EP1873081B1 - Bag and method for making it - Google Patents

Abstract

The bag has a resealable closure (8) arranged at an inner surface of a lateral fold (4) below a top sealing seam (7). A weakened line (21) is arranged to open the fold in the area of closure, and material strips (23, 24) of the outlet are connected with the inner surface of the fold. A section bridging a region of the line has an end, at which a strip-shaped connecting unit (14) of closure is formed. Outer edges (11) formed as folding edges are stiffened by parallely running longitudinal sealing seams (12), which extend till the top sealing seam and are interrupted in the area of the closure. An independent claim is also included for a method for producing a film bag.

Description

The invention relates to a foil pouch which is formed by folding a foil, has a front surface, a back surface, an inserted first side fold and an inserted second side fold and is closed by a longitudinal sealing seam and a top seal seam,
wherein on the inner surface of the first side fold below the top seal a reclosure is arranged, which consists of two strips of material with integrally formed strip-shaped closure elements,
wherein the outer edges between the first gusset and the adjacent front and rear surfaces are made of folded edges and
wherein the first gusset forms a reclosable chute when the gusset is opened along a line of weakness disposed above the strip-shaped closure elements.

Film bags with the described structure are suitable for the packaging of bulk material, such as dry food for animals, and have a reclosure, which allows the contents of the package in portions, ie in portions, to dispense or to remove. The removal takes place through an opening in the first gusset, wherein the gusset can be pulled out after opening the reclosure and can be used as a chute. The opening is resealable. The strip-shaped closure elements are executable as tongue and groove elements, which are manually connected to each other by pressure and then form a detent or clip connection. The closure is also referred to as zipper closure.

Out DE 201 15 181 U1 is a gusseted bag with a reclosable removal opening in a gusset known. The gussets consist of separate, V-shaped folded film strips, which are inserted between the front surface and the rear surface of the bag and connected by longitudinal sealing seams. To seal the film bag wide seams are necessary that form dimensionally stable outer edges of the bag and give the film bag good dimensional stability. The disadvantage, however, is that the sealing seams considerably restrict the opening width of the reclosure, which makes it difficult to remove, in particular, slightly larger particulate contents.

A foil bag with the features described above is made WO 2004/092025 A2 known. It consists of a film folded into a tube. The hose produced by folding has on-side gussets and is closed on the shell side by means of a longitudinal sealing seam. Affixed to the inner surface of the film bag is a reclosable strip which removably connects one of the gussets to the adjacent front and back surfaces of the bag. The reclosure strip is longer than the width of the gusset and is secured to the inside of the gusset as well as the adjacent bag surfaces that form the front and back surfaces of the bag. The dimensional stability of the film bag is unsatisfactory. In use, the chute opens very far, the bag largely loses its shape on the sampling side. Due to the low dimensional stability, the handling of the opened bag is difficult. Especially with large bags, the handling of the opened bag and the metered removal of contents requires considerable skill of the user.

A similar foil pouch with a reclosable withdrawal opening in a gusset is also off WO 021079049 A1 known.

In the film bag described above, one strip of material of the reclosure is attached to the inner surface of the side pleat and the other strip of material is attached to the adjacent front and back surfaces of the film bag, respectively. During bag production, the mating closure members disposed on the inner surface of the gusset or on the inner surfaces of the front or rear surface, respectively, must be engaged with each other. This requires a sufficiently accurate positioning of the material strip portions and precise folds. Inaccuracies in the folding or positioning of the material strip on the film web can lead to disruptions in the continuous bag production. Bag making is made considerably more difficult by applying the reclosures.

Against this background, the invention has for its object to provide a gusseted bag which is dimensionally stable in use and has a resealable removal opening in the gusset, which utilizes the entire width of the gusset. The attachment of the reclosure should be possible in the course of bag production in a simple manner.

The object is achieved by a foil bag having the features specified in claim 1. The weakening line for opening the gusset is arranged according to the invention in the area of the reclosure, wherein one of the two strips of material of the reclosure is connected below the line of weakness with the inner surface of the gusset and wherein the other strip of material above the line of weakness is also connected to the inner surface of the gusset and a the Has region of the weakening line bridging portion, at the end of a strip-shaped closure element of the reclosure is formed. Furthermore, the outer edges formed as folded edges are stiffened according to the invention by parallel longitudinal sealing seams, which extend up to the top seal seam extend and are interrupted in the reclosure.

