US3160273A

US3160273A - Containers and method of making same

Info

Publication number: US3160273A
Application number: US169192A
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard H Reuther; Edward M Kasinkas; Albert L Mcconnell
Original assignee: Scott Paper Co
Current assignee: Kimberly Clark Tissue Co
Priority date: 1962-01-29
Filing date: 1962-01-29
Publication date: 1964-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 1981-12-08

Description

1964 R. H. REUTHER ETAL 3,

CONTAINERS AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Jan. 29, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /m/e/7/0/5 A/ber/ L. MCCO/7/76V/ Richard H Rea/ her Edward K05? kas By fhe/r aff omeys De 8, 1964 R. H. REUTHER ETAL CONTAINERS AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 29, 1962 f 5 mmwm M mmum WEE VCHK m MM mw na w nc WflM .C 0 A W a Patented Dec. 8, 1964 ice 3,160,273 QQNTAINER AND METHQD OF MAKING SAME Richard H. Reuther, Media, Edward M. Kasinkas, Lansdowne, and Albert L. McConnell, Chester, Pa., assignors to Scott Paper (Iompany, hhiladelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 161 ,1232 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-56) This invention relates to containers such as household sandwich and food storage bags, to a household appliance which is capable of conveniently providing containers suitable for food storage and the like, and to a method for making such containers.

One of the problems which confront the housewife is the packaging or wrapping of food. This may arise, for example, in connection with the storage of unused or left-over food in the refrigerator; or in the packaging of sandwiches for lunches, picnics and the like. For the most part these needs have been met by means of sheets of waxed paper, aluminum foil or plastic. The use of a sheet material is often inconvenient, however, and if the user is not dexterous the goods will often be imperfectly wrapped, leading to loss of flavor or even spoilage.

To solve this problem there are available on the market paper bags of various types. However, these are generally packaged in stacks or piles and are often difficult to separate from one another. Moreover, for refrigerator use paper, unless it is heavily treated, is not as resistant to the passage of vapor as might be desired. Finally the paper is inherently opaque or at best translucent so that it is difiicult or impossible to inspect the contents of a ba To overcome these drawbacks, there have been placed on the market bags made of more or less transparent plastic. These bags are packed in a stack or, more conveniently, in a roll with the direction of the bag opening perpendicular to the axis of the roll. In either case, however, the bags have been difiicult to use. The very nature of the materials causes one side of the bag to adhere to the other. T open the bag one must find the open side (not an easy task in some cases), part the two walls of the bag and holding them apart, insert the article to be packaged. This is time consuming and, to many housewives, exasperating.

In accordance with the invention these and other difficulties are overcome by means of a bag comprising a single sheet of thermoplastic film, folded upon itself and sealed along the sides to form a pouch having a front side and a rear side, the front side being shorter than the rear side to create a lip, and the top edge of the front side being turned down to form a shallow fold. The provision of the lip, in conjunction with the shallow fold, makes it easy to separate the front side of the bag from the rear side. The lip also provides a closure which can be folded over the front side of the bag. If desired a contact adhesive can be applied to the lip so that it will stick to the front side.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, identification means, such as a strip of colored material, may be associated with the shallow fold to mark the bag open- Bags according to the invention are preferably made in a strip and packaged in a roll. In another aspect, the invention therefore includes a roll of readily dispensible bags, said roll comprising a continuous sheet of thermoplastic film, folded upon itself, sealed and weakened at selected points along its length to form detachable bags opening in a direction parallel to the axis of the roll, one wall of each of said bags being shorter than the other'wall to leave a lip extending beyond the opening of the pouch.

In use, the roll of bags according to the invention will preferably be enclosed in a container, having an aperture through which the strip of bags can be drawn. Means may be positioned adjacent the aperture for cooperation with the weakened portions of the strip, to enable indiivdual bags to be detached. The invention therefore further comprises a household appliance comprising a container, a rolled up strip of detachable bags in said container, said strip comprising a continuous sheet of a thermoplastic film folded upon itself, heat sealed and weakened at selected points along its length to form bags opening in a direction parallel to the axis of the roll, one wall of each of said bags being shorter than the other wall to leave a lip extending beyond the opening of the bag, an aperture in said box to permit said strip to be drawn from said box and means adjacent said aperture, adapted to cooperate with the weakened portions of the strip to enbale individual bags to be detached from the strip.

In its process aspects the invention comprises a meth- 0d of making bag type containers from a continuous length of thermoplastic material having a top edge and a bottom edge which comprises folding the sheet to bring the bottom edge to a line parallel to but below the top edge, thus to form a large 0 fold and to leave a lip between the bottom edge and the top edge, turning the bottom edge down to form a shallow fold, sealing the folded strip in selected areas along its length and weakening the strip at points within the sealed areas.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a bag according tothe invention.

FIG. 2 is a view partly in vertical section of the bag of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the bag of FIGS. 1 and 2 filled and closed.

