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(11) | EP 0 375 104 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Bag construction for handling hazardous materials and the like |
| (57) A system for removing lagging (10) from piping (12) in which a continuous length
of sheet material has two sides sealed together along one elongated edge (24) and
being substantially open along an opposite elongated edge. The open edge is adapted
for securing around the piping (12) and for receiving the hazardous materials from
the piping (12). The two sides are sealed together at spaced intervals (28) along
the length of the sheet material to define individual interconnected bags (26) positionable
in a side-by-side relationship along the piping (12), with the sealed elongated edge
(24) defining bottoms for the bags (26). The sheet material is perforated (30, 32)
for readily separating any one bag (26) from any adjacent bag (26) whereby a plurality
of interconnected bags (26) can be appropriately secured to the piping (12) along
said open top edge and individually removed from the piping (12). |
Field Of The Invention
[0001] This invention generally relates to the art of bags, such as plastic bags, and more particularly to a bag system for removing lagging such as hazardous materials and the like from structural means such as piping and the like.
Background Of The Invention
[0002] This invention relates to containment apparatus for facilitating the safe handling of hazardous materials, and has particular importance but not limited to the removal of asbestos lagging from piping or similar elongated structural means.
[0003] The critical area of long-term problems involved in handling asbestos materials has come to the forefront in recent years because of the danger to health and safety. In particular, hundreds of projects constantly are being carried out to remove asbestos materials from buildings because exposure to airborne asbestos fibers involves health risks.
[0004] One area where asbestos materials were used extensively was on pipes and valves in buildings, such as the piping from boilers. Such asbestos lagging was used for many years. However, where the lagging starts to disintegrate, whether as a result of physical damage or age, the lagging must be stripped off. This stripping work, which often produces a great deal of asbestos dust in a confined space, is a considerable hazard to health. Worker protection is extremely important and, in general, is required by law.
[0005] Heretofore, asbestos containment in jobs involving elongated structures such as pipework involved the use of a device which now is commonly called a "glove bag". Examples of such glove bags are shown in British Patent No. 1,567,270 to Atkinson, published May 14, 1980; and U.S. Patent No. 4,626,296 to Natale, dated December 2, 1986. The Atkinson containment device was one, if not the first glove bag made available commercially for removing dangerous substances from pipework. This glove bag is very typical of practically all glove bags available today. It provides a bag made from plastic sheet material which is transparent in at least the regions adjacent the pipe. The bag is sealed about its bottom and sides, with an open top of the bag being adapted for wrapping around the pipe and tied or taped to the pipe. Sleeve portions are sealed about armholes in the bag to enable a worker to insert his hands and arms into the space within the bag to allow the worker to strip the lagging from the pipe, whereby the stripped lagging falls into the bottom portion of the bag. When all of the lagging is stripped from the length of pipe and is enclosed by the bag, the open top of the bag is tied, and the stripped asbestos lagging is safely contained for proper disposal.
[0006] As stated, glove bags of the character described above have become quite common in the asbestos abatement industry and now include such features as providing hand gloves at the ends of the internal sleeves, internal pouches for tools, and locations for slitting the bag and inserting a vacuum hose to maintain a slight vacuum during the stripping operation or to exhaust the bag prior to closing. However, the general principles of providing such bags as individually handled and mounted devices are fairly standard throughout the asbestos abatement industry.
[0007] A major problem in using glove bag devices of the character described above is the exorbitant amount of time it takes to apply an individual bag to a section of pipe before the stripping operation even can begin. It should be understood that, because of sheer manual manipulability, the width of such bags normally are on the order of only four to five feet. However, the length of the piping from which the asbestos lagging must be removed may be many, many times the width of an individual glove bag. It can be appreciated that the process of obtaining a glove bag from its supply or container, manually wrapping the bag about a short length of pipe, and properly taping and securing the bag to the pipe may take almost as much time as it takes an experienced worker to actually remove the asbestos lagging from that short length of pipe. This is a very inefficient operation in an industry where efficiency has become paramount. For instance, in some facilities such as schools, there is a limited budget or limited funds available for asbestos abatement. If the funds are not used quite efficiently, children continuously are exposed to asbestos contamination.
