Pouch with absorbent liner and method of forming

The present disclosure is directed to a flexible pouch including a first chamber and a second chamber. The first chamber is separated from the second chamber by a seal. The first chamber has a fitment with an opening permitting access to the first chamber. The first chamber also has an absorbent material which is affixed to the pouch.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to container products. Specifically, to flexible pouches designed to hold and retain liquid.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, flexible laminate pouches are known in the art. Such pouches traditionally have sealed sides and bottom and a sealed top which can either have a tear off portion or a specialized fitment with a cap which is attached via a threaded or snap mechanism. Traditionally these pouches have been designed to hold consumer products such as granular solids or liquid materials, the pouch and fitment being operable to hold the material until the consumer desires to access the product wherein the consumer can remove the product through the fitment, the fitment being resealable. One such example for a flexible pouch can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,661,560, incorporated herein by reference.

The flexible pouch is traditionally made from a flexible material, preferably a laminate composed of sheets of plastic or alumina or the like. This material is usually available in a rolled form which is then unrolled and formed into the pouch. An outer layer of the material may be preprinted with information such as a logo or the like and may provide the consumer with information regarding the contents of the pouch.

A problem exists in that these pouches traditionally are made to have product removed but not refilled and if product is refilled it is usually freely removable. This can create a problem wherein the consumer desires to put a liquid product into the pouch and have it be restrained from exiting the pouch. One example of such product to be put into a pouch to be restrained is tobacco spit. Thus, there is a need in the art for a flexible pouch with a sealable cap that retains liquid product regardless of the state of the cap. Additional improvements are also desired, such as containing contents in the pouch other than what is restrained liquid, which will become apparent in the following disclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The claims of the present disclosure are directed to a flexible pouch including a first chamber and a second chamber. The first chamber is separated from the second chamber by a seal. The first chamber has a fitment with an opening permitting access to the first chamber. The first chamber also has an absorbent material which is affixed to the pouch.

The claims of the present disclosure are also directed to a method of manufacturing a flexible pouch with a secured absorbent material. The step of the method include providing a flexible pouch with chamber having an opening and a bottom, and a generally cylindrical shaped piece of absorbent material with an end. After the pouch and absorbent material are provided, adhesive is applied to the end of the absorbent material. Next, the absorbent material is inserted into the flexible pouch through the opening, and the end of the absorbent material is pressed to the bottom of the chamber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The described embodiments help to retain liquid inside of a flexible pouch, and also are able to store additional contents separate from the retained liquid. The disclosure provides for a flexible pouch design to receive an undesirable liquid or other material, such as tobacco spit, while at the same time containing another liquid to be used or consumed by a user of the pouch, such as water. To achieve both these goals, the flexible pouch includes at least two chambers. The chambers are designed such that they are not in communication with each other, and material in one chamber cannot enter the other chamber.

A flexible pouch50includes a first chamber52that is separated from a second chamber54by a barrier seal56. Access to the first chamber is provided by a fitment58of the first chamber52. The fitment58includes an opening60. Absorbent material62is affixed to the flexible pouch50within the first chamber, as shown inFIGS. 1-16.

The pouch50may be formed and/or filled using conventionally known manufacturing techniques such as a horizontal form fill seal machine with single or multiple lanes, a flatbed pouch machine, a vertical form fill machine, or the like.

The flexible pouch50includes a front panel64and a back panel66. The pouch50may further include a gusset68along a bottom edge69of the pouch50. The front panel64, back panel66and gusset68are joined together by a perimeter seal70.

To separate the first chamber52from the second chamber54, the front panel64may be sealed to the back panel66to form the barrier seal56, thereby enclosing a volumed define by the first chamber52between the front panel64and the back panel66along the barrier seal56and portions of the perimeter seal70, as shown inFIGS. 4 and 6

Alternately, the flexible pouch50may additionally include a middle panel72sealed to the front panel64or the back panel66along the barrier seal56and portions of the perimeter seal70, thereby enclosing a volume within the first chamber52between the middle panel72and the front panel64or the back panel72, as shown inFIGS. 5 and 9.

