DE8900239U1 - Foil pocket for accompanying documents - Google Patents

Description

Foil pocket for accompanying documents

The invention relates to a film bag for accompanying documents for goods or the like, which has on its back an adhesive layer covered by a removable protective sheet for adhering to the goods or their packaging, in the area of one of its side borders a filling opening that can be closed by a flap with an adhesive layer and on its opposite side border a detachable edge strip that is free from the rear adhesive layer and is separated from the remaining area by material weakening lines on the front and back of the film bag.

Film bags of the aforementioned type are used to hold accompanying documents when shipping and forwarding goods. They are generally made of transparent film so that certain information, such as recipient, goods content, weight, customs information, etc., can be viewed on the accompanying documents without opening the bag. If this is not desired or necessary, the front side can also be covered by a print, if necessary.

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if covered with instructions for shipping or transport.

With the known foil bags, the accompanying documents are inserted through the filling opening with the flap open, then the protective strip is removed from the adhesive layer of the flap and this is then folded over and stuck to the front of the bag. Before or after this, the bag is stuck with its back to the goods or its packaging after the protective sheet on the back has been removed.

In order to be able to remove the accompanying documents, the flap must be torn open. This is often difficult because the adhesive closure must adhere firmly enough to prevent it from opening prematurely. When opened, the flap's strong adhesive layer is exposed, meaning that the accompanying documents pulled past it can get caught and even be torn or ripped. To prevent this, the flap must be folded back and held with one hand every day. This is cumbersome and time-consuming.

In contrast, an embodiment that is much simpler to handle and better (DE-U-87 08 754) is characterized by the fact that on one side of the film bag there is an edge strip that is free from the adhesive layer on the back and is separated from the rest of the area by lines of weakening in the material on the front and back of the bag, and that the filling opening is arranged on the side opposite the edge strip.

In this film bag, the filling opening with the closure flap on one side and the removal opening on the other are arranged on opposite sides of the bag

and the removal opening is exposed by tearing off the edge strip along the material weakening lines, so that the bag is open across its entire width on this side. The edge strip can be easily grasped with the fingers because, unlike the entire back of the bag, it has no adhesive layer and can therefore simply be grasped from behind. Once opened, the bag can be easily reached into and the accompanying documents removed without a flap or adhesive part getting in the way. The bag is advantageously glued on so that the edge strip is at the top and the accompanying documents can be removed from above. The adhesive layer on the opposite closure can, if necessary, be given a greater adhesive force so that it can no longer be opened without force and without damaging the bag. This provides a type of tamper-evident closure, so that unauthorized opening can be easily detected. Furthermore, the edge strip is expediently dimensioned in such a way that, after it has been torn off, the upper edge of the accompanying documents is approximately at the level of the opening edge or above it.

In certain cases, there is a need to send additional documents, which are intended exclusively for the final recipient of the goods, in addition to the accompanying documents primarily required for the shipping of the goods. These can be, for example, invoices, information about the goods, or similar. While the accompanying documents are usually removed at the last station of the shipping company in the manner described above by tearing off the detachable edge strip, the other accompanying documents of the aforementioned type should reach the final recipient of the goods intact.

The invention is based on the object of designing the shipping bag mentioned at the beginning in such a way that, in addition to the accompanying documents required for the shipping of the goods, documents intended exclusively for the recipient of the goods can be accommodated and reach the recipient undamaged.

To achieve this object, the invention proposes that the film bag has a separating film forming a front and a rear pocket with filling openings arranged on the same side border, and that the front pocket has the detachable edge strip, while the rear pocket is shorter by the width of the edge strip and free of material weakening lines on its side border facing the detachable edge strip.

The film bag designed according to the invention is therefore made of two layers, with the front pocket, which also forms the visible side, holding the accompanying documents. If the front of this front pocket is made transparent, the accompanying documents or a part of them can always be seen. In contrast, the accompanying documents intended for the recipient are in the rear pocket, i.e. are covered by the accompanying documents and cannot be seen. Because the rear pocket is shorter by the width of the detachable edge strip than the front pocket, which has this detachable edge strip, the accompanying documents can be easily removed by tearing off the edge strip, while the accompanying documents intended for the recipient remain in the rear pocket, which is still closed. If necessary, the separating film can be opaque or printed to the point of opacity, so that the accompanying documents intended for the recipient

are not legible even after removal of the accompanying documents.

