RU2787141C1 - System and method for production of packages equipped with reclosing system - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: packaging.

SUBSTANCE: system and method are claimed for the production of packages (100) equipped with reclosing system (110), which contains support (111) attached to a package and cover (112) made with the possibility of reapplication to the support. Packages are formed by means of forming tube (210) by formation of a tubular structure of film (300) of flexible material, wrapped around the forming tube, while, before wrapping specified film (300) around the forming tube, a hole is made in film of flexible material in accordance with a position, in which the specified reclosing system is applied to the package. The reclosing system is applied to film of flexible material in such a way that the support is fixed inside packages. Installation of the reclosing system is performed, when film is wrapped around the forming tube.

EFFECT: obtainment of a system for the production of packages with a reclosing system.

13 cl, 10 dwg

Description

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present invention relates to the production of bags provided with a reclosing system. In particular, the present invention relates to the field of flexible pouches provided with a reclosing system, such as a lid, which can be screwed onto a support attached to the pouches and can be unscrewed accordingly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Flexible material bags are widely used for packaging various types of products, such as foodstuffs. Such bags can be made from a film of flexible material wound from a spool and wrapped around a forming tube. Documents describing the formation of bags of flexible material by means of a forming tube are, for example, WO 2018/100563 A1, WO 2019/192898 A1 and US 2018/0237173 A1.

Such bags can advantageously be provided with a reclosable system. In particular, such packages are generally sealed by welding. If they are not provided with a reclosing system, then when the bag is opened to remove the product from it, the seal will be irreparably damaged and it will subsequently be difficult to close the bag again in order to protect the product remaining inside the bag. Reclosing systems, such as lids that screw onto supports and unscrew from supports attached to bags, allow packages to be opened and closed in a repetitive manner.

Examples of these bags provided with reclosing systems of this type can be found in WO 2013/107539 A1, WO 2007/132021 A1, US 4,887,912, WO 2012/004312 A1, DE 40 23 274 A1, EP 2 032 451 A1 and US 652,673.

In some cases, such as US 652,673, the reclosing system is installed on the outside of the bag. The disadvantage of these systems is that the reclosing system can be accidentally detached from the bag. Moreover, attaching the reseal system to the outside of the bag may require special packaging materials that are difficult to sand, such as double-sided sealing films, or in the absence of such, may require the use of complex and expensive technologies, such as ultrasonic welding.

Therefore, solutions have been proposed, such as in US 4,887,912, in which the support of the reclosing system is attached to the inner surface of the bag, and the reclosing system protrudes through an opening in the film of flexible material.

Even if these solutions overcome the problems of bags with a reclosable system attached to the outside, the formation of such bags is considered to be a complex process. The reclosing system is attached to the flexible film prior to the formation of the bag, i.e. when the film is still stretched after being unwound from the reel. However, the subsequent handling of film provided with reseal systems to form pouches is critical because reseal systems attached to the film can easily block or complicate subsequent film operations that must be performed to produce pouches.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the problems of the development of the state of the art.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, the reclosing system is applied to the flexible material film used to form the bags, in particular, with the installation on the surface of the film that will be used to form the inner surface of the bag, when the flexible material film is wrapped around the forming tube and, therefore, forms a tubular structure from which filled and sealed bags will be cut. Thus, the reclosing system is applied after the film is wrapped around the tubular system, which avoids the problems of the state of the art in handling films equipped with reclosing systems.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for the production of bags provided with a reclosing system comprising a support attached to the bag and a closure capable of being reapplied to said support, said method comprising the following steps:

- the formation of packages by means of a forming tube, while these packages are formed from a film of flexible material, which is wrapped around the specified forming tube;

- forming an opening in a film made of a flexible material, in accordance with the position in which the reclosing system is applied to the bag;

applying said support to said film of flexible material so that said support is attached to the inside of the bags, the application being carried out while the film is wrapped around the forming tube;

wherein the hole is formed in the film of flexible material before the film is wrapped around the forming tube.

