MULTI COMPARTMENT POUCH

Abstract

A flexible pouch having multiple compartments is provided. The compartments are formed by providing additional sealed areas in the flexible pouch that bond a front panel and a back panel of the flexible pouch together thereby creating a barrier between open spaces within the pouch.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 62/033,925 filed on Aug. 6, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to containers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a flexible pouch having multiple compartments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Flexible pouches are known in the art. However, previously known designs are only have one compartment and are thus capable, of only holding one substance. Certain foods, tobacco . . . etc. require separate storage. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a pouch allowing multiple substances or fillers within the pouch without allowing those substances to interact.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A flexible pouch having multiple compartments is provided. The compartments are formed by providing additional sealed areas in the flexible pouch that bond a front panel and a back panel of the flexible pouch together thereby creating a barrier between open spaces within the pouch. Each of the compartments can be designed for a specific purpose. For example, one compartment can be designed to hold liquid consumable goods, another compartment can be designed to hold dry goods, another compartment can be designed to store material for disposal, and a sleeve type compartment for storing various prepackaged items.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pouch of the present invention having two compartments;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the embodiments as shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is an alternative embodiment front view of the present invention having two compartments;

FIG. 4 is an alternative embodiment front view of the present invention having 4 compartments;

FIG. 5 is a front view of yet another alternative View of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective vim of the pouch as illustrated in FIG. 5 in a folded configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following is a detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention and should be read with reference to the figures. The present embodiment includes a flexible pouch, specifically a flexible pouch having multiple compartments. The compartments are formed by providing additional sealed areas in the flexible pouch that bond a front panel and a back panel of the flexible pouch together thereby creating a barrier between open spaces within the pouch.

A flexible pouch 10 includes a front panel 12 and a back panel 14. An outer perimeter of the flexible pouch 10 is defined by side sealed edges 16, a top sealed edge 18, and a bottom folded edge 20. It is appreciated that one of the side sealed edges 16 can be replaced by a folded edge and the bottom folded edge 20 can be replaced by a bottom sealed edge which may include the insertion of One or more gussets (not shown).

The front panel 12, back panel 14, side sealed edges 16, top sealed edge 18, and bottom folded edge 20 enclose the interior of the flexible pouch 10. The interior is divided into individual compartments 22 by one or more divider sealed areas 24. The divider sealed area 24 generally extends from the bottom folded edge 20 to the top sealed edge 18 thereby creating a barrier between the compartments 22 located on either side of the divider sealed area 24.

The flexible pouch 10 is made from a flexible material, preferably an extrusion or a laminate composed of sheets of plastic and aluminum or the like. An outer layer of material may include preprinted information such as a logo or the like to provide the customer with information regarding the contents of the pouch. The pouch 10 may be formed and/or filled using conventionally known manufacturing techniques such as a horizontal form fill seal machine with single or multiple lanes, a flat bed premade pouch machine, a vertical form fill machine, or the like. The pouch 10 includes the front panel 12 and the back panel 14. The front and back panel 12, 14 can be sealed along the side edges. A gusset may be inserted along a bottom edge and sealed to the front and back panels, and a fitment may be inserted along the top edge and sealed to the front and back panels. The pouch can be filled before the fitment is inserted or after the fitment is inserted by filling through the fitment. Sealing is accomplished by applying heat and pressure to the area to be sealed, ultrasonic welding, or any other method know those skilled the art.

The compartments 22 of the flexible pouch 10 can be configured for specific purposes, for example, a dry goods compartment 26, a liquid goods compartment 28, a disposal compartment 30, and a sleeve compartment 32. As shown throughout the figures, the various compartments can be combined in numerous configurations.

The dry goods compartment 26 includes a reclosable strip 34 and a tear-away portion 36. The tear-away portion 36 is located near the top sealed edge 18. Below the tear-away portion is the reclosable strip 34. The tear-away portion 36 includes a perforated strip 38 and a tear notch 40. The tear notch 40 and perforated strip 38 enable a user to remove, the tear-away portion 36 from the flexible pouch 10 thereby providing access to the reclosable strip 34.

The reclosable strip 34 can be opened or closed by separating the front panel 12 from the back panel 14 thereby providing access to the interior of the dry goods compartment 26. The reclosable strip 34 can be a press-to-close type closure, a reclosable adhesive type closure, a Velcro type closure, double-sided tape or any other similar type closure known to those skilled in the art.