The various panels may be made of a flexible laminate material, preferably an extrusion or a laminate composed of sheets of plastic and aluminum or the like, and sealed using ultrasonic welding, applying heat and pressure to the area to be sealed, or with any other suitable material, and method known to those skilled in the art. An outer layer of material may include preprinted information such as a logo or the like to provide the customer with information regarding the contents of the pouch.

The first chamber52and second chamber54of the flexible pouch50abut each other and are orientated generally such that the chambers5254run in a top to bottom fashion of the pouch50.

The fitment58of the first chamber52includes a tube spout74with an interior surface76. The interior surface76has an oval shape when viewed from the top. The interior surface76of the fitment58extends along the tube spout74defining the opening60. The fitment58is located along a top sealed edge78of the first chamber52between the front panel64and the back panel66, or the middle panel72and the front panel64or back panel66. The fitment58includes a canoe portion80. The canoe80is sealed to the various panels with sealing methods described above. The fitment58may be made of injection molded plastic, or any other suitable material known to those skilled in the art.

One type of absorbent material62that may be secured within the first chamber52is a cotton roll having a generally cylindrical shape, as shown inFIGS. 1-10. To secure the cotton roll, adhesive such as glue may be applied to an end82of the cylindrical shaped absorbent material62. The end82is secured with the adhesive to a bottom portion84of the first chamber52.

With reference toFIGS. 5 and 8, the opening60of the fitment58has an axis AO that runs along the axial (as opposed to radial) direction of the oval shaped inside surface76of the tube spout74. The absorbent material62has axis AA that runs along the axial (as opposed to radial) direction of the cylindrical shape of the cotton roll. The axis AO of the opening60is generally parallel to the axis AA of the absorbent material62when the generally cylindrical in shape cotton roll is used as the absorbent material62, and secured to the bottom portion84of the first chamber52.

Use of the cotton roll for the absorbent material is beneficial because it may be inserted after the flexible pouch50has been formed. To provide such installation, the cotton roll is inserted through the opening60in the fitment58.

With reference now toFIGS. 11-16, as an alternative, the absorbent material62may be in sheet form such as a cotton batting type material, a cellulose or other paper type material, or any other suitable absorbent material in a flat sheet like form. The sheet like absorbent material62may be secured along the inside surface of the first chamber52, for example on the front panel, back panel, or middle panel. One such method of securing the sheet form absorbent material62would be to apply the absorbent material to the panel before the flexible pouch50was formed.

A scented oil may be applied to the absorbent material62or the adhesive securing it in place to help mask or reduce any odor generated by contents, such as tobacco spit, deposited into the first chamber52.

The second chamber54may also include a fitment84. The fitment84may include a tube spout and an opening with a screw on, flip top, or other re-sealable cap. The second chamber54may be used to store water, sports drink, juice, mouthwash or other liquid, for a user. Access to the contents of the second chamber54provided by the opening in the fitment84.

The fitment54of the second chamber may be sealed between the front panel64and back panel66, located along an angled edge86of the perimeter of the second chamber54. The angled edge86runs between, and connects, a top edge88and a side edge90of the perimeter of the second chamber.

Locating the fitment84on the angled edge86allows a user of the pouch to easily differentiate between the first chamber52and second chamber54, thereby helping to prevent either depositing material into the second chamber54or consuming material from the first chamber52. Further, orientating the fitment84in such a manner allows material to be removed from the fitment84of the second chamber54without fully inverting the flexible pouch50.

As shown inFIG. 14, the flexible pouch may include a third chamber92. The third chamber92is separated from the first chamber by another barrier seal56. The third chamber92is further defined by its perimeter seal, similar to the first chamber52and second chamber54.

The second chamber54or third chamber92may also include a tear away portion94. The tear away portion94help to make the chamber5492ideal for hold solid, granular, or gel materials. For example, a package of gum, a can of tobacco, loose tobacco, rolling papers, etc.

The tear away portion94may be a partial tear away94p, or a full tear away94f. The tear away portion94may run horizontally, vertically, or other direction.

