Plastic bag manufacturing process

Details Plastic bag manufacturing process Plastic bag manufacturing process

1999-02-25

2001-02-13

Vo, Peter (Department: 3721)

Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi

Container making

Pliable container

C493S204000, C493S227000, C493S288000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06186933

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process of manufacturing plastic bag and film products that may be used for a multitude of purposes such as, but not limited to, fast foods, supermarkets, retail merchandise and point-of-purchase bags.
More specifically, this invention relates to a process that produces a high volume output while having the flexibility to form plastic bags and film products of an ordinary variety or of a unique, highly specific shape.
Common plastic bag styles used by retailers in fast food chains, supermarkets and general merchandise, as well as in point-of-purchase applications, are typically of the bottom seal or sideweld variety. These bags are usually gusseted along their sides or along the bottom with the open bag mouth at the top. Many of these common bags have carrying handles, usually of the strap variety or die-cut holes, and any take on unique shapes, such as the bags of U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,262 Roen, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,378 Baxley, et al., and my U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,639. Plastic bags of these varieties are typically made on bag machines, which run from 2 to 5 lanes across in order to maximize production efficiencies. Upon the final cutting and sealing operation, they are stacked up and usually die cut to create handles holes, strap handles, tabs, or unique bag shapes.
We have learned from U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,858 Snowden a method of improving the output of certain types of detachable bags by making a single intermediate die cut that leaves them interconnected at their open ends. The die cut leaves a traverse, weakened tear line that extends across the bag width, which keeps the interconnected bags together after the die cutting process. The bags are then cut and separated at the intermediate tear line, or are folded over into packs, either of which would then be packed in a shipping carton. Folding the bags over into packs will create an undesirable situation if a detachable bag pack is to be subsequently mounted onto hook type holders. The folding process will cause the bags to shingle, thereby making it very difficult to line up the mounting holes in the detachable tabs. Extra time and labor is also required in order to separate the interconnected bags, regardless of their ultimate use.
Whether a bag pack is bottom sealed or sidewelded, a process that can take a bag stack and sever it into two or more independent stacks—without being S interconnected with traverse tear lines, and incurring extra handling—would be desirable. The handling of the bag packs must be a simple easy-to-use method to ensure a quality output with minimum training. Furthermore, the process should be versatile and capable of making any number of bag styles—not just limited to detachable bags.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A process for bag manufacture of a bag having a first dimension from a sealed bottom of the bag to an open top of the bag, the bag being fabricated from a continuous tube of plastic film bag material. The process includes the steps of providing a continuous tube of plastic film bag material. The side edges of the bag material are folded between a front bag panel and a rear bag panel to form gussets. Preferably, the front bag panel and the rear bag panel are confronted to and in contact with one another at an inside surface of the front bag panel and the rear bag panel. A sealing station having apparatus for placing two parallel and spaced apart seals and a knife for cutting the continuous tube of the plastic film bag material between the two parallel and spaced apart seals. First adjacent double seals are formed across the front bag panel and the rear bag panel, the double seals in parallel side-by-side relation with one another with the plastic film bag material there between. These seals are cut across the continuous tube of plastic film bag material between the first adjacent double seals. The continuous tube of plastic film bag material is at least twice the first dimension from the sealed bottom of the bag to the open top of the bag. This forms second adjacent double seals across the front bag panel and the rear bag panel, the second adjacent double seals in parallel side-by-side relation with one another. By cutting the continuous tube of plastic film bag material between the second adjacent double seals, a double bag unit is formed and severed having single seals at opposite ends of the double bag unit with a continuous tube of plastic film bag material having two first dimensions between the single seals at opposite ends of the double bag unit.
The present invention refers to a process of manufacturing and die cutting bottom seal or sideweld bags into two or more independent stacks per lane. The versatility of the present invention lends itself to create new bag styles that have never before been cost-effective to manufacture.
The present invention does this by first sealing flattened tube stock at both ends and then die cutting through the entire stack at an intermediate point, thus creating two independent bag stacks. Once the die cutting operation has been completed, the two newly formed, independent bag stacks are then mechanically transferred to a packing station for packing into shipping cartons.
By cutting the bag stacks at this intermediate point, a multitude of bag styles and shapes can be formed that would otherwise not be cost effective to produce. This may include bags with extended tabs and portions above or below the bag mouth, which tabs would be perfectly aligned, bags with sculptured shoulders, T-shirt style grocery bags and so on.


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