The reclosure forms a preassembled zipper closure of two strips of material, the strip-shaped closure elements are engaged with each other. In the course of bag production, the strips of material are placed on the initially flat film or a flat film web and connected thereto. Both strips of material are fastened to the film web by sealing seams which extend parallel to the closure elements.

The line of weakness may consist of a tear perforation that is permeable to air. To ensure that the film bag hermetically seals the packaged product until it is used for the first time, the line of weakness is preferably framed by a sealed seam which connects the strip of material of the reclosure bridging the line of weakness with the inner surface of the lateral fold and in an overlapping area of the two strips of material a peelable connection between the two strips of material Material strip forms. The peelable seam section fulfills a sealing function until the first opening of the film bag and dissolves when the removal opening is torn open.

After the prefabricated reclosures have been placed on the flat film web and connected to this, the film web passes through folding stations in which formed by folding front and back surfaces of the film bag and gussets are inserted. The application of the reclosures can be easily integrated into continuous processes for the production of film bags. The longitudinal sealing seams provided for edge reinforcement are recessed in the area of the reclosure. On the tightness of the film bag, this has no effect, since the outer edges of the first side fold are folding edges and the additionally attached longitudinal sealing seams have no sealing function.

The foil pouches are manufactured as flat-laid pouches and filled with filling material later in filling systems, which is filled at the upper end of the pouch, for example, by a bottom-side opening or, before attachment of the head sealing seams. For transport, the flat foil bags are stacked. The reclosures at the folding or folding edges of the film bag are strongly bent. The material strips, in particular the strip-shaped closure elements, have considerable elastic restoring forces which counteract the buckling and result in the flat-lying foil bags spreading open in the region of the first side fold. With increasing stack height then there is a risk that the stacked bags slip. To avoid this, the strip-shaped closure elements of the reclosure are interrupted according to a preferred embodiment of the invention at the creases of the film bag by a punched or cut. The reclosure fastened to the inner surface of the first gusset preferably has a length corresponding to the width of the gusset and extends to the outer edges of the bag. Centered between the two ends, the closure elements are severed to avoid springing back the flattened gusset.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, all four outer edges of the film bag are stiffened by longitudinal sealing seams. The longitudinal sealing seam closing the foil bag on the shell side can be integrated in an edge which bounds the second side fold. In this embodiment, the longitudinal seam seam closing the foil bag on the shell side connects the second side fold with the front or back surface of the bag.

Since the reclosure of the film bag is not at the top of the bag, it could happen during emptying that contents above the reclosure jams and disturbs the bulk process. To avoid this, according to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the front surface and the rear surface of the bag are connected by a vertical additional sealing seam, which is arranged next to the first gusset, extends to the top seal and the gusset region above the reclosure of a filling material space of the bag separates. At the lower end of the vertical additional sealing seam can still connect a transverse sealing seam which extends into the region of the second gussets and separates the bag section above the reclosure of the filling material space of the bag. The transverse seal seam expediently runs obliquely to the top-seal seam,
wherein the distance between the transverse sealing seam and the head seam at the first end, which is adjacent to the vertical additional sealing seam, is smaller than at the other end in the region of the second side fold. The section of the film bag which is delimited by the top seal seam and the transverse seal seam can also be used for a handle punching.

To open the foil bag for the first time, the foil bag must be opened along the intended weakening line in the area of the reclosure. On the outside of the film bag cut lines can be printed to facilitate handling. Furthermore, the line of weakness expediently has a bow, which forms a tab for pulling out the chute after opening the side fold.

The invention also provides a method according to claim 12 for the production of the film bag described. Claims 13 to 16 relate to preferred embodiments of the method.

