Manufacturing method of square bottom containers

Abstract: This invention relates to the method for manufacturing a variety of square bottom containers by folding to the same side both the brims of a sheet-shaped container raw material of paper, aluminium foil, plastic laminate film and the like to mutually butt them to each other, forming a bonding agent or heat-seal layer on the outsides of both these butted brims (2), then forming the lower portion into a W-letter shape (5) with an inverted V-letter shaped fold being provide in the midway, and then press-fitting the said bonding agent or heat-seal layer from outside for its bonding or deposition, and covers a feature in such a respect that a square bottom container whose bottom is flat with no overlap and whose liminate film for heat seal doesn't come inside the container can be manufactured quite easily.

Description: This invention relates to a method for the manufacture of square bottom containers such as a bag with folds provided on both sides or a carton containing a fluid such as milk or juice. A known prior art method of manufacturing a square bottom bag is illustrated in Figures 37 to 46 of the drawings and as shown in Figure 37, after overlapping the right side edge 102 and the left side edge 103 of a square shaped bag material 101 made of paper, plastic film or the like and securing them together with adhesive, the lower edge section 104 is folded upward along the horizontal fold line 105 and bonded at 107 to the surface 106 of the bag material 101 as shown in Figure 38. A further fold is then made and bonded part 107 is connected to surface 106 as shown in Figure 39 to form the bottom bonded section 108. The upper side 109 of the bag material 101 is opened into a square shape to form the bottom bonded section 108 as shown in Figure 40 while forming the lateral face 110 to make the lateral face 110 form a perpendicular plane face to the top. Both the sides of the bottom section are folded to form a square shaped bottom surface 111, by folding the lower section of the lateral face 110 onto the bottom face 111 along the fold line 112 and bonding to the bottom face 111. A square bottom bag having a square shaped bottom face 111 whose upper edge 109 is open and of a square shape is thus formed as shown in Figure 41. A further method of forming a conventional square bottom bag is now described. After overlapping the left side edge 102 and the right side edge 103 of a square shaped bag material 102 and bonding them together as illustrated in Figure 37, the bag is folded in such a way that the bag takes up a square shaped cylindrical form. The lower section surface 106 is folded into a trapezoid shape while the lower section of lateral side 110 is folded horizontally towards the inside as shown in Figure 42, then the lower trapezoidal section of surface 106 is folded inwardly along the fold line 113 and bonded together. A square bottom bag having a square shaped bottom surface 114 with an upper brim 109 is formed which can be opened to a square shape as illustrated in Figure 43. In another method of manufacturing a conventional square bottom bag after overlapping the left side edge 102 and the right side edge of a square shaped bag material 101, they are joined together as shown in Figure 37 and the bag folded such that the whole may become a square shaped cylindrical form and folded inwardly while providing the fold 115 in vertical direction at the centre of lower section of lateral face 110 as shown in Figure 44. The lower edges 104 of surfaces 106 are brought together and bonded to each other to form the bottom face bonded section 116 as illustrated in Figure 45. In the next step the bottom bonded section 116 is folded horizontally as shown in Figure 46 so that the lower portion of surface 106 becomes horizontal and bonded to the lower section of surface 106. A bag having a square-shaped bottom 117 with the upper edge open in a square shape as shown in Figure 46 is thus formed. The overlapped and sealed areas are on the bottom face in all the aforementioned arrangements and there is thus a fear that the bag may become unstable when erected and that liquid may leak from the sealed areas. In addition and in the case of paper, aluminium foil, nylon, polypropylene and the like, since a low fusion point film like polyethylene having a heat sealing property is laminated onto the bag material in the process of manufacturing the square bottom bags, the contents may be in direct contact with these laminated films and the taste may change in some cases. Also machines for manufacturing such bags and the operations required can become complex because the bag has to be folded intricately as described above. Another prior-art arrangement is disclosed in US-A-3133478 wherein a so-called block bottom bag is formed from sheet material by folding the edges inwardly, providing a W-shape fold in the centre and then gluing the side edges together. This arrangement requires an adhesive to be applied separately and in addition adhesive folds are needed for reinforcement. One object of this invention is to provide a square bottom container where the sealed areas and overlaps are not positioned at the bottom face. A second object of this invention is to provide a manufacturing method for a square bottom