Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TETR9425. PCT
DA-020
5 The invention relates to a standable package for flowable media made from
flexible, sealable material, with a base, with side walls, with a sealing seam
joining the side walls and with a pouring means fitted in the upper area of a
sealing seam and provided with a base member, the axis of the pouring
means being perpendicular to the base member.
Known packages for flowable media of this type are currently sold as refill
packs for cleaning agents or bath products. The material of the package is
sealable plastics in a plurality of layers in order to obtain a sealed package
sufficiently rigid to also be standable when in the filled state. The side walls15 are pressed flat at the top and joined with a longitudinal sealing seam
extending as far as the base, while the base is additionally sealed in and in
this way the lower edges of the side walls are spread apart such that the
known package, which is wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, can
stand on the lower edges of the side walls. A closure of various
20 configurations is provided in the upper area of a side wall, with the aid of
which the end-user can pour out the liquid and can possibly re-close the
package. The known design for a tear-off tab or another known design with
a screw cap or similar can be used in this case as the pouring means. In all
cases, around the edge of the pouring means there is a flat, projecting base
25 member made from more rigid material than the rest of the package material,
in order either to be able to stick on or seal on a covering and tear-off strip in
a sealing manner, or to be able to fit on a hollow nipple onto which a screw
cap, grip cap or the like can be fitted. If an imaginary plane is drawn through
the edge of the pouring means, the axis of the pouring apparatus passing
30 through the centre of the pouring apparatus extends perpendicularly to this
imaginary plane. This condition applies both to base members having a flat
configuration and to those with a curved configuration. Normally, the base
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member of a pouring means with a screw cap is flat and is formed by a flange
which surrounds the pouring means.
With a known standable package for flowable media, the annular base
5 member of the pouring means is fitted in the upper area of a side wall at too
great a distance from the lateral sealing seams, so that during screwing on
and off of the screw cap the base member is rotated and folded, having no
support in the flexible material which surrounds it. There is no torque support.It is also disadvantageous that when torque is applied and the end-user's
10 strength is used to actuate the pouring means, a pressure is exerted on the
contents so that even before the first intentional pouring out, the contents well
up past the half-unscrewed cap and drip down. It is furthermore
disadvantageous that the side wall opposite the pouring means sags after
partial emptying out of this known tubular package, with the top part of the
15 package collapsing, and comes from the rear to lie internally against the base
member of the pouring means. In this way the closure is at least partially
covered over from the rear and further pouring out is prevented.
With another known tubular package, the pouring apparatus has been
20 integrated into a sealing seam joining the two opposite side walls at the top.
For this, the base member of the pouring apparatus has been given a precise
configuration which, in plan view, could roughly be compared to the body of
a ship. A nipple with an external thread is moulded onto this base member.
The manufacture of such a standable package for flowable media is costly
25 and complicated for the package manufacturer as special tools are required
in order to fit the specially configured base member correctly on the side edge
of two walls and in the sealing seam thereof.
The known package for flowable media described first and many others have
30 the common disadvantage that the axis of the pouring apparatus which is
perpendicular to the base member is spatially orientated sometimes this way
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and sometimes that without any particular consideration, with the resuit that
in all cases where the axis projecting outside the package points downwards,
that is to say is in the area of the angle between horizontal and vertical, liquid
inevitably collects adjacent to the closing member (for example a screw cap).
5 When the closing member is removed for the first time, liquid can run out
unintentionally.
In order to simplify the known packages, and also the package according to
the invention described hereinafter, an imaginary planar surface is assumed,
10 which is horizontal and upon which the base of the package stands. The
explanations given here do not relate to a package Iying on its side or on its
head because of corresponding reversed packing, but instead it is assumed
that the base is at the bottom on the horizontal base plane. The base of the
package can be configured in any manner, either itself forming a plane or
15 being sealed in additionally between two side walls, so that the package
stands on the lower edges of the side walls, as explained with reference to
the known package previously described. Proceeding from this it is logical
that with each package the side walls project from the base and are joined
together at the top end in some manner, for example by folding and/or
20 sealing. Rationally, a pouring means is also located "at the top", so that with
a package normally standing on its base, it is understood that with a vertical
component the outward pointing axis of the pouring means can point sloping
upwards or sloping downwards. The terms "bottom", "top", "horizontal",
"vertical" and so forth used hereinafter are understood in this sense.
The object of the invention is to improve the pouring procedure of known
standable bag-type packages and to make it easier for the end-user, without
the manufacturer having to use complicated tools for producing the standable
package for flowable media of the type described in the introduction.