Fig. 1

einen geöffneten Seitenfaltenbeutel in einer perspektivischen Darstellung,

Fig. 2

die Seitenansicht des in Fig. 1 dargestellten Seitenfaltenbeutels im ungeöffneten Zustand und ohne Füllgut,

Fig. 3

einen Schnitt durch den ungeöffneten Seitenfaltenbeutel in der Schnittebene A-A aus Fig. 2,

Fig. 4

einen Schnitt durch den geöffneten Seitenfaltenbeutel in der Schnittebene B-B aus Fig. 2,

Fig. 5

eine weitere Ausgestaltung des Seitenfaltenbeutels in einer der Fig. 2 entsprechenden Seitendarstellung,

Fig. 6

die Verfahrensschritte zur Herstellung einer wiederverschließbaren Entnahmeöffnung im Zuge der Beutelherstellung und

Fig. 7

die Anordnung von Siegelnähten an einem im Seitenfaltenbereich positionierten Wiederverschluss.

The foil pouches according to the invention and the production method according to the invention are explained below on the basis of exemplary embodiments. They show schematically:

Fig. 1

an open gusseted bag in a perspective view,

Fig. 2

the side view of in Fig. 1 shown gusseted bag in the unopened state and without filling material,

Fig. 3

a section through the unopened gusseted bag in the sectional plane AA Fig. 2 .

Fig. 4

a section through the open side gusseted bag in the sectional plane BB Fig. 2 .

Fig. 5

a further embodiment of the gusseted bag in one of Fig. 2 corresponding page presentation,

Fig. 6

the process steps for producing a resealable removal opening in the course of bag making and

Fig. 7

the arrangement of sealing seams on a reclosure positioned in the gusset area.

The film bag shown in the figures is formed by folding a film 1 and has a front surface 2, a back surface 3, an inserted first side fold 4 and an inserted second side fold 5. The foil bag is closed by a longitudinal sealing seam 6, a top seal seam 7 and a bottom seam seam, not shown. On the inner surface of the foil bag below the head seam 7 is a reclosure 8 is arranged, which consists of two strips of material 23, 24 with integrally formed strip-shaped closure elements 14. For filling material removal, the side fold 4 must be opened along a weakening line 21, which is arranged above the strip-shaped closure elements 14 which are detachably engaged with each other. Thereafter, the first gusset 4 forms a resealable chute 10th

From a comparative analysis of the Fig. 1 to 3 it is clear that the weakening line 21 is arranged for opening the side fold 4 in the region of the reclosure 8. The one material strip 23 of the reclosure 8 is connected below the weakening line 21 with the inner surface of the side fold 4. The other material strip 24 is also connected to the inner surface of the side fold 4 above the weakening line 21 and has a section bridging the region of the weakening line, at the end of which the strip-shaped closure element 14 of the reclosure 8 associated therewith is formed. The integrally formed on the two strips of material 23, 24 closure elements 14 are formed as tongue and groove elements and form a so-called zipper closure, the closure elements are manually latched together by pressure. The ends of the pairwise cooperating closure elements 14 are firmly connected to each other, for. B. welded. At the bending edge 15 of the inserted side fold 4, the strip-shaped closure elements 14 are interrupted by a punched-16 or a cut. The measure prevents a spreading of the gusset area as a result of a bending stress of the strip-shaped projections of the closure elements 14.

In a comparative analysis of Fig. 1 to 3 It is further apparent that the outer edges 11 between the lower gusset 4 and the adjacent front and rear surfaces 2, 3 consist of folded edges, which are stiffened by parallel longitudinal sealing seams 12. The longitudinal sealing seams 12 extend from a bottom seam, not shown, to the top seal seam 7 and are interrupted in the region of the reclosure, at least in the region of the strip-shaped closure elements 14. The second gusset 5 is bounded by outer edges 11 ', which are reinforced by longitudinal sealing seams 12'. The longitudinal sealing seams 12 at the outer edges 11 'of the second side fold extend without interruption from a bottom seam seam, not shown, to the top seal seam 7. The cross-sectional illustration in FIG Fig. 3 taking away that the film bag closing shell side longitudinal sealing seam 6 is moved into the outer edge 11 'of the second side fold 5 and connects the second side fold 5 with the front or rear surface of the bag. This sealed seam 6 fulfills a sealing function, while the other outer edges 11, 11 'associated sealing seams 12, 12' only reinforce folding edges and have no sealing function. The reclosure 8 disposed on the inner surface of the first gusset 4 has a length corresponding to the width of the gusset 4 and extends to the outer edges 11 of the bag.

