Abstract:
Double funnel bag material and method, wherein continuous length plastic film material is formed into a plurality of coextensive funnel strips connected together as formed. Each of the funnel strips is provided along an edge which is remote from the edge connection with the companion strip, with a zig-zag edge defining a series of funnel pockets therealong. The funnel strips have bag wall film attached thereto. Then after separation of the strips and bag wall material assembly along the edge connection, the strips can be rolled-up for future use, or immediately used, by forming into individual bag sections to be filled, and the bag sections separated from the respective strips.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to improvements in bag construction, and is more particularily concerned with bags formed from extruded plastic material, sometimes referred to as plastic film, and especially suitable for reclosable bags which are adapted to be initially sealed, and which after being opened are reclosable, and especially such bags having funnel means to facilitate pouring discrete material contents from the bags. 
     Bags for pourable contents, whether liquid or particulate, and equipped with funnels are described in some detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,030, which to any extent necessary is incorporated herein by reference. In that patent, the funnels are formed by doubling over sheet material, securing the free margins of the material to bag body sheet material, folding back the bag body material, and sealing the folded over funnel material along a zig-zag line and separating scrap material along that line so that when the joined bag body and funnel material is separated along transverse lines between the generally triangular funnel pockets into individual bags, the funnel pockets may be directed inwardly within the bags. When it is desired to pour a pourable contents from a bag, the funnel pocket is everted, that is turned inside out, and the tip of the funnel portion snipped off to permit pouring. 
     According to the disclosure of that patent a single line of funnel material is provided by extruding a tubular or flat funnel web and joining the funnel web to the inside of bag wall panels. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An important object of the present invention is to provide new and improved funnel material for bags, and method of making the same, which results in greatly increasing production, by at least a factor of two, that is by producing two funnel strips simultaneously, so that two lines of funnel-equipped bags are produced simultaneously. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved construction of funnel bag material, wherein material for two complete sets of funnel equipped bags are simultaneously produced. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide new and improved funnel material for bags and method of making the same. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided funnel material for bags, wherein connected funnel strips extend laterally away from one another, and have funnel pockets formed thereon, with contiguous longitudinal areas of the strips arranged to receive bag body material attached thereto so that by separating the two funnel portions and the attached bag body material, two ribbons of bag making material are produced and adapted for providing individual bag sections to be cross sealed, filled and divided into individual bag sections equipped with the funnel pockets. For access to the contents of the bags, the funnel pockets are adapted to be everted and the ends of the funnel pockets snipped off or otherwise separated for pouring from the funnels thus provided. 
     By equipping the bag material, and more particularily the funnel strips with separable fasteners, the separable fasteners provide means for reclosing the bags after each pouring interval after the funnels have been returned into the bags. 
     The described construction lends itself readily to a continuous mass production method. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of representative embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts embodied in the disclosure, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a more or less schematic elevational view of a bag equipped with a funnel in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating various steps in producing connected funnel strips for bags and incorporating bag body material with the funnel strips; 
     FIG. 3 discloses separation of the funnel strips and bag body material assembly into bag making ribbons; 
     FIG. 4 shows how the bag making material ribbons are adapted to be filled and separated into individual bag sections, each of which has one of the funnel pockets incorporated therein, and 
     FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal sectional detail view through a filled bag, taken substantially along the line V--V in FIG. 4. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 shows for illustrative purposes, a bag 5 which may be made from the funnel equipped bag making material of the present invention. Such a bag has a body formed by means of wall panels 7 of suitable plastic material such as polyethylene, or the like, well-known in the art. Along each opposite side of the bag 5 the body panels 7 are sealed together as by heat seam seals 8. Along the bottom of the bag it is sealed by means of a heat seal seam 9. Along its normally upper end, the bag 5 has an access opening 10 defined between separating or pull flanges 11 and 12 which extend outwardly or upwardly relative to reclosable separable fastener means 13. Extending inwardly from the mouth 10 of the bag 5, and more particularily inwardly from the fastener means 13 is a funnel pocket 14 which may, as shown, be of generally triangular form. In the finished bag 5, the funnel pocket element 14 may be completely sealed where it is attached to the bag mouth ends of the bag wall panels 7 and also sealed along the inwardly converging edges, as shown at 15. 
