SK8382000A3 - Ice cube bag and a method of producing ice cube bags - Google Patents

Abstract

An ice cube bag comprises two sheet-shaped foil layers (12, 14; 12', 14') defining an outer periphery. A peripheral joint (20, 21, 21a, 21b) extends along the major part of the outer periphery of the foil layers, with the exception of a peripheral area constituting a inlet aperture of said bag (10). Their peripheral joint joins the foil layers together defining an inner chamber which is divided into several ice cube compartments defined by separate joints (22, 23, 24, 25, 29) of the foil layers. An inlet channel extends from the inlet aperture to the inner chamber of the bag hereby allowing admission from the surroundings to the inner chamber of the bag through the inlet channel. Each of said separate joints (22, 23, 24, 25, 29) is constituted by a number of individual joints (22, 23, 24, 25, 29), each of these individual joints (22, 23, 24, 25, 29) establishing a connection between the two sheet-shaped foil layers (12, 14; 12', 14') with such a joint strength and with such a limited area extension that the individual joint is not broken when the foil layers (12, 12; 12', 14') are exposed to a separation force, but provides a tearing apart or perforation (44) in one of the foil layers (12, 14; 12', 14') along the periphery of said individual joints. Hereby an ice cube bag is obtained which is easy to open by tearing it apart.

Description

Ice cube bag and method of making it

Technical field

The present invention relates to an ice cube bag comprising:

two sheets of sheets having the same geometric configuration and defining an outer periphery, a peripheral joint extending along most of the outer periphery of the film layers, with the exception of the region forming the inlet channel of the bag, the peripheral joint joining together the film layers, especially overlapping and defining the inner a chamber in the inner compartment of the bag, and the inner chamber is divided into a plurality of ice cube compartments which are mutually delimited by separate film layers joints, an inlet channel defined by the film layer joints and extending from the inlet opening to the inner pocket chamber to allow environment into the inner chamber of the bag through the inlet duct.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A number of ice bags are known in the art, e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 3,207,420, U.S. Pat. Re. No. 31,890, U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,180 corresponding to EP no. European Patent Application No. 0 264 407; No. 0 129 072, International Publication No. WO 82/00279; WO 87/01183, corresponding to European patent no. International Patent Application No. 0 248 817, International Application No. WO 86/04561; WO 92/15491, corresponding to European patent no. 0 574 49 and published European application no. 0 619 948 and Danish patent no. No. 172,066, corresponding to published European patent application no. 0 795 393. In this series of applications referred to herein and which are incorporated herein by reference to a plurality of ice cube bag designs of different embodiments having a different closure device, including a fastener, a self-closing device, etc. '. It is well known in the art that ice cube bags can be either glued or welded. The above-mentioned Danish patent and corresponding European application disclose an industrial process for producing an ice cube bag having continuous or intermittent welds.

It is well known in the art that it is possible to produce ice cube bags with very strong welds or glue forming a safe and reliable content of ice cubes produced by the ice cube bag. Similarly, it is generally known that it may often be very difficult for consumers to open an ice cube bag in which the ice cube is contained, since the foil used, especially the commonly used polyethylene plastic foil and the very strong joints, cause the peel- or opening of the ice cube bag ice is quite problematic. International application published under no. WO 87/01 183 and the corresponding European patent no. US 0 248 817 discloses a construction of an ice cube bag in which gluing is preferably used to form joints inside the ice cube bag. Later the joints can be separated relatively easily to turn the ice cube bag with individual compartments into a non-compartment ice cube bag. The European patent states that the joints allow the ice cube bag to be converted from a compartment into ice cube compartments into a non-compartment ice cube bag, since the welds or glueings allow a person skilled in the art to derive such a technique that creates weak welds. tearing off the joints in the case of the transformation of the ice cube bag from compartmental to non-compartmental. In this sense, it is specifically stated in the European patent that tearing off the joints made in particular by gluing does not cause any damage to the ice cube bag walls, i. j. it does not tear the ice cube bag, but merely separates previously made joints.

The present invention is based on the problem or task of making an ice cube bag of the type mentioned in the introduction, in which it is possible to easily tear the ice cube bag after a series of ice cubes has been produced in the ice cube bag by impregnating water into the ice cube bag. and then allowed to freeze in a very low temperature freezer, home freezer, freezer or the like. This problem or task entails such a great contradiction because, on the one hand, it is necessary to provide a reliable ice cube bag seal to prevent leakage due to weak connections in the ice cube bag, including welds or glued joints that may unpredictably loosen and thereby causing a leak. On the other hand, the requirement to create an ice cube bag that allows the user to easily enter its interior and remove ice cubes from inside the bag means that the seams should be weak and thus facilitate tearing of the ice cube bag .

The invention is based on the fact that by means of a suitable geometric construction of the joints which separate the inner chambers of the ice cube bag into a series of ice cube compartments, it is possible to make these joints so that these joints are preferably made using the same technique and with the same strength as other joints of the ice cube bag may have opened the ice cube bag after making the ice cubes or ice pieces by freezing the water contained in the inner chamber of the ice cube bag.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above object is achieved by the ice cube bag according to the present invention and the above problem is solved according to the present invention, which consists in that each of the individual connections defining adjacent ice cube sections relative to each other is formed by several separate connections and each of these separate joints forms a bond between two sheets of film with a joint strength and with such limited surface area that the joint does not tear when the film layers are subjected to separating force, but tearing or perforation occurs in one of the film layers along the periphery of the joint

The essence of the embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention is further that the seams defining the ice cube compartments in the inner space of the ice cube bag are formed by a series of individual seals, each forming such a connection between two flat foil layers of the ice cube bag. that the respective joint cannot itself tear or break, but at the same time, due to the limited area of the extent of the respective joint, it is possible for the joint to break or separate from one of the foil layers of the ice cube bag if and is trying to separate them. First of all, it should be noted that tearing or perforation is not in itself conditioned by a particular force orientation, but according to the solution of the present invention it has proved advantageous that freezing the water in the interior of the ice cube bag into pieces of ice causes the foil layers to expand. thus, simply bending the ice cube bag may in itself cause the necessary tearing or punching of one of the foil layers of the ice cube bag, since the expanded film layers create substantial tension in one of the sheet foil layers, which then causes tearing or perforation.

Secondly, it should be noted that the separate joints characteristic of the present invention cannot be compared to what is disclosed in the aforementioned European patent no. No. 0 248 817 and that suitable surface welds can be made as micro welds which can be separated in terms of the technical effect of this European patent. In contrast to this technical effect described in European patent no. 0 248 817 according to the present invention, the correct tearing or perforation of one or both of the two sheets of foil is effected when the ice cube bag of the present invention is to be opened or torn.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the design of the ice cube partitioning joints of the invention due to the very limited spacing of these joints results in better utilization of the ice cube bag compartments compared to known commercial ice cube bags because the ice cube bag will be of the type further described by way of example, it has a total liquid volume of 480 g and ice cube bags that are commercially available usually have a liquid volume of 280 to 370 g.

A further advantage of the ice cube bag according to the present invention is that the individual ice cube compartments can be provided with corner joints between the individual ice cube compartments, as opposed to conventional ice cube bags having, in turn, joints defining or separating the ice cube compartments at the corners between the ice cube compartments. Therefore, it is easier and faster to fill the interior of the ice cube bag as compared to known commercial ice cube bags, and a larger internal volume is achieved, i. j. volume of liquid, ice cube bag.

The individual seams of the present invention delimiting the ice cube compartments in the inner chamber of the ice cube bag are, as will be described below, usually placed in rows in a perpendicular pattern in the ice cube bag, which requires the use of a minimum surface area of two sheet films ice cubes and at the same time represents a very good definition of the distribution of the finished ice cubes or ice pieces contained in the ice cube bag, since the ice cubes will usually be defined by straight lines according to the perpendicular pattern above.

In order to increase the technical effect of tearing or performing perforation in one of the foil layers of the ice cube bag according to the present invention, if the ice cube bag is to be torn or opened, it is preferable that the individual said joints be spaced apart so that the individual joints or perforation in one of the foil layers has created a direction for a line of punching in one of the foil layers, thereby obtaining the effect of, in particular, a simple tearing or opening.

In connection with the films commonly used in industry today, in particular polyethylene films, it has been found according to the present invention that the effect characteristic of the present invention, i.e., in accordance with the present invention, has been found. j the effect of tearing or perforating by breaking or opening the ice cube bag shall be obtained if the coefficient calculated from the area of a single joint expressed in square millimeters divided by the circumference or length of the same joint measured in millimeters lies between 0,025 mm and 0,5 mm; preferably between 0.125 mm and 0.375 mm, such as about 0.25 mm.

In conjunction with commercially used films, tests have shown that the technical effect of the present invention can be obtained if each of said individual seams has an area corresponding to the area of a circle having a diameter of 0.1 mm to 5 mm, e.g. 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm, preferably 0.9 mm to 1.0 mm, e.g. 0.5 mm to 0.8 mm, 0.8 mm to 1 mm, 1 mm to 1.2 mm or 1.2 mm to 1.5 mm.

Although with the development and implementation based on the present invention, the inventor has carried out surface welding tests in the manufacture of ice cube bags, it should be noted that the technical effect characteristic of the present invention, i. j. achieving opening or tearing of the ice cube bag by tearing or perforating one of the foil layers can also be achieved using adhesive techniques. It is a feature of the invention, as already described, that all the connections of the ice cube bag can be advantageously made using only one technique and preferably in one or only way, e.g. welding, which results in a substantially higher production price compared to methods in which the internal joints separating the compartments are produced by one technique while the peripheral joints are produced by another technique. Therefore, according to the present invention, a preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag proves that the peripheral joint as well as the joints defining the inner channel and said individual joints are all formed by gluing or preferably by welding.

However, the individual joints mentioned above, which according to the present invention are characteristic of producing the above-mentioned tearing or perforation of one of the film layers, the other of the film layers or both foils along the perimeter of the respective joint, may be of any geometric shape. had a circular shape. Alternatively, the individual joints may have the shape of an ellipse, straight sections, triangles, rectangles, squares, polygons, their shape may be any convex or concave contour, or may be a combination of any of the above shapes.

According to two further embodiments of the ice cube bag according to the present invention, one of these embodiments is an ice cube bag formed as a self-closing bag in which the flat foil layers are provided with extensions forming two shut-off valve flaps that are located in the inlet opening and extending from the inlet opening. and into the inner space of the bag towards the inner bag chamber along the inlet duct and which are connected by the aforementioned inlet duct delimited by the joints so that two closing pockets are formed which are open towards the inner bag chamber while the ice cube bag according to the second of the embodiment, the knot-like bag, the punching or cut-outs are formed in two planar foil layers within the inlet channel defined by the joints to allow binding of the foil material on both sides of the inlet channel and formed the closing node by which the input channel is closed.

As mentioned above, the ice cube bag may preferably be made of a plastic film material, in particular polyethylene, preferably LDPE or HDPE or other film material that can be glued or welded, preferably a plastic or polymeric material or an aluminum foil material, or a combination of such foil materials, e.g. plastic coated aluminum foil material.

The ice cube bag according to the present invention may, according to another embodiment, be provided or formed with a large or small number of ice cube compartments, i. j. it may be provided by two or more ice cube compartments. In certain embodiments, the ice cube bag has a very limited number of individual ice cube compartments, e.g. two, three or four ice cube compartments, which is determined by the size of the two flat foil layers from which the ice cube bag is made and relatively large ice cube or ice pieces are produced for industrial or consumer use. However, in these preferred embodiments of the ice cube bag of the present invention, preferably more than four, e.g. 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 30 or 36 ice cube compartments, e.g. 15 or 21 ice cube compartments are also possible. An embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention having one single ice cube compartment defined by the inner space of the ice cube bag can be used for special purposes.

The individual ice cube compartments may be delineated by separate joints that are characteristic of the present invention, but at other times they may be grouped in separate compartments, allowing only a limited number of ice cubes to be removed from the ice cube bag by opening or detaching from the ice cube bag. removing all the ice cubes from the ice cube bag.

As will be described in greater detail below, the shape, orientation and mutual distance and position of the individual ice-cube-defining joints in the interior of the ice-cube bag determines a greater or lesser degree of application of the tear-off or perforation technique characteristic of the present invention. Further, as will also be described, it should be noted that the number of individual junctions defining two adjacent ice cube sections relative to each other is in itself important for obtaining the functional characteristics of the invention, as well as the number of individual junctions either in the form of an even number or an odd number important because the tearing or perforation of one of the foil layers of the ice cube bag by opening or tearing off the ice cube bag will be important.

Although the ice cube bag according to the present invention can in fact be made of arbitrarily shaped sheets of sheet film, including non-rectangular sheet layers of e.g. elliptical, polygonal or triangular sheets, it is preferred that both sheets of sheet are substantially rectangular.

According to particular features of the ice cube bag according to the present invention, the ice cube bag is preferably - as will be described below - provided by expansion chambers located on one or both sides of the inlet duct, one or more joints being arranged from the inner chamber of the ice cube bag to the respective expansion chamber (s).

To further facilitate the tearing or opening of the ice cube bag of the present invention, tear perforations in the tearing direction of the ice cube bag may be formed in two layers of sheet film within the inner channel as will be explained below, allowing the use of a tear or perforation characteristic in combination for the present invention, in one of the foil layers of the ice cube bag and at the same time tearing off the ice cube bag by means of the above tear-off perforation.

