US3216646A - Side printed easy opening polyolefin bag - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 9, 1 c. A. cooK ETAL SIDE PRINTED EASY OPENING POLYOLEFIN BAG Filed April 19. 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.I

FIG.5

PIC-3.6

INVENTORS CHARLES A.COOK

FLOYD B.WILLIAMS BY mm A My A ORNEY Nov. 9, 1965 C. A. COOK ETAL SIDE PRINTED EASY OPENING POLYOLEFIN BAG Filed April 19, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PRIN T ER EXTRUDER 20 INVENTORS 33 CHARLES A.COOK

FLOYD B WILLIAMS BY MZWQ .Wi

United States Patent ()fiice 3,215,546 Patented Nov. 9, 1965 3,216,646 SIDE PRINTED EASY OPENING POLYOLEFIN BAG Charles A. Cook, Tyler, Tern, and Floyd B. Williams, Penfield, N.Y., assignors to National Distillers and Chemical Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Virginia Filed Apr. 19, 1963, Ser. No. 274,119 3 @laims. (Cl. 229-53) This invention relates to a novel bag of a polyolefin material and more specifically relates to a novel arrangement of a polyolefin bag wherein there is printing along the manufacturers creases in the edges of the bag and wherein additional creases are provided on the front and rear panels of the bag to permit easy opening.

In the manufacture of polyeolefin bags, the front and rear panels are often provided with printing for identification of the contents of the bag or the like. Generally, such printing does not extend to the edges or manufacturers creases. Thus when the bag is filled and placed in a stack of other bags, only the edges are observable and all identifying information on the front and rear panels is hidden from view. Moreover, when the bags are empty and flat, some difiiculty is experienced in opening the bags since the inner surfaces of the front and rear panels tend to stick together.

In accordance with the present invention, a bag is formed in such a manner that printing extends across the manufacturers creases so that when the bag is opened the sides of the bag can contain any desired printed information which will be observable when the bag is in a pile or stack. Moreover, additional creases are provided in the front and rear panels of the bag which provide an air passage and thumb-hold for grasping the bag to open it.

The novel bag of the present invention can be manufactured by the method disclosed in our copending application Serial No. 274,120 filed April 19, 1963, entitled Method of Making Polyolefin Bags wherein after extrusion and printing of the bag the tube of polyolefin material is reinflated and rotated and twisted with respect to a pair of nip rolls which reclose the bag along new crease lines. Therefore, printed information which originally was on the front or rear panel of the bag prior to the twisting operation, will now appear on what becomes the edge or side of the bag while the original creases move into the front and rear panels of the bag, thus providing the novel structure of the invention.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a novel bag arrangement for polyolefin bags in which printing is observable along the manufacturers creases.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel polyolefin bag which has creases in the front and rear panels thereof to permit easy opening.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel bag construction which permits identification of the bag contents when the bag is contained in a large pile.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel arrangement for polyolefin type bags which permits ease of opening of the bags.

These and other objects will become apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a bag printed in accordance with the concepts of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 schematically illustrates the unsealed end of the bag of FIGURE 1 when the bag is unfilled, to particularly illustrate the formation of creases in the front and rear panels of the bag.

FIGURE 3 is a partially diagrammatic and partially perspective view of the manner in which the preprinted tube of film is rotated and reinflated and then reclosed prior to the bag forming process.

FIGURE 4 is a side plan view of the twister mechanism of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged detail view which illustrates the manner in which the slats of FIGURE 4 may be secured to their side support members.

FIGURE 6 is a transverse sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through a side support member illustrating fastening means for securing a slat thereto.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, there is illustrated therein a novel bag construction wherein a bag is comprised of a front panel 10, a rear panel 11, an edge portion 12, which connects the front and rear panels 1t) and 11, and sealed ends 13 and 14. The end 13 is a previously sealed end and the bag prior to being filled as shown in FIGURE 2 was open at front end 14. The front end 14 of the bag is schematically illustrated in FIGURE 2 with the bag collapsed prior to the filling operation. It will be noted that the bag of FIGURE 2 has two manufacturers creases 1S and I6 (crease 16 is seen in FIGURE 1) and additionally has further creases 17 and 18 in panels 10 and 11 respectively. The creases 17 and 18 provide means for easily opening the bag of FIGURES l and 2. That is to say, a typical polyolefin bag of the prior art is difiicult to snap open since the inner surfaces of the front and rear panels tend to stick together. In accordance with the invention, however, additional creases 17 and 18 run completely along the length of the bag to provide air passages within the bag and a thumb hold for ease of opening.

