[0001] The present invention concerns a bag with an opening closure provided along at least
one edge and which is made of two layers of plastic film, e.g. made up as laminates,
of which one laminate facing the other plastic layer includes a weldable plastic,
and which bag, at a closing zone near the mouth at the end to be opened, includes
a plastic that provides peelability by welding. The bag is produced by welding plastic
film. A film sheet may be folded and welded at three sides, whereby a closed bag appears.
Two film sheets may correspondingly be welded at four sides whereby a closed bag appears.
Such bags may be opened by cutting a weld. The invention further concerns a method
for manufacturing a bag including the following steps:
- parallel overlaid conveying of two plastic films with a width corresponding to the
finished depth of the bag, of which the two plastic films are arranged so that one
film presents plastic welding properties at the side facing the other plastic film,
and that tearing properties are provided at a closure zone near the mouth, in that
a plastic providing peelability by welding is arranged.
[0002] For use with disposable equipment for e.g. medical or surgical application, sealed
bags are often used as packing. These packings are to be opened rapidly without use
of sharp instruments such as scissors. It is desired that a predetermined edge of
the bag is to be opened, and this is achieved by the welding being substituted by
a gluing with a peeling wax. Such a wax is applied as a run on one of two mutually
facing sides of a film sheet, and at the passage of the welding rollers there is performed
a tight joining resembling a weld but which may be separated again by tearing the
outer ends of the film pieces situated outside the glue joint. After tearing there
is no cohesive force between the two film sheets, and therefore the bag cannot be
closed again.
[0003] Correspondingly, for many goods in the retail business bag that may be closed again
are wanted, and they are therefore provided with a "zipper" as joint between the two
film sheets that may be opened by pulling the two film sections located outside the
zipper. Such a zipper is not quite tight, and therefore often there is provided for
an outermost welding that establishes tightness. Thereby, the outer welding has to
be cut off before access to the zipper is achieved. It is desirous that this outer,
tight joint may be torn up without use of tools (typically scissors). A peelable joint
may here find use also.
[0004] For one of the two opposing film layers, it is possible to use a film which over
its entire surface has the desired peelable sealing. This has the production advantage
that a roll of plastic film is uniformly cylindric as well as a roll of material with
the other of the opposing material layers. However, in use it easily happens that
not only the desired edge is torn up but also the lateral edges, whereby the bag is
rendered unserviceable despite the provision of a zipper. In order to avoid this risk
it is desirable only to apply the wax as a run during the making of the bag since
a prior web-like application provides film rolls which are difficult to work with.
Such application in connection with a bag welding machine means mounting an extra
unit which cannot run stepwise in the same way as a bag welding machine as risk of
irregularities in the layer occur when the film is not moving with even speed.
[0005] Therefore, it is desired to achieve a peelable joining of a bag that only appear
at one side and is provided in a way so that waste in the production due to irregularity
is avoided.
[0006] According to the invention, this is achieved with a bag which is peculiar in that
in the closing zone there is welded laminate in the shape of strips in parallel with
the mouth, and that the laminate in the welded strip consists of three layers, as
one outer layer is a low pressure polyethylene, the centre is a high pressure polyethylene
with greater stiffness, and the other outer layer is a low pressure polyethylene which
is modified with the intention of peelability after passage of a welding station.
[0007] By this bag construction there is achieved a closure where one film side is weldable
and the other film side is peelable, whereby is ensured an efficient closing of the
bag by a traditional welding process which due to the peelable material properties
of the other film does not cause an actual welding of the two plastic materials.
[0008] In this connection, peelability is to be understood that the two types of plastic
film, e.g. built up as laminates, i.e. a plurality of different material layers, are
assembled so that when the two plastic films are pulled from each other, the closure
is broken in a pre-defined zone without tearing of the two films.
[0009] When the bag comprises a strip consisting of three layers, as one outer layer is
a low pressure polyethylene, the centre is a high pressure polyethylene with greater
stiffness, and the other outer layer is a low pressure polyethylene which is modified
with the intention of peelability after passage of a welding station, greater stiffness
is attained implying that the bag is easier to get hold of. However, it is to be noted
that there is only need for two layers in a bag side: a peelable and a weldable layer.
[0010] The plastic film materials are e.g. built up as laminates where the film may have
different properties at each side. Furthermore, these films are made e.g. by co-extrusion.
[0011] A method for making a bag according to the invention is peculiar in including the
following further steps:
- parallel advancing and interposing of a more narrow plastic film strip between the
two plastic films,
- that the plastic film strip consists welding properties at one side and tearing properties
in at least a part of the width on the other side, correlating the three plastic film
layers to a welding station with welding rollers, welding together of three layers
of plastic film at one side in a pattern corresponding to the desired peelability,
and two layers of plastic film at the other sides,
- correlating the two layers of plastic film and the plastic film strip to a plastic
welding station with welding rollers,
- welding together of the plastic film layers at one side in a pattern corresponding
to the desired peelability, and welding together of the three other sides.