[0008] This invention is directed to the problems described above and, particularly, to providing a unique bag system in which a continuous length of interconnected bags can be placed about elongated structures, such as piping, in a single operation, and the lagging can be continuously removed from the piping regardless of its length.
Summary Of The Invention
[0009] An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a new and improved system for removing lagging such as hazardous materials and the like from structural means such as piping and the like.
[0010] Generally, the system involves the provision of two elongated sides of sheet material sealed together along an elongated bottom edge. Seal means are provided between the sides at spaced intervals longitudinally of the sheet material to define the sides of a plurality of individual interconnected bags. Opening means are provided along the sheet material at a top edge thereof for securing around the piping and to receive stripped lagging from the piping. The sheet material has means for readily separating any one bag from any adjacent bag whereby a continuous length of pipe can be continuously stripped of the hazardous material as the interconnected bags, in their side-by-side relationship, contain the material, and the individual bags can be separated seriatum and removed from the piping as the stripping operation continuous therealong.
[0011] More particularly, the system involves the provision of an elongated sheet of material which has a folded bottom edge and an open top edge which define the sealed bottoms and open tops of the series of interconnected side-by-side bags along the length of material. At spaced intervals, seal means are provided in the folded sheet material to seal the sides together to define a plurality of individual bags. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the seal means is provided by a pair of spaced heat seal lines each defining the side edges of adjacent bags. The separating means is provided by perforations in the sheet material, such as a perforated line extending between the folded and open edges of the sheet material and located between the spaced seal lines. Therefore, every bag is very easily separable from its adjacent bag or bags.
[0012] Each interconnected but separable bag is provided with its individual glove means to provide access to the interior of the bag, and the sheet material is transparent at least in the regions adjacent the piping.
[0013] With the system described above, it can be seen that the interconnected bags can be provided on a roll and so supplied for use. In any installation, a worker simply measures the length of pipe from which asbestos lagging is to be removed and tears off the number of bags which he needs for securing about the entire length of pipe. As work progresses and the lagging is continuously stripped along the length of pipe, the filled bags can be removed from the length of pipe in a seriatum fashion. The lost time which is predominant in conventional systems of separately securing and removing individual bags from the pipework has been drastically eliminated by the system of this invention.
[0014] Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Brief Description Of The Drawings
[0015] The features of this invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with its objects and the advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements in the figures and in which:
FIGURE 1 is a fragmented perspective view illustrating the system of the invention incorporating a plurality of interconnected bags in relation to piping surrounded by lagging material;
FIGURE 2 is a fragmented front elevation of one of the interconnected bags secured about the piping;
FIGURE 3 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken generally along line 3-3 of Figure 2; and
FIGURE 4 is a fragmented horizontal section, on an enlarged scale, taken generally along line 4-4 of Figure 1.
Detailed Description Of The Preferred Embodiment
[0016] Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and first to Figure 1, the invention is directed to a glove bag system for removing lagging 10 from elongated structural means such as piping 12. It should be understood that the term "lagging" is used herein in a general sense. Usually, piping 12 is covered by a fibrous asbestos wrapping 14 providing insulating material which, in turn, is covered by a protective jacket 16 made of paper, cloth, tape or the like and which, in the trade, itself sometimes is called the lagging. In addition, although the invention is shown herein for particular use in the asbestos abatement industry for removing asbestos lagging from pipework, the novel concepts of the invention in providing a continuous length of interconnected but separable, side-by-side bag structures may have various other applications for removing lagging, in general, from elongated structural means.
[0017] The system of this invention contemplates the provision of elongated sheet material, generally designated 18, having two sides 20 and 22 sealed together along an elongated bottom edge 24, and providing opening means along a top edge, as generally indicated by arrow "A". When the system is used for removing lagging from such structures as piping, preferably the entire top of the elongated sheet material is open, as shown, for positioning the composite defined by the sheet material around the piping as indicated by arrows "B".