With reference toFIGS. 13 and 14, the partial tear away portion94pallows a user to see the product contained within the chamber5492when the flexible pouch50is initially purchased before the partial tear away portion94pis removed. This is provided by the chamber5492having a sleeve like design where a top of the third chamber is open adjacent the partial tear away portion94p. Thus the flexible pouch50can be coupled with known products such as a package of gum or cigarette papers so that the user can see the specific branded good contained within chamber5492at the time of purchase. The partial tear away portion94pis removed by use of the tear notch96and perforated strip98p.

With reference toFIGS. 11 and 15, the chamber54includes full tear away portion94fand side re-sealable strip100. The full tear away portion94fand side re-sealable strip100runs adjacent to the top88, or from the top88to the bottom the chamber54, thereby providing access to items stored in the chamber92. To access contents, the full tear away portion94fis removed via perforation98f, and the re-sealable strip100. When user is completed adding or removing contents, they may reseal the re-sealable strip100. Locating the side re-sealable strip100so that it runs from the top to bottom, when the chamber54is taller than it is wide, will provide a large opening to access products within the third chamber92, such as a can of tobacco102. Examples of re-sealable strips include a press-to-close type closure, a re-sealable adhesive type closure, a Velcro type closure, double-sided tape, or any other similar type closure known to those skilled in the art.

With reference now to the pouch50shown inFIGS. 15 and 16, the barrier seal56includes a perforated strip98s. The perforated strip98sruns generally the length of the barrier seal56. The perforated strip98sallows the chambers located on either side of the perforated strip98sto be separated from each other, thereby creating two individual pouches simply by tearing along the perforated strip98s. Tearing the perforated strip98sis made convenient for the user by the included tear notch96.

With reference toFIGS. 10, 11, 13 and 14, the first, second and third chambers525492each include a top edge104f104s104t, respectively. The distance Df from the bottom edge69of the flexible pouch50to the top edge104fof the first chamber52is greater than the distance Ds Dt from the bottom edge69of the flexible pouch50to the top edge104sof the second chamber54or the top edge104tof the third chamber92. This greater distance provides an easy way for a user to differentiate between the various chambers as discussed above. Further it allows clearance for various pouch assembly and transfer systems to interact with the fitment58of the first chamber58without excessive interface from other portions and features of the pouch50.

With respect toFIGS. 14-16, the first second and third chambers525492each have a width W. The width W of the chambers525492is determined depending on the desired product to be contained in the various chambers525492, and where it is anticipated that a user will want to keep the pouch50. For example, the width W could be designed so as to allow the pouch50to fit into a standard shirt breast pocket, a standard front or rear jeans pocket, a standard coat pocket etc. These standard measurements could be obtained by survey of users and their respective attire. For example, mean's jeans size in a 25-75 percentile size range.

The method of manufacturing a flexible pouch with a secured absorbent material is shown in the flow chart inFIG. 17, and includes the following steps. Step S101, providing a flexible pouch with a chamber having an opening and a bottom. The provided pouch may be similar to those described above. Step S102, proving a generally cylindrical shaped piece of absorbent material with an end. Again, similar to above, such as a cotton roll. Step S103, applying adhesive to the end of the absorbent material. This step may be done by hand, or by machine. The adhesive can be any glue, epoxy, etc, known to those skilled in the art suitable for use with the absorbent material and the flexible pouch. Step S104, inserting the absorbent material into the flexible pouch through the opening. This may be done by hand or by machine. When inserted, the absorbent material should align with the opening, as described above. Step S105, pressing the end of the absorbent material against the bottom of the chamber. This step may be done by hand or machine, pressure should continue until the adhesive material bonds sufficiently to retain the absorbent material in place within the flexible pouch.

Substitutions and interchangeable design elements exist between the shown embodiments. For example, the conventions of first, second and third chamber are arbitrary and may be rearranged with the absorbent material in the second chamber, the partial tear away portion on the first chamber, etc. The various features may used in combinations beyond shown in the figures, such as the cotton roll absorbent material being used with a three chambered pouch, etc.

The present invention has been described in an illustrative manner. It is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than limitation. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings.