CA1213532A - Large bulk bag - Google Patents

Abstract

LARGE BULK BAG

Abstract of the Disclosure A large bulk bag formed from a tubular blank of woven fabric having inwardly folded gusset panels along opposite side edges. While in the flattened con-dition, the blank is sewn along predetermined stitch lines and severed at predetermined portions so that, when the stitched and severed blank is expanded, it forms a bag of rectangular cross section having closable spouts at one or both ends. If a liner is to be used in the bag the liner is formed from a gussetted tubular blank and sealed along lines corresponding to the stitch lines on the bag so that the flat liner can be inserted into the flattened bag with the gussetted portions of the bag and liner interfitting in interleaved relation.

Description

3S~;~

This invention relates to a shipping and storage container and, more specifically, to a large bulk, collapsible container in the form of a bag made of a woven fabric.
Many products, such as granular and liquid materials, are shipped and stored in large bulk bags adapted to hold as much as a ton or more of ma-terial.
The use of bags for this purpose has become popular recently because the bags can be shipped from the manufacturer to the material shipper in a generally flat condition and, if properly designed, can be re-turned by the user to the shipper in the same general-ly flat condition for reuse.
A fabric bag used in the above manner has to fulfill several practical requirements. It is of primary importance that the construction of the bag be such as to sustain relatively heavy loads. At the same time, it is essential that the bag is adapted to be folded or collapsed to a compact flat form. Fre-quently, because of the nature and quantity of mater-ial shipped in such bags, the bags should also be de-signed so that they can be easily Eilled and emptied of their contents. It is also desirable that such bags be designed so that, when filled, they are free standing and ca~able of being stacked vertically upon ''~

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another. Such bags should preferably have some sort of attachment thereon which enable them to be lifted by the tines of a forklift truck~ Furthermore, de-pending upon the type of material being shipped, some bags are also required to be moisture-proof or water resistant.
The primary object of this invention resides in the provision of a fabric bag which is economical to manufacture and which fulfills all of the above re-quirements.
A more specific object of the present inven-tion resides in the provision of a fabric bag which can be folded into a flat compact form which, when filled, automatically assumes the desired cubical shape.
A further object of the invention is to pro-vide a bag designed so that, when filled, it has rec-tangularly shaped top and bottom walls of high strength and an easily closeable filling spout at the top wall and, if desired, a spout at the bottom which can be readily opened to discharge the contents of the bag.
~ nother object of this invention is to pro-vide a large bulk shipping bag so designed that it can be engaged with one or both tines of a forklift truck by the operator of the truck without further assis-tance.

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Still another object of the present invention is toprovide a bag of the type described with a top wall that is so designed as to impart high strength -to the bag by a -top panel construction which also provides a lif-t member generally engageable wi.th one or both tines of a forklift truck.
Accordingly the present invention provides a co].lap-sible bag which, when collapsed, compxises a flat -tubular blank having a pair of flat overlying panels adapted -to form a pair of opposite side walls of the bag and a pair of :Eolded gusset panel extending inwardly between the fla-t panels f~om the opposi-te slde edges of the panels and adapted to form -two other opposite side walls of the bag, said blank having adjacent one end there-of each flat panel and the adjacent gusset panel connected to-gether along lines extending diagonally inwardly from the oppo-site side edges of the panel toward said one end of the tubular blank, said diagonal lines of connection terminating a-t thei.r laterally inner ends in spaced apart relation laterally out-wardly o~ the inner folded edges of the gusset panels at points spaced from said one end of the blank, each flat panel and the adjacent gusset panel also being connected together along a li.ne extending lengthwise of -the blank fxom said points of termina-tion of the diagonal lines to said one end of the blan~, each flat panel and the adjacent gusset panel being severed along lines spaced laterally outwardly of and gene.rally co-extens.ive in length with said lengthwise extending lines of connection to forrn, when -the blank is opened, a spou-t of rectangular cross sectiorl at sai.d end of -the bag, each corner of lhe spout being deEined by one of said lengthwi.se extending connection lines, the port:ions of the flat and gusset panels lying he-tween said diagonal connect:Lon lines forming, when the blank is open, a generally flat rectangular end wall on the bag wi.-th said spout at the center thereof, said diagonal lines of connec-tion 35~1~

