GB2416754A

GB2416754A - Carrying and closure means of a bag

Info

Publication number: GB2416754A
Application number: GB0515686A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Adam Dickinson
Original assignee: Euro Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: Euro Packaging Ltd
Priority date: 2004-07-29
Filing date: 2005-07-29
Publication date: 2006-02-08
Anticipated expiration: 2025-07-29
Also published as: GB0416875D0; GB0515686D0; GB2416754B

Abstract

A bag 36 comprises a flexible film tube sealed at one end to form a base 24 and open at the other to form a mouth 38. The bag has a separate elongate strap member 40 attached to the bag 36 at a first attachment point 26 proximate the base 24 of the bag 36 and a second attachment point 28 proximate the mouth of the bag. The strap member serves as a carrying handle and may have apertures 20, 22 through which the gathered mouth may be passed to close the bag. A method of making the bag comprising the steps of forming a tube of flexible material, laying an elongate strip of material on the flat tube, forming a bag base 24 by securing the walls of the flat tube together transverse to the longitudinal direction of the tube, securing the elongate strip to the tube at first point 26 adjacent the base line 24 and a second point 28 spaced from the base line. A bag mouth 38 is formed by at least partially cutting through the the walls transversely of the flat tube proximate the second point. The strap member may also be attached to the bag at 30.

Description

A

A BAG AND A METHOD OF MAKING A BAG

The present invention relates to a bag and a method of making a bag.

All domestic, industrial and retail environments use flexible film HDPE or LDPE bags or bags for the use of collection of waste articles or for the sorting of goods for disposal or reuse. Various bag designs have been produced with a variety of closure methods which allow the user to permanently or semi-permanently close the open mouth of the bag after filling to prevent the contents from spilling out.

Bags are produced via the use of blown film technology whereby the use of HDPE, LDPE and or recycled blended content is extruded into a tube. The tube is flattened with or without gusset features to form a closed width. The closed width determines the width of the supplied product unless further folding is used further to reduce the width of the tube of film. Conversion technology is used to place seals at periodic points along the length of the film tube, at which points a cut is placed adjacent to the seal to produce a length of bags, lo a tubular form with a seal at the base and an opening at the opposing end. If the cut is complete then the bag is collated typically into a flat stack. If the cut is interrupted to produce a perforated line, therefore not providing a clean break between the base of one bags and the top of the other, it is possible to roll the products with or without a core into rolls of a predetermined number of bags.

During the manufacture process it is typical that various cutting forms can be punched into tubular film, perpendicular to the surface of the film tube to provide advantageous results of handles and or closures. Top end markets are also catered for by the introduction of a length of tape which is bonded within an upper folded lip which runs along the open end of the bags, as the fold of the bags are sealed the tape is permanently installed, so as to provide a means of creating a drawer tape, therefore upon manual pulling by the user the open mouth of the bag is puckered to create a closure and usable handles.

It is advantageous to provide any means of closure within the standard production of the bag, for cost benefit reasons, as it is also preferable to create the additional Unction of the product within the materials or body of the product. One such product is known as TUK LOK (RTM) which provides a punched hole in one upper corner of the bag adjacent to the mouth of the bag to provides the user with the opportunity to place the opposing corner of the open mouth end through the hole to provide the bag with a loose means of closure.

The following is provided a summary of some known bag closure technologies.

Vest style handles, created by punching in the centre of the gusset areas of the film tube, to create two handles, such as a grocery carrier bag.

Bunny Ears, punched top to bottom in line with the film tube, to create projections along the open mouth edge of the bag, for means of providing the user with film elements to tie together to close the mouth of the bag.

Pull off tape, the semi-permanent inclusion of a thin gauge narrow width strip of film, typically 3mm in section which is included in the sealing of the film tube at the base end. The intention is that the strip is pulled away from the bag by the user and used to bind the open mouth of the bag closed.

Drawer tape, the inclusion of a side weld conversion technology whereby a strip of film approximately 25mm wide is introduced into a folded over rim of the open mouth end of the bag. The side welds of the bag providing the permanent means of bonding the tape in place. The user then pulls the tape in a direction away from the bag to pucker up the mouth of the bag to form a means of closure than can be re fastened.

