MXPA04004438A

MXPA04004438A - Flexible plastic container.

Info

Publication number: MXPA04004438A
Application number: MXPA04004438A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Wilford Michael
Original assignee: Rapak Llc
Priority date: 2001-11-09
Filing date: 2002-11-12
Publication date: 2005-03-31
Also published as: EP1453737B8; EP1453737A1; US20030136798A1; AU2002359380B2; ES2395015T3; PT1453737E; EP1453737B1; JP4231904B2; CN100400392C; EP1453737A4; JP2005523844A; BR0214010B1; NZ533364A; CA2466182A1; BR0214010A; CN1602271A; ATE531643T1; CA2466182C

Abstract

A flexible polymeric container (10) for storing and dispensing liquids includes a first sidewall (12) and a second sidewall (13) connected together to define a fluid chamber (16) therebetween. The first sidewall (12) and the second sidewall (13) each have an inner surface facing the fluid chamber (16) and opposed to the outer surface. A fitment (18) is attached to an outer surface of one of the first sidewall (12) or the second sidewall (13). The fitment (18) has an opening therethrough which has an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface. A plurality of objects (20) on the inner surface of one of the first sidewall (12) or the second sidewall (13) defines a plurality of pathways (32, 33) having at least a first pathway (32) and a second pathway (33) intersecting one another.

Description

FLEXIBLE PLASTIC CONTAINER DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a flexible plastic container and more particularly to a flexible container for directing a fluid material contained therein to a furniture or accessory element of the container and dispensing the fluid material. Collapsible plastic bags are very often used to store liquid products such as chemicals, soft drink syrups, fruit juices and condiments for food. Plastic bags are typically housed in a corrugated cardboard box to aid transportation, handling and product assortment. Said packaging systems are commonly referred to as "bag-in-box" packaging systems. Plastic bags typically have side walls sealed along a peripheral seam to define a chamber containing fluid. A nozzle or accessory provides access to the fluid chamber for filling and dispensing the product into the bag. Vacuum pump systems are sometimes connected to the container to help drain fluid from the container. Both gravity dispensing bags and vacuum pump systems suffer from the common disadvantages that fluid can get trapped inside the folds of the bag during drainage. Due to this, sidewalks or evacuation passages are often placed inside the bag. The evacuation passages are typically elongated cylindrical tubes or flat strips with grooves defining protruding ribs. Typically, one end of the evacuation channel is placed transverse to or connected to the nozzle, and the other end ^ of the evacuation channel extends into the chamber containing the fluid of the nozzle. As the bag is emptied by the force of the vacuum pump, or by the force of gravity, the portions of the bag collapse unevenly, tending to leave pockets of product, typically liquid, which can be isolated from the rest of the liquid in the bag. the container. The evacuation channel, however, forms a conduit that can not be separated by the folds created in the bag. In this way, the entire chamber of the flexible bag remains in communication with the nozzle at all times during the assortment, so that all the product inside the bag can be removed. Previous attempts to provide such bags are described in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,601,410; 5,647,511 and 5,749,493. U.S. Patent Nos. 4,601,410 and 5,647,511 describe a liquid container within an evacuation unit. Both in the MIO patent and in the x511 patent, the evacuation unit is shown fixed directly to the nozzle by means of a mounting ring.

Several problems have been encountered with these types of evacuation units. For example, during the filling process, which is typically done in a high speed and high pressure process, the evacuation unit is susceptible to uncoupling from the nozzle with this causing the evacuation unit to be inoperative. Also, the clamping ring can impede the flow of the liquid during the filling process thereby stopping the filling process. U.S. Patent No. 5,749,493 discloses an evacuation unit positioned within a bag and transverse and perpendicular to a nozzle inside the bag. Because the evacuation unit is placed in a place which is in line with the incoming fluid during the filling process, it is susceptible to uncoupling from its assembly to the container thereby rendering it ineffective. Patent 93 also discloses extruding a pair of ribs or a single rib or protrusion extending the full length of the container. Many of the designs used by an evacuation unit placed inside the bag require that the unit be placed inside the bag after the bag remains substantially constructed. This is highly undesirable because it adds another step to the manufacturing process and increases labor costs.