In the embodiment of Fig. 2 the front surface 2 and the rear surface 3 of the bag are connected by a vertical additional sealing seam 17, which is arranged next to the first side fold 4, extends up to the top seal seam 7 and separates the side fold region above the reclosure from a filling space 18 of the bag. The vertical additional sealing seam 17 prevents filling material from accumulating on the side area above the reclosure when emptying the bag and may hinder emptying.

In the in Fig. 5 illustrated embodiment includes at the lower end of the vertical additional sealing seam 17 is still a transverse seam 19 which extends into the region of the second gusset 5 and the entire bag section above the reclosure strip 8 separates from the Füllgutraum 18 of the bag. The transverse seal seam 19 extends obliquely to the top seal seam 7,
wherein the distance between the transverse sealing seam 19 and the top seal seam 7 at the first end adjacent to the vertical additional sealing seam 17 is smaller than at the other end in the region of the second side fold 5. The transverse sealing seam 19 favors a complete, residue-free emptying of the bag. The section of the film bag which is delimited by the head seam 7 and the transverse seam 19 can additionally be used for a handle punching 20.

Out Fig. 1 it can be seen that the z. B. trained as Aufreißperforation line of weakness 21 has a bow 25 which forms a tab 20 for pulling out the chute 10 after opening the side fold.

The method for producing the described film bag is described below with reference to Fig. 6 explained. In a planar film web 26 weakening lines 21 are introduced in a first method step, which extend transversely to the web direction and are arranged in a strip-shaped section of the material web, from which a gusset 4 is formed in a later method step. The reclosures 8 consist of two strips of material 23, 24, which are detachably connected by the engagement strip-shaped closure elements 14. The material strips 23, 24 which are detachably connected to one another are placed on the flat film web 26 in the region of the weakening lines 21 in such a way that one of the two material strips 24 bridges the associated weakening line and the strip-shaped closure elements 14 extend parallel to the weakening line 21. The material strips 23, 24 of the reclosures are connected to the flat film web 26 by sealing seams 27, 28, which are arranged on both sides of the strip-shaped closure elements 14 and parallel to these. Subsequently, the film web 26 passes through a folding station, not shown, in which the film web is folded and a web with a front surface 2, a back surface 3 and inserted side folds 4, 5 is formed. The foil web then passes through other stations, also not shown, in which the folded edges stiffen with longitudinal sealing seams 12 and the superimposed film layers are joined to form a bag-shaped sections consisting of bag sections, from which the foil bags are separable. In the area of the reclosure, the stiffening of the folding edges serving longitudinal sealing seams 12 are interrupted.

The representation in Fig. 7 If one deduces that the strip-shaped closure elements 14 of the reclosures forming material strips at the locations which are assigned to the bending edge 15 of the gusset 4, cut or provided with a notch 16. Furthermore, it was indicated that the ends 29 of the latching locking elements firmly, z. B. are connected by gluing or welding together.

The weakening lines 21 consist of an air-permeable perforation. To ensure that the film bag airtight seals the packaged product until the first use, a sealed seam 28 is placed around the weakening line as a closed frame. The sealing seam 28 connects the strips of material bridging the lines of weakness with the film web 26 and forms a peelable connection 28 'between the two strips of material 23, 24 in an overlapping region of the strip of material forming the reclosure. The arrangement of the sealed seams 27, 28, 28' is shown in FIG Fig. 7 shown. The peelable seam section 28 'fulfills a sealing function until the first opening of the film bag and dissolves when the removal opening tears because of its low peel strength.

Claims (16)

