Container for Fluent Material Including a Ring-Like Holder for a Bag

The present invention relates to a container of fluent material.

Containers for fluent material generally have an outer load bearing shell, frequently made of corrugated paper board such as double wall board or triple wall board, the additional layers provided by these multi-wall boards providing additional strength. The outer corrugated board container has within it a bag which is made of flexible material impervious to the liquid or other fluent material to be contained within the container. These bags are typically of a suitable plastic, such as polyvinyl chloride. Containers of this type for shipping large quantities and weights of fluent material are typically provided with a filler opening or fitting in the top of the liner bag, and the liner bag is usually provided with a discharge fitting near its bottom, for the discharge of the fluent material from within the liner bag of the container.

Examples of containers of the above type for shipping large weights of fluent material include Croley U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,692, Kupersmit U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,673, and Fremow et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,143.

A number of containers have been provided in which there has been support for the bag at the upper part thereof. Preston et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,015 discloses a container with an outer protective shell and a bag, and a member which engages posts within the container to which a filling spout in the center part of the top of the bag is attached for holding the top of the liner near the top of the container during filling. Prior to the attachment of the filling opening, loops at the upper corners of the liner are passed at the corners of the container to the outside of the container and held by adhesive tape. Other bags, not within outer shells, have been provided with loops at their upper ends, generally used for lifting the bags; see Green U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,235, Sekiguchi U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,853, Fell et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,502, Marino U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,457, and Natrass U.S. Pat. No. RE. 32,308. These suspension loops have been placed at the periphery of the bags.

The provision of holding elements or suspension elements at the edges of the bag do not provide support for the top of the bag in a uniform manner during filling or transport of the filled container.

Containers of the above type have been provided only with relatively small diameter filling fittings to which the liner bag was attached, as by adhesion or welding. Examples include Kuss U.S. Pat. No. 2,946,494, Walker U.S. Pat. No. 3,226,002, Edwards et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,051, and Preston et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,015. Other disclosures have provided no fitting at all at the top of the liner or bag, such as in Croley U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,692. In the former type, the rapidity of filling, particularly with materials of a paste-like constituency such as tomato sauce, required an unsatisfactorily long time. In the type in which no fitting was provided on the liner bag, special arrangements were required to associated and hold a filling hose to the bag.

There have been a number of proposals in the prior art for holding a liner bag of thin plastic material to the top edge of a receptacle such as a garbage can. Heitz U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,419 provides a number of embodiments for this purpose, there generally being provided an annular insert into the top of the garbage can which clamps the mouth of the liner bag to prevent it from falling into the garbage can. These annular inserts were either fitted into the mouth of the garbage container, or into the upper edge of the garbage container, where a molded plastic can was provided with a groove or recess to releasably receive the annular holding element. This construction was provided so that the holding element can be readily removed, to permit the replacement of liner bags in the garbage can.

Another disclosure of apparatus for holding a liner within a container is provided by Shenk et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,145,613, in which the top of a barrel is provided with a bead, and a ring has the mouth of a bag passed between it and the bead: a top is held in position against the bead by an expandable band, the parts being disassembled for replacement of the bag.

The discharge fittings provided in the prior art were typically of hard plastic material, often being tubular with a flange for connection to the liner bag and provided with other flanges for association with the container. Powell U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,807 is exemplary of such constructions. Rutter U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,018 provides a construction of this general nature in which a piercing spout is used, inserted in a rigid fitting and making its own opening in the wall of the bag. Hamilton et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,090,526 discloses a fitting having a flexible spout connected to it and included in the package. Savage U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,864 provides a variation of a rigid spout in which a plug is forced inwardly by a hollow probe inserted into the fitting. These known fittings require either puncturing of the liner bag, which is an often difficult and unreliable operation, or they need a valve, which is subject to leakage particularly under the pressures generated with high capacity containers.

Also known is a construction in which a drain spigot of generally tubular construction has a flexible plastic hose fitted over it, the hose being double-reversely or folded into an "S" shape, and held in the folded position by a clamp using screw threaded members. This construction is not adaptable to being enclosed within the container, and may require a tool such as pliers to effect the release of the clamp.

