SPOUT FORMING STRIP REMNANT
A packet for viscous material includes a pouch that comprises an expressing-shaped first closure end and a second closure end and at least two opposing sidewalls. The closure ends and sidewalls define an enclosure. At least one closure end has an expressing shape and a separate rigid foldable flat cradles the pouch. The flat is of a material that is more rigid than the pouch. A spout-forming area separate from the pouch and the rigid foldable flat, is positioned on a rigid foldable flat side of the packet. The area is of intermediate rigidity or thickness to the pouch and the rigid foldable flat. The spout-forming area is derived as a remnant from a semi-rigid material strip that acts as a pouch-forming tacking strip during a pouch forming process. The spout-forming area reinforces at least a part of the pouch at the pouch expressing shape first closure end. The separate rigid foldable flat overlaps the spout-forming area to cradle the spout-forming area with the cradled pouch. A crease extends longitudinally in the flat and along the pouch to facilitate folding or rolling the more rigid flat to compress the pouch with the spout-forming area to express a content through the expressing-shaped first closure end.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/613,661, filed Dec. 20, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and this application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/200,376, filed Aug. 28, 2008 which claims benefit of provisional application 60/969,232 filed Aug. 31, 2007, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to forming a packet, the packet and kit and method for dispensing a viscous material.
Viscous materials include sealant, mastic, adhesive, glazing, caulk, grout and glue compositions. Viscous materials also include silicone sealants and caulks that are used in building and construction applications. Some of these compositions are referred to as room temperature vulcanizable (RTV) compositions. They may include a moisture-curable polyorganosiloxane polymer, filler and a condensation cure catalyst.
In one procedure, a quantity of sealant is directly expressed from a dispensing tube or cartridge to a crevice or other area in need of sealing. Typically, the dispensing tube or cartridge is unwieldy and difficult to use on small jobs. Also, the tube or cartridge usually contains more material than an amount required for a particular job and some unused portion of the tube contents remains after a required amount has been dispensed. A dispensing tube with an unused portion is discarded or is saved for future use. Discarding is uneconomical and may be highly undesirable for environmental reasons. At present, there is no known recycling available for the wide variety of sealant compositions available on the market. If the container with residual sealant is not discarded, it is capped to save the material for future use. But, the sealant may include a volatile component that will evaporate to harden residual material. Other sealants may be settable from exposure to atmosphere oxygen. In these cases, unless the container is correctly reclosed, residual material will be lost.
Some dispensing containers are merchandised with a nozzle-engaging, snap-fit bead and grooved or screw threaded cap to provide a secure fit to the container body. But these caps are fragile pieces that are easily split or otherwise damaged from over-tightening. Or, the snap-fit bead and groove may not provide an enduring reclose fit until the time when the tube is next required for a caulk job. Some informal capping devices have included a nail that can be placed into the tube opening to effect a plug type reclosure. Or, the container cap may be merchandised with a plug member to provide this function. But, these solutions do not avoid content hardening for more than a short period of time.
Other reclosing approaches have included wrapping the container tip with aluminum foil or plastic wrap, securing with a rubber band and enclosing the entire container in a sealable plastic packet. But, oftentimes these mechanisms do not work because the packets rupture or the packets contain enough air to dry the tube contents. Additionally, a foil or wrap can not be closely and tightly fitted around the tube and nozzle without air gap.
There is a need for a viscous material dispensing packet that overcomes these problems of waste and difficulty of use. Also, there is a need for a reasonably priced solution to these problems.
Additionally, the present invention relates to a horizontal packaging machine and method to efficiently and economically produce the viscous material dispensing packet of the invention. In one method and apparatus, a continuous web of material is converted into a plurality of individual pouches. The continuous web of material is folded in half over a plow to form two continuous side panels joined by a bottom fold. The folded web is passed through a series of seal bars which form transverse seals between the side panels, thereby forming a strip of pouches interconnected by transverse seals. A cutter cuts through each transverse seal to form individual pouches with unsealed top edges. The individual pouches are transferred to pouch filler, filled with product, and sealed. The sealed pouches are then collected for transport.