ex-tending from the corners of the spout to -the cor-ners of said end wall.
other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the Eollowlng descrip-tion and accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bag according tothe present invention in the expanded condition and with a liner therein;
Figure 2 is a plan view of the bag in the :Elattened condition;
Figure 3 is a sec-tional vi.ew taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2;
Figure 4 is an end view of the flat-tened bag as seen in the direction of the arrow 4-4;
Figure S is a fragrnentary plan view showi.ng a modified construction for the bottom of the bag;
Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view illustra-ting -the manner in which the bag is supported for filling;

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FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner in which the spout o the inner liner is close~ after the bag is filled;
FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner in which the spout on the bag is closed after being filledi FIGURE 9 is a perspective view, with parts broken away, showing the tube used for lifting the bag;
FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of the bag illustrating the manner in which it is adapted to be lifted by the tine of a forklift truck;
FIGURE 11 iS a sectional view along the line 11-11 in FIG. 10;
FIGURE 12 is an exploded fragmentary per-spective view of a modified form of lifting arrange-ment for the bag;
FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner in which the arrangement shown in FIG. 12 iS used;
FIGURE 14 iS a fragmentary perspective view illustratiny the utilization of wear resistant panels on the bottom of the bag;
FIGURES 1.5, 16 and 17 are plan view of var-ious forms of liners that can be used within the bag;

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FIGURE 18 .is a sectional view along the line18-18 in FIG. 17;
FIGURE 19 is an end view illustrating the manner in which the liner is folded for insertion into the bag; and FIGURES 20 and 21 are fragmentary perspec-tive views which illustrate the manner in which the folded liner is inserted into the bag.
Referring first to FI~. 2, the bag of the present invention is formed from a -tubular blank 10 of a woven fabric, such as burlap, canvas, polypro-- pylene, etc. The woven fabric is formed into a tube by sewing the opposite sides edges of the fabric to-gether as at 12. The tubular blank comprises a pair of flat overlying panels 14,16 which are interconnect-ed by inwardly folded gussets 18,20. The bag illus-trated is generally square in cross section and, ac-cordingly, each folded gusset 18 and 20 has a width which is approximately the same as the width of the 20 flat panels 14,16. Thus, the fold lines 22 of gussets 18,20 extend lengthwise of the blank closely adjacent the longitudinal center line thereof.
In order to form the blank 10 into a bag of generally rectangular cross section the four corner portions of the bag are stitched diagonally on opposite 3~3~

sides of the blank as at 24. There are eight such lines of stitching, four extending through panel 14 and the adjacent underlying portions of gusset panels 18 and 20 and theother four extending through panel 16 and the adjacent portions of the overlying gusset panels 18 and 20. The stitch lines 24 extend symmetrically from the opposite side edges of the tubular blank inwardly and toward the adjacent end of the blank and terminate at the points 26 which are spaced apart on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the blank and which axe also spaced inwardly from the opposite ends of the blank. Additional lines of stitching 28 extend from the points 26 lengthwise of the blank in parallel relation to the opposite ends of the blank. Panels 14,16 and the inter-mediate portions of gusset panels 18,20 are then slittedlengthwise from the opposite ends of the blank inwardly as at 30 along lines that are parallel to and spaced slightly laterally outwardly from the stitch lines 28. The sever-ing lines 30 terminate at points 32 wh.ich are generally transversely aligned with the intersection points 26 be-tween stitch lines 28 and stitch lines 24. Thereafter, at the opposite end portions 34 of the blank and laterally outwardly from the severing lines 30 the end portions of panels 14,16 and gusset panels 18,20 are folded over several times and stitched together as at 36. Preferably 1~35~

