GB2074541A - Bag with detachable coupon - Google Patents

Abstract

In a bag having an open top 4, a closed bottom 20 and a pair of opposed lateral edges 8a, 8b formed by folding a sheet of material so that terminal portions of the sheet overlap intermediate the edges and by joining the portions together where they overlap at 10, 12, the overlapping portion of the sheet extends beyond where it joins the overlapped portion and the resultant extension is provided with a line of weakening e.g. 14, 16 whereby it may be separated from the bag. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Bag with coupon The invention relates to bags and to means for and methods of producing same.

The bag of the invention is of a type, hereinafter referred to as a bag of the type described, having an open top, closed bottom and a pair of opposed lateral edges and being formed by a procedure including the step of folding a sheet of material so as to provide the said edges and so that terminal portions of the sheet overlap one another intermediate the said edges, and joining the said portions together where they overlap.

In bags of the type described, which are particularly exemplified by flat bags but which may also include gusseted bags, the bottom closure is commonly provided by upwardly folding a bottom portion of the laterally folded sheet and joining it to the upper portion.

Bags of the type described are conventionally and advantageously produced by separating successive length portions from an elongate strip of sheet material such as paper as it passes in its length direction on a continuously operating machine, applying a line of adhesive parallel to the said length direction for the joining of the overlapping portions, folding the material along lines also parallel to the said length direction to form the lateral edges, bringing the overlapping portions into contact with one another so that they are joined by the adhesive, and subsequently applying further adhesive to and upwardly folding the bottom portion to provide the bottom closure.

The object of the invention is to provide a bag which, whilst not losing the above mentioned advantage of being capable of continuous production, offers an additional feature by which its usefulness and desirability is enhanced.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a bag of the type described wherein the overlapping portion of the sheet extends beyond where it joins the overlapped portion and the extension is provided with a line of weakening whereby it may be separated from the bag.

Preferably the line of weakening comprises a first length portion and at least a second length portion at an angle to the first length portion. The first length portion of the line of weakening may be generally parallel to at least one of the lateral edges, and the second and any further length portion may be generally parallel to the bottom.

Preferably the extension does not project beyond the lateral edges of the bag and it may be releasably secured to the bag at a position diagonally spaced from the angle between the first and second length portions.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of producing a bag of the type described comprising the steps separating successive length portions from an elongate strip of sheet material, folding the portions to form the lateral edges and applying a line of adhesive for the joining of the overlapping and overlapped portions parallel to the length direction of the strip whereby the overlapping portion extends beyond the line of adhesive, and forming a line of weakening in the overlapping portion whereby it may be separated from the bag, and applying adhesive to and upwardly folding the bottom portion to form the bottom closure.

Preferably the line of weakening is formed by perforation of the sheet material.

According to yet a further aspect of the invention there are provided means for producing a bag of the type described comprising means for separating successive length portions from an elongate strip of sheet material, means for folding the portions to form the lateral edges and for applying a line of adhesive for the joining of the overlapping and overlapped portions parallel to the Length direction of the strip whereby the overlapping portion extends beyond the line of adhesive, and means for forming a line of weakening in the overlapping portion whereby it may be separated from the bag, and means for applying adhesive to and upwardly folding the bottom portion to form the bottom closure.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings of which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a strip of sheet material including a length portion for forming into a bag, Fig. 2 is a plan view of a bag formed from the length portion shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section on lines Ill-Ill of Fig. 2.

The portion of strip material shown in Fig. 1 is part of a longer strip being fed through a machine in the direction shown by arrow 22 generally in its own plane from a supply reel (not shown). A length portion B is separated from the upstream portion C by a line of severance 28 and from the downstream portion A by a similarly shaped line of severance 2.

The line of severance 2 comprises two portions 4 extending perpendicularly from the edges of the strip and an intermediate portion 6 parallel to but offset backwardly from the portions 4 relative to the direction 22.

Lines of severance 2 and 28 are both gimped and because they are similarly shaped the trailing edge of portion A corresponds to the-trailing edge of portion B and the leading edge of portion C is similar to the leading edge of portion B. The strip is severed along lines 2 and 28 by successive action of an intermittently operating shearing device as the strip moves through the machine.

The portion B is provided with a line 14 of perforations parallel to edge 26 and transverse lines 1 6, 1 8 of perforations perpendicular to edge 26. A line of adhesive such as paste is applied to the upper face of the sheet as shown in the figure along line 12 or to the reverse of the sheet as shown along shaded line 10.

The portion B is folded through 1 80C along line 8b parallel to edge 24 so that panel X overlies panel Y as shown in Fig. 3. Similarly, B is folded through 1 800 in the opposite direction along line 82a parallel to edge 26 so that panel Z overlies panel Y and overlaps panel X. The overlapping of panel X by panel Z brings lines 10, 12 into coincidence so that a joint is formed by the adhesive between the overlapping panels so as to form a closed loop.

In the thus folded form, the portion of panel Z between adhesive line 12 and edge 26 represents an extension from the closed loop.

To form the bottom closure of the bag the sheet material is folded through 1 800 along line 20 and the portions upstream and downstream of the fold line are stuck together by adhesive as shown in Fig. 2.

As particularly shown in Fig. 2 the lines of perforation 14, 16 lie in the extension portion of the panel Z clear of the line of adhesive 10, 12 and clear of the bottom closure. That portion of the extension defined by lines 14 and 16 and portions of edges 26 and 4 can be readily detached from the bag without detracting from its bag-like form.

By providing the line 18 of perforations the detachable portion may itself be separated into two parts or the two parts may be detached from the bag on separate occasions. If the size of the bag or the flexibility of the sheet material of which it is made so requires, the extension portion of panel Z may be releasably secured to the panel X by a spot of adhesive 30 and there may be, if necessary, a further spot of adhesive at 32.

The or each of the detachable portions may be used with or without printing thereon for example as a book mark. Preferably however the portion will be printed and may be used as a money-off coupon or other voucher.

In another application the bag itself may be used to represent or to carry an entry in a competition and in such case the detachable portion may be used as a counterfoil or retainable copy of the competition entry. For this or other purposes the detachable portion may be numbered, preferably sequentially with the corresponding portions of other bags produced on the same machine. In yet another application the detachable portion may be used as part of a security check system in the supply of retail goods supplied to the customer in bags according to the invention.

Claims (6)

1. A bag of the type described wherein the overlapping portion of the sheet extends beyond where it joins the overlapped portion and the extension is provided with a line of weakening whereby it may be separated from the bag.

2. A bag according to Claim 1 wherein the line of weakening comprises a first portion generally parallel to at least one of the lateral edges and at least one further portion extending generally parallel to the bottom from the first portion to the free edge of the extension.

3. A bag according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the extension is releasably secured to the bag at a position diagonally spaced from the angle between the first and a further portion of the line of weakness.

4. A method of producing a bag of the type described comprising the steps separating successive length portions from an elongate strip of sheet material, folding the portions to form the lateral edges and applying a line of adhesive for the joining of the overlapping and overlapped portions parallel to the length direction of the strip whereby the overlapping portion extends beyond the line of adhesive, and forming a line of weakening in the overlapping portion whereby it may be separated from the bag, and applying adhesive to and upwardly folding the bottom portion to form the bottom closure.

5. A method as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the line of weakening is formed by perforation of the sheet material.

6. A bag of the type described substantially as described with reference to the drawings.