawley, Alan Mark;
(Christchurch, NZ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JACOBSON HOLMAN PLLC
400 SEVENTH STREET N.W.
SUITE 600
WASHINGTON
DC
20004
US
|
Assignee: |
AMCAD Holdings Limited
|
Family ID: |
19926380 |
Appl. No.: |
10/103808 |
Filed: |
March 25, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10103808 |
Mar 25, 2002 |
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09462504 |
Jan 24, 2000 |
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09462504 |
Jan 24, 2000 |
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PCT/NZ98/00112 |
Jul 23, 1998 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
383/33 ;
383/80 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 35/12 20130101;
B65D 35/245 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
383/33 ;
383/80 |
International
Class: |
B65D 033/16 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 23, 1997 |
NZ |
328429 |
Claims
1. A rigid mouthed bag comprising a pouch or the like of flexible
material, the pouch being inserted into a "Y" joint of a
substantially rigid mouth, which, upon closure of the "Y" joint
results in a rigid mouth bag, wherein the pouch or the like is
integrally enclosed within the "Y" joint.
2. A rigid mouthed bag according to claim 1 wherein no stress is
placed on the pouch.
3. A rigid mouthed bag according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein
there are no entrapment areas for product inside the pouch.
4. A rigid mouthed bag comprising a pouch or the like of flexible
material, the pouch being inserted into a "Y" joint of a
substantially rigid mouth, the "Y" joint comprising two prongs of
substantially equal length, which, upon closure of the Y Joint
results in a rigid mouth bag in which the pouch or the like is
integrally enclosed within the "Y" joint.
5. A rigid mouthed bag according to claim 4 which comprises no
entrapment areas.
6. A rigid mouth bag according to any preceding claim wherein the Y
joint is closed mechanically.
7. A rigid mouth bag according to any one of claims 1-6 in which
the Y joint is sealed after closing.
8. A rigid mouth bag according to claim 7 wherein the sealing
method is selected from ultrasonic welding, radio frequency
welding, gluing, heat sealing, heat forming.
9. A rigid mouth bag according to any one of the preceding claims
which is comprised of only two pieces: a pouch and a rigid
collar.
10. A rigid mouth bag according to any preceding claim in which the
rigid mouth is circular, oval or rectangular in shape.
11. A rigid mouth bag according to any one of claims 1-8 in which
the "Y" joint is symmetrical.
12. A rigid mouth bag according to any one of claims 1-8 in which
the "Y" joint is asymmetrical.
13. A rigid mouth bag according to any one of claims 1-8 or 12 in
which the "Y" joint includes a castellated leg, on one or more
angular legs.
14. A rigid mouth bag constructed from a flexible material, the
rigid mouth bag including: a pouch of flexible material having an
open mouth; and a collar, the collar being sealingly connected to
the pouch around its open mouth using a "Y" joint method of closure
between the mouth and the pouch, thus providing a substantially
rigid mouth at the open end of the pouch in which the pouch or the
like is integrally enclosed within the "Y" joint.
15. A rigid mouth bag according to claim 14 in which no stress is
induced in the bag.
16. A rigid mouth bag according to claim 14 or claim 15 in which
the "Y" joint comprises two prongs of substantially equal length,
which, upon closure of the "Y" joint results in a rigid mouth bag
with no product entrapment areas.
17. A rigid mouth bag comprising a pouch of flexible material and a
collar, the pouch being inserted between two prongs of a "Y" joint
in the collar, the joint being mechanically closed and sealed such
that the pouch or the like is integrally enclosed within the "Y"
joint.
18. A rigid mouth bag according to claim 17 in which no stress is
placed on the pouch.
19. A rigid mouth bag according to claim 17 or claim 18 in which
the joint is sealed by ultrasonic welding, radio frequency welding,
gluing, heat sealing or heat forming.
20. A rigid mouth bag according to anyone of claims 17-19 in which
the inner and/or outer leg of the "Y" joint is castellated.
