FLEXIBLE CONTAINER WITH INTEGRATED LIFTING LOOPS HAVING SEPARATE CARGO COMPARTMENT

Abstract: Flexible container (6) for transport and storage of bulk material, and comprises integrated lifting loops (9) having openings (5) for insertion of lifting means. Inside the upper part of the container (6) there is fastened a pipe-formed piece of material (1) having a branch pipe (b or d), preferably of flexible material, which separates and can close off that part of the container (6) which shall be filled with bulk material, from the lifting loop (9). The piece of material (1) is fastened to the container's (6) walls. The branch pipes (b or d) can serve as filling spout. The length of the branch pipes (b or d) can be equal to 0. The pipe-formed piece of material (1) has a diameter which is substantially equal to that of the container (6). The piece of material (1) is fastened to the container's (6) walls under its openings (5).

Description: Flexible container with integrated lifting loops having separate cargo compartment. The present invention relates to flexible containers for transport and storage of bulk material. The container com¬ prises integrated lifting loops, which are direct extensions of its side walls, and which form openings for lifting means. Containers of the above mentioned type have been in use for some time and have proved to be well suited for several pur¬ poses. Usually they comprise a liner of impervious material, and when they are to be filled with free-flowing bulk material the liner is usually first inflated by air. US Patent No. 4.136.723 shows such a container having bottom flaps crossing each other. The container is preferably equipped with two integrated lifting loops having a total width substantially equal to half of the container's circum¬ ference such that the lifting loops comprise all longitudinal fibres in the container. By using an apparatus described in GB Patent No. 1.505.583 a filled container can stand upright on the floor without any extra support. Its lifting loops can also be hanging on a hook or the like before inflation and filling of bulk material. The container is made ready for further transport after filling. This may comprise enclosure of the liner and joining of the lifting loops such that one obtains a suitable loop which easily can be placed on a hook or other lifting means by pressing the lifting loops together and securing them in this position. Joining of the lifting loops to a permanent lifting grip can, however, be carried out before the container is filled by bulk material as de¬ scribed in Norwegian Patent Application No. 830718 (corres¬ ponding to EP 118.112). During application of containers having a liner of impervious material, the function of the liner is to protect the bulk material in the container against contamination, and to close the container such that the bulk material therein will not pour out if the container capsizes, for instance because of incorrect handling. The liner if often used just to fulfil this function of preventing the bulk material from pouring out of the container, as several types of bulk material do not need to be protected against contamination. In certain cases, especially during filling of dusty bulk material in flexible containers having at least one lifting loop, the primary function of the liner is to form a filling spout which is placed tightly around the filling pipe and thereby prevent dusting during the filling operation. The liner represents a relatively large part of the total cost of the container. The use of such liners, if they shall only prevent the bulk material in the container from pouring out due to incorrect handling or if they shall only be used as filling spout, is therefore not very economic. However, several types of bulk material require protection against contamination, and a liner has to be used. When containers having integrated lifting loops with or without permanent lifting handle are used, contaminants entering through the openings in the lifting loop can get into the space between the liner and the outer container. When the container is emptied, the pressure from the bulk material against the liner which keeps it against the outer con¬ tainer's walls, ceases, and possible contaminants in the said space can follow the bulk material out of the container and contaminate the material first being discharged from the con¬ tainer. Flexible containers as shown in US Patent No. 4.136.723, hav¬ ing a squarish bottom construction and where the container is equipped with two integrated lifting loops having a total width substantially equal to half of the container's circum¬ ference, are well suited for transport and storage of bulk material without use of a liner of impervious material if the container is closed just below the lifting loop. A known way of doing this is for instance by tying a rope around the con¬ tainer below the lifting loops in form of a clove hitch or the like. The disadvantages of such a method are: This closing operation has to be carried out after the bulk material has been filled into the container as the rope closes the filling spout of the container, and the capacity of the