U.S. patent application number 13/571396 was filed with the patent office on 2014-02-13 for stand-up bag of a weldable foil for holding pourable contents.
The applicant listed for this patent is MARK W. GUM. Invention is credited to MARK W. GUM.
Application Number | 20140044379 13/571396 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48795507 |
Filed Date | 2014-02-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140044379 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
GUM; MARK W. |
February 13, 2014 |
STAND-UP BAG OF A WELDABLE FOIL FOR HOLDING POURABLE CONTENTS
Abstract
A bag capable of moving between a flattened generally planar
condition to an open generally parallelepipedal shape has in the
flattened condition closely juxtaposed flat rectangular front and
back face panels. A rectangular top panel has front and back edges
joined to the top edges of the respective front and back face
panels and side edges bridging ends of the respective front and
back edges. The top panel has a crease between the respective front
and back edges and is folded inward therefrom to lie between the
face panels. A similar rectangular floor panel is secured to the
lower edges of the face panels. A pair of rectangular side gusset
panels each have vertical front and back edges respectively joined
to the side edges of the front and back panels and upper and lower
edges joined to the side edges of the top and bottom panels.
Inventors: |
GUM; MARK W.; (EAST PRAIRIE,
MO) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
GUM; MARK W. |
EAST PRAIRIE |
MO |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
48795507 |
Appl. No.: |
13/571396 |
Filed: |
August 10, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
383/12 ; 383/120;
383/42; 383/64 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 33/00 20130101;
B65D 75/008 20130101; B65D 75/5861 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
383/12 ; 383/120;
383/42; 383/64 |
International
Class: |
B65D 33/00 20060101
B65D033/00 |
Claims
1. A bag capable of moving between a flattened generally planar
condition to an open generally parallelepipedal shape, the bag
comprising in the flattened condition: closely juxtaposed flat
rectangular front and back face panels each having a horizontal top
edge, a horizontal bottom edge therebelow, and a pair of
horizontally spaced vertical side edges bridging ends of the top
and bottom edges; a rectangular top panel having front and back
edges joined to the top edges of the respective front and back face
panels and side edges bridging ends of the respective front and
back edges, the top panel having a crease between the respective
front and back edges and being folded inward therefrom to lie
between the face panels; a rectangular floor panel having front and
back edges respectively joined to the bottom edges of the front and
back panels and side edges bridging ends of the respective front
and back edges, the floor panel having a crease between the
respective front and back edges and being folded inward therefrom
to lie between the face panels; a pair of rectangular side gusset
panels each having vertical front and back edges respectively
joined to the side edges of the front and back panels and upper and
lower edges joined to the side edges of the top and bottom panels,
each side panel being subdivided by a central vertical crease into
a pair of subpanels each formed at a respective corner of the side
panel with a respective corner crease extending diagonally inward
from the respective corner to the center crease and each defining
at the respective corner a triangular gore, the side panel being
folded inward at the respective center creases between the face
panels and the gores being folded inward at the diagonal creases
between the subpanels, the top, bottom, and side panels being
wholly between the face panels in the flattened condition and
extending generally perpendicular to the face panels in a filled
condition of the bag.
2. The bag defined in claim 1, wherein all the subpanels are of
weldable sheet material and are secured together at the edges by
weld seams.
3. The bag defined in claim 2, wherein the end edges of the top and
bottom panels are joined to the gores of the side panels.
4. The bag defined in claim 2, further comprising a handle on one
of the panels.
5. The bag defined in claim 2, wherein at least one of the panels
forms an opening, the bag further comprising: a reclosable closure
on the opening.
6. The bag defined in claim 5, wherein the opening and the closure
are at a seam between the one of the face panels and the top
panel.
7. The bag defined in claim 5, wherein the opening is formed by a
spout and the closure is a cap fittable on the spout.
8. The bag defined in claim 5, wherein the closure is a slide
fastener.
9. The bag defined in claim 5, wherein the one panel has a flap
that can cover the opening and the closure can hold the flap in a
position covering the opening.
10. The bag defined in claim 5, wherein the bag is formed outside
the closure with a removable seam, whereby when the removal seam is
removed the closure can close the opening.
11. The bag defined in claim 5, further comprising a handle on a
panel opposite the opening.