There is a need to improve this method to address a problem of efficiently and economically forming and filling the viscous material dispensing packet of this invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONThe invention provides a packet, method and kit to overcome current problems of waste, cost and difficulty of use of viscous material dispensing packets. Additionally, the invention provides a method and apparatus to efficiently and economically form and fill the invention viscous material dispensing packet.
In an embodiment, the invention is a packet for viscous material includes a pouch that comprises an expressing-shaped first closure end and a second closure end and at least two opposing sidewalls. The closure ends and sidewalls define an enclosure. At least one closure end has an expressing shape and a separate rigid foldable flat cradles the pouch. The flat is of a material that is more rigid than the pouch. A spout-forming area separate from the pouch and the rigid foldable flat, is positioned on a rigid foldable flat side of the packet. The area is of intermediate rigidity or thickness to the pouch and the rigid foldable flat. The spout-forming area is derived as a remnant from a semi-rigid material strip that acts as a pouch-forming tacking strip during a pouch forming process. The spout-forming area reinforces at least a part of the pouch at the pouch expressing shape first closure end. The separate rigid foldable flat overlaps the spout-forming area to cradle the spout-forming area with the cradled pouch. A crease extends longitudinally in the flat and along the pouch to facilitate folding or rolling the more rigid flat to compress the pouch with the spout-forming area to express a content through the expressing-shaped first closure end.
In another embodiment, A method of forming and filling a squeezable package, the method comprising: directing a web of flexible film and a semi-rigid strip in a machine direction; folding the web of film to have a pair of opposing walls having a front wall and a back wall and positioning the strip between the front and back wall; selectively sealing a first opposing wall to the strip but not a second of the opposing walls to form an opening; removing sections from the folded web of film to provide multiple pouches connected at an upper portion thereof; separating the connected pouches from the web of film to provide at least one individual pouch with an upper opening; filling an interior section of the at least one individual pouch through the upper opening of the at least one pouch with a flowable material; sealing the second opposing wall to the strip to close the opening; and removing a non-linear section in the upper portion of the pouch to form the squeezable package having a trapezoid-shaped inner section derived as a remnant from the strip.
A kit according to the invention, comprises: an enclosure; a plurality of sealed packets contained within the enclosure, at least one packet comprising a pouch comprising: an expressing-shaped first closure end and a second closure end and at least two opposing sidewalls; the closure ends and sidewalls defining an enclosure, and at least one closure end comprising an expressing shape; a separate rigid foldable flat cradling the pouch and comprising a material that is more rigid than the pouch; wherein the pouch comprises a spout-forming area separate from the pouch and the rigid foldable flat and positioned on a rigid foldable flat side of the packet and of intermediate rigidity or thickness to the pouch and the rigid foldable flat, wherein the spout-forming area is derived as a remnant from a semi-rigid material strip that acts as a pouch-forming tacking strip during a pouch forming process and wherein the spout-forming area reinforces at least a part of the pouch at the pouch expressing shape first closure end; and wherein the separate rigid foldable flat overlaps the spout-forming area to cradle the spout-forming area with the cradled pouch; and a crease extending longitudinally in the flat and along the pouch to facilitate folding or rolling the more rigid flat to compress the pouch with the spout-forming area to express a content through the expressing-shaped first closure end; and a sealant contained within the at least one pouch.
In an embodiment, the invention is a packet for viscous material that comprises a pouch comprising: an expressing-shaped first closure end and a second closure end and at least two opposing sidewalls; the closure ends and sidewalls defining an enclosure, and at least one closure end comprising an expressing shape; a separate rigid foldable flat cradling the pouch and comprising a material that is more rigid than the pouch; wherein the pouch comprises a spout-forming area separate from the pouch and the rigid foldable flat and positioned on a rigid foldable flat side of the packet and of intermediate rigidity or thickness to the pouch and the rigid foldable flat, wherein the spout-forming area is derived as a remnant from a semi-rigid material strip that acts as a pouch-forming tacking strip during a pouch forming process and wherein the spout-forming area reinforces at least a part of the pouch at the pouch expressing shape first closure end; and wherein the separate rigid foldable flat overlaps the spout-forming area to cradle the spout-forming area with the cradled pouch; and a crease extending longitudinally in the flat and along the pouch to facilitate folding or rolling the more rigid flat to compress the pouch with the spout-forming area to express a content through the expressing-shaped first closure end.