for the purpose of eliminating raw edges, the end portions of the flat panels 14,16 and the gusset panels 18,20 which extend between the severing lines 30 are also folded individually one or more times S upon themselves and hemmed by stitching as at 38. If desired, eyelets or similar fasteners 40 can be secur-ed to the edges which are hemmed at 38 on the two flat panels 14,16. It will be appreciated that all of the stitching and severing thus far described can be per-formed on the blank while it is in a flat conditionwith the gusset panels 18,20 folded inwardly as shown in FIG. 3. This represents simple sewing and cutting operations that can be performed quickly and economi-cally even though the blank itself may be over six feet long and three feet wide.
When the bag is opened the portions of the panels 14,16 and gusset panels 18,20 which extend be-tween stitch lines 28 form rectangularly-shaped spouts 42, the upper spout being illustrated in FIG. 1. If the bag is intended to be of the reuseabl.e type, the spouts 42 are formed at both ends, as shown in FIG. 2.
However, if the bag is of the type that woul.d be used only once and discarded, or, depending upon the mater~
ial with which the bag is filled, the bottom need not be formed with a spout. In this case the bottom of lZ~;~S~

the blank may have the construction shown in FIG. 5.
The end portion of the blank will be folded over one or more times upon itself and then stitched along the line 44. The four diagonal stitch lines 46, each of which S ex-tends through one of the flat panels 1~,16, and the adjacent portion of the gusset panels 18,20 extend direct-ly to the hemmed portlon which is stitched at 44. Stitch-ing 46 is performed before stitching 44.
As indicated previously, -the bag illustrated in the dra~ings is generally square in horizontal sec-tion. If it is desired to form a bag of rectangular . cross section with two opposite sides wider than the other two opposite sides, then the fold lines 22 be-tween the gusset panels 18,20 would be located further laterally outwardly from the longitudinal center line of the blank than illustrated in FIG. 3. In any event, however, the lines of severing 30 would be located laterally outwardly of the fold lines 22 of the gusset panels 18,20. In a rectangular bag the wider side walls would be formed by panels 14,16 and the narrow-er end walls of the bag would be formed by the gusset panels 18,20. If a spout 42 is formed at both the upper and lower ends of the bag and the bag is used without a liner, then it is desirable, depending upon the material with which the bay is filled, to provide a valve closure panel at the bottom of the bag. In FIG. 2 the valve closure panel is designated 48 and is stitched solely to the inner face of 53~

the flat panel 14 as at 50. Valve panel 48 is sized to overlie the opening ~ormea by the spout 42 at the lower end of the bag when the bag is filled.
It will be observed that when the tubular blank 10 is formed into the configuration shown in FIG. 2 the bag in the flattened condition has eight double-thickness panel sections 52, two at each of the ~our corners, which lie laterally outwardly of stitch lines 24 and severiny lines 30. These double-thickness panel sections 52, which are stiched to-gether as at 36, are generally triangularly shaped, except that one corner of the triangle terminates generally at the severing line 30. However, if the bag has a closed bottom such as illustrated in FIG.
5, then the double-thickness panels designated there-in as 54 are of truly triangular shape.
When the bag is to be filled with material it is desirable to support at least the upper end of the bag in an opened condition. For this purpose the double-thickness panels 52 at the upper end of the bag are each slitted, as at 56. The function of the slits 56 is illustrated in FIG. 6. When the bag is to be filled with material, it is supported on retaining rods 58 of a suitable bag support which supports -the bag vertically with its upper end in the ex~anded condition. The bag is arranged on the rods as shown in FIG. 6 with the rods extending through the slits 56. When the upper end of the bag blank is spread apart as shown in FIG. 6, it is automatically formed into a rectangular shape. The four upper corners of the bag are defined by the inter-section of the stitch lines 24 with the side edges of panel3 14,16 and the spout 42 automatically assumes a generally rectangular shape.
When the panels 14,16 are spread apart, the gusset panels 18,20 automatically fold outwardly so that the portions of panels 14,16 below the four upper corners of the bag form the side walls of the bag and the portions of the gusset panels 18,20 below the four corners fold outwardly to form the end walls of the bag.
The top wall of the bag is formed by four panels of generally trapezoidal shape. Two of these panels are single-thickness portions of panels 14,16 which lie between stitch lines 24. These top wall portions are designated 60. The other two single-thickness panel portions which form the top wall of the bag comprise the portions of gusset panels 18,20 which also lie between stitch lines 24 and are desig-nated 62 ~FIG. 6). The double thickness panels 52 overlie the single-thickness panels 62.

