JP2005524582A - Container and filling method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A container, comprising a bag of flexible sheet material, in the flat state, two opposing side walls (2) substantially in contact with each other, on opposite side edges (5) With a side wall sealed along, and the bag further comprises a bottom wall (3) folded in half with two regions (31) received between the lower part of the side wall (2) and facing each other. A container in which a part of the edge of the bottom wall is joined and sealed. A side edge of the bottom wall is connected to the side wall at its side edge (5) at least in the vicinity of the fold line (32), and is substantially the lower edge of the side wall when the container is in a flat state. Over the entire length, a string-like material (4) of elastic, flexible material is connected to each side wall (2) at its lower edge (21) and the two string-like materials are separated from each other. The container is filled by inserting a generally plate-like spout into the flat neck of the container and injecting liquid through this spout, after which the neck is sealed. The containers are connected to each other as a connected body of containers joined together at the side edges.

Description

  The invention relates to a container and a container of the kind described in the preamble of the appended independent claim intended for a continuum of such containers.

  The invention also relates to a method of filling such a container with a fluid material.

  A disadvantage of the known containers, especially those for liquids, is that a relatively large amount of packaging material is required for the containers to be stable. At the same time, there is a problem that this container requires a considerable space when it is discarded and released for recycling after use.

  It is known to fill liquids in a “pillow-type container” of flexible material. However, one of the disadvantages of a pillow-type container made of thin flexible sheet material is that the container has little or no stability, i.e. it cannot be placed in a stable orientation on a horizontal surface and is easy to fall over. Therefore, it is particularly inconvenient if the container is once opened for drinking.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a container having two opposed side walls that are substantially in contact with each other when in a flat and unfilled state, and a folded bottom wall received between the lower portions of the side walls, The edges of the bottom wall are mated and sealed, and the side walls are mated and sealed along opposing substantially parallel side edges. For this reason, the bag in the flat state is considered to be formed from the longitudinal portion of a continuous strip of plastic foil folded to have a W-shape, and the separated edges of this longitudinal portion. Are sealed by a weld seam extending across the length of the continuous strip.

  According to Patent Document 1, the lower edge of each side wall is welded flat to the adjacent edge of the bottom wall such that a fin-like portion is formed along the lower edge of each side wall. When the bag is filled, these fins form a band around the bottom of the bag. In this filled container, when the container stands on the surface, the fins are located with their free ends somewhat above the surface and their bag / container joint above the surface and the surface. It extends downward so that the intervals are equal. When the bag is filled, the band formed by the fins takes on a somewhat conical shape that narrows towards the bottom. The attachment portion of the fin-like portion to the side wall is hardly rigid, and the fin-like portion itself is hardly rigid. For this reason, the fins / bands cannot provide any substantial resistance to prevent the bags that are filled with liquid and standing on the surface from falling down.

Indeed, although such containers can be stabilized by placing them in a type of holder that provides the desired stability, this solution has not been widely used in practice.
French Patent No. 1597215

  Thus, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a container formed by a bag of thin flexible sheet material that is substantially somewhat less rigid, the bag comprising a material, in particular a fluid material, In more detail, it is sealed after filling with a liquid, and a pillow type container is created.

  For this reason, the object of the present invention is that the container sheet material itself is substantially lacking rigidity, but nevertheless it can stand on its own when standing on a horizontal surface and filled with fluid material, and with some care. By providing a container that, when lifted, provides stability to the container so that the user can drink it from its container or pour it from the generally horizontal upper edge of the opened container. is there.

  For this reason, it aims at eliminating said inconvenience.

  This object is achieved by the present invention.

  The invention is defined in the attached independent claims of the container.

  Embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the accompanying dependent claims relating to the container.

  The invention also includes a method of filling a container according to the invention with a fluid material, in particular a liquid.

  The method according to the invention is defined in the appended independent claims relating to this method.

  Embodiments of this method are defined in the appended dependent claims relating to this method.