And in another embodiment, the invention is a packet, comprising: a pouch having at least two opposing sidewalls; a first closure end; and a second closure end; the sidewalls and closure ends defining an enclosure; and at least one closure end comprising an expressing shape comprising a reinforcing material derived as a remnant from a semi-rigid material tacking strip for opposing walls formed from a folded pouch-forming web of film, wherein the reinforcing material forms a funnel-shape to facilitate expressing of material from the enclosure as a bead.
The term “sealant” as used herein includes an entire variety of caulks including silicones, latex and acrylic caulk; filler compounds; adhesive or mastic-type materials, such as stucco, concrete and cementious-material patching and crack filling compounds; gasketing compounds; gutter, flashing, skylight, or fish tank seam or sealant compounds; butyl or rubber sealants, cements and caulk; roof cements; panel and construction adhesives; glazing compounds and caulks; gutter and lap sealants; silica gel-based firebrick, masonry and ceramic crack fillers and cements; silicone-based glues; ethylene glycol-containing latex glazing compounds; and the like.
One preferred sealant is an organopolysiloxane room temperature vulcanizable (RTV) composition. The room temperature vulcanizable silicone elastomer composition can contain a silanol stopped base polymer or elastomer, reinforcing and/or extending filler, cross-linking silane and cure catalyst. These RTV compositions are prepared by mixing diorganopolysiloxanes having reactive end groups with organosilicon compounds that possess at least three hydrolyzably reactive moieties per molecule. The known RTV compositions are widely used as elastic sealing materials for applications involving the gaps between various joints such as: gaps between the joints of structures; joints between structural bodies and building materials in buildings; gaps between a bathtub and wall or floor; cracks on tiles in bathrooms; gaps in the bathroom such as those around the washbasin and those between a washbasin supporting board and a wall; gaps around a kitchen sink and the vicinity; spacings between panels in automobiles, railroad vehicles, airplanes and ships; gaps between prefabricated panels in various electric appliances, machines; and the like. Room temperature vulcanizable silicone sealants thus may be utilized in a wide variety of caulking and sealing applications.
Features of the invention will become apparent from the drawings and following detailed discussion, which by way of example without limitation describe preferred embodiments of the invention.
The packet 10 comprises a pouch 12 of plastic or foil film, a rigid flat 14 comprising a more rigid or thicker material than the pouch 12 film and the trapezoid-shaped area 16. The area 16 comprises a shaped material of intermediate thickness and rigidity between that of the material of the pouch 12 film and the material of the flat 14. In the embodiment shown in the figures, area 16 is trapezoidal-shaped with slanted sides from the sidewalls of the flat 14 toward the packet tip end 20. The trapezoid-shaped area 16 forms a tapered nozzle as shown in
The pouch 12 can be heat-sealed or otherwise cradled to the flat 14 as shown in
The packet 10 further includes a semicircular-shaped tear tab 30 to facilitate opening closure end 22.
The crease 26 promotes longitudinal folding of opposite rigid flat sections against the pouch 12 to compress the pouch 12 to express sealant 24 from the pouch 12 interior. The more rigid flat 14 comprises a rigid or conformable surface that is configured to form cradling compression surfaces against pouch 12 when folded by a force applied to opposite sections of rigid flat 14 as hereinafter described. The more rigid flat 14 can be a flat comprising any material that is more inflexible or rigid than the pouch 12 material. S shown in 4, trapezoid-shaped area 16 on the rigid flat 14 side of the packet 10 comprises a shaped strip of intermediate thickness and rigidity between the material of the pouch 12 and the material of the flat 14.
Materials suitable for pouch 12 include single layer, co-extruded or laminated film or foil. The pouch 12 material can be impermeable or only slightly permeable to water vapor and oxygen to assure content viability. For example, the film can have a moisture vapor transport rate (MVTR, ASTM D3833) of less than 10 g/day/m2. In an embodiment, the MVTR of the film is less than 5 g/day/m2 and preferably less than 1 g/day/m2 and most preferably of less than 0.5 g/day/m2. Preferably the material has a permeability rating of 1 or lower. Suitable film materials include a plastic film, such as low-density polyethylene or other thermoplastic or foil film material such as polypropylene, polystyrene or poly-ethylene-terephtalate. The foil is a thin, flexible leaf or sheet of metal such as aluminum foil for example. The pouch 12 film can be of various thicknesses. The film thickness can be between 10 and 150 μm, preferably between 15 and 120 μm, more preferably between 20 and 100 μm, even more preferably between 25 and 80 μm and most preferably between 30 and 40 μm.