In some embodiments, such as those shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the second compartment includes the tear away portion being disposed below and spaced apart from a main compartment (i.e. the tear away portion 36 is positioned below an upper portion of the main middle compartment—the tear away portion 36 is also spaced apart from any other compartment).

If the flexible pouch 10 has three or more compartments 22, then the dry goods compartment 26 is located as one of the outermost compartments so that the tear-away portion 36 can be easily removed. Alternatively, if the dry goods compartment 26 is located in between two other compartments 22, then the top sealed edge 18 above the area of the dry goods compartment 26 should be located and displaced above the top sealed edge 18 of the other compartments 22 so that access may still be provided to the notch 40 and perforated strip 38.

The dry goods compartment 26 can be used to store such things as food like candy or nuts, loose tobacco, chewing tobacco, bubblegum, a can of tobacco, or any other similar type material.

The disposal compartment 30 includes a reclosable fitment 42 and an absorbent material to help capture any liquids deposited into the disposal compartment 30 such as tobacco spit.

The fitment 42 is located along the top sealed edge 18 between the front panel 12 and the back panel 14, The fitment 42 includes a canoe portion 44. The canoe 44 is sealed to the front panel 12 and the back panel 14 with sealing methods described above.

The fitment 42 of the disposal compartment 30 also includes a cap 46. The cap 46 secures to the fitment 42 to prevent ingress or egress of material from the disposal compartment 30 when the cap 46 is in a closed position.

The cap 46 further includes a scented pad 48 that is adhesively secured to the cap 46. The scented pad 48 helps to reduce or eliminate unpleasant smells or odors that result from the material disposed within the disposal compartment 30 such as tobacco spit.

The absorbent material 50 is disposed within the disposal compartment 30. The absorbent material 50 helps to absorb and secure any liquid materials disposed within the disposal compartment 30. The absorbent material 50 can be a sheet of absorbent material placed loosely within the disposal compartment 30, a sheet of absorbent material that is secured to the front panel 12 and/or back panel 14 by means of an adhesive, or a roll-type absorbent material such as a cotton roll which is secured to the bottom folded edge 20 of the disposal compartment 30. To further combat unpleasant odors the absorbent material 50 is impregnated with a scented oil.

The liquid goods compartment 28 also includes a fitment 52. The fitment 52 of the liquid goods compartment 28 is disposed between and sealed to the front panel 12 and back panel 14 as discussed above.

The liquid goods fitment 52 of the liquid goods compartment 28 is located in an angle sealed portion 54. The angle sealed portion 54 extends generally at a 45 degree angle between the side sealed edge 16 and top sealed edge 18 of the liquid goods compartment 28. Alternatively, the liquid goods fitment 52 could be located along the top sealed edge 18 or the side sealed edge 16 (not shown). The liquid goods compartment 28 can be filled with water, sports drink, juice, mouthwash, or any other liquid.

The sleeve compartment 32 includes a partial tear-away portion 56 and is only enclosed along part of the top edge 18. Once the partial tear-away portion 56 is removed, the sleeve compartment 32 has an open top which is not reclosable. The partial tear-away portion 56 is removed by use of the tear notch 40 and perforated strip 28.

The partial tear away portion 56 allows the top edge 18 to be open before the partial tear-away portion 56 r removed so that a user can see the product contained within the sleeve compartment 32 when the flexible pouch 10 is initially purchased. Thus the flexible pouch 10 with the sleeve compartment 32 can be coupled with known products such as a package of gum or cigarette papers so that the user can see the specific branded good contained within the sleeve at the time of purchase.

The flexible pouch 10 also includes a hang hole 58. The hang hole 58 can be used to hang the flexible pouch 10 on a rack for sale or can be combined with a clip or hook to secure the flexible pouch 10 to a user's belt strap, golf bag, etc.

With reference now to the pouch 10 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the divider sealed area 24 includes a dividing tear strip 60. The dividing tear strip 60 runs generally though the center of the divider sealed area 24 from the top sealed edge 18 to a bottom sealed edge 62. The bottom sealed edge joins the front panel 12 to the back panel 14, as the pouch 10 in FIGS. 5 and 6 is formed from two separate sheets of flexible material further discussed below. The dividing tear strip 60 allows the compartments 22 to be separated from each other, thereby create two individual pouches 10, simply by tearing along the dividing tears strip 60. Tearing the tear strip 60 is made convenient for the user by the included tear notch 40.