US Patent No. Re. 34,929 discloses a plastic bag having interconnected air passages on its inner surface for vacuum packing of perishable goods. The air passages are formed by the spaces between a plurality of raised protuberances having a uniform thickness and formed in a generally regular and squared pattern. The protuberances prevent the total collapse of the bag during the evacuation of the air. There is no description to use an accessory to access the contents of the container. Nor is there a description to remove the stored contents of the bag, but instead only remove the air from the package to prevent the perishable item contained within it from decomposing. U.S. Patent No. 2,778,171 describes the production of air-tight packages for packing perishable items such as food. Projections are provided near an opening of the air-tight package to keep the side walls of the container fully upright without collapsing against each other while the air is being evacuated from the container. There is no description of the evacuation of a product stored from the container and there is no description to provide an accessory with the bag to provide access to the stored content. U.S. Patent No. 5,728,086 discloses a flexible container having several access ports and particularly discloses a container for storing fluid for parenteral administration to a patient. An interior surface of a side wall of the container may have several patterns engraved thereon to help drain the contents of the container. The present invention provides a flexible polymer container for storing and dispensing liquids. The container has a first side wall and a second side wall connected to each other to define a fluid chamber therebetween. The first side wall and the second side wall each have an inner surface facing the fluid chamber and an opposite outer surface. An attachment is fixed to an outer surface of one of the first side wall or the second side wall, the fitting has an opening therethrough which has an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface. A plurality of objects are placed on the inner surface of one of the first side wall or the second side wall to define a plurality of passages having at least a first passage and a second passage intersecting each other. The present invention also provides a flexible polymer container for storing and dispensing liquids. The container has a first side wall and a second side wall connected to each other to define a fluid chamber therebetween, the first side wall and the second side wall each having an inner surface facing the fluid chamber and an outer surface opposite and an access member to have access to the fluid chamber. A plurality of a first set of objects having a first shape is placed on the inner surface of one of the first side wall or the second side wall. A plurality of a second set of objects has a second shape different from the first shape that is placed on the inner surface of one of the first side wall or the second side wall. The present invention further provides a method for evacuating a fluid and a container. The method includes the steps of: (1) providing a container filled with liquid having a side wall having an inner surface and an outer surface, (2) providing a plurality of objects on the inner surface of the side wall to define a plurality of passages having at least a first channel and a second channel intercepting each other; (3) providing an attachment that is fixed to the outer surface, the accessory has an opening therethrough which has an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface; and (4) apply suction to the fitting to extract fluid from the container. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container having an accessory; Figure 2 is a side view of the container of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side wall of the container of Figure 1 having objects having different shapes; Figure 4 is a side wall of the container of Figure 1 having a plurality of regularly spaced rectangular protuberances to define a checkerboard pattern; and Figure 5 is a side wall having circular protrusions to each other forming a circular pattern with a series of X-shaped protrusions forming S-shaped lines. Although this invention is susceptible to modalities in different forms, it will be described herein. in detail together with the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of the invention. The present description should be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and should not intend to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the illustrated and described modes. Figures 1 and 2 show a flexible container assembly 10 having a first side wall 12 and a second side wall 13 fixed to the peripheral edges 14 to define a fluid-tight chamber 16. A nozzle 18 is fixed to an outer surface of the side wall 12 and provides fluid flow access to the chamber 16. In a preferred form of the invention, the first and second side walls 12 and 13 are of a flexible polymeric material that it has a modulus of elasticity of less than 3,515,349.3 gram force / cm2 (50,000 psi). The side walls are preferably made of a material such as polyolefin homopolymer or copolymer, polyamide, polyesters or other material that is capable of being sealed using industry standard sealing techniques. These techniques include, but are not limited to, heat sealing, radiofrequency welding, and ultrasonic sealing. The side walls may have multilayers or be single layer and may be fabricated from any suitable polymer processing technology including extrusion, coextrusion, extrusion lamination, lamination or other. The container can be made of individual sheets placed in accordance and sealed along the periphery 14 or they can be made of a blown film process where only the opposite ends of a tube need to be sealed to