In one embodiment, the film is a polyethylene and bioriented polypropylene coextruded film. An aluminum foil is a preferred pouch 12 film material. Suitable foil can be derived from aluminum prepared in thin sheets with a thickness less than 0.2 mm/0.008 in, although much thinner gauges down to 0.006 mm can be used. A suitable foil can comprise a laminate with other materials such as a plastic or paper.
The more rigid flat 14 comprises a substantially rigid substrate with a fold-imparting crease 26 or a substantially conformal substrate that can be rolled or folded against the pouch 12. The rolling or folding compresses the pouch 12 to cause sealant 24 to be expressed from pouch 12 interior through a nozzle 24 formed at the end 22. The material of the more rigid flat 14 is substantially inflexible and less compliant than the material of top film 12. In this application, the term “rigid” means having the physical property of being stiff and resistant to bending. In an embodiment, the bottom material 14 is more rigid as measured in accordance with a Taber Stiffness method such as the ASTM D1044 Taber test.
The flat 14 can comprise a suitable material such as cardboard, paperboard, corrugated board and any wood-based type of paper or rigid or semi-rigid plastic sheet material. Cardstock is a suitable more rigid material. Cardstock thickness is often described by pound weight. Pound weight is the weight of 500, 20″ by 26″ sheets. In the US, cardstock thickness is usually measured in points or mils that gives the thickness of the sheet in thousanths of an inch. For example, a 10 pt. more rigid flat is 0.010 inches thick; 12 pt. is 0.012 inches.
The flat 14 can comprise a combination of paperboards, usually two flat pieces of paper and one inner fluted corrugated medium. Further suitable more rigid flat materials include stiff paper, cardboard, pasteboard or paperboard including corrugated paperboard and polyethylene such as 0.0015 inch high density polyethylene. The more rigid flat 14 can comprise a substantially rigid material such as a thermoplastic, for example ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene). One preferred flat 14 material is a paperboard that is 10 mils or 0.010 inches in thickness or greater.
Corrugated fiberboard is a preferred material for flat 14. Corrugated fiberboard has two main components: a linerboard and a medium. Both can be made of a heavy paper called containerboard. Linerboard is a flat facing that adheres to the medium. The medium is typically an inner fluted corrugated material. The corrugated board can be one medium glued to one flat sheet of linerboard, a medium between two sheets of linerboard and even three sheets of linerboard with two mediums between. The fluted medium forms rigid arched columns that can resist bending and pressure from all directions. It has been found that a corrugated board serves especially well as a flat to cradle a sealant-filled pouch to aid in expressing sealant as hereinafter described with reference to
In embodiments, the pouch 12 comprises a multilayer polymer laminate along with an aluminum layer having a thickness between about 0.0045 and about 0.0065, preferably about 0.0055 inches. The area 16 comprises high density polyethylene (HDPE) having a thickness between about 0.012 and 0.018 inches, preferably about 0.015 inches. The rigid material 14 comprises corrugated fiberboard having a thickness between about 0.045 and 0.060, preferably between 0.050 and 0.055 inches.
The suitable pouch 12, flat 14 and area 16 materials can be subject to the proviso that the rigidity of the flat 14 material is greater than that of the pouch 12 material and the rigidity of area 16 material is intermediate between that of the pouch 12 and that of the flat 14 materials.
In further reference to
The apparatus 110 produces pouches from a continuous web of material 156.
Gusset-forming station 126 folds the web of film 156 to the semi-rigid strip 176 so that the semi-rigid strip 176 is between a pair of opposing film walls; rocker arm tacking station 128 attaches the strip 176 to one of the pair of opposing film walls; sealing stations 130 and 132 sequentially seal opposing walls of the web of film together at spaced sealing regions to form pouches between the sealed regions; and first cooling station 134 and bottom die cutter 136 form a gusseted pouch blank. Feed roller 138 feeds the gusseted pouch blank to filling final stage 114. Filling final stage 14 includes inflating station 140 where a pouch is blown open, fill station 142 to fill the pouch with product, de-airing station 144 that removes air from the filled pouch, first top seal station 146 that applies a first seal, second top seal station 148, second cooling station 150 to cool the pouch, top die cutter station 152 to cut top blank material from the pouch to form a narrowed neck adjacent a first closure end of the pouch blank 210 and pick off area 154.