filling apparatus can not be utilized completely. When the container is pressed together below the lifting loop there can easily be made channels such that the container by this method will not necessarily be completely closed. The rope knot can slip out. The capacity of the container can not be fully utilized as its net volume is reduced when the container is lashed below the filling opening. The object of the present invention was to arrive at a new way of closing the container such that the container could function without using a liner of impervious material and without reducing its transport and storage capacity. Another object was to be able to close the container also when a liner was used to prevent contaminants from getting into the space between the outer container and the liner such that the bulk material could be contaminated as the container was discarged and the liner no longer was pressed against the outer container's walls. One way of solving the last part of said problem can be at¬ tained by covering the complete container by an external hood of suitable impervious material. Below the top of such a hood an opening will have to be made for insertion of lifting means into the lifting loop, thereby ensuring that no con¬ taminants could get into the container. Containers having four lifting loops or containers of the hood-lift type have at least two of their container walls terminating just above the filling height of the bulk material. In order to obtain excellent stability it has been common to fasten a lid of flexible material at the top of such containers or press together the container's walls above or at those places where the lifting loops are fastened to the container. If a lid is used, one can either cut a filling opening in it or fasten a filling spout to it. Elongations of the container walls can also form a filling spout. In those cases one will get a filling spout which can be closed after filling of bulk material in the container. For these types of containers one has accordingly solved the present object by placing an external filling spout at the container's outer extremities. From US Patent No. 4.010.784 it is also known to equip a flexible container with four lifting loops fastened to it with a lid which is fastened around the complete circum¬ ference of the container's top. In the lid there is a filling opening which can be closed by a rope. It is, however, diffi¬ cult to obtain complete closure of the opening in this way. For containers having integrated lifting loops where the lifting loops or their total width comprises substantially one half of the container's circumference, one can of course also place a filling spout in the container's outer wall and close this one after filling of bulk material. But the pro¬ blem is not solved as the lifting loops still will have two openings leading into the room between the container and the liner. Another way of solving the problem will be to separate that room of the container which comprises the integrated lifting loops, from that room of the container which is to be filled by bulk material. Previously it has been mentioned that one could close the container after having filled the container with bulk material by tying a rope around it below the lifting loop. By squeezing the container's walls together in this way one obtains a partition in a "lifting compartment" and a "cargo compartment". One may of course also tie the rope around the container and squeeze it together before it is filled with bulk material when one places an external filling spout in the container's wall below the place where the squeezing is executed. The capacity of the filling equipment can thereby be better utilized, but the container's lifting strength is then weakened and the capacity is reduced. Further development of the idea of splitting the container in a lifting compartment and a cargo compartment showed that the problem of separating the lifting compartment and the cargo compartment could be solved relatively simply by placing a pipe-formed member in the lifting compartment. Dimensions like diameter and length of the pipe had to be chosen in accordance with those of the cargo compartment. After having placed the pipe in the container, it was fastened to the cargo compartment. The two compartments are thereby separated from each other, and the lifting compartment is open for insertion of lifting means while the cargo compartment is closed for keeping the bulk material in place. However, there had to be a possibility for filling bulk material into the cargo compartment. It was found that by placing a branch pipe in the above described pipe, the former could be drawn out through one of the openings of the lifting loop or a central filling opening such that it could be used as filling spout as it was leading right into the container's cargo compart¬ ment. The special features of the invention are accordingly that the cargo compartment is closed by placing a pipe-formed piece of material, having a branch pipe, inside the container which thereby becomes divided in a lifting compartment and a cargo compartment. The branch pipe of the pipe-formed piece of material