GB2136395A

GB2136395A - A bag package

Info

Publication number: GB2136395A
Application number: GB08405688A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Arne Froidh
Original assignee: Molnlycke Vafveri AB
Current assignee: Essity Hygiene and Health AB
Priority date: 1983-03-09
Filing date: 1984-03-05
Publication date: 1984-09-19
Also published as: FI840884A0; SE8301284L; NO840845L; DK102484A; GB8405688D0; DE3408485A1; NL8400725A; FI840884A; BE899100A; FR2542287A1; DK102484D0; SE8301284D0

Abstract

A bag intended for automatic packaging of e.g. sanitary towels, comprises a front and a rear part (7, 8) and a bottom (9), a transverse strip (10) being arranged on the front part at its free end portion, the strip being united with the front part by spot welds (11, 12) at least along the upper edge of the latter. After filling, the bag is intended to be sealed by welding, subsequent to which the bag is openable by breaking said spot welds (11, 12) and possible further seals (15), so that the strip acts as a flip-top for the bag. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A bag package The present invention relates to a bag of weldable material, intended for the automatic packaging, preferably of hygiene articles such as sanitary towels, the bag having a substantially parallelepipedic shape in a filled condition.

Packages of this kind are usually placed in shop shelves so that one short end of the package is displayed straight outwards and one side surface is visible from above. The manufacturer wants to have his goods information on these surfaces visible on shop shelves, and it is therefore important that these surfaces are whole and unbroken, and that the text can be placed so that it is readable when the package is on the shelf.

When the articles are packed in the bag, these are fed in from one end, which is then closed with a weld seam. When it is a question of packing a plurality of hygiene articles, such as sanitary towels, it is important that the bag can be closed after removing a towel so that the remaining articles are protected against becoming dirty. The closure means is normally a so-called flip top which is formed by one short side being connected with one side surface of the package, and has an extended portion intended to be caused to overlap a portion of the other side surface, and which is welded along its side edges to both side surfaces of the package. The flip top can be pulled up for opening the short end of the package and once again closed by flipping back again.One has so far been unable to manufacture bags with the flip top arranged at the short end where the articles are fed in automatically, and where the bag is sealed with a weld seam after filling, and the flip top has been arranged at the opposite end.

It is not suitable to have printed goods information at the filling end of the package, since this end is welded and cut after filling and the position of the weld seams cannot be exactly determined beforehand, particularly not when the content in the bag consists of compressible material such as sanitary towels. Goods information must consequently be printed on the surface forming the opposite end of the package and where the flip top is arranged. Placing goods information on one future end wall of the package determines the orientation of the information which is to be put on the side surface which is to be displayed together with the end wall on the shop shelves.

Since the end where the flip top is arranged forms a natural top to the package, the consumer will normally place the package with this top, and thereby the opening, upwards, resulting in that the important goods information on the side surfaces of the package will be upside-down and thus unreadable.

The object of the present invention is to provide a bag intended for automatic packing where the above-mentioned disadvantage has been eliminated.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a bag of weldable material for automatic packaging, preferably of hygiene articles such as sanitary towels, in a filled condition the bag having a substantially parallelepipedic form, wherein the bag is formed substantially in one piece with a front part, a rear part and a bottom with the front and rear parts welded together along the edges thereof in the longitudinal direction of the bag, a transverse strip being arranged at the free end portion of the front of the bag and attached by the edge welds to the bag, the transverse strip also being united with the said free end portion at least along the edge thereof with the aid of spot welds, after being filled the bag being intended to be sealed by welding, which it is openable by breaking the spot welds and possible further seals.

In contradistinction to previous measures, the goods information can now be printed on the natural bottom of the package, in turn resulting in that information on the sides of the package can be orientated such that it will be readable on the shop shelf together with the information on the bottom of the package, as well as being correctly placed with its bottom downwards.

The invention will now be described in detail in conjunction with embodiments illustrated on the appended drawings, whereon Fig. 1 illustrates a package of the kind intended by the invention but of previously known embodiment. Fig. 2 illustrates the package according to Fig. 1 in another position. Fig. 3 illustrates the bag in accordance with the invention in a flat condition, and Fig. 4 is a section along the line IV--IV in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section of the same kind as in Fig. 4 but of a bag in a somewhat modified implementation. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate the inventive bag filled and sealed.