container where the film used for heat sealing is not positioned on an internal surface of the container. A third object of this invention is to provide a manufacturing method for a square bottom container which can be produced efficiently using a simple machine. These objets are achieved by the method of claim 1. Preferred embodiments thereof are defined in the dependent claims 2-5. Examples of this invention are now described and illustrated with reference to the drawings, wherein:- Figure 1 shows an elevation of a sheet of material for a container, Figure 2 shows a view of the container material formed to a tube and with the edges butted together, Figure 3 shows a view of the container material with a bonding agent coat on the outside along both the edges, Figure 4 is a perspective view of the container material with the base having an inverted V-shape by folding the area corresponding to the bottom so that a cylindrical body is formed into an overall W-shape, Figure 5 is a detail sectional view at the centre of the bottom section, Figure 6 is a sectional view of the bottom section after the areas coated with bonding agent have been secured together, Figure 7 is a top plan view of the bag which has been opened after production, Figure 8 is a part cut-away perspective view in the process of forming the internal bottom area into a square shape, Figure 9 is a partially cut-away perspective view showing the internal bottom of a bag which has been opened completely down to its square bottom, Figure 10 is a perspective view showing the entire shape of a bag which has been made in accordance with this invention, Figure 11 is a plan view of a cylindrical body where the section protruding into the internal bottom is reduced to the minimum by providing notches, Figure 12 is a partially cut-away perspective view showing the internal bottom when a bag has been made using a cylindrical body shown in Figure 11, Figure 13 is a perspective view of a laminate material, Figure 14A is a part expanded sectional view of a laminate material, Figure 14B is a front view of said material in the state where both the edges have been folded, Figures 15 and 16 are perspective views showing the sequence of folding the laminate material, Figure 17 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of Figure 6, Figure 18 is a plan view of Figure 16, Figure 19 is a partial expanded horizontal sectional view of Figure 18, Figure 20 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX of Figure 19, Figure 21 is a perspective view with the laminate material located between the electrode plates for bonding, Figure 22 is a perspective view of the laminate material where the side edges have been bonded, Figure 23 is a part expanded horizontal sectional view of Figure 22, Figure 24 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of Figure 23, Figures 25 to 28 are perspective views showing the laminate material whose wide edges have been bonded being opened, Figure 29 is a perspective view of a square bottom bag which has been manufactured in accordance with the method of this invention, Figure 30 is a perspective view of the laminate material in the condition where said laminate has been trapped between the electrode plates for bonding in a different way from that of Figure 21, Figure 31 is a perspective sectional view of the laminate material in the opened state whose side edges are bonded by the electrodes as in Figure 30, Figure 32 is a front view of another embodiment of laminate material, Figures 33 to 36 are perspective views showing the sequence of manufacturing a square bottom bag using a laminate material, Figures 37 to 46 are perspective views showing the previously described prior-art manufacturing methods, Figures 47 to 65 show further embodiments and wherein: Figure 47 is a perspective view of a laminate material, Figure 48 is a part expanded sectional view of the laminate material, Figure 49 is a perspective view of the laminate material both side edges of which have been bonded together into a cylindrical form, Figures 50 and 51 are perspective views showing the sequence for folding the laminate material, Figure 52 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of Figure 51, Figure 53 is a sectional view taken along VII-VII of Figure 51, Figure 54 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of Figure 51, Figure 55 is a perspective view showing a laminate material with lower edge section about to be bonded, Figure 56 is a sectional view taken along line X-X of Figure 55, Figure 57 is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI of Figure 55, Figure 58 is a perspective sectional view taken along line XII-XII of Figure 57, Figure 59 is a perspective view of a laminate material showing the condition where said material is opened, Figures 60 and 61 are perspective views of a square bottom bag which has been manufactured by the method of this invention, Figure 62 is a perspective view of a laminate material showing the condition where the upper edge section is to be bonded, Figure 63 is a perspective view of another square bottom bag which has been manufactured by the method of this invention, Figure 64 is a vertical sectional view of a laminate material whose upper edge section has been bonded, Figure 65 is a vertical sectional view of