JPS6152060B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to containers for storage and removal of liquids, particularly flexible bag-like containers.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

This type of liquid container is suitable for milk, wine, other liquids that deteriorate when exposed to air, whiskey, etc.
It is useful for selling many liquids including other spirits, port wine, ciely, fruit juices, etc.
For example, a half-gallon or one-gallon amount (or two
The use of bulk containers for wine sales, such as liter or four-liter packs, is increasing, allowing the contents to remain in good condition for several months, even after occasional consumption. It is becoming more and more important to ensure an adequate lifespan so that the equipment remains in good condition. However, there have been no inexpensive and simple containers that meet these requirements.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a flexible bag-like liquid container that can be inserted into the outer box of a back-in box, the inside of which is exposed to the outside before being filled with liquid. The object of the present invention is to obtain a product that is free from contamination by bacteria and the like because it does not come into contact with the air, and is structurally simple, inexpensive, and easy to construct.

A further object of the invention is to obtain a liquid container which can be easily and completely sealed after filling with liquid.

[Summary of the invention]

The liquid container of the present invention includes a flexible bag made of two overlapping sheets that are in close contact with each other and whose periphery is sealed, and a tap socket member joined to the outer surface of one sheet of the bag, the tap socket member being , comprising a body defining a passageway therein, and an outer flange end face joined at its inner end to the outer surface of said one sheet of the bag, thereby allowing a transverse cross-section of the end face of the outer flange of the tap socket member. A weak diaphragm is formed consisting of a portion of the sheet of the bag, an inner beat is formed at the outer end of the body, and
A fill opening is formed in the sheet of the bag, and a fill socket member is joined to the surface of the sheet in alignment with the fill opening, the fill socket member having a body defining a passageway therein; an outer flange joined at its inner end to the face of said sheet of the bag, thereby allowing liquid to be filled into the interior of the bag via the interior of the filling socket member and the filling opening; The inner surface of one sheet and the inner surface of the other sheet are of a sealable material in the region of the fill socket member and are sealed in the region surrounding the fill socket member.

Therefore, before filling the liquid container of the present invention, the two opposing sheets of the flexible bag are closely stacked on each other, so that the liquid container is sterilized and stored in advance. If filling is performed indoors, there is no room for bacteria or foreign matter to enter the container before filling, so filling can be performed aseptically, and the seal in the area surrounding the filling socket member ensures that the beverage inside the container will last for a long time. This will allow you to continue to maintain it in good condition over time.

In addition, by simply joining the outer flange surface of the tap socket member to the outer surface of one of the sheets, a tap closed with a breakable diaphragm is formed, and the connection between the tap socket member and the bag is strong due to the flange connection. The filling liquid can be arbitrarily taken out from the tap by simply pushing a piercing tool into the body of the tap socket member from the outside toward the inside, and the filling liquid can be formed easily and inexpensively.

In addition, the filling socket member only needs to be joined by aligning its outer flange with the filling opening of the bag sheet, and can be formed easily and inexpensively.
The connection is reliable because it is joined by a flange.

[Embodiments of the invention]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the liquid container of the present invention. This liquid container C has a body made of a bag of flexible material, and this body is made up of two overlapping sheets 6 sealed on all sides.
A tap socket member 4 and a filling socket member 5 are attached to the surface of one sheet 6. The tap socket member 4 constitutes an outlet for taking out the liquid filled into the container C via the filling socket member 5.

The container sheet 6, as shown in FIG. 3, has an inner layer 1 of a material such as polyethylene that is not attacked by the container contents and a biaxially oriented layer 1 to restrict the passage of air into the container contents. A substantially air-impermeable intermediate layer 2 of a material such as nylon and an outer layer 3 of a weldable material such as vinyl chloride resin.
It is constructed from laminated materials.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, inner layer 1 is ethyl vinyl acetate resin, intermediate layer 2 is biaxially oriented nylon (polyamide), and outer layer 3 is vinylidene chloride resin.
As mentioned above, the front and back sheets 6 of the container C are joined around their peripheries by welding, but a suitable adhesive, for example, could be used to achieve the desired joining.

The socket members 4, 5 are made of a plastic material suitable for bonding to the outer layer 3 of the container C and are attached to the outer surface of the sheet of the container by means of a suitable adhesive or by welding (adhesive fixing being preferred). In a preferred embodiment, the tap socket member 4
is attached to one sheet 6 of the bag-shaped container C at an appropriate distance from one of the short sides thereof, and approximately midway between the pair of long sides. The filling socket member 5 is also attached to the same sheet of the container C in the same manner as the tap socket member 4, closer to the other short side. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the filling socket member 5 is connected to the container C.
It can be attached close to one corner of the sheet, or it can be attached close to the short side on the longitudinal centerline of the sheet, as shown in the modification shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the tap socket member 4 includes:
It has a short substantially cylindrical body 7, an outer flange 8 at its inner end, and an inner bead 11 at its outer end.

The filling socket member 5, also shown in FIG. 2, has a body 7 and an outer flange 8 at the inner end, but without an inner bead at the outer end. The seat 6 is formed with an opening 12 at the location of the joining of the filling socket member 5, and when the filling socket member 5 is secured in place, the passage through the body 7 coincides with the opening 12, allowing the liquid to flow into the filling socket member 5. The inside of the container C can be filled through the steps.

On the other hand, when the tap socket member 4 is attached by gluing or welding to the sheet 6 of the container, a portion of the sheet 6 forms a diaphragm across the inner end of the passageway of the tap socket member 4. As a result, the liquid in the container C will not flow out through the tap socket member 4 unless the sheet portion serving as the diaphragm is broken.