According to the inventlon, this object is solved in that the upper area of the
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side wall, where the pouring means is fitted, is folded forming two outside
edges and an inside edge, the inside edge of the fold is joined to a sealing
seam joining the side walls and the base member of the pouring means is
fitted in the area of the lower end of the fold. Regardless of the configuration5 of the base and also of the pouring means itself, to the extent that the latter
only has the base member described, a holder and support for the pouring
means is provided using the features according to the invention, although the
material of the package for flowable media surrounding the pouring means is
flexible and sealable, for example a plastics foil. Although the pouring means
10 can be fitted to a side wall in a variety of ways, for example, mechanically
gripped, clipped on, stuck on, or form-fitted or materially fixed onto the side
wall in another manner, the pouring means still obtains a certain spatial fixing,
so that opening, pouring and re-closing is made easier for the end-user. In
addition, the package manufacturer can fit the pouring means onto the side
15 wall using simple means, for example by welding on. By means of the fold
it is reliably ensured that the side wall opposite does not fall against the
pouring aperture from the inside and the rear, unintentionally sealing it and
preventing pouring out.
20 By means of the fold the package manufacturer is advantageously also able
to fix the base member in a spatially defined position on the side wall such
that no more product is found in the pouring aperture which would drip out
unintentionally when the package is opened.
25 It is therefore particularly advantageous according to the invention when the straight axis orientated towards the outside of the package, which is
perpendicular to the base member of the pouring means, forms an angle of
0 with the planar surface on which the base of the package stands. By
provision of the fold according to the invention, the package manufacturer can
30 place the pouring aperture in the position defined by him by taking into
consideration the orientation of the straight axis. In this way the axis
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perpendicular to the base member of the pouring means and pointing towards
the outside of the package (a straight arrow could be imagined) comes to lie
where required in an approximately horizontal position, and preferably with
more or less large vertical components points at a slope or completely
5 upwards so that practically no horizontal components are any longer present.
This ensures that contents cannot collect under the screw cap and also when
opening takes place for the first time no contents unintentionally drip out.
10 It is furthermore advantageous according to the invention when one end of the sealing seam, namely the front end, which faces the pouring means, is
located in the upper area of the upper end of the fold. The sealing seam
being referred to here joins two opposite side walls to one another, this being
in the upper area of the package. A standing bag-type package or a
15 standable package for flowable media can be imagined, which in a particularlyadvantageous manner has a rectangular, preferably a trapeze-shaped base.
In this preferred embodiment two side walls project from the lateral base
edges such that they meet at the top entirely or at least in the front area (thefront is the side with the pouring means) in an upper line. Correspondingly
20 there is a front base edge from which a front wall runs to the common upper
line of the two side walls. This common upper line can also be described as
the front longitudinal edge. Correspondingly, with this preferred embodiment
a rear wall extends above the rear base edge which terminates in a rear
upper edge running perpendicular to the longitudinal edge. Between this and
25 the front longitudinal edge an approximately triangular upper wall can also be
provided. If such a package is viewed from the front in a direction parallel to
the planar surface upon which the base stands, a front vertical projection can
be seen, that is to say a vertical from the front base edge to the front
longitudinal edge at the top. Likewise, in the opposite direction of view from
30 the rear towards the rear wall of the package, a rear vertical projection can be
seen. This extends from the rear base edge at the bottom upwards to the
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rear upper edge. In the theoretical instance, the side walls are planar,
however they will actually bulge because of the flowable contents. Essentially
the front wali can nevertheless be triangular, and the rear wall trapeze-shaped
or preferably also triangular. In the empty state, and in particular in the filled
5 state, the planar base lies on the imaginary horizontal base plane, and the
triangular front wall stands up approximately perpendicularly, while the side
walls are inclined corresponding to the legs of the triangle of the front wall,
and meet in the centre vertically above the b~se at the top along the
longitudinal edge.
Another preferred embodiment is based on the model described above and
differs only in the feature wherein from the front upper point, that is to say
upwards above the front wall to the top point of the triangle, sealing off takesplace as far as the rear upper edge.
Folding of the base is known from general manufacturing of packages for
flowable media made of paper coated with plastics, in which in the base area
of a tube a cross-sealing seam is provided, the ends of which each form the
points of triangular tabs opposite one another with respect to the base. These
20 triangular tabs are folded over in the case of the known packages for flowable
media and are stuck to the base in order to provide a planar, rectangular
standing base for the known package for flowable media. With the package
described here, made from flexible, sealable material, for example a plastics
foil, triangular tabs can be provided adjacent to the front and/or rear base
25 edges, which can be folded over and sealed in a manner similar to that with
the known packages for flowable media. A sealing seam can, however, be
provided along these folded edges, that is to say the front and/or rear base
edge, and they can be configured as separating lines by means of which the
respective triangular tabs are separated from the base.