Figure 63, Figures 66 to 72 show further embodiments and wherein:- Figure 66 is a perspective view of a laminate material both edges of which have been folded, Figure 67 is a partial sectional view of the laminate material, Figure 68 is a perspective view of a laminate material which has been folded along the centre line in a horizontal direction, Figure 69 is a perspective view showing the bonding of the bent section, Figure 70 is a sectional view of the bonded bent section, and Figures 71 and 72 are perspective view of a finished bag which has been manufactured in accordance with the method of this invention. Referring firstly to the square bottom bags shown in Figure 1 to Figure 12. Both the edges 2 and 2' of a sheet or film of a raw material 1 as shown in Figure 1 are folded to the same sides and butted together as shown in Figure 2 into a flat cylindrical body 3. Bonding agents 4 and 4' are applied along the outsides of both the butted edges 2 and 2' as shown in Figure 3. Then an inverted V-shaped fold is formed from the back of both the edges 4 and 4' of the cylindrical body 3 as shown in Figure 4 to then form the lower section of the cylindrical body 3 into a W-shape as shown in Figure 5. Next the bonding agent coated faces 4 and 4' are pressed together for adhesion as shown in Figure 6. The bag which has been fabricated as above is unfolded in the direction of the arrow as shown in Figure 7. When the bag is unfolded in this way, the area of the inverted V-shaped fold 5 is raised upward in the direction of the arrow in the internal bottom of bag as shown in Figure 8, and the bottom is opened to a square shape. Figure 9 shows the situation where the area of fold on the internal bottom has been erected vertically and turned to the side along the lateral wall, while Figure 10 shows the finished shape of the bag. Figure 11 shows the condition where the area (pleats) which have been folded into an inverted V shape are removed as much as possible to produce a better outward appearance because the said areas remain on both sides of internal bottom impairing the outward appearance as clearly seen in Figures 8 and 9. First, cuts 6, 6', 7 and 7' may come to the lower edges (L and L' in Figure 5) of both the sides when forming the bottom to a W-shape. If this is done then the triangle areas h and h' shown by a dashed line can be removed as shown in Figure 12 and the intrusions can be eliminated from the internal bottom to form a neat appearance when the bottom has been opened as shown in Figures 8 and 9. In the aforementioned embodiment, these areas are coated with the bonding agent 4 and 4', but it is also possible to adhere a low fusion point film such as a polyethylene to these areas, press-secure it with a heated bar for bonding the said polyethylene and to adhere these areas together to form a container of the material 1. Next, the bonding agent or the film for heat sealing such as polyethylene may be coated or adhered after folding both the edges 2 and 2' as shown in Figure 4 or may be coated or adhered before folding these edges. Figure 13 to Figure 36 show other embodiments. Figure 13 shows a laminate material 20 for a square shape container to be used for manufacturing a square bottom bag, and this square shape laminate material 20 is the substance where the inside material 21 has been joined integrally with the outside material 22 as shown by the sectional view in Figure 14. The inside material 21 becomes the internal side of the square bottom bag while the outside material 22 becomes the external side of the square bottom bag, where the outside material 22 is made of a substance with a lower fusion point that of the inside material 21. Such materials as paper, bi-axially stretched polypropylene, stretched polyester, stretched polyamide, cellophane, aluminium foil, stretched polystyrene, polycarbonate and the like can be used for the inside material 21, while such materials as low density polyethylene, medium density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, directly chained type polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, polypropylene, polyester, polyamide and the like can be used as the outside material 22 having a low fusion point. Any combination of these materials is acceptable provided that there exists a difference in fusion points and that the outside material 22 has a lower fusion point than that of the inside material 21. The left side edge 23 and the right side edge 24 of this type of square shaped laminate material 20 is folded in line with the centre line 26 in a vertical direction of the laminate material 20 so that the inside material 20 is on the internal side as shown in Figure 14B. The laminate material 20 which has been folded as shown in Figure 14B is then folded into the state as shown in Figure 15 along the centre line 26 horizontally in a direction such that the left side edge 23 and the right side edge 24 are exposed on the external side. At equal distances 27 along the sides and from the centre line 26, the laminate material 20 is folded along two fold lines 28 parallel with the centre line 26 in the direction so that the left side edge 23 and the right side edge 24 may be folded to the internal side, the area of centre line 26 is then overlapped into sections 29 and 30 as shown in