Although sheet 6 is a laminated sheet, it is relatively thin (approximately 0.001″ total thickness) and its diaphragm is easy to tear, as described in U.S. Patent No.
The hole can be made by the pointed tip of the tap as described in No. 3,642,172.

The tap socket member 4 is described, for example, in U.S. Pat.
3642172, a portion of which is adapted to receive a tap for removing the contents of the container C.

This container C can be used as an inner bag in a bag-in box such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,172.

The tap housing has a cylindrical portion having an inner diameter substantially the same as the outer diameter of the tap socket member 4 to be engaged. The innermost end of the cylindrical portion is provided with an outer bead which is adapted to engage behind the inner bead 11 of the tap socket member 4, thereby allowing the tap socket member 4 to fit inside the tap housing. Fixed in place.

To fill this container C with liquid, first flatten the container as shown in Figure 2 so that only a minimum amount of air remains inside, and then insert the filling socket of the flat bag-like container C. The member 5 is engaged with the upper end of a filling tube 9 extending from a filling machine supplying liquid, as shown in FIG. 4, so that the connection between the two prevents leakage. Then, the filling machine is operated to supply a predetermined amount of liquid into the container C as shown in FIG. Container C is sized to contain a predetermined amount of liquid, and the filling machine is set to stop when the predetermined amount of liquid has been filled into the container. After the filling is completed, as shown in FIG. 6, the seal ring 10 provided coaxially with the filling tube 9 moves downward and presses the vertically opposing sheets of the container C between it and the filling tube 9, and then , the sheets are joined by heat welding or the like at the outer flange 8 at the inner end of the filling socket member 5. As a result, the opening 12 of the sheet 6 is completely closed, and the liquid filled inside the container C is sealed inside the container.

As shown in FIG. 8, the outer flange 8 of the filling socket member 5 can also be welded to the inner surface of the sheet 6 of the container C. In this case, when the container C is filled with liquid and sealed, the back sheet of the container C will be joined to the inner surface of the outer flange 8. That is, the flange 8 is in this case sealed between the two sheets of the container.

As already mentioned, FIGS. 9 and 10 show different positions of the filling socket member 5 on the container seat. When the filling socket member 5 is fixed at a corner position as shown in FIG. 9, the opening 12 is sealed by welding a sheet along a line extending from one short side to one long side, and the filling socket member 5 and its opening 12 are isolated from the body part of the container C containing the liquid. In the case shown in FIG. 10, the filling socket member 5 of the container C and its opening 12 are sealed by welding along a line extending from one long side of the container to the other long side. In either of these cases, the sealing is such that the small part containing the filling socket member 5 can be easily separated before the filling container is sold. Since the container C is made in a flat state, the amount of air inside it is minimal at the beginning of the filling operation, and both socket members 4, 5
are bonded to the outside of the sheet 6 (with the exception of the example shown in FIG. 8), so that the interior of the container is apparently free from contamination just before the filling operation. Therefore, if the liquid filled into the container is not contaminated, the filled container will not be contaminated and the contents can be kept in good condition for a relatively long period of time.

The filled container can be easily inserted into a cardboard box, metal container, plastic barrel, or other outer container. In this case, the tap socket member 4 is engaged with a fitting for holding the socket member in a fixed position within the outer container, and a sheet as a diaphragm is inserted across the inner end of the tap socket member 4 of the container of the present invention, which becomes the inner container. 6, it is possible to carry out drilling work to take out the liquid from outside the outer container.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention has a simple and inexpensive structure in which the tap socket member is simply joined to the sheet surface of the bag by an outer flange, and a diaphragm that is torn only when the contents of the bag are taken out is automatically formed at the inner end of the tap socket member. The liquid inside the bag is completely shut off from the outside air until the diaphragm is ruptured. The same applies to the filling socket member; the filling portion is formed by simply joining the surface of the outer flange around the filling opening of the bag, and the joining of the filling socket member is strong because the flange is used. Furthermore, the inner surfaces of the facing sheets of the container before filling are in close contact with each other,
Since the sheets of the filling socket are sealed together, there is no room for bacteria to get inside.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a liquid container according to the present invention in which two socket members are arranged, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A--A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a view showing a filling socket member for filling liquid into a liquid container and a filling tube that engages with the filling socket member. FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the filling socket member fitted with a filling tube. Figure 6 is
Enlarged sectional view showing a state in which one side is engaged with the filling pipe and the other side is pressed by a seal ring, No. 7
FIG. 8 is a side view of a liquid container according to the present invention with a part thereof cut away; FIG. 8 is a view of a modification of the filling socket member shown in relation to the liquid container of FIG. 7;
Figure 0 is a plan view showing two different positions of the filling socket on the seat of the liquid container.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A flexible bag made of two overlapping sheets that are in close contact with each other and whose periphery is sealed, and a tap socket member joined to the outer surface of one of the sheets of the bag, the tap socket member being , comprising a body defining a passageway therein, and an outer flange end face joined at its inner end to the outer surface of said one sheet of the bag, thereby allowing a transverse cross-section of the end face of the outer flange of the tap socket member. A weak diaphragm is formed from a portion of said sheet of the bag, an inner beat is formed at the outer end of said body, and a filling opening is formed in said sheet of the bag, said filling opening A fill socket member is joined to the face of the sheet in alignment with the bag, the fill socket member having a body forming an internal passageway and an outer body joined at its inner end to the face of said sheet of the bag. a flange, which allows liquid to be filled into the interior of the bag via the interior of the filling socket part and the filling opening, and the inner surface of the one sheet and the inner surface of the other sheet are in the region of the filling socket member. A liquid container made of a sealable material and sealed in an area surrounding a fill socket member. 2. A liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the outer flange of the filling socket is joined to the outer surface of the sheet of the bag. 3. A liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the outer flange of the filling socket is joined to the inner surface of the sheet of the bag.