EP4114755A2

EP4114755A2 - Flexible intermediate bulk container with a support panel

Info

Publication number: EP4114755A2
Application number: EP21747339.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Cihan CESUR; Dilek POLAT
Original assignee: Cesur Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS
Current assignee: Cesur Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS
Priority date: 2020-01-27
Filing date: 2021-01-26
Publication date: 2023-01-11
Also published as: WO2021154180A2; WO2021154180A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) comprising an outer wall (14, 24) made of woven fabric and erected on a peripheral edge (52) of a flat bottom panel (50) so as to delimit an inner chamber (1) and a corresponding front panel (10) and rear panel (20) having an inner liner (16, 26) that is fixed to the outer wall (14, 24) so as to provide an bag with an open end from the top; also comprising a support plate (70) that is positioned onto the bag between outer wall (14, 24) and inner liner (16, 26) by passing through the open-end as well as a folding first side wall 30 and corresponding second side wall (40) that are sewn along a seam line (38) so as to form a carrier onto the side edge of the front panel (10) and rear panel (20) from the adjacent edges along the lateral walls; a movable flap panel (60) fixed to the inner chamber (1) with a bag seam (68) provided at the proximal end (61) and into which a flat support plate (70) is disposed by providing seamless wrapping part (64) at the opposite free end (68).

Description

FLEXIBLE INTERMEDIATE BULK CONTAINER WITH A SUPPORT PANEL

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to flexible intermediate bulk containers, specifically flexible carriers, that form container for fluidized, semi-solids, slurry or liquid materials.

STATE OF THE ART

Flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBC) are widely used for transporting bulk or liquid materials. Flexible intermediate bulk containers are generally obtained by sewing flexible panels made of thick polypropylene woven and coated/uncoated fabrics with high mechanical strength. Flandles are formed by fixing the columns to the upper parts of the panels close to the corners. The panels are sewn from adjacent edges to form an outer carrier.

Lining or inner carrier can be fixed to the interior of each panel depending on the type of material to be transported. The liner is generally made of flexible film, polyethylene or polypropylene material and is seated in the outer carrier and sealed accordingly.

Flexible intermediate bulk containers can be produced in a folding structure for storage before or after transportation. The FR3057557A1 publication discloses the container in semi rigid form with a reinforcement plate, in which a bottom wall and four lateral walls in the unfolded position restricts the open-ended and parallel storage space. Reinforcement plates prevent ovalization when load is placed. When not in use, the flexible intermediate bulk container is stored in folded state.

TR201910271 publication discloses a flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) comprising a base and a woven outer body with adjacent vertical lateral walls rising from its peripheral edges surrounding a filling chamber. Flexible intermediate bulk container comprises an inner body that delimits the filling chamber and provides an intermediate chamber by being mounted on the base in an interrelated position with the outer body as well as a flexible support element placed on the intermediate chamber in a way that is self-supporting against the load from the filling chamber. Thus, it becomes possible to obtain a durable flexible intermediate bulk container such as octabin. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

The object of the invention is to facilitate the mounting of reinforcement panels in folding flexible intermediate bulk containers.

In order to achieve the said targets, the invention comprises a flexible carrier (FIBC) comprising an outer wall made of woven fabric and erected on a peripheral edge of a flat bottom panel so as to delimit an inner chamber and a corresponding front panel and rear panel having an inner liner that is fixed to the outer wall so as to provide a bag with an open end from the top; also comprising a support plate that is positioned onto the bag between outer wall and inner liner by passing through the open-end as well as a folding first side wall and corresponding second side wall that are sewn along a seam line so as to form a container onto the side edge of the front panel and rear panel from the adjacent edges along the lateral walls. The flexible intermediate bulk container further comprises a movable flap panel secured to the inner chamber by a bag seam provided at one proximal end, and in which a flat support plate is placed inside by providing a seamless wrapping portion at the opposite free end. The flap panel is folded in a folding position towards the proximal front panel or rear panel thereby enabling the flexible intermediate bulk container to be flattened by folding from the opposing first and second side walls. On the other hand, in an expansion position, when the flap panel is positioned adjacent to the neighboring first or second lateral wall, it forms a support wall with the support plate it contains along the lateral wall. Thus, the expanded flexible intermediate bulk container is strengthened by the flap panel along its folding edges. In addition, since the flat supporting plate extends from the seamless wrapping part to the inner chamber, it prevents the sewing area from being damaged by the contact of the products stored in the inner chamber and from breaking into the inner chamber. In this case, the risk of contamination to the products carried by the flexible intermediate bulk container with the flap panel is reduced.

A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a bag-structure one-piece fabric aligned with the doubling line of the wrapping part of the flap panel. Thus, a doubled fabric designed in a simple bag structure is provided to form the support panel winding portion along the folding line and to be fixed to the inner chamber from the sewn ends. In this case, the seamless folding line will provide high resistance to abrasion in the interior room, without any risk of contamination, for example, in a way to prevent the fibers from being transferred to the inner chamber due to abrasion caused by the products to be transported. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, bag seam is arranged on the front panel and/or the back panel in a way that it elongates adjacent and parallel to the seam line. This allows the front or rear panel of bag seam to be easily processed while being sewed together with the corresponding first or second panel.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the support plate is made of plastic material. The plastic material is both low-cost and in a structure that will provide sufficient flexibility and resistance against cambering in the interior chamber. In a possible embodiment, the support plate is made of cardboard. In particular, the cardboard support plate is preferred in the application of an octagonal peripheral wall flexible intermediate bulk container.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the length of the flap panel is adjusted at most as the adjacent first or second side wall length. In this case, the structural strength can be optimally increased with a single flap panel adjacent to each first or second lateral wall. The flap panel extends along the first or second side wall by establishing a bridge between the front and rear panel and increasing the structural strength in the flexible intermediate bulk container by forming a cage form with neighboring support panels in the expansion position.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bag seam extends at the corner between the front panel and the first side wall in the interior room. In this case, for example, a bag seam is formed longitudinally in the form of a vertical line to form a hinge structure at the corner for the flap panel. From one proximal end of the bag seam, the flap panel stitched to the inner chamber can be rotated between the adjacent first or second lateral panel and, on the reverse side, the front or rear panel along its free end. In the form of a rectangular prismatic flexible intermediate bulk container, the angle of rotation of the flap panel is almost 90°, and for example 135° in an octabin-structure flexible intermediate bulk container.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the front panel, the rear panel, the first and second side walls between them and the flap panel are arranged at equal height on the bottom panel. Thus, upper edge with equal height is obtained. In a possible embodiment, a cover structure is placed on the top edge to cover it longitudinally.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the flap panel is made of woven or non-woven textile material. In this case, during the production of the front panel, rear panel, first and second lateral panels, the flap panel can also be produced using the same materials. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the support plate is in the form of a uniform corrugated sheet made of plastic and cardboard material. In a possible embodiment, the support plate is preferably chosen with a width of 0.5 to 1 .5 cm, particularly 1 cm, to prevent cambering both in the front and rear panel.

A preferred application of the invention is a production method comprising the following steps: providing the front panel and the back panel by combining the above-described rectangular/quadrangle woven fabric in a co-formed outer wall and a facing inner liner to each other along a seam line; providing a flexible first sidewall and a second sidewall having a long edge to the length of the long edges of the front panel and back panel as well as bottom panel that equals to short edges; fixing the flap panel, which is formed with bag seam, to the first adjacent side wall from the proximity of the bag seam with the front panel along the seam line in a way that it is formed with a hinge; and stitching to each other from its corresponding edges in a way to form an open ended container along the front panel, the first side wall and the second side wall and the long edges of the bottom panel and peripheral edge. With this method, a flap plate structure with a hinged bag form is obtained to the inner chamber, and in the case of expansion, that is, when the cover plate is placed adjacent to first side wall or the second side wall, a structure is obtained where the seamless distant end coincides with the product in the interior chamber from the seamless side.

A preferred application of the invention involves the process of sewing a column strip from each of its opposite ends in the form of a ring to the outer walls. The rings obtained with the column strip allow the flexible intermediate bulk container to be transported easily, for example by holding it from its upper corners. In a possible embodiment, flexible intermediate bulk container can be provided without handles and column strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a representative embodiment of the flexible intermediate bulk container before mounting according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a front view of the sewing line of the movable flap structure used in the flexible intermediate bulk container.

Figure 3 is the top view of a representative embodiment of the flexible intermediate bulk container according to the invention. Figure 4 is a top view of octabin application of a folding flexible intermediate bulk container with movable flap structure.

Figure 5 is a schematic top-zoomed illustration of a corner connection part of the flexible intermediate bulk container according to the invention.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a corner part in a representative embodiment of the flexible intermediate bulk container according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

In this detailed description, the subject matter of the invention has been illustrated by way of non-exhaustive examples that only serve to better explain the subject.

Figure 1 shows a front panel (10) and a back panel (20) consisting of an outer wall (14, 24) and an inner lining (16, 26) from the woven material, which is obtained in the form of rectangular/quadrangle form by cutting flexible panels in suitable measures from polypropylene woven fabrics with thick mechanical strength. In addition, there is a bottom panel (50) in the form of a rectangular/quadrangle made of polypropylene woven fabric in the flexible panel structure. In addition, a first side wall (30) and a corresponding second side wall (40) made of flexible thick polypropylene woven fabric with short edges equal to the edge of the bottom panel (50) and the peripheral edge (32, 42) whose long sides are equal to the height of the adjacent front panel (10) and the opposite rear panel (20) can be seen.

The front panel (10) and the rear panel (20) connect the inner liner (16, 26) to the outer wall (14, 24) in the form of bags which are opened from the top with a vertical sewing line extending longitudinally in proximity to their opposite long edges. The bottom panel (50) allows the interconnection of the front panel (10), rear panel (20), first side wall (30) and second side wall (40) from the bottom edges that are corresponding to the seam line which is both adjacent and distanced to the peripheral edge (52) in a way to delimit an inner chamber (1 )·

Figure 2 shows the connection of a flap panel (60) having equal dimensions to the first side wall (30) with the adjacent first side wall (30). The flap panel (60) is folded in half by stitching the long edges together and stitched together with a bag seam (68) and is closed at the bottom by a bottom seam line (67) and has an open top bag structure. The folding line of the flap panel (60) on itself forms a wrapping part (64). The flap panel in the form of bag (60) is hinged to the first side wall (30) with the help of a seam line (38) on one of its long sides. Thus, as shown in Figure 6, when the first side wall (30) is sewn to the front panel (10) with the seam line (18)Jhe flap panel (60) can be rotated between the inner liner (16) and the first sidewall (30) to form a crescent from the free end (65).

A corrugated plastic support plate (70) is placed inside the flap panel (60) as seen in Figure 3. The support plate (70) fits end-to-end on the bag formed by the flap panel (60) in a solid structure. The support plate (70) is placed in the bags provided between the front panel (10) and outer walls (14, 24) and the inner liners (16, 26) of the front panel (20) connected to the bottom panel (50) in a parallel position. Figure 3 is the top view of the flexible intermediate bulk container obtained by joining the seam line (18, 28, 38) from the adjacent edges of the panels (10, 20, 30, 40, 50). Flere, the flexible intermediate bulk container is in an expanded state. The flap panel (60) is rotated away from the inner liner (16) on the axis of the hinge forming seam line (18) at its proximal end (61) and rests against the first sidewall (30). In this case, the support plate (70) in the flap panel (60) forms a frame perpendicular to the flexible intermediate bulk container together with the support plates in the front (10) and the rear panel (20). Then the inner chamber (1) is filled with the product to be transported (e.g. granule, bulk or liquid material). The support plates (70) provide resistance against the pressure of the material in the direction of cambering outward. At the same time, because the flap panel (60) remains in the inner chamber (1), the wrapping part (64) is prevented from leaving a residue in the inner chamber (1) due to wearing thanks to its seamless structure.

Figure 4 shows an application of an octabin flexible intermediate bulk container. The bag seam (68) rotatesjn the inner chamber (1) as hinged from the seam line (18) of flap panel (60) corresponding to inner chamber 1. This time, the front panel (10) with support plates (70) has a 135° inward facing three-stage structure while the rear panel (20) is positioned symmetrically on the octagonal bottom panel (50). Between the front panel (10) and the rear panel (20), the second side wall (40) rises on the opposite edge of the first side wall (30) and the bottom plate (50) in the flexible single-stage wall structure. While the flap panel (60) is hinged adjacent to the first side wall (30), in the opposite direction, an opposite flap panel (80) of equal form on the second side wall (40) is hinged in the inner chamber (1). Thus, the octagonal framework structure is completed from the support plates (70) by rotating the flap panel (60) and the opposite flap panel (80) in the expansion position, and when the product is poured into the inner chamber (1), the resistance is created with framework structure against the curvature. Figure 5 shows the zoomed-in view of the front panel (10), the flap panel (60), and the first side wall (30). During production, the seam line (18) where the bag-shaped front panel (10) joins with the first side panel (30) and the bag seam (68) of adjacent flap panel (60) can be attached into the inner chamber (1) on the side panel (30) as neighboring elements. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 6, the front panel (10) can be stitched together with a single seam line (38) from the corners of the flap panel (60) and the first side wall (30). Here, the bag seam (68) remains at the corner and is connected to the hinge-forming seam line (38) from the proximal end (61). On the other hand, the wrapping part 64 at the free end (65) backs the support plate (70), which is enclosed by the flap panel (60) on the fold line.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 Inner chamber 40 Second side wall 10 Front panel 42 Peripheral edge 12 Column strip 50 Bottom panel

14 Side wall 52 Peripheral edge 16 Inner lining 60 Flap panel 18 Seam line 61 Proximal end 20 Rear panel 62 Bottom edge

22 Column strip 63 Upper edge

24 Outer wall 64 Wrapping part 26 Inner lining 65 Free end 28 Seam line 67 Bottom seam line

30 First side wall 68 Bag seam 32 Peripheral edge 70 Support plate

33 Upper edge 80 Opposite flap panel 38 Seam line

Claims

1- A flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) comprising an outer wall (14, 24) made of woven fabric and erected on a peripheral edge (52) of a flat bottom panel (50) so as to delimit an inner chamber (1) and a corresponding front panel (10) and rear panel (20) having an inner liner (16, 26) fixed to the outer wall (14, 24) so as to provide a bag with an open end from the top; a support plate (70) disposed onto the bag between outer wall (14, 24) and inner liner (16, 26) by passing through the open- end and a folding first side wall (30) and corresponding second side wall (40) sewn along a seam line (38) so as to form a container onto the side edge of the front panel (10) and rear panel (20) from the adjacent edges along the lateral walls characterized in that a movable flap panel (60) is fixed to the inner chamber (1) with a bag seam (68) provided at a proximal end (61) and into which a flat support plate (70) is disposed by providing seamless wrapping part (64) at the opposite free end (68).

2- A flexible intermediate bulk container according to claim 1 , wherein flap panel (60) comprises a bag structure uniform fabric aligned with the doubling line of wrapping part (64).

3- A flexible intermediate bulk container according to claim 2, wherein the bag seam (68) is arranged on the front panel (10) and/or on the back panel (20) adjacent and parallel to the seam line (38).

4- A flexible intermediate bulk container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the support plate (70) is made of plastic material.

5- A flexible intermediate bulk container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the length of the flap panel (60) is adjusted at most as much as the length of the adjacent first or second side wall (30, 40).

6- A flexible intermediate bulk container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the bag seam (68) extends into the inner chamber at the corner between the front panel (10) and the first side wall (30).

7- A flexible intermediate bulk container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the front panel (10), the rear panel (20), the first and second side walls (30, 40) between them and the flap panel (60) are set at equal height on the bottom panel (50). 8- A flexible intermediate bulk container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the flap panel (64) is made of woven or non-woven textile material.

9- A flexible intermediate bulk container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the support plate (70) is in the form of uniform corrugated sheet made of plastic material.

10- A production method for flexible intermediate bulk container according to any of the preceding claims comprising the steps of: providing the front panel (10) and the back (20) panel by combining the above-described rectangular/quadrangle woven fabric in a co-formed outer wall (14, 24) and a facing inner liner (16, 26) to each other along a seam line (18, 28); providing a flexible first sidewall (30) and a second sidewall (40) having a long edge to the length of the long edges of the front panel (10) and back panel (20) as well as bottom panel (50) that equals to short edges; fixing the flap panel 60, which is formed with bag seam (38), to the first adjacent side wall (30) from the proximity of the bag seam (38) with the front panel (10) along the seam line (18) in a way that it is formed with a hinge; and stitching to each other from its corresponding edges in a way to form an open ended container along the front panel (10), the first side wall (30) and the second side wall (40) and the long edges of the bottom panel (50) and peripheral edge (52).

11 - A flexible intermediate bulk container production method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of sewing a column strip (12) from opposite ends of the outer walls (14, 24) in a ring form.