U.S. patent application number 10/922501 was filed with the patent office on 2005-04-21 for tubular bag.
Invention is credited to Caris, Catharina Frank Theodorus.
Application Number | 20050084186 10/922501 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34066501 |
Filed Date | 2005-04-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050084186 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Caris, Catharina Frank
Theodorus |
April 21, 2005 |
Tubular bag
Abstract
The present invention relates to a bag made of a flexible
packaging material by folding a sheet of material and comprising: a
sidewall, a top area and a bottom area, two cross seams, a
longitudinal seal, at least three edge seals and an opening area,
which is located in the top or in the bottom area and which is
preferably reclosable by closing means.
Inventors: |
Caris, Catharina Frank
Theodorus; (Weert, NL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PERMAN & GREEN, LLP
425 Post Road
Fairfield
CT
06824
US
|
Family ID: |
34066501 |
Appl. No.: |
10/922501 |
Filed: |
August 20, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
383/203 ; 383/67;
53/434 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 75/5838
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
383/203 ;
053/434; 383/067 |
International
Class: |
B65B 031/00; B65D
033/16 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 22, 2003 |
EP |
EP 03 019 064.9 |
Sep 17, 2003 |
EP |
EP 03 021 013.2 |
Claims
1. A bag made of a flexible packaging material by folding a sheet
of material and comprising: a sidewall, a top area and a bottom
area, two cross seams, a longitudinal seal, at least three edge
seals and an opening area, which is located in the top or in the
bottom area and which is preferably reclosable by closing
means.
2. Bag according to claim 1, characterized in that the closing
means is a sticker and/or a hot melt.
3. Bag according to claim 1, characterized in, that it comprises
four side folds, whereas two side folds are sealed together by the
cross seams, respectively.
4. Bag according to claim 1, characterized in, that it comprises
opening means which are located in the vicinity of the opening
area.
5. Bag according to claim 4, characterized in, that the opening
means is a scoring.
6. Bag according to claim 1, characterized in, that the cross seams
can be attached to the sidewall, preferably by an adhesive
material.
7. Bag according to claim 1, characterized in, that the packaging
material is a oriented material.
8. Process for producing a bag according to claim 1, characterized
in, that the packaging material is formed and sealed and that the
opening means is inserted prior or after the forming and the
sealing.
9. Process according to claim 1, characterized in, that the closing
means are applied after the insertation of the opening means.
10. Process according to claim 1, characterized in, that at least
one cross seam is bent towards the sidewall and preferably attached
to the sidewall.
11. Process according to claim 10, characterized in, that the
atmosphere in the bag is at least partial removed prior and/or
during bending and attaching of the cross seams.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a bag made of a flexible
packaging material by folding a sheet of material and
comprising:
[0002] a sidewall, a top area and a bottom area,
[0003] two cross seams,
[0004] a longitudinal seal,
[0005] at least three edge seals and
[0006] an opening area, which is located in the top or in the
bottom area and which is reclosable by closing means.
[0007] The present invention also relates to a process to produce
the inventive bag.
[0008] Foodstuff, especially sweets and snacks are nowadays
merchandised in packaging items made of a plastic material. Theses
packaging items must be manufactured cost-efficiently and must be
appealing in order to present the packaged product appropriately.
Furthermore, the package must be opened easily, stackable and
preferably reclosable.
[0009] It is therefore the objective to provide a bag that has the
above mentioned features
[0010] This problem is solved with a bag made of a flexible
packaging material by folding a sheet of material and
comprising:
[0011] a sidewall, a top area and a bottom area,
[0012] two cross seams,
[0013] a longitudinal seal,
[0014] at least three edge seals and
[0015] an opening area, which is located in the top or in the
bottom area and which is preferably reclosable by closing
means.
[0016] It was totally surprising and could not have been expected
by a person skilled in the art that the inventive bag can be
cost-efficiently produced, is appealing and is opened easily,
stackable and reclosable.
[0017] According to the present invention, the bag comprises an
opening area, through which the packaged items can be removed from
the bag and which is reclosable by a closing means. This closing
means can be any means known by a person skilled in the art.
Preferably the closing mean is a sticker and/or a hot melt so that
the opening area, for example a flap, can be reattached to the
bag.
[0018] Preferably, the inventive bag comprises four side folds,
which are located in the sidewall, whereas two side folds are
sealed together by a cross seam, respectively. Due to this feature,
the bag has the form of a cubiod.
[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bag
comprises opening means, which are located in the vicinity of the
opening area. Preferably, these opening means facilitate the
controlled tear of the packaging material. Preferably this means is
an indentation and/or a scoring of the packaging material. In
another preferred embodiment of the present invention the packaging
material is an oriented material, preferably a plastic film, so
that it tears along a certain path.
[0020] Preferably, the opening area has the form of a flap.
[0021] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention are the
cross seams attached to the sidewalls. The attachment is preferably
accomplished by bending the cross seams towards the sidewall,
preferably the side folds and attaching them with an adhesive
material for example hot melt and/or an adhesive layer, which is
applied between the sidewall and the cross seam. This embodiment of
the present invention has the advantage that the appearance of the
bag as a cubiod is improved. It has an improved stability to stand
up and it is stackable. In general, the presentation of the bag in
the shelf is improved.
[0022] The inventive bag can be produced of any packaging material.
Preferably, the material is plastic film, more preferred an
oriented plastic film, which facilitates the controlled opening of
the inventive bag.