PEG. 4 is a perspective view of a roll of bags according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a household appliance according to the invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view illustrating the manufacture of bags according to the invention.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary schematic view in side elevation illustrating the process of FIG. 6.

Referring first to FIGS. 1-3, bags according to the invention may be made from a single sheet 1 of thermoplastic material. This material may conveniently be any of the various types of film available on the market, for example, cellulose acetate, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinylidene chloride, polyethylene or polypropylene. The sheet 1 is folded upon itself and heat sealed along the side edges 6 and 7, to form a pouch '2 having a front side 3 and a rear side 4. The front side 3 is substantially shorter than the rear side 4, to provide a lip 5 which extends beyond the pouchfi;

In accordance with the invention, the upper edge 10 of the front side 3- is preferably turned down a short distance, say to create a shallow fold 11. The fold 11 may be made so that the edge 10 is inside or outside the pouch 3. The fold is retained by heat sealing as at 12 and 13.

It will be appreciated that synthetic resin films of the type disclosed above build up static charges readily so that surfaces brought into contact adhere to each other strongly. Thus, of the front and rear sides 3 and 4 of the bag were of the same length, with these faces adhering closely to one another,- it would be extremely difficult to open the bag, particularly with wet fingers. However, in the lip 5, and in the edge fold ll, the user is given something to catch hold of to pull the bag open. Moreover, the lip 5 serves as a cover for the bag, as shown in FIG. 3-. To facilitate this last function a light coating 8 of a sealant may be applied along the inner surface 9 of the lip 5. A coating which has been found particularly satisfactory is a mixture of Atmos 300, a blend of monoand diglycerides of fatty acids and Tween 80, a pol'yoxyethylene sobitan monooleate. The former may be used to the extent of 1.5 to 50 rug/m. of surface coated; the latter in a proportion of 0.6 to 18 mg./m.

Since the bag is normally transparent, there may be some difiiculty in finding just where the opening is. To

overcome this problem identification means may be associated with the fold 11. The identification means may take various forms. As shown in FIGS, 1-3 a strip of colored material 14 may be inserted in the fold 11 and retained by heat sealing at 12 and 13. Alternatively the edge '10 may be printed with a distinctive color.

Bags according to the invention are preferably 'made in a continuous strip and packaged in a roll. This is illustrated in FIG. 4 where a continuous strip 20 comprising

bags

21, 22, and 23 is drawn from a roll 24. Each of the

bags

21, 22, and 23 is as shown in FIGS. 13 and it will be observed that the bags open in a direction which is parallel to the axis AA of the roll 24. Each of the bags is separated from adjacent bags by weakened areas, e.g. perforations, such as 25 and 26.

Referring to FIG. 5 the roll of bags of FIG. 4 may 7 be used in connection with a container such as a box 26 having an aperture 27 through which the strip of bags 20 may be drawn. A stiff edge 28 may be associated with the aperture 27 to facilitate detachment of the bags.

Manufactureof bags according to the invention is a simple and economical procedure. As shown in FIG. 6, a continuous length 30 of film or sheeting is drawn from a supply roll 31 and is folded upon itself by being passed over a large plow 32. The plow 32 is arranged so that it meets the strip 20 closer to the edge 33 than to the edge 34. Thus, upon folding, the edge 33 does not reach to the edge 34, and leaves a lip 35.

The front side 36 of the length 30 at a point adjacent the edge 33 then meets a small plow 37 which in conjunction with a pair of rollers 38 forms a shallow fold 39 by turning in the edge 33. At the same time a strip 40 of colored material is run inside the fold 39.

The assembly is next passed through sealing device 42 which, operating intermittently, seals the folded length of film together at spaced points along its length. A

perforator 43 then operates to provide perforations in the sealed area. Following this the finished strip may be wound up on a roller 44.

A consideration of the foregoing specification will show that the invention provides a simple, convenient and easily manufactured bag for home use. It permits the desirable properties of plastic films to be utilized to the fullest extent while avoiding the inconveniences experienced with other constructions. Bags according to the invention may be made from thermoplastic film. Generally extrusion cast films are more transparent than extrusion blow tubing which has usuallybeen employed to make the continuous strip packages of plastic bags'of the prior art.

It will be obvious that many variations will occur to those skilled in the art and the invention is not limited to the specific constructions described above.

What is claimed is:

l. A bag comprising a thermoplastic sheet folded upon itself with the front side of the bag shorter than the rear side, the top edge of the front side folded forward and outside of said bag in a shallow fold, said fold being associated with identification means, the folded front side, including the shallow fold, held to the rear side of said thermoplastic sheet in heat-sealed relationship, said relatively longer sheet providing a folding lip covering said shallow fold, part of said lip being coated on the inner portion thereof with a non-tacky, thin, persistent surfacecoating agent comprised of monoand diglycerides of fatty acids and a polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate, said agent imparting the ability of said lip to cling to said uncoated front side, including said shallow fold, said thin, persistent surface-coating agent thereafter giving a closure seal with said front side of the bag capable of repeated closing and reopening after each use of said bag.

