Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D75/008—Standing pouches, i.e. "Standbeutel"
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D75/40—Packages formed by enclosing successive articles, or increments of material, in webs, e.g. folded or tubular webs, or by subdividing tubes filled with liquid, semi-liquid, or plastic materials
  • B65D75/44—Individual packages cut from webs or tubes
  • B65D75/46—Individual packages cut from webs or tubes containing articles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D75/52—Details
  • B65D75/522—Inspection openings or windows
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes, or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D75/52—Details
  • B65D75/58—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture
  • B65D75/5805—Opening or contents-removing devices added or incorporated during package manufacture for tearing a side strip parallel and next to the edge, e.g. by means of a line of weakness
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D77/00—Packages formed by enclosing articles or materials in preformed containers, e.g. boxes, cartons, sacks or bags
  • B65D77/04—Articles or materials enclosed in two or more containers disposed one within another
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D17/00—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties
  • C11D17/04—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties combined with or containing other objects
  • C11D17/041—Compositions releasably affixed on a substrate or incorporated into a dispensing means
  • C11D17/042—Water soluble or water disintegrable containers or substrates containing cleaning compositions or additives for cleaning compositions

Definitions

• the field of the present invention is packaging for unit dose articles, particularly unit dose articles comprising laundry compositions.
• the laundry compositions may include, but are not limited to, additives for use in wash and/or rinse cycles, detergents, fabric softeners, and perfumes among others.
• These unit dose articles may comprise compositions that are in any suitable form including, but not limited to, solids, pastes, gels, liquids and combinations thereof.
• Non-solid laundry compositions will most commonly be encapsulated in film material that is at least partially soluble in water.
• the unit dose is typically a tablet or a water soluble pouch that can be directly added into a washing machine, without the bother or mess of measuring.
• the unit dose is designed to dissolve in the water during the wash cycle.
• Water-soluble unit dose articles are susceptible to incidental or unintentional contact with moisture. Consequently, it is important to protect the article from moisture during the various stages of its life cycle, including during transport and storage.
• Packaging is a way of providing such protection. Packaging also forms an integral part of a product and may be a consumer's first point of contact with a brand. Thus apart from protecting the unit dose article from damage, the package must be aesthetically pleasing and provide space for branding and usage information to the consumer. In sum, the ideal package is functional, informative and attractive.
• Some bags have a window through which the consumer may see the product prior to purchase.
• the size and placement of the window is such that the bag appears to be full of product.
• a full looking bag has been viewed as a critical element for conveying to consumers that they are getting their money's worth.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bag containing articles according to the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a frontal view of an empty bag according to the present invention.
• FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bag according to the present invention under a chute.
• FIGS. 6a, 6b and 6c are frontal views of bottom seals according to the present invention.
• FIG. 1 One embodiment of a flexible bag 10 according to the present invention is as illustrated in FIG. 1.
• the flexible bag 10 comprises a front panel 30, a back panel 50 and a bottom panel (not shown).
• the front panel 30 in this embodiment is rectangularly shaped and comprises spaced apart side edges 35a, 35b.
• the front panel is marginally joined to the back panel 50 along at least two opposed edges to be in confronting relationship.
• FIG. 1 shows the two opposed edges marginally joined together, those opposed edges of the front panel and back panel, respectively 35a, 55a.
• the bottom panel (not shown) is intermediate to the front panel 30 and back panel 50, and joined to each.
• the front panel 30 and the back panel 50 are joined at the top by a frangible seal 20 after the bag is filled with unit dose articles.
• a variety of materials can be used to form the panels of the bag, the seal(s) and other elements of the present invention.
• Technical requirements such as moisture protection and compatibility with product as well as costs and ease of manufacture are the primary factors when selecting these materials.
• One or more materials may be used to form the one or more panels 30, 50 of the bag 10.
• one or more panels 30, 50 comprise layers of material.
• the layers are laminated together.
• Materials of use include, but are not limited to film forming plastics. Film forming plastics may be selected from the group of polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, NylonTM, BarexTM, EvohTM and combinations thereof.
• the panels 30, 50 may comprise layers laminated together.