21. A rigid mouth bag according to any preceding claim in which the
pouch is of a plastics material.
22. A method of forming a rigid mouthed bag comprising a pouch or
the like of flexible material including the steps of: inserting a
pouch of flexible material between the two prongs of a "Y" joint in
a rigid collar; closing the prongs of the joint; and sealing the
joint to thus produce a rigid mouth bag in which the pouch is
integral with the closed "Y" joint.
23. A method according to claim 22 in which no stress is induced in
the bag.
24. A method of forming a rigid mouthed bag comprising a pouch or
the like of flexible material including the steps of: inserting a
pouch of flexible material between two prongs of equal length of
the "Y" joint in a rigid collar; closing the prongs of the joint;
and sealing the joint, to thus produce a rigid mouth bag in which
the pouch is integral with the closed "Y" joint.
25. A method according to claim 24 in which there are no entrapment
areas in the bag.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to an open mouth bag, and in
particular to an open mouth bag including a rigid collar, the
collar including a "Y" joint method of closure.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Plastic bags are well known. They can be in the form of
flexible pouches or packaging as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat.
No. 4,286,746, No. 3,438,567 or No. 3,318,759. Plastic bags may be
attached to frames or handles as for example in U.S. Pat. No.
4,411,300 and EP 0 150 027.
[0003] Also known are fluid dispensers including collapsible
flaccid bags. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,733 there is
disclosed a collapsible flaccid bag bottle. Integral with the
bottle is a thin passive film that passively manages collapsing of
the bottle as fluid is dispensed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,956 discloses
a fluid dispenser system which is a conventional squeeze bottle
within which a collapsible flaccid bag, containing dispensable
fluid, is suspended. U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,123 discloses a
non-venting fluid dispenser system which has a collapsible flaccid
bag loosely suspended in a sleeve and exposed at atmospheric
pressure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,278 discloses a fluid dispenser in
which a second container with a flexible wall is positioned inside
a first container.
[0004] In many of the above examples, it is necessary to hold the
plastic bag or pouch inside a rigid container. In U.S. Pat. No.
4,147,278 this is achieved simply by cuffing back a flaccid bag
over the neck of a bottle. The flaccid bag must be attached to a
bottle and cannot be used alone. It is prone to leaking. In U.S.
Pat. No. 3,420,413 the pouch has a moulded in place neck. It is
connected to a closure cap by sealing rings.
[0005] There is a need for a plastic bag which can be attached to a
collar/ring or the like to produce a strong plastic pouch having a
rigid open mouth.
[0006] The rigidly brimmed wide mouth stretch resistant pouch
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,322 relates to a pouch having heat
sealingly laminated side margins and a rigidly brimmed wide mouth
open end. The pouch is secured to a rigid annular rim by an open
end of the pouch being mechanically expanded and tightly contracted
over, around and beneath the rim. The formation of the pouch
requires a pouch expander.
[0007] The problem with the pouch of U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,322 is
that it does not provide a stress-free joint. A weak point of a
flexible pouch having heat sealingly laminated side margins is the
transition edge between the heat sealed joint itself and the
non-heat sealed pouch wall. When such a pouch is stretched, this
directly stresses the weakest portion of the pouch. The plastic bag
requires stretching to attach it to the rim.
[0008] Problems with all current methods include:
[0009] i) They have more than two parts, vis-a-vis a rigid mouth, a
bag, and a third element such as a heat shrinking band, an external
clamp, additional sealing material etc; all these configurations
add extra cost to the assembly;
[0010] ii) Few rigid mouth bags specifically deal with totally
sealing between the bag and the rigid mouth. They all try to form a
"hermetic" seal, but leave a significant portion of bag/rigid mouth
contact unsealed on the inside, ie. they all have product
entrapment areas. This is due to the severe difficulty in sealing
between a rigid mouth and a bag when sealing along the open edge
surface of a bag.
[0011] In other rigid mouth bag design configurations, this is not
a problem. The best example is the current "wine bag"
configuration, where the closure is welded on to a flat surface
portion of the bag, hence sealing together two totally flat
surfaces. A fully sealed joint can therefore be obtained.