As a further feature of this invention, it can be seen in FIGURE 1 that printed information (the label 6-N-24) appears directly in the side of the bag and straddles crease line 16. Therefore, when bags of the type of FIGURE 1 are placed in a large stack, this identifying information is readily observable as contrasted to prior art type bags which contain information either on front or rear panels which were hidden from View.

The manner by which the bag of FIGURES 1 and 2 can be manufactured is illustrated in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5. FIGURE 3 is a schematic illustration of the method of manufacture leading to the printing of an extruded tube which ultimately is formed into bags. Thus, in FIGURE 3 there is illustrated an extrudcr 21) which may be of any desired type well known to those skilled in the art, which extrudes a thin walled tube 21 of any appropriate polyolefin material.

The tube 21 is grasped at its upper end by appropriate nip roll means 22, 23 which is also well known to those skilled in the art, which flattens the tube to an appropriate fiat web which is ultimately processed in any desired manner and then is applied to a printer P. The printed P, which may be of any desired type, then prints some repetitive pattern on the tube moving in the direction of the arrow, where the pattern on the upper side of the web is shown by shading lines while a similar pattern is printed on the rear panel of the web as shown by dotted lines.

All of the foregoing are steps well known to those skilled in the art, and in the past, the printed web coming from printer P is connected to a bag making machine which now cuts the tube into predetermined lengths, one end of which is sealed and the other end of which is open to form a bag. In accordance with the invention, however, the web 21 is transmitted to a second pair of nip rolls 22 and 23 and through a twisting structure 24 which will be described more fully hereinafter.

Essentially, the purpose of twisting structure 24 is to cause the web 21 to rotate. The web 21 emerging from the end of twister 24 is then inflated between the end of twister 24 and a pair of nip rolls 25 and 26 which recollapse the lower tube 21a. It is to be specifically noted, however, that since tube 21a is rotated that when the nip rolls 25 and 26 recollapse tube 21a, the original crease lines 30 and 31 of web 21 will now lie in the front and rear panels 32 and 33 respectively and new crease lines 34 and 35 are formed for the tube.

In comparing the flattened tube of FIGURE 3 to the bag of FIGURE 1 it is now seen that crease line 30 corresponds to crease 17 of FIGURE 2 while the other crease line 31 corresponds tocrease line 18 of FIGURE 2 to provide the desired air passages and thumb holds needed for easy opening of the bag. Moreover, it will be seen that the printed pattern, such as patterns 40 and 41, which were originally on the front and rear panels of the tube prior to the passage through twister 24, are now directly over the crease lines 35 and 34 respectively. Therefore, bags formed from the flattened tube leaving nip rolls 25 and 26 will, when filled, have the identifying indicia or printed material of areas 40 and 41 on the side of the bags. By way of example, area 41 could be printed with the information 6-N-24 shown in the edge 12 of FIG- URE 1, where this printing is done with conventional printing techniques in the front and rear panels of the bag by printer 23, although it ultimately appears on the edges of the bag after the twisting operation.

It is to be specifically noted that in a typical manufacturing process it is desirable that the nip rolls 22, 23, 25 and 26 be parallel to one another. Therefore, a twisting operation is necessary to rotate tube 21a to the position shown in FIGURE 3. Clearly, however, no twisting operation is necessary if nip rolls 25 and 26 form some angle to the axis of nip rolls 22 and 23. That is to say, in accordance with the invention, it is only necessary that the web be reinflated and then recollapsed at a new angle with respect to the axis of the bag.

Where the twisting operation is found desirable, the twister 24 can be provided as illustrated in FIGURES 3, 4 and by means of a plurality of spaced slats such as a first group of slats 50 which are supported by end supports 51 and 52 and a second similar group of slats such as slats 53 which are supported by end supports 54and 55. It will be noted particularly from FIGURE 4 that supports 51 and 55 are parallel to one another and are at an angle to the supports 52 and 54. Moreover, supports 52 and 54 are parallel to one another and are spaced from one another by end clamps 60 and 61 to maintain a predetermined spacing between the faces of slats 50 and 53. In a similar manner, members 51 and 55 are held spaced from one another by end clamps 62 and 63 whereby the other end of slats 50 through 53 are held spaced from one another.

