DE29519421U1 - Packaging container with flexible walls - Google Patents

Description

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Fawzi A. Bayyomi and Basem Al-Sharhan, P.O. Box-2000, SaI-miya, 22020 Kuwait

Packaging containers with flexible walls.

The invention relates to a packaging container with flexible walls made of plastic film, paper or the like, in which the web-like material forming the wall is closed to the container by welded or glued seams, wherein the welded or glued seams comprise a longitudinal seam, an upper transverse seam and a lower transverse seam, and where the container has a closable filling opening.

Such containers are well known, for example in the form of milk cartons or the like, and are mainly used in the food industry for filling and packaging a wide variety of substances, such as liquids, solids, gases, pastes, granulates such as detergents and the like, pulses, etc.
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Normally, known packaging containers of this type are filled with the packaged goods by machine and then sealed with a welded or glued seam or even by sewing. If the packaged goods are to be removed, the container must be destroyed and cannot be reused.

The invention is based on the object of creating a packaging container of the above-mentioned type in which it is not necessary to destroy the container for emptying but the container can also be refilled so that it can be used multiple times.

This object is essentially achieved according to the invention in that a self-closing valve device is arranged in one of the welded or glued seams, which is kept closed by the pressure of the filled material, in that the valve device is formed by a tubular body that is flattened in cross-section in the resting state, in that the tubular body is designed to protrude freely into the interior of the container, and in that the tubular body contains or surrounds a filling and/or emptying opening of the packaging container.

In a particularly preferred embodiment according to the invention, the inlet opening of the valve device formed by the tubular body is arranged in a pre-chamber of the packaging container closed by welded or glued seams, wherein the pre-chamber can particularly preferably be separated from the storage container along a perforation.

This provides the particular advantage that when the container is filled in a filling operation, the access opening remains hygienically closed, so that only the end user can separate the pre-chamber, so that no foreign substances or germs can get into the filling material beforehand. For the company carrying out the filling, this provides the advantage that this pre-chamber also means that the area of the valve device is hygienically clean when delivered, so that no special precautions are required to disinfect or clean this area before the container is filled. After the pre-chamber has been separated, the packaging container according to the invention can still be used several times. It is also possible to deliver packaging containers of this design ready to the filler, so that the latter separates the pre-chamber using the valve device before filling the container, but the same advantages are achieved in terms of the hygiene of the finished packaging containers delivered.

gives.

In detail, the invention can be further developed in that the weld or adhesive seam closing the prechamber runs parallel to the weld or adhesive seam containing the valve device, and that the perforation is arranged between these weld or adhesive seams and parallel to them. This ensures particularly simple handling of the packaging container after the prechamber has been separated.

It is further preferred that the valve device formed by the tubular body is arranged in the upper transverse seam of the packaging container 1.

In particular, it is possible for the packaging container to be filled through the bottom before it is closed by the lower cross seam.

Alternatively, filling through the upper end of the packaging container is also possible, which is then closed by the upper cross seam and the additional welded or glued seam separating the pre-chamber.

It is also possible to fill the packaging container directly through the valve device after separating the pre-chamber.

In a preferred embodiment according to the invention, the valve device formed by the tubular body is arranged in the region of one end of the upper transverse seam.

It is also preferred that in the upper section a lateral region of the tubular body is attached to a side wall of the container. This supports a secure closing of the valve device.

In detail, a further development of the invention can be created in that the tubular body is connected at a side seam to a welded or glued seam of the packaging container.
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A modified embodiment of the invention can be created in that the tubular body has a bevel on its free edge surrounding the filling opening inside the container. This makes filling the container easier, since due to the shape of the tubular body the filling opening can be located in the area of one of the walls of the packaging container.

An advantageous further development of the invention can be created in that the tubular body is folded back on itself in the closed state of the valve device. This provides additional security against the escape of the packaged substances.

It is particularly preferred that the tubular body consists of two strips of flexible material which are connected to one another at side seams. This ensures that the valve device is closed even when there is only a slight internal pressure in the packaged goods.

It is also preferred to use the same material for the walls of the packaging container and the tubular body, with polyethylene being particularly suitable for this purpose.