• the panels 30, 50 of the bag 10 may be joined along the edges 35a, 35b using any suitable method that will provide a seal that serves as a moisture barrier.
• suitable methods include heat sealing, ultrasonic welding, autogeneous bonding, pressure sealing, adhesive sealing, and combinations thereof.
• Any suitable means of creating a frangible seal joining the front and back panels together is of use.
• Non-limiting examples include perforating, applying a line of weakness, peelable seal, reasealable closures and combinations thereof.
• the front panel 30 may comprise at least one opaque portion 31 and at least one transparent window 32.
• the unit dose articles 100 are distributed from the bottom of the bag 10 to a height 110 therein, providing an empty space 33 above the height 110 of the unit dose articles 100 such that the transparent window 32 intercepts the articles 100 and the empty space 33.
• the flexible bag 10 shown in FIG. 1 comprises an optional, additional closure 25 for securing the bag 10 in a closed condition after the frangible seal 20 is broken.
• the flexible bag 10 may be defined by its height 11 and width 12 when the bag 10 is unfilled and placed on a flat surface with the front panel up.
• the height 11 and width 12 of the bag 10 are measured at their maximum value.
• FIG. 3 shows an exemplary unit dose article 100 of the present invention.
• the unit dose article 100 is preferably a unitized dose of a household care composition including, but not limited to laundry, dish or hard surface cleaning compositions. While such articles 100 can have a variety of forms, shapes and compositions, a common feature of such additives is their susceptibility to being degraded, deactivated, rendered unstable or dissolved when exposed to prolonged and/or high levels of moisture.
• laundry additives encapsulated in polymer films that are designed to be fast dissolving under both hot and cold water conditions, may become tacky, unstable and even prematurely dissolved if not protected from prolonged exposure to atmospheric moisture.
• Such articles are described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0192986A1 and U.S.
• the unit dose article 100 may have a pincushion shape with a major dimension 101.
• major dimension defines the largest linear dimension of the largest unit dose article 100 in the bag. If the unit dose article 100 is substantially circular, the "major dimension” defines the diameter thereof. In embodiments in which the bag 10 contains a plurality of unit dose articles 100 having different shapes and sizes, the major dimension 101 corresponds to the major dimension of the largest of the unit dose article 100.
• unit dose articles may be dispensed through a chute that directs the unit dose through an opening in the bag.
• the opening is at the top of the bag, in other embodiments, the opening is at the side of the bag.
• the opening may be sealed.
• the filling and sealing processes typically occur at line speeds as high as 60 bags per minute. Consequently, process reliability is one key to reducing down time on the line.
• Process reliability may be impacted by several factors such as the chute geometry and bag geometry.
• One factor to consider is that as unit dose articles are dispensed from a chute into a bag, they tend to form a mound inside of the bag. If the height of the mound is too great, it can interfere with the subsequent sealing of the bag, which can in turn lead to breakage of the article and contamination of the line.
• the dimensions of the chute are chosen to minimize bridging.
• the minor dimension of the chute is chosen to be at least about two times that of the major dimension of the largest unit dose article to be packaged in the bag.
• Fig. 4 shows the cross-section of an exemplary chute 700.
• the minor dimension 710 of the chute is the diameter of a theoretical circle 711 inscribed within a cross-section of the chute at the narrowest point along the chute's height.
• the cross-section of the chute, particularly at its opening may be congruent with the cross-section of the fill side of the bag.
• the chute opening may smaller than the cross-section of the fill side of the bag.
• the dimensions of the bag may impact process reliability as well as shelf presence. Consequently, a combination of bag dimensions is chosen to maximize shelf presence, whilst minimizing interruptions in the production line. These dimensions are discussed in further detail below.
• the front panel to back panel dimension or "depth" of the bag at its opening during filling is chosen to minimize bridging.
• the depth 13 of the bag 10 at its opening 15 is defined as the maximum distance between the front panel 30 and the back panel 50 when the bag is set to be filled with unit dose articles from a chute 700.
• bags having a bag opening depth that is at least two times the major dimension of the largest unit dose article provide for good process reliability.
• preferred unit dose articles according to the present invention may have a major dimension that is no greater than about 50 mm.
• the depth of the preferred bag is at least two times that, or at least about 100 mm.
• Bag height is typically chosen to provide for good presence on a store shelf. It has been found that bag height may allow ready differentiation by the consumer between bags containing different quantities of unit dose articles. Maximum bag height is often a function of store shelf height. Shelf height (i.e., the vertical distance between the top of a shelf and the bottom of the shelf directly above it) is often about 300mm. Thus if different quantities of a unit dose article are to be sold, a series of bags having different heights, each less than 300 mm are utilized.
