PACKAGING BAG

Abstract: The invention relates to a packaging bag (1) for accommodating semifinished foodstuff products, having an outer enclosure made of packaging material sheets which are connected to one another by border seams along the bag edges, it being the case that the bag (1) is open along at least one of its edges (5) for the filling operation and, following the filling operation, can be closed by virtue of said open edge (5) being sealed, it being the case that the bag (1) has an inner separating sheet (6) which has a free edge (9) and further edges incorporated essentially into the bag border seams and which, prior to the filling operation, divides the bag interior into two open chambers (7, 8), and the inner separating sheet (6), in the region of its free edge 9, can be connected, by way of a first sealing seam, to the inner wall of one of the two packaging material sheets, a first closed chamber (7) being formed in the process, and then the open edge (5) of the bag (1) can be closed by a separate, second sealing seam, a second closed chamber been formed in the process.

Description: Packaging bag The invention relates to a novel packaging bag which is intended for accommodating semifinished foodstuff products and in which different products are packaged in two separate chambers within a single bag sales pack and can be removed separately. It is known for foodstuffs, to be precise, in particular, semifinished foodstuff products, which undergo a subsequent cooking step or are added to other foodstuffs in order to prepare a ready-to-eat foodstuff, to be retailed in a state in which they are packaged in bag form. Typical examples of such semifinished foodstuff products are powdered soups, dried pulses, blancmange-type desserts, sauces, sauce concentrates and other similar products. In various dishes, individual ingredients have different cooking times and/or are required at different points in time in order to produce the ready-to-eat dish. Thus, for example in the case of pulse-containing dishes, the pulses require relatively long cooking times, whereas the cooking substance on which soup is based produces a finished dish straight away once it has simply been stirred into a hot liquid. In order to avoid unnecessarily long cooking times for the constituents of the cooking substance, it is thus desirable for the two different components to be mixed together at different points in time and to be kept separate until then. Similar situations may also arise with other semifinished foodstuff products which may belong to quite different foodstuff types, e.g. the dessert type. An example which may be mentioned is a combination of basic powdered ingredients of a blancmange-type dessert and associated sauces or sauce base. A possible way of packaging two components consists, of course, in the two components being provided in two separate bags, if appropriate in joint outer cardboard packaging. It seems desirable, however, to have available as far as possible a single, self- contained bag-type sales pack with which the consumers are already familiar. No bag-type packaging which allows two different semifinished foodstuff products to be packaged within one packaging bag, and sold in this way, is known. The object of the present invention is thus to provide a novel packaging bag in which two semifinished foodstuff products which are different or are required at different points in time can be packaged, and sold, together. This object is achieved by a packaging bag according to Claim 1. Advantageous configurations of such a packaging bag can be gathered from the subclaims . The " person skilled in the art can gather further details of a packaging bag according to the invention from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to the figures. A packaging bag according to the invention for accommodating semifinished foodstuff products has, in the same way as a conventional packaging bag of this type, an outer enclosure made of packaging material sheets which are connected to one another by border seams, usually in the form of a sealing border, along the bag edges. The bag is fed to a filling station in an open state along one of its edges in order to be filled and, following the filling operation, is closed with the contents introduced therein, by virtue of said open edge being sealed. In contrast to known bags, a bag according to the invention has an inner separating sheet, of which the borders are incorporated hermetically into the bag border seams, when the bag edges are sealed, and which has a free edge, with the result that, prior to being filled with the contents provided, the bag interior is subdivided into two open chambers . The two chambers can be filled one after the other with different products which are to be packaged and, as is explained somewhat more specifically hereinbelow, can be closed separately in two sealing steps. To be precise, a first chamber is closed in that the separating sheet is connected to the inner wall of one of the packaging material sheets which forms the outer enclosure of the bag, and in that the second chamber is then closed at the top of the bag in the manner of a conventional single-chamber packaging bag. The filling and closing operations may take place such that first of all the two chambers are filled with the respective products and then the first and the second chambers are sealed one after the