Figure 16 to Figure 18, so that the inside materials 21 face to each other within the folded laminate material 20 as shown in Figure 19 and Figure 20 and the outside material 22 with a lower fusion point is positioned outside the respective inside materials 21 while at the location along the left side edge 23 and the right side edge 24 the outside materials 22 face to each other as shown in Figure 19. After applying a releasing agent to the lower face 31 of the section 30 on the lower side of the laminate material 20 which has been bent in this way, the centre section in the vertical direction of laminate material 20 is trapped between electrode plates 32 to effect bonding by means of the square rod shaped heat seal bars using a supersonic wave oscillating bar or the like as shown in Figure 21. In this case, a releasing agent coating is provided on the faces of electrodes 32 in contact with the laminate material 20. When the centre portion of the laminate material 20 is heated up in the temperature range lower than the fusion point of the inside material 21 but higher than the fusion point of the outside material 22 by the electrodes 32, both the outside materials 22 of right side edges 24 (see Figure 19) which come into mutual contact with each other inside the centre portion of the laminate material 20 are fused together, and thus the both external areas of right side edges are mutually bonded as shown in Figure 22 to Figure 25. When the laminate material 20 which has been bonded in this way is opened from the released upper edge 33 as shown in Figure 26 and 27 and is pressed downward in a way such that the lower side angle section 30 becomes flat, then the upper side angle section 29 moves to the right and left and becomes a perpendicular flat face except for the bonded left side edges 23 and right side edges 24. A square bottom bag 36 is thus obtained that has a square shaped flat bottom face 34 and a perpendicular flat lateral face 36 as shown in Figure 28 and Figure 29. The left side edges 23 and the right side edges 24 which are bonded mutually together protrude inwardly into the square bottom bag 36 along the centre line in the vertical direction of lateral face 35 while the lower section of the left side edge 23 and the lower section of right side edge 24 together form a triangle shaped protrusion 37 which protrudes inside the square bottom bag 36. Figure 30 shows the bonding of the external sides of left side edges 23 and the external sides of right side edges 24 to each other using electrodes 32 whose lower ends expand to a triangle form instead of square rod shaped electrodes 32 as shown in Figure 21. In this case the entire internal face of the triangle shaped protrusion 37 shown in Figure 31 is bonded. The embodiment shown in Figure 32 comprises a bag where two notch pieces 39 each of identical right angle triangle shape with the right angle apex 38 directed to the centre line 25 in the vertical direction of the laminate material 20 are provided on the left side edge 23 and the right side edge 24 respectively with a small distance therebetween on the top and bottom sides of the centre line 26 in a horizontal direction of the laminate material 20. If the left side edge 23 and the right side edge 24 are folded inside in line with the centre line 25 in a vertical direction and as shown in Figure 33, two notches each on the right and left sides then face each other with the vertical centre line 25 as the boundary and a regular square shaped notch tilted 45° can be formed at two places with a small spacing therebetween each side of the centre line 26. The laminate material 20 which has been folded in this way into the form shown in Figure 33 can be folded into the condition as shown in Figure 34 along the centre line 26 horizontally in a direction so that the left side edge 23 and the right side edge 24 are exposed externally, and the laminate material 20 is further bent along two folded lines 28 passing through the apex 38 of the triangles such that the left side edge 23 and the right side edge 24 may be folded inside. The portion of the centre line 26 becomes an angle section 29 as shown in Figure 31, and the notches 39 having the apex 38 on the folded line 28 are mutually overlapped on both sides. If the laminate material which has been folded in this way is trapped from both sides of the centre line using shaped electrodes 32 and heated up under the same temperature conditions as previously described, both the external sides of left side edges 23 and both the outer circumferential sides of notches 39 are bonded to each other. If the laminate material 20 which has been bonded in this way as mentioned above is opened up in the same manner as explained with reference to Figures 26 to Figure 28, then a square bottom bag is obtained that has no triangle shaped protrusion as shown in Figure 31 and which is bonded with an identical width as shown in Figure 36. Figures 47 to 65 are views showing further embodiments. Figure 47 is a view showing a laminate material 220 to be used for manufacturing a square bottom bag. This square shaped laminate material 220 is formed from an internal material 221 joined integrally to an external material 222 as shown in the detail sectional view of Figure 48. The internal material 221 becomes the internal