The essence of the ice cube bag, in particular for freezing ice pieces or ice cubes, and in particular the ice cube bag having a self-closing function according to the present invention, is in particular comprising:

two planar film layers having substantially the same geometric shapes and defining an outer periphery of the peripheral joint extending along most of the outer periphery of the film layers, except for the peripheral surface forming the bag inlet opening, the peripheral joint of the film layers, in particular overlapping and defining the inner chamber in the inner space of the bag, and the inner chamber comprises at least one ice cube compartment, and preferably some ice cube compartments are interconnected and are defined by separate sheets of film layers, an inlet channel defined by separate sheets of film layers and extending from the inner pocket of the bag to the inlet; thereby allowing ambient access to the inner chamber of the pocket through the inlet channel, two shut-off valve flaps connected to the film layers at the inlet opening and extending from the inlet opening to the interior of the pocket towards the inner pocket of the bag along the inner channel, the shut-off valve flaps are connected to each other and joined to the sheets by separate joints defining an inlet channel to form two closing pockets which are open towards the inner pocket of the bag, the inlet channel comprises first and second portions; wherein the first portion is formed immediately behind the inlet opening and the second portion connects the first portion of the ice cube compartment (s), the first portion having a shape that taperes towards the ice cube compartment (s), a taper made in the transition between the first and second portions and the entrance the channel defines a first direction forming the longitudinal direction of the channel and a second direction in a plane parallel to the two film layers and perpendicular to the first direction.

A number of ice cube bags are known in the art, e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 3207420, U.S. Pat. Re. No. 31890, U.S. Pat. No. 4822180, corresponding to European patent no. European Patent Application No. 0 264 407; No. 0,129,072, International Patent Application Publication No. WO 82/00279; International Patent Application Publication No. WO 87/01183; International Patent Application Publication No. WO 86/04561; WO 92/15491, corresponding to European patent no. 0 574 596 and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,012 to which reference is made and US patents are incorporated herein by reference. A method of making ice cube bags of this kind is further known from Danish patent application no. 1029/96, with priority given in Danish patent application no. 343/96, on the basis of which international patent application no. PCT / DK97 / 00127 also as European patent application no. 96510031.5.

In the above-referenced U.S. Pat. Re. 31890 an ice cube bag has been described and shown, see fig. 7 and the corresponding part of the description, comprising two closing flaps which form a check valve in the self-closing ice cube bag closure.

In European patent no. 0 574 496 describes an ice cube bag of the type mentioned in the introductory part. In this known ice cube bag, the shut-off valve flaps are preferably formed such that the shut-off valve flaps pass into a position in the middle of the second portion of the inlet duct, but according to other embodiments described in the European patent channel, t. j. substantially along the entire length of the inlet duct, or to a position immediately beyond the constriction. In any case, the ice cube bag described in the European patent is designed so that the shut-off valve flaps pass beyond the constriction. Furthermore, the ice cube bag described in European patent no. No. 0 574 496 is designed so that not only a static closure of the inner space of the ice cube bag is formed by the flaps of the shut-off valve, but a dynamic closing function also occurs in the venturi effect by the geometric shape of the second part of the inlet channel. ice cubes secured by reliably filling the shut-off caps formed behind the shut-off valve flaps, although these pockets are initially partially filled with air and therefore underfilled with water.

European patent no. 0 264 407 similarly discloses an ice cube bag in which the inlet channel is defined by a first weld seam forming an inlet funnel-shaped inlet, from which further weld seams facing each other and forming spikes facing each other extend inwardly from below the center of the inlet channel. themselves to create a narrowing of the input channel. The flaps of the ice cube bag closing valve, known from the European patent, extend from the inlet opening substantially along the entire length of the inlet channel but not beyond the inlet channel and thereby into the interior of the ice cube bag.

It is a general feature of these ice cube bags that a safe and reliable closure, in particular a static closure of the interior of the ice cube bag, i. j. the closure behind which the closure pockets formed behind the shut-off valve flaps are completely filled with liquid or preferably water, is conditioned by the shut-off valve flaps having a much longer length than the length of the inlet duct and according to European patent no. 0 264 407 have a length corresponding to the length of the inlet channel.

According to another embodiment described in European patent no. No. 0 574 496, the shut-off valve flaps have a shortened length compared to the length of the inlet duct, but in any case, the shut-off valve flaps must have a length such that the shut-off valve flaps extend beyond the constriction. Therefore, in order to achieve a safe and reliable static closure of the ice cube bag, it is considered necessary that the shut-off valve flaps pass through the constriction.

This feature of the present invention is based on the fact that it has been found that a dynamic as well as a static safety closure of the interior of the ice cube bag can be achieved in an ice cube bag of this type, even though the shut-off valve flaps have a smaller length compared to hitherto. determined critical criteria for achieving a safe and reliable closure of the interior of the ice cube bag. Therefore, by reducing the length of the shut-off valve flaps, a number of significant advantages are achieved. First, the material consumption of the ice cube bag will be reduced compared to the ice cube bag where the shut-off valve flaps pass e.g. across the entire length of the inlet channel, secondly, with the same material consumption, a greater net inner volume of the ice cube bag interior is obtained, and a third source of savings relates to less water consumption because the volume of liquid or water in the closure pockets decreases proportionally with the flaps length and further energy savings are achieved because the liquid or water content limited in the closure pockets formed behind the shut-off valve flaps, such as the volume of liquid or water enclosed in the interior of the ice cube bag to be frozen requiring cooling energy and therefore reducing the volume of the shut-off valve pockets accordingly reduces the cooling energy required to freeze the amount of liquid or water enclosed in the ice cube bag.

It has therefore surprisingly been found in connection with a particular feature of the present invention that in order to achieve a safe and reliable closure of the interior of the ice cube bag, both static and dynamic, it is sufficient that the ice cube bag described above is made with closure flaps extending from the inlet to for the full length, see the above-mentioned first direction of the first portion of the inlet channel and to the taper and to the transition between the first and second portions of the inlet channel, but not beyond the constriction and to the second portion of the inlet channel.

Thus, according to a particular feature of the present invention, a secure and reliable closure of the interior of the ice cube bag is provided when the shut-off valve flaps defining the closure pocket pass into the anti-constriction position but not beyond the constriction and into the second portion of the inlet channel.

In the description of the above-described European patent no. It is noted that it is very important to achieve a reliable closing function to ensure that the constriction is well defined and that in the embodiment described and illustrated it is triangular with mutually facing special welds forming peaks facing each other and forming a constriction of the inlet channel. Similarly, European patent no. 0574 596, two embodiments are shown, one of which is defined by the apexes facing each other and the other, the boundary defining joints are reinforced by circular joint braces provided at the ends of the boundary of the boundary joint.

In this regard, it has been found in the present invention that in order to achieve a safe and reliable both static and dynamic closure of such an ice cube bag it is necessary that the constriction be delimited by point-shaped or circular joints which may in certain cases present technical manufacturing problems such sharply defined joints, especially if the joints are made by welding. In addition to a preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag of the present invention, the ice cube bag according to another embodiment is characterized by the fact that the constriction at the transition between the first and second portions of the inlet duct is provided by joints not containing geometric interruptions and forming a second portion of the inlet channel.

In order to achieve this particular feature of the present invention, i. j. characterized in that the shut-off valve flaps only extend from the inlet opening to the tapered position, i.e. j. in the transition between the first and second portions of the inlet duct, and not beyond the constriction and into the second portion of the inlet duct, the ice cube bag according to this preferred embodiment of the invention is further preferably characterized by shutter valve flaps extending to an intermediate position relative to the constriction defined by the joints. In the manufacture of the ice cube bag of the type described above, which is accomplished by joining the continuous sheets of film and then splicing the sheets together, the position of the two sheet-shaped portions and the shut-off valve flap is undesirably shifted under normal manufacturing conditions. of no significance to the function or appearance of the ice cube bag, but may make it difficult to carry out the above-described feature of this particular aspect of the present invention, i. j. positioning the inner ends of the shut-off valve flaps against the constriction if the constriction is very short in the aforementioned first direction, i. j. in the longitudinal direction of the inlet channel. Therefore, it has been found that the constriction limiting joints may be formed in a geometric shape diverging from the vertices or circles, in particular in a shape that does not contain geometric interruptions, but may further be designed such that the individual constriction limiting joints exhibit elongation in the above-mentioned first. direction, t. j. in the longitudinal direction of the inlet duct, which is not insignificant as the point-shaped joint in relation to the width, in particular the maximum width of the joint defining the taper. According to the feature defined above, i. j. in a design without geometric interruptions, these taper-limiting joints may define convex or concave tapered or alternatively and preferably tapered delimited by rectangular parallel joints.

It will now be briefly described by means of well-known geometric principles, which in this context means geometric interruption. The curve, in particular the edge curve of the joint, defines the geometric circumference or curve shape. This curve shape is bounded by a tangent at any point in the curve, and in this sense the geometrically continuous curve is a curve whose tangent changes its slope along this curve continuously. Therefore, geometric continuity means that at a given point the continuity of the tangent of the curve does not exist, but there is a shift or a jump from one tangent direction to another tangent direction.

According to a preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag according to this particular feature of the present invention and to fulfill the main task of keeping the amount of water enclosed in the closure pockets as small as possible for the above reasons, the first inlet channel section and the second inlet channel section are substantially for the above-mentioned first direction, i.e. j. in this preferred embodiment, the constriction, in the longitudinal direction of the inlet channel, is located approximately in the center, or preferably in the center of the inlet channel.

In one embodiment of the ice cube bag according to a particular feature of the present invention, the inlet duct is made substantially symmetrical with respect to the central taper axis in the aforementioned second direction, in particular to accomplish the above task of providing the first inlet duct and the second inlet duct substantially equally long when viewed in the longitudinal direction of the inlet channel.

Similar to the described known ice cube bags, the inlet channel is preferably substantially symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis of the channel.

The ice cube shut-off valve flaps according to a particular feature of the present invention may be formed by separate flaps-shaped portions that can be made of the same material as the foil parts of the ice cube bag or other material having greater or less flexibility. In a preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag according to this particular feature of the invention, the shut-off valve flaps are formed by bent portions of portions of the sheet of flat sheet. Thus, according to a preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag according to this particular feature of the present invention, the shut-off valve flaps are integral parts or portions of the sections of the ice cube bag foil strips. If the shut-off valve flaps are formed by separate parts or parts, the shut-off valve flaps may be attached to the portions of the foil webs by joints which, depending on the material used for the portions of the foil webs and the stop valve flaps, may be performed by gluing or welding.

The ice cube bag according to this particular feature of the present invention can be made by the methods disclosed in the above-mentioned European patent no. 0 574 496 and thus can be performed with a dynamic self-closing function, which in the above-mentioned European patent is designed as a venturi cap. In this regard, reference should be made to the above-mentioned European patent, which describes this function, since this ice cube bag can be made such that the constriction at the transition between the first and second portions serves to effect the venturi effect to produce a relative pressure drop a constriction to close the channel in the constriction when the liquid flows from the second part by a constriction towards the first part to produce a self-closing effect.

The ice cube bag according to this particular feature of the present invention may further be in accordance with the facts described in the above-mentioned European patent no. 0 574 496, manufactured so that the second part comprises a chamber which is well defined by junctions adjacent to the constriction and diverging substantially in the second direction, and which is joined by means of lateral junctions to other junctions adjacent to the above sections or ice cubes and diverging in the second direction towards at least one channel leading to the inner part of the ice cube bag.

Further, in this preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag according to this particular feature of the present invention, it is preferred that the second portion has a maximum dimension in the second direction, at least twice the constriction dimension in the same direction to form a water and liquid reservoir from which liquid can flow unhindered the inlet aperture by narrowing after the ice cube bag has been filled with liquid or water through the inlet aperture in a first position in which the inlet aperture is turned upward and after the ice cube bag has been turned to another position in which the inlet aperture is turned down.

In this preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag according to this particular feature of the present invention, it is further preferred that the maximum dimension of the second portion in the second direction of the inlet channel is 2 to 7 times the taper dimension, preferably 2.4 to 5 times, such as . 2.6 to 3.4 times the funnel dimension.

Firstly, the first portion of the inlet duct serves to form an inlet duct that can safely guide the incoming water, such as a sponge, into the inner space of the ice cube bag and thus preferably forms a funnel-shaped inlet portion in the first part of the duct. To form such an inlet funnel formed by the first portion of the inlet duct, it is preferred that the dimension of the first portion of the duct in the second direction of the inlet duct in the aforementioned inlet opening is approximately twice the taper dimension in the aforementioned second direction.

To form such a funnel-shaped first portion of the inlet channel, the first channel portion is preferably delimited by lines forming lines or curves forming either a convex or concave first channel portion. Alternatively, the first duct portion may be a non-funnel-shaped portion, but may be formed only as an inlet pipe or may have the shape or configuration of an inverted funnel.

Similarly, the first portion is preferably formed by lines forming curves or curves, the second portion of the inlet duct is preferably delimited by lines forming partial lines, partially curves such as segments or circles delimited by a second part of a convex or concave configuration or as symmetrical in the inverted geometric embodiment relative to the first portion of the inlet channel.

From Danish patent no. No. 172,066 and the corresponding published patent application no. No. 0 795 393, a method of making ice cube bags or corresponding bags of welded plastic films is known. It has been found in the industry that this method is very advantageous because the method allowed the production of ice cube pockets or corresponding pockets of very thin plastic foils with a frequency error of virtually zero, i. j. less than one error per million pockets.

According to a particular embodiment, the ice cube bag described above according to the present invention may be formed with individual spot welds or welds in straight sections, circumferential welds and other welds that are common to ice cube bags produced by straight welds instead of the present invention, where they are formed as welds consisting of spot welds or welds formed in straight sections.

Such an ice cube bag having separate point or section welds allows further development of the method known from the aforementioned Danish patent and the aforementioned published European patent application, this further development makes it possible to reduce the time during which plastic or at least partially molten plastic foils after performing the compression or welding operation supported by a strip of heat-resistant material, since the precise welds formed by the points or straight lines between each other form un-welded areas and therefore non-melted foil material, thereby forming reinforcement and reinforcement of the plastic foils during the plastic film guiding after the compression or welding operation unlike conventional ice cube bags having welds in the form of straight sections.

In the method described in the aforementioned Danish patent and the aforementioned published European patent application, according to another feature of the present invention, it can be developed according to (iii) by performing a crimping or welding operation during which the aforementioned crimped or welded regions of the ice cube bag or corresponding bag welds consisting of single points or welds in the form of straight sections, in which there is an uncooked material between continuous welds or in the form of straight sections, and the tearing off of the high temperature resistant material strip from adhered plastic foils according to v) is performed immediately after the pressing operation or welding.

According to this particular feature of the present invention, the method can further advantageously be carried out by means of the embodiments set forth in claims 33 to 46.

Overview of the figures in the drawing

Exemplary embodiments of the ice cube bag of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1a is a schematic side view of a preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention;

Fig. 1b is a cross-sectional view of the upper portion of the first preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag of the present invention shown in FIG. lb;

Fig. 2 is a schematic and perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag of the present invention shown in FIG. 1a and 1b after it is filled with water and after the water has frozen on ice to produce ice cubes enclosed in the ice cube bag;

Fig. 3a and 3b are schematic and perspective views of two stages of operation during which the ice cube bag is shown in FIG. 2 and containing the ice cubes peeled off to remove the ice cubes enclosed in the bag;

Fig. 4a and 4b are perspective and cross-sectional views of further details of the tear-off operation shown schematically in FIG. 3a and 3b;

Fig. 5 is a schematic view corresponding to FIG. 1a on the top of the second embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention;

Fig. 6a and 6b correspond to FIGS. 4b and respectively. 4a and show the result of bending the second embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention shown in FIG.

f f

5, transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the ice cube bag; longitudinally to the ice cube bag, to tear off or tearing the ice cube bag and removing the separation of the ice cubes in the ice cube bag;

Fig. 7a is a schematic view corresponding to FIG. 1a and FIG. 5 for a third embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention;

Fig. 7b is a schematic view of a detail of a modified side weld with respect to the embodiment of the ice cube bag of the invention shown in FIG. 7;

Fig. 8 is a schematic view corresponding to FIG. 1, FIG. 5 and FIG. 7a, for a fourth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention;

Fig. 9 is a schematic view corresponding to FIG. 1a; FIG. 5, FIG. 7a and FIG. 8 for a fifth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention;

Fig. 10 is a schematic and perspective view of a method of tearing off a fifth embodiment of an ice cube bag according to the invention shown in FIG. 9 after freezing the water contained in the interior of the ice cube bag into the cubes;

Fig. 11 is a schematic and perspective view corresponding to FIG. 1, FIG. 5, FIG. 7a, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 for a sixth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention;

Fig. 12 is a schematic and perspective view corresponding to FIG. 1a; FIG. 5, FIG. 7a, FIG. 8, FIG. 9 and FIG. 11 shows a seventh embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention;

Fig. 13 is a schematic view corresponding to FIG. 1a; FIG. 5, FIG. 7a, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 for an eighth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention;

Fig. 14 is a schematic and perspective view corresponding to FIG. 1a; FIG. 5, FIG. 7a, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 11, FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 for a ninth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention, wherein the ninth embodiment differs from the previous eight embodiments in that it is not a self-closing ice cube bag, but a bag having a knot-binding closure; FIG. 15 is a schematic and perspective view of a third embodiment of the ice cube bag of the invention shown in FIG. 7a after it has been filled with water and after freezing, by means of physical handling corresponding to that of FIG. 6a and 6b can be torn off or otherwise changed to a compartment without compartments; 16 is a schematic and perspective view of a third embodiment of the ice cube bag of the invention shown in FIG. 7a, after the ice cube bag has been schematically shown in FIG. 15, converted into a compartment without compartments, with ice cubes lying freely in the interior of the compartment; FIG. 17 is a schematic and perspective view corresponding to FIG. 1a; FIG. 5, FIG. 7a, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 11, FIG. 12, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 to a tenth embodiment of an ice cube bag according to the present invention; FIG. 18 is a schematic and perspective view corresponding to FIG. 1a; FIG. 5, FIG. 7a, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 11, FIG. 12, FIG. 13, FIG. 14 and FIG. 17 in an eleventh embodiment of an ice cube bag according to the present invention; FIG. 19a and 19b are schematic and perspective views corresponding to Figs. 18 on a twelfth and thirteenth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention, FIG. 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d are schematic and perspective views corresponding to Figs. 1a, 5, 7a, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18 of the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth embodiments of the ice cube bag of the present invention; 21 and 22 are schematic and perspective views of two alternative embodiments of the ice cube bag production apparatus of the present invention by welding; and FIG. 23 is a schematic and perspective view corresponding to FIG. 1a, 5, 7a, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18 and 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d in an eighteenth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Fig. 1a and 1b are schematic, respectively. sectional plan views of a preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention. The ice cube bag is denoted as a whole by the reference numeral 10. The ice cube bag 10 is composed of two identical plastic foils 12, 14. preferably of LD-polyethylene foils with a thickness of 25 µm or alternatively of HD polyethylene foils with a thickness of 18 µm. Each of the sheets 12, 14 has a bent portion 16, 18, extending inwardly into the interior of the ice cube bag 10 and forming the inner open edges 17 and 19. The sheets 12, 14 are substantially rectangular in shape and are positioned to overlap one another with the curved portions 16 and 18 extending upwardly in the inner space of the ice cube bag 10 as mentioned above, the foils 12 and 14 are joined by two side welds 20 of the bottom weld 21 and the two upper welds 21a and 21b. together forming a peripheral continuous weld extending along the periphery of the films 12 and 14, except for the straight portion forming the inlet channel to the interior of the ice cube bag between the two upper welds 21a and 21b. The interior of the ice cube bag 10, i. lying within the aforementioned circumferential continuous weld consisting of two side welds 20, a bottom weld 21 and two upper welds 21a and 21b. it can be considered as consisting of two parts, an inlet channel located at the upper end of the ice cube bag and an internal divided ice cube compartment.

It should now be noted that terms such as up, down, top, bottom, horizontal, perpendicular, etc. stating the orientation of the ice cube bag with respect to the vertical orientation given by the gravitational force, are given as expressions serving alone for the purpose of describing the usual, normal orientation of the ice cube bag in use, especially when filled with water, more or less part of the ice cube bag of course, be angled relative to a particular orientation, such as a vertical orientation or the ice cube bag as a whole may be held in a tilted position relative to a particular orientation, e.g. with respect to vertical orientation.

The inlet portion located at the upper end of the ice cube bag consists of two specularly symmetrical weld sets forming an inlet duct extending from the aforementioned inlet formed between the two upper welds 21a and 21b and the aforementioned interior of the ice cube chamber in the ice cube bag 10 . The inner duct is essentially formed according to the technical description and principles set forth in European patent no. 0 574 496 and published European patent application no. No. 616,448, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, and both publications are incorporated herein by reference. In particular, the inlet duct is formed by welds 30 converging from the inlet opening towards the inner ice cube chamber of the ice cube bag, which in the constriction in the inlet duct passes into two symmetrically positioned, in particular semicircular, welds 32. the constriction between the welds 30 and 32 forming the above a narrowing in the inlet duct further limited by two parallel straight welds 34. The lower portions of the semicircular welds 32 extend into two outwardly inclined and diverging welds 27 connected to the two side welds 20. these two outwardly inclined and diverging welds 27 are interrupted to form two upwardly directed channels positioned symmetrically with respect to the inlet channel and formed separately by two parallel welds 36 and 37 and passing into respective expansion chambers 40 formed mainly by elliptically shaped welds 38 extending to an adjacent side of the weld 20 and positioning These expansion chambers 40 and the associated set of parallel welds 36 and 37 can be omitted.

The aforementioned welds 30 converging with each other form a first portion of the inlet channel, while the above semicircular welds 32 form a second portion of the inlet channel. As shown in FIG. 1a, the curved portions 16 and 18 of the films 12 and 14 pass downwardly to a position immediately opposite the center of the second portion formed by the aforementioned elliptical shaped welds 38. It should be noted that also other positions of the lower edges 17 and 19 of the curved portions 16 and 18 are semicircular shaped welds possible, e.g. as described and illustrated in the aforementioned European patent and in the aforementioned published European patent application. It should further be noted that the curved portions 16 and 18 of the films 12 and 14 may be pierced so that the curved film material present in the inlet duct is accurately and immediately within the inlet duct, but cut along the outer walls of the inlet duct, where and expansion chambers

40. Additional ice cube compartments may be formed according to the present invention as described below.

As shown in FIG. 1a, the aforementioned compartmentalized ice cube chamber is further subdivided into three subsections, hereinafter referred to as upper, middle and lower subsections, by two line welds 26 extending from each of the two side welds 20 inwardly toward the axis of the ice cube bag. . The total of four line welds 26 have a length of less than half the inner free width between the welds 20 so that between each pair of line welds 26 that are in a single line, an aperture is formed between adjacent subsections through which water can flow downward from the upper subsection. into the middle subsection and even further into the lower subsection.

Individual subsections, ie. j. The above three sub-sections are subdivided into eight sections of ice cubes, each using spot welds, four sets of horizontal spot welds and two double sets of perpendicular spot welds are created in each sub-section. In this respect, the term horizontal spot welds means a term not related to separate spot welds that are horizontal because the spot welds are circular or approximately circular in configuration, but on the contrary indicate that the line or other curve on which the spot welds are located passes horizontally or in a substantially horizontal direction. Also, the term perpendicular spot welds means that these spot welds are located on a curve, preferably a line extending in a perpendicular or approximately perpendicular direction. The three double sets of perpendicular spot welds and the four sets of horizontal spot welds in each subsection meet in the areas forming the joining areas between the ice cube compartments in which the joining areas are not welded to connect the two foils 12 and 14 to each other.

The spot welds in the four sets of horizontal spot welds and the corresponding spot welds in the three double sets of perpendicular spot welds adjacent to the joining areas are produced at a greater spacing than the other spot welds. Each of the four sets of horizontal spot welds therefore consists of five-point welds 22, which are typically 0.1 to 5 mm in size, such as 0.5 to 1 mm, e.g. 0.6 to 0.9 mm, preferably about 0.9 mm, two sets of horizontal spot welds adjacent the side welds 20, each forming a six-point weld 22. Each of the two sets of spot welds adjacent the side welds 20 are two-point welds. Which have a larger diameter compared to the spot welds 22. typically have a diameter of more than 0.5 mm, more preferably more than 1 mm, e.g. 1 to 1.5 mm, e.g. a diameter of 1.1 to 1.3 mm, preferably a diameter of 1.1 mm. Each of the two middle sets of horizontal spot welds, as will be seen below, consists of five-point welds 22 and two-point welds 23. Each of the three double sets of perpendicular spot welds, like the two middle sets of horizontal spot welds 5, consists of spot welds 24 corresponding to spot welds 22 and two spot welds 25 corresponding to spot welds 23.

The first preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 described above is shown in a planar state, wherein the two films 12 and 14 are positioned so as to lie flat to each other, the inner ice cube compartments of the ice cube bag and the corresponding inner channel and expansion chambers are partially filled with air but shown in unfilled state, i. j. under conditions where the water has not yet been filled into the interior of the bag.

In FIG. 1b is the top of the ice cube bag 10 shown in section I-I of FIG. 1a, and shows two films 12 and 14. two curved portions 16 and 18 of two films and two lower edges 17 and 19 of these curved portions 16 and 18. Further, FIG. Ib shows all 7 welds in the upper perpendicular set of spot welds, consisting of two-point welds 25 and five-point welds 24 positioned between the two-point welds 25.

The difference in the distance between spot welds 22 and 23 and spot welds 24 and 25 is a requirement that they have no adjacent adjacent spot welds, i. j. the spot welds 23 and 25 are not torn apart during the water filling and during the freezing of water, although it should be remembered that if the water is cooled below 4 ° C, it expands and continues to expand during freezing, causing a given amount of fluid contained in the interior of the ice cube bag during freezing, it expands and therefore exerts a high pressure in the interior of the ice cube bag and therefore causes a large tension in the welds forming the interior of the ice cube bag and divides the interior of the ice cube bag into individual cube compartments ice.

