WO1994001334A1

WO1994001334A1 - Suspendable package

Info

Publication number: WO1994001334A1
Application number: PCT/GB1993/001334
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andre Philip Wilkins
Original assignee: Andre Philip Wilkins
Priority date: 1992-07-04
Filing date: 1993-06-25
Publication date: 1994-01-20
Also published as: GB9214277D0

Abstract

A packaging bag assembly including a bag made of a relatively flexible material and a relatively stiff planar insert (30) located internally of the bag, the insert having a portion extending across a substantial portion of the width of the bag, a hook member (36) protruding above an upper edge of the insert and protruding externally of the bag to enable the hook to engage a support member for suspending the bag, the insert being connected to the bag so as to support the weight of the bag and its contents when suspended from said support member.

Description

SUSPENDABLE PACKAGE

The present invention relates to a packaging bag assembly, in particular

a bag assembly capable of being suspended for example at the point of sale.

Packaging bags are known which are made of plastics material. These

have the disadvantage of being flexible and thereby difficult to suspend in a

disciplined manner. Additionally, attachment of hooks to such bags is

commonly achieved by bonding of the hook to the bag. This is

disadvantageous in that such a connection is prone to damage the material of

the bag in use and, in extreme cases, separation of the bag and hook occurs.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a

packaging bag assembly including a bag made of a relatively flexible material

and a relatively stiff planar insert located internally of the bag, the insert having

a portion extending across a substantial portion of the width of the bag, a hook

member protruding above an upper edge of the insert and protruding externally

of the bag to enable the hook to engage a support member for suspending the

bag, the insert being connected to the bag so as to support the weight of the bag

and its contents when suspended from said support member.

Preferably the insert is formed from card and the bag is formed from a

plastics material such as polypropylene or polyethylene.

Preferably the card is folded so as to create a fold which defines said

upper edge. Advantageously an opening is formed adjacent to the fold and a

hook member, for example, of the type disclosed in our UK patent 2198782 is

inserted into the opening. The bag may be provided with an upper edge defined by a fold between

folded portions of the bag, the insert being located between said folded portions

so as to enable the upper edge of the insert to engage the fold in order to

support the bag.

The insert may be bonded, for example by contact adhesive, to one of

said folded portions. In such a case the upper edge of the insert may or may

not engage the fold between said folded portions.

Various aspects of the present invention will now be described with

reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a bag according to one

embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of part of the bag shown

in Figure 1 prior to insertion of the insert;

Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a card insert and

a hook about to be attached thereto;

Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of a bag according to a

second embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of a bag according to a

third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring initially to Figures 1 to 4, there is shown a packaging bag

assembly 10 including a bag 20 formed from a plastics material such as

polypropylene or polyethylene. The bag 20 has a front wall 21 and a rear wall 22 connected together by

side edges 23. Side edges 23 may be defined by welded seams. The front and

rear walls 21 ,22 are also connected together along a bottom edge 24. Bottom

edge 24 may be defined by a fold or by a welded seam.

An upper portion of the front wall 21 is not connected to the rear wall

22 so as to define a first flap 25.

A second flap 26 is connected to the upper portion of the rear wall 22

by means of a fold 28.

A planar insert 30 is located internally of the bag 20. The insert 30 is

made of a stiff material compared with the material of the bag 20 and has an

upper edge 33 for engagement beneath the fold 28.

A hook member 36 is attached to the insert 30 so as to project beyond

the upper edge 33. As shown in Figure 1 , the hook member 36 passes through

an opening 37 formed in the bag 22 in the region of the fold 28 so as to enable

the hook member to be suspended from a support member (not shown). The

support member may be for example a rail on a display rack.

The flap 26 is preferably bonded to the insert 30 so as to positively

locate the position of the card within the bag 20. Preferably bonding is

achieved by coating 29 the internal face of the flap 26 with a contact adhesive.

Access to the interior of the bag 20 may be gained via an access opening

34 defined between flap 25 and the opposed face of the insert 30.