This configuration has the particular advantage that it allows holes to be made at preferred locations on the flexible material film and therefore the supports are placed at the preferred stack height without having to resort to predetermined positions depending on the cutter configuration. . In addition, large packages can be created and there is no need to resort to using very large machines, since the height of the package does not depend on the height of the machine. Moreover, the risk of contamination of the product is eliminated, since when forming holes in front of the forming tube, pieces of a film of flexible material do not fall into the bag.

The formation of pouches by means of a forming tube of a film of flexible material wrapped around the forming tube can be accomplished in several ways known to the skilled person. Examples describing the formation of bags of flexible materials by means of a forming tube are given in WO 2018/100563 A1, WO 2019/192898 A1 and US 2018/0237173 A1. A film of flexible material is generally unwound from a reel and wrapped around a forming tube. The film is then sealed to form a tubular structure which is slidable along the forming tube. The tubular structure is welded at the base of the forming tube to form the bottom of the bag. The product with which the bag will be filled is fed into the tubular structure through the forming tube. The film is then sealed to close the filled bag. Finally, the filled and closed bag is cut from the tubular structure.

The support is applied to a film of flexible material in order to be attached inside the bags. In particular, the fastening between the support and the flexible material film occurs through the surface of the flexible material film which is inside the package. The surface inside the package is usually hermetic, which is necessary when closing the package, for example by heat sealing. Thus, the application of the support to the film can be carried out in a simple and efficient manner. Moreover, by fixing the support inside the bag, the chance of the reclosing system accidentally separating from the bag is minimized.

According to the present invention, the support of the reclosing system is applied to the film of flexible material when the film is wrapped around the forming tube. As such, the support is applied to a tubular structure formed by a film of flexible material around the forming tube. This makes it possible to solve the problems of the development of the prior art. In particular, subsequent steps in the production of the pouch are simplified since the reclosing system is superimposed on the tubular structure already formed around the forming tube. Therefore, when forming a tubular structure with a film of flexible material, already equipped with reclosing systems, there are no problems. Difficulties arise when the film is folded around the tubular structure, as the reclosing systems can be blocked or at any rate interfere when the film is wrapped around the tubular structure.

According to the present invention, application of the support to the film of flexible material can take place when the support and the lid are assembled into an assembly forming a reclosing system. In other words, in this configuration, not only the support is applied to the flexible material film, but also the assembled reclosing system, which is mounted directly on the flexible material film, due to the application of the support. Alternatively, the reclosing system assembly may be installed after the support has been attached to the flexible material film, ie the lid is applied to the support only after the support has been attached to the flexible material film.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method in which said overlay is performed by welding, and in which said welding is performed by a welding machine that processes the surface of said flexible material film to form the outside of the bags. Welding can be carried out, for example, with a spot, ultrasonic or induction welding machine.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method in which said support is applied to said film and secured along a surface around said opening facing the inside of the bag.

The hole is advantageously formed in the flexible material film prior to wrapping the forming tube with the film. For example, the hole may be formed when the film is stretched after being unwound from a spool and before being wrapped around a forming tube. In this way, a tubular structure is formed around the forming tube, which has different openings at the positions where the reclosing systems will be applied to different bags produced from the tubular structure.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided in which said forming tube comprises an opening made for transporting said support, said method comprising the following steps:

providing said support within said forming tube;

- alignment of the specified hole of the specified film of flexible material with the specified hole of the specified forming tube;

- withdrawing said support from within said forming tube through said opening of said forming tube so that at least part of said support extends beyond said opening of said flexible material film and at least part of said support remains inside said opening of said flexible material film .

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided wherein said opening of said forming tube has a larger diameter than said opening of said film of flexible material. This advantageously makes it possible to automatically stop the ejection of the reclosing system so that it does not extend beyond the opening of the film.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the proposed method further comprises the following steps:

- providing the product with which it is necessary to fill said bags inside the forming tube in such a way that the product, when falling through the forming tube, comes into contact with the guide in which the support moves.