Fig. 2 shows a first and preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 shown in FIG. 1a and 1b after the ice cube bag 10 has been filled with water, it has been closed by the self-closing effect as described in the above-mentioned European patent and the above-mentioned published patent application and after the water contained in the inner space of the ice cube bag and it has frozen behind the curved portions 16 and 18 of the films 12 and 14. During water filling, the individual sections of the ice cubes in the three subsections of the ice cube bag are filled with water and the water fills the interior of the inlet channel through which it closes into the above-mentioned caps of the closure when the bag is turned upside down. During the filling of the ice cube bag with water, the water usually does not enter the expansion chambers which are not vented, with small air pockets being delimited in these expansion chambers. When the ice cube bag is then turned upside down to effect the self-closing function, the air in these air pockets is vented and split into the interior of the ice cube bag causing water to penetrate into the expansion chambers 40. In this way, the liquid pressure in the inner The space of the ice cube bag will decrease. During freezing, the water expands as explained above, causing the ice cube pouch films to break because they do not burst due to water expansion due to the reduction in pressure caused by the chambers 40. See above explanation. In FIG. 2 shows pieces of ice 42 formed from water that has penetrated into the expansion chambers and frozen in them on ice and above some small air space. Therefore, it should be noted that during normal use, which is a measure in conjunction with the frozen bag shown in FIG. 2, the ice cube bag is placed in a very low temperature freezer or freezer plate resting on one of the foil walls or at least on the rearmost and invisible wall of the foil of FIG. Second

After freezing the water as described above, the individual ice cube compartments will be closely separated by the ice cubes enclosed in the respective ice cube compartments. Next to each ice cube compartment, the area between the ice cube compartments, i.e. j. between the spot welds 23 and 25, they are filled with ice separated between the foils and by means of the foils act in these spot welds and intermediate spot welds 22 and 24 by tension and the like during the foil inflation, the corresponding tension occurs in closed straight welds, i. j. two side welds 20. bottom weld 21. outwardly sloping and diverging welds 27 and separating straight welds 26. Therefore, according to the present invention, it has surprisingly been found that this film stretch in combination with the limited area of spot welds 22, 23 and 25 shown in FIG. Fig. 1a forms a simple and predetermined tearing of the films 12 and 14. wherever it is possible to remove the ice cubes from the interior of the ice cube bag

This phenomenon is shown in FIG. 3a and 3b. In FIG. 3a, the middle subsection of the ice cube bag 10 is folded around an imaginary line guided by the central horizontal spot welds of the ice cube bag, causing the outer film, i.e., the ice cube, to be folded. j. the foil 12 stretches over the ice cubes 12 closed behind the foil 12. In this way, the tension produced in the foil 12 which is actually centered in the spot welds lying in the bending line and therefore bending the ice cube bag results in tearing in these spot welds because the foil 12 is released in the spot welds such that several perforations 33 are formed in the foil at the points where the spot welds were initially and before the ice cube bag was bent. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3a, the spot weld material is torn from the film 12 and then in contact with the underlying film 14.

Upon continuous bending, by stretching the film 12, the resulting perforations 44 are further expanded, which, as shown in FIG. 3b causes complete tearing of the film 12 along the line leading through the perforations 44 described above with reference to FIG. 3a. In FIG. 3b, the broken edge 46 of one of the halves of the film 12 is shown. Then, a total of eight ice cubes 48 initially enclosed in the middle subsection of the ice cube bag 10 are accessible and can be immediately removed from the ice cube bag 10. In this context, it should be noted that by bending the ice cube bag an extremely high force can be generated with very little force in the regions of the foils resting on the horizontal spot welds, since bending the ice cube bag uses considerably more torque compared to the torque. transmitting the move to spot welds locally against individual spot welds.

Fig. 4a is a cross-sectional and more detailed illustration of tearing off the spot welds of FIG. 3a during the first portion of tearing or opening the ice cube bag 10 and illustrating how stretching the topsheet 12 and pulling the film over ice cubes will tear the film 12 from the spot weld regions and perforations 44 in the foil 12. Further bending the ice cube bag 10 as shown in FIG. 4b causes a continuous expansion of the film 12 which eventually ruptures in the line 46 through the perforations 44 shown in FIG. 4a.

Fig. 5 shows a second embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention. This second embodiment is referred to as the bag 10 ¹ and differs from the embodiment of the bag 10 described above with reference to FIG. 1a, 1b and 2, in that the weld line 26 is omitted and instead of five transverse or horizontal weld sets, each set consisting of 39 spot welds 22 located at equal distances from each other, and each of the perpendicular weld set sets consists of Thus, according to the present invention, it has been shown that not only a certain size of the spot weld relative to the thickness of the film and a certain material of the film gives a tear-off function, including the first perforations as described above with reference to FIG. 4a and 4b, but also other factors, including the distance between the spot welds and their distance from other welds, whether from line welds or spot welds, are important and decisive for whether spot welds - after the inner space of the pocket ice cubes filled with water and after the water has frozen into ice cubes - to perform the function shown in FIG. 4a as well as the tear-off function shown in FIG. 4b.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the small distance between the relatively small spot welds 22 in the transverse five sets of welds 22 causes the bag to tear as shown in FIG. 5 by bending the ice cube bag around the line leading through these relatively small spot welds 22 located at a short distance from each other. 6a and functionally corresponds to the above description with reference to 4a and 4b.

Therefore, the relatively small distance between the relatively small spot welds 25 in the perpendicular compartments of the bag 10 ¹ causes that even when the bag is subjected to extremely large bending, these spot welds 25 only allow and allow perforation of the foil wall as shown in Fig. 6b corresponding to above. with reference to FIG. 4, whereby the bag 10 may be ^one of the ice cube of FIG. 5 is manipulated in such a way that the ice cube bag 10 ¹ is first bent or folded in lines passing through straight spot welds 25, causing these spot welds to tear off to create perforations and to avoid perpendicular division into compartments, and then bending the ice cube bag in the line passing through the spot welds 22 tears the foil walls as shown in FIG. 6a, and this will allow immediate access to eight separate ice cubes within the tear line.

In FIG. 7a shows a third embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 ¹¹ according to the present invention. This third embodiment differs from the above first and preferred embodiments described with reference to FIG. 1a, 1b and 2 * in that the four horizontal line welds 26 have been omitted and replaced by two additional sets of horizontal spot welds corresponding to the three sets of horizontal spot welds described above with reference to Figs. 1a and formed in three subsections in the embodiment shown in FIG. Ia. A third embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention shown in FIG. 7a further differs in that the number of spot welds in the set of horizontal and perpendicular spot welds differs from the number described above. The tests carried out by the inventor have shown that also the number of spot welds may be important first in terms of the pressure resistance of the ice cube bag, since stretching the film in each ice cube compartment produces the greatest force component or greatest pull in the middle edge of each ice cube compartment. If the spot weld lies in the middle of the side edge of the ice cube compartment, this spot weld will be exposed to the greatest stress and therefore the resistance to the ice cube bag pressure can be increased by avoiding placing each spot weld in the middle and making horizontal and perpendicular spot welds number, e.g. 4-point, 6-point, or as shown in FIG. 7a, eight-spot welds in both a set of horizontal and perpendicular spot welds. Furthermore, this third embodiment differs from the two previously described embodiments in that the outwardly inclined and diverging welds 27 shown in FIG. a and 5 have been replaced by rectilinear line weldings 27 ^first

With the third embodiment shown in FIG. 7a can be handled according to the present invention in a number of alternative ways, the horizontal sets of spot welds allow the ice cube bag to tear in a line extending through such a set and the perpendicular sets of spot welds allow the bag to tear perpendicular line through such a set of perpendicular spot welds. Alternatively, by twisting the ice cube bag as described below with reference to FIG. 15, it is possible to tear off the spot welds without simultaneously tearing off the foils and therefore converting the ice cube bag obtained by compartments into a ice cube bag without compartments, the individual point welds in both horizontal and perpendicular spot welds are therefore subjected to tension thereby causing perforation of one of the foil walls corresponding to the above description with reference to FIG. 4a.

In FIG. 7b shows a detail of a third embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention modified with respect to the embodiment of FIG. 7a. The line welds described above, i.e. the side welds 20, the bottom welds 21, the top welds 21 and 21b and the welds 27 ¹ 30, 32, 34, and 38 may be formed according to the invention as continuous line welds or at other times welds positioned in a single line or as several sets of lines as shown in FIG. 7b. In FIG. 7b shows the lower right corner of a modified embodiment of the third embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 ¹¹ according to the present invention wherein the side weld 20 and the bottom weld 21 are replaced by two series of offset spot welds having the same geometric spacing as the spot welds 22 and 24 described above. The two-point welds in the inner and outer rows of the two series of spot welds 20 ¹ and 20 ¹ together form a side weld. These two series of spot welds offset each other causing the foils to expand as soon as the ice cube bag is filled with water, so that the foils are pressed together and held firmly under the water pressures generated by the water column in the interior of the ice cube bag.

In FIG. 8 shows a fourth embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 ¹¹¹ according to the present invention. This fourth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention differs from the first and above described third embodiment in that two straight sections forming transverse welds 26 * are formed in the middle of the ice cube bag. to create a two-piece interior of the ice cube bag. Further, this fourth embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 ¹ allows for the same handling of the ice cube bag after freezing the ice cubes as described with reference to FIG. 2, or at any other time as described above with reference to FIG. 7a, t. j as removal by tearing off ice cubes from one half of the interior of the ice cube bag or removing partitions in one or both compartments in the interior of the ice cube bag.

In FIG. 9 shows a fifth embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 ^lv . As the embodiment described above, the ice cubes bag 10 ^lv is so-called. a self-closing bag and is formed by the two films 12 and 14 described above with associated curved portions 16 and 18. Similarly, the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the two side welds 20, the bottom welds 21, the two upper welds 21a and 21b, and the inlet channel bounded by the weld sets 30, 32 and 34. Further, the ice cube bag 10 ^lv has two horizontal line welds 27 ¹ corresponding to the elongation of the semicircular welds 32 described. above with reference to FIG. 7a, the welds 27 ¹ are interrupted to form two expansion chambers 40 ¹ on each side of the channel. The ice cube compartments within the ice cube bag are divided into four columnar subsections by means of three sets of perpendicular welds 29 extending from a position above the bottom weld 21, not shown in FIG. 9 to a position just below the transverse welds 27 & apos ^; and each form a plurality of obliquely inclined individual welds in the form of portions of lines generally forming a line weld according to the present invention. The perpendicular welds 29 may at other times be formed by spot welds or line welds. As in the four embodiments described above, the ice cube bag 10 ^lv is an ice cube bag for producing 24 ice cubes and each of the four columnar subsections is divided into six ice cube sections by four separate sets of horizontal spot welds 22. This set of horizontal spot welds is formed and shaped in the same way as the horizontal spot welds 22 described above with reference to FIG. 1a in a first embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention shown in FIG. Ia.

A fifth embodiment of the bag 10 ^lv is characterized by being provided with a tear-off guide arranged in the form of perforations 52 extending from the top of the ice cube bag through the top welds 21a and 21b and down to the welds 27 ¹ . these perforations are designed to be limited between two sets of parallel line welds 49 and 50, which at the same time serve to prevent water leakage from the expansion chambers 40 through the perforations 52. A fifth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention shown in FIG. 9 is filled in the same manner as the four embodiments described above and is closed using the self-closing function described in the above-mentioned European patent and the above-mentioned European application.

After freezing, the ice cube bag 10 ^lv can be rapidly ruptured as shown in FIG. 10, the ice cube bag is torn off in the perforations 52, thereby causing the tear to continue down through the respective weld 29. Access to the twelve ice cubes enclosed in one of the halves of the ice cube bag is achieved by tearing the ice cube bag on one side, ie on the right or left side of the inlet duct and further downward with the weld 29 lying in the continuation of the perforations 52. These twelve ice cubes can be immediately removed using the film tear technique as described above with reference to FIG. 4a and 6b to release individual ice cubes. It should be noted that this separation of individual ice cubes or the separation of ice cubes from each other by tearing the foils, e.g. the film 12 as shown in FIG. 4a and 6b may instead be used to separate the individual ice cubes from each other before the ice cube bag is torn using the above perforations 52.

In FIG. 11 shows a sixth embodiment of the bag 10 ⁱⁿ the ice cube. This embodiment substantially corresponds to the third embodiment 10 ¹¹¹ described above with reference to FIG. 7, the point weldings 22, 23, 24 and 25 in the sixth embodiment 10 ^v illustrated in FIG. 11 have been replaced by small rectangular weldings having substantially the same area extension as the above described point weldings 22 and 24. The bag 10 Rozoddielované weldings ⁱⁿ the ice cube comprises sets of rectangular-configurated weldings 22 'positioned in a horizontal line with the longitudinal axis of the individual rectangle perpendicular on the horizontal line in . The welds in the perpendicular sections of the ice cubes in the ice cube bag IO ^V, on the other hand, are disposed with individual rectangles of rectangular welds 24 ^l disposed in the direction of the section line, i. with individual rectangular shaped welds 24 ¹ in mutual continuation. According to the present invention, this different orientation of the rectangular shaped welds 22 ¹ and 24 ¹ . corresponding to the above description with reference to FIG. 5, is the difference in the tendency to enable a tearing apart of the rectangle-configurated weldings, ^the bag 10 ii illustrated in FIG. 11 shows a greater tendency to tear off perpendicular rectangular shaped welds 24 disposed in mutual relationship and thus have a smaller mutual distance than horizontal rectangular shaped welds 22 *. preferably generating instructions to undo the partitioning of the ice cube bag into compartments according to the technique described above with reference to FIG. 4a and 6.

