Method and machine for the continuous manufacture of packages made from flexible material and resulting package

• US 8,790,229 B2
• Filed: 07/01/2010
• Issued: 07/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Volpak, S.A.U. (Is Company SRL)
• Original Assignee: Volpak, S.A.U. (Is Company SRL)
• Inventors: Font Lletche, Jordi
• Primary Examiner(s): TAWFIK, SAMEH
• Application Number:
  US13/388,950
• Publication Number:
  US 20120195528A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,489 Days
• Field of Search: 493/254, 493/87, 493/89, 493/84, 493/213
• US Class Current: 493/87
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 2155/00 Flexible containers made from webs
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 2160/20 with structural provision for thickness of contents
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 70/844 Applying rigid valves, spouts, or filling tubes
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 75/008 Standing pouches, i.e. "Standbeutel"
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 75/563 Integral handles or suspension means B65D75/566 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 75/566 Hand holes or suspension apertures
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 75/5872 Non-integral spouts
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 75/5877 connected to a planar surface of the package wall

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for continuously manufacturing containers made of a flexible material from a single continuous laminar band, or from several continuous laminar bands which will be longitudinally attached to form a single continuous laminar band, which will subsequently be transversely cut. In both cases, in a stage of the production phase a single laminar band, folded over itself along longitudinal fold lines, is obtained, the cross-section of which, open or closed according to the embodiment variant, forms a planar figure in which there is distinguished the upper base of the container, which in a variant of the method comprises a portion of band previously provided with holes and corresponding spouts, collapsed on one side, said single laminar band being susceptible of being driven by means of two drive rollers.

Claims

1. A method for continuously manufacturing containers made of a flexible material, from a single continuous laminar band made of plastic material heat-weldable on one of the faces thereof, the container being of the type in which there are distinguished, in the normal open position, two facing side walls and at least one upper base, wherein in a production phase, the single initial continuous laminar band is folded over itself along longitudinal fold lines according to a first and a second double zigzag folds and further folded over itself towards its heat-weldable face according to a third 180°

fold until its cross-section forms a planar figure comprising the first side wall, along one of the edges of which the upper base of the container is collapsed; and

the second side wall, the upper end portion of which is folded over itself downwardly and abuts the back of the collapsed upper base of the container, before the mentioned single continuous laminar band is transversely cut.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that before the production phase, in a first prior operation there is applied on the single initial continuous laminar band a series of spouts for allowing the exit of the product contained inside the containers to be manufactured, equidistant from one another and aligned according to a line parallel to the longitudinal edges of the corresponding band.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that before the application of the spouts, the portion of laminar band intended to be provided with the spouts is provided with a series of holes for communicating the interior of the container to be manufactured with the exterior through the corresponding spouts.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the alignment of spouts is shifted towards one of the longitudinal edges of the single initial laminar band, and in that the portion of material separating the spouts from a respective longitudinal edge of the mentioned laminar band is sufficient to form in the subsequent production phase half of the upper base and a corresponding side wall of the container.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the production phase comprises the operations of:

a) folding the laminar band according to a first double zigzag fold, towards its heat-weldable face, over a first and a second longitudinal fold lines, with alternate 180°

angles, to form the lower base of the container;

b) folding the laminar band according to a second double zigzag fold, also towards its heat-weldable face and with alternate 180°

angles, over a third and a fourth longitudinal fold line, the second side wall of the container being determined between the fourth fold line and the closest longitudinal edge of the laminar band;

c) folding the laminar band over itself according to a third 180°

fold towards its heat-weldable face, over a fifth longitudinal fold line, the fourth and the fifth fold lines, which delimit the upper base of the container, each being on one side of the alignment of spouts, such that the inner face of the second longitudinal edge of the laminar band is superimposed and coincident with the inner face of the first longitudinal edge of the laminar band, the first side wall of the container being determined between the fifth fold line and the second fold line;

d) attaching, by welding, the corners of the lower base to the respective facing areas of the first and second side walls, at least partially the facing longitudinal edges of the laminar band, the facing portions of the laminar band along a longitudinal strip coincident with the second fold line, and the first and second side walls along two transverse weld beads separated according to the width of an empty and folded container;

e) transversely cutting the band folded over itself by means of a cut made substantially through the middle of the transverse weld beads, individualizing at least one container from the rest of the laminar band; and

f) turning the container portion comprised between the mentioned fourth and fifth fold lines, which determines its upper base, the fourth fold line being separated from the second side wall of the container until adopting a position substantially perpendicular to the body of the container.