  The purpose of this method is to achieve rapid filling of the container with liquid while using the container according to the present invention, with very little air bubbles occurring in the container before closing.

  The container intermediate material according to the invention comprises a bag of flexible material, which is flattened prior to filling the material, the flat container bag being two opposing, parallel and substantially in contact with each other. Having side walls that are sealed along opposite side edges and the bag has a bottom wall that extends across a width portion of the wide wall, the half of the bottom wall being associated Folded at the bottom of the side wall toward the inside of the adjacent side wall. The portions of the bottom wall edge that contact each other are mated and sealed. The end of the bottom wall is connected to the side wall at its side edge seam, at least near the polyline. A string of elastic, flexible material is connected to the outside of each side wall at its lower edge along substantially the entire length of the lower edge of the side wall. In the tested embodiment of the invention, the wall was made of a 0.1 mm thick plastic foil, and the string height was about 1.5 mm in the vertical direction of the bag and 0.4 mm thick. . The string was attached to the outside of the side wall along the entire height of the side wall. This string suppressed any tendency of the container to fall. The container had a substantially circular cross section with a diameter of 100 mm and a height of about 200 mm.

  It is important that this string is formed so as to cover the junction between the side wall of the filled bag and the bottom of the bag on a flat surface.

  This string-like part is preferably connected to the side wall so that it cannot be inclined with respect to the side wall.

  For a container having a diameter of about 100 mm and a wall thickness of about 0.1 mm, the string may have a thickness of at least 0.05 mm and a height of at least 0.2 mm. The stability of the container increases with increasing string thickness or height. As mentioned above, this string works well for a 100 mm diameter container when the wall is made of a flexible plastic foil with a thickness of 0.1 mm, and the string has a height of 1.5 mm. When having a thickness of ˜2 mm and a thickness of 0.4 mm, when the string-like part is fixed to the outside of the wall so that it cannot incline in the vertical plane, and so that the string-like part contacts the surface on which the bag stands When placed, i.e., the string works well when forming the perimeter of an unfolded bottom wall that stands on a horizontal surface when the filled bag is oriented longitudinally . For this reason, the string-like part is connected to the wall at least at its upper part and lower part, preferably at substantially its entire height.

  Such a flat container exhibits a circular cross-section as the liquid is filled, as the folded edge of the bottom wall moves downwards towards a plane that is well stretched by two string-like materials. . Connecting the bottom wall to the seam of the side wall at least near the first fold of the bottom wall ensures that the cross-sectional shape of the lower part of the liquid-filled container is forcibly controlled. The width of the container is defined by the width of the bottom wall. The string material provides stabilization of the container. The string-like material has a generally U-shaped curved shape in the horizontal plane, thus defining a stable transition between the vertical sidewall and the horizontal bottom of the liquid-filled container, and this unfolded state Seems to hold. Therefore, the string-like portion seems to prevent the side wall from falling and curving outward to become a horizontal bottom wall.

  Also, stabilization of the container in the horizontal direction extending through the connecting lines on the side walls is obtained, thereby preventing the container from collapsing in this direction. Further, the string-like portion may be formed from a continuous portion that is arranged slightly apart if possible. However, it is preferred that the string is substantially rigid and extends below the entire lower edge of the container when flat.

  In one embodiment, the laced material may be applied as a prefabricated lace connected to the sidewall. Alternatively, the string may be applied as a string of non-solidified plastic material, such as a string co-extruded with a plastic film or a string of hot melt adhesive. In another embodiment, a thin elastic continuous strip of plastic film can be bonded to each side wall near and along its lower edge by conventional bonding techniques. For this reason, the string-like material can be bonded using radiation, ultrasonic waves, adhesive bonding, soldering or welding techniques, double-sided tape or the like.

  Flat empty containers can be made as a continuum of containers that are connected to each other at the side edges of the side walls. For this purpose, the containers are connected to each other by a connecting seam that joins the side walls and has a tear line in the central region, i.e. weak lines that allow the containers to be easily separated from each other. Alternatively, the connection seam may have a cut extending as close as possible to the top of the container.