A container is provided made of corrugated paper board of a size and strength to contain a large quantity, such as 300 gallons, of liquid or fluent material, there being provided a bag within the corrugated board container. The container has a generally horizontal top, and vertical walls, and the bag has a generally horizontal top, and depending walls, which are of generally the same size and shape as the interior of the container. The bag is provided with a central opening, and with plural supporting loops located on the top, outwardly of the opening, the supporting loops being generally uniformly distributed, and being inwardly of the edges of the top. A supporting beam, in the form of a plate of corrugated board, is supported in the container adjacent its top, the plate having a central opening. The plate is also provided with a plurality of slots between the central opening and the edges, the supporting loops of the bag extending through these slots, and being held by keepers which are larger than the slots in the plate. This supporting construction for the liner bag serves to prevent twisting of the liner bag, or other distortion during filling of it with fluent material after it has been placed within the container.

The filling opening of the liner may be a conventional flanged and threaded fitting, with a threaded cap, or may be a composite ring comprised of a transversely configured metal ring and a configured and mating fiber ring, with the mouth of the bag laminated between them when they are formed in conventional manner. The diameter of the composite ring is larger than the diameter of the central opening in the plate, the diameter of the plate thereby defining the size of the filling opening of the bag: by this construction, an unusually large diameter opening is provided together with a supporting construction for the bag.

The bag is provided with a discharge spout at the bottom which is of flexible material, such as plastic, the outer end of the discharge spout having a threaded fitting and closure cap attached to it. Flow through the spout is prevented by the provision of reverse folds, and a compression block urged into engagement with the folded spout by a strap: the compression block has an arcuate face engaging the spout, and has a notch opposite the arcuate space to receive a knife for cutting the strap.

The container is provided with an interior bottom plate to which the bottom of the bag is attached, the bottom plate having a flap extending from it and lying generally along and inwardly of a wall of the container. The flap has an opening through which the spout extends, and the flap is slit downwardly from its upper edge, a pair of tabs extending from the slit to fold lines, the tabs being bent at angles to the flap in order to provide a recess for the spout. The spout is attached to the flap by an elastic band which passes through slits in the flap extending downwardly from the upper edge thereof, and passing around the top of the spout and the central portion of the flap. Opposite the spout, the wall of the container and a liner within it are provided with a vertically extending opening through which the spout may be moved to the discharge position, which is generally horizontal. An external flap, extending upwardly from the bottom of the container, is located over the opening for the spout in the container wall, being held in position by a metal band, which is cut to allow the exterior flap to be moved, to provide access to the spout.

Among the objects of the present invention are the provision of a container for fluent material having a liner which is supported to avoid creases by twisting while the liner is being filled, to thereby avoid creases, which may cause leaks, and to avoid a decrease in the quantity of material which may be introduced into the liner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a container and bag which may be rapidly and conveniently filled, through a relatively wide filling opening.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a container and bag having a holder for the mouth of the bag for both holding the mouth open during filling and for supporting the weight of the bag and the material therein, at least in part.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the present invention will be readily understood from the following specification, claims and drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a container for fluent material in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a blank for forming the shell of the container.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a blank for forming one layer of a liner for the container.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a blank for forming another layer of the liner of the container.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an assembled container, without a top and of a sub-assembly of a bag and components associated with it.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the attachment of the bag and the spout of the bag to a bottom plate and flap.

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of the spout and related parts shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a filled container, with the spout thereof extended in preparation for discharging of the contents of the container.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 8--8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view, with parts in section, of a support for the bag of the container.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a bag and related components of a container in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 11--11 of FIG. 10 and including a cap, broken away.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like or corresponding reference numerals are used to designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 an exploded perspective view of the parts of a container 20 in accordance with the present invention. These parts include an octagonal, skirted closure cap 21, a top plate 22, a bag 30, a bottom plate 50, an inner liner 60, an outer liner 70, and a shell 80.

The cap 21, top plate 22, bottom plate 50, liners 60 and 70, and shell 80 are made of multi-wall corrugated paper board, such as double wall board or triple wall board. Such multi-wall corrugated paper board is relatively strong, capable of sustaining heavy load forces, and is stiff, resistant to flexing or bending unless scored. The top plate 22 is octagonal, and has a central opening 23 and four slits through which extend suspension loops 32 of the bag 30. The suspension loops 32 and the slots through which they extend are substantially evenly distributed about the opening 23. The bag 30 has a spout 34 of flexible plastic material extending therefrom. Bottom plate 50 is octagonal and has a plurality of adhesive areas or double faced adhesive tapes 51 adjacent the perimeter thereof. There is also provided on the bottom place 50 a flap 52.

The inner liner 60 is octagonal and is made up of a series of rectangular panels. The outer liner 70 is also octagonal, and is made up of a series of rectangular panels having generally triangular flaps at their lower ends. Similarly, the outer shell 80 is octagonal and is made up, in part, of a plurality of rectangular panels.

FIG. 2 shows the blank for the outer shell 80, and comprises eight serially connected rectangular panels 81a-81h, separated by score lines. A flap 82 is adjacent to the panel 81a. The panel 81f has an opening 83 near the bottom thereof, of generally elongate rectangular configuration. Top flaps 84a-84h are provided on the panels 81a-81h, respectively, adjacent top flaps being connected by fold lines, except that top flaps 84b and 84c are separated by a slot 85 and top flaps 84f and 84g are separated by a slot 86. Bottom flaps 87a-87h are provided on the panels 81a-81h, and there are provided slots 88, 89 and 90, the latter two separating bottom flap 87f from the adjacent bottom flaps 87e and 87g so that only bottom flap 87f can be moved after the container is erected.

The outer liner 70 is comprised of eight rectangular panels 71a-71h which are separated by score lines. Double score lines may be used at spaced locations, as shown, such as those between panels 71b and 71c, 71f and 71g. An opening 72 is provided in the panel 71e near the bottom thereof, and, as will be understood, will be in registry with the opening 83. Generally triangular bottom flaps 73a-73h are connected by fold lines to the bottoms of the panels 71a-71h, respectively. A flap 74 is joined to the panel 71h, to provide a manufacturer's joint. The inner liner 60, as shown in FIG. 4, comprises the rectangular panels 61a-61h, separated by fold lines, panel 61e having an opening 61 at the bottom thereof of substantially the same size and shape as the opening 72 and the panel 71e.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a container made from the blanks 60, 70, and 80, the blank 80 being formed into an octagonal outer shell having the bottom flaps 87a-87f turned upwardly so as to extend along the exterior surfaces of the panels 81a-81h. A conventional strap 92 encircles the bottom flaps, and other straps 92 encircle the outer shell 80. At the top of the outer shell 80, the top flaps 84a-84h are seen extending downwardly along the outer surface of the panels 81a-81h.

Within the outer shell 80, there may be seen the inner liner 60 and the outer liner 70. The flaps 73a-73h of the outer liner 70 will have been folded inwardly to form the bottom of the container 20, and the inner liner 60 will have been secured by adhesive to the outer liner 70 before insertion into the outer shell 80 with the panel 61e adjacent to the panel 71e, so that the openings 62 and 72 are in registry. The liners will have been inserted into the outer shell 80 so that the openings 62 and 72 are in registry with the opening 83 in the panel 81f of outer shell 80. The liner 60 and 70 and outer shell 80 are shown in position on a pallet P. As shown in FIG. 5, the liners 60 and 70 have a lesser height than the height of the outer shell 80, so that together the tops of these liners form a ledge 91 provided by the top edges of the panels 61a-61h and 71a-71h. Thus, the outer shell 80 extends above the level of ledge 91.

Also shown in FIG. 5 is the bag 30, which has been assembled to the bottom plate 50 by the adhesive areas or tapes 51 (see FIG. 1). Spout 34 will have been passed through an opening in the flap 52, in a manner hereinbelow described, and the top plate 22 will have been assembled to the bag 30 by the passing of the loops 32 through slots in the top plate 22, in a manner to be described hereinbelow.

In FIG. 6 there is shown an enlarged view, with parts removed, of the lower part of the bag 30, resting on and adhered to the bottom plate 50. The flap 52 is generally rectangular, having a fold line 53 at its juncture with the bottom plate 50 and a generally horizontal top edge 54. An opening 55 is provided adjacent the bottom thereof, and a slit 56 extends downwardly to the opening 55. Laterally spaced from the slit 56 are a pair of slits 57a, 57b extending downwardly from the top edge 54. A pair of angular slits 58a and 58b extend from the opening 55 to partially define tabs 59a and 59b which are displaced from the plane of the flap 52 in order to provide a recess for the spout 34. The tabs 59a and 59b are folded outwardly along fold lines 58c and 58d which extend upwardly from the slits 58a and 58b to the top edge 54.

The spout 34 is of a relatively thin, flexible plastic material, and as shown, is transparent. Spout 34 is generally tubular in cross-section and has secured to its end portion a fitting 35 of hard, tubular plastic, the end 36 of which may be seen within the tubular end portion of the spout 4. The fitting 35 of hard, tubular plastic, the end 36 of which may be seen within the tubular end portion of the spout 34. The fitting 35 is secured to the spout 34 by a strap 37. An internally threaded end cap 38 is threaded onto the end of the fitting 35. As shown in FIG. 6, an elastic band 40 is used to attach the spout 34 to the flap 52, by being passed downwardly through the slits 57a and 57b, a part of elastic band 40 passing outwardly of the spout 34, and another part passing on the inward side of the flap 52.

To provide a closure for the spout 34 during filling, storage and shipment, there is shown in FIG. 6A a portion of the spout 34 intermediate the attachment thereof to the bag 30 and the fitting 35 (not shown). The spout 34 is provided with two reverse folds 41 and 42, providing three intermediate portions of the spout 34 which are contiguous layers. A compression block 44 is provided, which is generally in the form of a cylindrical block having a notch 45 therein, the notch 45 extending longitudinally of the compression block 44. A portion of the cylindrical surface of the block or element 44 engages the innermost of the layers of the spout 34, and is held against it by a strap 46, shown broken away in FIG. 6A, but shown in its encircling configuration in FIG. 6. The strap 46 serves to clamp the spout 34 in the dual reverse folded configuration shown in FIG. 6A and to clamp the compression block 44 against the spout 34. Strap 46 has at one end an enlargement with a passage through which the other end may be drawn and held in position: it is commercially available and a suitable construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,047.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the spout 34 will be configured as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 6A, with the compression block 44 in position and held by the strap 46, spout 34 extending through the opening 55 and being attached to the flap 52 by the elastic band 40. The assemblage of the bag 30, top plate 22 and bottom plate 50 will be positioned over the opening provided by the container formed of the liners 60 and 70 and outer shell 80, and the bottom plate 50 will be positioned so that the flap 52 is in alignment with the panel 61e of the inner liner 60 with the opening 62, and since the dimensions of the bottom plate 50 and flap 52 are somewhat smaller than the dimensions of the inner liner 60, the bottom plate 50 will pass downwardly within the inner liner 60, the resiliency of the paper board material at the fold line 53 urging the flap 52 to rotate in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 5, to thereby cause the spout 34 to enter into the openings 62, 72 and 83 and to lodge therein in a manner to be hereinafter described. The top plate 22 is larger than the bottom late 50, being of a size to permit it to pass inwardly of the outer shell 80, but not to pass the ledge 91: thus, the top plate 22 will rest on or be held by the ledge 91, the bag 30 being, in this configuration, substantially fully extended.

