US2781900A - Container for oil and the like - Google Patents

Description

1957 J. E. SN YDER ETAL 2,781,900

CONTAINER FOR OIL AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 19, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. I.

FIG. 5 iisi FIG. 6

INVENTOR.

I6 :5- JAMES E SNYDER By RUBY JEAN SWARTZ IRENE COLLINS FIG. 7

Feb. 19, 1957 J. E. SNYDER ET AL 2,781,900

CONTAINER FOR on. AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 19, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JAMES E. SNYDER By RUBY JEAN SWARTZ IRENE COLLINS nited States Patent 2,781,900 CONTAINER FOR OIL AND THE LIKE James E. Snyder, Ruby Jean Swartz, and Irene Collins, Akron, Ohio, assignors, by mesne assignments, to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, a corporation of Ohio Application October 19, 1953, Serial No. 386,952 9 Claims. (Cl. 206-46) salad oils, greases, disinfectants, fruits and vegetables packaged with syrup or other liquid, etc. The containers are made of tubes of film sealed at each end, and reinforced by gathering these sealed ends and handing them.

. If the walls of the container are formed of a plurality of plies of film, at least the inner two plies are sealed together to prevent seepage of the liquid. The other plies may be sealed to one another and to the inner ply more or less tightly, at the ends of the package, or they may be entirely separate from the inner plyand from one another. Each band is placed so that its inner edge is located inwardly of the seal that unites opposite surfaces or edges of the inner ply and supports the wall of the bag against the outward pressure of its contents which, except for the band, would tend to separate the opposite Walls of the inner ply at the seal. Thus the band prevents any strain on the inner edge of the seal, the weakest part of the bag. Metal bands are preferably employed for holding the gathered ends, but they may be tied or otherwise held closely together.

Packages of liquid or fine powders, made from tubes of film, are weakest and most apt to leak at the sealed ends. Pressure applied to an end seal by compression of the package or by a surge of the liquid such as is produeed by sudden starting or stopping of a vehicle transporting the package, or by dropping the package, tends to force the liquid or powder between the walls of the container and separate them at one or both ends of the package or to rupture the wall of the package along the inner edge of the seal, so thatthe package leaks. In the package of this invention this is overcome by preventing the separation or rupture of the walls of the container by external banding. Banding is most efficient if the sealed :end of the container is first gathered together. Uniform pleating makes a stronger package than mere haphazard gathering.

The containers of this invention are intended primarily to replacehiecylindrical cans now commonly employed for dispensing lubricating oil at service stations, etc. There are many advantages in using the film packages instead of cans. They occupy less space when full and are lighter in Weight, and when emptied the containers may be-easily disposedof, as by burning. .By squeezing the film of the emptied container the oil retained on it .is re .duced to aminimum. The packages are .easily handled, as by holding either one .or more by the banded seal at the end. It made of transparent film the transparency of thepackages adds appreciably to their sales appeal.

The containers may be made of several plies of film ancl this will usuallybe necessary to get the strength required. in an oil, package. The tubeportion of the container may be manufactured fiat, or made convolutely, [K -fi y b sphahywound the edges overlapping. ifv not spirallyQwound the longitudinal seam is preferably made at one edgeof the tube rather than at ice the center. The container (or at least the inner plyif ;the walls of the container are multi-ply) is made of heat-sealable film and the seams are heat sealed.

Films of different composition may be used in making the container. For oil packages, the inner ply or two (if there are more than .two plies) is made of film which, if plasticized, contains a plasticizer which isrelatively insoluble in lubricating oil. The outer ply or plies may contain oil-soluble plasticizer. The flexibility and strength of the. plies may be prolonged by providing plasticizer for them, in excess of that which is-in the film. This is held between two of the plies of the container and as plasticizer migrates from an outer ply to the inner ply andis dissolved from the inner surface of thisply bythe lubricatin g oil, additional plasticizer will bedissolvedinto the outer ply or plies of the film from-the liquid layer of excess plasticizer until the liquid layer of plasticizer betwee the two plies has been exhausted.

Films which may be used in manufacturing the containerinclude vinyl film (polyvinyl chloride or copolymer of vinyl chloride and another monomer such as yinyl acetate, suitably plasticized), polyethylene, copolymer of vinyl chloride and vinylidene chloride .(Saran), nylon, polyvinyl alcohol, rubber hydrochloride film, other plastic films, metal foil (preferably coated with heat-scalable coating), cellophane andieven paper. If the container is made of two or more plies offilin, the film in the different plies may be the same vor different. For instance,.the inner ply or two may serve primarily .as a barrier to prevent the liquid contained in the package from attacking the outer ply or .two which give strength, particularly bursting strength,.to the package.

For packaging most liquids, and particularly thin'liquids such as oils, it is necessary that the opposite wallsgofzthe inner ply be united bya strong seal, and that is thereason a heat seal is preferred. For viscous liquids, semi-solids and fine powders there is less dangerof seepage and a weaker seal maybe used if the band which surroundsthe gathered sealed end of the package compresses'it tightly enough to prevent leakage as well as breakage of the film.

The seal need not bear heat seal. Solvent may he used to unite the oppositewalls of the bag. The solvent may contain adhesive components. ,An adhesive having no solvent effect onthe filmmight beused, :but. a solvent seal or heat seal is preferred.

The invention will .be further described inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which vFig. .1 .shows a container with a center longitudinal seam and a bottom seam (both heat sealed), the top of the container being open;

Fig. 2 shows the same with the bottom seam gathered in pleats;

Fig. 3 is .a view of the same but with a-metalband holdingthe pleated seal;

Fig. 4 is the same, filled with liquid and sealed. at the p;

Fig. 5 shows the completed package with the top as Well as the bottom seal pleated and held with a metal band;

Fig. 6 shows a flat container similar to mat of Fig. 1, but with an edge seal instead ,of the center seal;

Fig. 7.is a section on the line '77 ofFig. 6;.

Fig. 8 shows ,aspirally ,Woundtubeof film which may be used in manufacturing the container;

Fig. 9 is a section through .a two-ply package, .showing the edges of individual plies interleaved t t the seal;

Fig. 10 is a section through a two-ply package made convolutely on a mandrel;

Fig. 11 is a section through a three-ply package in which all plies are inter heat-sealablej A Fig. 12 isa section through a three-ply package with the plies interleaved atthecenter seam;

Fig. 13 is a section through a three-ply package with the edges of the plies interleaved, but irregularly, at the center seam, and with liquid plasticizer, between the two outer plies;

Fig. 14 is an enlarged vertical section through a pleated, sealed and handed bottom closure, showing the inner edge of the band located inwardly of the heat seal;

Fig. 15 illustrates a bottom closure using string or wire instead of a metal band;

Fig. 16 is a vertical section through a carton showing how the packages are held therein, one above the other;

Fig. 17 is a horizontal section through the carton; and

Fig. 18 is a section through a drum which contains a single film container which may hold five gallons of grease or other material.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a container 1 made of heat-scalable film with the opposite walls united in fiat contact at the bottom by the heat seal 2 and the edges of the film overlapped to form the center heat seal 3. The bottom seal extends to the line 4. Before banding and filling, the bottom heat seal 2 is pleated, as shown in Fig. 2. Then the strong metal band (Fig. 3) is fastened tight around the pleated heat seal. Figure 14 is an enlarged detail which clearly shows that the upper edge of the band 5, at the line 6, is positioned inward- 1y of the top of the heat seal. As shown in Fig. 14, the top edge of the heat seal preferably comes at about the centerline of the band. The band 5 is strong, with rounded or flanged edges. It is not easily bent, and resists any tendency of the pleated heat seal to expand due to outward pressure of the contents of the package which tends to separate the walls of the container. Such pressure is quite great when produced by a surge of the liquid such as might be caused by dropping the package or by the sudden stopping or starting of a vehicle in which the package is being transported. With this construction substantially the only function of the heat seal is to hold the edges of the film together along the line 4 and prevent leakage of the contents of the package.

The bags shown are designed particularly to hold a quart of lubricating oil, and it has been found that a bag which measures 6 /2 inches across and 9 inches in length is stronger and not as apt to leak as one which measures 5% inches across and 10'inches in length. The metal bands or clips are preferably made of aluminum and are inch wide with flanged edges. A clip 1 inch long is required to completely encircle the pleated heat seal of a three-ply bag. Aluminum bands No. D-397l manufactured by Vac-Tie Fasteners, 1110., of Elizabeth, New Jersey, meet the requirements. Smaller bands will suffice for single ply bags. The pleats are preferably about inch across. Approximately twenty folds will be required to gather the seal of the aforesaid bag together. Machines are available for crimping bands around the pleated ends.

After the bottom of the container has been handed it is filled with oil (or other liquid or a fine powder) to the level 7 (Fig. 4) and the opposite sides of the top are heat sealed together in flat contact at 8. The top is pleated and banded by a metal band 9. Figure 5 shows a plan view of the completed package lying on a fiat surface.

For the sake of simplifying the illustration Figs. 1 to 5 have been shown as made with a center longitudinal seam. Tests have indicated that containers made with a lapped longitudinal seam on the edge are somewhat stronger than those similarly constructed with a center seam. Figures 6 and 7 show the container with the heat seals 16 at one edge, and the bottom heat sealed at 17. In completing the package, the heat sea] at the ends will be pleated and handed in the manner described.

The tube portion of the container may be formed by spirally winding a strip of the film and sealing the overplies in opposite directions gives strength to the bag.

Figure 10 is a section through a tube made eonvolutely on a mandrel. A single piece of heat-scalable film is used, but it is wrapped twice around the mandrel forming the inner and outer plies 24 and 25, all sealed together by heat at 26. Instead of sealing the plies together at a single position, the inner and outer ends may be sealed to the intermediate stretch of film at different locations. The ends of the convolute tube are sealed (preferably with a. heat seal) and then gathered and bound externally by a band or its equivalent such as a tie or the like. Liquid plasticizer may be provided between the plies to prolong the period in which the plies maintain their high strength. A preferred pouch is made of three convolute plies of a continuous sheet composed of parts rubber hydrochloride with 42.5 parts dimethoxyethyl phthalate. Such a pouch when used for lubricating oil need contain no liquid plastieizer between the plies.

The conventional lapped-seam tube may be made of two plies, and they need not be of the same composition. Often plies of unlike composition are used, each contributing its peculiar properties to produce a particularly satisfactory package. Figure 9 shows a section through such a container. It is noted that the edges of the respective plies are interleaved at the seal 20. An excellent container for pickles in brine may be made in this way. The inner ply 21 is polyethylene and the outer ply 22 is heat-scalable coated cellophane. The inner surfaces of the inner ply of polyethylene are heat sealed to one another at the seams. This bond is a strong bond. The bond between the polyethylene and the coated cellophane is weak, but strength here is not essental because the external band provides the necessary strength. In the above pouch for pickles, Saran or Pliofilm may replace the cellophane.

If two or three plies of the same composition are used, the edges need not be interleaved. Such film may, for instance, be composed of 100 parts rubber hydrochloride with 42.5 parts of dimethoxyethyl phthalatc. A cross section through this type of construction is shown in Fig. 11 with the inner edge of each of the plies 30, 31 and 32 inside of the tube at the seal 33, and the other edge of each ply outside. Dissimilar films may be used providing they are inter-heat-sealable at the seam 33 (Fig. 11). If the plies are not inter-heat-scalablc, their edges are preferably interleaved at the seal. Figure 12 illustrates such a construction with the three plies 36. 37 and 38 sealed at 39.

There are several combinations of filrns that may be used satisfactorily in a package for a quart of oil. One suitable composition is polyethylene and rubber hydrochloride. The polyethylene is sufficiently oil resistant and a single ply 0.002 inch thick may be used as the inner ply of a three-ply package. Both outer plies may be rubber hydrochloride, and these will be plasticized to give them strength. Each ply may be, for instance, 0.0014 inch thick and be composed of 100 parts rubber hydrochloride, 11.3 parts methoxyethyl oleate, and 11.3 parts dibutyl sebacate. The edges of the respective plies are interleaved and sealed as shown in Fig. 12. At the seams the polyethylene is thus sealed to itself, and the respective rubber hydrochloride films are sealed to themselves. Each of these seals is a tight seal. The rubber hydrochloride and polyethylene do not form a strong bond when sealed to one another, but this is immaterial because there is no *body of oil in contact with this seal.

This seal temporarily holds the strong two-ply jacket of rubber hydrochloride in place about the inner ply of polyethylene during the bag fabricating and filling operations.

Alternatively, an inner ply of 0.002 inch polyethylene may be strengthened by two plies of cellophane with added plasticizer which has no effect on the polyethylene but makes the cellophane stronger than if it is plasticized with the limited amount of plasticizer that can be dissolved in a workable sheet. Plasticizers which may be used for glycerol, urea solution, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, etc. The cellophane is advantageously moistureproofed on only one side, with the two uncoated sides facing one another. Cellophane MSBO and MSAT-80 have proven satisfactory. Figure 13 illustrates a layer of plasticizer between the two plies of cellophane. Ten cubic centimeters of liquid ethylene glycol between two plies of cellophane used in a one-quart bag, will appreciably strengthen the film.

The structure illustrated in Fig. 13 is not limited to this combination of films and plasticizers. Thus, the two outer plies 40 and 41 need not be cellophane, the liquid plasticizer 42 need not be ethylene glycol, and the inner ply need not be polyethylene. Thus, the inmost ply 43 may be rubber hydrochloride film 0.00120 inch thick plasticized with about 26 percent of an oil insoluble plasticizer, such as copolymer prepared from 50 to 80 parts by weight of butadiene and 50 to 20 parts by weight of acrylonitrile, and the outer plies 40 and 41 may be rubber hydrochloride film 0.00140 inch thick plasticized with diiferent plasticizers, e. g. 9 percent by weight of dibutyl sebacate and 9 percent by weight of methoxyethyl oleate to give the package greater strength. Liquid plasticizer used to strengthen the film may be 10 cc. of a mixture of six volumes of gasoline and four volumes of dibutyl phthalate. Plasticizer dissolved into the intermediate ply 41 from the liquid 42 will eventually saturate the ply 41 and the excess will migrate into the inner ply 43. Thus plasticizer from the liquid layer 42 slowly migrates into the inner plies to increase their strength. Some passes on into the oil. The liquid plasticizer may be between the two inner plies, but in this construction the plasticizer dissolves more rapidly into the inner ply and may be supplied too rapidly from the inner ply to the lubricating oil (or other liquid) within the package.

-It is not necessary to use a metal band to hold the pleated heat seals together. Figure illustrates how a wire 50 or strong string or the like may be wrapped around the pleated material above the heat seal and drawn tight to prevent the liquid from rupturing the package at the inner edge 4 of the heat seal. The wire or string is located so that its inner edge 6 is located inwardly of the edge of the heat seal 4. If a string is used it is tied; if a wire, it may be twisted to tighten it. A six-inch piece of 12/ 12 twist rayon tire cord with a tensile strength of 20.5 pounds, wrapped three times around the end of a bag (just above the heat seal, as illustrated in Fig. 15), and tied with a square knot, has successfully prevented breakage of oil packages. It is only necessary that the pleated (or otherwise gathered) material be held together with an external fastener inwardly of the heat seal.

The packages of oil or the like may be packaged individually in cartons or drums, or several packages may be placed in a single carton or drum or the like. Figures 16 and 17 illustrate several packages 52 placed tight against one another in a carton 53, for shipping and storing. Figure 18 illustrates a drum 55 of metal, fibre board or other suitable material, containing a pouch 56 of five-gallon capacity and holding grease or other ma terial, banded at each end at 57, as herein described. The ends of the pouch are sealed and pleated under the bands.

The invention is defined in the claims which follow.

What we claim is:

1. The method of forming a package of fluent material which comprises sealing the opposed inner surfaces at one end of a tube of film material together in flat contact, gathering the sealed end together and then snugly encircling said gathered end with a band immediately inwardly of the seal whereby the band protects the seal against strains produced by pressure of'the fluent contents of the package against the inner edge of the seal.

2. The method of forming a package of fluent material which comprises sealing the opposed inner surfaces at one end of a tube of film material together by heat in flat contact, the inner surface of the tube being composed of heat-sealable material, gathering the sealed end and snugly banding the gathered end externally with the inner edge of the band located between the heat seal and the contents of the package, filling the tube with a fluent material, then sealing the opposed inner surfaces of the other end of the tube together by heat in flat contact, gathering this sealed end, and snugly handing it externally with the inner edge of the band located between the heat seal and the contents of the package whereby the band protects the seal against strains produced by pressure of the fluent contents of the package against the inner edge of the seal.

3. A package of fluent material comprising a container which includes a tube of film holding the material, with opposed inner surfaces at one end thereof sealed in flat contact, with the sealed end gathered together and snugly held by a band the inner edge of which is located inwardly of the seal and prevents separation of said sealed end surfaces, whereby the band protects the seal against strains produced by pressure of the fluid contents of the package against the inner edge of the seal.

4. A package of fluent material comprising a container formed of a tube of film holding the material, with the opposed inner surfaces of the film sealed in flat contact at both ends thereof, with the sealed ends pleated and each snugly held by a band the inner edge of which is located inwardly of the respective seals, and which band prevents release of the respective pleated ends of the tube and protects the seal against strains produced by pressure of the contents of the package against the inner edge of the seal.

5. The package of claim 4 in which the inner surface of the tube is of heat-scalable composition and the seals at the ends of the tube are heat seals.

6. The package of claim 4 in which the tube is made from at least two plies of film material, with the opposed inner surfaces of the inner ply sealed as set forth in claim 4, and the ply adjacent the inner ply interpleated with the inner ply and held to the inner ply by the bands at the respective ends of the container.

7. The package of claim 4 in which the tube is multiply, with the inner ply of heat-scalable composition and the seals at the respective ends heat seals which unite the opposed surfaces of the heat-scalable composition, with the adjacent outer ply of different heat-scalable composition and its respective ends bonded to the inner ply by heat.

8. The package of claim 4 in which the tube is multiply and the packaged material is a liquid, with liquid plasticizer between two plies outside of the inner ply, the plasticizer being soluble in the inner ply and the liquid, whereby it migrates through the ply adjacent to the liquid plasticizer into the inner ply and thence into the liquid;

9. The package of claim 4 in which the tube is formed with a longitudinal lapped seam and this seam is located at one end of the pleated bottom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,712,454 Spencer May 7, 1929 2,071,300 Gammeter Feb. 16, 1937 2,259,866 Stokes Oct. 21, 1941 2,635,742, Swartz et al Apr. 21, 1953

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