[0012] The problem along an edge surface opening on a bag is caused
by two factors:
[0013] i) The rigid mouth is generally an injection moulded
component (as with the tap assembly in the "wine bag" application),
and hence its dimensional tolerances are quite precise;
[0014] ii) The bag is generally made from a process that does not
have such fine manufacturing tolerances, ie. folded out of flat
sheet into a bag through heat sealingly laminated side margins.
[0015] Hence, when the rigid mouth is inserted into the open mouth
end of the bag, the fit cannot be perfect. A method of sealing
360.degree. around the joint, without forming any entrapment areas
has to be found. There are only three possibilities:
[0016] a) The tolerance difference leads to the bag-opening
aperture being less than the rigid mouth dimensions. In this
situation it is near impossible to insert the rigid mouth into the
bag.
[0017] This is the scenario used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,322.
Assembly is achieved by stretching the bag over the rigid mouth. As
this method keeps the bag in tension, it is claimed that this will
provide no possibility of entrapment.
[0018] This results in a permanent stress in the bag.
[0019] b) Both bag aperture and rigid mouth are the same size
within a fine tolerance. This is an extremely low probability, but
even if it occurred, one still has a significant problem of how one
gets the rigid mouth inserted up inside an extremely tight fit into
a very thin-walled bag.
[0020] c) The bag aperture is slightly larger than the rigid mouth
dimension. Now one can potentially insert the rigid mouth up into
the open mouth on the bag, but as one tries to seal around the
circumference of the rigid mouth sealing surface, one ultimately
must end up with ridges being formed in the bag material (due to
the difference in size/circumferences), and these ridges form
entrapment areas and can also lead to complete lack of a hermetic
seal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0021] The present invention goes some way in overcoming some
disadvantages with known types of plastic bags. The present
invention goes some way in providing a substantially rigid open
mouth to a bag, whereby the bag is adapted to be automatically
inserted into a "Y" joint of a rigid mouth, or which at least
provides the public with a useful choice.
[0022] Throughout this specification, the term "bag" is intended to
include pouches, sachets and other similar enclosures.
[0023] In one aspect, the invention provides a rigid mouthed bag
comprising a pouch or the like of flexible material, the pouch
being inserted into a "Y" joint of a substantially rigid mouth,
which, upon closure of the "Y" joint, results in a rigid mouth bag
in which no stress is placed on the pouch.
[0024] The substantially rigid open mouth preferably comprises a
collar or the like.
[0025] The collar preferably comprises a "Y" joint in its unclosed
position. The pouch is adapted to be inserted between the two
prongs of the "Y" joint when in its open position and the "Y" joint
is then closed to form the rigid mouthed bag.
[0026] Preferably no entrapment areas for product inside the rigid
mouth bag are provided.
[0027] The invention also provides a rigid mouthed bag comprising a
pouch or the like of flexible material, the pouch being inserted
into a "Y" joint of a substantially rigid mouth, the "Y" joint
comprising two prongs of substantially equal length, which, upon
closure of the "Y" joint results in a rigid mouth bag with no
product entrapment areas.
[0028] The invention also provides a rigid mouth bag in
construction from a flexible material, the rigid mouth bag
including:
[0029] a pouch having an open mouth; and
[0030] a collar, the collar being sealingly connected to the pouch
around its open mouth using a "Y" joint method of closure between
the mouth and the pouch, thus providing a substantially rigid mouth
at the open end of the pouch, without inducing stress in the
bag.
[0031] Preferably the collar is in line with the open end of the
pouch.
[0032] The "Y" joint preferably comprises two prongs of
substantially equal length which, upon closure of the "Y" joint,
results in a rigid mouth bag with no product entrapment areas.
[0033] The collar is preferably circular but may be of any required
shape such as rectangular, or oval.
[0034] The pouch may be constructed of a flexible material and may
be either a single or multi-layer laminate material, preferably a
plastics material.