[0018] Generally, the invention contemplates sealing the sides 20,22 of sheet material 18 together at spaced intervals along the length of the sheet material to define a plurality of pockets or individual side-by-side bags, generally designated 26. More particularly, seal means are provided between sides 20 and 22 by a pair of spaced heat seal lines 28 each defining the side edges of adjacent bags 26. In the illustrated embodiment, seal lines 28 actually comprise the legs of an inverted U-shaped seal line wherein the legs are joined at the top, as at 28a. In addition, it can be seen that the seal lines of each pair thereof defining the side edges of adjacent bags, converge toward each other in the direction of bottom edge 24 so that each individual bag section of the elongated sheet material 18 has an outwardly/downwardly flared or skirt configuration.
[0019] The invention generally contemplates providing means in sheet material 18 for readily separating any one bag 26 from any adjacent bag, either for installation on varying lengths of piping or for seriatum removal of the individual bags, as described above. More particularly, perforation lines 30 are formed in the sheet material between seal lines 28, and perforation lines 32 are formed in the sheet material extending from the top 28a of the seal lines to the open top edges of the sheet material, with perforation lines 30 joining perforation lines 32 at a juncture 34. Therefore, the sheet material is entirely perforated between closed bottom edge 24 and the open top edge in a direction transversely thereto between each individual bag or bay portion 26.
[0020] A pair of arm holes 36 are formed in one side of the sheet material, side 20 as shown in the drawings, for each glove bag 26. Sleeve-like gloves 38 are sealed to the sheet material, as at 40, about arm holes 36 to provide access to the interior of each bag by a worker's arms. In addition, a pouch 42 may be provided on the interior of each bag for holding tools used by the worker in stripping lagging 10 from piping 12. Still further, a location may be marked on the sheet material, as at 44, whereby each bag may be slit for inserting a hose for spraying a wetting solution against the lagging and/or piping, or for inserting a vacuum tube to apply a slight vacuum within the bag or to completely evacuate the bag.
[0021] Sheet material 18 should be transparent at least in the regions adjacent the piping. As contemplated herein, sheet material 18 can be completely fabricated of clear plastic material, such as polyethylene.
[0022] In use, it is contemplated that sheet material 18 can be provided in a roll form. For instance, a length comprising 25 bag sections 26, each four feet wide, would cover 100 feet of pipe. A worker simply determines the length of piping from which lagging must be removed and then "tears off" the required number of bag sections necessary for covering the entire length of piping. If the pipe is 24 feet long, six sections would be used, and so on. Rather than securing individual bags to the piping as presently is done in the industry, the entire length of interconnected bags then are secured about the piping in a single operation. This is done by spreading the sheet material apart along the top open edge thereof, as indicated by arrow "A" in Figure 1, folding or rolling the free edges of sides 20 and 22 together and taping the rolled edge to provide a seal on the top of the piping, i.e. the side of the piping opposite bags 26. Such a taped and sealed edge is shown at 46 in Figure 2. The end locations of the bags surrounding the pipes may be taped, as at 48 (Fig. 2) about the pipe for each bag. Once lagging 10 is completely stripped from the section of piping covered by a bag 26, the filled bag can be separated from the next adjacent bag and processed for disposal while work continues along the length of pipe.
[0023] On the other hand, rather than taping every juncture between adjacent bags, the system of this invention affords a unique stripping operation which is not possible with the "individual bag" processes presently used in the industry. One of the problems with using individual bags is to insure that unnecessary asbestos fibers are not made airborne at the junctures (e.g. in the area of tape 48 in Fig. 2) as the individual bags are secured and removed from the pipework. This alone can create a hazardous condition because the stripping operation exposes the inner fibrous material 14 (Fig. 1) as the outer covering 16 is removed during the stripping operation. With the system of this invention, which provides a continuous length of interconnected bags, a given length of a plurality of interconnected bags can be secured about a given length of piping only at the extreme opposite ends. A worker then can proceed stripping lagging from the piping within an endmost bag and proceed stripping a short distance along the piping into the adjacent or succeeding bag through the area within the interconnected bags above seal line 28a (Fig. 1). When completed, the succeeding bag then can be taped about a "clean" short section of the piping whereupon the worker proceeds to that succeeding bag to continue his stripping operation along the length of piping. In fact, while that individual continues his stripping operation in such a manner along the entire length of piping which already is covered by the series of interconnected bags, another worker can follow immediately behind and remove the preceding filled bag from the cleaned piping in a continuous manner not even remotely contemplated or possible with present individual bag processes.