other; however, it is also possible to proceed such that first of all the first chamber is filled and then sealed, and then the second chamber is filled and, finally, sealed. It can be gathered from the description of the packaging bag according to the invention that the outer-enclosure packaging material sheet used for producing said bag should have a heat-sealable coating, e.g. made of polyethylene, at least on its surface which is directed towards the bag interior. Otherwise, it is possible to use any desired material, and this, in addition to a homogeneous plastic material, may also be a laminated plastic material or 3 plastic-coated paper or a plastic-coated metal foil with the barrier-layer properties which are necessary for the respective product. The shape of the bag usually corresponds to that of a conventional rectangular bag, but there are no restrictions as far as the shape of the bag is concerned and, should it be desired, for example, for marketing reasons, it is also possible for the two-chamber bag according to the invention to be polygonal or even round. A packaging bag according to the invention and the method by which two different products are introduced into its two chambers and are sealed in the bag are explained in more detail hereinbelow with reference to four figures . In the figures : Figures 1 to 4 show the steps for the stepwise operation of filling a two-chamber packaging bag according to the invention and also the stepwise operation of closing the two chambers of the bag. With reference to Figure 1, then, a packaging bag according to the invention, in the form in which it is supplied by the packaging manufacturer and is provided for filling, has a conventional bag outer enclosure which is formed by two packaging material sheets 2 and 3 which are connected to one another by a border seam 4, usually in the form of a sealing border, to produce a bag. The bag shown is a so-called folded bottom bag, but it may also be a straightforward rectangular bag which may also comprise, if appropriate " , a single folded sheet sealed along the borders. As can be seen in the figures, the sealing border 4 is not closed right up to the open bag edge 5. The packaging bag according to the invention differs from a conventional bag in that its interior is subdivided by a separating sheet 6 into two open chambers 7 and 8, as is shown in Figures 1 and 2, in which the type of opening of the respective chamber 7 or 8 is indicated by the form of the curved, free separating-sheet edge 9. In Figures 1 and 2, parts of the packaging material sheet 3 , which forms the front side of the bag, has been removed, and the dotted line indicates the border 5 actually provided on the front side of the bag. By the two chambers being kept open alternately in a suitable manner, said chambers, as is illustrated schematically in Figures 1 and 2, are filled with different products by virtue of the products being introduced in the direction of the arrows . Once the two chambers have been filled, they are sealed closed. To be precise, as is shown in Figure 3, first of all the first chamber 7 is closed in that the top edge 9 of the separating sheet is connected to the inner surface of the packaging material sheet 2, which forms the rear side of the bag, a sealing border 10 being formed in the process. For this purpose, it is advantageous for the packaging material sheet 3, which forms the front side of the bag, to be folded downwards as a border 12, in order that the sealing tool has free access to the free border 9 of the separating sheet 6. Since the separating sheet 6, in particular on account of being incorporated in the sealing border 4 of the bag, should be capable of being sealed on both sides, it has to be ensured that, when the first chamber 7 is closed, the sealing tool does not stick to the separating sheet, and this can be achieved, for example, by a suitable coating of the sealing jaw, for example using a fluorocarbon polymer or silicone polymer. Once the sealing seam 10 has been formed, the opening of the first bag chamber is closed and, once the border 12 has been folded back, a further sealing seam 11 may be formed at the top of the bag by a conventional sealing operation. In this case, the second chamber 8 is closed and, at the same time, with suitable surface-area sealing of the corners, it is also possible to achieve additional reliable lateral sealing of the first chamber 7. Once sealing of the bag has been finished, two different products are thus contained separately from one another in hermetically sealed chambers. Of course, it is also possible for two portions of the same product to be packaged in a bag of the type according to the invention. In order to remove the respective products from the two chambers, the bag can be opened by virtue of the bag borders being cut off . The correct opening is shown here by cutting lines printed onto, the exterior of the bag. A cut along one of these cutting lines 13 results in the sealing seam 11 being cut off the closed bag 1 and thus in the second chamber 8 , which was last to be closed, being opened. Since the cutting line 13 runs between the sealing border 11 and the sealing border 10, the first chamber 7 remains closed at this point in time. A further cut can open said first chamber as well, it being possible for this cut to be performed parallel to the first cut, at a greater distance from the original