[0035] The collar may be manufactured from any elastic or
semi-elastic material that can be moulded or machined into the
specific form required.
[0036] The collar may be injection moulded or fabricated out of an
extrusion. To manufacture the rigid mouth bag, the pouch may be
slid up between the prongs of the Y after which the prongs of the Y
are closed.
[0037] The invention also provides a method of forming a rigid
mouthed bag comprising a pouch or the like of flexible material
including the steps of:
[0038] inserting a pouch of flexible material between the two
prongs of a "Y" joint in a rigid collar;
[0039] closing the prongs of the joint; and
[0040] sealing the joint,
[0041] to thus produce a rigid mouth bag without inducing stress in
the bag.
[0042] The invention also provides a method of forming a rigid
mouthed bag comprising a pouch or the like of flexible material
including the steps of:
[0043] inserting a pouch of flexible material between two prongs of
equal length of the "Y" joint in a rigid collar;
[0044] closing the prongs of the joint; and
[0045] sealing the joint,
[0046] to thus produce a rigid mouth bag with no product entrapment
areas.
[0047] Closure of the Y-joint may be done by a number of
mechanisms. Sealing methods include:
[0048] Ultrasonic Welding, either longitudinal welding from the
outside, radial welding from the inside, or a combination of
both;
[0049] Radio Frequency welding using a radio frequency activated
glue in the joint;
[0050] Gluing;
[0051] Any form of heat sealing process;
[0052] Any form of heat forming process;
[0053] Mechanically "clipping" the Y-joint shut.
[0054] Once the "Y" joint with substantially equal length legs is
closed, the method of securing the "Y" joint, whatever the sealing
method, provides a complete seal between the pouch and the "Y"
joint, leaving no entrapment area for product to egress in to.
[0055] It is not necessary to stretch the bag around the collar or
joint and thus a neat, airtight joint may be provided.
[0056] Possible uses of the rigid mouth bag include, but are not
limited to:
[0057] photochemical storage, general laboratory storage, all
carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, powdered drinks, powdered
foodstuffs, foodstuffs, paint, domestic and industrial liquids
including but not limited to cleaners and reagents, pharmaceuticals
including both liquid and solid forms, as a liner to keep a
container clean and reduce the need to clean containers after use,
as a free-standing pouch or as a liner/bladder inside a container,
in the medical field as for example a colostomy bag.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0058] An embodiment of the invention is now described, by way of
example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which:
[0059] FIG. 1 shows a rigid mouth bag made with heat sealingly
laminated side margins;
[0060] FIG. 2 shows the rigid mouth of FIG. 1 with a blow moulded
bag;
[0061] FIG. 3 shows a rigid mouth with symmetrical "Y" joint;
[0062] FIG. 4 shows a rigid mouth with asymmetrical "Y" joint;
[0063] FIG. 5 showing a rigid mouth with asymmetrical "Y" joint and
castellated outer angular leg;
[0064] FIG. 6 shows a joint ready for closure, with internal
moulded feature;
[0065] FIG. 7 shows a closed "Y" joint;
[0066] FIG. 8 shows a closed "Y" joint with heat forming seal
between the outer edge of the inner leg and the inner bag surface
lamination.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0067] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a rigid mouth bag is shown
generally at 2. It has a plastic pouch 4 which has an open upper
end 6 and a sealed lower end 8. The open end 6 is secured to a
circular collar 10. The collar 10 is rigid.
[0068] The point of attachment of the pouch 4 to the collar 10
provides a joint 12.
[0069] Referring to FIG. 3, the collar 10 has a Y-joint 12 with
prongs 12A and 12B. The plastic pouch is slipped up through the
prongs 12A and 12B of the Y joint 12. The Y-joint is then securely
closed. FIG. 3 shows a rigid mouth with a symmetrical "Y"
joint.
[0070] FIG. 4 shows a rigid mouth 10 with an asymmetric "Y" joint
13, having prongs 13A and 13B.