To make it easier to fill both pockets, the edge of the separating film that borders the filling opening of the rear pocket is higher than the edge of the film that borders the filling opening of the front pocket. The closure flap can cover both filling openings when closed.

In a preferred embodiment, the rear pocket is formed from a film folded into a double layer and welded at opposite edges, the front layer of which forms the separating film and the rear layer of which has the adhesive layer with the protective sheet and the closure flap on the back.

In contrast to the known design, it is not the pocket that holds the accompanying documents, but the rear pocket that has the adhesive layer and thus also forms the support for the front pocket. Otherwise, the rear pocket is designed in the usual way for film pockets. After removing the protective sheet from the back of the rear pocket, the entire film pocket can be stuck onto the goods or their packaging.

j A further particularly advantageous design is characterized by

S is characterized in that the front pocket is formed by a film section which is welded to the edge of the film of the rear pocket, which forms the front side of the front pocket and is folded back at its end opposite the filling opening to form the double layer to form the detachable edge strip, whereby the rear layer is slightly wider than the edge strip, reaches under the rear layer of the film forming the rear pocket and is provided with the adhesive layer on the back.

The front foil pocket is therefore only made up of a single foil section that is folded over to a slightly larger width only at the side border with the detachable edge strip. This results in a design that is simple to manufacture and, above all, cost-effective. The adhesive layer extends over the back of the rear pocket and over the detachable edge strip on the front pocket to

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&igr; and by additionally welding the edge of the film section forming the front pocket to the film forming the rear pocket, the front pocket is also sufficiently fixed and sealed. The detachable edge strip is still exposed and can be easily grasped behind and torn off.

The film and the film section are expediently connected to one another at the edges by beam welding, which - in contrast to separating welding - provides a safe and secure seal at the side edges.

It is advantageous, however, that the material deflection lines extend at least partially into the outline of the closed bag covered by the accompanying documents.

For example, the weakening lines can extend into the outline of the inserted papers with a fingertip-like curve, so that when the edge strip is grasped at this point, which may also be marked, the accompanying papers can also be grasped between the fingers and pulled out of the pocket when the edge strip is torn off.

Opening the bag and removing the accompanying documents is therefore possible with a single movement.

A preferred embodiment is characterized in that the material weakening lines run parallel to the edges and that their distance from the opposite edge of the closed bag is smaller than the length of the inserted accompanying documents measured in the same direction.

In this preferred design, the inserted accompanying documents extend into the detachable edge strip by a certain amount over their entire width, so that this can basically be grasped and torn at any point, while always ensuring that the accompanying documents can be pulled out with them. Here, too, the most convenient point for tearing open and pulling out should be marked as appropriate.

If the protective sheet on the back covers the edge strip in addition to the adhesive layer, this part of the protective sheet that is not connected to the bag can serve as a tear-off tab for the protective sheet in order to then be able to adhere the bag to the goods or their packaging,

Further details and advantages of the invention emerge from the following description of an embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing. In the drawing:

Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section through the foil bag;

Figure 2 shows an enlarged section in the area of the edge strip of the film pocket and

Figure 3 a perspective view of a packaging with glued-on foil pocket·

The film bag 1 shown in Figure 1 has an adhesive layer 2 on its back, which is covered by a protective sheet 3, e.g. made of paper or the like. After removing the protective sheet 3, the film bag 1 can be glued with its back, for example, to a packaging 4 (see Figure 3).

The film bag 1 has a front pocket 5 and a rear pocket 6. The front pocket 5 is used to hold accompanying documents 7, which are used exclusively for shipping purposes, while the rear pocket 6 holds exclusively papers 8 intended for the recipient (see Figure 2). The filling opening 9 of the front pocket 5 and the filling opening 10 of the rear pocket 6 can be closed together by a closure flap 11, as shown in dashed lines in Figure 1. For this purpose, the closure flap 11 has an adhesive layer 12, which is covered by a protective strip 13, which is removed before use. The protective sheet 3 protrudes with its ends 14, 15 beyond the rear adhesive layer 2 of the film bag 1, so that it can be grasped at one of the two ends and easily removed.

The front pocket 5 has an edge strip 16 at its end facing away from the filling opening 9, which is separated from the rest of the pocket by material weakening lines 17, 18, e.g. by a perforation, and can be pulled

can be separated. In order to simultaneously grasp the accompanying documents 7, which are inserted in the front pocket 5, during this separation process, these extend beyond the perforation 17, 18 into the edge strip 16, as can be seen in particular from Figure 2. When the adhesive-free edge strip 16 is grasped between the fingers, the accompanying documents are also grasped at the same time. When the edge strip 16 is torn off, the accompanying documents 7 are therefore also removed at the same time.