1. A film bag which is formed by folding a film (1), which comprises a front face (2), a rear face (3), an inserted first side gusset (4) and an inserted second side gusset (5) and which is closed by a longitudinal sealing seam (6) and a head sealing seam (7),
   wherein a re-closure (8) is located on the inner face of the first side gusset (4) below the head sealing seam (7), which re-closure consists of two material strips (23, 24) with strip-shaped closure elements (14) formed thereon,
   wherein the outer edges (11) between the first side gusset (4) and the adjoining front or rear face (2, 3) consist of gusset edges and
   wherein the first side gusset (4) forms a re-closable spout (10) when the side gusset (4) is opened along a weakening line (21) located above the strip-shaped closure elements (14),
   characterised in that the weakening line (21) for opening the side gusset (4) is located in the area of the re-closure (8),
   wherein one material strip (23) of the re-closure (8) below the weakening line (21) is joined to the inner face of the side gusset (4) and wherein the other material strip (24) above the weakening line (21) is likewise joined to the inner face of the side gusset (4) and comprises a section which bridges the area of the weakening line (21) at the end whereof the strip-shaped closure element (14) of the re-closure (8) assigned thereto is formed and
   that the outer edges (11) formed as gusset edges are reinforced by parallel longitudinal sealing seams (12) which extend as far as the head sealing seam (7) and are interrupted in the area of the re-closure (8).
2. The film bag according to claim 1, characterised in that the weakening line is framed by a sealing seam which joins the material strips (24) bridging the weakening line to the inner face of the side gusset (4) and form a peelable join between the material strips (23, 24) in an overlap area of the two material strips (23, 24).
3. The film bag according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the strip-shaped closure elements (14) are interrupted by a perforation (16) or a cut at fold edges of the film bag.
4. The film bag according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the re-closure (8) fastened to the inner face of the first side gusset (4) has a length corresponding to the width of the side gusset and extends as far as the outer edges (11) of the bag.
5. The film bag according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the ends of the pair-wise cooperating closure elements (14) are firmly connected to one another.
6. The film bag according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the longitudinal sealing seam (6) closing the film bag on the outer side joins the second side gusset (5) to the front or rear face (2, 3) of the bag and forms an outer edge.
7. The film bag according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the front face (2) and the rear face (3) of the bag are joined by a vertical additional sealing seam (17) which is arranged next to the first side gusset (4), which extends to the head sealing seam (7) and which separates the side gusset region above the re-closure from the product space (18) of the bag.
8. The film bag according to claim 7, characterised in that the lower end of the vertical additional sealing seam (17) is adjoined by a transverse sealing seam (19) which extends into the region of the second side gusset (5) and separates the bag section above the re-closure strip (8) from the product space (18) of the bag.
9. The film bag according to claim 8, characterised in that the transverse sealing seam (19) runs obliquely to the head sealing seam (7) wherein the distance between the transverse sealing seam (19) and the head sealing seam (7) at the first end adjoining the vertical additional sealing seal (17) is smaller than that at the other end in the area of the second side gusset (5).
10. The film bag according to claim 8 or 9, characterised in that the section of the film bag delimited by the head sealing seam (7) and the transverse sealing seam (19) contains a stamped-out handle (20).
11. The film bag according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterised in that the weakening line (21) has an arc (25) which, after opening the side gusset, forms a tab (20) for withdrawing the spout (10).
12. A method for producing film bags according to one of claims 1 to 11 comprising the following process steps:

    a) weakening lines (21) are inserted in a flat film web, which weakening lines extend transversely to the direction of the web and are arranged in a strip-shaped section of the material web, from which a side gusset (4) is formed in a subsequent process step d);

    b) re-closures (8) consisting of two material strips (23, 24) which are detachably connected through the engagement of strip-shaped closure elements (14) are laid on the flat film web in the area of the weakening lines (21) transverse to the web direction so that one of the two material strips (24) bridges the allocated weakening line (21) and the strip-shaped closure elements (14) extend parallel to the weakening line (21);

    c) the material strips (23, 24) of the re-closures (8) are joined to the flat film web by sealing seams which are arranged on both sides of the strip-shaped closure elements (14) and parallel to said elements;

    d) the film web is then folded, whereby a multilayer web comprising a front face (2), a rear face (3) and inserted side gussets (4, 5) is formed;

    e) the gusset edges are reinforced with longitudinal sealing seams (12) which are interrupted in the area of the re-closure (8);

    f) the superposed film layers are joined with further sealing seams to form a bag strand consisting of bag-shaped sections, from which the film bags can be separated.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein in process step c) a sealing seam is placed as a closed frame around the weakening line (21), which seam joins the material strips (24) bridging the weakening line to the film web and forms a peelable join between the two material strips (23, 24) in an overlap area of the material strips forming the re-closure.
14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein in process step a) perforations are inserted as weakening lines (21) in the flat film web.
15. The method according to one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the strip-shaped closure elements (14) of the material strips forming the re-closures (8) are separated or are provided with a notch at the position allocated to the fold line of the side gusset.
16. The method according to one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the engaging ends of the closure elements (14) are firmly connected.

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