     When it is desired to pour contents from the bag 5, the pull flanges 11 and 12 are pulled apart to separate the fastener means 13, and the funnel pocket 14 everted into the full line position shown in FIG. 1. Then, in order to make a pouring spout out of the funnel 14, a tip end 17 is snipped off to provide a pouring orifice 18. After as much of the contents as desired is poured out through the funnel 14, the bag is righted and the funnel reinserted into the bag and the fastener means 13 closed. This will avoid inadvertent spillage or entry of any undesirable object into the bag. In additon, by having the fastener 13 reasonably tight, a reasonably tight seal may be provided by the closed fastener means. 
     According to the present invention, a plurality, in this instance two, strips 19 (FIGS. 2 and 3) of funnel material are made simultaneously. A preferred method comprises forming an integral tubular extrusion 20 by means of an extrusion die 21 in any preferred well-known manner from the desired thermoplastic material. Although exaggerated for illustrative purposes, the extrusion 20 is desirably of as thin a film as practicable for the intended bag size and use. Integrally extruded with or at least integrally fused onto the inner surface of the tubular extrusion 20, are complementary sets of fastener profiles comprising, in each set, a first portion comprising a male profile rib 22 and a second portion comprising a grooved female profile 23. Although in the specific illustration a simple single arrow shaped male profile and a simple single groove shaped female profile has been shown, it will be understood that the cooperative rib and groove fastener profiles may be of any perferred other configurations such, for example, as the configuration disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,705, wherein the cooperating profiles are in mirror image relation and comprise generally hook-shaped ribs fitting in complementary grooves of the companion profile structure. 
     The profiles 22 and 23 are so arranged that by collapsing the tubular extrusion 20 onto itself and bringing the profiles into registration, they will lie on either side of a longitudinal center line 24 of the extrusion 20, one of the profile sets 22, 23 lying on one side of the center line and the other set 22, 23 lying on the opposite side of the center-line and in properly spaced relation to one another for the intended purpose of providing each of the strips 19 with the fastener means 13. 
     In the collapsed condition, each of the strips 19 provides opposite, confronting walls 25 joined by a fold 27 and with at least one web 28 connecting one of the walls 25 of each of the strips 19, as for example between and connecting the spaced fastener profiles 23 of the fasteners 13. The opposite walls 25 may be separated from one another, as shown at 29, along the center line 24 and thereby provide respective flange extensions 30 along the free edges of the affected strip walls 25, and extending toward one another from the respective fastener profiles 22 of the fasteners 13. By having the total width of the flanges 30 as derived from a web 30a between the first profiles 22, less than the width of the web area 28, when the web area 28 is separated along the center line 24, the result will be respective flanges 31 which are wider than the opposite flanges 30 on each of the strips 19 for eventually conforming to the greater width of the pull flange 12 in the bag 5. 
     In order to attain a proper relationship of the fastener profiles 22 and 23 for the arrangement wherein the terminal flanges or extensions of the strip walls 25 are of differential widths, the orientation of the profiles 22 and 23 on the extrusion 20 is desirably substantially proportionate to the differential width desired in the flanges 30 and 31. Accordingly, the profiles 22 which will be adjacent to the narrower flanges 30 are spaced apart so that the initial web area 30a therebetween will equal the total of the widths of the flanges 30. Thus, the profiles 22 on the extrusion 20 will be in a narrower spaced relation than the proportionately wider spaced relation of the profiles 23. Then, by effecting the split 29 and guiding the profiles 22 into matching, separably interlocked relation with the profiles 23, the desired spacing between the edges of the flanges 30 will be effected and maintained. 