  The container continuum is suitably made from a continuous strip of plastic film provided in the manufacturing process using the string material, such as by extrusion. A similar straight string may be extruded along the side edge of the continuous plastic strip. At this time, the continuous strip is flattened to have a W-shape so that the lower continuous strip is positioned as described above. At this time, the continuous strips can be sealed with transverse seams to form a continuum, and tear indications or cuts can be incorporated into these seams.

  The string-like material reinforces the opening of the container at the opening edge of the container and facilitates handling of the container continuum and the container. The string portion may be connected to the container only in the central region in the longitudinal direction. The open edge of the container, which contains the string material above the neck closure of the container, is removed after the neck has been sealed and these are used for the string material at the lower edge of the container side wall. It may be returned to a production point for continuous strips where the residue can be reworked.

  The reused material usually gains some rigidity than the original material of the film and can therefore be used advantageously to form the string material in a continuous strip.

  The method of filling a container according to the invention is directed with the container having an opening in the flat state facing upwards and then considerably wider (more than 70% of the length of the container is suitable, preferably at least 90% or more, and the bag A liquid-filled base (which preferably has the same width as the length of) is inserted into the slight thickness between the side walls parallel to the base and lowered into the container for a while, and then the liquid is used to fill the bag. Injecting through. Since this bag is substantially flat at first even after the filling cap is inserted, there is no air capacity in the container at first, so that when the liquid is injected, no bubbles appear in the container. There is little or no appearance. This is natural if the liquid or fill tube does not contain any substantial amount of gas. The base is essentially formed from an elastic, flexible material and, in the unloaded state, has two normally flat walls that are arranged substantially in contact with each other, and these walls have a base that is Flexible to be expanded by liquid flowing through it. This means that when the liquid flow is interrupted, the base seals itself to some extent.

  A series of such nozzles may be provided for moving with the continuum or each container to fill the container during transport. This base may be arranged to move through the circulation path simultaneously with the continuum / container, so that it can be inserted or withdrawn from the container during transport. A pair of flexible fastening jaws may fasten the neck of the bag to the base along the length of the neck of the bag during the filling operation. This fastening jaw is pre-pressed appropriately and flexibly in the mutual direction to the closed position, so that the neck of the bag can be fastened after the base is removed. Moreover, this fastening jaw may be created as a welding jaw.

  When the container is filled, the neck of the bag is sealed at right angles to the side edges to form a seal seam extending between the side edges of the side walls. Together with the adjacent triangular part of the container, the end of this seal seam is flattened in a conventional manner and folded towards the side wall of the container or the upper end wall of the container. Of course, the container can be sealed with other sealing means.

  The continuum of containers can be transported flat through a filling device in which the base is inserted into the neck of an empty bag for another filling.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a flat continuous strip 1 of thin flexible plastic film material folded into a W shape. This continuous strip comprises two side walls 2 whose free edges 22 are located close to each other. The central part 3 of the continuous strip 1 is bent between the side walls 2 via a polygonal line 21 and has a polygonal line 32 in the central region. Plot lines 21 and 32 define region 31.

  The longitudinal part of the continuous strip 1 is sealed by welding transversely to the longitudinal direction of the continuous strip, preferably perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and cut along the cut. A string of elastic, flexible material 4 is applied to the lower edge of each side wall 2 along substantially the entire width of the longitudinal portion. For the sake of clarity, the string 4 is shown in the drawing apart from the polygonal line 21, but in practice the string 4 must be close to the polygonal line 21. FIG. 1 shows the connecting seam 5, the broken line 32 and the broken line 21 when the longitudinal part 1 ′ is in a flat state.

  This longitudinal part 1 'forms a container intermediate material, where part 3' forms the bottom of the container when a fluid material, for example liquid, is injected between the top of the container, ie the edge 22 of the side wall 2. To do. When the injected liquid fills the capacity of the container, the container exhibits a circular cross section. The region 31 forms a flat bottom surface of the container in the plane expanded by the string-like portion 4. The bottom 3 and the string 4 of the filled container are intended to rest on a flat horizontal surface, so that the end of the region 31 connected to the side connection seam 5 is initially at the seam 5 Continue but deviate towards the plane.

  The region 31 is firmly connected integrally and is also connected to the side wall 2 in the vicinity of the point where at least the fold line 32 is connected to the connection seam, preferably the entire edge 21.

  The string-like part 4 can be affixed as a heat-dissolved string-like part arranged in the heated state on the edge 21 of each side wall 2. The flat container shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is filled via a generally plate-shaped base having a narrow and long passage area, which is connected from above to the opening edge 22 of the flat container. After that, the liquid is ejected through the base 7. Since there is no initial volume of air in the container 1 ', there is of course no air in the container 1' to be exhausted from the container when injecting liquid. Therefore, the filling can be carried out quickly without substantially generating bubbles. When liquid is injected into the container 1 ′, the distance between the edges 21 increases and the fold line 32 is between the edges 21 and of the string-like material 4 so that the region 31 is also in this horizontal plane. Move to the horizontal plane that spreads between them. The bottom wall 3 of the container usually rests on a substantially flat and horizontal surface. For this reason, the container 1 is stable, that is, the string-like material 4 exerts a strong stabilizing action on the container, and the bottom of the container has a shape as shown in FIG.

  The cross section of the container when it is filled with liquid is almost circular as it is determined by the circumference of the container, the width of the bottom 3 and the fact that the end of the bottom region 31 is connected to the connection seam 5. is there.

  It can also be seen from FIG. 5 that the container 1 'is formed from a continuous strip 1 utilizing a transverse seal seal seam 50 having a central tear indicator 1 capable of separating the container 1'. This aligned continuum of containers 1 'can be separated before or after filling the container with liquid. FIG. 5 shows that after filling, the continuum passes through a pair of welding jaws 8, only one of which is shown in FIG. 5, between which the container 1 'is connected to the upper edge by a connecting seam. Can seal at around 22. Furthermore, the filled and sealed containers can be separated, as indicated by line 9 in FIG.

  This example shows that the container is made from a continuous strip having a cross section according to FIG. However, other intermediate materials for the container illustrated in FIG. 1 may be used such that the starting intermediate material has a W-shaped cross section from the beginning and is sealed by two parallel connection seams 5. It should be clear that it can be formed by a method. It is of course also possible to establish the regions 2, 3 in the container 1 'in other ways through the connection welding of separate sheets and the application of an elastic string 4 as shown in the finished container 1.

  The container can be filled with a fluid material such as powder, cream, or liquid.

  When containers are given relatively large dimensions, especially when the height is approximately the same as the surroundings, special attention should be given to handling after opening the container if the volume is 0.5 l or more. . A dish-type support device is also conceivable in which the container can be placed when the contents have been drunk or poured.

  As mentioned above, the container continuum 1 'can be manufactured starting from a continuous strip of plastic film. During the production of this strip, the reinforcing string 4 can be completed as a continuous string 4 'that is formed when the film strip is extruded.

  As can be seen from FIG. 7, the continuous strip of film is a pair of coaxials with the outer periphery of the third wheel 132 projecting from below so that the plastic film is formed into a W shape as shown. It can be folded using conventional folding devices such as wheels 121 and suitable guide paths. In this case, the extruded string 4 'must be placed very close to the outer periphery of the lower part of the wheel 121 as shown in FIG. 7 in order to assume the position shown in the upright container. Of course, it doesn't happen.

  It is also clear from FIGS. 6 and 7 that a continuous strip of film can be provided with a longitudinal bead 23 near its free edge. The bead 23 reinforces the opening edge of the container 1 and also provides a support that can be suspended along the container and, if possible, moved along the corresponding storage facility before and / or after filling. The edge of the film strip containing the bead 23 can be removed when its function is achieved and then returned to the production plant where the film with the beads 4 'and 23 is attached.

