WO2009076963A1

WO2009076963A1 - Band of pelt board bags

Info

Publication number: WO2009076963A1
Application number: PCT/DK2008/050308
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vagn Sindersen; Kurt Pedersen
Original assignee: 4M Globe Management Ltd
Priority date: 2007-12-17
Filing date: 2008-12-15
Publication date: 2009-06-25

Abstract

A band of pelt board bags (1) including a number of flatly folded pelt board bags (2) which are arranged in succession in the longitudinal direction of the pelt board bag band. Between two respective pelt board bags (2) there is provided a pre¬ defined separation point (3), and the width of the folded pelt board bags (2) varies along the length of the pelt board bag band (1). The pelt board bag band (1) is folded in steps at at least some of the pre-defined separation points (3).

Description

Band of Pelt Board Bags

Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns a band of pelt board bags including a number of flatly folded pelt board bags which are arranged in continuation of each other in longitudinal direction of the pelt band, and where between two respective pelt board bags there is provided a pre-defined separation point.

Background of the Invention

In the production of fur, e.g. mink fur, the pelts are drawn over a pelt board for drying when they have been scraped clean on the leather side. However, since there will be some residual fat, moisture etc. left at the inner side of the fur, the pelt board is covered with a pelt board bag in order to protect the pelt board against smudging by the pelts. The pelt board bag is usually of paper such that it may absorb the fat and the moisture to the extent that the latter does not evaporate through the paper.

Since the pelt board basically is designed with a tapering towards one end, normally there is used pelt board bags with a mainly corresponding shape. The pelt board bags are made by folding a paper sheet and gluing two edges of the sheet.

The latter makes difficult the handling of the pelt board bags when mounting these on the pelt board as the flatly folded pelt board bags have increased thickness along the joint. This means that it becomes more difficult to handle a stack of pelt board bags as it will tend to overturn due to the sum of the thickenings on the individual pelt board bags. A manual operator putting pelt board bags on pelt boards may thus only work with a very low stack of pelt board bags at a time, a fact encumbering the work procedure when a new stack from e.g. a box of pelt board bags is to be fetched all the time, even also if the box with pelt board bags is located within the reach of the operator. Correspondingly, automated mounting is made difficult because the stack, even though it may here lie in a magazine and be higher, will still be unstable and make it difficult for a vacuum head to get hold of the uppermost pelt board bag in the stack and lift the uppermost pelt board bag off the stack.

In WO-A-86/00091 it has been suggested to deliver pelt board bags in rolls, where between individual bags in the roll there may be provided a perforated separation line such that the pelt board bag can be separated from the remainder on the roll after being put on a pelt board. For manufacturing reasons, the pelt board bags according to WO-A-86/00091 have constant width such that at the pointed end of the pelt board, a pair of lips or flaps appear which have to be folded or crumpled in around the pelt board in order to find room when a pelt is drawn over the pelt board. Although WO-A-86/00091 underlines this as an advantage, pelt board bags of this type have not found application in practice.

Object of the Invention On this background, it is an object of the present invention to improve a pelt board bag band of the kind mentioned in the introduction such that there is achieved a pelt board bag band which is easier to apply, in particular in automated mounting processes.

Description of the Invention According to the present invention, this problem is solved by a pelt board bag band of the kind specified in the introduction, which is peculiar in that the width of the folded pelt board bags varies along the longitudinal direction of the pelt board bag band.

Thereby is achieved that the pelt board bags may be directly adapted to the pelt boards and thereby easily be drawn over these in manual as well as in automated processes. At the same time, problems with finding room for excess paper material in the form of flaps are avoided, which flaps, contrary to what has been emphasised in the above mentioned prior art, in reality are more of disadvantage than of use.

In an advantageous embodiment, the folded pelt board bags are folded so that one side of respective pelt board bags are flush in longitudinal direction of the pelt board bag band. This facilitates making of the bands of pelt board bags, as in production it is advantageous with folding along a flushing edge as this subsequently can be used for accurate guiding the band in the folding process.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the band is folded in steps at at least some of the pre-defined separation points. This provides significant logistic advantages compared to single, loose pelt board bags as well as to pelt board bags in rolls. The advantage particularly consists in bands of stepwise folded pelt board bags having two free ends as opposed to pelt board bag bands in rolls. IU

Several pelt board bag bands may thereby immediately be interconnected into a resulting longer continuous pelt board bag band. By initiation of production, this provides the possibility of setting up and interconnecting a number of pelt board bag bands corresponding to the number of pelt board bags that are expected mounted on pelt boards during the production.