In FIG. 12 and 13 are illustrations of a seventh and eighth embodiment of the bag 10 ^l Q1 and ^V11 of the ice cube. Similar to the embodiments described above, these embodiments are made of the films 12 and 14 described above and assembled by the side welds 20 of the bottom weld 21 and the two top welds 21a and 21b described above. The two ice cube pockets 10 ^V1 and 10 ^VH are provided with the two outwardly sloping and diverging welds 27 described above but are not provided with breaks, unlike the embodiments described above.

The inner distribution of the ice cube compartments ^10v1 and ^10v11 in the seventh embodiment is incidentally made essentially the same as the one shown in FIG. 7a with horizontal and perpendicular spot welds 22, 23 and 24, 25. The seventh embodiment of FIG. 12 is produced with a single central perpendicular line welding 28, whereas the eighth embodiment 10 of the bag ^VL1 ii illustrated in FIG. 13 is provided in addition to the central perpendicular line weld by a horizontal line weld 26 ¹¹ intersecting the perpendicular line weld 28. but without being in contact with the side welds 20, thus forming a connection from the upper half of the inner ice cube compartment, i.e. half the inner compartment for ice cubes placed above line welds 26 ¹¹ . into the lower half formed under the line weld 26 ¹¹ .

The inlet portions of the seventh and eighth embodiments of the ice cube bag of the present invention shown in FIG. 12 and 13 are provided with an inlet channel substantially having a shape corresponding to that of the inlet channel described with reference to FIG. Ia. The inlet channel of the bag 1 O ^VI and ^V11 10 ice cube is thus defined by two weldings 30 converging from the inlet channel towards the inner section of the ice cube bag, extending into two weldings 32 in ^one quadrant of the constriction defined by these weldings. Two line welds 34 * are formed in the taper. which in comparison with the above-described line welds 34 shown in FIG. 1a, they only pass inwards from the constriction towards the inner ice cube compartment. Above the taper, two spot welds 35 are formed to hold the sheets together in the inlet ducts. In two embodiments of the ice cube bag ^10v1 and ^10v11 shown in FIG. 12 and 13, the right-hand welding broken to establish a connection with a chamber 40 with ^N-shaped so as to form an expansion chamber corresponding to the above described expansion chambers 40. Similarly, the left-hand seam 32 in ^one quadrant is broken to connect to the other expansion chamber ^40111th in which a plurality of spot welds 54 are similarly formed to limit the amount of liquid that can expand into the expansion chamber.

Embodiments ^10v1 and ^10v11 shown in FIG. 12 and 13 are further adapted to tear by tearing off the inlet channel of the ice cube bag after the water contained in the ice cube bag has frozen on ice. Similar to the above described perforations 52 are on the feature tear formed perforation 52 ¹ extending from the side weldings 20 towards the weld 32 ¹ quadrant, the perforations do not extend in the line weldings, and similarly, the limitation of the perforations 52 ¹ corresponding to the line weldings 49 and 50 illustrated FIG. 9, the line welds 56 and 58 are provided by connecting line welds 20 with quadrant-shaped welds 32 ¹ and further strengthening the film material behind or close to the perforations 52 ¹ .

The self-closing pockets shown in FIG. 12 and 13 are filled with water and sealed as described above and described in more detail in the above-mentioned European patent and the above-mentioned published patent application, then allowing the water contained in the inner ice cube compartments to freeze by placing the ice cube bag in the freezer very low temperature, freezer cabinet, or other refrigerated area below freezing. Hardly the water in the ice cube compartments freezes into ice cubes, the entire inner part, ie the area above the perforations 52 ¹ of the 10 ^l and 10 ^VH bags of the ice cubes, can be torn to allow access to the ice cubes contained in the interior of the bag on the ice cubes thus torn apart by the second portion of the inlet channel, the individual ice cubes can be handled and removed from the ice cubes bag by using the foil separation and the foil tear marks defined by horizontal and perpendicular spot welds in the inner divided ice cubes ice.

All of the eight embodiments described above are so-called. self-closing bags and are also bags for making 24 ice cubes. However, it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to self-closing pockets and is not limited to a certain number of ice cubes, since any number of ice cube compartments may be arranged in the ice cube bag of a number of less or more than 24, e.g. 12, 16, 18, 30 and 36, etc. Similarly, the inlet portion of the ice cube bag may be formed without a self-closing function, e.g. with a funnel-like portion for the fastener or at other times by means of the fastener described in U.S. Pat. Re. No. 31,890, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. It should also be noted that it is also possible to realize a combination of a self-closing bag and a tie bag by connecting e.g. the technical principles described in the above-mentioned US patent and the technical principles set forth in the above-mentioned European patent and the above-mentioned European patent application. By combining the self-closing and tether closure in the ice cube bag, it is possible to achieve the particular advantage that the internal pressure of the liquid can be increased in the self-closing bag when the tether closure is formed.

In FIG. 14 shows a ninth embodiment of an ice cube bag 10 ^VH1 . This ice cube bag differs from the ice cube pockets described above in that the ice cube bag forms a tie bag, i.e. the ice cube bag, which is closed by the binding of the flaps formed in the inlet channels of the bags, unlike the self-closing bag described above. ice cubes, according to the solution disclosed in the above-mentioned US patent. Therefore, in contrast to the self-closing ice cube pockets described above, the ice cube bag 10 ^VHI is made of two foils, of which only one, ie the highest foil 12 ^l . is not formed with curved portions corresponding to the curved portions 16 and 18 described above in FIG. The foils of the ice cube bag 10 ^VHI are welded together by means of two side welds 20 of the bottom weld 21 and the two upper welds 21a and 21b. The inner space of the ice cube bag is further delimited by two line welds 27 'which, unlike the line welds 27' shown in FIG. 7a, are not broken so as to form an expansion chamber. In contrast, the line welds 27 ¹ connect the side welds 20 to the line welds 30 ¹ connecting the upper welds 21a and 21b to the above line welds 27 ¹ . Above the line welds 27 ¹ , cuts 52 ¹¹ or perforations corresponding to the perforations 52 ¹ shown in FIG. 12 and 13 and running in front of the inwardly extending line welds 30 ¹ together forming a channel-shaped inlet channel. The ice cube compartment of the ice cube bag shown in FIG. 14 is divided into three perpendicular subsections by two perpendicular line welds 28 corresponding to perpendicular line welds 28 described above with reference to FIG. 12 and 13. Each of the three sub-columns formed in the pocket 10 ^rh ice cube is subdivided into six ice cube compartments by means of sets of horizontal point weldings, each set containing in total ten point weldings 22nd

Therefore, the ice cube bag ^10H shown in FIG. 14 serves for the production of 18 ice cubes, which make the production of larger ice cubes for the same outer dimensions of the films as the above-described embodiments. The ice cube bag 10 ^V111 is used as follows. Water is poured through the funnel constituted by the rectilinear weldings 30 ^first and thereby fill the three columnar subsections with water. After tearing the perforations ^11, 52 at the upper end of the pocket formed in two parts in the shape of lips and these parts shaped flaps are tied into a knot for closing the interior of the ice cube bag. The ice cube bag can be frozen to form ice cubes, and then, according to the present invention, the split ice cube compartment of the inner space of the ice cube bag can be turned into a non-partitioned compartment and is further preferably torn by spot welds 22 which are a feature of the present invention. .

The perpendicular line welds shown may be replaced by spot welds, e.g. corresponding to the spot welds 25 described above.

Further, the ice cube bag 10 ^VH1 shown in FIG. 14, easily converted into a self-closing ice cube bag by replacing the film 12 *. and likewise the films lying behind the films 12 and 14 described above, the curved portions of the films pass downwardly against the perforations 52 which are omitted. At the same time, the inlet channel 30 'may be adapted to another shape e.g. by replacing the inlet duct 30 'with a two-part duct whose outermost or first inlet portion has the same slope as the funnel shape shown in FIG. 14 and another inlet portion is formed with perpendicular or slightly inward or outwardly inclined welds.

As mentioned above, in FIG. 15 shows a third embodiment of the ^HV cube bag 10 shown in FIG. 3, after the ice cubes have frozen in this ice cube bag, the bag is barely handled, ie, twisted, fire or both, can either be turned into an ice cube bag undivided into compartments or at other times it can be torn using the tear-off technique according to the present of the invention using tearing directions formed by spot welds 22, 23, 24 and 25 which are features of the present invention. The inner part or the filling part shown on the right side of FIG. 15 can preferably be used to hold the ice cube bag after freezing and, therefore, to handle the ice cube bag and may be further described above with reference to FIG. 12 and 13, preferably used to tear off the upper portion of the ice cube bag in conjunction with removing the ice cubes or ice pieces from the inside of the ice cube bag.

In FIG. 16 shows a third embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 ¹¹ , also shown in FIG. 3 and 15, after the ice cube bag after handling described above with reference to FIG. 15 was converted from compartments into compartments into ice compartments not partitioned. In FIG. 15 shows an ice cube bag lying on a planar support, e.g. of the table top, the perforations 44 are formed in the foil on the right side or half of the inner chamber of the ice cube bag as described above, and likewise the perforations of FIG. 16 in the opposite film by rotating or twisting the film in the left half in the opposite direction compared to the right portion or half. The spot welds 22 and 24 shown in the left or half of the ice cube bag 10 ¹¹ , therefore, comprise material cracks of opposite foil in which corresponding perforations 44 are shown correspondingly formed on the foil 12 in the right half of the inner space of the ice cube bag.

In FIG. 17 shows a tenth embodiment of a ^10x ice cube bag according to the present invention. This tenth embodiment of the ice cube bag is largely similar to the third embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention shown in FIG. 7a and form a self-closing bag. The tenth embodiment is composed of the two films 12 and 14 described above, of which only one film 12 is shown, these films being welded together by side welds 20, the bottom weld 21 by two welds 21a and 21b. From the upper welds 21a and 21b. the two welds 30 ^{11 are} rounded inwardly of the channel, extend inwardly into the ice cube bag and continue as upwardly inclined welds 27 ¹¹ corresponding to the downwardly inclined side welds 27 shown in FIG. 7a. Like the side weldings 27, the upwardly sloping side weldings 27 ¹¹ is blown to establish a connection via welds 36 and 37 to the expansion chambers 40. The interior ice cube compartment of the bag 1O ^IX ice cube is divided into twenty-four individual ice cube compartments by of the above-described spot welds 22 and 24 characteristic of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 17, the top spot weld in the most immediate row of perpendicular spot welds is made as a larger spot weld 25. This top spot weld located immediately below the inlet duct is exposed to the highest water pressure of all spot welds during filling of the ice cube bag. The shape of the inlet channel shown in FIG. 17 serves to accelerate filling as compared to the inlet ducts described and illustrated above.

In FIG. 18 shows the eleventh embodiment of the ice cube bag, which is in its entirety by reference numeral 10 ^x. This eleventh embodiment has a number of features described previously with reference to FIG. 1 to 17, this eleventh embodiment comprises a self-closing bag as a few of the above-described embodiments with side welds 20, modified bottom weld 21 'composed of three semicircular portions corresponding to division into the interior compartments of the ice cube bag in three subsections and top welds 21a and 21b. The inlet channel of the ice cube bag is produced correspondingly to the inlet channel described above with reference to FIG. 1a, but with the modification of perpendicular line welds 34, which are replaced by the line welds 34 'shown in FIG. 12 and 13. Further, this eleventh embodiment exhibits the same downwardly slanted side welds 27 as described above, with associated perforations to form a connection to the expansion chambers 40 through the channels limited by the line welds 36 and 37. The inner ice cube chamber of the ice cube bag is divided into three separate sections into ice cubes limited by three sets of perpendicular spot welds, each containing a plurality of spot welds 25. e.g. eighty-four spot welds. Therefore, by means of this eleventh embodiment, three large ice cubes or pieces of ice can be produced, which can be removed by the tear-off technique which is a feature of the present invention, using the spot welds 25 described above.

in

Further, the present invention makes it possible to provide ice cube pockets with a very large number of separate ice cube compartments, as shown in FIG. 19a and 19b illustrating a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention denoted as a whole by 10 ^{X 1} and 10 ^{X 11} . Both of these embodiments 10 ^X1 and 10 ^X11 form self-closing pockets limited by the side welds 20 by the bottom weld 21 and the top welds 21a and 21b. Further, both embodiments 10 ^{x 1} and 10 ^{x n} are made with an inlet filling channel corresponding to the one described above with reference to Figs. 17, which is formed in two inwardly into the inlet duct by rounded welds 30 ¹¹ extending directly into the downwardly inclined side welds 27 described above with reference to FIG. Ia. Perforation lines 52 ¹¹ are provided under the edges 17 and 19 of the folded portions 16 and 18 of the film (FIG. 17 shows only one of the folded parts 16 with associated edge

17). both to form the tether closure as mentioned above, ie the combined self-closing and tether closure of the interior of the ice cube bag, and alternatively to tear the top of the ice cube bag after freezing the water column contained in the interior of the ice cube bag. The two ice cube pockets 10 ^X1 and 10 ^{X 11} are divided into a plurality of separate ice cube compartments limited only by corner spot welds made according to the present invention and of the same shape described with reference to FIG. 1a and designated 23. In FIG. 19a, the spot welds 23 are arranged at the corners or corners of the rectangular pattern, while the spot welds 23 in the thirteenth embodiment ^10X11 shown in FIG. 19b are disposed in a pattern in which the spot welds positioned in horizontal lines in each second row are offset by half of the grid or by the distance of the welds to one side, causing the ice cubes or ice pieces produced in the ice cubes bag shown in FIG. 19b are diamond shaped, while the ice cubes or ice pieces in the ice cube bag shown in FIG. 19a will be substantially square in shape. An even, extremely large number of individual ice cubes or pieces of ice can be produced by the embodiments shown in FIG. 19a and 19b. In the embodiments shown, it is possible to produce more than two hundred individual ice cubes or pieces of ice.