This configuration allows a single forming tube to be used to fill the bags with product and attach the supports to the bags.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for the production of bags provided with a reclosing system comprising a support attached to the bag and a lid capable of being reapplied to said support, said system comprising:

a forming tube for forming bags from a film made of flexible material, which is wrapped around said forming tube;

a hole-forming means configured to form a hole in the flexible material film according to the position at which said support is applied;

application means for applying said support to said film of flexible material so that said support is attached to the inside of the bags, said application means being configured to apply said support to the film when the film is wrapped around the forming tube;

moreover, the hole forming means is located in the technological chain before the forming tube so that holes are formed in the film of flexible material during its unwinding before wrapping around the forming tube.

This configuration has the particular advantage that it allows holes to be made at preferred locations on the flexible material film and therefore the supports are placed at the preferred stack height without having to resort to predetermined positions depending on the cutter configuration. . Moreover, large packages can be created and there is no need to resort to using very large machines, since the height of the package does not depend on the height of the machine. Moreover, the risk of contamination of the product is eliminated, since when forming holes in front of the forming tube, pieces of a film of flexible material do not fall into the bag.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided in which said application means comprises at least a sealer capable of operating on the surface of said flexible material film forming the outside of the bags. The welding machine may be a spot, ultrasonic or induction welding machine.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided in which said forming tube comprises an opening configured to convey said support from the inside to the outside of said forming tube. Thus, the reclosing system is provided from the inside with a forming tube.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided in which said forming tube comprises a guide for guiding said support from a supply container into said opening of said forming tube. The guide can be configured to orient the reclosing system in a predetermined direction. For example, the guide may be sized to prevent tilting of the reclosing system.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided in which said application means comprises an extraction means for extracting said support from within said forming tube through said opening of said forming tube. The ejection means may include, for example, a pushing means located inside the forming tube and configured to push the support from inside the forming tube to the outside of the forming tube. The pushing means can, for example, be activated mechanically or pneumatically. The extraction means may advantageously be designed to counteract the welding machine through which the support is attached to the film.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided which further comprises an aperture forming means for forming an aperture in said flexible material film in accordance with the location of said support. The means for forming holes are advantageously located in front of the forming tube so that holes can be made in the film of flexible material before wrapping the film around the forming tube. The hole forming means may be configured to form holes having a smaller diameter relative to the diameter of the opening of the forming tube.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided that further comprises means for aligning said hole formed in said flexible material film with said hole of said forming tube.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided wherein said forming tube comprises a guide along which a support can be transported and where the bag is filled with product inside the forming tube and falls into contact with the guide.

This configuration is particularly advantageous in that it allows a compact system to be implemented where a single forming tube is used both for filling the bag with product and for attaching the supports to the bags.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying figures, in which the same reference numbers and/or characters refer to the same parts and//or similar and/or corresponding parts of the system.

On FIG. 1 schematically shows a package that can be implemented by the present invention.

On FIG. 2 schematically shows another package that can be implemented by the present invention.

On FIG. 3 is a schematic detail view of the packages in section according to FIG. 1 and 2.

On FIG. 4 schematically shows a step for a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

On FIG. 5 schematically shows a step for a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

On FIG. 6 schematically shows a step for a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

On FIG. 7 schematically shows a step for a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

On FIG. 8 schematically shows a step for a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

On FIG. 9 schematically shows a step for a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is described below with reference to particular embodiments as shown in the appended figures. However, the present invention is not limited to the individual embodiments described in the following "Disclosure" section and shown in the figures. Instead, the described embodiments simply represent, by way of example, the various figures of the present invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims. Further modifications and variations of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

On FIG. 1 schematically shows a package 100 that may be implemented by the present invention. The bag 100 is made of a flexible material and includes a front surface 113 and a back surface 115. The front surface 113 and the back surface 115 are connected, for example, by welding, in accordance with the location of the top part 116 of the bag to close the bag. The package further comprises two side surfaces for connecting the front surface 113 and the back surface 115. The right side surface is shown in the figure. The package further comprises a flat bottom 117 on which it can stand.

Package 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a reclosing system 110. The reclosing system 110 causes the bag to open and close in a repeatable manner, thereby ensuring that immediately after being closed using the reclosing system 110, the bag closes appropriately.