In the morning, pelt board bag bands corresponding to the production of the day may then be interconnected such that the interruptions in operation which e.g. would occur in connection with roll changes, is avoided. Since the changes are avoided, there is furthermore achieved greater freedom to place the pelt board bag bands farther away from the operator, i.e. at a place with a practical arrangement, instead of a place which has to be easily accessible for the operator for time reasons.

In yet a preferred embodiment, the separation point is a perforated tear line. Cutting tools are hereby avoided, and a more well-defined separation point than just the narrowed section between two pelt board bags is obtained.

In a further preferred embodiment, the perforated tear line is disposed in immediate vicinity of the narrow end of a pelt board bag in question, preferably less than 5 mm from it. Thereby is avoided a loose flap which, similarly to the above flaps of the prior art, possibly could interfere. Moreover, in that the flap is situated at the wide end of the pelt board bags it is achieved that it points in the direction in which the pelts will be drawn over the pelt board bags, whereby the risk that the pelt is caught by the flap during mounting on the pelt board, tearing the pelt board bag, is reduced.

In a still further embodiment, the pelt board bag band is folded in steps at the perforated tear line. This is an advantage since in production it is easier to make the step folding along the line weakened by the perforation and since the paper, due to the folding, is further weakened precisely at the point where the bags are desired to be separated such that the point of separation becomes even more well-defined.

Description of the Drawing The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to specific non-limiting embodiments and with reference to the drawing, on which:

Fig. 1 shows schematically a pelt board bag band according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows schematically a pelt board bag band according to the present invention folded in steps; and

Fig. 3 shows a paper band for folding the pelt board bag band shown in Fig. 1 according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In Fig. 1 is schematically shown a pelt board bag band 1 according to the present invention. The pelt board bag band 1 includes a series of coherent pelt board bags 2. Between the pelt board bags 2 there are provided a number of separation points in the form of narrowed connections 3 where the bags can be separated by cutting or tearing without any risk of destroying the pelt board bags 2. In order to facilitate the tearing of the narrowed connections 3, these are provided with a perforated tear line 4. Use of perforated tear lines 4 is preferred rather than actual cutting of the narrowed connections 3, as use of knives or tear edges is avoided, irrespectively whether the pelt board band 1 is used in a manual or in an automated process. Moreover, a more well-defined separation point compared to the narrowed connections as such is achieved.

Fig. 3 shows a paper band 1' for making a pelt board bag band 1 before the paper band 1' has been folded into pelt board bags 2. The paper band 1' is made as a web of punched blanks 2' separated by the narrowed connections 3. The blanks 2' each have two non-parallel edges 5 and 6. The edges 5 and 6 may thus be folded in over each other and bonded together with a suitable uniform overlap such that flatly folded pelt board bags 2 appear with the desired tapering shape, i.e. shaped bags with a shape corresponding to the pelt boards on which they are to be mounted later.

Here it is to be emphasised that tapering does not mean that the pelt board bag ends in a point, only that one end 11 is narrower than the other 12, as both ends are open such that the pelt board bag 2 can be drawn completely in over the pelt board. In the shown embodiment, the edge 5 is folded in over the edge 6 which consequently is invisible in Figs. 1 and 3. As it appears from Fig. 1, the edge 5 is folded such that the pelt board bags 2 are provided a straight folding edge 7 which are flush with regard to the pelt board bags 2 in question. On the other hand, at the opposite side of each of the pelt board bags 2 appears a straight folding edge 8 which is not flush with the folding edge 8 of the other pelt board bags, as a pelt board bag band 1 of shaped bags is desired, i.e. of pelt board bags 2 with tapering shape. The folding with flush folded edges 7 facilitates guiding of the pelt board bag band 1, in particular during the making thereof. By this is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment of the pelt board bags 2 shown here. The pelt board bags 2 may be longer or shorter according to wish, and they may have different absolute dimension, depending on whether they are to be mounted on pelt boards for bitch furs or not.

The pelt board bag band 1 with the flatly folded pelt board bags 2 can be rolled up in rolls for transport and storage, in that the pelt board bag band 1 then can be unrolled during use as pelt board bags 2 are separated one by one from the pelt board bag band 1.

According to a particular aspect of the invention it is preferred, however, as shown on Fig. 2, to fold the pelt board bag band 1 in steps instead of winding it up on a roll. In this connection, stepwise folding is meant to be the folding shown in Fig. 2 where the pelt board bag band 1 is alternately folded longitudinally in one and the other direction. In Fig. 2, the stepwise folding is shown slightly open for illustrative reasons, and for the same reason only one pelt board bag band 1 with seven pelt board bags 2 is shown. In practice, the pelt board bags 2 in the pelt board bag band 1 will be compressed such that the flatly folded pelt board bags 2 lie in parallel upon each other, taking up as little space as possible.

The stepwise folding of the pelt board bag band 1 provides substantial advantages in the batch handling of the pelt board bags 2 as compared to e.g. the loose single pelt board bags and pelt board bags on rolls as described above. This is associated with the fact that a stepwise folded pelt board bag band 1 will have two readily accessible free ends 9, 10 that in principle enable easy and simple connection of an arbitrary number of pelt board bag bands 1. A number of pelt board bag bands 1 may thereby be interconnected at the beginning of the day by fastening the free end 9 of one band to the free end 10 of another band etc. in a number corresponding to the number of pelt board bags 2 expected to be used in the production that day. Unnecessary breaks and interruptions in the course of the day are thus avoided.

The interconnection may be effected with any suitable means, e.g. by gluing, attaching by staples, joining with self-adhesive tape etc. Since the changes and the breaks involved are avoided, there is furthermore achieved greater freedom to place the pelt board bag bands farther away from the operator, i.e. at a place with a practical arrangement, instead of a place which has to be easily accessible for the operator for the sake of time.

Further appearing on Fig. 2, the stepwise folds as seen in longitudinal direction of the pelt board bag band are provided about the middle of the narrowed intermediate pieces 3 between two pelt board bags 2 in question. In Fig. 2 showing the preferred present embodiment, this fold does not coincide with the perforated tear line 3. To the contrary, respective tear lines 4 are disposed in immediate vicinity of the narrow end 11 of each pelt board bag 2. Each tear line 3, as seen in longitudinal direction of the pelt board bag band, is preferably disposed less than 5 mm from the narrow end 11 of the pelt board bag 2. Thereby is achieved that the flap formed by the narrowed intermediate piece 3 is located at the wide end of the pelt board bags 2 such that they point in the direction in which the furs will be drawn over the pelt board bags 2. The risk that the fur during the mounting on the pelt board, i.e. when drawn over pelt board and pelt board bag 2, with catch the flap and tear the pelt board bag 2 apart is reduced hereby.

Though the above embodiment is preferred, it is also possible alternatively to let the stepwise folds coincide with the tear lines 3 such that the stepwise folds are more easily established during the making of the pelt board bag band 1, and so that the stepwise folds contribute to weaken the paper at the tear lines 3, whereby it becomes easier to separate the individual pelt board bag 2 from the pelt board bag band 1. This would be of particular relevance in the cases where the narrowed intermediate piece 3 is rather short as seen in longitudinal direction of the pelt board bag band, e.g. so short that the resulting flap becomes insignificant.

Claims

1. A band of pelt board bags (1) including a number of flatly folded pelt board bags (2) which are arranged in continuation of each other in longitudinal direction of the pelt board band, and where between two respective pelt board bags (2) there is provided a pre-defined separation point (3), characterised in that the width of the folded pelt board bags (2) varies along the longitudinal direction of the pelt board bag band (1).

2. Pelt board bag band (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the folded pelt board bags (2) are folded so that one side (7) of respective pelt board bags (2) are flush in longitudinal direction of the pelt board bag band (1).

3. Pelt board bag band according to any of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the pelt board bag band (1) is folded in steps at at least some of the pre-defined separation points (3).

4. Pelt board bag band according to claim 3, characterised in that the separation point (3) includes a perforated tear line (4).

5. Pelt board bag band according to claim 4, characterised in that the perforated tear line (4) is disposed in immediate vicinity of the narrow end (11) of a pelt board bag (2) in question, preferably less than 5 mm from it.

6. Pelt board bag band according to claim 4 or 5, characterised in that the pelt board bag band (1) is folded in steps at the perforated tear line (4).