TuKLok, use of a punched hole as described previously.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved bag.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a bag comprising a flexible film tube sealed at one end to form a base and open at the other to form a mouth, the bag having a separate elongate strap member attached to the bag at a first attachment point proximate the base of the bag and at a second attachment point proximate the mouth of the bag.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of making a bag comprising the steps of forming a tube of flexible material, laying the tube flat, laying an elongate strip of material on the flat tube, forming a bag base by securing the walls of the flat tube together along a base line transverse to the longitudinal direction of the tube, securing the elongate strip to the tube at a first point adjacent the base line and at a second point spaced from the base line and forming a bag mouth by at least partially cutting through the walls of the flat tube along a mouth line transverse to the longitudinal direction of the tube, the mouth line being arranged proximate the second part.

The invention relates to the introduction of a secondary component to the bag that is bonded into a seal on the bag. The component is formed of HDPE, LDPE or other suitable blend of like materials or alternate suitable material whereby the material is in the form of a strap of appropriate thickness to be used to lift the weight of the contents of the bag without breaking.

The strap is provided at the same length as the height of the intended bag, and is produced with a single or plurality of registered or random apertures. The intention for the user, is that upon completion of the filling of the bag, the open mouth of the bag can be gathered together and inserted through the aperture provided in the strap. The size of the aperture is appropriate in size to allow easy insertion of the open mouth end of the bag film, but small enough that it provides tension and grip around the entire bag neck to create a closure.

Where multiple apertures are available on the strip the open end of the mouth of the bag can be inserted through a multitude of apertures to create stronger grip on the neck of the bag. Advantageously the bag can be closed and reopened throughout the filling of the bag by utilising the apertures in the strap at the differing lengths appropriate to the required volume of the filled bag.

A neck of the bag is described as being the area below the open mouth of the bag where the user has gathered the film tube to a narrow diameter, to create a restricted aperture. This can also be created by the twisting of the base of the bag against the neck of the bag, therefore providing additional security of closure. Although the twisted neck feature becomes loose when the user releases either the base end of the bag or the top of the bag.

The strap apertures can be described as punched, cut or formed apertures which do not have precipitating edges or sharp corners, to reduce the risk of the strap being split by the insertion of the neck of the bag. The apertures can be placed in either registered locations appropriate to the height of the stack or in a random repeat therefore not requiring registered sealing to the body of the bag.

The aperture may be a clean hole, slit or overlap, which may also include an aperture which is variable in size via means of lines of weakening placed at appropriate points adjacent to a primary aperture. The lines of weakening may also extend between two or more predetermined apertures.

The length of the strap is preferably the same length as the height of the bag, although use of a strap that is shorter than the length of the height of the bag by means of bonding the strap onto the face of the bag is advantageous on costs. Use of materials that stretch in either length or width may also be advantageous to provide additional benefits in application, closure and or handle formation.

Manufacture of the said strap onto a bag is preferably undertaken via the use of an unwind reel over the lay flat film tube pre-bag conversion, notably the strap is placed to the upper face of the film tube. The first embodiment is via the utilisation of the current manufacturing equipment to incorporate the bonding of the strap to the bag at the point of sealing of the base of the bag.

The second embodiment is the bonding of the strap to the face of the bag at a point where there is no current film tube bonding.

The user may grasp the mouth of the bag above the neck and strap closure, and when the strap is bonded to the seal of the bag, also grasp the body of the strap closer to the base of the bag as a means of providing a secondary lifting point. It is known that bags full of garbage for example are notoriously difficult to manually lift, there are no bags on the market that enable a full bag to be picked up by any area other than the mouth of the bag either by use of a handle or by grasping the twisted neck of the bag. The use of the closure strap as means of a secondary handle allows the user to hold the weight of the bag in two hands, whilst the hand locations are at suitably wide stance to be able to control the lifting of the bag whilst holding it away from the body. The instance of a wide lifting stance allows the user to control the movement and lifting height of the base of the bag independent to the movement of the mouth of the bag, ie each hand offers a range of movement that grasping a typical bag by the mouth alone does not provide.

Any aperture provided therein of the strap face can advantageously be used as a grasping/handle point.

The use of a coloured strap can be used to accentuate the use and application of the bag. The use of print or visual indicator on the strap in registration or repeat can also be advantageous particularly with recycle policies as different colours and messages can be communicated on the strap and therefore not printed on the bag. A higher degree of print quality and definition can be achieved on the strap as opposed to the film bag face.

The use of advertising and cross merchandising on the strap is also advantageous.

A perforated form is provided in the face of the strap which allows the user to tear out a potion of the strap, which may be printed with for example a promotional voucher that may be redeemed in an appropriate retail environment. This feature once removed via lines of weakening may then be used as the closure aperture or a grasping point.

A bag and a method of making a bag in accordance with the invention will now be described in detail by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 a is a perspective view of a tube of flexible material, Fig. lb is a perspective view of a flattened tube of flexible material, Fig. 1 c is a perspective view of the flattened tube of Fig. lb with an elongate strip of material laid thereof, Fig. 1 d is a perspective view of the flattened tube of Fig. to with attachment and cut lines shown, Fig.2 is a perspective view of a bag in accordance with the invention, Fig.3 is a roll of Fig.2 bags, Figs.4a and 4b show the bag of Fig.2 in use, Fig.5 is a roll of alternative bags in accordance with the invention, Fig.6 shows a bag from the roll of Fig.5 in use.

Figs. 1 a-d illustrate a method of making a bag in accordance with the invention. In Fig.la, a tube 10 having a longitudinal axis A of flexible material is produced and flattened to form flattened tube 12 in Fig.lb. The flattened tube 12 has front and rear walls 14, 16 respectively.

After flattening the tube, an elongate strip of material 18 is laid parallel with the longitudinal axis and approximately centrally of the flattened tube 12, on the front wall 14 thereof. A series of pairs of apertures 20, 22 are formed through the strip 18 at regular spaced intervals. The apertures 20, 22 are spaced apart from each other with a relatively small spacing and the aperture pairs are spaced apart with a relatively large spacing, nominally equivalent to the length of each bag.

Turning to Fig.ld, the walls 14, 16 of the flat tube 12 are secured together, for example by heat sealing along the base line 24 which extends fully across the width of the flat tube 12 transverse to the axis A. The action of heat sealing the walls 14, 16 together preferably also heat seals part of the strip 18 to the front wall 14 at the first attachment point 26.

A second securing operation occurs to secure the strip 18 to the front wall 14 of the flat tube 12 at a second attachment point 28 which is spaced from the first attachment point 26 and is adjacent the pair of apertures 20, 22.

Optionally, a third securing step is taken to secure the strip 18 to the front wall 14 of the flat tube 12 at a third attachment 30 between the first and second attachment points 26, 28. The flat tube 12 is then cut across the width thereof along a perforated line 32 beneath the base line 24. The operation is repeated along the length of the tube 12 and the tube is rolled to form a roll 34 of bags 36.

Each bag 36 can be separated from the roll 34 by detaching the bag 36 along the perforated line 32. The bag 36 comprises a flat tube 12 with front and rear walls 14, 16, a closed base 24 and an open mouth end 38. The strip of material 18 now forms a strap 40 which is attached at attachment point 26 at the base 24, at second attachment point 28 proximate the mouth 38 and a third, intermediate attachment point 30 disposed closer to the base attachment point 26 than the mouth attachment point 28. The end of the strap 40 extends beyond the mouth attachment point 28 and the mouth of the attachment point 28 is actually spaced slightly from the mouth 38 so as to create a free end 42 of the strap 40. The free end 42 has the apertures 20, 22 formed therein.

Figs.4a and 4b illustrate the bag of Fig.2 in use. The bag 36 is used in the normal manner as a refuse bag and, once full, the open mouth 38 is bunched up and pushed through the aperture 22 closest to the second attachment point 28. The free end 42 of the strap 40 is then folded back upon itself and the bunched mouth which is projecting through the aperture 22 is pushed through the aperture 20 and the free end 42 of the strap 40 is pulled tight. This serves to secure the mouth 38 of the bag 36 closed.