[0071] FIG. 5 shows a rigid mouth 10 with an asymmetrical "Y" joint
having prongs 14A and 14B and an outer angular leg 15 with
castellations 16.
[0072] FIG. 6 shows a "Y" joint 18 ready for closure. A bag 20 is
inserted between the prongs 18A and 18B. A moulded internal feature
22 is included.
[0073] FIG. 7 shows a closed "Y" joint 24 with a bag 20
inserted.
[0074] FIG. 8 shows a closed "Y" joint 26 with a heat forming seal
28 between the outer edge of the inner leg 26A and the inner bag
surface lamination 30.
[0075] When both "Y" joint legs are of identical length, there will
be a lack of product entrapment. When one leg is shorter than the
other, closing of the "Y" joint will be possible but only a
hermetic seal will be provided. There will still be an entrapment
area between the bag and the longer leg (FIG. 1).
[0076] Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be appreciated
that when the bag 2 contains a fluid and the bag 2 is turned upside
down such that the collar 10 is below the pouch 4, the fluid will
flow out of the open end 6. There will be complete removal of the
fluid as the rigid mouth bag 2 has no corners to trap remaining
fluid.
[0077] Some of the advantages of the present invention are as
follows:
[0078] i) It is a cost-effective assembly.
[0079] The joint is only two-piece, a single rigid mouth and a bag.
Hence the joint can make a very cost-effective assembly.
[0080] ii) Allows the bag to be automatically inserted into the
rigid mouth.
[0081] The "Y" joint format, whether the joint is circular, oval or
even rectangular, allows the bag to be easily slid up into the
joint. Typically this is achieved by the combination of a spigot
and an associated expanding mandrel.
[0082] The rigid mouth is placed on the spigot, the mandrel
expanded, the bag is then slid up the mandrel creating a sliding
guide right up in to the "Y" joint, and then the mandrel is
retracted.
[0083] The bag is then inserted in its correct position in the "Y"
joint. This process can be readily automated. It should also be
noted that this process allows the use of with very thin wailed
bags.
[0084] The "Y" joint can be a symmetrical "Y" as in FIG. 3, or any
asymmetrical "Y" as in FIG. 4.
[0085] iii) Places no stress on the bag being inserted.
[0086] With the "Y" joint concept, the bag is slid up in to the "Y"
joint without stretching or stressing the bag.
[0087] One could argue that a slightly undersized bag opening could
still slide up inside a symmetrical "Y" joint, and when the joint
is closed, the bag opening would be stretched.
[0088] This is circumvented by the bag opening aperture always
being made with a positive tolerance, in other words the bag is
made using a tolerance specification where bags are rejected during
manufacture if the final opening circumference is under-sized, but
accepted if their opening circumference is within tolerance
over-sized.
[0089] iv) Forms a complete seal between the bag and rigid mouth
leaving no entrapment areas between the bag and rigid mouth for
product to egress in to.
[0090] When the "Y" joint is closed up, the oversized bag does not
form ridges that can form entrapment areas.
[0091] There are a number of ways to seal closed the "Y" joint, but
first the "Y" joint has to be physically closed. As mentioned
above, no matter whether the "Y" joint is symmetrical or
asymmetrical, by controlling the tolerance of the bag during
manufacture, the action of closing the "Y" joint cannot stretch or
"stress" the bag.
[0092] Closing the "Y" joint is a simple mechanical activity, but
sealing the joint is not simplistic. As displayed in the attached
Figures, there are a number of possible joint combinations:
[0093] i) The "Y" joint can be symmetrical--FIG. 3 ie. each leg is
at the same but opposite angle out from the centre-line. This
configuration suites highly elastic material, as one leg must
compress and one must stretch as the joint is closed.
[0094] ii) The "Y" joint can be asymmetrical--FIG. 4 ie. one leg is
effectively cylindrical while the other leg is at an angle to the
centre line. In this case, when the joint is closed the inner
cylindrical leg neither compresses or expands, while the outer
angular leg compresses to form the joint.