Accordingly a web twisting area is designed between the opposing surfaces of slats 50 and 53 to twist the web 21 which rides between the spaced slats in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 3. Slats 50 and 53 as well as their supports 51 through 55 can be formed of any desirable material and can be secured to one another in any desired manner.

By way of example, FIGURE 5 illustrates the manner in which support 52 is secured to one end of slat 50. Thus the slat 50 has a counter sunk opening 70 therein which receives the head of a bolt 71. Bolt 71 extends through an opening in slat 5t and a cooperating opening in member 52 and is captured on the other side of member 52 by means of an appropriate washer 72 and nut 73 which is threaded on to the end of bolt 71. By appropriately loosening these connections it will be clear that the twisting structure 24 can be rotated to any desired twisting angle with external support structure (not shown) thereafter maintaining the structure in this twisted position with the individual securing means between the supports and the slat being thereafter tightened.

Although we have described preferred embodiments of this novel invention, many variations and modifications will now be apparent to those skilled in the art, and we prefer therefore to be limited not by the specific disclosure herein but only by the appended claims.

It is claimed:

1. A polyolefin bag having an open mouth and a transversely sealed bottom and also having internal front and rear panels including parallel longitudinal edges defined by side creases, at least one of said panels having a second side edge defining crease therein parallel to and spaced at relatively short distance from the adjacent side edge crease and providing an indicia receiving portion therebetween, identifying indicia carried upon said indicia receiving portion, said identifying indicia being located in overlying relationship with respect to said second side edge crease, said second side edge crease extending longitudinally of said bag and providing an air channel into the interior thereof, and second side edge crease extending from the open mouth of said bag to the sealed bottom thereof and providing a thumb hold at said mouth for ease of opening.

2. A polyolefin bag having an open mouth and a transversely sealed bottom and also having integral front and rear panels including parallel longitudinal edges defined by side creases, the front and rear panels of said bag having a second side edge defining crease therein parallel to and spaced a relatively short distance from the adjacent side edge crease and providing an indicia receiving portion therebetween, and identifying indicia carried upon each of said indicia receiving portions, said identifying indicia being located in overlying relationship with respect to said second side edge creases in said front and rear panels, said second side edge creases extending longitudinally of said bag and providing air channels into the interior thereof.

3. The bag of claim 2 wherein said second side edge creases extend from the open mouth to the sealed bottom thereof and provide thumb holds at said mouth for ease of opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,876,112 3/59 Vail 22962.5 X 3,087,670 4/63 Rhodes 229-625 3,113,715 12/63 Pangrac 22953 FOREIGN PATENTS 565,769 12/32 Germany.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A POLYOLEFIN BAG HAVING AN OPEN MOUTH AND A TRANSVERSELY SEALED BOTTOM AND ALSO HAVING INTERNAL FRONT AND REAR PANELS INCLUDING PARALLEL LONGITUDINAL EDGES DEFINED BY SIDE CREASES, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID PANELS HAVING A SECOND SIDE EDGE DEFINING CREASE THEREIN PARALLEL TO AND SPACED A RELATIVELY SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE ADJACENT SIDE EDGE CREASE AND PROVIDING AN INDICIA RECEIVING PORTION THEREBETWEEN, IDENTIFYING INDICIA CARRIED UPON SAID INDICIA RECEIVING PORTION, SAID IDENTIFYING INDICIA BEING LOCATED IN OVERLYING RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO SAID SECOND SIDE EDGE CREASE, SAID SECOND SIDE EDGE CREASE EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID BAG AND PROVIDING AN AIR CHANNEL INTO THE INTERIOR THEREOF, AND SECOND SIDE EDGE CREASE EXTENDING FROM THE OPEN MOUTH OF SAID BAG TO THE SEALED BOTTOM THEREOF AND PROVIDING A THUMB HOLD AT SAID MOUTH FOR EASE OF OPEINING.

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