The
Referring again to
A top sealed region is formed at first top seal station 146 and second top seal station 148 to close the opening in the pouch where the pouch was filled. A portion of the top sealed region can then be removed at top die cutter station 152 to form a plurality of final filled flexible pouches of the type identified as 12 in
The removal also forms an interior trapezoid-shaped piece, identified as 16 in
As shown in
The substantially rigid structure formed from the folding of two sides of the packet 10 can be firmly held and guided to express a controlled sealant bead 218 from area 16 as shown in
A selected packet 10 from a kit of the invention can provide a desired amount of sealant for any particular job. No caulk gun is needed to apply the sealant. Indeed, no extra tools or materials are needed. The packet is relatively small and easily maneuverable to apply an appropriate bead. Appropriately sized beads can be formed as trapezoid-shaped area 16 folds into a tip shape to express a desired bead. In this respect, the shaped area 16 is multifunctional. The area 16 is derived as a remnant of semi-rigid material strip 176 that acts as a tacking structure to form pouch 12 during the pouch manufacturing process. The packet requires little application of force for dispensing and in most instances, sealant can be fully dispensed by one hand. Saving left over caulk is eliminated. Both kit and packet packaging are inexpensive.
EXAMPLESIn this evaluation, each user squeezed a caulk-containing packet with one hand. Users then rated the packets on accurate dispensing, percent of dispensing and ease of use. The packets were evaluated accordingly and also according to manufacturability and cost.
Example 1This EXAMPLE describes a series of iterative evaluations of packet samples to determine a best more rigid material.
First, a range of materials including a paperboard, plastic sheet and corrugated fiberboard were evaluated for output performance. Sample paperboard thickness was varied from approximately 0.010″ to 0.100″; a high density polyethylene sheet (HDPE) was varied in thickness from approximately 0.005″ to 0.100″; and a corrugated fiberboard corrugation was varied from B flute to N flute.
User ratings determined that a paperboard with a thickness less than approximately 0.080″ did not have sufficient stiffness for acceptable dispensing and “ease of use.” A thicker paperboard gave improved performance results but was rated unacceptable because of bulky feel. Thinner HDPE samples below 0.040″ in thickness, were rated unacceptable because of insufficient stiffness. Thicker HDPE samples showed improved performance but increased cost.
Performance for corrugated fiberboard was best in the E- and F-flute range. The letter designation relates to flute size or refers to the number of flutes per lineal foot. An E-flute has 90+/−4 flutes per lineal foot and a flute thickness of 1/16 inch and an F-flute has 128+/−4 flutes per lineal foot and a flute thickness of 1/32 inch. The E-fluted and F-fluted corrugated fiberboard packets had a single handed use dispensing percentage of approximately 80% and greater. The E-flute corrugated fiberboards also received the best “ease of use” ratings.
Example 2Another series of tests was conducted to determine a best performing packet in terms of sealant bead shape. A standard bead was defined as a deposit of sealant with a circular cross section.
First tested packets had only a top film pouch and thicker bottom material sidewall. The thicker material sidewall was folded to form a nozzle. However, the nozzles formed from the folded sidewall were flexible and formed a non-uniform bead. A bead cross section would initiate in a shape of a thin horizontal diamond. Then later in the dispensing, the bead cross section would be formed in the unacceptable shape of a thin vertical diamond. Furthermore, the top film tended to form sharper folds and creases at the nozzle, making the cross section less uniform.
In the tests of this EXAMPLE, a semi-rigid material was added to one sidewall adjacent to the packet tip end. In these EXAMPLES, when the more rigid material sidewall was folded along its longitudinal axis to squeeze the pouch, the semi-rigid material bent in a controlled manner to a substantially U-expressing shape. The U-expressing shape ensured that one half of the cross section was more uniform and round and constrained edges of the flexible sidewall to provide a uniform and round expressed bead.