2. The bag according to claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic material is polyolefin, said shallow fold containing within it an identification means in form of a thin strip additionally bulking-up the opening for said bag and facilitating opening of said coated lip.

3. A roll of readily dispensable, detachable bags, said roll comprising a continuous thermoplastic sheet folded lengthwise upon itself with the front side of the bag shorter than the rear side, the top edge of the front side folded forward and outside of said bag in a shallow fold, the folded front side, including the shallow fold, held to the rear side vof said thermoplastic sheet in heat-sealed relationship, each bag in the continuous thermoplastic sheet being heat-sealed across the lengthwise folded sheet and weakened at selected points outside of the bag enclosure formed by said heat-sealed points, said weakened points defining said detachable bags, said relatively longer tear sheet providing a folding lip covering said shallow fold, part of said lip being coated on inner portion thereof with a thin, persistent surface-coating agent comprised of monoand 'diglyceri'des of fatty acids and a polyoxyethylen-e sorbitan monooleate, said agent imparting the ability of said lip to cling to said uncoated front side, including said shallow fold, after easy removal from said roll, said thin persistent surface-coating agent thereafter giving a closure seal with said front side of the bag being capable of repeated closing and reopening after each use of said bag.

4. A household appliance comprising a container, a rolled-up strip of detachable, thermoplastic bags in said container, said rolled-up strip comprising a continuous thermoplastic sheet folded lengthwise upon itself with the front side of the bag shorter than the rear side, the top edge of the front side folded forward and outsideof said bag in a shallow fold, the folded front side including the shallow fold held to the rear side of said thermoplastic sheet in heat-sealed relationship, each bag in the continuous thermoplastic sheet being heat-sealed across the lengthwise folded sheet and weakened at selected points outside of the bag enclosure formed by said heatsealed points, said relatively longer sheet providing a foldi'ng lip, part of said lip being coated on inner portion thereof with a thin persistent surface-coating agent comprised of monoand diglycerides of fatty acids and a polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate, an aperture in said container to permit said strip to be drawn from said container and means adjacent to said aperture adapted to cooperate with the weakened portions ofthe strip to enable individual bags to be detached from the strip, said surfacecoating agent imparting the ability of said lip to cling to said uncoated back portion of said lip, andallowing easy removal of said rolled-up bags from said roll, said thin persistent surface-coating agent thereafter giving a repeated closure with said uncoated front side of the bag.

References Cited 'in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 21,887 Klein -2 Aug. 26, 1941 1,145,093 Swift July 6, 1915 1,992,152 Yeates Feb. 19, 1935 2,401,109 Rohdin May 28, 1946 2,502,749 Reid Apr. 4, 1950 2,553,923 Lambert May 22, 1951 2,558,780 Piazze July 3, 1951 2,668,769 Schlienz Feb. 9, 1954 6 Haire Dec. 27, 1955 Piazze et a1 Dec. 11, 1956 Randall Feb. 12, 1957 Lingenfelter et a1 Mar, 24, 1959 Meister Nov. 29, 1960 Singerman Jan. 23, 1962 Burnett Aug. 14, 1962 Patience Nov. 6. 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS Belgium Aug. 14, 1952 Germany Sept. 25, 1934 Germany Sept. 17, 1953

Claims

4. A HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE COMPRISING A CONTAINER, A ROLLED-UP STRIP OF DETACHABLE, THERMOPLASTIC BAGS IN SAID CONTAINER, SAID ROLLEDACHABLE, THERMOPLASTIC BAGS IN SAID CONTAINER, SAID ROLLED-UP STRIP COMPRISING A CNTINUOUS THERMOPLASTIC SHEET FOLDED LENGTHWISE UPON ITSELF WITH THE FRONT SIDE OF THE BAG SHORTER THAN THE REAR SIDE, THE TOP EDGE OF THE FRON SIDE FOLDED FORWARD AND OUTSIDE OF SAID BAG IN A SHALLOW FOLD, THE FOLDED FRONT SIDE INCLUDING THE SHALLOW FOLD HELD TO THE REAR SIDE OF SAID THERMOPLASTIC SHEET IN HEAT-SEALED RELATIONSHIP, EACH BAG IN THE CONTINUOUS THERMOPLASTIC SHEET BEING HEAT-SEALED ACROSS THE LENGTHWISE FOLDED SHEET AND WEAKENED AT SELECTED POINTS OUTSIDE THE BAG ENCLOSURE FORMED BY SAID HEATSEALED POINTS, SAID RELATIVELY LONGER SHEET PROVIDING A FOLDING LIP, PART OF SAID LIP BEING COATED ON INNER PORTION THEREOF WITH A THIN PERSISTENT SURFACE-COATING AGENT COMPRISED OF MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES OF FATTY ACIDS AND A POLYOXYETHYLENE SORBITAN MONOOLEATE, AN APERTURE IN SAID CONTAINER TO PERMIT SAID STRIP TO BE DRAWN FROM SAID CON-