U.S. patent application number 10/584361 was filed with the patent office on 2007-11-29 for apparatus and process for producing a tabular bag.
Invention is credited to Peter Joseph Hendriks, Rudolf Adrianus Van Gulik.
Application Number | 20070271878 10/584361 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34530720 |
Filed Date | 2007-11-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070271878 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hendriks; Peter Joseph ; et
al. |
November 29, 2007 |
Apparatus And Process For Producing A Tabular Bag
Abstract
The present invention relates to an apparatus to bend a first
and second cross seal of the bag made of a flexible packing
material towards the side-wall. The present invention further
relates to a packaging machine including the inventive apparatus
and a method for producing a bag made of a flexible packaging
material.
Inventors: |
Hendriks; Peter Joseph;
(Weert, NL) ; Van Gulik; Rudolf Adrianus;
(Maasbracht, NL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PERMAN & GREEN
425 POST ROAD
FAIRFIELD
CT
06824
US
|
Family ID: |
34530720 |
Appl. No.: |
10/584361 |
Filed: |
December 22, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
December 22, 2004 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP04/14615 |
371 Date: |
June 13, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
53/451 ;
53/140 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65B 9/2042 20130101;
B65B 61/24 20130101; B65B 61/28 20130101; B65B 9/20 20130101; B65B
2220/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
053/451 ;
053/140 |
International
Class: |
B65B 9/20 20060101
B65B009/20; B65B 3/02 20060101 B65B003/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 23, 2003 |
EP |
03029722.0 |
Claims
1-10. (canceled)
11. Apparatus to bend a first and a second cross seal (1, 2) of a
bag (3), made of a flexible packaging material, towards the
sidewall (5) with: first means (4) to orient the first cross seal
(2) towards the sidewall (5) of the bag, before it is transferred
to the turning means (7) turning means (7) to fix and turn the bag
upside down, the turning means (7) comprising a plane (8) onto
which the bag is dropped before it is fixed, second means (6) to
orient the second cross seal (1) towards the sidewall (5) of the
bag after it has been turned upside down.
12. Apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that the
turning means rotate by 180.degree. back and forth.
13. Apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that the
means (4, 6) are gas ejection means or mechanical means, preferably
a plate.
14. Packaging machine (1), especially vertical-type packaging
machine, for producing tubular bags (3) from a foil (9) web,
characterized in that it comprises an apparatus according to claim
11.
15. Method to produce a bag (3) made of a flexible packaging
material and filled with a packaging item, characterized in that it
is turned while it is produced by a packaging machine according to
claim 14.
16. Method according to claim 15, characterized in that two cross
seals (1, 2) of the bag are oriented towards the sidewall (5) of
the bag.
17. Method according to claim 16, characterized in that the shape
of the bag is stabilized by the packaging item.
18. Method according to claim 16, characterized in that the cross
seals (1, 2) are bent towards the sidewall (5) of the bag (3) by
the weight of the packaging item.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus to bend a
first and a second cross seal of the bag made of a flexible packing
material towards the sidewall. The present invention further
relates to a packaging machine comprising the inventive apparatus
and a method for producing a bag made of a flexible packaging
material.
[0002] Food stuff, especially sweets and snacks are nowadays
merchandised in packaging items made of a plastic material. These
packaging items must be manufactured cost-efficiently and must be
appealing in order to present the packaged product appropriately.
In this respect, it is desireable to produce cuboid-shaped bags
with cross seals that are oriented towards the sidewalls.
[0003] It is therefore the problem of the present invention to
provide an apparatus to produce bags made of a flexible packaging
material with cross seals which are bent towards the sidewall of
the bag.
[0004] The problem is solved by an apparatus according to claim 1.
Preferred embodiments of the inventive apparatus are claimed in the
subclaims 2-4.
[0005] It was totally surprising and could not have been expected
by a person skilled in the art that the inventive apparatus allows
to produce bags with cross seals bent towards the sidewall of the
bag. The inventive apparatus is produced and operated easily and
cost-efficiently.
