Patent Publication Number: US-2009235616-A1

Title: Container for filling material and method for the production thereof

Description:
The present invention relates to a container for filling material, in particular a bag, comprising a container body made of a tubular film provided with gussets. The container is in particular suitable for receiving fine-grain, bulk material, such as for receiving cement or other powdery construction materials, chemicals or e.g. fine-grain coloring particles, as well as of paste-like or pasty materials or the like. 
     The invention furthermore relates to a filling system for filling these containers made of gusseted tubular film, and a method for processing tubular film provided with gussets. Said container is provided with a carrying device to allow comfortable transport for a person carrying the filled container. 
     Tubular film bags without gussets have been known from the prior art. For example, GB 1,152,310 discloses a bag comprising a separate area having multiple punched-out holes to form a carrying handle. A drawback of this is that additional film material is required for the separate portion for obtaining the same filling volume. It is another drawback of these bags that the carrying handle is not designed for heavy loads since the amount of force that the two-layered tubular film can receive and transfer is limited. Furthermore, a general and significant drawback is the insufficient stacking capability of these bags since when filled they take a cushion-like shape which does not allow efficient stacking. 
     Also, these cushion-like bags are not very appealing to the eye. 
     What is appealing to the eye and stackable is, bags or containers provided with gussets and corner welds. The corner welds made in the gussets connect to one another two of the total of four layers each. The filled package assumes a rectangular shape so as to obtain good stacking capability. 
     For example there are known from the prior art, gusseted bags with separate carrying straps or handles welded to the top region of the container. Fixing these separate carrying straps is comparatively work- and cost-intensive in particular in the case of containers manufactured in a so-called FFS machine (form fill seal-machine) immediately in front of the machine. Attaching these straps requires another, work- and cost-intensive process step, wherein additional film material is used for the carrying straps which further increases the total of work and costs. Using ready-made bags, however, will raise the overall costs. 
     In the structural design and the configuration, care must also be taken of the force distribution and force transfer since e.g. a non-continuous end seam may cause an unfavorable distribution of forces which may cause an unattractive or even detrimental lengthening of separate bag portions or e.g. the handle portions which in turn may make the customers reject the bags for visual reasons, e.g. when portions already lengthen in normal carrying. A corresponding structural design is thus intended to prevent the lengthening of portions due to typical loads occurring in carrying. 
     Gusseted bags have become known in which a portion of the tubular film is allowed to remain above the head seam sealing the bag so as to provide a carrying handle in this area. 
     Although this configuration may offer satisfactory stability, it also involves the drawback that a few additional centimeters of film material must be used for the carrying handle which will increase the quantity of material used on the whole. For example in a filling system filling 1 to 3 millions of bags per annum, this will result in quite considerable, additional expenditure of material and costs. 
     It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a container which allows comfortable carrying of a package filled with powdery or dusting materials at low cost while concurrently providing sufficiently robust carrying means. 
     This object is solved by the container according to claim  1 , the filling system according to claim  9 , and the method according to claim  11 . Preferred specific embodiments of the invention are the subjects of the subclaims. 
     The inventive container for filling material according to claim  1  is in particular configured as a bag and serves in particular for receiving bulk material such as fine, powdery, or dusting materials. The container comprises a container body which consists of a tubular film provided with gussets. The container body comprises an inner volume for receiving filling material. There is provided an end seam at a first end of the container body, and in the area of the gussets at the container corners, corner seams are provided which respectively extend through two thicknesses of the tubular film in order to allow a rectangular shape to form when filled and to substantially and in particular entirely separate the container corner area from the inner volume. At least at one container corner at least one opening is provided which extends through the thicknesses of a gusset and which is separated from the inner volume such that by way of the corner seams and the end seam and the opening a carrying device is formed which allows a finger hold on the carrying device for a person carrying the container in particular when filled. There is no connection between the inner volume and the opening such that, the opening provided in the tubular film layers notwithstanding, no filling material can escape from the package, not even with dusting or fine-grain material being filled. The invention has considerable advantages. One substantial advantage of the invention is that no additional material is required for manufacturing the carrying device. According to the invention, no additional carrying strap or carrying device needs to be attached to the package to allow a person to comfortably carry the package. 