In the following, the invention is explained in more detail with reference to embodiments illustrated by way of example in the drawings.
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It shows:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic front view of a first embodiment

embodiment according to the invention in the form of a plastic bag, such as is suitable for packaging milk or rice;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic sectional view, greatly enlarged with regard to the wall thicknesses, taken along the line II-II of Figure 1;

FIGURE*3 shows the bag illustrated in Figure 2 being filled through the valve device after the pre-chamber has been separated;

FIGURE 4 is a view corresponding to Figure 3 after filling, wherein the pressure exerted by the packaged product is effective to close the valve device;

FIGURE 5 is a view of the packaging container corresponding to Figure 1, which here is filled through the bottom;

FIGURE 6 is a schematic representation of an apparatus for manufacturing packaging containers of the type according to the invention with simultaneous filling;

FIGURE 7 is a view corresponding to Figure 1 of a modified embodiment of the packaging container;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view of the embodiment according to Figure 7 along the line VIII-VIII and the

FIGURES 9, 10 and 11 are views corresponding to Figure 1 of further embodiments of packaging containers according to the invention.

As initially shown using a first embodiment according to Figures 1 to 5 of the drawings, a packaging container 1, which in the present case is designed as a soft plastic bag, consists of flexible walls 2, which can consist of plastic, paper or the like.

The web-like material forming the walls 2 is closed to form the container 1 by welded or glued seams 3, 4, 5. The welded or glued seams consist of a longitudinal seam 3, by which the web-like material of the walls 2 is initially closed to form a tube, as well as a lower transverse seam 5 for closing the bottom and an upper transverse seam 4 for closing the upper end. A filling and/or emptying opening 6, generally designated 6, is provided in the upper transverse seam 5.

In one of the welded or glued seams 3, 4 or 5, i.e. in the embodiment in the upper transverse seam 4, according to the invention, a valve device generally designated 7 is arranged, which is designed to be self-closing and which is kept closed by the pressure generated inside the container 1 by the material filled in.

To explain the valve device 7, reference is first made to Figures 2 to 4, which illustrate the operation of the valve device in a schematic representation. The representations according to Figures 2 to 4 are sectional representations essentially along the line II-II of Figure 1, with the same reference numerals being used for the same parts, and with the wall thicknesses being shown greatly exaggerated for the purpose of clearer representation.

In the illustration according to Figures 3 and 4, it was assumed that the packaging container 1 is to be filled through the valve device 7.

As shown, the valve device 7 consists of a tubular body 8 which contains or, more precisely, surrounds the filling and/or emptying opening 6.

The tubular body 8 preferably consists of the same material as the walls 2 of the packaging container.

ters 1, e.g. particularly made of polyethylene, whereby a somewhat stiffer variant of this material can be selected if necessary.

In the embodiment shown, the tubular body 8 is connected to the wall material of the packaging container 1 in the upper transverse seam 4 by lateral weld seams 9 and 10.

As shown, the tubular body has a strongly flattened diameter in its resting state shown in Figure 2.

Before the function of the valve device is explained in more detail, reference is again made to Figures 1 and 2, since in order to fill the packaging container 1 according to Figures 3 and 4, the packaging container according to Figures 1 and 2 must first be brought into a state that enables filling.

As can be seen from Figures 1 and 2, the inlet opening 12 of the valve device formed by the tubular body 8 is arranged in a closed prechamber 14, which is closed from the outside world by an additional welded or glued seam 16. The prechamber 14 can be separated from the packaging container 1 along a perforation 18.

As shown, the weld seam 16 closing the prechamber 14 runs at a distance parallel to the weld seam containing the valve device 7, i.e. in the embodiment parallel to the upper transverse seam 4. The perforation 18 is arranged between the weld seam 16 and the upper transverse seam 4 and runs parallel to both weld seams 16 and 4.

In Figure 1 it is further indicated that the packaging container of this embodiment, as indicated by the arrows 11 in Fig.

gur 1, can be filled through the bottom before it is closed by the lower transverse seam 5.

Alternatively, it is possible to fill the packaging container 1 through the upper end 22, after which the upper transverse seam 4 and the additional weld seam 16, which closes the prechamber 14, are formed.

In the representations according to Figures 3 and 4, it is now assumed that the packaging container is to be filled through the valve device 7. For this purpose, the prechamber 14 is first torn off along the perforation 18, so that the then exposed inlet opening 12 of the tubular body 8 is accessible from the outside, but at the same time is in a hygienically clean condition.

In the preferred embodiment, the tubular body 8 consists of two strips 34 and 36, which are connected to one another at side seams 38 and 40. This ensures that the closed state of the valve device 7 is achieved more easily.