[0006] According to the present invention, the apparatus comprises
first and second means to orientate the first and the second cross
seal towards the sidewall of the bag. These means can be any means
known by a person skilled in the art which bends the cross seal
toward the sidewall. Preferably, these bending means are one or
more nozzles which blows gas, preferably air against one side of
the cross seals in order to bend them to the sidewall. In another
preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bending means
are mechanical means like a plate.
[0007] Furthermore, the inventive apparatus comprises turning means
in order to turn the bag, preferably upside down. Before the bag is
turned, it is fixed at the turning means. Consequently, in a
preferred embodiment of the present invention, the turning mean
comprises fixing means, for example clamping jaws or means to
produce a vacuum in order to fix the bag at the turning means.
After the bag has been fixed at the turning means, the turning mean
rotate preferably by 180.degree..
[0008] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the
turning means comprises a plane, preferably a plate, on which the
bag after the lower cross seal has been bend, is dropped. Due to
the impetus and due to the weight of the packaged item, the bend
cross seals and/or the side folds of the bag are further shaped;
i.e. the shape of a cuboid is improved.
[0009] Another subject matter of the present invention is a
packaging machine, preferably a vertical type packing machine for
producing tubular bags from a foil web which comprises the
inventive apparatus to bend the first and the second cross
seal.
[0010] It was surprising and could not have been expected for a
person skilled in the art that the inventive packaging machine is
produced and operated easily and cost-efficiently. The inventive
packaging machine allows to produce packaging bags which have
almost a cuboid shape.
[0011] Another subject matter of the present invention is a method
to produce a bag made of a flexible packaging material and filled
with packaging item whereas the bag is turned while it is
produced.
[0012] It could not have been expected and was totally surprising
for a person skilled in the art that the inventive method is
carried out easily. With the inventive method, it is possible to
produce packaging bags with almost cuboid shape.
[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method, two cross
seals of the bag are oriented towards the sidewall of the bag.
[0014] Preferably, the shape of the bag is stabilized by the
packaging item.
[0015] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention,
the cross seals are bent towards the sidewall of the bag by the
weight of the packaging item.
[0016] Another subject matter of the present invention is a method
to produce a bag made of a flexible material filled with a
packaging item and comprising a side wall, whereas the weight of
the packaging item is used to support the shaping of at least 2
sides of the side wall.
[0017] The inventions are now described in greater details
hereinafter in connections with drawings 1-3 which illustrate
exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The illustrations
are applicable to the inventive apparatus, the inventive packaging
machines and the inventive methods. The drawings show:
[0018] FIG. 1 a cuboid bag.
[0019] FIG. 2 a scheme of a vertical form fill packaging
machine.
[0020] FIG. 3 an embodiment of the inventive apparatus.
[0021] FIG. 1 shows a tubular cuboid shape bag which can be filled
with a packaging item (not depicted). The bag comprises a sidewall
5 and a top area 22 and a bottom area 23. The bag has four side
folds 19, 29, 21, 24 whereby two side folds, e.g. sidefolds 19, 29
and sidefolds 21, 24 are sealed together by cross seals 1, 2,
respectively. At the top and at the bottom, the bag comprises
welded edges 18 in order to improve the cuboid form. The
longitudinal seal 17 extends or is aligned with one of the welded
edges 18. It can be seen that the cross seal 2 has already been
bent towards the sidewall of the bag, especially towards the
sidefolds, while cross seal 1 is still more or less perpendicular
with respect to the sidefolds
[0022] In FIG. 2, a vertical form fills a seal packaging machine;
i.e. a vertical flow rapper is systematically depicted, which
allows for example the production of the bag according to FIG. 1. A
web of a foil 9, especially a sealable plastic film 9, is supplied
by rolls (not shown) of film material. The foil 9 web is then
shaped by the shaping shoulder 16 to provide a rather tubular form
to the material. According to the present invention, "tubular form"
of the bags or of the foil means any cross-sectional form including
a circular form or another form, and especially a rectangular or
generally a polygonal form. The vertical flow wrapper further
comprises longitudinal sealing means 27 in order to produce the
longitudinal seal 17 of the bag and edge sealing means 30 in order
to manufacture edge seals 18. The person skilled in the art
understands that the edge seals are optional. After applying the
longitudinal seal and optionally the edge seals, the bottom of the
bag 2 can be formed by a special bottom forming means 13. The
bottom forming means especially comprise means to produce the
sidefolds 19, 21, 24 and 29. Finally, cross seals 1, 2, extending
perpendicularly (or transversally) to the direction of flow of the
foil, are applied, especially by means of cross-seal jaws 14. The
cross seal jaws 14 further comprises cutting means which separate
the completed bags. Thus the cross seal applied is the bottom seal
2 for one bag and the top seal 1 the next bag.