[0024] The invention also contemplates methods of fabricating sheet material 18 into the interconnected bag construction described above. More particularly, a single elongated sheet of material, such as polyethylene, is provided and then folded lengthwise thereof to define the two sides 20 and 22 of sheet material 18, with the fold defining sealed bottom edge 24. This can be performed in a continuously running sheet folding machine. The folded sheet material then is fed to one or more presses where seal lines 28,28a are formed by heated platens and perforation lines 30,32 are formed to divide the continuous folded sheet material into interconnected bag sections. Gloves 38 then are heat sealed about arm holes 36 in individual steps, pouches 42 are formed by heat sealing a flap on three sides, and the entire interconnected bag construction can be rolled and packaged for use.
[0025] Another method is to extrude a length of plastic sheet material in a flattened tube configuration as may be done with ordinary trash bags. The tube then is heat sealed and perforated to form the transverse seal lines and perforation lines at spaced intervals, defining two adjacent sealed sides of adjacent bags. The one side of the elongated tube material then is completely cut off to form the open edge as described above. The gloves and pouches then are formed integral with each bag "section".
[0026] It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein.
1. A system for removing lagging from elongated structural means, comprising two elongated
sides of sheet material sealed together along an elongated bottom edge, seal means
between the sides at spaced intervals longitudinally of the sheet material to define
the sides of a plurality of individual interconnected bags, opening means at a top
edge of the sheet material adapted for securing around the structural means and for
receiving lagging from the structural means, and the sheet material having means for
readily separating the interconnected bags whereby a plurality of interconnected bags
can be appropriately secured to the structural means along said open top edge but
individually removed from the structural means.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein said bottom edge is sealed by a fold in the sheet
material between the two sides.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein said two sides are sealed at said spaced intervals
by seal means extending generally transverse to said edges.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein said seal means comprise a heat seal between the
two sides of sheet material.
5. The system of claim 3, wherein said seal means comprise a pair of spaced seal lines
each defining side edges for adjacent bags.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein said means for separating the bags comprise perforation
means in the sheet material between the spaced seal lines.
7. The system of claim 5, wherein each pair of said seal lines converge toward the
elongated sealed edge of the sheet material so that the sides of the bags flare outwardly
in a skirt configuration.
8. The system of claim 3, wherein said seal means extend from the bottom edge to a
point short of the top edge to provide separated sheet material for securing to the
piping.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein said means for separating the bags comprise perforation
means in the sheet material.
10. The system of claim 1, including glove means secured to at least one of said sides
for each individual bag to gain access to the interior of the bag.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said sides of sheet material is
transparent at least in the region adjacent the piping.
12. A method of fabricating a plurality of separably interconnected bags from sheet
material for removing lagging from elongated structural means, comprising the steps
of:
providing an elongated sheet of material with a fold lengthwise thereof to define two sides, a closed bottom edge for receiving the lagging and an open top edge adapted for securing around the structural means;
sealing the sides together at spaced intervals along the length of the folded sheet to define a plurality of individual side-by-side bags; and
perforating the sheet material between adjacent bags for readily separating any one bag from any adjacent bag whereby a plurality of interconnected bags can be appropriately secured to the structural means along said open top edge but individually removed from the structural means.
providing an elongated sheet of material with a fold lengthwise thereof to define two sides, a closed bottom edge for receiving the lagging and an open top edge adapted for securing around the structural means;
sealing the sides together at spaced intervals along the length of the folded sheet to define a plurality of individual side-by-side bags; and
perforating the sheet material between adjacent bags for readily separating any one bag from any adjacent bag whereby a plurality of interconnected bags can be appropriately secured to the structural means along said open top edge but individually removed from the structural means.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein said two sides are sealed at said spaced intervals
by seal means extending generally transverse to said edges.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein said seal means is formed by heat sealing.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said seal means is formed by a pair of spaced
seal lines each defining side edges for adjacent bags.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein said perforating is done between the spaced seal
lines.
17. The method of claim 12, including rolling the sheet material in roll-form to provide
a supply of the interconnected bags.