The reclosing system 110 includes a support 111 that is attached to the bag 100. In particular, the support 111 is attached to the film 300 of the flexible material from which the bag 100 is made. More specifically, as schematically shown in FIG. 3 and as described below, the support 111 is attached to the surface 303 inside the bag 100 of the film 300 made from the flexible material from which the bag 100 is made.

The reclosing system 110 further comprises a cover 112 that can be applied to the support 111 in a repeatable manner. For example, as schematically shown in FIG. 3, the support 111 may include a threaded portion 118 corresponding to the threaded portion 119 of the cap 112 such that the cap 112 can be screwed on and unscrewed from the support via the threaded portion. Other implementations may be provided regarding the repeated application of the lid 112 to the support 111. For example, the lid and the support may be configured such that the lid can be inserted under pressure onto or within the support.

On FIG. 1 shows a reclosing system 110 attached to the front surface 113 of the bag 100. The reclosing system 110 may also be attached to the back surface 115.

On FIG. 2 schematically shows another package 100' that can be implemented by the present invention. Unlike package 100 of FIG. 1 in the package 100' of FIG. 2, the reclosing system 110 is attached to the side surface 114 of the bag 100'. The reclosing system 110 may also be attached to the opposite side surface.

Packages similar to packages 100, 100' shown in FIG. 1 and 2 can be used to package different types of products, such as food products such as coffee, flour, sugar and other similar products.

On FIG. 3 is a schematic detail view of the packages in section according to FIG. 1 and 2. In FIG. 3 shows, in particular, a portion of a film 300 of flexible material from which the bag 100 is made. The film 300 includes a surface 301 on the outside of the bag and a surface 303 on the inside of the bag. As such, in the configuration in the figure, the inner surface of the pouch is directed downward and the outer surface of the pouch is directed upward. The film 300 includes an opening 302 whereby the reclosing system is secured. The figure shows that the support 111 is attached to the surface 303 of the film 300 inside the package. In other words, the support 111 is attached to the inside of the bag. The support 111 includes a flange 119 which can be used to fasten it to the inner surface of the bag. The fastening of the support 111 to the inner surface 303 through the flange 119 can be carried out in zones A and B inside the package by welding.

The figure further shows the support 111 protruding through the opening 302 so that part of the support 111 is on the outside of the package. The part on the support 111 protruding towards the outside of the bag is used to connect to the lid 112. Incidentally, in the example shown in the figure, the part 111 of the support protruding towards the outside of the bag includes a threaded part 118 that can be connected to threaded part 119 of the cover 112.

Below, as shown in FIG. 4-9 disclose a method and system for manufacturing bags similar to those shown in FIG. 1 and 2.

The system includes a forming tube 210. The method of forming bags of flexible material by means of a forming tube is known to the skilled person, and therefore is not described in detail. Examples of documents that disclose a method for forming bags of flexible materials by means of a forming tube are given in WO 2018/100563 A1, WO 2019/192898 A1 and US 2018/0237173 A1. A film of flexible material is wrapped around the forming tube and hence the necessary welding and cutting operations are carried out in such a way as to form the bags. The forming tube is preferably made for filling bags during the forming process.

On FIG. 4 shows a film of flexible material 300 being wrapped around a forming tube 210. Pouch formation is accomplished by sliding the film 300 along the forming tube towards the bottom. The figure shows that the forming tube fits under the guide 212, which ends in accordance with the opening 211 of the forming tube. The forming tube 210 is configured to include a guide 212 and such that product entering the bags falls through the forming tube into a zone 215 adjacent to the guide 211 where zone 215 contains, for example, an element 214 that acts as a holder. to apply support 211. In the preferred embodiment, the product that fills the bags during filling through the forming tube 210 comes into contact with the guide 212.

The figure further shows that at this stage the film 300 includes an opening 302 located at the top of the forming tube.