[0023] FIG. 3 shows the inventive apparatus which is arranged under
the cross seal 14 according to FIG. 2. The packaging item is
positioned above the nozzles 4. The nozzles 4 are directed towards
the side of lower cross seal 2 of the packaging item according to
FIG. 1. Air is ejected through the nozzles 4 for a very short
period of time, i.e. some milliseconds in order bend the cross seal
2 towards the sidewall, while the upper cross seal 1 of the bag
according to FIG. 1 is produced and the bag 3 is cut from the foil
web 9. After the bag 3 has been separated from the foil web, it
drops into the gap 25 and hits plate 8. Since the lower seal 2 is
already bent by the nozzles 4 and due to the impetus and the weight
of the packaged items, cross seal 2 is further bent towards the
sidewall. Additionally, the side folds 21 and 24 are further
aligned towards the lower side of the packaging item, so that the
cuboid-shape of the bag is improved. Since the cross seal 2 still
has an elevated temperature which is caused by the cross seal
process, the cross seal 2 is deformed plastically. The bag looks
now as shown in FIG. 1; i.e. cross seal 1 has not yet been bent.
After the packaging item 3 has hit plate 8, jaws 12 are moved
towards each other to fix the bag 3. After the bag 3 has been
fixed, the turntable 7 rotates counter-clockwise by 180.degree. The
person skilled in the art understands that turntable 7 needs not
rotate back and forth, but can always rotate in one direction. At
the lower end 28, the inventive apparatus further comprises another
set of nozzles 6 which can eject air and which are directed against
the side of cross seal 1 after the bag has been turned upside down
by the turntable 7. The nozzles 6 or any other means to bend the
cross seals need not be at the lower end, but can be anywhere in
the vicinity of the inventive apparatus. Due to the impact of the
air, the upper cross seal 1, which still has an elevated
temperature, is also oriented towards the sidewall. The orientation
of cross seal 1 can be in the same direction as cross seal 2 or
asymmetrical. After the orientation of the cross seal has been
taken place, the jaws 12 are moved apart, so that the bag 3 falls
into channel 26 and from there on a plate (not depicted) which
further forms the cross seal 1 as well as the side folds 19 and 23
in order to improve the cuboid shape of the bag 3. Since the seal 1
is already bent by the nozzles 4 and due to the impetus and the
weight of the packaged items, cross seal 1 is further bent towards
the sidewall. The a.m. plate can be designed as a jotting table.
Finally, the turntable rotates clockwise by 180.degree. and the
process starts again.
REFERENCE SIGNS
[0024] 1,2 cross seal
[0025] 3 bag
[0026] 4,6 gas ejection nozzles
[0027] 7 turning mean
[0028] 8 plate
[0029] 9 film
[0030] 10, 11 one side of the bag
[0031] 12 jaws
[0032] 13 means to produce the side fold
[0033] 14 cross seal
[0034] 15 filling tube
[0035] 16 forming shoulder
[0036] 17 longitudinal seal
[0037] 18 corner seal
[0038] 19, 21 side folds
[0039] 20 direction of flow
[0040] 22 top area
[0041] 23 bottom area
[0042] 24, 29 side folds
[0043] 25 gap
[0044] 26 channel
[0045] 27 longitudinal sealing means
[0046] 28 lower end
[0047] 30 corner sealing means
* * * * *