WO2009120079A1

WO2009120079A1 - Bag-in-container assembly; method of using the assembly and a bag

Info

Publication number: WO2009120079A1
Application number: PCT/NL2009/050148
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jaap Jeroen Sondaar
Original assignee: SMQ Group BV
Current assignee: SMQ Group BV
Priority date: 2008-03-26
Filing date: 2009-03-26
Publication date: 2009-10-01
Anticipated expiration: 2010-09-26
Also published as: NL2001512C1

Abstract

A bag-in-container assembly (1) comprises a bag (2) to be filled with a liquid material and a container (3) for accommodating said bag therein. The bag has an outflow element (6) for emptying the bag. The outflow element extends outwards through an opening of the container and has a cross-sectional dimension smaller than that of the opening (7). The bag is provided with a collar (8) at the location of the outflow element, with collar surrounds the outflow element and which extends beyond the edge of the opening relative to the outflow element. The bag is freely movable with respect to the container, at least at some distance from the outflow element, in the unfilled condition of the bag. The collar is designed so that, in a filled condition of the bag, the outflow element is fixed in position relative to the container mainly by clamping engagement of the collar between the filled bag and the container.

Description

BAG-IN-CONTAINERASSEMBLY, METHOD OF USING THE ASSEMBLY AND A BAG

The invention relates to a bag-in-box assembly, comprising a bag to be filled with a liquid material and a box for accommodating said bag therein, said bag having an outflow element for emptying the bag, which outflow element extends outwards through an opening of the box and which has a cross-sectional dimension smaller than that of the opening, and being provided with a collar at the location of the outflow element, which collar surrounds the outflow element and which extends beyond the edge of the opening relative to the outflow element, and which bag is freely movable with respect to the box, at least at some distance from the outflow element, in the unfilled condition of the bag.

Such a bag-in-box assembly is known, for example for transporting liquid food products. The known bag-in-box assembly comprises a box accommodating a bag, which bag is provided with a valve as an outflow element, which valve extends through the opening in the box. To fix the valve in position relative to the box, a collar is formed round the valve prior to the filling of the bag. Said collar fits pre- cisely in the opening of the box and is clamped in place therein by means of clamping elements.

The object of the invention is to provide a bag-in- box assembly which provides a greater degree of flexibility.

This object is accomplished with the bag-in-box as- sembly according to the invention, which is characterised in that the collar is designed so that, in a filled condition of the bag, the outflow element is fixed in position relative to the box substantially by clamping engagement of the collar between the filled bag and the box. Because of this design of the collar, the fixation of the outflow element is not dependent on the size of the opening in the box, so that there is no need to select a different collar dimension for every different dimension of the opening. The collar according to the invention thus provides a universal fixation element. The assembly according to the invention makes it possible to remove the bag directly from the box after it has been emptied, without having to detach the outflow element from the box first, because the clamping fixation of the bag in the box is lost when the pressure of the filled bag against the collar is released. In practice the outflow element may be a valve, via which the liquid material can be removed from the bag. The collar may be provided already during the production process of the bag. In a preferred embodiment, the collar is designed so that the outflow element is freely movable with respect to the box in an unfilled condition of the bag, whilst in the filled condition of the bag the outflow element is fixed in position relative to the box only by the clamping engagement of the collar between the filled bag and the box. Apart from the aforesaid clamping engagement in the filled condition of the bag, the collar can be free from fixation means in this case.

The collar may be flexible, but this is not neces- sary. Because of its flexibility, the collar can adapt to the shape of the bag and the box near the opening, so that the clamping area is maximised and a reliable fixation is obtained.

In practice, the bag may be provided with a sepa- rate filling hole for filling the bag. Since the bag is freely movable with respect to the box at some distance from the outflow element in the unfilled condition, said separate filling hole can be flexibly connected to a filling nozzle of a feeding device for filling the bag. The collar is preferably made of a cloth-like (possibly woven) material, because said material will readily adapt to the shape of the box and the bag in the filled condition of the bag. Furthermore it is preferable if the cloth- like material of the collar has a greater strength than the material of the bag, because this will minimise any bulging out of the bag and the collar between the outer circumference of the outflow element and the circumferential edge of the opening in the box. The fact is that said bulging increases the risk of the bag being damaged in the filled condition thereof. In practice, said cloth-like material will be a woven polypropylene, for example, whilst the bag will be made of polyethylene, for example. In a special embodiment the cloth-like material envelopes substantially the entire bag. In this case the bag is folded together with the enveloping cloth-like material and introduced into the box prior to the filling of the bag. The collar may also be made of a thin plastic plate, which may or may not be flexible.

An additional advantage of the collar is the fact that the bag is also protected against heat, for example when the valve is disinfected, for example by means of steam, from the outer side of the bag-in-box assembly. The box may comprise a grid-like side wall, which is at least partially lined with a cloth-like material on the inner side. Said cloth-like material is preferably stronger than the material of the bag. It may for example be the same material as the material of the collar, but this is not nec- essary. The grid-like side wall may consist of a network of horizontal and vertical bars; the box may for example have the shape of a rack of metal, wood or plastic. In the aforesaid case, in which the cloth-like material envelopes the entire bag, the bag and the collar may be introduced into a grid-like box as one whole, without the inside of the box first being lined with the cloth-like material. The cloth- like envelope of the bag in that case functions as a protective and stiffening wall, thereby minimising the extent to which the filled bag can bulge out through openings in the grid-like side wall.