complete the container 10. Figure 3 shows a plurality of objects 20 on the side wall 12. The objects 20 can be placed on a single side wall or both. The objects, in a preferred form of the invention, are provided over an entire surface of the side wall but can be provided only in selected areas of the surface. By providing objects over the entire side wall surface the need for matching of the side walls is eliminated. On the other hand, by providing objects over the entire surface, it is ensured that the fluid is evacuated from all parts of the container, including the corner regions. Objects can be of any shape including regular shapes such as circular, polygonal, straight lines or curves, symbols or the like. Objects can also have an irregular shape. These objects 20 help drain fluid from the chamber 16. The objects 20 may be raised protrusions or protrusions in these shapes. The objects can all be of the same shapes or have a combination of shapes. The objects may have varying sizes taking into account that the objects are effective in providing fluid passages through the container when the fluid or particulate content of the container is being evacuated. The objects 20 on the side wall 12 provide an advantage over the prior art containers having an evacuation unit positioned inside and fixed to an interior surface of the container. The evacuation unit is typically made of a polymer material, and it is sealed by heat or sealed inside the container. The welded area, in such containers, makes contact with the contents of the container. The welded area can have an undesired organoleptic effect on the contents of the containers. By providing objects directly on the side walls as described herein, any organoleptic residue arising from the heat sealing of the evacuation unit in the container is eliminated. On the other hand, the evacuation unit is typically a rigid member. The present invention eliminates the rigid member which results in a bag having a thinner profile, thereby reducing the volume of transport and storage. Also, the rigid member type evacuation unit is not fully effective in evacuating fluid from the corners of the container. The present invention removes the fluid that could otherwise remain at the corners. The objects 20 can form a regular pattern or an irregular pattern. The regular pattern includes objects that are placed in the same or essentially the same separation or a repetitive separation sequence. The regular pattern is that where the objects are usually distributed randomly. In a preferred form of the invention, as shown in Figure 4, a regularly spaced pattern of rectangular objects 30 have passages 32 defined therebetween. This checkerboard pattern has at least a first passage 33 intersecting a second passage 34. In a preferred form of the invention, the passages intersect substantially perpendicular to each other. However, it is contemplated that the interception of the passages 32 may form various angles without departing from the scope of the present invention. Figure 5 shows another preferred form of the invention having a series of circular protuberances 40 together with X-shaped protrusions 44. Circular protuberances 40 define a circular shape 42. The X-shaped protuberances 44 define an S-shaped pattern 46. Of course it is contemplated that any combination of protrusion shapes may be used and that more than two different forms may be used. The present invention further contemplates that individual protuberances can form various signals such as a registered trademark, registered name, logo, instructions for use or other identifying or useful information or promotion that can be seen through side wall 12 or 14 or both The objects may be formed on the inner surface of the side wall 12 or the side wall 14 or both by teachings well known in the art including engravings during fabrication of the side wall, or a carving after fabrication. The pattern can also be applied by means of an extrusion coating process or a similar process. The objects can be compressed in the side walls with a die of particular shape. Other mechanisms and processes for forming objects well known in the art can be envisioned and the present invention should not be limited to the aforementioned processes. The passages 32 and 33 of the preference pattern have a depth greater than or equal to 1 thousand, or less than 8 mils, and even more preferably less than 5 mils. More preferably, passages 32 and 33 will have a depth from about 1 thousand to about 4 mils for fluids having a viscosity of the soda syrup type. For fluids having higher viscosity, a greater depth will be necessary to provide an adequate fluid fluid through the passages to evacuate fluid from the container assembly. The fitting 18 has an opening 50 having an axis essentially perpendicular to a panel surface of the side wall 12 of the container. It is contemplated that the accessory 18 may be mounted at various angles to the side wall without departing from the present invention. Accessory 18 provides fluid access to the contents of chamber 16. Typically, the container 10 is used to house liquids such as soft drink syrup which is removed from the container with a hose and mixed in a source with a diluent such as carbonated water. The hose (not shown) has an accessory to connect to the fitting in a fluid arrangement and air-tight. Vacuum is applied to the fitting 18 through the hose to remove the fluid from the container. The vacuum creates a pressure difference to start the fluid flow. Of course, the fitting 18 can be fixed to the first or second side wall 12, 13 or both and can be located anywhere in the same. The present invention further provides a process for evacuating the container shown in Figure 1. The method for evacuating a fluid from a container comprises the steps of: (1) providing a container filled with liquid