AU2002359380B2 - Flexible plastic container - Google Patents

Abstract

A flexible polymeric container for storing and dispensing liquids includes a first sidewall and a second sidewall connected together to define a fluid chamber therebetween. The first sidewall and the second sidewall each have an inner surface facing the fluid chamber and an opposed outer surface. A fitment is attached to an outer surface of one of the first sidewall or the second sidewall. The fitment has an opening therethrough which has an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface. A plurality of objects on the inner surface of one of the first sidewall or the second sidewall defines a plurality of pathways having at least a first pathway and a second pathway intersecting one another.

Description

I

004986986v3.doc FLEXIBLE PLASTIC CONTAINER C RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is related to U.S. Non provisional Patent application Serial No.

10/037,295, filed December 21, 2001, which claims priority from United States 00 Provisional Patent application Serial No. 60/332463 filed on November 9, 2001, both of which are incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof. At the date of 00 filing this application, the specifications of both these related applications are available from the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, www.uspto.gov, using Cc the search functions provided on that website.

(,i TECHNICAL FIELD (N The present invention relates generally to a flexible plastic container and more particularly to a flexible container for directing a flowable material contained therein to a fitment of the container and dispensing the flowable material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Collapsible plastic bags are often used to store liquid products such as chemicals, soft drink syrup, fruit juices and food condiments. The plastic bags are typically housed in a corrugated paperboard box to aid in the transporting, handling and dispensing of the product. Such packaging systems are commonly referred to as "bag-in-box" packaging systems.

The plastic bags typically have sidewalls sealed along a peripheral seam to define a fluid containing chamber. A spout or a fitment provides access to the fluid chamber for filling and dispensing the product within the bag. Vacuum pump systems are sometimes connected to the container to assist in draining fluid from the container.

Both gravity dispensing bags and vacuum pump systems suffer from the common drawback that fluid may become trapped within the folds of the bag during draining.

Because of this, evacuation channels are often placed within the bag. Evacuation channels are typically elongate cylindrical tubes or flat strips with protruding ribs defining grooves. Typically, one end of the evacuation channel is disposed transverse to, or is connected to the spout, and the other end of the evacuation channel extends into the fluid containing chamber of the bag. As the bag is emptied by the force of the vacuum pump, or by the force of gravity, portions of the bag collapse unevenly, WO 03/039983 PCT/US02/36174 tending to leave pockets of product, typically liquid, which may become isolated from the rest of the liquid in the container. The evacuation channel, however, forms a conduit which cannot be closed off by the folds created in the bag. In this manner the entire chamber of the flexible bag remains in communication with the spout at all times during the dispensing such that all product within the bag can be removed.

Prior attempts to provide such bags are disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos.

4,601,410; 5,647,511 and 5,749,493. United States Patent Nos. 4,601,410 and 5,647,511 disclose a liquid container with an evacuation unit. In both the '410 and '511 patents, the evacuation unit is shown attached directly to the spout by a mounting ring. Several problems have been encountered with these types of evacuation units.

For example, during the filling process, which is typically done in a high speed and high pressure process, the evacuation unit is susceptible of being dislodged from the spout thereby rendering the evacuation unit inoperative. Also, the attaching ring can impede the flow of liquid during the filling process thereby slowing the filling process.

United States Patent No. 5,749,493 discloses an evacuation unit positioned within a bag and transverse and perpendicular to a spout in the bag. Because the evacuation unit is positioned in a location that is in line with the incoming fluid during the filling process, it is susceptible of being dislodged from its mounting to the container thereby rendering it ineffective. The '493 Patent also discloses extruding a pair of ribs or a single rib or protuberance extending the length of the container.

Many of the designs which utilize an evacuation unit positioned within the bag require that the unit be placed into the bag after the bag has been substantially constructed. This is highly undesirable because it adds another step to the manufacturing process and increases the labor costs.

United States Patent No. Re. 34,929 discloses a plastic bag having interconnected air channels on its inner surface for the vacuum packaging of perishable items. The air channels are formed by the spaces between a plurality of raised protuberances having uniform thiclaiess and formed in a generally regular and waffle-like pattern. The protuberances prevent the total collapse of the bag during air evacuation. There is no disclosure to utilize a fitment to provide access to the contents of the container. There is also no disclosure of removing the stored contents of the bag, but, rather only removing air from the package to prevent spoilage of the 004986986v3.doc 3 O perishable item contained therein.

C United States Patent No. 2,778,171 discloses the production of airtight packages for packaging perishable items such as food. Projections are provided near San opening of the airtight package for keeping sidewalls of the container from fully collapsing against one another while air is being evacuated from the container. There is no disclosure of evacuating a stored product from the container and no disclosure of Cproviding a fitment with the bag to provide access to the stored contents.

oO United States Patent No. 5,728,086 discloses a flexible container having multiple access ports and particularly discloses a container for storing fluids for 10 parenteral administration to a patient. An inner surface of a sidewall of the container can have various patterns embossed thereon to assist in draining the contents of the container.

Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other jurisdiction or that prior art could reasonably be expected to be ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant by a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Throughout the specification the term "comprise" and variations on this term including "comprising" and "comprises" are to be understood to imply the inclusion of a feature, integer, step or element, and not exclude other features, integers, steps or elements.

The present invention provides a flexible polymeric container for storing and dispensing liquids. The container has a first sidewall and a second sidewall connected together to define a fluid chamber therebetween. The first sidewall and the second sidewall each have an inner surface facing the fluid chamber and an opposed outer surface. A fitment is attached to the first sidewall or the second sidewall, the fitment having an opening therethrough having an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface. A plurality of objects on the inner surface of at least one of the first sidewall and the second sidewall, the objects including a first set of objects with a first shape and a second set of objects with a second shape different from the first shape to define a pattern of a plurality of pathways having at least a first pathway and a second pathway intersecting one another, the first pathway and the second pathway each having a depth of greater than 1 mil but less than 8 mils.

004986986v3.doc 4 In particular, the present invention provides a flexible polymeric container for C storing and dispensing liquids. The container has a first sidewall and a second sidewall connected together to define a fluid chamber therebetween. The first sidewall and the second sidewall each have an inner surface facing the fluid chamber and an 00 opposed outer surface. The container also has a dispenser secured to an outer surface of one of the first sidewall and the second sidewall that establishes fluid 00 communication between the fluid chamber and a location outside the fluid chamber. A plurality of objects are positioned on the inner surface of at least one of the first Cc sidewall or the second sidewall to define a plurality of pathways having at least a first O 10 pathway and a second pathway intersecting one another. The plurality of objects have substantially the same shape and the plurality of pathways are of a depth of a range of greater than 1 mil to less than 8 mils.

The present invention further provides a flexible polymeric container for storing and dispensing liquids. The container has a first sidewall and a second sidewall connected together to define a fluid chamber therebetween, the first sidewall and the second sidewall each having an inner surface facing the fluid chamber and an opposed outer surface. The container has a dispenser secured to an outer surface of one of the first sidewall and the second sidewall that establishes fluid communication between the fluid chamber and a location outside the fluid chamber. A plurality of a first set of objects is formed on the inner surface of one of the first sidewall or the second sidewall during fabrication of the sidewall, the objects each having substantially the same shape and defining a pattern of a plurality of pathways having at least a first pathway and a second pathway intersection one another, each pathway having a depth greater than 1 mil but less than 8 mils.

The present invention further provides a method for evacuating a fluid from a container. The method includes the steps of: providing a liquid filled container having a sidewall having an inner surface and an outer surface, providing a plurality of objects on the inner surface of the sidewall, the objects including a first set of objects with a first shape and a second set of objects with a second shape different from the first shape to define a plurality of channels having at least a first channel and a second channel intersecting one another, the first channel and the second channel each having a depth of greater than 1 mil but less than 8 mils; providing a fitment 004986986v3.doc attached to the sidewall, the fitment having an opening therethrough having an axis I substantially perpendicular to the outer surface; and applying a suction to the Sfitment to draw fluid from the container.

00 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0 Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a container having a fitment; oFig. 2 is a side view of the container of Fig. 1; 00 Fig. 3 is a sidewall of the container of Fig. 1 having objects having varying C€ shapes; Fig. 4 is a sidewall of the container of Fig. 1 having a plurality of regularly spaced rectangular protuberances to define a checkerboard pattern; and Fig. 5 is a sidewall having circular protuberances together forming a circular pattern with a series of X-shaped protuberances forming S-shaped lines.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, herein will be described in detail with the accompanying figures, a preferred embodiment of the invention. The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated and described.

Figures 1 and 2 show a flexible container assembly 10 having a first sidewall 12 and a second sidewall 13 attached at peripheral edges 14 to define a fluid tight chamber 16. A spout 18 is attached to an outer surface of the sidewall 12 and provides fluid flow access to the chamber 16. In a preferred form of the invention, the first and second sidewalls 12 and 13 are a flexible polymeric material having a modulus of elasticity of less than 50,000 psi. The sidewalls preferably are made from materials 004986986v3.doc 6 O such as homopolymers and copolymers of polyolefins, polyamides, polyesters or other material that are capable of being sealed using industry standard sealing techniques.