The strap 40 then provides a convenient way of lifting the bag 36. The user can grasp the bunched part of the mouth 38 which is projecting through the apertures 22, 20 with one hand and the strap 40 towards the base end of the bag 36 with the other. That allows convenient control of the weight of the bag and by providing a wider lifting stance, the user can hold the bag further away from his or her body, bearing in mind the hygiene considerations, and can control the bag while walking more readily than lifting by the mouth of the bag alone.

Conveniently, the intermediate attachment point 30 is spaced from the base attachment point 26 by a distance which is just greater than the width of a hand of the user.

That provides a secure looped handle enabling the user to apply lifting force to the base without having to retain a frictional grip on the strap 40. The intermediate attachment point prevents the users hand from sliding along the strap 40 in the event of carrying a heavy bag.

Figs.5 and 6 illustrate an alternative bag also in accordance with the invention. The bag of Figs.5 and 6 is identical to that shown in Figs.2-4 and parts corresponding to parts in Figs.2-4 carry the same reference numerals.

The bag 36 in Fig.5 is identical to the bag in Fig.2 with the exception that only one aperture 20 is formed through the free end 42 of the strap 40.

In use, the bunched mouth 38 is pulled through the aperture 20 and the free end is pulled tight. If desired, the bunched mouth end 38 could be folded back underneath the free end 42 of the strap 40 and reinserted back through the aperture 20 to provide additional security.

The bag of Fig.5 provides a less secure closure of the bag when full but is less complicated to manufacture.

The strip of material 18 may be made of a stronger material than the bag material but is preferably of a material which is heat sealable to the bag material. In any case, the strip of material 18 preferably has a wall thickness thicker than the bag.

Claims

Claims 1. A bag comprising a flexible film tube sealed at one end to form

a base and open at the other to form a mouth, the bag having a separate elongate strap member attached to the bag at a first attachment point proximate the base of the bag and at a second attachment point proximate the mouth of the bag.
2. A bag according to claim 1, in which the strap member is attached to the bag at a third attachment point between the first and second attachment points.
3. A bag according to claim 1 or 2, in which the strap member has an aperture formed therethrough near the second attachment point.
4. A bag according to claim 3, in which a second aperture is formed through the strap slightly spaced from the first aperture.
5. A bag according to any preceding claim, in which the second attachment point is spaced slightly from the mouth end.
6. A bag according to any preceding claim, in which the strap is made from a stronger material than that of the bag.
7. A bag according to any preceding claim, in which the strap has a material wall thickness greater than the material wall thickness of the bag.
8. A bag according to any preceding claim, in which the strap has a breadth of 20-50mm, preferably 30mm.
9. A bag according to any preceding claim, in which the first attachment point is at the base of the bag.
10. A bag according to any preceding claim, in which the strap is arranged generally centrally of the bag, when laid flat.
11. A bag according to any of claims 1 to 9, in which the strap is offset from the central line of the bag, when laid flat.
12. A method of making a bag comprising the steps of forming a tube of flexible material, laying the tube flat, laying an elongate strip of material on the flat tube, forming a bag base by securing the walls of the flat tube together along a base line transverse to the longitudinal direction of the tube, securing the elongate strip to the tube at a first point adjacent the base line and at a second point spaced from the base line and forming a bag mouth by at least partially cutting through the walls of the flat tube along a mouth line transverse to the longitudinal direction of the tube, the mouth line being arranged proximate the second part.
13. A method of making a bag according to claim 12, in which the step of securing the walls comprises heat sealing the walls together.
14. A method of making a bag according to claim 12 or 13, in which the first point is on the base line.
15. A method of making a bag according to claim 14, in which the elongate strip is secured to the tube at the first point in the same step as the base is formed.
16. A method of making a bag according to any of claims 12 to 15, in which the elongate strip has one or more apertures formed therein.
17. A method of making a bag according to claim 16 in which the step of forming the apertures in the strip occurs before the strip is laid on the flat tube.
18. A method of making a bag according to any of claims 12 to 15, in which the elongate strip is printed with indicia.