• bags according to the present invention may be chosen from a "menu" of bags starting at 200 mm and progressing upward to 300 mm in steps of 20 mm.
• Aspect ratio of a flexible bag is defined as the ratio between the bag height and width.
• a bag's aspect ratio may impact the bag's shelf presence and stability on the shelf. Shelf stability is quantified by a bag's tip angle.
• Tip angle is defined herein as the maximum angle that the vertical axis of the package can make with an imaginary vertical line before the bag falls over. The angle is measured by progressively tilting the package until it falls over. The package can be tilted sideways, front to back or in any other direction of interest. In this application we measure the tilt angle front to back as this represents the least stable direction of the bags.
• a bag having a high aspect ratio will have a high center of gravity.
• a high center of gravity may in turn result in a reduced tip angle.
• a bag having the same depth, but a lower aspect ratio will have a lower the center of gravity and increased the tip angle.
• the bag having the lower aspect ratio is more stable on the shelf.
• the shelf stability of the flexible bag is desirably balanced with a good shelf presence.
• the flexible bags are typically tall and narrow. Thus a short and wide bag would likely not fit with this aesthetic.
• the optimal aspect ratio of a flexible bag is from about 1:1 to about 1.3: 1, the later aspect ratio being most preferred.
• the minimum bag width For a given height and depth there is a minimum bag width that ensures that the internal volume is sufficient to fit the contents in a reliable manufacturing operation. In other words, there is a minimum bag width that ensures that no unit doses will be crushed by the bag sealing operation causing contamination and line stoppage.
• the minimum width may be determined using a testing fixture in the lab that mimics the filling equipment on the high speed line.
• the width of the bag may be calculated as follows:
• Bag width Bag height / Aspect Ratio
• the fill level percentage and the headspace percentage of a flexible bag are calculated as fill height / bag height and headspace height / bag height, wherein
• Headspace height Bag height.
• the headspace required depends on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the bag dimensions, unit dose dimensions, coefficient of friction, puffiness and filling equipment design.
• the flexible bag according to the present invention is designed to minimize the head space that is needed for process reliability.
• Fill levels of the flexible package according to the present invention are within a range of from about 28 to about 45% percent of the bag height, or within a range of from about 32 to 45% of the bag height. Most commonly, the fill level is about 35% of the bag height.
• the bags according to the present invention desirably have a tip angle of at least about 20°.
• the square seal in combination with a depth of at least about 100 mm provides the flexible packages according to the present invention with this desirable tip angle.
• the flexible bags according to the present invention may further comprise optional components including, but not limited to, windows, resealable closures and perfume.
• the flexible bag 10 may further comprise one or more transparent or translucent windows 32 through which the consumer can see the fill line of the unit dose articles 100 when the bag 10 is displayed to the consumer for purchase at the point of purchase.
• transparent or translucent windows 32 are disclosed in the co-pending US Patent Application having Attorney Docket Number 11880 and filed on September 20, 2010.
• the flexible bags according to the present invention may comprise more than one seal.
• the bag may further comprise a resealable seal so that the consumer may sealably close the bag after use.
• the flexible bags may further comprise perfume.
• the perfume may be applied to the interior of the bag using any suitable means.
• a non-limiting example is the application of an adhesive strip comprising perfume to the interior of the bag.
• Useful adhesive perfume strips are found n US Patent Number 7304025 and US Publication Number 2008/0081774A1.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Bag Frames (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=44720166

Family Applications (1)

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• 2010
  • 2010-09-20 US US12/885,825 patent/US20120070106A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2011
  • 2011-09-20 MX MX2013003065A patent/MX2013003065A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2011-09-20 CN CN201180045029.6A patent/CN103108812B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2011-09-20 RU RU2013109775/12A patent/RU2013109775A/ru unknown
  • 2011-09-20 BR BR112013004894A patent/BR112013004894A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2011-09-20 JP JP2013529405A patent/JP5917524B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2011-09-20 CA CA2810539A patent/CA2810539A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-09-20 EP EP11761780.3A patent/EP2619111A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-09-20 WO PCT/US2011/052263 patent/WO2012040145A1/en active Application Filing
• 2013
  • 2013-03-05 ZA ZA2013/01669A patent/ZA201301669B/en unknown

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