10 .

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Before the bag is filled the spout 42 at the bottom end thereof is folded to a collapsed con-dition and secured by a lace or equivalent means through the eyelets. If the material with which the ~ag to be filled is in the nature of a granular mater-ial then the valve flap 48 may be utilized to overlie the closed bottom spout and thus effectively prevent leakaye o material from the bag. As the bag is fill-ed it will gradually expand into rectangular shape and, when filled, will assume the generally cubical config-uration shown in FIG. 1. Thereafter, the top spout 42 is folded to a collapsed position and closed as by lacing it through the eyelets. The bag thus closed is illustrated in FIG. 8.
As previously indicated, the closed and fill-ed bag according to the present invention is of gener-ally cubical shape. In view of its construction, it is free standing and adapted to be stacked vertically one upon another. In order to stack the bags verti-cally or to move them from one location to another it is necessary to lift the bags. Bags constructed in accordance with the present invention are adapted to be lifted in a very convenient manner. E'or this pur-pose a generally flat, plastic tube 64 (FIG. 9) is utilized. Tube 64 is preferably e,xtruded or otherwise 53~

formed from a material which is at least semi-rigid with some degree of elastic memory. I~ its normal condition tube 64 is of a flattened configuration with open ends and sized to receive the tine 66 of a fork-S lift truck. The opposite ends of the tube are cutaway so as to provide tabs or extensions 68 at the top side of the flattened tube which extend outwardly beyond the lower portion 70 of the tube ends. Tube 6~ is inserted across the top of the bag between the single-thickness panesl 62 and the double-thickness panels 52. It is directed between these panels so as to overlie the laced closed spout 42 shown in FIG. 8.
Tube 64 has a length preferably slightly greater than the dimension of the bag along the stitch-ed hem 36. In order to retain tube 64 in place afterit is arranged on the bag, snap fasteners 72 are pro-vided for engagement with mating snap fasteners 74 on the double-thickness panels 52. Since the tube 64 in its normal condition is open at its ends and extends across the top of the bag at the center thereof, the operator of a forklift truck can easily guide tine 66 thereof into and through tube 64 without requiring the assistance of another person. He merely aligns the forklift tine 66 with one end of tube 64, raises the tine to engage it under the extension 68 o the tube and then directs the tine through the tube. I'hereafter, ~LZ~53~

he merely raises the tine to lift the filled bag. It will be appreciated that, although tube 64 may have been completely collapsed by the weight of anothex filled bag on top of it, it will assume its open con-dition when it is relieved of such load. It willfurther be appreciated that the lifting force on -the bag is transferred by the diagonal stitch lines 24 to both side walls o the bag and to both end walls of the bag. In this respect the lift arrangement of the present invention is superior to the lift arrangement of other bags which have a lift loop sewn to each of the four upper corners thereof. In the latter case, the lifting force on the bag is concentrated at each of the four corners rather than being distributed throughout the periphery of the bag. By transferring the lift force evenly to all four side panels of the bag, the bag of this invention can be made of a light~
er weight fabric than bags where the lift load is applied only to the corners.
It will be appreciated that the lift arrange-ment described above is not necessarily limited to a bag wherein the upper end thereof is formed in the manner heretofore described. A conventional rec-tangu-larly shaped bag, such as indicated at 80 in FIG. 12, can be adapted ~or lifting in the manner described by securing a top li~t panel 82 over the top wall 84 of 13.