In the embodiments according to Figures 1 to 4 and 7 and 8, the tubular body 8 is designed to protrude freely into the interior 26 of the packaging container 1 and is fastened to the upper transverse seam 4 of the container 1.

When the packaging container 1 is filled by the valve device 7 as shown in Figure 3, the tubular body 8 of the valve device 7 takes on the shape shown in Figure 3, so that the filled material passes from the inlet opening 12 of the tubular body 8 through the mouth 30 of the tubular body 8 into the interior 26 of the packaging container 1. After the filling process has been completed, a pressure is present in the interior 26 of the packaging container 1, indicated by the arrows 13 in Figure 4, which closes the tubular body.

so that the valve unit 7 is kept closed.

As can also be seen from Figure 1, the valve unit 7 formed by the tubular body 8 is preferably arranged in the area of one end of the upper transverse seam 4, since this enables better emptying of the packaging container. It is obvious that the valve device 7 can be opened in order to remove the packaged goods.

IQ can be done by pressing the tubular body 8 open, whereby it closes again automatically after a partial quantity has been removed.

For filling through the valve device 7, the pre-chamber 14, which is separated along the perforation 18 immediately before such filling, ensures that the filling area of the packaging container 1 is hygienically clean.

However, it is preferred to fill such packaging containers 1 by machine either through their bottom 20 or through their top end 22 and to close them with the corresponding weld seams after filling. Figure 5 shows schematically the position of the packaging container 1 when filling through the bottom 20, whereby the container is closed at its top end 22 by the upper transverse seam 4 and the additional weld seam 16 closing the prechamber 14. The tubular body 8 will assume its flattened state as soon as the first minimum filling quantity occurs and close the valve device 7. After the filling process has ended, the lower transverse seam 5 is then welded shut.

Before the further embodiments of a packaging container according to the invention according to Figures 7 to 11 are discussed, the mechanical device shown in Figure 6 will now be explained in more detail, by means of which packaging containers according to the invention can be produced at the same time

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manufactured and filled.

As shown, during the manufacture of the packaging container 1, web-shaped polyethylene film 51 is pulled off a roll 52 and guided over a number of deflection rollers 53. At an intermediate section 54, tubular polyethylene material 57 is fed from a feed roller 55, which consists of the two strips 34 and 36, which are connected to one another at their side seams 38 and 40. Appropriate pieces are cut off by a cutting device 56 and fed to the polyethylene film in order to form the tubular bodies 8. The polyethylene film 51 is deformed into a tubular shape at a forming shoulder 58.

By means of a reciprocating welding head 9, the polyethylene film is first welded into a tube, which contains the tubular bodies forming the valve device 7 at intervals. Below the welding head 59, a reciprocating combination tool 60 is provided, by means of which, in a cycle selected according to the desired size of the packaging container, the upper end of a packaging container is simultaneously formed and the lower end of the next packaging container is simultaneously closed. The combination tool 60 therefore simultaneously produces the two weld seams 4 and 5 and the additional weld seam 16, forms the perforation 18 and separates the lowest completed packaging container 1. Meanwhile, the polyethylene tube, which is closed at the bottom by the combination tool 60, is simultaneously filled by a filling device 61, so that the combination tool 60 separates each filled packaging container, which contains the valve device 7 in its upper transverse seam, with the inlet opening 12 of the tubular body forming the valve device 7 being enclosed in the prechamber 14. In this case, the end consumer separates the prechamber 14 from the packaging container 1 and can be sure that the packaging container 1 is hygienically safe.

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received the packaging.

Figures 7 and 8 show a further embodiment of the packaging container 1 according to the invention, which also has the advantage of a hygienically closed prechamber 14. In the embodiment according to Figures 7 and 8, the same details are implemented as in the embodiment according to Figures 1 to 5, but the tubular body 8 is folded back on itself in the closed state of the valve device 7 in order to offer greater security of the closure.

In the embodiment according to Figure 9, the tubular body 8 is connected at a side seam 28 to a welded or glued seam of the packaging container 1.

As the embodiment according to Figure 10 shows, which corresponds to the embodiments according to Figures 1 to 4 with regard to the arrangement of the tubular body 8 and the design of the prechamber 14, the tubular body 8 can have a wide variety of lengths. In the embodiment according to Figure 10, the tubular body 8 is brought close to the bottom 20 of the container 1.