Example 33HDPE was selected as a cost-acceptable material for a top film pouch. The HDPE was found to adhere to the rigid foldable sidewall material. In expressing tests, the HDPE materials cooperated with the U-expressing shape in forming a desirable cross section bead. Optimum HDPE was determined through a series of experiments on 0.005″ to 0.030″ thick HDPE. A 0.015″ thickness was found to have the best performance of that range of materials in forming bead cross section.
Example 4a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), melting point 248° F., 0.009 to 0.10 mm thick material was used as the web laminate 56 material and an HDPE material, melting point 266° F., 0.008 to 0.10 mm thick (HDPE) was used as the semi-rigid strip 176. The tacking station 128 included lower gusset seal bars 124 that sealed the lower gusseted end of the blank pouch. Upper heating bar 116 was heated to about 319° F. Cool air from a cooling tube blows on an inner side of the upper cool bar 128 to maintain one side of the cool bar 118 at approximately ambient (72° F.), a lower temperature than the approximate 319° F. heated side of the heated bar 16. Then, sealing of one wall to the laminate 56 is accomplished by selective heating and pressuring according to the heat capacities, thicknesses of the wall and strip and dwell time of the heating/cooling application In the example, the temperature differential between bars 116, 118 along with a tacking pressure (0.2 to 10.0 pounds/in2) and dwell time (0.5 to 8 seconds), prevents the seal from entirely closing the blank so that the blank can be filled with product at a later station. In this embodiment, the heating bar 116 can be at a temperature from about 265° F. to about 340° F., preferably at a temperature from about 310° F. to about 330° F. and the temperature of bar 118 can be at a temperature from about 72° F. to about 100° F., preferably at about ambient.
In a method to form a squeezable package with adjusting relative temperatures at a rocker arm tacking station 128, a blank is advanced through a sealing section of the apparatus 110 in which a number of pouch forming operations take place.
Referring again to
In an embodiment, apparatus 10 can be used to produce a strip of multiple pouches. In this embodiment, a portion of sealed regions at a lower portion can be removed to provide multiple pouches connected by at an upper portion. The connected pouches can be separated at connecting web 56 to provide individual 14 pouches. Interiors of the individual pouches can be filled with flowable material through an opening in an upper portion of the pouch. Then, a top sealed region of the pouch can be closed and excess material removed from the top region by a die cutter to form a shaped spout area tapering toward the top sealed opening with a portion of the semi-rigid material strip adjacent the sealed opening to reinforce the opening.
In an embodiment, a pouch produced by apparatus 110, can be applied to a flat or card and filled with a sealant such as a caulk, to form a package, for example, a flexible package according to
In this application, a “pouch” is a bag or container to hold material. A package” a packet or container bundle that may include a pouch.
The fillable flexible packet 10 comprises pouch 12 of plastic or foil film formed from web laminate 156 in the forming method described above. The pouch 12 further includes flat 14 comprising a more rigid or thicker material than the pouch 12 film and a spout-forming area 16 on the rigid flat 14 side of the fillable flexible packet 10. The area 16 comprises a shaped semi-rigid material of intermediate thickness and rigidity between that of the material of the film 12 and the material of the pouch 12. The rigidity can be imparted from the section of semi-rigid strip 176 that is used in the forming process to tack web laminate 156. In the embodiment shown in the figures, area 16 is trapezoidal-shaped with slanted sides from the rigid material sidewall toward the tip end 24 that forms a tapered nozzle 24 when folded or rolled with the rigid flat 14. In forming packet 10, the flat or “back card” 14, can be folded to bow the semi-rigid material 176 behind shaped area 16 to define an arcuate outlet adjacent an opening at the first closure end 20.
The fillable pouch 12 further includes a semicircular-shaped tear tab 30 to facilitate opening at the tip 24. The top film can be pleated to allow for an increased volume of a sealant and the bottom can comprise a gusset to accommodate an increased amount of fill material.