The collar may be positioned between the cloth-like material and the grid-like side wall. In this case the box for example comprises a grid-like outer wall or side wall of bars arranged crosswise relative to each other. The edge of the opening is in that case formed by parts of the bars, and the collar is pressed against the bar parts forming the opening in the filled condition of the bag. In fact it makes no difference whether the collar is positioned between the bag and the cloth-like material that lines the grid-like outer wall on the inner side thereof, or between the grid-like outer wall and the cloth-like material. In the latter case, the cloth-like material will be positioned between the collar and the bag, and the cloth-like material is clamped between the collar and the bag in the filled condition of the bag. The effect that is achieved in both cases is that the collar ensures that the bag cannot bulge out between the outflow element and the edge of the opening in the filled condition of the bag.

The bag-in-box assembly may be provided with a rigid supporting platform for supporting the bag and the box, in which supporting platform a space is present for receiving the outflow element, which is located near a lower part of the box. Such a platform is known for containers accommodating a fixed plastic tank. If a flexible container is used, however, the bag-in-box assembly according to the invention provides a possibility of adjusting the orientation of the outflow element relative to the box to a certain extent be- fore and/or during the filling process, so that said platform can also be used with the bag-in-box. If the outflow element is connected to the bottom wall of the bag, emptying the bag can be done in an efficient manner.

Means of attachment may be provided for attaching the outflow element to the box also in the unfilled condition of the bag. This is for example advantageous if the opening in the box is so wide in relation to the outflow element that the outflow element can easily move out of the opening, for example as a result of being bumped or by the force of grav- ity, before the bag is filled. In practice, said means of attachment may consist of a simple clamping system or suspension system, for example, so that the outflow element is indeed retained in the opening but is not completely fixed in position relative to the box. The actual fixation takes place when the bag is being filled in the box, in that the collar is clamped between the filled bag and the box. In the case of a grid-like box provided with a liner on the inner side thereof, the outflow element may be attached to the grid, therefore, whilst the bag, including the outflow element, is not attached to the liner.

The invention also relates to a bag for a bag-in- box assembly as described in the foregoing. The bag is pro- vided with an outflow element for emptying the bag, and with a collar surrounding the outflow element, which collar extends beyond the circumference of the maximum cross-section of the outwardly oriented, relative to the collar, part of the outflow element in relation to the outflow element, whilst the collar is free from fixation means. Said fixation means may be mechanical fastening elements, for example, such as clamping elements, as is known from the prior art. The advantage of such a bag is the fact that it can be produced at lower cost, and when the bag is used in a bag-in-box assem- bly, the collar need not be attached to the box before the bag is filled and need not be disconnected from the box after the bag has been emptied.

Preferably, the outer circumference of the collar is located at least 10% outside the circumference of the maximum cross-section of the outflow element, but it may be more, or less, depending on the type of bag-in-box in which the bag is used.

The collar may be flexible, so that, when used in a box, it can adapt to the shape of the bag and the box near the opening of the box.

The bag may be made of a cloth-like material, which cloth-like material preferably has a greater strength than the material of the bag. The cloth-like material may envelope at least substantially the entire bag. The invention also relates to a method for using the above-described bag-in-box assembly. The bag to be filled is placed into the box and the outflow element is passed outwards through the opening in the box from the inside of the box, being positioned so that the outflow element is movable with respect to the box before filling of the bag takes place and the collar is pressed against the inner side of the box around the opening by the filled bag while the bag is being filled. According to another possibility, the outflow element is still movable with respect to the box at the beginning of the filling process.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings, which are very schematic rep- resentations of embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of an embodiment of the bag-in-box according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a larger-scale sectional view of part of a side wall of the assembly along the line II-II in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail view of a valve and of a part of an alternative embodiment of the bag-in-box assembly according to the invention, to which the valve is connected.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a valve in an embodiment of the bag-in-box assembly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view on a different scale of the assembly along the line V-V in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to Fig. 5 of an alternative embodiment of the bag-in-box assembly.