     Furthermore it is not required for the package size to be impaired by the carrying device. The film tube for manufacturing the package is only required to comprise a length as required for receiving the filling material. No additional length of material for forming a handle or a similar holding or carrying device is required. No additional material is required for the carrying device. 
     It is a considerable advantage that the opening of the carrying device is not connected with the interior of the package such that no filling material can escape through the openings of the carrying device. No separate material is required for sealing since the corner seams ensure a reliable partition. 
     It is another advantage that the end or cross seam provided in particular across the entire width transverse to the longitudinal extension at the end of the package, causes an even distribution of the weight load. No weakening will occur by way of attached straps or the like as they are known from the prior art. 
     It is another advantage that the carrying device extends in the region of the gusset, such that a total of four thicknesses of the tubular film ensure the required stability for applying as well as for transferring forces. 
     Another considerable advantage consists in the fact that although comfortable carrying is provided, no additional material is required for the carrying device while providing the full filling volume and achieving good stacking capability. The quantity of tubular film required for the bag or the package can be optimally matched to the filling material to be bagged while also providing robust carrying and preventing the product from escaping. 
     The container body and in particular the entire container preferably consists of plastic, particularly preferably of a thermoplastic material. A thermoplastic material is weldable such that the package seams can be manufactured cost-effective and flexibly by welding. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the container according to the invention another end seam is provided at the second end of the container body. This is in particular the case when the container is filled with filling material. Or else it is conceivable for a separate valve to be inserted in the container body to allow filling the container body. 
     Preferably, one end seam is realized as a bottom seam at the first end and one end seam as a head seam, at the second end. 
     In all of the embodiments at least two container corners, in particular all of the container corners, are provided with at least one corner seam. Said corner seam will as a rule substantially extend at an angle of approximately 45° to a longitudinal axis of the container across a substantial portion of the gusset. 
     The corner seam preferably extends in the area of the end seam approximately at a right angle to the end seam to enlarge the area partitioned or welded off. The angle may substantially deviate from the perpendicular and be e.g. 60° or 70° relative to the end seam. Preferably the angle is substantially perpendicular to the end seam. The enlargement area thus extending is in particular between approximately 3 and 25 mm in length, preferably up to 15 mm. Subsequently the corner seam extends preferably at approximately 45 degrees until the side edge. 
     By way of one corner seam in each of the container corners one can achieve a rectangular shape of the filled package so as to have the filled packages readily stackable and fit for transport. 
     According to the invention, openings are preferably provided in each container corner. On the whole, a container is preferably provided with four carrying devices which are provided at least with one or else two openings for a person carrying the package to insert at least his or her fingers through the openings to allow the fingers to firmly grip the carrying device for said person to comfortably carry the package without having to fear that his or her fingers slip off the shallow recesses at the ends of the package. 
     Such slipping off may occur in the prior art packages in case that a carrying person places his or her fingers in the shallow recesses, employing said recesses for carrying. Since the fingers cannot get a firm grip in the recesses but slip off, this type of package can only be carried at great discomfort and over short distances. 
     Preferably all of the eight welded-off corner seams are provided with openings. 
     According to the invention the carrying device is formed at the containers basically only by way of the opening extending through the gusset thicknesses. 
     It is a further substantial advantage of the invention that the openings do not only allow carrying the package with the longitudinal axis of the package extending substantially in the vertical, but a comfortable carrying function is also allowed in a position tilted 90°. 
     Preferably at least one opening in at least one container corner is punched out. The opening may be polygonal, rounded, round, oval, or else crescent-shaped or banana-shaped in contour. A substantially round or oval shape of the openings matches with the approximate cross-section of a finger, so as to allow ready insertion of the person carrying the package. 
     In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the openings have been made by cuts in the gussets of the container body wherein the shape and type of the cuts are selected such that no film material is cut out of or removed from the container body. This offers advantages in particular in the case of containers made immediately prior to filling in a so-called FFS machine since then no material cuttings need to be disposed of in the system. Otherwise, any punched-out portions may be sucked off or blown off. 
     In all of the embodiments at least one end seam extends continuously substantially over the entire width of the container body. What is conceivable, however, is a somewhat narrower width of the continuous end seam for example in the case that the end seam is absent at the extreme edge. 
     In the particularly preferred embodiment in which one carrying device is provided at each container corner, filling material can be poured out of the container in a simple and very reliable way while being precisely metered. A carrying device at the top end and a carrying device at the bottom end may be used. By way of calculated lifting of the bottom carrying device the stream of the emerging filling material can be precisely controlled. The filling system according to the invention for filling containers according to claim  9  serves in particular for filling bags, comprising at least one container making device at which the containers to be filled are made from a gusseted tubular film. The containers to be filled are provided with an end seam and with corner seams. The corner seams extend at the container corners in the region of the gussets through two thicknesses of the gusseted tubular film each to ensure that after filling, roughly rectangular packages are present and to separate the container corner regions from the inner volume of the packages. 
     A filling device is provided for filling where the containers are filled with a filling material. A container closing device serves to close the filled packages after filling. 
     According to the invention there is furthermore provided at least one device which, in the region of at least one container corner of the container, makes at least one opening which extends through two thicknesses of the gussets of the container and which is separated from the inner volume such that the corner seams and the end seam and the opening form a carrying device at the container which provides a person carrying the filled package with a finger hold at the carrying device. The filling system according to the invention offers the advantage among other things that the containers are manufactured from a gusseted tubular film immediately in the filling system which is preferably configured as an FFS machine, immediately before the bags are filled. To this end the gusseted tubular film is preferably unwound from a roll and made up to fit directly in the system by way of cutting off suitable lengths of film sections and by manufacturing an end seam and corner seams so as to provide the requirements for obtaining rectangular packages after filling. After filling, a head seam is preferably made for closing the package. 
     The openings in the areas of the container corners may be produced before filling or else after filling the container. It is particularly preferred to make the openings before filling with the gussets of the gusseted film still lying flat on top of one another. Then, by way of cutting or punching through all of the thicknesses of the gusseted tubular film, two openings of a carrying device can be produced namely, one in the one and the other in the other gusset at one corner of the container. Thus, by way of a punching or cutting operation, one hole each in the top and bottom gussets can be made. 
     The filling system according to the invention allows a cost-effective filling of packages. The filling material may be of nearly any desired type. It is possible to fill pasty, liquid, or solid filling material. In the case of solid filling materials, heapable goods, granular materials, and powdery materials are preferred. For making the openings in the container corners the filling system preferably comprises at least one, in particular at least two cutting or punching tools. Preferably there is provided one cutting or one punching tool for making the openings, on each side of the gusseted tubular film. 
     The method inventive according to claim  11  serves for processing tubular film provided with gussets. At least the following steps will be performed in this or another appropriate sequence:
         At least one tube section is separated off the gusseted tubular film, which separated gusseted tubular film is suitable for manufacturing a container.   The separated tube section is provided with an end seam at a first end which extends in particular over the entire width of the container.   In the areas of the gussets, corner seams are made at least at the first end for the filled package to assume a rectangular structure after filling. The container corners are separated from the inner volume provided for the filling material by way of the corner seams.   At least at one container corner at least one opening is inserted through the thicknesses of the gussets of the gusseted tubular film such that by way of the corner seams and the end seam and the opening a carrying device is formed which allows a finger hold on the carrying device for a person carrying the filled package.       

     The method according to the invention allows manufacturing containers from gusseted tubular film and immediate, subsequent filling of filling material into the container manufactured immediately before, wherein the manufactured and filled packages comprise at least one carrying device each allowing a person to comfortably carry the filled package. 
     The method according to the invention is preferably carried out at a filling system at which the container is filled with the filling material. 
     After the filling operation the package is preferably closed and in particular welded shut. Preferably the head seam or the other end seam and/or the corner seams are welded as well. The openings may be manufactured by cutting or else by punching out material. 
    
    
     
       Other advantages and possibilities of application of the present invention can be taken from the exemplary embodiment which will be described below with reference to the accompanying figures. 
       The figures show in: 
         FIG. 1 : a perspective view of a filled package; 
         FIG. 2 : a top view of an unfilled container lying flat; 
         FIG. 3 : an upright carrying position; and 
         FIG. 4 : a horizontal carrying position of the package according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     The  FIGS. 1 to 4  illustrate an embodiment of an inventive container  1  consisting of a tubular film  4  provided with gussets  3 . 
     The container  1  illustrated in perspective in  FIG. 1  is configured as a bag, comprising a container body  2  which consists of a gusseted tubular film. In  FIG. 1  one can see the folding at the inner edge  13  of the gusset  3   b . The gusset  3   b  comprises a bottom gusset layer  13   a  and a top gusset layer  13   b.    
     The container  1  or the bag comprises corner welds  7  at the container corners  8  and at the two ends, end seams in the form of a head seam  5  and a bottom seam  10 . The end seams extend continuously over the entire width, transverse to the longitudinal axis  15  of the package. In this way an even distribution of the weight load is achieved. 
     The areas of the container corners  8  are provided with openings  9  such that the container corners  8  which are separated by the corner welds  7 , on the whole form one carrying device  11  each in conjunction with one of the end seams (head seam  5  or bottom seam  10 ) and the openings  9 . 
     The corner welds  7  are already components of the bag since they effectively contribute to shaping the bag. This is why no additional material for a robust, loadable carrying device is required, which offers significant advantages. 
     A person desiring to carry a package  1  may insert his or her hand into the trough-shaped recess at the carrying device  11 , threading his/her fingers, e.g. the index and middle fingers, through the openings  9  of the carrying device  11  which thus provide a finger hold on the carrying device. In this way a firm grip is possible. There is no risk of slipping off. 
     When the carrying person seizes one carrying device  11  each with both hands, as it is illustrated in the  FIG. 3  or  4 , the person can transport the package  1  comfortably. A person can seize both the two carrying devices  11  provided at one end, and the carrying devices  11  positioned at one longitudinal edge (see  FIG. 4 ) to thus carry the package with the longitudinal axis  15  being in the horizontal. This is possible by way of carrying devices  11  being provided at all of the four container corners  8 . 
     For pouring out filling material, one carrying device  11  may be seized for example at the top end  6  and one carrying device  11  e.g. at the bottom end  12  to thus allow a precisely metered pouring out of the filling material. 
     The package  1  provided with corner seams, which are corner welds  7 , comprises a total of eight separate corner welds  7  at all of the container corners  8  namely, as can be seen in  FIG. 2 , four corner welds  7   a  through  7   d  on the top surface of the package  1  and four corresponding corner welds on the bottom surface of the package  1 . 
     There is no connection between the inner volume of the package  1  and the openings  9  such that, the comfortable carrying grips notwithstanding, no bulk material or filling material can escape from the package. Neither fine-grain nor dusting, pasty nor even liquid materials can escape from the package through the openings  9  since they are entirely separated from the inner volume. 
     In the region of the gussets, two layers each are connected with one another by means of the corner welds but not all of the four layers which were originally placed on top of one another. This is achieved by a separator sheet or the like which is inserted into the gusset for welding the corners such that only pairs of layers will be welded to one another. In this way the bag can be carried at four points if one opening is provided in each welded off corner region. This allows the package  1  to be carried in an ergonomically friendly way. 