[0012] The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawing,
where:
- Fig. 1
- shows a bag with peeling ability according to the invention,
- Fig. 2
- shows an example of a prior art bag with peeling ability, and
- Fig. 3
- shows a bag according to the invention.
[0013] Fig. 2 illustrates a prior art bag. The bag is made up of two layers of plastic film
1, 2, e.g. made of laminates, i.e. two or more layers of different plastics. In the
shown example, the plastic film is built up of two layers, e.g. a HDPE and a LDPE
layer. The films are turned so that the layers 1 consisting of LDPE are facing each
other and are welded together along the three edges 3, 4, 5, see Fig. 3. In the zone
8 of the bag where the bag opening is provided, one plastic film, in this example
the film layer 2, has been modified so that the LDPE layer is modified with e.g. a
polybutylene in the opening zone 8. The modified area is illustrated by 13. The area
12 in front of the opening zone 8 thus consists of two free film ends 1, 2. The length
of the film ends is thus adapted so that it is easy for a user, who is to open the
bag, to grip the two free film ends in order to pull the bag up by breaking the zone
8 where the LDPE lay is modified with polybutylene 13 so that there is provided peeling
properties in the opening. At the opposite end of the bag, at the edge 4, the bag
is welded in a traditional way.
[0014] On Fig. 1 is seen a bag B according to the invention for use in e.g. sterile storage
of medical disposable accessories. The bag is shown in section, the centre part is
removed from the drawing, and all thicknesses are strongly exaggerated. The bag consists
of two layers of plastic film 1, 2, e.g. a laminate h and 1 of HDPE and LDPE, where
the two layers 1 with LDPE are facing each other and are welded together along three
edges 3, 4, 5. At a fourth edge 6, between the two layers 1, 2, there is embedded
a plastic strip 7 consisting of three layers, as the laminate is constituted by a
centre layer of HDPE hl which on one side has a layer of LDPE 11 and on the other
side a layer of LDPE lm, which e.g. has been modified with polybutylene. By passing
a patterned welding roller, a stripe 8 appears where the two layers of plastic film
have been welded together with the plastic strip at the edge 9 of the plastic strip
being farthest in the bag, where the desired tightness is attained. However, a pure
welding (melting of only one material) only appears by welding of the two layers 1,
11 of pure LDPE on each other, whereas the joint 1, lm of modified LDPE and the pure
LDPE becomes peelable. The seam 8 is strong, but by pulling in one plastic film 1
relative to the joint 2, 7 of plastic strip with the second plastic film, the joint
8 yields without tearing the film material, as the adhering to the modified LDPE is
less than by pure welding. Thereby, the bag is opened without tools. A minimum width
11 of 5 mm on the peelable joint 8 and a minimum width 12 of 10 mm on the two plastic
film pieces 10a, 10b outside the peelable joint are used. In practice, the width 11
will be 8 mm and the width 12 be 15 mm, respectively, in order to provide sufficient
material to be gripped by the fingers.
[0015] In Fig. 3 is illustrated a bag consisting of two film layers welded together as described
above, where the circumference of the bag is defined by the edges 3, 4, 5 and 6, of
which the edge 6 is consisting of two projecting, free film ends that a user may get
hold of when opening the bag. The ends of the film 12 is adapted so that it is easy
for a user to get hold of the free film ends and thereby break the sealing of the
bag in the zone 8.
1. Bag with an opening closure provided along at least one edge and which is made of
two layers of plastic film, e.g. made up as laminates, of which one laminate facing
the other plastic layer includes a weldable plastic, and which bag, at a closing zone
near the mouth at the end to be opened includes a plastic that provides peelability
by welding, characterised in that in the closing zone there is welded strip-shaped laminate in parallel with the mouth,
and that the laminate in the welded strip consists of three layers, as one outer layer
is a low pressure polyethylene, the centre is a high pressure polyethylene with greater
stiffness, and the other outer layer is a low pressure polyethylene which is modified
with the intention of peelability after passage of a welding station.
2. Bag according to claim 1, characterised in that the films consist of co-extruded laminate polymer materials.
3. Method for manufacturing a bag including the following steps:
- parallel overlaid conveying of two plastic films with a width corresponding to the
finished depth of the bag, of which the two plastic films are arranged so that one
film presents plastic welding properties at the side facing the other plastic film,
and that tearing properties are provided at a closure zone near the mouth, in that
a plastic providing peelability by welding is arranged,
characterised in including the following further steps:
- parallel advancing and interposing of a more narrow plastic film strip between the
two plastic films,
- that the plastic film strip consists welding properties at one side and tearing
properties in at least a part of the width on the other side, correlating the three
plastic film layer to a welding station with welding rollers, welding together of
three layers of plastic film at one side in a pattern corresponding to the desired
peelability, and two layers of plastic film at the other sides,
- correlating the two layers of plastic film and the plastic film strip to a plastic
welding station with welding rollers,
- welding together of the plastic film layers at one side in a pattern corresponding
to the desired peelability, and welding together of the three other sides.