FR2533893A1 - PACKAGING BAG SERIES AND PACKAGING METHOD USING THE SACKS - Google Patents

Abstract

THE INVENTION RELATES TO A SERIES OF PACKAGING BAGS. ACCORDING TO THE INVENTION, IT INCLUDES A CERTAIN NUMBER OF UNITS WITH SEVERAL BAGS 51A, 51B, EACH INCLUDING A SEPARABLE CHAIN OF LATERAL CLOSED BAGS, THESE UNITS BEING SEQUENTIALLY ARRANGED AND FIXED REMOVABLE ON A SUPPORT 52A, 52B. THE INVENTION APPLIES IN PARTICULAR TO THE PACKAGING OF FOOD PRODUCTS.

Description

The present invention generally relates to a series of bags

  on a carrier which, in use, advance sequentially to a loading station More particularly, the invention relates to a series of nested web bags which is

  brought to a bag loader on tape.

  In the field of packaging articles such as food products, it is known to introduce the products in plastic bags, then close the openings of the bag It is also known to perform the shutter operation in a vacuum chamber where residual atmosphere in the bags can be removed and the package sealed under vacuum to prevent deterioration of the

  food product in the sealed bag.

  It is known to introduce articles produced in packaging bags, made of a flexible heat-shrinkable film material, by bringing the bags to a bag loader, in the form of a continuous chain of separate bags removably carried on strips. The articles to be packaged are located at a loading station typically by feeding on a conveyor belt in a guide where the article is introduced into the bag leading the chain, after opening the bag, for example by an inflation air jet The bag magazine receives the bags in matted or nested configuration and is then left either to the operator or to a means of advancing the items, the care of removing the top bag loaded of the nested bag chain before the next bag can be inflated and loaded The bag feed in a nested pattern in a web chain offers considerable advantages over feeding bags one at a time to the loading equipment. The present invention aims at a packaging system capable of faster and more economical operation for introducing articles into bags which are brought to a loading station in the form of a sequence of bags. to allow the packaging operation to be accelerated also

  in the steps of vacuuming and sealing.

  U.S. Patent Nos. 3,161,347 and 3,331,182 disclose typical bag loading methods and devices and illustrate the use of an interleaved bag chain supported on a continuous support member such that the nested bags arrive at a loading station where the highest bag is inflated pneumatically and a product article is placed therein, then the bag is removed from its elongate support member and is ready for a subsequent advance to a station

closing the bag.

  The disclosure of British Patent Application No. 2,078,654 A entitled "Loading Plastic Bags for Packaging Purposes" published on January 13, 1982, is of general interest, being directed to a packaging process that utilizes a chain of bags. packaging laterally sealed, with the mouths of the bags turned laterally to the sack chain Several of the sacks are loaded into a batch, and the sacks are subsequently closed discontinuously. Disclosures of US Pat. Nos. 3,587,843; 3 587 844 and 3 587 845 entitled "Package Of Bags" of June 28, 1971 in the name of Wfing are of general interest being directed to a chain of nested bags connected to one another and in one embodiment it

  is supported by two longitudinal sections of the band.

  The disclosure of US Patent No. 3,507,090 of April 11, 1970 to D'Angelo is of general interest, being directed to a device for filling a series of long open ended bags attached to a cover strip, each bag covering the open end

from the next bag.

  The disclosure of British Patent No. 2,653,752 of September 29, 1953 to Vogt is of general interest, being directed to a device for bringing bags in succession, erect, to and from

  away from a filling mechanism, the bags being.

  connected to each other in a chain by two or more bands serving as a means for advancing the bags. The present invention is directed to bags

  multiple media on a support that can be manipulated essen-

  In the case of a sequential presentation to a bag feeder, this is in the form of a single bag, thereby multiplying the feeder output. This handling advantage is also realized in the subsequent vacuuming and sealing operations, further increasing the productivity. Accordingly, there is provided a series of packaging bags, comprising a number of bag series units, each comprising a separable chain of laterally sealed bags, this quantity of units being arranged sequentially on a support where it

is attached removable.

  Preferably, the units are longitudinally nested on a carrier strip and the bags can

  be separated by perforation lines.

  There is also provided a packaging method of forming a series of units of several bags,

  each comprising a separable chain of lateral bags

  The series are sequentially arranged on a support where they are fixed removable; to bring the series of several bags to a loading station and while each unit is presented to the loading station, to inflate the bags of each unit presented at the loading station; to load the bags, each unit presented with a Product and to advance

  each unit at a bag closing station.

  The invention will be better understood and other purposes, features, details and advantages thereof

  will become clearer during the description

  explanatory text which will follow with reference to the appended schematic drawings, given solely by way of example, illustrating several embodiments of the invention and in which FIG. 1 shows a conventional perforated series of laterally sealed bags; FIGS. 2A, B show examples of multi-bag units composed respectively of two and three bags; Fig. 4A partially shows a series of multi-bag units arranged in series on longitudinal sections of a carrier strip; Figure 3 partially shows a series of multi-bag units nested longitudinally on a carrier strip; Figure 4A partially shows a series of multi-bag units arranged in series on a transverse carrier strip; and FIG. 4B partially shows a series of transversely nested multi-bag units.

on the carrier tape.

  Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a conventional series of perforated and laterally sealed plastic bags.

  for example of indefinite length and polyethylene.