Preferably the internal face of the first flap 25 is coated with a contact adhesive 25a so as to enable the flap 25 to be bonded to the external face of

flap 26 in order to close the access opening. The adhesive applied to the flap

25 may be of the type for creating a permanent bond (i.e. causes distortion or

tearing of the material of the bag when attempting to separate flap 25 from flap

26) or of the type creating a temporary bond which enables the flap 25 to be

separated from flap 26 and then subsequently resealed.

Alternatively, the flap 26 may be re-sealably connected to flap 25 by

mechanical closure means such as a rib mounted on one flap for location within

a channel formed on the other flap.

Products for packaging within the bag assembly may be directly secured

or connected to the insert or may be loose in the bag. In the latter case the

weight of the products is carried by the bag and transmitted onto the upper

edge 33 of the insert. Accordingly the upper edge 33 of the insert is arranged

to extend along a sufficient length of the fold 28 in order to spread the applied

loadings to avoid distortion of the material of the bag.

Preferably the upper edge 33 extends across a substantial portion of the

width of the bag.

In the illustrated embodiment the insert 30 is preferably formed from

card and is generally rectangular in shape. The card insert is shown extending

for almost the full width of the bag 20.

Forming the insert from card enables the insert to be printed to a high

quality standard and avoid the need to print onto the material of the bag. Preferably the card insert has a main portion 50 and a flap portion 51

connected thereto by a fold 53 which defines the upper edge 33. An opening

54 is provided adjacent to the fold and a hook member 54 of the type disclosed

in our UK patent 2198782 is inserted through the opening 54. Preferably the

flap portion 51 is subsequently bonded to the main portion 50.

To assemble the bag assembly 10, the card insert with hook member 54

attached is fed into the bag 20 through the access opening. The bag is then

manipulated to enable the opening 37 to be fed over the hook member 54 and

the flap 26 is then passed down onto the card in order to fix it in position.

Advantageously, the bonding adhesive on flap 26 is of the type that enables re-

sealing within a short time limit to permit re-positioning of the insert.

Alternative bags 70 and 80 are illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 respectively

which may be used with the insert 30 described above.

Bag 70 has a single closure flap 71 located at the upper end of the bag.

The flap 71 is connected to the rear wall 22 by a fold 73 for co-operation with

the upper edge 33 of the insert and is provided with an adhesive coating 74.

The adhesive coating may be of the type for providing a temporary or a

permanent bond.

Bag 80 has a single closure flap 81 located at its bottom end. The upper

end of the bag is closed by a fold or seam 82 for co-operation with upper edge

33.

The flap 81 is preferably provided with an adhesive coating 85 which provides a permanent bond.

Claims

1. A packaging bag assembly including a bag made of a relatively flexible

material and a relatively stiff planar insert located internally of the bag, the

insert having a portion extending across a substantial portion of the width of the

bag, a hook member protruding above an upper edge of the insert and

protruding externally of the bag to enable the hook to engage a support member

for suspending the bag, the insert being connected to the bag so as to support

the weight of the bag and its contents when suspended from said support

member.

2. A bag assembly according to claim 1 wherein the insert is formed from

card.

3. A bag assembly according to claim 2 wherein the card is folded so as to

create a fold which defines said upper edge.

4. A bag assembly according to claim 3 wherein an opening is formed

adjacent to the fold and a hook member is inserted into the opening.

5. A bag assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the bag is

provided with an upper edge defined by a fold between folded portions of the

bag, the insert being located between said folded portions.

6. A bag assembly according to claim 5 wherein the insert is bonded to one

of said folded portions.

7. A bag assembly according to claim 5 or 6 wherein the upper edge of the

insert engages the fold between said folded portions in order to support the bag.

8. A bag assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the bag is

formed from plastics material such as polypropylene or polyethylene.

9. A bag assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the bag is

provided with a re-sealable opening for permitting access into the interior of the

bag.