The bag illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is produced from a thermoplastic material. The bag comprises a front part 1 and a rear part 2, which are united with the aid of weld seams 3. The rear part 2 is extended to form the top 4 of the bag and a flip top 5, which is intended, as is apparent from Figs.

1 and 2, to overlap the front part 1. The flip top portion 5 is welded at 6 with the weld seam 3.

How the flip top is opened is illustrated in Fig. 1.

Filling the package according to Figs. 1 and 2 takes place from one short end (the bottom), which is subsequently sealed with a weld seam (not shown). The packages are normally placed lying down on shop shelves, as illustrated in Fig. 2, with one short end and a side surface exposed.

Goods information should therefore be placed on the bag blank so that the information will be visible both on the short side and the side surface in accordance with placing of the mark A in Fig. 2.

Since sealing the bag is performed at its bottom, this cannot be printed beforehand with goods information, and the top of the package must be provided with the information. The disadvantage with this will be seen from Fig. 1, where the information on the side of the package is upside down when the bag is placed with its natural top upwards.

The package blank for a bag in accordance with the invention illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 is substantially formed in one piece from thermoplastics with a front part 7, a rear part 8 and a bottom 9. The front and rear parts are welded together along the edges in the longitudinal direction of the bag. As will be most clearly seen from Fig. 4, the front part 7 is somewhat shorter than the rear part, and at the free end portion of the former there is arranged a transverse strip 10, which is attached in the edge welds of the bag and also with the aid of spot welds along its length at 11 and 12. Two holes 13, 14 for suspending the bag blank in the packing machine are arranged in the upper portion of the rear part 8.

Filling the bag takes place in the direction of the arrow B in Figs. 3 and 4, and the bag is sealed by welding together the upper edge portion of the strip 10 and the rear part 8, the portion of which above the weld seam is simultaneously clipped off. In the package thus formed, strip 10 serves as a flip top after breaking the spot welds 11, 12.

The embodiment of the bag blank illustrated in Fig. 5 is in substantial accord with the embodiment according to Fig. 4, and corresponding details in both figures have been provided with the same reference numerals. The strip 10 in Fig. 5 does not extend above the front part 7. The bag is sealed by welding together the front and rear parts and the strip. The front part 8 is provided with a perforation 15 extending in the lateral direction of the bag under the strip 10.

The advantage with the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 5 is that the package is completely sealed until the perforation is broken, which is of course essential from a hygienic aspect.

Packages formed by the bag blanks in Figs.

3-5 are illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. The package according to Fig. 6 is erected with the top upwards, i.e. with the flip top opening formed by the strip 10 upwards. Since the sealing weld, denoted by 1 6 in Fig. 6, is upwards, goods information can be printed beforehand on the bag blank such that this information, as will be seen from the mark A in Fig. 7, comes on the bottom and side surfaces of the package. The bag can therefore be placed on shop shelves so that the bottom and upper side is displayed according to Fig. 7. When the package is erect with the top upwards, goods information is shown the right round on the side surface.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and a plurality of modifications are possible within the scope of the following

Claims

claims. For example, the transverse strip 10 can be placed on the inside of the front part 7 and extend a distance above the upper edge of this part, in a similar manner as in Fig. 4. The strip 10 can also be placed on the inside of the front part 7 with its upper edge at a level with the upper edge thereof, i.e. approximately as in Fig. 5 but with the strip 10 on the inside and with a perforation in the strip instead of in the front part. CLAIMS

1. A bag of weldable material for automatic packaging, preferably of hygiene article such as sanitary towels, in a filled condition the bag having a substantially parallelepipedic form, wherein the bag is formed substantially in one piece with a front part, a rear part and a bottom with the front and rear parts welded together along the edges thereof in the longitudinal direction of the bag, a transverse strip being arranged at the free end portion of the front part of the bag and attached by the edge welds to the bag, the transverse strip also being united with the said free end portion at least along the edge thereof with the aid of spot welds, after being filled the bag being intended to be sealed by welding, after which it is openable by breaking the spot welds and possible further seals.

2. A bag as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the rear part of the bag is longer than the front part and the transverse strip on the front part projects upwardly a distance above the edge thereof and is intended to be united with the said rear part.

3. A bag as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the front part is provided with a row of perforations under the strip and the front and rear parts, together with the strip, are intended to be welded together to seal the bag.

4. A bag of weldable material substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in any one of Figures 3 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.