In FIG. 20a shows a fourteenth embodiment of an ice cube bag, denoted as a whole by 10 ^xl . This fourteenth embodiment comprises a tie bag of the same type as shown and described above with reference to FIG. 14, 19a and 19b and further form an embodiment which, as part of the modified third embodiment of FIG. 1a, shown in FIG. 7b - produced exclusively by spot welds in the form of straight sections and does not contain any continuous circumferential welds. Further, this fourteenth embodiment exhibits several features previously described with reference to FIG. 1 to 19b. The ice cube bag 10 ^XIH is provided with welds 20 ¹¹¹ shaped as straight sections forming essentially circumferential welds limiting the ice cube compartment divided into ice cube subsections and the partially welded side welds are connected to the upper seams 21 and ¹ and 21 b ¹ composed of individual parallel line segments. The inlet duct of this ice cube bag is formed as a funnel. It is also formed by straight sections formed by individual welds which form rectangular welds diverging from each other and forming the funnel mentioned above, and which connect the upper welds 21a and 21b. formed by line sections, with side welds 27 ¹¹ connecting the funnel of the inlet channel to the side welds formed by the line sections 20 ¹¹¹ .

The inner space of the ice cube bag is divided into four perpendicular compartments by means of spot welds 24 ^l and 25 ^l . these four inner perpendicular sections are again divided into several subsections by means of horizontal welds created by spot welds 22 ¹ and 23 ¹ . Spot welds 22 ¹ . 23 ¹ . 24 ¹ and 25 * shown in FIG. 20a correspond to the spot welds previously described. However, spot welds 22 ^l att are preferably formed as longitudinal welds rather than circular welds, and similarly, welds 22 ^l . 23 ¹ . The 24 ^L and 25 ^L may be formed as solid separate welds or may be formed as circumferential welds in which the two opposing layers of the ice cube bag are not joined together. Similar to the ice cube bags described above, the interior of the ice cube bag may be designed as an ice cube bag having 16, 20 or preferably 24 compartments.

In FIG. 20b the embodiment of the ice cube bag is modified compared to the fourteenth embodiment of the ice cube bag of FIG. 20a or the lowest portion of this modified or fifteenth embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 ^XIV of the present invention. Similar to the fourteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 20a, the fifteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 20b is primarily characterized by circumferential welds comprising side welds and a bottom weld formed by welds in the form of straight sections. In contrast to the fourteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 20a, in which the welds 20 ¹¹¹ line segment formed all over positioned perpendicularly to the general orientation of the welding and thus radially or perpendicularly to the peripheral welding composed of the line segment formed weldings, the corresponding welds 2 O ^1U line segment formed constituting side weldings in the fifteenth embodiment shown in FIG . 20b are positioned at an angle i with respect to the general orientation that is in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the ice cube bag. In FIG. 20b, these line section welds 20 ¹¹¹ are disposed in an inclined direction with respect to a perpendicular or horizontal orientation. Further, the fifteenth embodiment of the ice cube bag 10 shown in FIG. 20b has a bottom weld 21 which is comprised of a plurality of separate welds formed by straight sections, all of which have the same range, i.e. the same length and width, but which may alternatively be of different length and width. These weld lines 21 ¹¹¹ formed by line sections are located in a total of six parallel rows, two adjacent rows offset each other by half the length of the individual weld lines 21 ¹¹¹ in the form of line sections.

Similar to FIG. 20a, FIG. 20c shows a sixteenth embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention and similar to the fourteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 20a, this sixteenth embodiment, which is in its entirety by reference numeral 10 ^xv, constitutes a so-called. tie bag. Further, the sixteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 20c differs from the fourteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 20a by the welds formed by the line sections shown in FIG. 20a forming circumferential welds, side welds 27 ¹¹ . upper welds 21 and ¹ and 21b ¹ . The inlet duct 30 ¹¹ is replaced by strips of smaller welds located in a tight pattern in the form of a photographic raster pattern in which the individual spot welds have 22 ^l as compared to the split spot welds. 23 ¹ . 24 ^L and 25 ^L substantially smaller in size or diameter. Usually they have a size of less than 50% of the biggest dimension of these point weldings 22 ^first 23 ¹ . 24 ¹ and 25 ¹ . Individual spot welds in the weld in the form of a pattern of photographic raster consisting of spot welds of 20 ^lv . are located near adjacent welds substantially at a distance corresponding to the diameter of the individual 20 ^lv welds. Of course, the embodiments shown in FIG. 20a, 20b and 20c may be modified within the scope of the present invention in a manner corresponding to the embodiments described above. In addition, they can be combined with alternative side-weld, bottom-weld, and inlet channel shapes.

Fig. 20d is a schematic and planar view of a seventeenth embodiment of an ice cube bag according to the present invention in which the ice cube bag is denoted as a whole by 10 ^xvl . Similar to the above described embodiments, the pocket IC ^XV1 ice cube composed of two identical plastic foils, preferably LD polyethylene foils of a thickness of 25 gm, or alternatively HD-polyethylene foils of a thickness of 18 gm, of which one film is indicated by the 12th Both foils have a curved portion. The folded part of the foil 12 is designated the reference numeral 16. These folded parts protrude inwardly into the interior of the bag 1 O ^XVI of the ice cube and define inner exposed edges. The foils are substantially rectangular in shape and overlapping the curved portions as described above. These portions penetrate the interior of the ice cube bag 10 ^XV1 as the foils are joined by a substantially peripheral joint 20 ^{l in} two line welds extending to each other from the substantially peripheral joint 20 ^lv . which is located at the upper end of the ice cube bag 10 ^XV1 shown in FIG. 20d and the upper straight lines 21a ¹ and 21b ¹ .

Between the line connections 21a ¹¹ and 21b ¹¹ a hole is formed leading from the environment to the interior of the ice cube bag 10 ^xvl . From the edge described above, the line connections 30 ^lv converge with each other to form the funnel-shaped first portion of the ice cube bag inlet channel. The inner ends of the joints, i.e. in the taper of the formed inlet funnel, the 30 ^Lv straight lines converge to each other to another extent in two parallel straight lines 33. These form the first constriction in the inlet channel and form a passage through the first portion of the inlet channel of the aforementioned ice cube bag and a second portion of the inlet channel of the ice cube bag. The second part is delimited by two opposed rounded joints 32 ¹¹ . which connect the above-described parallel straight lines 33 to the above-described joints 27 forming two connection braces 33 which form a second constriction at the end of the inlet duct, i.e. the transition between the inlet duct and the inner space of the ice cube bag divided into several separate compartments above. The rounded joints 32 ¹¹ form two convex joints to form a second portion of the inlet duct which, in a view perpendicular to the inlet orientation of the inlet duct, is substantially larger than the first taper formed by the two parallel straight line joints 33 as well as the second taper formed by the two connecting braces 33.

In the seventeenth embodiment shown in FIG. 20d the inwardly exposed edges of the curved portions of the two films extend along the entire length of the first portion of the inlet duct but not into the second portion of the inlet duct and precisely in position against two parallel line welds 33. The exposed edges of the present invention may be positioned at any location along two parallel line welds. connections 33. t. j. in any position within the constriction delimited by two parallel joints. Therefore, said joints are located, in full view of the inlet channel, in the center of the inlet channel and at the same time extend perpendicularly between two parallel line connections 33. By placing the bent edges in the center of the inlet channel in combination with parallel line connections 33 form a ice cube bag it has a safe and reliable self-closing function and uses a minimum amount of water to fill the closing caps formed behind the curved portions, as also explained in EP 0 574 496, EP 0 616 948 and EP 0 825 122, which are incorporated herein by reference. At the same time, unlike known self-closing pockets, two parallel straight line joints 33 form a tubular constriction region for a self-closing function that was previously not considered possible because two parallel straight line joints 33 serve another purpose, in addition to the self-closing function formed by constriction, compensating for possible manufacturing variations. the curved films are curved and connected by means of joints to the surrounding films. In order to obtain the self-closing function, it is particularly important that the inwardly exposed edges forming the pockets of the closure within the joints 33 are located below the lower limit of the funnel-shaped first portion of the inlet channel, see FIG. 20d to ensure that the closure pockets are reliably filled with water, as soon as the ice cube bag is filled with water, it is rotated with higher legs as explained in the above-mentioned European patent.

In the plan view shown in FIG. 20d, the two foils of the ice cube bag lie with each other in a plan view because air may be present between them and form air pockets inside the ice cube bag 10. In FIG. 20d shows an ice cube bag 10 ^XV1 with an inlet opening 26 facing upwards. This inlet must be in the upward position when filling the ice cube bag with liquid, in particular water. At this stage it should be noted that the terms up, down, etc. referring to the orientation of the ice cube bag with respect to the orientation given by gravity are terms that serve only to describe the normal, general orientation of the ice cube bag in use, since of course a larger or smaller portion of the ice cube bag may be bent upwards / downwards and the like, the ice cube bag ^10xvl as a whole can be held in an inclined position relative to the up / down position.

Fig. 21 is a schematic view of a production plant for producing ice cube bags or similar welded bags in an intermittent process. In particular, the manufacturing plant corresponds to the manufacturing plant described in DK 172,066 and EP 0 795 393 and consists of a punching and welding station 74. As will be apparent from the following description, according to the product concerned, the manufacturing plant may also include other stations such as e.g. a foil unwinding station, a cutting and separating station and a conveying station.

The simultaneous production of ice cube pockets at the embossing and welding station 74 includes one embossing and welding operation in which the ice cube bags are made from a two-layer sheet of foil 76 so that two ice cube bags are produced in one embossing and welding operation. The embossing and welding operation performed at the embossing and welding station 74 is carried out in a continuous or intermittent manner. The foil strips are guided stepwise into the embossing and welding device 70. The embossing and welding operation is carried out by keeping the two bilayer foil strips in a stationary position below the embossing and welding device 70. The two bilayer foil strips are guided stepwise by rollers or rollers. geared and belt driven.

As shown in FIG. 21, the embossing and welding device 70 comprises a lower support plate 130 provided by two vertical upwardly extending rods 132 and 134 which are otherwise connected by an upper rod 136 and a cross member 138 which together with the support plate 130 hold the rods 132, 134 in the vertical and parallel position. The transverse member 138 supports two sets of working rollers 140, 142 and 144, 146 which are actuated via the pressurized fluid supply hoses connected thereto and preferably are in the form of pressurized air cylinders. The two sets of working rollers 140, 142 and 144. 146 are intended as embossing and welding equipment in a two-stage process. In the first stage, the punching and welding punches 148 and 150 contained in the heated punching and welding devices remain raised at an initial position at a maximum distance above the web of bilayer film that passes through the embossing and welding station to prevent the film material from melting by heat radiation from the embossing and welding devices. In a second stage, the embossing and welding punches 148 and 150 are moved from a raised position from a certain distance above the bilayer sheet to an operating position in which they are pressed down into the bilayer sheet as described below by actuating the working rollers 142 and 146. Therefore, the work rollers 140 and 144 are designed to bring the embossing and welding punches either to the initial position or the working position, and by operating the work rollers 142 and 146, the embossing and welding punches are lowered toward the bilayer film strips. The stamping and welding punches 148 and 150 are provided with lower surfaces comprising protrusions, i. j. downwardly protruding protrusions corresponding to the desired stamped marks and welds on the ice cube bag which is embossed and welded by the embossing and welding device 70 in the embossing and welding station.

The stamping and welding punches 148 and 150 are electrically heated and therefore comprise a series of electrical heating units to which power is supplied by a series of connecting cables, two of which are designated by reference numerals 1552 and 154. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, and 150 are thermally controllable, i. j. the punching and welding punches are maintained at a specified temperature by means of a thermostat. The punches of the stamping and welding dies are cooled by the water that is supplied and removed by the inlet and outlet hoses 156 and 157. In addition, to arrange the water cooling of the hinges of the punches and welding dies 148 and 150, the manufacturing plant shown in FIG. 2a, provided by an air-cooling hose 1 58 fastened - seen in the direction of the direction of the double-layer foil strip - downstream of the complementary stamping and welding dies. The air cooling hose provides cooling air from a series of air inlets in the air inlet pipe 160.

As shown in Fig. 21, the bilayer film web is inserted under the vertically movable stamping and welding punches 148 and 150 but which do not come into direct contact with the bilayer webs of the two-layer film or the two heat-resistant foils 162 and 164 are inserted. between the upper surface of the bilayer sheet and the lower surface of the embossing and welding punches 148 and 150 and the lower surface of the two bilayer sheets and the silicone rubber ribbon elastically supported by the support plate 130. The heat transfer films 162 and 164 form closed loops. The upper closed loop formed by the heat transfer film 162 is provided by a total of four intermediate rollers 168. 170, 172 and 174, and the like closed loop formed by the heat transfer film 164 resistant to high temperature is provided by the four intermediate rollers 176. 178. 180 and 182.