On FIG. 5 additionally shows the next step. The reclosing system 110 is designed to slide along the guide 212 into the forming tube 210. For example, the reclosing system 110 may free fall along the guide 212. The reclosing system 110 may be provided in the guide 212 from the supply container of the reclosing system 110. The reclosing systems 110 can be oriented appropriately prior to being applied to the rail 212. The rail 212 can be configured such that the orientations of the reclosing systems 110 do not change along the rail itself as the reclosing systems 110 fall. Specifically, in the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the support 111 points to the left while the cover 112 points to the right. The size of the guide 212 is such that when the reclosing system 110 falls, the direction of orientation cannot change.

In the steps shown in Fig. 5, it is also seen that the film 300 has slid down. The opening 302 is actually in the down position with respect to this step, shown in FIG. four.

On FIG. 6 shows the next step. The guide 212 inside the forming tube 210 includes an end part 213 corresponding to the opening 211 of the forming tube 210. The end part 213 is designed to stop the sliding of the reclosing system 110 along the guide 212. In particular, the stopping of the sliding of the reclosing system 110 occurs when passing through the end part 213 when the reclosing system 110 is in position corresponding to the opening 211 of the forming tube 210.

At the stage shown in Fig. 6, the film 300 has been further pushed down and stopped at the point where the opening 302 of the film 300 is flush with the opening 211 of the forming tube 210. Locking in this position can be controlled in a variety of ways, such as through detection systems that detect when the openings 302 and 211 are at the same level, and by a control system that blocks sliding towards the bottom of the film 300 when this situation is detected.

On FIG. 7 shows the next step. The reclosing system 110 is led from the inside of the forming tube 210 to the outside of the forming tube 210 through the opening 211 of the forming tube 210. This action can be performed by means of a gripping means. For example, this action may be performed by pushing the reclosing system 110 from the inside of the forming tube 210 outwards. Alternatively, this action may be performed by tightening the reclosing system 110 from the inside of the forming tube 210 outwards.

On FIG. 7 shows that the diameter of the opening 302 of the film 300 is smaller than the diameter of the opening 211 of the forming tube 210. The reclosing system 110 then only partially withdraws from the opening 302 of the film 300. In particular, part of the reclosing system remains inside the opening 302, while the other part is brought out. The part that remains inside the hole 302 contains a flange 119, which is then attached to the inner surface 303 of the film 300. The part that is brought out contains the threaded part 118.

On FIG. 7 further shows a welder 410 that is connected to a reclosing system 110.

On FIG. 8 shows the next step. At this point, the welding machine 410 touches the outer surface 301 of the film 300 so as to weld the flange 119 of the reclosing system 110 to the inner surface 303 of the film 300.

On FIG. 9 shows the next step. At this stage, it can be seen that the film 300 moves further down such that the reclosing system 110 attached to the film in the steps shown in FIG. 4-8 is retracted from the opening 211 of the forming tube 210. This portion of the film 300 attached to the reclosing system 110 is then further processed so as to form the bag 100 in the following steps along the forming tube.

On FIG. 9 further shows that the new reclosing system is designed to slide along the guide 112 as shown in FIG. 5 so as to proceed with the installation of the new reclosing system on 300 film.

The process is then cycled to apply different reseal systems to the film 300 and hence to produce different pouches 100 provided with reseal systems 110.

Even though the present invention has been presented with reference to the embodiments described above, the skilled person will appreciate that various modifications, variations and improvements to the present invention may be applied in light of the teachings described above and within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the scope and protection limits of the present inventions.

For example, the present invention can be used to implement packages with different sizes. Moreover, even if it has been shown that different actions are performed with the finished reclosing system, i.e. with the lid attached to the support, such actions could alternatively be carried out only with the support, and the lid could be attached later, for example, screwed to the support before attaching to the packages.

Finally, those areas that are considered to be known to the skilled person have not been included in the description in order to eliminate ambiguities that are not needed in the described invention.

For example, the steps known to the skilled person for forming bags of flexible material film by means of a forming tube have not been described in detail, for example, unwinding the film from the reel, wrapping the film around the forming tube, sealing the film to form the bottom of the bags, filling the bags, processing the film. welding to close the bags and cutting the bags formed from the film, followed by filling.