In the case of another advantageous configuration of a standable package for
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flowable media, a cross-sealing seam can also be applied in the base, running
from the front to the rear base edge. In addition or alternatively an upper
cross-sealing seam can also be applied to the upper ends of the side walls.
These cross-sealing seams can be configured curved, but are preferably
5 straight.
Furthermore, the package according to the invention can also be configured
such that the upper cross-sealing seam is composed of at least two straight
and/or curved part sections. In this case the upper cross-sealing seam does
10 not run in a straight line over the whole upper area of the package, but
instead divides into various sections. In this way the head volume of the
package can be reduced, the centre of gravity shifted downwards, and pouring
improved.
15 It is further advantageous according to the invention when both the inside
edge and the upper edge of the fold running a~ right-angles thereto are
straight, and when the upper edge forms an angle of between approximately
0 and 90 with the planar surface. With this embodiment the lower area of
the fold again begins at or near the pouring means, wherein the upper edge
20 is turned away more or less downwards from the uppermost boundary line of
the package at an angle. If a straight line is plotted through the upper edge,
it leaves the upper boundary line of the package described, which should be
thought of as approximately horizontal, although it can also be placed at
certain angles with respect to the horizontal. Between this boundary line and
25 the line through the upper edge, because of the fold, an angle occurs which
can be set initially at 0 in the case of a limit position for other embodiments,
to another iimit position at which the angle is approximately 90. In this case
also, these are only approximate limit angles and details of angles, as the
following description of a preferred embodiment will show that in the upper
30 edge the line can even be rotated to a little over 90, so that this angle could
be designated as being approximately 100. It is evident how by appropriate
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configuration of the fold, the axis of the pouring means can be set differently.In this way, the manufacturer can prefer one angle setting or another
according to his objective and to economic calculations.
5 With a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the inside edge of
the fold is bent or curved such that the upper end section of the inside edge
is substantially parallel to the upper end section of the outside edge of the
fold. By means of the folding of the material located in the front upper area
of the foil package, instead of the original two layers of material (without a
10 fold) Iying one above the other, or viewed from the side Iying on top of eachother (which are possibly separated from one another by the contents) in the
area of the fold there are now four layers of material present. In this way the
original base member of the package lacks material in the front upper area,
for which reason the outer edge, which was originally approximately vertical
15 (in which case differences in the angle of from 5 to 20 are possible) is bent
away backwards at an angle. With the embodiment with the straight inside
edge the outside edge can also be straight. In the case of the bent or curved
inside edge, the outside edge also changes accordingly so that it has different
sections, wherein the upper end section is more upright than the lower
20 section. Preferably, the upper section of the outside edge is substantially
vertical or at least at less than 90 to the outer upper boundary line of the
package. The upper end section of the inside edge should be parallel to this
upper section of the outside edge.
25 The fold can be made with different positioning of the axis of the pouring
means in both the latterly described embodiment and those previously
described.
In the latterly described embodiment, the outermost upper boundary line of the
30 package, which is approximately horizontal, can be applied as a straight
cross-sealing seam and then the upper edge of the fold runs in this cross-
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sealing seam. By means of this simple horizontal cross-sealing seam, the
package can be sealed better and more conveniently by sealing off, with the
advantage of better use of material.
5 All embodiments of the described types described above have the common
advantage that the fold provides a fixing point for the pouring means, so when
opening movements are made, it can be held better and the user does not
need to lean on the contents when employing the pouring aperture. On the
contrar,v, the pouring means is arranged accordiny to the invention in a part
10 of the package which is not filled, that is to say in the area of the head room,
so that there is no increase in pressure in the contents even when the end-
user presses to some extent against the pouring means.
Further advantages, features and possibilities for application of the present
15 invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred
embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. In these is shown in:
Figure 1 a schematic side view of a package in a first embodiment according
to the invention provided with the fold,
20 Figure 2 a similar view to Figure 1, however of a second embodiment in
which the inside edge is bent,
Figure 3 again a similar view to Figures 1 and 2, however of a third
embodiment which has in principle the same conditions as that in
Figure 1, that is to say a straight inside edge,
25 Figure 4 in perspective a preferred fourth embodiment of the package for
flowable media in a geometric diagram,
Figure 5 a plan view of the filled package according to Figure 4, and
Figure 6 a cut-away and schematic cross-section view along the line Vl-VI
of Figure 2.