12. The bag defined in claim 11 wherein the handle is reinforced.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a stand-up bag. More
particularly this invention concerns such a bag intended to hold
pourable contents such as a liquid, a viscous material, or
particles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to a stand-up bag composed of weldable
film for packaging a liquid, paste-like, or pourable packaging
product. The stand-up bag is prefabricated as a flat-lying film
bag. After it is filled, the bag is closed by a weld to seal the
filler opening so as to create a package. The weldable film can be
a multilayer coextruded film or a composite film that has a
heat-weldable polymer layer on the inside of the bag. Possible
areas of application for the stand-up bag range from the packaging
of beverages, liquid concentrates, liquid cleaning agents, liquid
fertilizers, viscous body-care products, and even dry feed for
animals.
[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 7,497,624 discloses a stand-up bag that has
front and back face panels, a bottom panel that is folded inward
and attached to the bottom edge of the face panels, and side gusset
panels between the face panels. The side gusset panels each have a
central crease and are attached by welds to side edges of the face
panels. Triangular gores are provided at the corners of the side
gusset panels, together form an inlaid fold between the halves of
the respective side gusset panels at its upper and lower ends, and
are attached to the bottom panel. The side gusset panels terminate
below an upper edge of the stand-up bag and are sealed shut at
their top ends at the triangular gores and welds. Above the side
gusset panels, the face panels are attached directly to each other
at their longitudinal edges by welds and create a two-ply header
region for the stand-up bag in which a reclosable means can be
provided in the form of a pressure closure. After the bag has been
filled with the packaging product, the side gusset panels and the
folded down bottom panel expand and define a filling product space
that is formed by flat film areas. The header region above the side
gusset panels cannot be used as filling product space and creates a
lobe-shaped section of the bag, with the result that the shape of
the filled stand-up bag deviates from a parallepipedal shape.
[0004] US 2011/0229060 discloses a stand-up bag of weldable film
that has two face panels, a folded in bottom panel attached to the
bottom edges of the face panels, and a folded-in top panel attached
to the top edges of the face panels. The face panels are directly
attached to each other by side-edge welds in a center section of
the bag between the bottom panel and the top panel. The face
panels, bottom panel, and the top panel define a filling product
space that can be used extending from the floor surface up to the
top panel surface. After being filled, the package has a footprint
that tapers toward the longitudinal edges of the bag. The shape of
the package is not parallepipedal.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,796,712 also relates to a stand-up bag with
two face panels that are attached to each other by their
longitudinal wherein a foldable floor panel located between the
side walls and functioning as a standing floor is at the bottom of
the stand-up bag, while a foldable top panel is between the face
panels at the top end of the stand-up bag. In addition, a
dispensing opening is provided between the top transverse edge of a
face panel and the associated edge of the top panel component in
which a sealing element or closure is provided. The filling product
space is extends from the floor surface up to the top panel
component, and has a floor surface of hexagonal shape when in the
filled state. The hexagonal base surface impedes storing the filled
packages in a space-saving manner in a stack that comprises
multiple adjacent and stacked packages.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide an improved stand-up film bag.
[0007] Another object is the provision of such an improved stand-up
film bag that overcomes the above-given disadvantages, in
particular that can move from a flattened condition to a
parallepipedal shape with four side surfaces extending at right
angles to one another after it is filled.
[0008] A further object is for the package to have good shape
stability both in the filled state as well as in the partially
emptied state. It should furthermore be easy to manipulate and
preferably include a reclosable opening that enables the product to
be dispensed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] A bag capable of moving between a flattened generally planar
condition to an open generally parallelepipedal shape has according
to the invention in the flattened condition closely juxtaposed flat
rectangular front and back face panels each having a horizontal top
edge, a horizontal bottom edge therebelow, and a pair of
horizontally spaced vertical side edges bridging ends of the top
and bottom edges. A rectangular top panel has front and back edges
joined to the top edges of the respective front and back face
panels and side edges bridging ends of the respective front and
back edges. The top panel has a crease between the respective front
and back edges and is folded inward therefrom to lie between the
face panels, and a rectangular floor panel has front and back edges
respectively joined to the bottom edges of the front and back
panels and side edges bridging ends of the respective front and
back edges. The floor panel also has a crease between the
respective front and back edges and is folded inward therefrom to
lie between the face panels. A pair of rectangular side gusset
panels each have vertical front and back edges respectively joined
to the side edges of the front and back panels and upper and lower
edges joined to the side edges of the top and bottom panels. Each
side panel is subdivided by a central vertical crease into a pair
of subpanels each formed at a respective corner of the side panel
is with a respective corner crease extending diagonally inward from
the respective corner to the center crease and each defining at the
respective corner a triangular gore. The side panel is folded
inward at the respective center creases between the face panels and
the gores are folded inward at the diagonal creases between the
subpanels. The top, bottom, and side panels are wholly between the
face panels in the flattened condition and extending generally
perpendicular to the face panels in a filled condition of the
bag.
