Flexible bags – With closure – Closure within bag
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-12
2001-03-27
Pascua, Jes F. (Department: 3727)
Flexible bags
With closure
Closure within bag
C383S024000, C383S071000, C383S111000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06206568
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a flexible shipping container, particularly for bulk goods, with a cylindrical or cube-shaped carrying bag made of fabric of synthetic fiber or synthetic thread. The shipping container has a lid section in the region of the upper side panel edge of the carrying bag.
A shipping container of this type is known from the German Patent No. 28 00 736. For this container, cuts from a fabric, particularly a cross-laminated synthetic fabric, are connected by sewing or gluing to form a cylindrical or cube-shaped carrying bag. It is advantageous for such a shipping container to have a large volume and load capacity with a small weight of its own. The empty container can be folded up and takes up very little storage space.
It is further known to provide a lid section on the top and/or bottom side to prevent the overflow of bulk material, such as synthetic granules, over the upper side panel edge. Filling of such containers with a lid section, as presented in the German Patent No. 92 13 812 U1, is usually done through a fill opening, that may continue as a short fill tube. After filling the container, the opening, or the tube, is tied up with a cord, for example, such that spilling of the bulk material from the fill tube is prevented. For bulk material with a very small particulate size, or for food supplies and/or pharmaceutical substances, it is known to provide an inner sack made of synthetic foil material that ends at the fill opening or the fill tube. This prevents a trickling out of the bulk material through the synthetic fabric of the carrying bag, or soiling of the bulk material from the outside, respectively.
The disadvantage of this arrangement is that, in order to obtain a clean shipping container, a new inner sack needs to be inserted with substantial effort when re-using the shipping container for goods of the type mentioned above. For this purpose, the present inner sack needs to be removed through the small fill opening and a new inner sack inserted through the same path. Replacing the inner sack is time-consuming and requires additional devices, for example, to blow up the inner sack to ensure complete unfolding of the inner sack on the inside of the shipping container.
Experiments to attach the lid section to the side panels of the shipping container using Velcro have brought less than satisfactory results because the load capacity of a Velcro connection is weak in itself and is additionally reduced as the hook and loop bands get dirty. This results in the undesired loosening of the lid section.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to further develop a shipping container of the kind mentioned above such that the connection between the lid section and the carrying bag can be disconnected and reconnected quickly and such that the lid connection is also capable of withstanding the high tensile forces at the lid section that arise during use.
This object, as well as other objects which will become apparent from the discussion that follows, are achieved in accordance with the present invention, by connecting the lid section to the carrying bag in at least a portion of its circumference by means of a zipper.
Zippers are available on the market in practically any desired length. Also known are reinforced designs from recreational and sports articles. To construct a shipping container according to the invention barely increases the manufacturing costs and the additional costs pay for themselves at the first re-working for the re-use of the shipping container.
With a lid section of a shipping container made according to the invention, it is possible to open or totally remove the lid section simply by pulling open the zipper. The interior of the carrying bag is then freely accessible for performing cleaning or repair jobs or to insert a new inner sack made of synthetic foil.
At the end of the work, the lid section is again connected with the carrying bag using the zipper and is again ready for use.
It is further advantageous that the entire lid section can be replaced when the zipper extends around the entire circumference. Thus, either an entirely closed lid section or one with a fill opening or fill funnel can be installed depending on the purpose of the application. For this purpose, the carrying bag only needs to be stocked with one half of the zipper sewed to the bag and it can then be combined with various lid section designs.
Additionally, it is recommended to close the fill opening with a sealing cover. It can be sealed under the fill opening from the inside instead of using a fill opening flap. This would, on the one hand, prevent shipped goods from spilling through the remaining opening, or prevent the goods from getting dirty, respectively, and on the other hand, through the unbroken seal—together with a sealed zipper—it would indicate tithe recipient immediately that the freight is intact. When re-using the shipping container, the lid section, together with the broken sealing cover will be replaced entirely.
The lid section can be connected to the upper side edge of the carrying bag. It is also possible to design the bottom of the carrying bag with a zipper connection according to the teaching of the invention.
Finally, it is advantageous to prepare a lid section as a spare part for a shipping container according to the invention, where an inner sack, particularly one made of a synthetic foil material and ending at the fill opening is provided for the lid section. The manufacturer of the shipping container can supply the user with such a ready-to-use lid section with inner sack, and the user can then himself replace a used or dirty inner sack with a new one by using the zipper for removing and attaching the lid. Avoiding a return shipment to the manufacturer increases the economic efficiency of reusing the shipping container.
For a full understanding of the present invention, reference should now be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
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Eurea Verpackungs GmbH & Co. KG
Milde Hoffberg & Macklin, LLP
Pascua Jes F.
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