will then serve as a filling spout such that the bulk material can be led into the cargo compartment. The filling spout can be drawn out through one of the lifting loop's two openings or the central filling opening and will be closed after termination of the filling operation. The characterizing features of the invention are as defined in the succeeding claims. The invention will now be further explained in connection with the figures, which show preferred embodiments of the invention. Fig. 1 shows a container in which there is fastened a pipe-formed flexible piece of material having a branch pipe. Fig. 2 shows a pipe-formed piece of material having a branch pipe. Fig. 3 shows a pipe-formed piece of material where the upper part has the form of a slanting cone. Fig. 1 shows a container (6) in which there is fastened a pipe-formed piece of material (1) to the walls of the con¬ tainer (6). The piece of material (1) can be fastened ver¬ tically to the walls of the container (6) or horizontally around its circumferenc by seam, glue etc. The branch pipe (a) has a diameter substantially equal to that of the container and is open in its lower end, but aside from the opening into the branch pipe (d) it is closed in its upper end. During filling of bulk material the branch pipe (d) is drawn out through one of the openings or "armpits" (5) or the slit (8). The branch pipe (d) can be placed asymmetrically. The branch pipe (d) is lashed after the filling operation is completed and the lifting loop is made ready for insertion of lifting means through the armpit (5). The bulk material is now closed in by the piece of material (1) and can not pour out of the container (6). Fig. 2 shows a pipe-formed piece of material (1) having a branch pipe (b) placed in its side wall. The pipe (a) may have a diameter substantially equal to that of the container and can be fastened to the side walls of the container (6) and/or along its circumference and below its opening (5). Fig. 3 shows a pipe-formed piece of material (1) which is cut off, for instance in order to reduce consumption of material. On top of the thereby formed slanting cone there is an open¬ ing (7) to which a branch pipe (d) or (b) can be fastened. Said branch pipe (b,d) may have a length equal to 0. The branch pipes (b) or (d) will then be the filling spout it¬ self, which is lashed after filling. When the length of the branch pipe is equal to 0, the cone-formed part must be closed after filling. The piece of material (1) is fastened to the container (6) such that at least the cone-formed part lies above the height to which the bulk material is filled. If a liner is used in the container (6), the filling opening of the liner will of course be drawn into the filling spout in the pipe-formed piece of material (1). Filling of bulk material will of course take place in such a way that no bulk material gets between the outside of the liner and the pipe- formed piece of material (1). By means of the present invention one has in a simple way obtained to prevent that bulk material can pour out of the container having integrated lifting loops if it capsizes. One has also secured that contaminants can not damage the liner. Nor can contaminants get into the space between the con¬ tainer's walls and the liner and during discharge follow the bulk material and thereby contaminate it. In spite of the fact that closing means have been placed between the lifting compartment and the cargo compartment simple filling of bulk material can still be obtained.

Claims: AMENDED CLAIMS [received by the International Bureau on 24 March 1986 (24.03.86); original claim 1 amended; other claims unchanged (1 page)] 1. Flexible container (6) for transport and storage of bulk material, and where the container (6) comprises integrated lifting loops (9) which are direct exten¬ sions of the container's (6) walls and which form openings (5) for placement therein of lifting means, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t in the upper part of the container (6) there is fastened a pipe-formed piece of material (1) having a branch pipe (b or d), preferably of flexible material, which separates and can close off from the lifting loops themselves that part of the con¬ tainer (6) which shall be filled with bulk material, as the piece of material (1) is fastened to the con¬ tainer's (6) walls and the branch pipe (b or d) • serves as filling spout and that the branch pipes (b or d) may have a length equal to 0. 2. Flexible container according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t the pipe-formed piece of material (1) has a branch pipe (d) having a diameter which is less than the diameter of the piece of material (1), which diameter is substantially equal to the diameter of the con¬ tainer (6), and that the piece of material (1) is fastened to the container's (6) walls below its opening (5) and the branch pipe (d) is mounted symmetrically or asymmetrically on top of the piece of material (1) .

Inventors: MYKLEBUST EIRIK, OMDAL BJARNE, MYKLEBUST, EIRIK, OMDAL, BJARNE
Applicants: NORSK HYDRO AS, NORSK HYDRO A.S.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: B65D88
IPC codes: B65D88