  The bags in the series, such as bags 11 and 12> are

  separated by a perforation line 17, with

  The bag 11, for example, is defined by the lateral fillings 13 and 14, the fold line 18 and the extended lip opening 16. Such a series of bags can be made by conventional techniques, for example by first extruding a plastic tube and then

  said tube in a flat configuration according to possible-

  orientation, cutting along a fold line to form an extended lip opening, and repeatedly forming transverse closures, for example by pulse welding, and lines

2533893

  perforation at regular intervals along the collapsed tube to create a series of laterally closed laterally closed bags which are separated by the perforation lines Such a series of laterally sealed bags is the raw material for use in the present invention In general it is contemplated that the bags making up the feed series are separable, i.e., a bag can be easily separated from an adjacent bag by pulling along a predetermined line of weakening Preferably still, such lines of weakness are perforation lines, as described above. Another mode comprises for example incised lines, one side of the series being able to

  possibly be totally incised.

  Figures 2A and 2B show representative examples of multi-bag units for purposes of definition. In Figure 2A there is shown a two-bag unit consisting of bags 26 and 27 which have been separated together. A bag of perforated bags laterally closed at the separate perforation lines 34 and 35. The bag 26, for example, is as described above having an extended lip opening 28, a pleat 29 and lateral fillings 30 and 33 at the top. junction between the two bags forming the multi-bag unit, lateral fillings 30 and 31 are provided which

  are juxtaposed around the perforation line 32.

  However, the perforation line 32 is partially separated as indicated between points A and B. Preferably, the partial separation between the bags in a multi-bag unit is symmetrical with respect to

  to the length of the bags as is shown even-

  however, the partial separation may be asymmetrical even to the point that the partial separation begins at one edge of the multi-bag unit. Thus, in the example shown, the bags 26 and 27 are held together by perforation segments 36 and 37. In Figure 2B there is shown a three bag unit 45 consisting of bags 46, 47 and 48. The individual bags in unit 45 have been partially separated along the respective lines of perforation as shown in FIG. this is indicated by the segments AB and described with reference to FIG. 2 A. It is possible to produce units of all

number of bags.

  The bags are preferably used in imbricate

  longitudinally on a carrier tape so that a series of such tape bags can be fed to a conventional belt bag feeder with the advantage that a multi-bag unit can be handled for

  loading, evacuation and sealing

  like a single bag, which multiplies so

  corresponding the output of the packing operation.

  Optionally, the sealing operation may comprise a withdrawal of the excess material beyond the fillings

  the most external of each unit As a result of the ob-

  When the bags are loaded, the individual bags in one unit can easily be separated due to the pre-existing partial separation along the perforation lines delimiting the bags in a multi-bag unit. The component bags can easily be separated from the respective multiple bags in all moment after packing operation if desired, for example

  after evacuation and sealing or during the

  by the dealer or later by

the end user.

  In Figs. 3A to 4B are shown various embodiments. In Fig. 3A is shown a part of a series 50 of several bags on a carrier strip. The multiple bags 51A and 51B, for example being units of two bags, are arranged sequentially on

  the carrier strips 52A, B longitudinally, that is,

  That is, the conveyor belt extends longitudinally to the multi-bag units In use, the series is fed to a conventional bag-type loader, so each multi-bag unit is presented primarily for loading as with a single bag. art

  before and after loading is withdrawn from -

  the carrier belt and passes to a closing station-

  In general, any number of carrier belts are envisaged as may be necessary for a given application. However, two to five carrier belts are preferred, with two belts being preferred for usual applications. In FIG. a multi-bag series 60 is illustrated as having bags 61A, B, C interlocked or entangled on longitudinal support strips 62A, B, with the driving unit which is the upper unit. In Fig. 4A, a portion of a plurality of multi-bag units 70 is illustrated with sideband, i.e. the multi-bag representative units 71A are sequentially and releasably attached to carrier strips 72A, B which extend in the width direction of the bags The loading of the bags with a product is undertaken transversely to the

  feed forward direction of the carrier tape.

  In FIG. 4B, a portion of a series 80 of multiple bags nested on a side support strip is illustrated. As an example, the bags 81A, B are nested on carrier strips 82A, B with the bag

leading 81 A above.

Claims (10)

R E V E N D I C A T I 0 N S   A series of packaging bags, characterized in that it comprises a number of multi-bag units, each comprising a separable chain of laterally sealed bags, said units being sequentially arranged on a support (52, 62, 72 ) in there being removable attachments.   2. Series according to claim 1, characterized in that the support (52) is oriented longitudinally compared to the bags (51).   3. Series according to claim 1, characterized in that the support (62) is oriented laterally to the bags (61).   4. Series according to claim 1, characterized in that the units are nested on the support with the highest driving unit.   5. Series according to claim 1, characterized in that the support is a strip and the bags can   be separated by perforation lines.   6 series according to claim 5, characterized in that the perforations between component bags   each unit with several bags are partially separated.   7. Series according to claim 6, characterized in that the extent of the partial separation of   perforations is inside the width of the bags.   8 series according to claim 6, characterized in that the extent of the partial separation of   perforations begin at one edge of the bags.   9. Series according to claim 5, characterized in that the number of carrier strips is included between two and five.   10. Series according to claim 9, characterized   in that the number of carrier strips is two.   A series of packaging bags, characterized in that it comprises a number of multi-bag units, each comprising a perforated chain of bags   laterally closed, said units being longitudinal-   nested on a carrier strip to which they are removably attached, and in that the perforations between the bags in a unit are partially separated. 12. Packaging process, characterized in that it consists in: (a) forming a series of units with several bags,   each comprising a separable chain of lateral bags   said units being sequentially arranged on a support to which they are attached detachable; (b) feeding said series of multi-bag units to a loading station; and while each unit is presented at said loading station, repeatedly (c) inflating the bags of said unit presented at the loading station; (d) loading the bags of the presented unit with a product; and (e) advancing said unit to a station closing bags.   13. The method of claim 12,   characterized in that it further consists of   (f) independently vacuum and seal each unit loaded -   14. The method of claim 13, further comprising (g) separating the bags of each loaded unit. and closed.