  Finally, FIG. 8 shows that the ends of the transverse seal fins 81 and the adjacent corners at the top of the container are flattened, properly folded down and attached to the side wall 52 of the container, or A triangular corner flap 82 is formed that is folded upward and attached to the top surface.

  FIG. 9 shows the longitudinal portion of a strip of plastic film from which bags are made and dispensed. The strip comprises a laminate, the outer layer of the laminate forms the inner surface of the bag and is easy to weld, but the other layers are difficult to weld.

  For this purpose, a central recess 55 is arranged in the bottom wall 3 at each end of this piece. The recess 55 extends along each edge of the bottom wall, but does not continue completely to each side wall 2. The depth from the edge 51 of the fragment of the recess 55 is smaller than the width of the weld connection region 5, for example, half. For this reason, the lower part inside the side wall 2 is welded integrally along the weld connection area 5 in the area of the folded bottom wall 3 (31, 31) when the bag / intermediate material is flat. As a result, the folded bottom wall is welded to the side wall along the connection seam 5 while at the same time obtaining a durable connection in this region. This increases the strength of the weld connection between the side walls 2 at the bottom of the seam 5.

1 shows a flat packaging bag before filling according to the present invention. 1 schematically shows a cross section taken along line 11-11 of FIG. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the container illustrated in FIG. 1 during liquid filling before closing. The figure which follows the IV-IV line of FIG. 3 is shown schematically. The container continuous body shown by FIG. 1 is shown in the middle of passing the liquid filling section and the sealing section. Fig. 2 schematically shows a continuous strip of plastic film that can be used as starting material for the container according to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a wheel set in a folding device for producing an intermediate material from a continuous strip of plastic film for a container continuum. Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a container according to the invention closed and filled. The intermediate material for bags when flattened is shown.

Claims (10)

A container comprising a bag of flexible sheet material;
Two opposing sidewalls (2) in substantial contact with each other in the flat state, the sidewalls being sealed along opposing side edges (5);
The bag further comprises a folded bottom wall (3) having two regions (31) received between the lower portions of the side wall (2) and facing each other, part of the edge of the bottom wall In which the side wall edge of the bottom wall is connected to the side wall at its side edge (5) at least in the vicinity of the fold line (32),
When the container is in a flat state, a string-like material (4) is connected to each side wall (2) at its lower edge (21), which puts the filled container on the surface. A container, characterized in that it is sometimes arranged to contact the edge of the bottom wall. The string-like material (4) is integrated or affixed to the sheet material,
The two string-like materials of the container are separated from each other;
The string-like material is rigidly coupled to the outside of the side wall with respect to bending in a vertical plane;
The container according to claim 1, wherein:   Said container is formed from a longitudinal section of a continuous strip of thin plastic film, which is folded flat to have a W-shaped cross-section and is provided with transverse connecting seams (5) separated from each other. The container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above.   The neck of the container is closed by a sealing seam (81) in the longitudinal direction of the longitudinal part, and the end of the fin (81) is folded and fixed towards the adjacent container wall 4. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is flattened together with adjacent corners of the container to form a.   5. A continuum of containers according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the container (1 ') constitutes a connected longitudinal part of the continuous strip (1).   The continuum according to claim 5, characterized in that each longitudinal part (50) connecting the containers (1 ') comprises a weakening line (51).   Formed from a continuous strip of plastic film that is folded to have a W-shape and comprises a lace-like material along the lower edge of the container, the continuous strip being sealed by a transverse seal (5) The continuum according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that:   8. A continuous strip of plastic film, comprising a longitudinally extending string or bead (23) along its free edge that holds the container together. Continuum of.   A substantially plate-shaped base (7) is inserted into the flat neck of the bag parallel to the base, and the material is inserted into the bag through the base of the flat container, A method for filling a container according to any one of claims 1 to 4 with a fluid material, in particular a liquid.   The opposing walls of the flat base are made of an elastomeric flexible material so that they substantially abut against each other when the base is unloaded, and the walls of the base are free of material flow through the base. 10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that it is arranged to be elastically curved outwardly under influence.

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