In such embodiments, it is preferred that the edge surrounding the mouth 30 of the tubular body 8 has a lateral bevel 32, which facilitates the filling of the packaging container 1.

In the embodiment according to Figure 11, which corresponds in its basic design principles to the embodiment according to Figure 9, in that the one side seam 38 of the tubular body 8 is connected to the upper transverse seam 4 of the packaging container 1, the prechamber 14 and the inlet opening 12 of the tubular body 8 are provided in the side of the packaging container 1.

All arising from the description, claims and drawings

The features and advantages of the invention arising from the above, including structural details and spatial arrangements, can be essential to the invention both individually and in any combination.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

1 = packaging container * ··· ·· · · 2 = Walls 3 = Longitudinal seam 4 = upper cross seam 5 = lower cross seam 6 = filling opening 7 = valve device 8th = tubular body 9 = Weld seam 10 = Weld seam 11 = Arrows 12 = Entrance opening of 8 13 = Arrows 14 = antechamber 16 = Weld seam 18 = Perforation 20 = Floor of 1 22 = Upper end of 1 24 = Side wall of 1 26 = Interior of 1 28 = side seam 30 = Mouth of 8 32 = bevel 34 = stripes 36 = stripes 38 = side seam 40 = side seam 51 = PE film 52 = PE-Ro He 53 = pulley

54 = Intermediate route

55 = Feed roller

56 = Cutting device

57 = tubular material

58 = Form shoulder

59 = Welding head

60 = Combination tool

61 = Filling device

Claims (16)

Fawzi A. Bayyomi and Basem Al-Sharhan, P.O. Box-2000, Salmiya, 22020 Kuwait CLAIMS 1. Packaging container with flexible walls made of plastic film, paper or the like, in which the web-shaped material forming the wall is closed to the container by welded or glued seams, the welded or glued seams comprising a longitudinal seam, an upper transverse seam and a lower transverse seam, and the container has a closable filling opening, characterized in that a self-closing valve device (7) is arranged in one of the welded or glued seams (3, 4, 5), which is kept closed by the pressure of the filled material, that the valve device (7) is formed by a tubular body (8) which is flattened in cross section when in the resting state, that the tubular body (8) is designed to protrude freely into the interior (26) of the container (1), and that the tubular body (8) contains or surrounds a filling and/or emptying opening (6) of the packaging container (1). 2. Packaging container according to claim 1, characterized in that the inlet opening (12) of the tubular body (8) formed valve device (7) is arranged in a pre-chamber of the packaging container (1) closed by welded or glued seams (16). 3. Packaging container according to claim 2, characterized in that the prechamber (14) can be separated from the packaging container (1) along a perforation (18). 4. Packaging container according to claim 3, characterized in that the weld or adhesive seam (16) closing the prechamber (14) runs parallel to the weld or adhesive seam (3, 4, 5) containing the valve device (7), and that the perforation (18) is arranged between these weld or adhesive seams (16 and 3, 4, 5) and parallel to them. 5. Packaging container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the valve device (7) formed by the tubular body (8) is arranged in the upper transverse seam (4) of the packaging container (1). 6. Packaging container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the packaging container (1) can be filled through the bottom (20) before it is closed by the lower transverse seam (5). 7. Packaging container according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the packaging container (1) can be filled through the upper end (22) before it is closed by the upper transverse seam (4). 8. Packaging container according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the packaging container (1) can be filled through the valve device (7) after the prechamber (14) has been separated. 9. Packaging container according to one of the preceding claims · characterized in that the valve device (7) formed by the tubular body (8) is arranged in the region of one end of the upper transverse seam (4). 10. Packaging container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in an upper section a lateral region of the tubular body (8) is fastened to a side wall (24) of the packaging container (1). 11. Packaging container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tubular body (8) is connected at a side seam (28) to a welded or glued seam (3) of the packaging container (1). 12. Packaging container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tubular body (8) has a bevel (32) on its free edge surrounding the mouth (30) in the interior (26) of the packaging container (1). 13. Packaging container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tubular body (8) is folded back on itself in the closed state of the valve device (7). 14. Packaging container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tubular body (8) consists of two strips (34, 36) which are connected to one another at side seams (38, 40). 15. Packaging container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tubular body (8) consists of the same material as the walls (2) of the packaging container (1). 16. Packaging container according to claim 15, characterized in that the walls (2) of the packaging container 1 The material forming the tube (1) and the tubular body (8) is polyethylene.