The embossing and welding station is controlled by a central control unit (not shown in the figure), which further controls the regulators for adjusting the temperature of the heating units in the embossing and welding dies, e.g. stamping and welding punches 148 and 150; In the embossing and welding station, the bilayer film web is guided in one step, after which the embossing and welding dies are actuated by the work rolls 140 and 144 and 148 and 150 are lowered onto two bilayer webs supported by the support plate 130 simultaneously with the bilayer web keeps in a stationary position. The bilayer film web is pressed together between two heat transfer films 162 and 164 resistant to high temperatures. The heat transfer heat resistant films, which are preferably woven Teflon films, are designed to transfer heat to the upper and lower surfaces of the bilayer film strips during the embossing and welding process to form bilayer film strips with embossments and welds corresponding to embossments formed on embossing dies without to create weak punches and welds and without cutting the sheets due to excessive local overheating of the area.

Pressing together creates a sandwich consisting of two Teflon strips 162 and 164 and a bilayer film strip therebetween The woven Teflon strips are pressed down and fused into the molten bilayer film strips, thereby joining the woven Teflon strips 162 and 164 with the partially melted, compressed and welded strips It is surprising and important that, due to the compression operation, the woven Teflon strips 162 and 164 are not bonded to the embossed and welded strips of the two-layer film deformed in the next operation of guiding the two-layer film strip after the embossing and welding dies 148 and 150. raised during this line operation. The strip of the welded bilayer film is guided at a distance exactly corresponding to the width of the punched and welded ice cube bags. Therefore, FIG. 21 is a schematic view of a situation where a bilayer film web moves away from a completed embossing and welding operation to form an ice cube bag not visible in the figure. Fig. 21 shows additional ice cube pockets 186 and 188 made in the two previous embossing and welding operations.

When guiding punched and welded ice cube pockets, e.g. the bags 186 and 188. woven teflon strips 162 and 164 support the molten and softened film material adhered to the surface of the woven teflon strips. The cooling air supplied from the air supply tube 160 cools the heated sheets of film and causes the partially melted film material to solidify in the punches and welds of the ice cube bag. After releasing the bilayer sheet from the embossing and welding operation, the top teflon sheet 162 is removed from the top surface of the welded ice cube pockets, e.g. the ice cube bag 186, wherein the bottom woven teflon strip 164 is not removed from the welded strips of the bilayer film, i. j. the ice cube bag is completed, e.g. ice cube bag 188 before the next operation is performed.

In contrast to the method described in the above-mentioned Danish patent no. 172 066 and the corresponding European patent no. No. 0 795 393, the embodiment of the ice cube bag 186 and 188 as ice cube pockets, in which not only the splice joints but also the peripheral joints are made as spot welds, allows the ice cube pockets to remain unsupported immediately after the embossing and welding operation as in the embodiment having spot welds not only in split joints but also in peripheral joints. An ice cube bag construction is obtained in which regions which are not molten directly during embossing and welding and therefore form a coherent, unmelted and only partially heated sheet of the two-layer film. In addition, the embodiment of the ice cube pockets 186 and 188 with spot welds forming the splice joints as well as the peripheral joints allows the ice cube bag to fit closely together and therefore, unlike in FIG. 21, in which the pockets 186 and 188 are shown separately for clarity, may also be disposed directly adjacent to each other or overlapping each other, wherein the periphery or edge joint of one ice cube bag, e.g. the left side edge joint of the ice cube bag 186 coincides with or is coherent with the opposite side edge joint, i. j. with the right side edge joint of the ice cube bag 188.

In FIG. 22 shows a second embodiment of a manufacturing plant for producing ice cube bags or corresponding welded bags. This plant differs from the plant described above with reference to FIG. 21 in that the ice cube bags or similar welded bags are produced continuously in the manufacturing plant shown in FIG. 22, while the embossing and welding operation itself as carried out in the manufacturing plant described with reference to FIG.

in

21, is performed intermittently as described above. Further, the manufacturing plant shown in FIG. 22 differs from the manufacturing plant described above with reference to FIG. 21 in that the ice cube bags are made of two separate films 73 and 75 and not of a bilayer film strip as shown in FIG. 21. A second embodiment of the manufacturing plant of the invention shown in FIG. 22 has been designated 74 ¹ and contains, similar to the manufacturing plant described above with reference to FIG. 21, preferably also a film unwinding station and a cutting and separating station.

As described above, the bilayer film sheet 76 ' comprised of webs 73 and 75 moves at a constant or unchanged speed and a continuous speed at a cutting and welding station 74 ' as at the manufacturing plant described above with reference to FIG. Instead of the vertically movable embossing and welding device 70, the embossing and welding station 74 ¹ comprises two rotary cylinders 157 and 159, which are driven by the same motor 145 through an exchange or transmission 147. and whose cylinder 157 constitutes a true embossing and welding cylinder, forms the feed roller. On its outer surface, the welding roll 157 is provided with curved, heated punching and welding dies. In FIG. 22, three stamping and welding dies 167 belonging to the rotary embossing and welding cylinder 157 are shown. Similar to the stamping and welding dies 148 and 150 described above with reference to FIG. 21, the embossing and welding punches 167 are electrically heated and are supplied with electrical power by the electrical cable 153. The electrical power is supplied to the heating units by means of respective sliding contacts 161, which provide the embossing and welding rollers 157.

As with the manufacturing plant described above with reference to FIG. 21, the embossing and welding station 74 ^{1 is} shown in FIG. 22 provided by woven Teflon bands 162 and 164. The Teflon bands form two opposed closed loops and are intended to transfer uniform embossing and welding pressure from rolls 157 and 159 to a bilayer film web 76 sandwiched between two horizontal Teflon bands 162 and 164, but also serve as support films which, when pressed down and adhering the Teflon films to the melted areas of the embossed and welded bilayer film web, prevent the molten film material from stretching when the finished bilayer film web is pulled from the embossing and welding station 74 ¹ . essentially as described above with reference to FIG. 21st

As a result of the punching and welding of the bilayer film strips in a continuous punching and welding operation, in the manufacture of ice cube bags carried out in the punching and welding station 14 ¹ . is an interconnected strip of ice cube bags comprising regions corresponding to the individual finished ice cube bags 193, 195 and 197. Similar to the manufacturing plant 74 described above with reference to FIG. 21, plant 74 'shown in FIG. 22 differs from the aforementioned Danish patent and the aforementioned European patent application in that the upper Teflon strip 162 only contacts the bilayer film strip 76 during the embossing and welding operation and therefore does not support the bilayer film strip 76 'after the embossing and welding operation. pockets 193. 195 and 197, similar to pockets 186 and 188 shown in FIG. 21, form ice cube pockets in which the splitting joints as well as the peripheral joints are formed by spot welds which increase the mechanical strength and resistance of the immediately formed ice cube pockets to expansion or deformation due to the softened plastic material, compared to conventional ice cube pockets in which circumferential welds form coherent line welds

In FIG. 23 shows an eighteenth embodiment of a self-closing ice cube bag according to the present invention. This eighteenth embodiment is denoted by the reference numeral 10 ^XVI1 as a whole and differs from the 17th embodiment ^10xv1 described above in FIG. 20d, in that the connections 32 ¹¹¹ defining the second portion of the inlet channel are formed by two line connections spanning from two parallel line connections 33 ¹ . which are symmetrically inverted relative to the curved edges 17 relative to the joints 30 ⁱⁿ . which correspond to the connections 30 ^lv shown in FIG. 20d and form a funnel-shaped first portion of the inlet channel. The inlet channel constituted by the joints 30 ^v. 33 ¹ and 32 ¹¹¹ in the embodiment shown in FIG. 23 forms a pattern that is symmetrically inverted along the longitudinal axis as well as the central axis of the inlet channel corresponding to the curved edge 17.

It should be noted that the eighteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 23 differs from the seventeenth embodiment shown in FIG. 20d in that the welds 20. 21a. 21b. 30 ^v . 31 ¹ and 32 ¹¹ all form a coherent weld line as opposed to the peripheral welds shown in FIG. 20d made up of individual points. Furthermore, the ice cube bag 10 ^xv differs from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 to 20d, in that the dividing welds form hexagonal ice cube sections positioned in honeycomb shape, as opposed to the square ice cube sections in the embodiments described above. The hexagonal ice cube sections shown in FIG. 23 are defined by a series of spot welds 23 ¹¹ and 24 ¹¹ . wherein each side edge of the hexagonal sections of the ice cubes is defined by four separate spot welds.

Although the ice cube bags described above are preferably intended to freeze water to form chunks or ice cubes, the ice cube bag as such can be used to freeze other materials, such as food or supplies, to be frozen in individual portions.

Preferably, the above described ice cube bags are manufactured in industry using continuous or intermittent welding techniques as described in Danish patent no. 172,066 or the corresponding published European application no. No. 0 795 393, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. These two publications are considered to be incorporated herein by reference.

Example

The prototype of the preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag of the invention shown in FIG. 1a, 1b and 2 was made from a 25 gm thick layer of LD-polyethylene. Each of the 25 μτη LD-polyethylene films 12 and 14 has a width of 18 cm and a total length of 38.5 cm, each of the curved portions 16 and 18 forming a 4.5 cm fold of each film layer 12 and 14, a total of 38, 5 cm. Therefore, the total length of the ice cube bag was 34 cm. Each of the ice cube compartments, a total of 24 ice cube compartments, had a width of 4.5 cm and a length of 4.8 cm. The splice spot welds 22 and 24 were circular spot welds with a diameter of 0.9 mm, with the spot welds 23 and 25 also being circular spot welds having a diameter of 1.1 mm.

In testing this prototype of a preferred embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the invention, it has been found that the ice cube bag has shown the correct function with the intended device in use.

These tests have shown that the prototype of the ice cube bag performed according to the present invention achieves the desired tear-off function and further determines the transformation of the ice cube bag divided into compartments into an ice cube bag not separated into compartments.

During further tests carried out in the laboratory on the other embodiments described above, corresponding excellent tear-off properties and the possibility of converting the ice cube bag from split to undivided into compartments were obtained. In particular, these tests have shown that the ice cube bags made of six horizontal and perpendicular spot welds corresponding to the third embodiment of the ice cube bag according to the present invention shown in FIG. 7a were able to withstand a pressure of 0.9 m of water column, the ice cube bag in the other features being identical to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7a and with eight perpendicular and horizontal spot welds in each set were able to withstand an internal pressure of 1.3 m water column. On the other hand, the ice cube bag having five or seven spot welds in each set was unable to withstand such pressures. The inventor considers this to be evidence that stretching the foil in the center of individual sets of horizontal and perpendicular spot welds during filling of the ice cube bag creates maximum tension exactly in this middle of the imaginary dividing line between the ice cubes and therefore an odd number of spot welds in the set of horizontal and perpendicular spot welds. welds make that the spot welds of the individual sets that are most centrally exposed to this maximum force or maximum thrust effect, which does not occur when the number of spot welds in the sets of horizontal and perpendicular even, and therefore the above force concentration or the above maximum the stroke is thus divided into two spot welds instead of a single spot weld, as in the case of an odd number of spot welds.

While the invention has been described with reference to several preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

In particular, it should be noted that the above-described embodiments may be combined in such a way that the features of the described embodiment can be combined with another particular described embodiment, and likewise the compartments described in conjunction with a series of different self-closing ice cube pockets can be similarly used as non-self-closing ice cube pockets, e.g. sling pockets of the type generally described in the aforementioned US patent. Similarly, the principles of the invention are not limited to self-closing bags or tie bags, but may be used in conjunction with other ice cube bags having a different type of closure.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to welding plastic sheets, but the performance of the tear joints that characterize the present invention can be achieved by gluing the plastic sheets. Irrespective of the use of adhesive bonding or foil welding, it has been shown that, in comparison to conventional ice cube bags in which coherent separating welds are used between the individual sections of the ice cube bag, the performance of sectioning welds as spot welds characteristic of the present invention is significantly better. the use of materials measured in the form of a larger net volume of ice cubes produced from a specific area of the ice cube bag than the area defined by the outer contour of the ice cube bag. Due to the precise design of the final product, the use of gluing or welding as an alternative manufacturing technique further allows placing the individual bags on the ice cubes during the manufacturing process so that they closely adhere to each other, and therefore better use of the raw material used compared to conventional manufacturing techniques. In addition, on individual ice cube pockets, the instructions for breaking the bag may be affixed by gluing or welding as explained above with reference to FIG. 9, 10, 12 and 13, as well as the adhesive technique or welding technique used. The instructions may be carried out on the foil material in the form of instructions or as instructions for the intended use of the ice cube bag.

It should further be noted that the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned type of films, LDPE and HDPE, or to the aforementioned film thicknesses, since any polymer or film of plastics material of a thickness that can be glued or welded can be used. e.g. with a thickness less than the above 18 µm, e.g. up to 12 µm or less and the like, two foils of the same or different type and / or two foils of the same or different thickness may be used in the bags. Furthermore, coextruded and laminated films can be used in conjunction with the ice cube pockets of the present invention.

