Abstract: The present invention provides a heavy-duty, multi-wall or multi-ply bag having gusseted sides and overlapping upper sealing edges of the pinch seal type, wherein a quick-opening construction is provided for such bag. The quick-opening construction consists of (a) a slotted portion formed of one or more slots in the outer wall of the bag, within the gusset and adjacent the upper sealed portion of the bag, and (b) a transverse perforated section on the inner wall or walls (plies) of the bag and disposed substantially intermediate the slots in the outer wall. The outer wall may be torn by fingers engaging the slots, and the inner wall or walls may be penetrated by fingers entering the perforations. The entire upper corner of the bag may be hand opened to provide a funnel for quick delivery of the contents.

Abstract: The invention provides a molded plastic handle for attachment to the upper end of a heavy duty olefin bag for packaging dry mix and the like, wherein the handle is provided with a hand-engaging opening, has an integrally formed depending skirt of alternating depending portions adapted to be sonically or impulse sealed to the outer surfaces of the upper edge portion of the olefin bag, with each of the depending surfaces so arranged that they do not overlap or correspond position-wise to the skirt depending element on the opposite side of the olefin bag, one of the depending portions being disposed midway along the handle, and a vertical strut being provided connecting the handle top portion to such midway depending portion. The invention also provides integrally formed reinforcing ribs at each side of the handle, on front and back faces, with downwardly bifurcated ends which extend to two end skirt portions, and thereby reinforce such end portions to equalize the load stress on the handle and top of the bag.

Abstract: A feeder system for serially feeding collapsed bag tubes including a first conveyor means for conveying a stack of tubes to a predetermined pickup location, second conveyor means spaced from the first conveyor means and feeder means disposed adjacent to the pickup location and between the first and second conveyor means for sequentially engaging the topmost tube in the stack and feeding it to the second conveyor means. The feeder means comprises a plurality of reciprocal picker arms and a pair of nip defining rotatable feeder elements disposed adjacent to the picker arms. The picker arms are adapted to serially transport the tubes from the top of the stack toward the nip defined by the rotatable feeder elements. The rotation of the rotatable feeder elements propels the tubes through the nip toward the second conveyor.

Abstract: The invention relates to the production of bags from a web of plastic film, such as polyethylene and the like, which is unreeled from a parent roll and caused to pass over a forming device to provide what is known as a "J" fold. More particularly, it provides a method and apparatus for producing double streams of side-welded bags in heat-welded pad form, wherein two "J" folds are provided on opposite sides of the film as it is unreeled from the parent roll to form two oppositely-disposed bags, severable from each other, and suitably mountable in stacked form as welded pads, or for mounting on wickets, pins, or the like. It also provides a novel stack of bags in pad form adapted to be mounted on clip boards or the equivalent, or on wickets, pins, or the like, and each individually severable from the pad to receive and package various types of merchandise.