The pouch 12 can be heat-sealed or otherwise cradled to the flat 14 as shown in
Materials suitable for pouch 12 include single layer, co-extruded or laminated film or foil. Preferably the material has a permeability rating of 1 or lower. Suitable film materials include a plastic film, such as low-density polyethylene or other thermoplastic or foil film material such as polypropylene, polystyrene or polyethylene-terephthalate. The foil is a thin, flexible leaf or sheet of metal such as aluminum foil for example. In one embodiment, the film is a polyethylene and bi-oriented polypropylene co-extruded film. An aluminum foil is a preferred pouch 12 film material. Suitable foil can be derived from aluminum prepared in thin sheets 16 with a thickness less than 0.2 mm/0.008 in, although much thinner gauges down to 0.006 mm can be used. A suitable foil can comprise a laminate with other materials such as a plastic or paper.
The pouch 12 material can be impermeable or only slightly permeable to water vapor and oxygen to assure content viability. For example, the film can have a moisture vapor transport rate (MVTR, ASTM D3833) of less than 10 g/day/m2. In an embodiment, the MVTR of the film is less than 5 g/day/m2 and preferably less than 1 g/day/m2 and most preferably of less than 0.5 g/day/m2. The pouch 212 film can be of various thicknesses. The film thickness can be between 10 and 150 μm, preferably between 15 and 120 μm, more preferably between 20 and 100 μm, even more preferably between 25 and 80 μm and most preferably between 30 and 40 μm. In an embodiment, the pouch 12 comprises a bi-axle oriented nylon (print layer), adhesive and a PET layer adhered to a liner low density polyethylene film.
While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, the present invention is capable of variation and modification and therefore should not be limited to the precise details of the Examples. The invention includes changes and alterations that fall within the purview of the following claims.
Claims
1. A packet for viscous material, comprising:
- a pouch comprising: an expressing-shaped first closure end and a second closure end and at least two opposing sidewalls; the closure ends and sidewalls defining an enclosure, and at least one closure end comprising an expressing shape;
- a separate rigid foldable flat cradling the pouch and comprising a material that is more rigid than the pouch; and
- a spout-forming area separate from the pouch and the rigid foldable flat and positioned on a rigid foldable flat side of the packet and of intermediate rigidity or thickness to the pouch and the rigid foldable flat, wherein the spout-forming area is derived as a remnant from a semi-rigid material strip that acts as a pouch-forming tacking strip during a pouch forming process and wherein the spout-forming area reinforces at least a part of the pouch at the pouch expressing shape first closure end; and
- wherein the separate rigid foldable flat overlaps the spout-forming area to cradle the spout-forming area with the cradled pouch; and a crease extending longitudinally in the flat and along the pouch to facilitate folding or rolling the more rigid flat to compress the pouch with the spout-forming area to express content through the expressing-shaped first closure end.
2. The packet of claim 1, wherein the more rigid flat comprises a stiff paper, cardstock, fiberboard or thermoplastic material.
3. (canceled)
4. The packet of claim 1, wherein the more rigid flat comprises a fluted corrugated medium sandwiched between flat paper pieces.
5. (canceled)
6. (canceled)
7. The packet of claim 1, wherein the more rigid flat comprises the crease extending along the pouch between the two closure ends to facilitate folding or rolling the rigid flat and wherein the crease is a longitudinal divide in the rigid flat sections configured to form cradling compression surfaces against the enclosure.
8. (canceled)
9. The packet of claim 1, wherein the pouch comprises a multilayer polymer and aluminum layer laminate having a thickness between about 0.0045 and about 0.0075.
10. (canceled)
11. (canceled)
12. The packet of claim 1, wherein the more rigid flat comprises corrugated fiberboard having a thickness between about 0.045 and 0.065.
13. (canceled)
14. (canceled)
15. (canceled)
16. The packet of claim 1, comprising a funnel shapeable reinforcing material at an expressing end that forms a shape to facilitate expressing of the material as a bead.
17. The packet of claim 1, comprising a reinforcing material at the expressing-shaped closure end, wherein the reinforcing material is trapezoidal-shaped with slanted sides toward the expressing closure end to form a tapered nozzle when folded or rolled with the rigid flat.
18. The packet of claim 1, comprising a reinforcing material at an expressing end that forms a funnel-shape to facilitate expressing of the material as a bead wherein the reinforcing material is a shaped area comprising high density polyethylene (HDPE) having a thickness between about 0.012 and 0.018 inches.