The package shown in all the embodiments is provided with a base 1, side
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walls 2, 3, a sealing seam 4 joining the side walls 2, 3 together in the upper
area, a front side wall 5, a rear side wall 7 and a pouring means 6 fitted in the
upper area of the side wall 5.
5 The pouring apparatus, generally labelled 6, is shown here with a screw cap
8, which is screwed onto a nipple, which is not visible and is provided with an
external thread, on which a flange-like base member 9 is moulded. This
provides a plane in which the pouring aperture, not shown here, lies, through
the centre of which the axis 10 of the pouring means passes perpendicularly
10 with respect to the base member 9.
The whole package is set up on the surface 11 shown schematically in Figure
1, which is assumed to be a plane Iying in the horizontal.
15 In the embodiment in Figure 4 in the rear side wall 7 there is located a
substantially vertically rising sealing seam 12 which is continued upwards by
a section 13 over the cross-sealing seam 4. The outer upper boundary line
of the package in Figure 4 is formed by a further end sealing seam 14, which
joins the cross-sealing seam 4 at joining points 15. In this way an
20 approximately triangular section 16 is formed above the cross-sealing seam
4, in which two grip handles 17 are fitted, so that the triangular section 16 can
be used as a handle. A straight lower cross-sealing seam 18 passes across
the base 1. Perpendicular to this can be seen the front base edge 19 and on
the right the rear base edge 20. The triangular tabs 21 and 22 (rear and front)
25 formed by the folding are folded over on the base and stuck to it.
In the upper area of the front side wall 5, where the pouring means 6 is fitted,there is a fold labelled 23. This occurs because the material of the front side
wall 5 adjacent and above the pouring means is folded in a V-shape, seen
30 from above, as shown in Figure 6. There are then four layers of material
24.1, 24.2 on one side and 24.3, 24.4 on the other side, directly one on top
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of another in the upper area of this front side wall 5, for example in the cross-
sealing seam 4. In this way an inside edge 25 and two outside edges 26.1,
26.2 are formed. In the elevation diagrams in Figures 1 to 3 the two outside
edges are represented only by the reference number 26.
At the same time, by means of the fold 23 an upper edge 27 is also formed,
which seen greatly enlarged has the shape of the folding in Figure 6.
The straight axis 10 of the pouring member 6 which is at an angle a in the
10 direction of the arrow 10' to the planar surface 11 (Figure 1) is common to all
the embodiments. This angle is 0 when the axis l O is parallel to the planar
surface 11 and is greater than 0 when the arrow is rotated in a clockwise
direction away from the horizontal position, as shown in the embodiment in
Figure 1. In this case the axis 10, orientated to the outside of the package
15 (arrow direction 10') having a vertical component, slopes upwards as is the
case with all other embodiments (with the exception of the extreme case
shown in Figure 3). In the special case in Figure 3, the axis 10 forms an
angle a of 90 with the planar surface 11, that is to say is substantially
perpendicular to this surface 11.
In the embodiment in Figure 1, the upper edges 27 of the fold 23 and also the
inside edge 25 are straight lines in the lateral projection (Figures 1 to 3); this
is, however, also substantially the case in Figure 4. When these
embodiments in Figures 1 and 3 to 5 are correspondingly folded, the upper
25 edge 27 must inevitably be folded outwards downwardly from the horizontal
so that the upper edge 27 forms an angle ~ with the planar surface 11 (or
with any plane parallel thereto) of between 0 and 90 in the manner shown
particularly clearly in Figure 1. This angle ,~ is 0 when the upper edge 27 is
horizontal, as in the embodiment in Figures 2 and 4. It takes on positive
30 values when an extended line Iying along the upper edge is rotated in the
clockwise direction about the front, upper end point 28 of the package. The
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angle ,B reaches 90 or somewhat more when the upper edge is
approximately vertical, as is shown in Figure 3.
The embodiment in Figure 2 differs from that according to Figures 1 and 3 in
5 that the inside edge is bent at the bend 29 such that an upper end section
25.1 and - at an angle to it - a lower end section 25.2 are formed.
Correspondingly, the outside edge 26 can also be bent, its upper end section
being shown in the area of the cross-sealing seam 4 in Figure 2 but not
provided with a particular reference number.
In order to seal tight the package with the special fold according to Figure 3,
the upper edge 27is closed by a further sealing seam 30. It is evident that
the inside edge 25 of the fold 23 is joined by means of this additional sealing
seam 30 to the cross-sealing seam 4.