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the bag and inserting a tube 86 (similar to the tube 64 shown in FIG. 9) between the lift panel 82 and the top wall 84 of the bag. In this case, tube 86 may ex-tend substantially across the full width of the top of the bag if it is desired to utilize both tines 66 of the lift truck to raise the bag, or two narrow tubes may be utilized. Lift panel 82 may be secured to the bag when it is initially formed, in which case it will be provided with a central opening 88 to enable fill-ing the bag.
If the bag is intended to be of the reus-able type it is desirable, depending upon the environ-ment in which the filled bags are used, to reinforce the bottom oE the bags so as to prevent them from be-coming worn and the stitching thereon becoming loose.In such event, since the bottom of the bag of this in-vention is of rectangular shape when filled, a pair of flat wear resi-tant panels 88, preferably made of a thin plastic material, are secured in any suitable fa5hion to the portion of the bag blank which, when filled, forms the bottom of the bag. As illustrated in FIG. 14, these panels 88 each overlie one~half the bottom of the bag and extend lengthwise between the two side walls of the bag. In E'IG. 14 they are shown secured to the bag by means of tapes 90. However, an~
other suitable fastening means may be employed. When the bag is emptied and collapsed to its flattened 14.

`~1 ,. . .

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condition, such as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the two panels 88 would lie flat againstt;he panels 1~,16 with the outer edges 91 generally transversely align-ed with the outer ends of the stitch lines 24 or 46 at the lower end of the bag.
In some instances, depending upon the mater-ial which is intended to be placed into the bag, it may be necessary to employ a liner formed of plastic, paper, etc. within the bag. In the case of liquids, for example, a plastic liner would be u-tilized and in the case of some other materials, a paper liner may be employed. In either event, the bag liner can be formed from a tubular blank with inwardly folded gusset panels in the same manner in which the bag is formed. Thus, the tube blank generally designated 92 in FIG. 18 comprises overlying flat panels 94,96 hav-ing inwardly folded gusset panels 98,100. The width of blank 92 is preferably slightly less than that of the bag blank so that the liner will fit within the bag in a flattened condition with the gusset panels 98,100 interleaved with the gusset panels 18,20 of the bag. The liner is hermetically sealed in any suitable fashion along the diagonal lines 102 and along the lengthwise extending lines 10~ which, when the liner is arranged within the bag, register with the stitch lines 2~ and 26. If desired, the liner can be formed with the double-thickness panels 106 15.

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shown at one corner of the liner illustrated in FIG.
16. sut, in most instances, since the weight or load of the materials is sustained by the bag itself, not the liner, from the standpointof bag strength the double-thickness panels 106 are not essential on the liner.
The liner blank is preferably longer than the bag blank so that when the liner is inserted into the bag the spouts 108 of the liner will extend out-wardly beyond the spouts 42 of the bag. The liner canbe formed with spouts 108 at the u~per and lower ends thereof as shown in FIG. 15 or with a spout only at the upper end thereof as shown in FIG. 16. The liner shown in FIG. 16 would be employed with a bag having a closed bottom of the type illustrated in FIG. 5. If desired, the spout at the lower end of the ba~ can be formed as a tapered dispenser 110, such as shown in FIG. 2, the tip of which can be cut off to discharge the contents of the bag. If the contents of the bag are to be discharged in measured quantities, the spout at the lower end of the bag can be formed with a valve nozzle 112 as shown in FIG. 17.
In FIG. 20 there is illustrated a tool for facilitating insertion of a flattened folded liner within a flattened bag. The tool generally designat-ed 116 is provided with a handle 118 having a length 16.