19. The packet of claim 1, comprising a reinforcing material at an expressing end that forms a funnel-shape to facilitate expressing of the material as a bead wherein the reinforcing material is a shaped area comprising high density polyethylene (HDPE) having a thickness about 0.015 inches.
20. The packet of claim 1, comprising a reinforcing material at an expressing end wherein the more rigid fiat is substantially more rigid than the pouch and rigidity of the reinforcing material is intermediate between that of the pouch and that of the material.
21. (canceled)
22. (canceled)
23. (canceled)
24. (canceled)
25. (canceled)
26. (canceled)
27. The packet of claim 1, comprising a pouch having dimensions of 20 cm to 4 cm by 15 cm to 2 cm with a filled thickness of 0.5 cm to 2 cm.
28. (canceled)
29. (canceled)
30. The packet of claim 1, comprising a pouch holding an amount of caulk sealant portioned or measured to seal an identified job.
31. (canceled)
32. (canceled)
33. (canceled)
34. (canceled)
35. A method of forming and filling a squeezable package, the method comprising:
- directing a web of flexible film and a semi-rigid strip in a machine direction;
- folding the web of film to have a pair of opposing walls having a front wall and a back wall and positioning the strip between the front and back wall;
- selectively sealing a first opposing wall to the strip but not a second of the opposing walls to form an opening;
- removing sections from the folded web of film to provide multiple pouches connected at an upper portion thereof;
- separating the connected pouches from the web of film to provide at least one individual pouch with an upper opening;
- filling an interior section of the at least one individual pouch through the upper opening of the at least one pouch with a flowable material;
- sealing the second opposing wall to the strip to close the opening; and
- removing a non-linear section in the upper portion of the pouch to form the squeezable package having a trapezoid-shaped inner section derived as a remnant from the strip.
36. (canceled)
37. (canceled)
38. The method of claim 35, comprising identifying melt temperature of the web of film and selectively attaching the strip to only one of the opposing walls by controlling heating to the identified melt temperature of one of opposing walls of the pair to define an opening between upper edges of the opposing walls.
39. The method of claim 1, wherein the semi-rigid strip is high density polyethylene and the web of film is linear low density polyethylene.
40. The method of claim 1 wherein temperature applied to one wall is about 265° F. to about 340° F. and to the opposing wall is 72° F. to about 100° F.
41. The method of claim 1 wherein temperature applied to one wall is about 310° F. to about 330° F. and to the opposing wall is at about ambient.
42. folding the more rigid flat to express the sealant from the packet to an exterior.
43. A kit, comprising:
- an enclosure;
- a plurality of sealed packets contained within the enclosure, at least one packet comprising a pouch comprising: an expressing-shaped first closure end and a second closure end and at least two opposing sidewalls; the closure ends and sidewalls defining an enclosure, and at least one closure end comprising an expressing shape; a separate rigid foldable flat cradling the pouch and comprising a material that is more rigid than the pouch; wherein the pouch comprises a spout-forming area separate from the pouch and the rigid foldable flat and positioned on a rigid foldable flat side of the packet and of intermediate rigidity or thickness to the pouch and the rigid foldable flat, wherein the spout-forming area is derived as a remnant from a semi-rigid material strip that acts as a pouch-forming tacking strip during a pouch forming process and wherein the spout-forming area reinforces at least a part of the pouch at the pouch expressing shape first closure end; and wherein the separate rigid foldable flat overlaps the spout-forming area to cradle the spout-forming area with the cradled pouch; and a crease extending longitudinally in the flat and along the pouch to facilitate folding or rolling the more rigid flat to compress the pouch with the spout-forming area to express a content through the expressing-shaped first closure end; and
- a sealant contained within the at least one pouch.
44. (canceled)
45. (canceled)
46. (canceled)
47. (canceled)
48. (canceled)
49. (canceled)
50. (canceled)
51. (canceled)
52. (canceled)
53. (canceled)
59. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 31, 2013
Publication Date: Feb 5, 2015
Inventor: Matthew Louis Fitzgerald, IV (Tomhannock, NY)
Application Number: 13/955,291
International Classification: B65D 35/38 (20060101); B65B 43/08 (20060101); B65B 3/04 (20060101); B65B 51/10 (20060101); B65D 35/44 (20060101); B65B 3/02 (20060101);