Patent Publication Number: US-6209754-B1

Title: Pouch

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a pouch having an improved pour opening. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 7-2260 discloses a pouch having a reinforcement comprising a linear shaping of foil in the region of a pour opening to prevent the pour opening from being choked up when liquid is poured. 
     The reinforcement, however, is arranged in such a manner that two foils constituting a free standing pouch are provided with two reinforcements which lie in alignment with one another, i.e., symmetrically. Therefore, the pour opening tends to be choked and steady pouring of the contents is often failed. 
     A conventional self-supporting pouch comprises a bag-like portion formed by adhering films with a pour opening sealed portion located at the upper part of the bag-like portion. When the self-supporting pouch is filled with liquid and allowed to stand, while the outer shape is stably maintained from the middle part immediately under the liquid surface to the bottom part of the bag-like portion due to the liquid pressure of the contents, the outer shape from the middle part to top portion of the bag-like portion tends to give wrinkle or intake, thus exhibiting unsatisfied self-supporting property. 
     In addition, when holding the self-supporting pouch to pour the contained liquid from its pour opening, the bag-like portion tends to bend and deform at the connected portion between the side sealed portion and the pour opening sealed portion thereby impairing the holding property. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a pouch which is easy to process for shaping a pour opening and is capable of pouring the contents towards steady direction without occurring the choke. 
     Another object of the present invention is to improve the self-supporting property and the pouch-holding property. 
     The present invention has achieved the above-mentioned object by providing a pouch comprising two side-wall films overlaid with each other with a pour opening, wherein the side-wall films each are provided with a reinforcement, the reinforcements being arranged in an unsymmetrical manner towards pouring direction. 
     In addition, the present invention has achieved the above-mentioned object by providing the pouch wherein the two side-wall films are adhered to each other to form a bag-like portion, a side portion of the bag-like portion is provided with a side-sealed portion, a pour opening sealed portion is provided with an upper corner connected with the side-sealed portion, the sealed width of the side-sealed portion being enlarged upwardly, and the side-sealed portion and the pour opening sealed portion being continuously connected with a curved line sealed portion. 
     According to the pouch of the present invention, it is easy to shape the pour opening, and the contents can be steadily poured without choke. 
     In addition, if the sealed width of a side-sealed portion is enlarged toward the upper direction and the side-sealed portion and the pour opening sealed portion are connected in a continuous manner by a curved sealed portion, the self-supporting property and pouch-holding property can be enhanced. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a self-supporting pouch in relation to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A—A of FIG. 1 showing the opening condition of the pour opening. 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a self-supporting pouch in relation to another embodiment of a present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in FIG. 1, in a self-supporting pouch  10  which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pair of side-wall films  11  and a bottom-wall film  12  both comprising a plastic film material such as polyethylene are sealed at the edge portions thereof for uniting into one body in a shape of a bag to thereby form a portion  16  for containing liquid. At an upper-end corner of the pouch  10 , a pouring member  13  projecting from the edge portion upwardly in slant is arranged. When the distal end part of the pouring member  13  is cut along the line A—A, a pour opening  14  is projectedly formed with its distal end opening. 
     In the pour opening  14 , one side of the pair of side-wall films  11  (this side seen in FIG. 1) is provided with a first reinforcement line  17  in a form convex in section which is biased upwardly from the center line X—X and extends in a curve, and the other side of the pair of side-wall film  11  (the other side unseen in FIG. 1) is provided with a second reinforcement line  18  in a form convex in section which is biased downwardly from the center line X—X and extends in a curve. 
     The first reinforcement line  17  curves in a convex line off to the upper direction and further extends beyond the longitudinal center line Z—Z. 
     The second reinforcement line  18  first curves in a concave line off to the lower direction, changes at the point where it crosses the longitudinal center line Z—Z of the side-wall film  11  into a convex line curved off to the upper direction, and then further extends to form an S curve. The terminal end of the second reinforcement line  18  locates near the side edge part in the approximately central region of the body portion of the self-supporting pouch  10 . 
     The first reinforcement line  17  and the second reinforcement line  18  cross near the longitudinal center line Z—Z. 
     The convex form in section of the first reinforcement line  17  and the second reinforcement line  18  is easily formed as the linear reinforcement in a outwardly convexed form in section, for example, by pressing the side wall film  11  in a groove of an anvil using heated male and female stamps or by heat-sealing, without arranging them in a symmetrical manner. In addition, these reinforcement lines  17 ,  18 , for example, may be formed into a projection of an arch form in section by pressure molding. 
     According to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the reinforcement lines  17 ,  18  which are located in an unsymmetrical manner on the opposite sides of the center line X—X with respect to the symmetrical axis of the sealed center line Y—Y of the side-wall films  11  let the pour opening  14  to open with changing the direction of force which is applied to the surface and back side of the side-wall film  11 . This construction facilitates the opening of the pour opening  14  at the pouring to thereby efficiently prevent the choking of the pour opening  14 . According to the unsymmetrical relation between the first reinforcement line  17  and the second reinforcement line  18 , a twisted imaginary channel is formed at the pour opening  14  so that the contents flow in a twisted condition and the steady pouring direction is maintained, thus improving the pouring performance. 
     In addition, according to this embodiment, the first reinforcement line  17  and the second reinforcement line  18  at the pour opening  14  curve towards the different side to each other with respect to the center line X—X, so that the contents are poured in spiral, and the pouring performance and the flowing direction are further stabilized. 
     Further, according to this embodiment, the first reinforcement line  17  and the second reinforcement line  18  extend beyond the longitudinal center line Z—Z of each side-wall film  11  to the approximately central region of the body portion of the self-supporting pouch  10 , so that the force which is given by the weight of the contents to push and expand the body portion is directed to the pour opening  14  through the reinforcement lines  17 ,  18 , and converted into the force for opening the pour opening  14 , thus more effectively preventing the choking of the pour opening  14  and improving the pouring performance. 