The pouch 10 also includes a sick tear strip 64 and side reclosable strip 66. The side tear strip 64 and side reclosable strip 66 runs from the top sealed edge 18 to a bottom sealed edge 62, thereby providing access items stored in the compartment 22 from the side of the pouch 10. For example, when the compartment 10 is taller than it is wide, locating the side reclosable strip 66 so than it runs from the top sealed edge 18 to a bottom sealed edge 62 will provide a large opening to access products within the compartment 22, such as a can of tobacco 68.

To further enhance the user friendliness of the pouch 10, the size of the compartment can be designed and limited such then when the pouch 10 is folded along the divider sealed areas 24 the width W of the folded pouch 10, as shown in FIG. 6, is small enough to allow the pouch 10 in the folded form to fit into a standard shirt or pant pocket. It is understood and appreciated that while the folded pouch 10 shown in FIG. 6 has two compartments 22, pouches 10 having more than two compartments 10 can also be designed the have the limiting width W when folded along their multiple divider sealed areas 24.

The pouch 10 in FIGS. 5 and 6 is made from separate sheets of flexible laminate material. The sheets are larger than the pouch so that more than one pouch can be made from a single sheet. The reclosable strip 66 is seemed to the sheets, by way of sealing, heat treatment, ultrasonic welding, adhesives, integral formation, or any other method known to those skilled the art. The individual sheets with reclosable strips 66 are then overlaid, sealed to each other to form compartments, and cut into individual pouches 10. Alternatively, the top and bottom sealed areas could scaled after the individual ouches are cut. Additionally, fitment(s) and gussets(s) may also be inserted and secured, before or during sealing operation. Product may be filled into the pouch through the fitment.

As shown in the figures, various combinations of the different compartments 22 can be used in various quantities and arrangements to create different flexible pouches 10 sharing the inventive characteristics of the present disclosure. Additional combinations of the compartments 22 not directly disclosed in the present embodiments will be apparent to those having skill in the art.

The invention is not restricted to the illustrative examples and embodiments described above. The embodiments are not intended as limitations on the scope of the invention. Methods, apparatus, compositions, and the like described herein are exemplary and not intended as limitations on the scope of the invention. Changes therein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A flexible pouch comprising:

a first panel and a second panel, at least one seal bonding the first panel to the second panel; and

at least two compartments formed by the first panel and the second panel, each compartment having a separate respective opening, the compartments integrally formed, the compartments separated by the at least one seal thereby creating a barrier between open spaces within the pouch and entirely separating the contents of each compartment.

2. The flexible pouch of claim 1 wherein the flexible pouch includes three distinct compartments.

3. The flexible pouch of claim 2 wherein each of the compartments includes a separate respective opening.

4. The flexible pouch of claim 1 wherein the opening is a reclosable cap.

5. The flexible pouch of claim 1 wherein the opening is made of a portion of the first panel or the second having a tear seam.

6. The flexible pouch of claim 1 wherein at least one of the compartments includes an absorbent material contained therein.

7. The flexible pouch of claim 1 wherein the opening includes a reasealable strip having an adhesive.

8. The flexible pouch of claim 1 wherein the opening of a second compartment is spaced apart from any portion of the first compartment.

9. The flexible pouch of claim 8 where the opening is a tear seam.

10. A flexible pouch comprising:

at least two compartments, the compartments each having at least one flexible wall; and

each compartment having a separate respective opening, the compartments integrally formed, the compartments separated by the at least one seal thereby creating a barrier between open spaces within the pouch and entirely separating the contents of each compartment.

11. The flexible pouch of claim 10 wherein the flexible pouch includes three distinct compartments.

12. The flexible pouch of claim 11 wherein each of the compartments includes a separate respective opening.

13. The flexible pouch of claim 10 wherein the opening is a reclosable cap.

14. The flexible pouch of claim 10 wherein the opening is made of a portion of the first panel or the second having a tear seam.

15. The flexible pouch of claim 10 wherein at least one of the compartments includes an absorbent material contained therein.

16. The flexible pouch of claim 10 wherein the opening includes a reasealable strip having an adhesive.

17. The flexible pouch of claim 10 wherein a first compartment and a second compartment are provided.

18. The flexible pouch of claim 17 wherein the first compartment and the second compartment have a seal positioned between the first compartment and the second compartment.

19. The flexible pouch of claim 18 wherein the first compartment is adapted to fold onto the second compartment, the folding occurring at the seal so as to provide for a more compact package.