     It will be appreciated, of course, that by having the flanges 30 and 31 of differential widths, the strips 19 will be accommodated to eventual differential width in the pull flanges 11 and 12 of the finished bags, represented by the bag 5 in FIG. 1. 
     If, instead of forming the extrusion 20 as a tubular extrusion, it is preferred to provide the material of the extrusion 20 as a flat sheet or film folded on itself from opposite sides, and with the fastener profiles 22 and 23 attached thereto either by integral extrusion or separate fabrication and fused attachment or adhesive attachment, according to known techniques, that may be the method employed. On the other hand, each of the strip walls 25 may be separately formed, as by means of extrusion or casting with the profiles 22 on one of the walls and the profiles 23 on the opposite wall. The interlocked profiles will maintain the two sheets in proper registration for subsequent working thereon. 
     Following the manufacturing steps already described, and in a continuous succeeding step, the bag wall material 7 may be joined to the strips 19. In one perferred arrangement, the bag wall material may be supplied as a continuous elongated sheet which is folded upon itself from opposite sides so that margins 32 of the bag wall sheet lap and are laminated to the flanges 30, as by means of fusion or welding 33. Attachment of the bag wall material 7 to the web 28 is desirably by means of fusion or welding 34. Following such attachment of the bag wall material to the funnel strips 19, the opposite folds in the bag wall material are desirably slit longitudinally as indicated at 35, and the bag walls 7 are folded toward one another along the opposite sides of the strips 19. The strips 19, as held in mutually stabilized relation by the connecting web area 28, are then secured by means of the seals 15 for zig-zag joinder and separated along lines 37 from scrap 38 to form the same into a series of the funnel pockets 14. Then the bag wall panels 7 are desirably returned to the original generally coplanar relation extending in opposite directons from the still connected edges of the strips 19. 
     Of course, if preferred, the bag wall panels 7 may be attached to the strips 19 in substantially the manner already described after the zig-zag joinders 15 and separation of scrap material along the lines 37 has been effected. However, the described manner of attachment of the bag wall panel material to the funnel strips has certain manufacturing facility advantages. 
     In some instances, for security of attachment of the components of the assembly, the marginal portions 32 of the bag wall material are desirably permanently secured by welding 33 not only to the flanges 30, but also to the base portions of the profiles 22 as by means of heat fusion or welding 39 or otherwise. This may be effected after the wall panels have been returned to the extended generally parallel relation. For the same purpose, the bag wall panel portions adjacent to the profiles 23 are desirably secured permanently, in addition to the welding 34, as by means of heat sealing or welding 40, or the like, to the bases of the profiles 23. 
     After the funnel pocket equipped bag making material has been completed as just described, it is desirably further processed as represented in FIG. 3. That is, the assembly is separated into respective bag material ribbons 41 by splitting the assembly along the center line 24, and as indicated at 42, medially longitudinally through the web 28 and the bag wall material attached thereto. Each of the ribbons 41 may then be immediately directed to a bag filling apparatus, or may be rolled up for storage and subsequent filling in a bag forming and filling apparatus line. 
     Separation into bags and filling of each of the bag making material ribbons 41, may be effected as demonstrated in FIG. 4. That is, the bag making ribbon may be advanced step-by-step, with the open bottom end portion of the ribbon extending upwardly. Successive bag width sections 5 of the ribbon are sealed across as indicated at 43. Each bag section is then filled with contents as indicated by the arrow 44. After filling, the bag bottom seals 9 are effected. Then the transverse seals 43 are separated, as indicated at 45, to release each filled bag section 5 from the ribbon. The bags 5 may then be handled as is customary. 
     As visualized in FIGS. 4 and 5, each of the pull flanges 11 and 12 will be of a double thickness laminated structure, which will facilitate grasping and pulling the same apart for separating the fastener 13 when it is desired to open the bag. 
     FIG. 5 shows how the filled bag contents may puff the bag walls 7 away from the funnel 14. 
     It will be understood that variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.