surface of a square bottom bag while the external material 222 becomes the external side of the square bottom bag. The external material 222 uses a substance having a lower fusion point compared with that of the internal material 221. Such substances may comprise paper, biaxially stretched polypropylene, stretched polyester, stretched polyamide, cellophane, aluminium foil, stretched polystyrene, polycarbonate, as examples and can be used for the internal material 221, while such substances as low density polyethylene, medium density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, directly chained polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, polypropylene, polyester, polyamide, etc. can be used as the external material 222 which has a low fusion point. In practice any combination of materials is acceptable provided that there is a difference in fusion points and that the external material 222 has a lower fusion point than the internal material 221. After the left side edge 223 and the right side edge 224 of this square shaped laminate material 220 have been folded each to a side of vertical centre line 225 so that the internal material 221 may be folded inside, and the left side edge has been bonded with the right side edge 224 with a bonding agent into the form of a bonded section 226 in vertical direction as shown in Figure 49, this laminate material 220 is then folded along lines such that it may become a square shaped cylindrical body. Then, if the upper edge section 227 and the lower edge section 228 of laminate material 220 which has been formed into a square shaped cylindrical body are folded inwardly of the cylindrical body as shown in Figure 50 to form the folded sections 229 and 230, and the right and left opposite lateral faces 231 and 232 of the cylindrical body as shown in Figure 50 with the respective vertical centre lines 233 and 234 forming the fold lines, then the external materials 222 face each other entirely on the internal sides of the folded sections 229 and 230 as shown in Figures 52 to 54. Both the outside faces of lower edge section 228 which has been turned inwardly, of the laminate material 220 as shown in Figure 51, are trapped by the electrode plates 235 of a square rod shaped heat seal bar, a supersonic wave oscillating bar or the like as shown in Figure 55. In this case a release agent coating is provided on the faces of the electrode plates 235 which come into contact with the laminate material 220. The outside of laminate material 220 into which the lower edge section 228 has been folded by the electrode plates 235 is bonded at a temperature lower than the fusion point of the internal material 221 but higher than the fusion point of the external material 222 having a lower fusion point. Both the outside materials at the lower edge section 228 which have been folded as a bent section 230 are fused into one body, and the lower edge section 228 can be entirely bonded as shown in Figures 56 to 58. If the laminate material 220 which has been bonded in this way is opened from the side of the open upper edge section 227 and kept opened as shown in Figure 59 by pressing downward on the lower side bent section 230, the bent section 230 becomes a flat face with the bonded lower edge section 228 remaining protruding in the interior, and a square bottom bag having a square shaped flat bottom face as shown in Figure 60 and Figure 61 can be obtained, and can be used as a bag whose upper section is open. If both the outside faces at the upper edge section 227 (see Figure 61) which has been bent inwardly as shown in Figure 62 after filling the aforementioned square bottom bag 237, can be trapped between the electrode plates 235 to effect bonding and they are heated up to the same temperature as that described above, the outside materials 222 (see Figures 52 and 53) of upper brim section 227 which have been folded as a bent section 229 are bonded into one unit and the upper edge section is entirely bonded as shown in Figure 64, thus a square bottom bag 239 whose upper face has also been sealed as shown in Figure 63 can be produced. The deposited upper edge section 227 and lower edge section 228 take the position where they protrude into the inside of the square bottom bag 239 as shown in Figure 65. Additional preferred embodiments are disclosed in Figure 66 to Figure 72. Figure 66 is a view showing a laminate material 310 forming a square shaped container material to be used for manufacturing a bag, and this square shaped material 310 has the inside material 311 joined integrally with the outside material 312 as shown in the partial sectional view of Figure 67. The inside material 311 becomes the internal side of a bag while the outside material 312 becomes the external side of a bag. The outside material 312 comprises a substance with a lower fusion point than that of the inside material 311. Such substances may comprise paper, biaxially stretched polypropylene, stretched polyester, stretched polyamide, cellophane, aluminium foil, stretched polystyrene, polycarbonate or the like for the inside material 311 while such substances comprising low density polyethylene, medium density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, directly chained polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, polypropylene, polyester, polyamide