The rear pocket 6 is formed by a film 19 which is folded over at 20 to form a double layer. The rear layer 21 has the adhesive layer 2 on the back, while the front layer 22 forms a separating film between the front pocket 5 and the rear pocket 6. The rear layer 21 also has the closure flap 11 with the protective strip 13.

The rear pocket is formed by a film section 23, which delimits the filling opening 9 at one end 24. This end 24 is arranged at a distance from the filling opening 10 of the rear pocket 6. The film section 23 is folded back at its opposite end 25 to form the detachable edge strip 16 and has a further strip-shaped area 26, which is provided on the back with part of the adhesive layer 2.

The film 19 forming the rear pocket and the film section 23 forming the front pocket are connected to one another along their parallel edges 27, 28 by a beam weld, as indicated at 29 and 30 (see Figure 3).

- 10 -

In a modification of the embodiment shown, the film 19 forming the rear pocket 6 can extend at its end 20 facing the detachable edge strip 16 of the front pocket over the strip of the film section 23 forming the front pocket provided with the adhesive layer into the area of the perforation 17, 18, as is indicated in Figure 2 with a dash-dotted line 31.

The film bag 1 is advantageously glued to the packaging 4 in such a way that the closure flap 11 is at the bottom and the detachable edge strip 16 is at the top. By detaching the edge strip 16 along the perforation 17, 18, the accompanying documents intended exclusively for shipping purposes are removed. The front bag is thus open on one side. The rear bag, however, which exclusively holds the accompanying documents 8 intended for the recipient, remains closed and can only be opened at the closure flap 11. The adhesive provided there can have such an adhesive force that the closure flap can only be opened with force and with deformation or damage to the film bag, which at the same time provides a guaranteed closure for the recipient.

Claims (9)

1. Film pouch for accompanying documents for goods or the like, which has on its back an adhesive layer covered by a removable protective sheet for adhering to the goods or their packaging, in the area of one of its side borders a filling opening that can be closed by a flap with an adhesive layer and on its opposite side border a detachable edge strip that is free from the rear adhesive layer and is separated from the rest of the area by material weakening lines on the front and back of the film pouch, characterized in that the film pouch (1) has a separating film (22) to form a front (5) and a rear pocket (6) with filling openings (9, 10) arranged on the same side border, and that the front pocket has the detachable edge strip (16), while the rear pocket has a detachable edge strip (16) on its side facing the detachable edge strip. - 2 Side border is shorter by the width of the edge strip (IG) and is free of material weakening lines. 2. Film bag according to claim 1, characterized in that the edge of the separating film (22) delimiting the filling opening (10) of the rear pocket (6) is higher than the film edge delimiting the filling opening (9) of the front pocket (5). 3. Film bag according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the closure flap (11) in the closed position covers both filling openings (9, 10). 4. Film bag according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the rear pocket (6) is formed by a film (19) folded into a double layer and welded at opposite edges (27, 28), the front layer (22) of which forms the separating film and the rear layer (21) of which has the adhesive layer (2) with the protective sheet (3) and the closure flap (11) on the back. 5. Film bag according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the front flap (5) is formed by a film section (23) welded to the film (19) of the rear pocket at the edge (29, 30), which forms the front side of the front pocket (5) and is folded back at its end (25) opposite the filling opening (9) to form the double layer to form the detachable edge strip (16), the rear layer being somewhat wider than the edge strip (16), reaching under the rear layer (21) of the film (19) forming the rear pocket (6) and being provided with the adhesive layer (2) on the back. 6. Film bag according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the film (19) and the film section (23) are connected to one another at the edges by beam welding (29, 30). 7. Film bag according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the material weakening lines (17, 18) extend at least in regions into the outline of the closed bag (1) covered by the accompanying documents (7). 8. Film bag according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the material weakening lines (17, 18) run parallel to the edges and that their distance from the opposite edge of the closed bag (1) is smaller than the length of the inserted accompanying documents measured in the same direction (7). 9. Slide t:asrhp riArrh pinpm Aar- Ancnrt'irhd 1 Ki c ft AaAi· &tgr;-rh characterized in that the protective sheet (3) on the back covers the adhesive layer (2) of the film pocket (1) as well as the edge strip (16).