     The shape of the corner welds  7  may be configured as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . In the region of the end seams  5 ,  10 , the weld seams are made over a longitudinal area  17  roughly parallel to the longitudinal edge and roughly perpendicular to the end seam to enlarge the welded-off area. In this way the carrying function will be facilitated and the loadability, increased. 
     The configuration according to the invention allows an even application of forces and thus particularly high load-carrying properties. A comfortable carrying function is provided virtually without requiring additional material. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , each container corner  8   a ,  8   b ,  8   c  and  8   d  may be provided with one opening  9   a ,  9   b ,  9   c  and  9   d . Or else it is possible for more than one opening  9  to be provided at particular or several container corners  8 . For example one container corner  8  may comprise two or three openings  9  or all of the container corners may be equipped correspondingly. 
     The openings  9  preferably extend through all the thicknesses  13   a ,  13   b  of the gussets  3   a  or the gusset  3   b . This means that opening extends through four film layers namely, the two film layers of the top gusset and the film layers of the bottom or rear gusset, such that a carrying device  11  comprises at least two openings  9  which extend through four layers of the tubular film. In this way the carrying device  11  is provided with high load-bearing capacity which will substantially reliably prevent an unattractive or detrimental lengthening of the tubular film in the region of the carrying device. This is a significant advantage over carrying devices comprising two film layers only since the load-bearing capacity of these carrying devices is considerably reduced. 
     Unlike packages having conventional carrying straps or carrying grips, the invention allows a compact package structure without requiring additional material for the carrying device. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the invention the inventive package  1  is manufactured before the filling operation in a filling system (not shown) from a gusseted tubular film  4  in that a corresponding length is cut off the gusseted tubular film  4  and provided with a bottom seam  10  and with corner welds  8 . The bag which is open at the top end  6  can then be filled with filling material by means of a filling pipe or a filling spout of the filling system before the inlet opening is e.g. welded shut. 
     In particular before the filling operation, the openings  9   a ,  9   b ,  9   c  and  9   d  may be inserted in the container corners  8  to allow a user to insert at least his or her fingertips. Or else the openings may be inserted after the filling operation. 
     The shapes of each opening may be different, matched to particular applications. Or else it is conceivable for different openings  9  to be provided in the different container corners  8 . However, unlike the illustration in  FIG. 2 , identical opening types  9  are provided on all of the container corners  8 . 
     The individual openings  9  may, as does the opening  9   a , be substantially round in cross-section or else, as do the openings  9   b , angular and rounded in cross-section. Or else, an oval shape is conceivable as in the opening  9   d  in  FIG. 2 . 
     What is also in particular preferred is an opening type  9   c  in which e.g. a semicircular or crescent- or banana-shaped cut is made into the film. Again, this shape of opening allows the user to insert his or her finger tips through the openings  9   c.    
     Unlike the other openings  9   a ,  9   b  and  9   d , the opening  9   c  does not provide for material to be cut out of the gusseted tubular film but only a cut is made. The advantage is that there will be no material cutouts which might possibly drift through the filling system at random. However, this kind of problem can be reliably prevented by means of a suitable suction system or suitable blowing-off of the cut-out pieces of material. 
     In the case of immediately producing and filling the packages  1  in a so-called FFS system the invention allows a cost-effective, simple manufacture of the packages  1  as required immediately in the filling system. The additional operating steps are minor since only the corresponding openings need to be made in the packages. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS 
     
         
           1  package 
           2  container body 
           3 ,  3   a ,  3   b  gusset 
           4  tubular film 
           5  end seam 
           6  end 
           7 ,  7   a ,  7   b ,  7   c ,  7   d  corner seam 
           8 ,  8   a ,  8   b ,  8   c ,  8   d  container corner 
           9 ,  9   a ,  9   b ,  9   c ,  9   d  opening 
           10  end seam 
           11  carrying device 
           12  end 
           13  inner edge 
           13   a ,  13   b  gusset layers 
           15  longitudinal axis 
           17  longitudinal area