[0095] iii) The "Y" joint can be further improved by castellating
the angular legs--FIG. 5 shows a cylindrical inner leg and
castellated angular outer leg. In this joint again the inner
cylindrical leg neither expands nor compresses, while the outer
angular legs fold in without need for compression--the castellation
slits are designed such that once the outer leg has been folded
hard against the inner leg, all castellation slits close up tight.
Castellations can be used on symmetrical or asymmetrical Y
joints.
[0096] iv) Any number of other combinations are also possible.
[0097] Once the joint is closed, it has to be sealed. The main
points in sealing the joint are:
[0098] i) In order to effect a hermetic seal as well as have no
entrapment areas, the inner leg must fully seal against the bag
inner surface.
[0099] ii) As the inner surface forms the full seal, the outer leg
need only be used for increasing joint strength and for cosmetic
purposes to "tidy up" the outside of the joint.
[0100] iii) Because the two legs are of equal length, and once
closed, mechanical pressure can be applied to the joint, any ridges
formed by the effective circumference of the bag being greater than
the effective circumference inside the rigid mouth joint are
flattened out leaving no possibility for entrapment areas.
[0101] iv) As shown in FIG. 6, one can also mould other features in
to the joint, such as raised shoulders or even recesses. These
features can have more than one function:
[0102] a) For ultrasonic welding, the raised shoulder concentrates
the ultrasonic energy leading to a better welded joint;
[0103] b) Another possible function of the raised shoulder, as well
as corresponding recesses, is to provide additional restraint to
stop the bag being pulled out of the joint, hence increasing
overall joint strength.
[0104] FIG. 7 shows a "Y" joint fully closed.
[0105] FIG. 8 shows a "Y" joint fully closed based on the
combination of closure and sealing techniques used. The points to
note about the joint are:
[0106] i) The preferred format is as shown in FIG. 6, with a
360.degree. moulded ridge around the inside of the joint to reduce
the potential of the bag being pulled out;
[0107] ii) The "Y" joint leg configuration is preferably as shown
in FIG. 5, with a cylindrical inner leg and a castellated angular
outer leg;
[0108] iii) The joint is mechanically closed, then first
ultrasonically welded on each castellated joint on the outside.
This does not weld the outer leg to the outer surface of the bag,
rather it turns the castellated outer leg into a contiguous
360.degree. band that holds the joint tightly closed and forms a
tidy joint on the exterior;
[0109] iv) A heat forming process is then used to physically "melt"
part of the inner leg into the bag inner surface right at the
transition between the inner leg and bag inner surface. For this
situation, the bag is generally a multi-layer laminate.
[0110] This forming can be achieved by either melting part of the
leg into the bag surface or by injecting additional molten material
into this region of the joint;
[0111] v) For this style of joint, the rigid mouth material and bag
inner surface material need to be of similar nature in order for
them to effectively melt together.
[0112] With this joint, it is obvious that, irrespective of any
possible ridges formed in the rigid mouth bag as it is sandwiched
between the two legs of the "Y" joint, there is provided:
[0113] 1 A cost effective and tidy joint;
[0114] 2 Good mechanical strength;
[0115] 3 The whole process can be automated;
[0116] 4 The finished joint has no internal product entrapment
areas;
[0117] 5 No stress has been induced into the bag.
[0118] It is to be understood that the scope of the invention is
not limited to the described embodiment but that modifications and
variations may be made to the particularly described example
without departing from the scope of the invention as disclosed in
the specification.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0119] The invention provides a rigid mouth bag with a rigid mouth
that places no stress on the bag and which leaves no entrapment
areas between the bag and the rigid mouth for product to egress
into. The rigid mouth bag comprises a "Y" joint method of closure
between the rigid mouth and the bag. The bag will find uses in
numerous fields including, but not limited to, photography, drinks,
foodstuffs, paint, pharmaceuticals, domestic and industrial liquids
and as a liner to keep a container clean and reduce the need to
clean containers after use.
* * * * *