WO1989008054A1

WO1989008054A1 - Packaging and dispensing sealants and adhesives

Info

Publication number: WO1989008054A1
Application number: PCT/AU1989/000076
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ronald James Frowd; Franklin Sidney Lord; Roy Roderick Rose
Original assignee: Chemdet Pty. Ltd.
Priority date: 1988-02-26
Filing date: 1989-02-27
Publication date: 1989-09-08

Abstract

A package for containing and dispensing pliable material such as stud adhesive is formed of lay flat polyethylene tubing which, when filled forms a tubular container (10). The tubing in continuous form is cut at an angle to the longitudinal direction of the tube and sealed by welding the flat sides together along a seam (11) to form a nozzle at one end. The material is injected into the tube and the other end is then sealed by welding in a direction normal to the longitudinal direction to form a further seam (12) thereby containing the material therein. A flap (14) is left depending at said other end and includes a hole (16) for hanging the package on a hook or the like. The package is cut along line (18) in order to dispense the contents by squeezing the package.

Description

PACKAGING AND DISPENSING SEALANTS AND ADHESIVES This invention relates to packaging and dispensing sealant and adhesive type materials as used, for example, in the building industry, and more particularly to a method of, and a container for, packaging, storing and dispensing such materials. Of course the container could be used for any non-solid type materials of the kind which remain pliable at least in the absence of air. Adhesives and sealants find vast application in the building and construction industry as well as an ever increasing use in the domestic handyman market. The ability to package, store and dispense such materials in such a way as to allow a readily portable, durable and workable unit has prompted the introduction of numerous tube or cylinder type containers. Such containers are usually in the form of a rigid cylinder or cartridge with an integral piston and are designed to fit into a dispenser gun. The gun is either a hand held device or an electrically or pneumatically powered device. Such a system is limited to a standard cartridge size and the gun is a necessary accessory making the system both expensive and inconvenient in requiring a gun to always be available. In an alternative situation the material is supplied in a can and is applied by the use of a hand spatula where the operator removes the material from the can and applies it to the substrate using the spatula. Such a method involves many repetitive actions of taking the spatula from the can to the substrate and is limited in the type of application that can be properly controlled. Beads of material (walnuts) and corner sealing are difficult to execute and control. Thus it is an object of this invention to provide an improved container for packaging, storing and dispensing materials of the kind in question, which container obviates at least some of the aforementioned problems. Accordingly, the invention provides a container for packaging, storing and dispensing pliable material such as sealant, adhesive, or the like material, characterized in that, said container comprises a tubular body formed of flexible lay flat plastics tubing sealed at one end by a transverse seal at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the tube so as to provide a nozzle and sealed at the other end by a transverse seal, after filling with said material, so as to contain said material in an airtight manner therein. According to another form of the invention, there is provided a method of packaging pliable material such as sealant, adhesive, or the like material, characterized in that, said method includes the steps of sealing one end of a tubular body of flexible lay flat plastics tubing by means of a transverse seal at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the tube so as to provide a nozzle, filling said tube via the other end with said material and sealing said other end of said tubing by means of a transverse seal so as to provide a substantially air-tight package containing said material . A sti l l further f orm of the invention prov ides a package f or containing and dispens ing p l iab l e materia l in the form of sea l ant , adhes ive , or the l ike material , characterized in that, said package comprises a tubular body f ormed of f lexib l e lay f lat p l astics tubing sea l ed at one end by a trans verse sea l at an angl e to the l ongitudinal axi s of the tube so as to provide a nozz le and sealed at or adj acent the other end by a transverse seal and being fi l led with said material so as to provide a general ly cyclindrical package. In order that the invention may be more readily understood one particular embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a plan view of a package according to the invention in a flat condition without any contents; Figure 2 is a side view of the package of Figure 1 filled with contents; Figure 3 is an end view of the package shown in Figure 2 , and Figure 4 is a perspective view of the filled package of Figures 2 and 3. According to this particular embodiment the package 10 is formed from low density polyethylene lay flat tubing. When laid flat the tubing is 87mm wide, the width dimension being the dimension normal to the longitudinal axis of the tube. The width dimension has been chosen as a good size to facilitate holding a filled tube in the hands of the user for dispensing purposes. The polyethylene material is 175 microns thick. This thickness will allow the filled tubes to withstand the necessary handling and rough treatment which often occurs on building sites but allows the flexibility necessary for the user to have good control and feel when squeezing the tube to dispense the contents thereof. The length of the container may be varied depending upon the volume of goods to be packaged therein. The volume is dependent upon the specific gravity of the material. Prior to filling^' the container with material a first end is cut at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the tube and is sealed along a seam 11 which joins the opposed sides of the lay flat tubing. The seam is formed by a welding process. The angle of the seam 11 to the longitudinal axis of the tube is about 50° so as to form a nozzle for dispensing the contents as will become apparent hereinbelow. Once the seam 11 has been formed the lay flat tubing is filled with the material to be packaged therein. Such filling forms the tube into a cylindrical container as is evident in Figure 2. Once the desired quantity of material has been placed into the container a further seam 12 is formed at the other end and normal to the longitudinal direction of the tube. This further seam 12 is also formed by plastics welding or another suitable process. Clearly of course the angle of the nozzle portion 13 may be altered to suit specific applications. As can be seen the lay flat tubing extends beyond the further seam 12 to provide a flap 14 and a hole 16 is provided through the flap. The flap and hole enable the package to be hung for display purposes at point of sale, or for storage purposes thereafter. As will be evident the container according to the invention is suitable for use with virtually any form of pliable material such as adhesives and