having a side wall having an interior surface, (2) providing a plurality of objects on the inner surface of the side wall to define a plurality of passages having at least a first channel and a second channel intercepting each other; (3) providing an attachment fixed to an outer surface of the side wall, the accessory has an opening therethrough having an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface; and (4). apply suction to the fitting to extract fluid from the container. Although specific embodiments have been described, various modifications can be envisioned without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of protection is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. This design is just one example of a pattern design having favorable characteristics, and the description thereof is simply an example of a design having favorable characteristics, other designs should not significantly depart from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A flexible polymer container for storing and dispensing liquids characterized in that it comprises: a first side wall and a second side wall connected to each other to define a fluid chamber therebetween, the first side wall and the second side wall each having an interior surface facing the fluid chamber and an opposite exterior surface; an attachment fixed to an outer surface of one of the first side wall or the second side wall, the fitting has an opening therethrough having an axis substantially perpendicular to the outer surface; and a plurality of objects on the inner surface of one of the first side wall or the second side wall to define a pattern of a plurality of passages having at least a first passage and a second passage intercepting each other.
2. The container according to claim 1, characterized in that the pattern is generally a pattern in the form of a chessboard.
The container according to claim 1, characterized in that the pattern is defined by a series of separate protuberances.
4. The container according to claim 3, characterized in that the protuberances have a generally circular shape.
5. The container according to claim 3, characterized in that the protuberances are polygonal.
The container according to claim 3, characterized in that the protuberances have an irregular shape.
The container according to claim 3, characterized in that the protuberances have a first set of protuberances with a first shape and a second set of protuberances with a second shape different from the first shape.
The container according to claim 3, characterized in that the protrusions are generally S-shaped.
The container according to claim 8, characterized in that the S-shaped protuberances extend from a first end of the container to a second end of the container.
The container according to claim 1, characterized in that the pattern extends over an entire surface of the first side wall or the second side wall.
11. The container according to claim 1, characterized in that the plurality of passages have a depth greater than 1 thousand.
12. The container according to claim 1, characterized in that the plurality of passages has a depth of less than 5 mils.
The container according to claim 1, characterized in that the plurality of passages have a depth in the range of 1 thousand to 4 mils.
The container according to claim 1, characterized in that the container does not impart organoleptic properties to the stored liquids.
15. A flexible polymer container for storing and dispensing liquids characterized in that it comprises: a first side wall and a second side wall connected together to define a fluid chamber therebetween, the first side wall and the second side wall each having a surface interior facing the fluid chamber and an opposite exterior surface; an access member for accessing the fluid chamber; and a plurality of a first set of objects having a first shape on the inner surface of one of the first side wall or the second side wall; and a plurality of a second with an array of objects having a second shape different from the first shape and placed on the inner surface of one of the first side wall or the second side wall.
16. The container according to claim 15, characterized in that the first set of objects and the second set of objects are in the same side wall.
17. The container according to claim 15, characterized in that the first set of objects is a plurality of separate protuberances.
The container according to claim 15, characterized in that the access member is an accessory fixed to an outer surface of the first side wall or the second side wall.
The container according to claim 15, characterized in that the attachment has an opening with an axis substantially perpendicular to the side wall.
The container according to claim 15, characterized in that the first set of objects and the second set of objects extends over the entire inner surface of the first side wall or the second side wall.
21. The container according to claim 15, characterized in that the container does not impart organoleptic properties to liquids.
22. A method for evacuating a fluid from a container comprising the steps of: providing a container filled with liquid having a side wall having an inner surface; providing a plurality of objects on the interior surface of the side wall to define a plurality of channels having at least one first channel and a second channel intercepting each other; providing an attachment fixed to an exterior surface of the side wall, the accessory has an opening therethrough having an axis substantially perpendicular to the exterior surface; and apply suction to the accessory to extract liquid from the container.
23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that in the step of applying suction to extract liquid from the container, the fluid is extracted substantially completely from the container.