[0023] An other subject matter of the present invention is a
process for producing the inventive bag, whereas packaging material
is formed and sealed and the opening means is inserted prior or
after the forming and the sealing.
[0024] According to the inventive process, the opening means are
inserted into the packaging material prior or after the forming and
sealing of the bag. The opening means which is preferably an
indentation and/or a scoring of the packaging material can be in
the original packaging material or can be applied to the packaging
material on the flow wrapper. The indentation and/or scorings can
be incorporated for example by a knife, a laser and/or a punch.
[0025] In a preferred embodiment of the inventive process, the
closing means are applied after the insertation of the opening
means. If, for example, the closing means is a sticker, the sticker
can be applied after the opening means have been incorporated into
the packaging material.
[0026] Preferably, at least one cross seam, preferably both,
is(are) bent towards the sidewall, preferably the side folds, and
is more preferably attached to the sidewall. This is preferably
accomplished by applying an adhesive material, for example hot melt
between the cross seal and the sidewall and placing the filled bag
on the cross seam. Due the gravity of the bag, one cross seam is
pushed against the sidewall an permanently attached to the sidewall
due to the adhesive material for example the glue. If a second
cross seam is attached to the sidewall, this has to be accomplished
by an external force, for example a pusher.
[0027] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the
atmosphere in the bag is at least partial removed prior and/or
during bending and attaching of at least one cross seam. The
removal of the atmosphere can be accomplished by producing for
example cross seams which are prior to the bending not gas tight or
by inserting holes into the bag, which are closed after the bending
of the cross seams is completed.
[0028] The invention will be described in greater detail
hereinafter in connection with the drawings which illustrate
exemplary embodiments of the present invention and in which:
[0029] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the inventive bag,
[0030] FIG. 2 shows the inventive bag from the top and
[0031] FIG. 3 shows a different embodiment of the inventive
bag.
[0032] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the inventive bag. The
bag 1 is made of a plastic film and comprises a sidewall 2 and a
top area 3 and a bottom area 4. The bag 1 has four side folds 10-13
whereby two side folds are sealed together by cross seams 5, 6
respectively. At the top and at the bottom the inventive bag
comprises welded edges 8 in order to improve the cubiod form. A
longitudinal seam 7 extends or is aligned with one of the welded
edges 8. At the top the bag comprises an opening area 9 which
allows to open the bag and remove the packaged items from the bag.
The opening area has opening means 14 which facilitate the opening
of the bag. In the present case, the opening means is a U-shaped
scoring, so that the bag is opened by a flap. Additionally, the
inventive bag comprises a sticker which sticks to the flap as well
as to the surrounding area, while the attachment of the sticker to
the flap is stronger than to the surrounding area. When the sticker
15 is removed from the inventive bag, it sticks to the flap and due
to the scoring 14 the packaging material tears along the U-shaped
scoring, so that a flap is created. The sticker 15 can also be used
to reclose the bag after some of the packaged items have been
removed. The persons skilled in the art understands, that the
inventive bag can also be opened without the sticker 15.
[0033] The inventive bag is produced for example on a vertical flow
wrapper by forming a flat foil wrap into a rectangular shape,
applying the longitudinal seal 7 and the welded edges 8. The
scoring of the film can be either applied before or after the
forming of the web and the application of the longitudinal weld 7
and the edge welding 8. The same is true for the sticker 15, if
present.
[0034] After the application of the longitudinal weld 7 and the
edge weldings 8, the side folds 10 and 11 are formed and the cross
seam 5 is applied. Afterwards, the bag is filled and subsequently
the side folds 12 and 13 and weld 6 are manufactured. In order to
achieve that cross seams 5 and 6 are attached to the side wall 2,
the inventive bag is deposited on a belt or the like with the cross
seam 5 facing downwards. Due to the gravity of the bag and its
content and due to a glue (not depicted) which is applied between
the sidewall 2 and the cross seam 5, the cross seam 5 is
permanently attached to the sidewall 2. Cross seam 6 is attached to
the sidewall by applying an adhesive material (not depicted)
between the sidewall 2 and the cross seam 6 and folding seam 6
towards the sidewall 2 for example with a pusher. Due to the
adhesive material, seam 6 remains in its bended position. However,
before the attachment of seam 6 at least some of the atmosphere in
the bag has to be removed. The removal of the atmosphere in the bag
can be achieved by for example by a cross seam 6, which is not gas
tight before its attachment to the sidewall and/or small holes
which are closed after the seam 6 has been attached to the sidewall
2. The person skilled in the art understands, that the seams 5, 6
need not be attached to the sidewall 2
[0035] FIG. 2 shows a top view of the inventive bag. It can be seen
that the sticker 15 has a flap 16, which is not glued to the top
portion of the bag in order to facilitate the removal of the
sticker 15 and thus the opening of the bag.
[0036] FIG. 3 shows an other embodiment of the inventive bag. In
the present case, the longitudinal weld 7 is not aligned with one
of the edge weldings 8. In the longitudinal seams there are
indentations 14 which facilitate the rapture of the packaging film.
In the present case the packaging film is an oriented material so
that the bag tears open essentially along straight lines.
REFERENCE NUMBERS
[0037] 1 bag
[0038] 2 sidewall
[0039] 3 top area
[0040] 4 bottom area
[0041] 5, 6 cross seams
[0042] 7 longitudinal seal
[0043] 8 edge seals
[0044] 9 opening area
[0045] 10-13 side folds
[0046] 14 opening means
[0047] 15 closing means
[0048] 16 flap
* * * * *