FIG. 7 shows the container 20, but without the cap 21, after it has been delivered to its destination, seated on the pallet P on which it was erected and filled. There is shown the octagonal top plate 22, with its outer edges adjoining the inner surface of shell 80 and there is also shown the flap 87f which has been rotated to a substantially horizontal position, following the severing of the strap 92. The other bottom flaps of outer shell 80 will still be in position adjacent their respective panels of outer shell 80. The spout 34 will be seen to have been pulled from the openings 62, 72 and 83 into a generally horizontal position, lying on the flap 87f. There is shown attached to the screw threaded fitting 35 a correspondingly threaded fitting 95 which is attached to a discharge hose 96, the threaded cap 38 having been removed. With the discharge hose 96 coupled to the spout 34, the strap 46 will then having been cut, as by a knife inserted into and accommodated by the notch 45 in the compression block 44. The compression block 44 will then be removed, and the hose 96 pulled in order to remove the reverse folds from the spout 34, thereby providing a passage for the fluent material from within the bag 30 to be discharged through the now unrestricted spout 34 and the discharge hose 96.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown the container 20 on the pallet P, with the bottom flap 87f open as in FIG. 7. The spout 34 is shown in position, still attached to the flap 52 by the elastic band 40. The spout 34 is shown located in the opening formed by the openings 62, 72 and 83. As will be understood, the elastic band 40 may be readily severed and the spout 34 is then swung downwardly as indicated by the arrow to provide access to the strap 46, for severing, as above indicated.

The edges of octagonal top plate 22 adjoin the inner surface of octagonal shell 80 above ledge 91, and to plate 22 has slits 24 therein, through which the suspension straps 32 extend. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the suspension straps 32 are each secured to the top 3 of the bag 30, as by adhesion or welding, in a conventional manner. The straps 32 are located on the top 33 of bag 30 at locations which are inwardly of the edge or juncture 37 between the top 33 and the side 38 of the bag 30. The straps 32 are also located outwardly of a fitting 39 which is secured in conventional manner to the top 33 of bag 30, the fitting 39 being shown provided with a threaded closure cap 39a. There are shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 keepers 31 which will have been passed through the straps 32, engaging the upper surface of the top plate 22. By this construction, the straps 32 will be prevented from passing downwardly through the slots 34 in top plate 22, and serve to suspend the bag 30 within the liners 60 and 70. The top plate 22 functions as a beam for carrying at least some of the weight of bag 30, and is supported at its perimeter by the ledge 91. During filling, with the cap 37 removed, and the bottom plate 50 resting on the bottom formed by the flaps 73, the empty bag will be suspended by the straps 32 and keepers 31 from top plate 22: twisting of the bag 30, as might occur under the forces from the entering fluent material, is prevented, and the occurrence of the creases in the bag 30 is also prevented. Creases have been found to be a source of leakage, the bag failing at a crease, and twisting has also been found to be a cause of creases, as well as causing a diminution in the available capacity for storage. The adjoining relationship of the edges of octagonal top plate 22 with the inner surfaces of octagonal shell 80 resists twisting of bag 30, and adds strength to the top part of container 20 after it is filled.

There are shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 an alternate embodiment of portions of a container in accordance with the present invention in which the mouth of the bag 30 is united with a ring which is of relatively large diameter, for rapid filling of the bag. In FIG. 10 there is shown a top plate 122, which is substantially the same as the top plate 22 except that the opening 123 therein (see FIG. 11) is substantially larger than the opening 23. Opening 123 and the ring in effect define the diameter of the filling opening of the bag 30, and in practice may be approximately fifteen inches in diameter: this contrasts with an internal diameter of slightly less than six inches of the fitting 39. The subassembly shown in FIG. 10 comprises, also, the bag 30 with spout 34 and the bottom plate 50 with flap 52, which are constructed as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. Further, the straps 32 and keepers 31 are substantially the same as those in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-9.

