Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2~ ~.3897
HOI.E PUNCH FOR END SEAL POUCH
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bag or pouch with a hole
in the end seal and a method and apparatus for forming said
bag in a form/fill/seal process. Particularly, the invention
relates to a method and apparatus for providing a bag with a
hole in an end seal so that the bag may be readily hung on a
pegboard.
Background of the Inven_ion
In the field of packaging food and non-food liquid
and/or flowable food and non-food products, a convenient meth-
od of packaging such products in thermoplastic film has been
developed and is generally known as a form/fill~seal process.
In such a process a tube is formed from thermoplastic film and
the bottom end seal is made by transversely sealing across the
tube with heated seal bars to form a conveniently wide heat
seal and, consequently, producing a bag or pouch ready to
receive a product. After the heat seal is made, the bag or
pouch is filled and then another transverse heat seal is made
across the width of the tube in a relatively wide band. After
cooling, this seal is transversely severed to separate the
fill bag from the next bag to be filled. Thus, one wide band
seal serves as the bottom seal for one bag and the top seal
for another.
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A machine for making bags in a vertical
form/fill/seal machine is described in United States Patent
No. 4,506,494, incorporated herein by reference, which issued
on March 26, 1985 to Mamoru Shimoyama et al. In the Shimoyama
et al. patent a vertically held tube with a bottom end that
has been closed by a transverse heat seal is filled with a
liquid, semiliquid, or paste charge or contents and squeeze
rollers spaced apart and above the bottom end seal squeeze the
filled tube and pinch the walls of the flatted tube together.
When a length of tubing of the desired height of the bag has
been fed through the squeeze rollers a heat seal is made trans-
versely across the flattened tubing by heat seal bars which
clamp and seal the film of the tube therebetween. After the
seal bars have been withdrawn the film moves downwardly to be
contacted by cooled clamping and severing bars which clamp the
film therebetween and are provided with a cutting knife to
sever the sealed film at about the midpoint of the seal so
that approximately half of the seal will be on the upper part
of a tube and the other half on the lower. When the sealing
and severing operation is complete, the squeeze rollers are
separated to allow a new charge of product to enter the flat-
tened tube after which the aforementioned described process is
repeated thus continuously producing vertically form/fill/seal
bags which have a bottom end and top end heat seal closure.
U.S. Patent No. 3,407,077 (Helin) discloses a food
package with an aperture 26 in a corner of the package.
One of the drawbacks of such sealed bags is that the
bags are sometimes difficult to mount, e.g. on a display or
pegboard. Accoxdingly, it is one object of the present inven-
tion to provide an apparatus, a bag, and method for making
same which produces a bag with a hole in an end seal of the
bag.
i
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210~897
Yet another object of the present invention is to
provide a convenient and efficient way of making a bag with a
hole in the end seal which can be incorporated into existing
form/fill/seal bag making equipment.
These and other objects wil~ be readily apparent to
those skilled in the art from the following Description of the
Drawings, Summary of the Invention and Detailed Description of
the Preferred Embodiment.
Brief Description of the Drawinqs
The invention may be further understood by reference
to the drawings attached hereto, in which:
FIG. 1 represents a method of and apparatus for in-
stalling a hole in an end seal of a pouch produced in a verti-
cal form/fill/seal process in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. 2 shows a spring loaded punch; and
` FIG. 3 depicts the finished heat sealed pouch incor-
. porating a hole in an end seal of the pouch.
Summary of the Invention
In one aspect of the present invention, a package
comprises a food product; a thermoplastic film containing the
product, the film bèing heat sealed to itself at a longitudi-
nal seal, and at a transverse seal at each end of the package;
and a hole in one of the transverse seals.
In another aspect of the present invention, a verti-
cal form/fill/seal apparatus comprises a means for advancing a
J length of tubular film downwardly; a means for transversely
.~
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sealing the tubular film together at each end of the length of
tubular film to form a pouch; and a means for cooling and
severins the film in the area of the transverse seals while
punching a hole in one of the transverse seals to create a
discrete package with a hole in a transverse seal.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a
method for making a pouch with a handle comprises advancing a
length of film downwardly in a vertical form/fill/seal appara-
tus; longitudinally sealing the film to form a tube; trans-
versely sealing the tubular film at a lower end of the length
of tube; inserting a food product into the tube; transversely
sealing the tubular film at an upper end of the length of the
tube; and severing the tubular film in the area of the trans-
verse seals while punching a hole in one of the transverse
seals to form a pouch with a hole in a transverse end seal.
DescriPtion of the Preferred Embodiment
Referring to FIG. 1 the vertical form/fill/seal
process or method 10 to be used in connection with the present
invention will be described. The tube 12 can be either a
seamless tube or preferably is a tube formed from a sheet of
flattened film by a longitudinal seal. The film material is
preferably a relatively strong, heat sealable film having good
seal strength and if extended shelf life of the contents is
desired, the film may have gas barrier properties. The tube
12 as shown in FIG. 1 has been filled with a charge of liquid
or semiliquid e.g. soup concentrate or paste-like contents. A
flattened portion of the tube has been sealed by a pair of
seal bars (not shown~ which are heated to the heat welding
temperature of the particular thermoplastic film from which
the film is formed. These bars make the relatively wide band
seal transversely across the tube. This seal forms the top or
upper end seal for the lower or filled pouch and will also
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210 ~97
form the lower or bottom end seal for the next to be formed
pouch.
When the seal bars have been withdrawn and squeeze
rollers have been rotated to feed off an additional length of
flattened tubular film, the sealed band is now in a position
between the cooling and back-up bars 14 and 16, respectively.
The cooling bar pairs 14 have been advanced to the
seal and clamp and hold the seal at this point thereby cooling
the seal. Knife 18 is held by a pneumatic cylinder (not
shown) to fire it through the passageway 19 and return while
the film is clamped and being cooled.
The cutting knife thus severs the seal at approxi-
mately its midpoint thereby severing the pouch.
A die punch 20 (see also FIG. 2), which may be
spring-loaded, is mounted in the cooling bar 14. It protrudes
a small distance, preferably about .25 inches, from the ribbed
innex face of the cooling bar. As the cooling and back-up
bars come together, the punch 20 is forced through the sealed
film into an elastomeric covering 17 (e.g. silicone rubber) on
~ the back-up bar. This cuts a hole in the film. After the
¦ bars are brought in a closed position, the knife 18 fires,
separating the applied seal above the punched hole 26, and
thereby separating the finished pouch.
As shown in FIG. 3, the final package contains a
hole 26 which is disposed in the transverse seal area 28 at
one end of the pouch 24.
The use of the present invention provides a simple
but effective means of providing a hole on a pouch while not
affectinq the speed or steps of operation of typical vertical
formlfill/seal arrangements.
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It is to be understood that variations and modifica-
tions of the presen~ invention may be made without departing
from the scope of the invention. It is also understood that
the scope of the invention is not to be interpreted as limited
to the specific em~odiments disclosed herein, but only in
accordance with the appended claims when read in light of the
foregoing disclosure. The detailed description of the pre-
ferred embodiment is given by way of illustration only since
numerous changes and modifications well within the spirit and
scope of the invention could become apparent to those already
skilled in the art in view oi the description herein.
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