[0010] The stand-up bag according to the invention is manufactured
as a flat-lying film bag and creates a parallepipedal package after
it has been filled. A filler opening provided for filling the
stand-up bag between the top panel and the top edge of one of the
face panels is closed by a longitudinal weld after the stand-up bag
is filled, which seam attaches the face panel to the top panel.
[0011] The bottom panel and the top panel are preferably attached
along their periphery by longitudinal welds to the face panels and
the triangular gores of the side gusset panels. Filling the
stand-up bag causes the side gusset panels between the face panels,
as well as the folded-in bottom panel and the folded-in the top
panel, to expand. As a result, a completely flat floor surface is
created, which imparts good stability to the package, and a flat
top panel surface is also created. The filled package is
distinguished by a parallepipedal shape and has a product space
that can be utilized from the floor surface up to the top panel
surface. As a result, the package can be stacked both vertically
and horizontally in a space-saving manner.
[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the face panels
are attached to the adjacent film area of the side gusset panels by
welds. The welds impart a high degree of shape stability to the
package by stiffening the panels at the edges.
[0013] The stand-up bag can include a handle to provide improved
manipulation of the package. A film handle is preferably provided
on one area of the bag, or a grip composed of a textile strip or
film strip reinforced by a textile strip is provided.
[0014] The stand-up bag according to the invention can furthermore
have a reclosable opening for dispensing the product. The
configuration and design of the reclosable opening depend on the
filling product.
[0015] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a closure is
provided between the top panel and a face panel and is tightly
attached to bordering areas of the top panel and the face panel.
The closure is, for example, a spout that has a cap to enable
reclosing, or is composed of mutually attachable closing strips in
the form of a zipper, slide fastener, or a hook-and-loop
fastener.
[0016] The reclosable opening for dispensing product can also be
provided in a section of the bag that is composed of a portion of
the top panel and a portion of the face panel attached thereto
forming a spout. The bag is preferably closed at its top end by a
connecting seam, and a reclosable closure is provided inside the
bag section, which closure is accessible after tearing off a strip
comprising the connecting seam. The reclosable closure can be
provided, in particular, in the form of a zipper or slide fastener.
The invention also comprises an approach whereby the reclosable
opening is provided in a face panel or in a side gusset panel, and
has a reclosable closure that is fastened to the inside of the
bag.
[0017] The stand-up bag is advantageously also equipped with a
handle to provide improved manipulation of the package. This can be
composed of a film handle that is provided on one area of the bag.
Another handle that can be considered is a grip produced from a
textile strip or from a film strip that is reinforced by a textile
strip.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0018] The above and other objects, features, and advantages will
become more readily apparent from the following description,
reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:
[0019] FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an assembled stand-up
bag in flattened condition before it is filled;
[0020] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the flattened stand-up bag of
FIG. 1;
[0021] FIG. 3 is a perspective view a side gusset panel of the
stand-up bag of FIGS. 1 and 2;
[0022] FIG. 4 is a view of the foldable blank for making the side
gusset panel of FIG. 3;
[0023] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bag of FIG. 1 after
filling with pourable contents;
[0024] FIG. 6 shows the bag of FIG. 5, but with a reclosable pour
spout for liquid products;
[0025] FIG. 7 shows the bag of FIG. 5 but with a slide fastener for
use with particulate contents;
[0026] FIG. 8 shows the bag of FIG. 5 with a reclosable top
flap;
[0027] FIG. 9 shows the bag of FIG. 6 with a handle on the back
face panel;
[0028] FIGS. 10, 11, and 12 are perspective views of spout bags
according to the invention with different handle
configurations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0029] A stand-up bag 13 made of a thermoplastic weldable film is
fabricated to lie flat when empty as shown in FIG. 1. When filled
with a liquid, a pasty material, or particles it assumes a
generally parallepipedal shape as shown in FIG. 5. This bag 13 has
as shown also in FIG. 2 rectangular front and back face panels 1
each with two long vertical side edges 9 and two shorter horizontal
bottom and top edges 2 and 4. A rectangular top panel 5 has
parallel long front and back edges 25 that are joined by is welds
to the top edges 4 and a rectangular floor panel 3 has parallel
long front and back edges 29 welded to the bottom edges 2. The
panels 5 and 3 have respective central creases 24 and 28 parallel
to the respective edges 25 and 29 that divide them each into two
identical rectangular flaps.