Referring to FIG. 11, there is shown a holder for the bag 30 attached to the mouth thereof: as shown, a portion of a composite ring 109 has in transverse cross section a pressed fiber hanger ring 110 with a relatively straight vertically extending portion 111, surmounted by a transversely curvilinear configuration comprised of a first inwardly convex portion 112, connected to a generally inwardly concave portion 113, surmounted by a bulbous portion 114. A metal holder ring 115 has a similar vertical portion 116 which is parallel to the portion 111 of the fiber hanger ring 110. The metal holder ring 115 has a mating inwardly convex portion 117 which generally mates with and has the same configuration as the convex portion 112 of the fiber hanger ring 110. The metal holder ring 115 also has an inwardly facing concave portion 118, and a final generally outwardly facing concave portion 119. Laminated between the pressed fiber ring 110 and the metal holder ring 115 is the upper or mouth portion of the bag 30, the terminus 141 of which lies under the bulbous portion 114 and adjacent the terminus of the metal holder ring 115. The opening through the composite ring 109 is provided by the inner surface of innermost ring 110 which is spaced from the mouth of bag 30 by the thickness of ring 110, thereby providing a large, unrestricted opening into bag 30.

The laminating and forming of the fiber hanger ring 110, the terminal portion of the bag 30, and the metal holder ring 115 is effected by conventional equipment, such as is used to form the transversely configured top and encircling ring of a conventional fiber drum. The mouth portion of the bag 30 will be seen to be laminated between the fiber hanger ring 110 and the metal holder ring 115, and has a portion 142 extending upwardly from the lower edge of metal holder ring 115, thence over the uppermost curved portion of metal holder ring 115, as shown at 143, and thence extends downwardly at a portion 144 to the central opening 123 in the top plate 122. The bag 30 then spreads out laterally from the throat portion 144, to provide the top 133 of the bag 30, there being provided a plurality of straps 32 and keepers 31, one of each of which is shown in FIG. 11. A conventional cap 150 may be provided to cover the filling opening into the bag 30, which is defined by the throat portion 144, the cap 150 being held in position by a conventional contractible ring (not shown) such as used on fiber drums.

The assembly of the rings 110 and 115, due to the transversely curvilinear and mating configuration thereof, causes the composite ring 109 to be axially fixed relative to each other so that they, together with bag 30, form a unitary separately joined structure which cannot be disassembled or disjoined without destruction of one or the other of the parts thereof. The composite ring 109 will be seen to rest upon the top plate 122, which functions as a beam, as above noted, and the ring 109 will be seen to be peripherally extending and of larger diameter than the opening 123.

There has been provided a container for shipping larger quantities such as three hundred gallons, of fluent material. The container includes a bag impervious to the material to be transported which is supported at the top thereof at locations which are spaced from the filling opening, and uniformly distributed relative thereto, but are inwardly of the edges of the bag. The support for the top of the bag is provided by suspension elements in the form of loops which extend through slots in a beam, formed as a top plate of multi-wall corrugated board, and is therefore of substantial strength. The suspension loops are prevented from downward movement by keepers which pass through them and which engage the top surface of the top plate. The keepers may be simple wooden dowels.

The filling opening of the bag forming a part of the container herein disclosed may be either a conventional threaded fitting with a threaded cap, or is a composite ring comprised of a pair of annular elements, transversely configured to prevent axial movement, and with the mouth portion of the bag laminated between them.

The container herein disclosed has a flexible discharge spout at the bottom, which when prepared for the filling of the bag, is reverse folded about two axially spaced fold lines, providing a portion of triple thickness, against which a compression element is secured by an encircling strap: the encircling element may be a wooden cylinder with an axially extending notch for the admission of the blade of a knife, for severing the strap.

The spout is attached to the flap of a bottom plate to which the bottom of the bag is adhered, the attachment being by an elastic band which encircles a part of the flap and the spout. The wall of the container, at its lower portion, has an opening through it which is occupied by the spout when the bag is filed and ready for shipment, the opening being covered by a flap extending upwardly over it, the flap being held in place during shipment by a strap which encircles a series of flaps at the bottom of the shell of the container.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departure from the spirit of the invention, and therefore the invention is not limited to that shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.