Therefore, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but is limited only by the protection scope of the appended claims.

Claims (27)

1. A method for the production of bags (100) equipped with a reclosing system (110) comprising a support (111) attached to the bag and a lid (112) configured to be reapplied to said support (111), the method comprising the following stages: forming bags (100) by means of a forming tube (210), said bags (100) being formed from a film of flexible material (300) which is wrapped around said forming tube (210); forming an opening (302) in a film made of a flexible material (300) in accordance with the position in which said reclosing system (110) is applied to the bag (100); applying said support (111) to said film of flexible material (300) so that said support (111) is attached to the inside of the bags (100), the application being carried out when the film (300) is wrapped around the forming tube (210) ; characterized in that: said opening (302) is formed in said film of flexible material (300) prior to wrapping said film (300) around said forming tube (210). 2. Method according to claim 1, wherein said application is carried out by welding, and said welding is carried out by means of a welding machine, which processes the surface (301) of said film of flexible material (300), forming the outer side of said packages (100). 3. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1 or 2, wherein said support (111) is applied to said film (300) by attaching it along a surface around said opening (302) facing the inside of said bag (100). 4. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-3, wherein said forming tube (210) comprises an opening (211) configured to transport said support (111), wherein said method includes the following steps: providing said support (111) inside said forming tube (210); alignment of said opening (302) of said film of flexible material (300) with said opening (211) of said forming tube (210); extraction of said support (111) from inside said forming tube (210) through said opening (211) of said forming tube (210), so that at least part (118) of said support (111) also extends beyond said opening (302) of said films of flexible material (300), and at least part (119) of said support (111) remains inside said hole (302) of said film of flexible material (300). 5. The method of claim 4, wherein said opening (211) of said forming tube (210) has a larger diameter than said opening (302) of said flexible material film (300). 6. The method according to any of the previous paragraphs further includes the following step: providing the product with which it is necessary to fill the specified bags (100) inside the forming tube (210) in such a way that the product (100) when falling through the forming tube (210) comes into contact with the guide (212), along which the support (111) is moved . 7. System for the production of packages (100) equipped with a reclosing system (110) containing a support (111) attached to the package and a lid (112) configured to be reapplied to the specified support (111), while the specified system contains: forming tube (210) for forming packages (100) from a film made of flexible material (300), which is wrapped around said forming tube (210); hole forming means configured to form a hole (302) in said flexible material film (300) according to a position at which said support (111) is applied; overlay means for overlaying said support (111) on said film of flexible material (300) so that said support (111) is attached to the inside of said packages (100), wherein said overlay means is configured to apply said support (111 ) onto said flexible material film (300) when the film is wrapped around said forming tube (210); characterized in that: said hole forming means is located in the process chain before the forming tube (210) in such a way that holes (211) are formed in the film of flexible material (300) at the time when the film is unwound before being wound around said forming tube (210). 8. The system of claim 7, wherein said application means comprises at least a welder (410) capable of operating on a surface (301) of said flexible material film (300) forming the outer side of said bags (100). 9. The system according to any one of paragraphs. 7 or 8, wherein said forming tube (210) comprises an opening (211) configured to transport said support (111) from inside said forming tube (210) to outside said forming tube (210). 10. The system of claim 9, wherein said forming tube (210) comprises a guide (212) for guiding said support (111) out of the feed container to said opening (211) of said forming tube (210). 11. The system according to any one of paragraphs. 9 or 10, in which said overlay means comprises extracting means for extracting said support (111) from the inside of said forming tube (210) to the outside of said forming tube (210) through said opening (211) of said forming tube (210). 12. The system according to any one of paragraphs. 9-11 further comprising means for aligning said hole (302) formed in said flexible material film with said hole (211) of said forming tube (210). 13. The system according to any one of paragraphs. 7-12, in which the specified forming tube (210) contains a guide (212), along which the possibility of transporting the specified support (111) is provided, and at the same time the specified system is made in such a way that the specified product (100) when falling through the specified forming tube (210) comes into contact with said guide (212).

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