     Furthermore, the reinforcement lines  17 ,  18  extend to the approximately central region of the body portion of the self-supporting pouch  10 , so that the rigidity of the pouch is enhanced, the pouch-holding property by hands is improved, and self-supporting property is enforced. Besides, the outer appearance of the self-supporting pouch  10  is improved, and the reinforcement lines serve as an accent line of the pour opening  14  and a holding guide. 
     FIG. 3 shows a self-supporting pouch  20  in relation to another embodiment of the present invention, in which two side-wall films  21  and one bottom film  22  form a bag-like portion  23  as a containing portion. Films  21  and  22  may be a laminate sheet of plastic. 
     In the self-supporting pouch  20 , two side-wall films  21  are heat-sealed at respective side edge portions to form a side-sealed portion  24  on both sides of the bag-like portion  23 , and the opposite outer edge portions of the two-folded bottom films  22  are heat-sealed to the bottom edge portion of two side-wall films  21  respectively to thereby form a bottom-sealed portion  25 . A pour opening sealed portion  26  is formed at an upper corner of the one side of the bag-like portion  23  connected to the side-sealed portion  24 . After the contents are filled from the opening portion of the top of the bag-like portion  23  of the self-supporting pouch  20 , the upper edge portion of the two side-wall films  21  are heat-sealed with each other to thereby form a top-sealed portion  27  of the bag-like portion  23 . 
     When the two-folded bottom wall film  22  is developed, the bag-like portion  23  of the self-supporting pouch  20  can be free-standing. In actual use of the self-supporting pouch  20 , the pour opening sealed portion  26  can be torn and opened with a notch  26 A of the pour opening sealed portion  26  to thereby form the pour opening for pouring the contents. 
     Therefore, in connection with the self-supporting pouch  20 , as in the self-supporting pouch  10 , the first reinforcement line  17  and the second reinforcement line  18  are formed from the pour opening  14  across the longitudinal center line Z—Z of the side-wall film  21 . Besides, at one side where the pour opening sealed portion  26  of the bag-like portion  23  is formed, the side-sealed portion  24  and the pour opening sealed portion  26  are connected in such a manner that, while a sealed width W of at least intermediate portion of the side-sealed portion  24  is enlarged upwardly, the side-sealed portion  24  and the pour opening sealed portion  26  are continuous through a curved line sealed portion  28 . At this side of the bag-like portion  23 , the outer line of the side-sealed portion  24  becomes linear, the inner line of the side-sealed portion  24  at the part lower than the intermediate portion is formed into a curved line portion (RA) which is convex to the inner side of the pouch, and the inner line thereof at the part upper than that is formed into a curved line portion (RB) which is concave to the inner side of the pouch. 
     An area of the pour opening sealed portion  26  closer to the side-sealed portion  24  and another area thereof closer to the top-sealed portion  27  are both narrowed as slant line portions (TA, TB) to thereby improve the pouring performance. In addition, the slant line portion TB of the pour opening sealed portion  26  closer to the top-sealed portion  27  is recessed from the top-sealed portion  27 , so that the distal edge of the pour opening sealed portion  26  is enabled to be the same level as the extension of the top-sealed portion  27 . Thus, in the production of the pouch, the material can be efficiently used. 
     At the other side of the bag-like portion  23  where the pour opening sealed portion  26  is not provided, the outer line of the side-sealed portion  24  is linear, and the inner line thereof is a curved line portion (RC) which is convex to the inside of the bag. 
     Therefore, the self-supporting pouch  20  of this embodiment provides the following advantageous effects, in addition to the advantageous effects of the aforementioned self-supporting pouch  10 . 
     (1) When the self-supporting pouch  20  is filled with liquid and allowed to stand, the outer shape of the bag-like portion  23  from the intermediate part immediately under the liquid surface to the bottom portion is stably maintained due to the liquid pressure of the contents. In addition, in this embodiment, the sealed width W of the side-sealed portion  24  of the bag-like portion  23  is enlarged upwardly at least at the intermediate portion to give a wider width, so that the rigidity of the upper portion of the intermediate portion of the bag-like portion  23  is enhanced, thus preventing wrinkle or intake of the self-supporting pouch  20  and exhibiting enhanced self-supporting property. 
     (2) When the pour opening  14  is opened and the liquid is poured therefrom with holding the self-supporting pouch  20  with hands, force is not concentrated at the connected portion of the side-sealed portion  24  and the pour opening sealed portion  26  of the bag-like portion  23  because this connected portion is in a curved line form (curved line sealed portion  28 ). As a result, bending or deformation can be prevented, and the holding property of the self-supporting pouch  20  can be improved. 
     In the opposite side-sealed portions  24  of the bag-like portion  23 , both inner lines are curved line portions (RA,RC) bending convexly to the inside of the bag, and the space between the inner lines of the opposite side-sealed portions  24  is minimum at the intermediate portion in the height direction of the bag-like portion  23 . Thus, it is possible to ensure the rigidity of the bag-like portion  23 . 
     The present invention is variously modifiable. For example, the first reinforcement line  17  and the second reinforcement line  18  may be linear or a combination of linear lines, may be in the same side of the center line X—X. The curved line or curved direction may be on the same side or on opposite sides. The first reinforcement line  17  and the second reinforcement line  18  may be provided at least in the pour opening  14 , and is not always necessary to extend to the central portion of the body portion. The pour opening  14  is not always necessary to project off to the upper direction, and it may project upwardly above the upper edge in the center of the top portion of the pouch or may not project at all.