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greater than that of the flattened bag. At its lead-ing end handle 118 has secured thereto four fins or paddles 120. These fins 120 are arranged on handle 118 in twopairs with the fins in each pair slightly inclined to one another as shown in FIG. 20. The finned end o the tool has a width that enables it to be inserted into a spout 108 of a liner. The free ends of fins 120 may be straight, but the edges adja-cent handle 118 are preferably angularly inclined as at 122. Tool 116 is designed to draw the liner through the bag from one end to the other. Before the tool is engaged with the liner the liner is folded into the general configuration il]ustrated in FIG. 19. More specifically, the two panels 94,96 of the liner to-gether with the gusset panels 98,100 are individually folded several times in the manner shown in FIG. 19 so that the width of the folded liner is of a dimen-sion that will enable the liner to be drawn through one of the spouts 42 of the bag when the bag is in the collapsed condition shown in FIG. 21.
After the liner is folded ~o the configura-tion shown in FIG. 19 the tool 116 is inserted into one end of the liner, the fins 120 being interleaved with the folded gusset panels 98,100 at the liner spout. Triangular end portions of the liner spout are then Eolded over the inclined edges 122 of the fins 120 and secured temporarily in place as by adhe-sive tape strips, as shown at 124 in FIG. 21. This ~Z1~35~
enables the tool to apply a pulling force to the liner. Handle 118 is then directed lengthwise through the bag and pulled therethrough so that the taped end of the liner spout of fins 120 is drawn into the spout at one end of the bag and out through the spout at the other end of the bag. As the folded liner is introduc-ed into the spout of the bag, fins 120 of the tool are interleaved with the gusset panels of the bag and spout so that when the liner is drawn through the bag the gusset panels of the liner remain interleaved with the gusset panels of the bag. After the liner is fully inserted into the bag, the tool is released therefrom and the handle 118 can be inserted into the spout of the liner and manipulated lengthwise and sidewise with-in the liner to unfold it so that the liner becomescompletely interleaved with the flattened bag. With theliner so arranged in the bag, when the bag is fill-ed the liner will automatically expand into cubical shape simultaneously with the expansion of the bag.
This avoids the necessity of a separate operation of properly arranging the liner in a conventional bag after the bag is opened to avoid overlapping folds in the liner which, when filled, would stress the liner because it would not conform with the configura-tion of the filled bag.

18.

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The use of a liner in the bag does not inter-ere in any manner with the use of a tubular member such as shown at 64 and 86 for lifting the filled bag. The liner spout may be closed and collapsed and the bag spout can be closed over the liner spout so as to under-lie the tubular member.
It will be appreciated that it is not abso-lutely essential to engage tubes 64 or 86 with the top of the bag only after the bag is filled. If the tube is sufficiently flexible it can be applied to the bag when the bag is initially manufactured. Thereafter the user may simply fold the tube lengthwise one or more times and displace it sidewise to enable the bag spout 48, and the liner spout 108 if a liner is used, ~o be opened for filling the bag. After the bag is filled and the spouts closed, the tube can be unfolded so as to assume the condition shown in FIGS. 10 and 13 wherein it is adapted to be engaged with the tine of a forklift truck for lifting the filled bag.

19 .

Claims

1.

A collapsible bag which, when collapsed, com-prises a flat tubular blank of a flexible material and having a pair of flat overlying panels adapted to form a pair of opposite side walls of the bag and a pair of folded gusset panels extending inwardly between the flat panels from the oppo-site side edges of the panels and adapted to form two other opposite side walls of the bag, said blank having adjacent one end thereof each flat panel and the adjacent gusset panel connected together along lines extending diagonally inwardly from the opposite side edges of the panels toward said one end of the tubular blank, said diagonal lines of connection terminating at their later-ally inner ends in spaced apart relation laterally out-wardly of the inner folded edges of the gusset panels at points spaced from said one end of the blank, each flat panel and the adjacent gusset panel also being connected together along a line extending lengthwise of the blank from said points of termination of the diagonal lines to said one end of the blank, each flat panel and the adja-cent gusset panel being severed along lines spaced later-ally outwardly of and generally co-extensive in length with said lengthwise extending lines of connection to form, when the blank is opened, a spout of rectangular cross section at said end of the bag, each corner of the spout being defined by one of said lengthwise extending connection lines, the portions of the flat and gusset panels lying between said diagonal connection lines form-ing, when the blank is open, a generally flat rectangular end wall on the bag with said spout at the center thereof, said diagonal lines of connection extending from the cor-ners of the spout to the corners of said end wall and when said tubular blank is open, said panels provide a bag of generally rectangular cross section with said end walls generally transverse to said panels and having a spout therein and when said tubular blank is collapsed it folds into a generally flat and compact bag.
2.
A bag as called for in claim 1 wherein said blank is formed of a fabric and said connection lines are stitch lines.
3.
A bag as called for in claim 1 wherein the panels at the opposite end of the blank are connected and severed to substantially the same configuration as said one end so that the upper and lower ends of the bag are of the same construction.
4.
A bag as called for in claim 1 including a panel secured to the inside of the bag in a position to overlie the spout when the bag is filled, said last mentioned panel being adapted to be displaced from said overlying position to permit dislcharge of the product through said spout when the bag is oriented so that the spout is at the bottom.