bag edge, but the cut is preferably performed as an oblique cut along the cutting line 14 shown in Figure 4. In conventional packing bags according to the invention, the inner sheet is approximately 10 to 30 mm, preferably approximately 15 mm, shorter than the packing material sheets which form the outer enclosure. Sealing the free border thereof to the rear wall of the bag thus forms a sealing seam which is spaced apart from the bag edge by a distance of from approximately 10 to 35 mm. The second sealing seam 11 forms the closure seam. The method of producing a filled packaging bag in a stepwise manner may be described as follows : 1. A packaging bag which has an open edge and is subdivided into two open chambers by a separating sheet, of which the borders are incorporated in the bag border seam, is provided. 2. The two chambers are then filled one after the other with the products provided. 3. Thereafter, the free edge of the separating sheet is connected to the inner wall of the rear side of the bag, the first chamber being closed in the process. 4. Thereafter, the top of the bag is formed in the customary manner by virtue of the outer packaging material sheets, which form the packaging enclosure, being sealed to one another. The method described is preferably made easier to implement in that, prior to the first chamber 7 being sealed, a border region of the packaging material sheet which forms the front side of the bag is curved or angled downwards in the forward direction, with the result that the sealing tool has free access to the separating sheet 6. The method described may be modified further to the effect that first of all the first chamber is filled and sealed, and then the second chamber is filled and sealed. The method variant preferred in each individual case is determined by the packaging installation available and/or the nature of the products which are to be packaged.

Claims: Claims 1. Packaging bag (1) for accommodating semifinished foodstuff products, having an outer enclosure made of packaging material sheets (2, 3) which are connected to one another by border seams (4) along the bag edges, it being the case that the bag (1) is open along at least one of its edges (5) for the filling operation and, following the filling operation, can be closed by virtue of said open edge (5) being sealed, characterized in that the bag (1) has an inner separating sheet (6) which has a free edge (9) and further edges incorporated essentially into the bag border seams (4) and which, prior to the filling operation, divides the bag interior into two open chambers (7 * , 8) , and, in the region of its free edge (9) , the inner separating sheet (6) can be connected, by way of a first sealing seam (10) , to the inner wall of one of the two packaging material sheets (2) , a first closed chamber (7) being formed in the process, and then the open edge (5) of the bag (1) can be closed by way of a separate, second sealing seam (11) , a second closed chamber (8) being formed in the process. 2. Packaging bag according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the first sealing seam (10) is formed such that it is spaced apart from the open edge (5) of the bag by a distance of between 5 mm and 35 mm. 3. Packaging bag according to Claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the first sealing seam (10) is formed essentially parallel to the open edge (5) of the bag. 4. Packaging bag according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the two chambers (7, 8) can be filled one after the other with powdered, granular, pasty and/or free-flowing semifinished foodstuff products . 5. Packaging bag according to either of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that, prior to the bag (1) being filled, the border seams (4) , in the region of the open bag edge (5) , are formed such that they do not extend right to the end of the packaging material sheets (2, 3) which are to be connected, with the result that a border region (12) of one of the packaging material sheets (3) can be folded back and unobstructed connection of the free edge (9) of the inner separating sheet (6) to the inside of the other packaging material sheet (2) is possible. 6. Packaging bag according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the two chambers (7, 8) of the packaging bag can be opened separately from one another in that first of all the second chamber (8) , which is formed by the packaging material sheets (2, 3) , is opened by virtue of the second sealing seam (11) being opened or removed, and then the first chamber (7) , which is formed by the separating sheet (6) and one of the packaging material sheets (2) , is opened. 7. Packaging bag according to Claim 6, characterized in that the first chamber (7) is opened by virtue of one of its corners being cut off. 8. Packaging bag according to Claim 6 or 7, characterized in that two cutting lines for the purpose of cutting off bag parts are shown on the outside of the bag, a cut along the first cutting line opening the second chamber (8) and a cut along the second cutting line opening the first chamber (7) .

Inventors: AHLSWEDE ULRICH, SELBACH NORBERT, SLOMKA GOTTFRIED, AHLSWEDE, ULRICH, SELBACH, NORBERT, SLOMKA, GOTTFRIED
Applicants: NESTLE SA, SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE S.A.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B65D30
IPC codes: B65D30, B65D75