6. The method according to the claim 5, characterized in that it comprises the additional operations of attaching, by heat welding,

g) the corners of the upper base with the portions of laminar band of the second side wall which abut the underside of the mentioned upper base, and the corners of the latter with the portions of laminar band of the first side wall which face one another under the mentioned upper base in the event that this operation has not been performed in a previous stage;

and

h) the corners of the upper base with the portions of laminar band of the first side wall which face one another behind the mentioned upper base.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the portions resulting from the four welding attachments of the two pairs of corners of the upper base with the side walls are subjected to an additional cutting, adhesion, folding or conditioning operation.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the four welding attachments of the two pairs of corners of the upper base with the side walls have a triangular shape, and in that said attachments are subjected to a cutting operation in the direction of the hypotenuse and providing the upper base of the container being produced and the respective side walls with corresponding bevels.

9. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that

in operation a), the first double zigzag fold is made such that the distance separating a first longitudinal edge of the laminar band from the first longitudinal fold line is equal to that separating the latter from the second longitudinal fold line, making said first longitudinal edge of the laminar band be superimposed and coincident with the second longitudinal fold line;

in operation b), the second double zigzag fold is made such that the distance between said third and fourth longitudinal fold lines is substantially equal to that between the first and second longitudinal fold lines; and

operation c) is performed such that the distance between the fourth and the fifth longitudinal fold lines is substantially twice the one between the first and the second fold lines, and such that the spouts of the container being formed are preferably arranged in the geometric centre of the quadrangular area forming the upper base of the mentioned container being formed.

10. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the containers are produced in an inverted position, and in that they are filled through a non sealed portion of the facing longitudinal edges of the laminar band.

11. The method according to claim 1, comprising the step of providing, in the advance direction of the continuous laminar band,

a device suitable for making an alignment of holes in a continuous laminar band and for placing a corresponding spout in each of them;

means for folding over itself the single initial laminar band, until its cross-section forms a planar figure comprising a first side wall along one of the edges of which there is collapsed a longitudinal strip of the laminar band comprising the portion of band previously provided with spouts, and a second side wall, the upper end part of which is folded over itself downwardly and abuts the back of the mentioned longitudinal strip of the laminar band, said means for folding over itself the laminar band comprising;

a first folding device for the band to simultaneously form a first double zigzag fold, over a first and a second longitudinal fold line, and a second also zigzag double fold, over a third and a fourth longitudinal fold line; and

a second simple folding device for the band to fold the band over itself according to a third 180°

fold towards its heat-weldable face, over a fifth longitudinal fold line, the machine further comprising

transverse cutting means for the folded single laminar band to separate a container being manufactured from the rest of the folded laminar band; and

means for turning the mentioned longitudinal strip of the separated container with respect to the side walls until the cross-section of the container being manufactured adopts a contour with a general “

T”

shape.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein

the distance separating a first longitudinal edge of the laminar band from the first fold line is equal to that separating the latter from the second fold line, making said first longitudinal edge of the laminar band be superimposed and coincident with the second fold line;

and that the distance between the third fold line and the closest longitudinal edge of the laminar band is equal to the desired height of a side of the container; and

the fourth and the fifth fold lines each are on one side of the holes, such that the inner face of the other longitudinal edge of the laminar band is superimposed and coincident with the inner face of the first longitudinal edge of the laminar band,

the machine furthermore comprising downstream from the system for folding the laminar band a set of rollers for flattening said already folded band and for driving it towards the transverse cutting means.