5.

A bag as called for in claim 1 wherein the opposite end of the bag forms the bottom of the bag and is rectangularly shaped, said bottom having two wear resistant panels secured to the underside thereof, each underlying one half of the bag bottom, said last mentioned panels having juxtaposed inner edges extending along the mid line of the bag bottom between the lower edges of the first mentioned end walls of the bag, said wear resistant panels being adapted to be folded over one another at said juxtaposed edges when the bag is collapsed to its flattened condition.
6.
A bag as called for in claim 1 wherein said blank is formed of a fabric and said connection lines are stitch lines.
7.
A bag as called for in claim 6 including a liner for said bag comprising a flat tubular blank having overlying flat panels and inwardly folded gusset panels of the same configuration, but slightly smaller than the corresponding panels of the bag, one end of the liner having the flat and gusset panels connected together along lines corresponding to the diagonal and lengthwise stitch lines on the bag and being severed along lines corresponding to the lines of severing on the bag whereby the flattened liner can be drawn through the flattened bag with the gussets and spouts of the bag and liner in interleaved and interfitting relation.

8.
A bag as called for in claim 7 wherein the bag is formed with an opening at the opposite end thereof and the liner is formed with a spout at its opposite end adapted to extend through said opening in the bag.

9.
A bag as called for in claim 8 wherein the last-mentioned spout comprises a discharge spout at the lower end of the bag and is provided with a valve means for controlling discharge of the material.

10.
A bag as called for in claim 1 wherein the portions of said flat and gusset panels adjacent said end of the tubular blank which lie laterally outwardly of said lines of severing are connected together along lines generally perpendicular to the opposite side edges of the flat panels.

11.
A bag as called for in claim 10 wherein said spout is located at the upper end of the bag, the portions of said flat and gusset panels lying laterally outwardly of and beyond said diagonal connection lines forming double thickness panels which overlie the portions of the gusset panels forming the top wall of the bag.

12.

A bag as called for in claim 10 wherein said spout is adapted to be collapsed by folding it into the plane of said end wall when the bag is filled with material and including means for closing the spout.

13.

A bag as called for in claim 10 wherein said double thickness panels are each formed with a pair of slits therethrough adjacent each of the four corners of the bag, said slits being oriented to accommodate a pair of spreader bars for vertically supporting the bag and maintaining the said end thereof in an expanded condition to permit filling of the bag through said spout.

14.
A bag as called for in claim 10 including a separate tubular member formed of at least a semi-rigid material having an elastic memory extending between said top wall and said double thickness panels over the collapsed spout, said tubular member having an open end disposed adjacent an outer free edge of said double thickness panels and being of a size to receive the tine of a forklift truck.

15.

A bag as called for in claim 14 wherein said open end of the tubular member extends outwardly beyond said outer edge of the double thickness panel.

16.
A bag as called for in claim 14 wherein the open end of said tubular member is of flattened configuration and has upper and lower portions, said upper portion extending outwardly beyond said lower portion.

17.
A bag as called for in claim 14 wherein said double thickness panels comprise fabric panels.

18.
A bag as called for in claim 14 wherein said open end of the tubular member extends to the outer free edge of said double thickness panels.

19.
A bag as called for in claim 14 wherein said tubular member overlies said filling spout.