Claims (46)

PATENT CLAIMS 1. Ice cube bag containing: two planar film layers (12, 14; 12 ¹ , 14 ^L ) having the same geometric shapes and defining an outer circumference, a peripheral joint (20, 21, 21a, 21b) extending along most of the periphery of the film layers (12,14; 12 ^L) , 14 ¹⁾ with the exception of a peripheral area constituting an inlet opening of the bag (10) of the ice cube, the peripheral joint mutually joins the foil layers together mainly overlapping each other and defining an inner chamber in the interior of the bag (10) which inner chamber is divided into a number of sections for ice cubes which are interdependent by separate joints (22, 23, 24, 25, 29) of these film layers, an inlet channel defined by the film layer joints (30, 32, 34, 35) and extending from the inlet opening to the inner compartment of the bag, thereby allowing access from the environment to the inner chamber of the pocket through the inlet ducts, characterized in that each of the separate connections (22, 23, 24, 25, 29) defining two adjacent ice cube compartments relative to each other, consisting of a plurality of individual seams (22, 23, 24, 25, 29), and each of these individual seams (22, 23, 24, 25, 29) forms a connection between the two sheet films (12, 14; 12 ¹ , 14 ¹ ) with such a joint strength and with such a limited surface area that the individual joint is not torn when the film layers (12, 14; 12 ¹ , 14 ¹ ) are subjected to separating force but provides tearing or perforation (44) in one of the film layers (12, 14; 12 *, 14 ^L ) along the perimeter of the individual joints. Ice cube bag according to claim 1, characterized in that the individual joints (22, 23, 24, 25, 29) are spaced apart and would be one of the film layers (12, 14; 12). ¹ , 14 ¹ ) torn or perforated (44), formed the individual seams in one of the foil layers (12,14; 12 *, 14 ¹ ) in the direction of the perforation line. Ice cube bag according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the factor calculated as the area of one of the individual joints (22, 23, 24, 25, 29), expressed in square millimeters, divided by the circumference or length of the joint, measured in millimeters, lies in the range of 0.025 mm to 0.5 mm, preferably between 0.125 mm to 0.375 mm, such as e.g. approximately 0.25 mm. The ice cube bag according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that each of the individual joints (22, 23, 24, 25, 29) has a flat extension corresponding to a circle area having a diameter between 0.1 mm to 5 mm. , for example. 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm, preferably between 0.9 mm to 1.0 mm, such as between 0.5 mm to 0.8 mm, between 0.8 mm to 1 mm, between 1 mm to 1.2 mm or between 1.2 mm and 1.5 mm. Ice cube bag according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the peripheral joint (20, 21, 21a, 21b), the joints (30, 32, 34, 35) defining the inlet channel and the individual joints (22, 21, 21, 21). 23, 24, 25, 26) are all formed by glues or preferably welds. Ice cube bag according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the individual joints have the shape of circles, ellipses, straight sections, triangles, rectangles, polygons, any convex or concave contours forming shapes or combinations of any of the above shapes. Ice cube bag according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the ice cube bag is a self-closing bag in which the two foil layers (12, 14) have an elongation forming two valve flaps located in the inlet channel and passing from the inlet duct and into the interior of the bag towards the inner pocket of the bag along the inlet duct, and which are connected by an inlet duct defined by joints (30, 32, 34, 35) so that the two closing pockets are opened towards the inner pocket of the bag. The ice cube bag according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the ice cube bag comprises a bag having a binding closure, flat foil layers (12 ¹ , 14 ¹ ) outside the inlet channel defined by the joints (30, 32, 34). 35) are provided with perforations or cut-outs allowing binding of the foil material on both sides of the inlet channel to form a closing node closing the inlet channel. Ice cube bag according to one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the flat foil layers (12, 14; 12 ¹ , 14 ¹ ) of the ice cube bag are made of polyethylene, preferably LDPE or HDPE or one of the bondable or a weldable film material, preferably a plastic or polymeric film material or an aluminum film material, or combinations thereof. The ice cube bag according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the number of ice cube compartments in the inner chamber of the ice cube bag is greater than 2, preferably 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 , 22, 24, 30, 36 or 48, preferably 24. The ice cube bag according to claim 10, characterized in that the ice cube compartments in the inner chamber of the ice cube bag are grouped into separate sub-chambers. Ice cube bag according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the number of individual connections (22, 23, 24, 25, 29) defining two adjacent ice cube compartments relative to each other is an odd number or preferably an even number . The ice cube bag according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the two sheets (12, 14; 12 *, 14 ¹ ) are substantially rectangular. Ice cube bag according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that a connection or connections with the expansion chamber (40, 40 ¹ , 40 ¹¹ ) located on one or both sides of the inlet are made from the inner chamber of the ice cube bag. channel. Ice cube bag according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that tear-off perforations for the tearing direction of the ice cube bag are provided in the foil sheets (12, 14; 12 ¹ , 14 ¹ ). 16. Ice cube bag containing: two planar film layers having substantially identical geometric shapes and defining an outer periphery of a peripheral joint extending along most of the outer periphery of the film layers except for the peripheral area forming the bag inlet opening, the peripheral joint joining the film layers mainly overlapping and defining the inner chamber of the inner a space of the bag, wherein the inner chamber comprises at least one ice cube compartment and preferably several ice cube compartments interconnected and delimited by separate sheets of film layers, an inlet channel defined by separate sheets of film layers and extending from the inner pocket of the bag to the inlet opening from the surroundings to the inner chamber of the pocket through the inlet channel, two shut-off valve flaps connected to the foil layers at the inlet opening and passing from the inlet opening to the inside space of the pocket In the inner chamber of the bag along the inlet channel, these shut-off valve flaps are interconnected and connected to the sheets by separate joints defining the inlet channel so as to form two closing pockets open toward the inner chamber of the bag, the inlet channel containing the first and second portions wherein the first portion is formed immediately behind the inlet opening and the second portion connects the first portion to the ice cube compartment or compartments, the first portion having a shape particularly tapering towards the ice cube compartment or compartments, a taper formed at the transition between the first and second portions and the inlet passage defining a first direction forming the longitudinal direction of the passage and a second direction in a plane parallel to the two sheets and perpendicular to the first direction, characterized in that the shut-off valve flaps extend from the inlet opening along the entire length; and narrowing the transition between first and second portions of the inlet channel, but not beyond the constriction and into the second portion of the inlet channel. An ice cube bag according to claim 16, characterized in that the constriction at the transition between the first and second portions of the inlet channel is provided by joints (33) comprising no geometric interruption and forming elongations of the joints (30) defining the first portion of the inlet channel and joints (33). 32) defining a second portion of the input channel. The ice cube bag according to claim 17, characterized in that the shut-off valve flaps (16, 18) extend to an intermediate position relative to the constriction defined by the joints (33). An ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that the constriction-defining joints (33), viewed from the inside of the constriction, define a convex or concave constriction or alternatively the constriction is defined by straight-line parallel joints (33). An ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 19, characterized in that the separate taper defining joints (33) have a length equal to 0.25 to 1.2 e.g. 0.3 to 0.8, preferably about 0.5 times the maximum width, seen in the second direction, between the taper defining joints (33). An ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 20, characterized in that the first and second portions of the inlet duct have substantially the same length in the first direction. 22. The ice cube bag of claim 21, wherein the inlet channel has a substantially symmetrical shape along the central taper in the second direction. The ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 22, characterized in that the inlet channel has a substantially symmetrical shape along its longitudinal axis. The ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 23, characterized in that the shut-off valve flaps (16, 18) are formed by curved portions of the sheet of flat foil layers (12, 14). Ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 24, characterized in that the second part comprises a chamber which is delimited by junctions adjacent to the constriction and diverging substantially in the second direction and which is joined by lateral junctions to the other junctions adjacent to the the ice cube compartment or compartment and converging in a second direction towards at least one channel leading into the interior space of the ice cube bag. An ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 25, wherein the second portion has a maximum dimension in the second direction and is at least twice the constriction dimension in the same direction to form a liquid or water reservoir from which the liquid to flow freely towards the inlet opening by constriction after the ice cube bag (10) has been filled with liquid or water through the inlet opening (26) in the first position in which the inlet opening is turned upward and after the bag (10) has been the ice cubes rotated to a second position in which the inlet opening (26) is rotated downward. An ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 26, characterized in that the constriction in the transition between the first and second portions is designed to produce a venturi effect to produce a relative constriction of the constriction to close the channel in the constriction when the liquid it flows through the constriction from the second part towards the first part and thus a self-closing effect occurs. The ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 27, characterized in that the maximum dimension of the second portion in the second direction of the inlet channel is 2 to 7 times the taper dimension, preferably 2.4 to 5 times the taper dimension, for example 2.6 up to 3.4 times the funnel dimension. An ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 28, characterized in that the dimension of the first channel portion along the second portion of the inlet channel in the inlet opening is approximately twice the size of the constriction in the second direction. An ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 29, characterized in that the first channel part is defined by joints (28) forming straight lines or curved lines which form both the convex and the concave first channel part. The ice cube bag according to any one of claims 16 to 30, characterized in that the second part is limited by joints (32) forming partially straight lines and partially curved lines, such as segments of a circle defining a second part having a convex or concave shape. A method of making ice cube pockets or corresponding welded plastic film bags, comprising: (i) bringing two or more plastic-like plastic film layers stacked together from the plastic film store; (ii) bonding the plastic film to at least one web of material having a high heat resistance such as Teflon, preferably the webs are made by weaving or non-woven Teflon fibers or teflon yarns to make a sandwich of a strip of material having high heat resistance and plastic sheeting; (iii) bringing the sandwich to a punching or welding station in which the sandwich is subjected to a punching or welding operation; operation by punching or welding tools supplying pressure and heat to their outer faces facing the surface of the high temperature resistant web of material in those areas corresponding to the punched and welded areas of the finished ice cube bag or the corresponding bag and, wherein said strip of high heat resistance material serves as a supply of pressure and heat causing at least partial melting of the surfaces in certain regions of the plastic films facing each other and in these same regions a compression and bonding of the plastic film strips is formed; iv) guiding the sandwich from the embossing and welding station, the strip of high heat-resistant material is held in contact with the plastic films to support the softened and at least partially melted plastic films to prevent the plastic films from stretching during this guidance. (v) tearing off the strip of high heat-resistance material from the bonding to the plastic sheets after the plastic sheets have cooled to a suitable temperature at which the plastic sheets are not subjected to deformation during the plastic sheet guide; and vi) cutting off the cooled and finished ice cube bag or the corresponding bag from cooled plastic foils, characterized in that an embossing or welding operation is carried out during which the designated embossed or welded regions of the finished ice cube bag or the corresponding ice cube bag exhibit welds formed as individual spot welds or welds in the form of straight sections in which the uncooked material between the welds formed as points and the straight sections form coherent regions of the uncooked material and in which the tearing off of the high heat-resistant material strip from the bonding to the plastic films according to point v) takes place immediately after embossing or welding operation. The method of claim 32, wherein the sandwich of (iii) is pressed onto the support during the embossing and welding operation, the embossing and welding tools being pressed against the high temperature resistant web of the sandwich facing the support. Method according to claim 32 or 33, characterized in that, according to point (ii), two strips of high-temperature-resistant material are used, between which plastic foils are inserted and a sandwich having a top and bottom layer consisting of two strips of high-temperature-material is formed. Resistance and middle layers consisting of plastic foils, two strips of high-temperature-resistant material according to (iii) are pressed and joined to the opposite sides of the plastic foil to keep the two strips of high-temperature-resistant material according to point (iv) held to the opposite sides of the plastic films on a support of the softened and at least partially melted plastic foils from opposite sides of the plastic foils and that two strips of the material with high heat resistance according to point v) break off from the connection with the plastic foils either simultaneously or sequentially Method according to any one of claims 32 to 34, characterized in that the sandwich line to the embossing and welding station and the sandwich line from the embossing and welding station are carried out continuously. The method of claim 35, wherein the embossing and welding tools in the embossing and welding station comprise one or more rotatable embossing and welding rollers. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the embossing and welding tools comprise two opposing and rotating embossing and welding rolls. Method according to claim 32 or 33, characterized in that the conveying of the sandwich to the embossing and welding station and the conveying of the sandwich from the embossing and welding station is carried out intermittently, the embossing and welding operation being carried out in the embossing and welding station while the sandwich is stationary. The method of claim 38, wherein the embossing and welding tools comprise perpendicularly movable embossing and welding plungers having embossing and welding punches having contours corresponding to the designated embossed and welded areas of the finished ice cube bag or corresponding bag. 40. The method of claim 39, wherein the embossing and welding tools further comprise stationary or perpendicularly movable embossing and welding dies provided by contours forming a mirror image of the contours of the embossing and welding dies of the perpendicularly movable embossing and welding plunger. Method according to any one of claims 32 to 40, characterized in that the high-temperature-resistant material strip (s) form closed loops which are conveyed by plastic foils during sandwich guidance to the embossing and welding station and during sandwich guidance from the embossing and welding station . Method according to one of Claims 32 to 41, characterized in that the plastic foils consist of two foil layers of the same or other polyolefins, preferably the same polyolefin as polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, preferably LDPE or HDPE. 43. The method of claim 42, wherein the two plastic sheets have curved portions to form closures in the self-closing ice cube bag. Method according to any one of claims 32 to 43, characterized in that the plastic films are formed from homogeneous plastic films or co-extruded multilayer plastic films or plastic films, the surface of which has an aluminum coating. Method according to claim 44, characterized in that on the faces facing each other, the plastic films are provided with surface coatings of a meltable material having a lower melting point than the supporting film of the plastic films. Method according to any one of claims 32 to 45, characterized in that the embossing and welding tools are heated to a temperature between 150 to 2000 ° C, such as e.g. 160 to 1900 ° C, with about 1700 ° C for LDPE films and about 180 to 1900 ° C for HDPE films.