[0030] As also shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, rectangular side gusset
panels 6 having short straight upper and lower edges 31 and long
straight vertical side edges 32 are subdivided by a central crease
7 into two subpanels 8. Diagonal corner creases 11 define at the
upper and lower outer corners of each subpanel 8 right-triangular
gores 10 joined to the respective subpanel by the 45.degree.
diagonal crease 11 and to each other by an end portion of the
central crease 8. In the assembled bag 13, the end edges 26 of the
top panel 5 are welded to the upper edges 31 of the side panels and
the end edges 30 of the bottom panel 3 are welded to the bottom
edges 31.
[0031] According to the invention in the flattened condition the
side panels 6 are folded in with the two subpanels 8 between the
face panels 1, the top and bottom panels 5 and 31 are similarly
folded in with the gores 11 between their two halves.
[0032] The stand-up bag that is prefabricated as a flat-lying film
bag is filled through a filler opening in the top with a pourable
packaging product. Such filler opening is formed by leaving open
part of the seam or weld between one of the edges 25 and the
respective edge 4. After filling, this opening is sealed shut by a
longitudinal weld. Once it is filled as shown in FIG. 5, the
stand-up bag forms a parallepipedal package 13 that has a flat,
rectangular standing surface, a flat and rectangular top panel
surface, as well as four side panels extending at right angles to
each other.
[0033] The stand-up bag described based on FIGS. 1 through 5 can
include a reclosable opening for dispensing the product. In the
embodiment of FIG. 6, a closure 14 is provided at the seam between
the top panel 5 and the face panel 1, tightly attached to bordering
areas of the top panel 5 and face panel 1. The closure 14 is
provided in the form of a spout 15 that has a cap 16 for reclosing.
The package 13 shown in FIG. 6 is well suited, in particular, for
liquid or viscous products.
[0034] The package 13 shown in FIG. 7 is intended for solid or
granular pourable products and has a zipper formed mutually
attachable closing strips as the closure 14. One closing strip of
the zipper 17 is on the top edge 4 of the face panel 1. The other
closing strip is attached to the front edge 25 of the inwardly
folded top panel 5.
[0035] As indicated in FIG. 8, the reclosable opening can also be
in a bag section 18 that is created by a section of the top panel 5
and a section attachable thereto of the face panel 1 so as to form
a spout. The spout-forming sections can be folded over and laid
against face panel 1, and can also be secured to the face panel 1
as required. The section 18 is closed at its top end by a seam 19.
A reclosable closure 20 is provided within the bag section defined
by the connecting seam. This closure 20 is left after tearing off a
strip 21 comprising the connecting seam 19. This reclosable closure
20 can be provided, in particular, in the form of a zipper or slide
fastener.
[0036] In the embodiment of FIG. 9, a handle 22 is provided on one
of the face panels of the stand-up bag on the side opposite the
spout 16. In FIG. 10 a more complex handle 23 is formed by a
horizontal top strip with two strips extending down from each end
for connection to a respective upper corner of the bat, above the
spout 16. In FIG. 11 a single U-shaped handle 24 a handle flap is
provided at the upper edge of the rear face panel, and in FIG. 12 a
handle flap is provided at the lower edge of the rear face panel.
The handles 22, 23, 24, and 25 can be formed by a film strip, a
textile strip, or a film strip reinforced by a textile layer. The
material of the handles 22-25 can be, in particular, a polyolefin
film, a multiple-layer coextruded film including a weldable layer,
or a composite material composed of a foldable film and a
non-weldable reinforcement layer.
* * * * *