SThese techniques include, but are not limited to, heat sealing, radio frequency welding, oo00 and ultrasonic sealing. The sidewalls may be multilayered or single layered and may be fabricated from any suitable polymer processing technology including extrusion, coextrusion, extrusion lamination, lamination or other. The container can be made 00 from individual sheets placed in registration and sealed along the periphery 14 or can C be made from a blown film process where only opposing ends of a tube need be sealed Cc to complete the container Figure 3 shows a plurality of objects 20 on the sidewall 12. The objects 20 can c, be positioned on a single sidewall or both. The objects, in a preferred form of the invention, are provided over an entire surface of the sidewall but could be provided only in select areas of the surface. Providing objects over the entire sidewall surface eliminates the need for registration of the sidewalls. Moreover, providing objects over the entire surface ensures that fluid is evacuated from all parts of the container, including corner regions. The objects can be of any shape including regular shapes such as circular, polygonal, straight or curved lines, symbols or the like. The objects can also be irregular shaped. These objects 20 assist in draining fluid from the chamber 16. The objects 20 can be raised protuberances or indentations in these shapes. The objects can be all of the same shapes or be of a combination of shapes.

The objects can be of varying sizes provided the objects are effective to provide miniature fluid pathways through the container when the fluid or particulate contents of the container is being evacuated.

The objects can be formed on the inner surface of sidewall 12 or sidewall 14 or both by techniques well known in the art including embossing during the fabrication of the sidewall, or embossing afterwards. The pattern can also be applied by an extrusion coating process or similar process. The objects can be pressed into the sidewalls with a shaped die. Numerous other mechanisms and processes come to mind for forming the objects which are well known in the art and the present invention should not be limited to these processes recited. The pathways 32 and 33 of the pattern are preferably of a depth of greater than or equal to 1 mil, or less than 8 mils, and even more preferably less than 5 mils. Most preferably, the pathways 32 and 33 will have a depth of from about Imil to about 4 mils The fitment 18 has an opening 50 having an axis essentially perpendicular to a 004986986v3.doc 7 panel surface of sidewall 12 of the container. It is contemplated the fitment 18 can be C mounted at various angles to the sidewall without departing from the present invention. The fitment 18 provides fluid access to the contents of the chamber 16.

Typically, container 10 is used for housing liquids such as soft drink syrup which are oO withdrawn from the container with a hose and mixed at a fountain with a diluent such as soda water. The hose (not shown) has an attachment for connecting to the fitment 00oO in a fluid and airtight arrangement. A vacuum is applied to the fitment 18 through the \hose to withdraw fluid from the container. The vacuum creates a pressure difference to initiate a fluid flow. Of course, the fitment 18 may be attached to the first or second sidewall 12, 13 or both and may be located at any location thereon.

The present invention further provides a process for evacuating the container shown in Figure 1. The method for evacuating a fluid from a container comprises the steps of: providing a liquid filled container having a sidewall having an inner surface; providing a plurality of objects on the inner surface of the sidewall to define a plurality of channels having at least a first channel and a second channel intersecting one another wherein the plurality of pathways are of a depth of a range of greater than 1 mil to less than 8 mils; providing a fitment having an opening therethrough having an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface; and (4)

Claims (9)

1. A flexible polymeric container for storing and dispensing liquids comprising: 00 a first sidewall and a second sidewall connected together to define a fluid chamber therebetween, the first sidewall and the second sidewalls each having an inner 00 surface facing the fluid chamber and an opposed outer surface; ¢€3 a fitment attached to the first sidewall or the second sidewall, the fitment having an opening therethrough having an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface; I a plurality of objects on the inner surface of at least one of the first sidewall and the second sidewall, the objects including a first set of objects with a first shape and a second set of objects with a second shape different from the first shape to define a pattern of a plurality of pathways having at least a first pathway and a second pathway intersecting one another, the first pathway and the second pathway each having a depth of greater than 1 mil but less than 8 mils.

2. The container of claim 1 wherein the first set of objects and the second set of objects are on the same sidewall.

3. The container of claim 1 wherein the first set of objects is a plurality of spaced protuberances.

4. The container of claim 1 wherein the first set of objects and second set of objects extend over the entire inner surface of the first sidewall or second sidewall.

The container of claim 1 wherein the container does not impart organoleptic properties to the liquids.

6. A method for evacuating a fluid from a container comprising the steps of: providing a liquid filled container having a sidewall having an inner surface and an outer surface; providing a plurality of objects on the inner surface of the sidewall, the objects including a first set of objects with a first shape and a second set of objects with a second shape different from the first shape to define a plurality of channels having at least a first channel and a second channel intersecting one another, the first channel and the second channel each having a depth of greater than 1 mil but less than 8 mils; 004986986v3.doc 9 providing a fitment attached to of the sidewall, the fitment having an opening C therethrough having an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface and applying a suction to the fitment to draw fluid from the container.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein in the step of applying suction to draw 00 fluid from the container, the fluid is substantially completely drawn from the container. 00

8. A flexible polymeric container for storing and dispensing liquids as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as described herein with reference to any one of Cc the accompanying figures.

9. A method for evacuating fluid from a container as claimed in claim 6 and substantially according to any one of the embodiments herein described.