or the like can be used as the outside material 312 having a lower fusion point, generally any combination of materials is acceptable provided that there is a difference in fusion points and that the outside material 312 has a lower fusion point than the inside material 311. The left side edge 313 and the right side edge 314 of this square shaped laminate material 310 is folded into the form of bent sections 315 in the vertical direction such that the inside material 311 becomes the internal surface. Then if the laminate material 310 is folded along the centre line 316 in a horizontal direction into the form as shown in Figure 68 so that the bent sections 315 are on the inside, the outside materials 312 face each other in the bent sections 315. Both the outside faces of bent sections 315 of the laminate material 310 which has been folded as shown in Figure 68 shall be caught between such electrode plates 317 for bonding by a square rod shaped heat seal bar, or supersonic wave oscillating bar or the like as shown in Figure 69. In this case, a release agent is coated on the face of the electrode plates 317 which comes in contact with the laminate material 310. When the outside of laminate material 310 into which the bent section 315 has been folded is heated up over a temperature range lower than the fusion point of inside material 311 but higher than the fusion point of outside material using the electrode plates 317 both the outside materials 312 of bent section 315 are bonded to each other and into a single body as shown in Figure 70 with the right and left bent sections 315 being bonded over their whole lengths to form a bag as shown in Figure 71. Though bent section 315 protrudes inside the bag 318 as shown in Figure 71, if a sealant 319 is coated onto one face of the bent section 315 as shown in Figure 72 which is to be bonded to the inside of bag 318, a bag whose bent section will not protrude into the interior can be formed. Advantages of this invention when used for the manufacture of a square bottom container are:- a) Because of the absence of sealed areas and overlapped areas on the square bottom face, the bag becomes stable when it has been erected, and moreover there is reduced risk of leakage and pin holes. b) Since the laminate film to be heat sealed is not positioned in the internal face of the container, the contents are protected from direct contact with this laminate thus avoiding any subsequent change in taste and quality. c) The manufacturing machine is simple in construction because the square bottom can be formed just by folding the sheet. In addition, the bags can be produced continuously on a production line and therefore production cost can be reduced.

Claims: A method of manufacturing a square seamless bottom container wherein a sheet of material (1) has opposed side edges (2,2',23,24) folded over longitudinally to the same side with said edges being in parallel relationship, the sheet being thereafter folded about transverse fold lines to form a W-shaped base (5) with the side edges being bonded together to form the container, characterised in that the sheet of material (20) consists of a heat sealable two layers laminate (21,22), the layer (22) on the external side of the container having a fusion point lower than the other layer (21), the sheet being folded about transverse lines (26,28) and the sides brought together to superimpose the lower fusion point layer (22) at the opposed side edges (23,24), means being applied to fuse this layer (22) together at the said edges (23,24) to form a seam. A method of manufacturing a container as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that the side edges (23,24) are folded over and butted together, to form a cylindrical body (20). A method of manufacturing a container as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that two pairs of V-shaped notches are provided each notch (6,6' or 7,7') of a pair being in a respective side edge (23,24) and opposed to the other, each pair of notches lying along respective outer transverse fold lines (28,P,P') forming the W-shape folded base (5). A method of manufacturing a container as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that the container is formed from a rectangular sheet (20) of a laminate material having a layer (21) forming the inside of the container and a layer (22) forming the outside of the container and having a lower fusion point than said material (21), the edges (23,24) of the material being folded inwardly so that said sides are in abutment to form a flattened tube, the material being folded about a transverse centre line (26) and about two further transverse lines (28) each side thereof to form a W-shaped folded base with the edges (23,24) facing inwardly, a heating element being applied to both sides to cause the lower fusion point material (22) along the edges (23,24) to form a bonded seam. A method of manufacturing a container as claimed in Claim 4, characterised in that the edges (23,24) have V-shape cut away parts (39) on the fold lines (28) each side of the centre line (26).

Inventors: YOKOYAMA NAOOMI, YOKOYAMA, NAOOMI
Applicants: ALTECH CO LTD, ALTECH CO. LTD.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B31B29
IPC codes: B31B19, B31B29, B31B3