sealants. The particular embodiment described above, being made from polyethylene material, is for use with water base products but the invention could equally provide a container for other products which require a more chemical resistant container than that required for a water based material. Such products which would generally be solvent based or rubber/resin based would be packaged into a container made from extruded film, the composition of which would depend on the chemical composition of the product to be packaged therein. The container of the preferred embodiment described above may, as mentioned, be used to package any of a number of different products such as for example, cornice adhesive, stud adhesive and acrylic sealant. The advantages to be gained with the present container are as follows: 1. CORNICE ADHESIVE At present this product comes in powder form and has to be mixed and then placed by a spatula along the cornice in a continuous bead. When packaged in the container of the present invention, the product will be pre-mixed and will be able to be dispensed more quickly and accurately along the cornice. This will save time in dispensing of the product and will also enable any product remaining in the container to be used at a later time. With powder based products, once they are mixed they must be used otherwise they quickly become unusable. 2. STUD ADHESIVE This product is presently supplied in cans. The present invention will allow for a much quicker application of the material with less repetitive action of bending down and standing up in order to remove material from the can. 3. ACRYLIC SEALANT Currently this material is supplied both in bulk form (in pails) and in cartridges and in each case it is necessary to have a mechanical device (cartridge gun) in order to apply the material. With the bulk supply system the applicator has to "slurp" the material up from the pail into the gun before it can be used. Much time is therefore saved with the container of the present invention as the material is supplied in a form that is ready for immediate use. In order to dispense material from the container of the present invention the container is cut along a line 18 adjacent the end of the nozzle portion 13 and the user holds the container in both hands with one hand at the end adjacent the nozzle and the other hand towards the opposite end (rear end) for the purpose of squeezing the container to cause product to be extruded from the nozzle portion 13. The hand adjacent the rear end gradually squeezes and takes up the empty plastic film until the product is extruded. If product remains in the container it is only necessary to fold the end of the nozzle portion back on itself in order to seal the end thereof. A paper clip or clothes peg could be used to hold the nozzle portion in such a folded back position until the product is again required. It should be evident to persons skilled in the art that the present invention provides considerable advantage over existing methods of packaging, storing and dispensing materials such as adhesives, sealants, putties, lubricants, jells, hand cleaners and other like products. The invention allows for materials to be applied by one person without the use of a mechanical device or object. The container allows for more accurate placement and accurate quantity dispensation of material than, for example, the spatula method of application. The package or container is readily formed from plastic film such as polyethylene, foil laminated, mylar, etc. which is provided in a lay flat tube dispensed from a roll in continuous form which is cut to length during the forming process. The continuous tubing may be pulled over a filling station which opens the tube into cylindrical form and simultaneously fills the tube with the material to be packaged. A stamping and cutting station is then provided for cutting the continuous length of tubing into the desired length while simultaneously forming the welded seam 12. Clearly, various modifications to the container may be readily envisaged by persons skilled in the art. For example, the actual shape may vary considerably from the particular embodiment described above and the nozzle portion may take various different configurations. Instructions for use and advertising matter may be printed on the outside of the container.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A container for packaging, storing and dispensing pliable material such as sealant, adhesive, or the like material, characterized in that, said container comprises a tubular body (10) formed of flexible lay flat plastics tubing sealed at one end by a transverse seal (11) at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the tube so as to provide a nozzle and sealed at the other end by a transverse seal (12), after filling with said material, so as to contain said material in an air-tight manner therein. 2. A container as defined in claim 1, characterized in that, said transverse seal at said other end is normal to said longitudinal axis of said tube. 3. A container as defined in claim 2, characterized in that, said transverse seals are provided by welding one side of said lay flat tubing to the other side after cutting said tube at the appropriate angle to the longitudinal axis of the tube. 4. A container as defined in claim 3, characterized in that, said plastics tubing comprises low density polyethylene material. 5. A method of packaging pliable material such as sealant, adhesive, or the like material, characterized in that, said method includes the steps of sealing one end of a tubular body of flexible lay flat plastics tubing by means of a transverse seal at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the tube so as to provide a nozzle, filling said tube via the other end with said material and sealing said other end of said tubing by means of a transverse seal so as to provide a substantially air-tight package containing sai material. 6. A method as defined in claim 5, characterized in that, said transverse seals are provided by welding opposed sides of said lay flat tubing together after cutting said tube from a continuous length of tubing. 7. A method as defined in claim 6 characterized in that, said transverse seal at said other end is arranged to be normal to the longitudinal axis of the tube and said plastics tubing is formed of low density polyethylene material. 8. A method as defined in claim 7 characterized in that, said transverse seal at said other end is spaced from the end of the tube whereby a flap extends beyond said seal to the end of the tube and a hole is provided in said flap to allow said package to be hung. 9. A package for containing and dispensing pliable material in the form of sealant, adhesive, or the like material, characterized in that, said package comprises a tubular body formed of flexible lay flat plastics tubing sealed at one end by a transverse seal at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the tube so as to provide a nozzle and sealed at or adjacent the other end by a transverse seal and being filled with said material so as to provide a generally cyclindrical package. 10. A package as defined in claim 9 characterized in that, said seal at or adjacent said other end is spaced a short distance from said other end to provide a flap and a hole is provided in said flap to allow said package to be hung.