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a bag-in-box assembly 1, which comprises a bag 2 and a container 3. The container 3 comprises grid-like side walls made up of bars 4, which are lined with a cloth-like material 5 on the inner side of the container 3, see Fig. 2. The cloth-like material 5 may form an outer bag, which is suspended in the grid and within which the bag 2 is positioned. However, the container 3 may also have completely closed side walls or outer walls made in one piece. The bag 2 can be filled with a liquid material and is disposed within the container 3. The bag 2 is provided with an outflow element in the form of a valve 6 for emptying the bag 2. In practice, the bag 2 may be provided with an inflow element (not shown) for filling the bag 2. The container 3 may furthermore comprise a filling bridge (not shown) , from which a feed line is suspended, which feed line can be connected to the inflow element for filling the bag 2. Fig. 3 shows by way of example how the outflow element extends through an opening 7 of the container 3 from the inside of the container 3. The container 3 is represented as a single, closed wall in this embodiment. The cross-sectional dimension of the valve 6 is smaller than that of the opening 7. At the location of the valve 6, the bag 2 is provided with a collar 8, which extends from the circumference of the valve 6 to beyond the edge of the opening 7. The collar 8 is flexi- ble and configured so that the valve 6 is fixed in position with respect to the container 3 in a filled condition of the bag 2 by the clamping engagement of the collar 8 between the filled bag 2 and the inner side of the container 3. In relation to the valve 6, the collar 8 surrounding the outflow element 6 extends beyond the circumference of the maximum cross-section of the part of the valve 6 that is oriented outwards relative to the collar 8. The outer circumference of the collar 8 may for example extend 10% outside the circumference of the maximum cross-section of the valve 6. To those skilled in the art it will be apparent, however, that a larger dimension of the collar 8 will lead to a firmer clamping engagement between the filled bag 2 and the container 3. On the other hand, a small dimension may suffice, for example if the materials of the bag 2, the container 3 and the collar 8 are such that the collar 8 cannot easily move with respect to the container 3 and the bag 2. Materials that are not easily movable with respect to each other have rough or, quite the contrary, very smooth contact surfaces, for example.

In this case the collar 8 is attached to the bag 2 via the valve 6, therefore, and the bag 2 can be used in containers 3 having openings 7 of varying dimension. The collar 8 may be made of a cloth-like material and exhibit a greater strength than the material of the bag 2. As is illustrated in Fig. 3, the collar 8 prevents the bag 2, which is relatively thin in practice, from bulging out between the edge of the opening 7 and the valve 6, which could easily lead to damage to the bag 2. The collar 8 is not limited to flexible elements, it may also be made of a rigid material.

Fig. 3 further shows that the collar 8 is free from fixation means for fixing the valve 6 in position relative to the container 3. In an unfilled condition of the bag 2, the valve 6 and the collar 8 can freely move with respect to the container 3, therefore. In the filled condition of the bag 2, the collar 8 (and thus the valve 6 connected thereto) is fixed in position relative to the container 3 on account of the fact that the filled bag 2 presses the collar 8 against the container 3 in that condition. In this case the valve 6 is only fixed in position relative to the container 3 by clamping engagement of the collar 8 between the filled bag 2 and the container 3.

As Fig. 1 shows, the bag-in-box assembly 1 is provided with a rigid supporting platform or pallet 9, which supports the bag 2 and the container 3 and which is provided with a space 10 for receiving the valve 6. In this case the pallet 9 has a flat supporting wall, whilst the space 10 is located thereunder. The valve 6 is thus located below the bag 2, so that emptying the bag can be done in an efficient man- ner. This position is easy to realise in the assembly 1 according to the invention, because the flexible collar 2 makes it possible to orient the valve 2 with respect to the container 3. It is also possible, however, for the valve 6 to be located at a different place in the lower part of the con- tainer 3.

Fig. 4 shows an alternative embodiment, in which the collar 6 is provided with means of attachment in the form of a hook 11 for attaching the valve 6 to a bar 4 of the grid-like side wall of the container 3. The fastening means may be of simple design, because the eventual fixation of the valve 6 relative to the container 3 is substantially realised by clamping engagement of the collar 8 against the container 3.

The bag-in-box assembly 1 according to the inven- tion is used as follows. A folded bag 2, which is to be filled, is placed in the container 3. The bag is preferably folded, as described in the present applicant's International patent application PCT/NL2006/050133. The bag disclosed therein only needs to be correctly positioned relative to the container 3 at the location of the valve 6; the rest of the bag 2 can in principle remain clear of the container 3. The bag 2 need not necessarily be connected to the container 3, therefore. In case filling takes place via a separate filling hole formed in the bag 2 at a location some distance away from the valve 6, it is possible to arrange part of the bag 2 over a suspension element (for example a substantially horizontally extending bar at the location of the upper part of the container 3) of the container 3, so that the liquid material will flow in the right direction into the bag 2 when the bag is being filled.

The valve 6 is passed through the opening 7 in the outward direction of the container 3 from the inside of the container 3. The bag 2 is positioned so that the collar 8 is pressed against the inner side of the container 3 around the opening 7 when the bag 2 is being filled. At the beginning of the filling process of the bag 2, the valve 6 may still be movable within the opening 7. A discharge line (not shown) may be connected to the valve 6 for emptying the bag 2. After the bag 2 has been emptied, it can be simply removed from the container 3, because the bag 2 is automatically detached from the container 3 in that condition. Possibly, the bag 2 must be disconnected from the container 3 only at the location of the valve 6 in case means of attachment have been used for connecting the valve 6 to the container 3.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the assembly along the line V-V in Fig. 1. In this very schematic drawing, the valve 6 is shown to have been pulled outward through the opening 7. The opening 7 is in this case formed by a hole in an outer bag of a cloth-like material 5. The valve 6 and part of the bag 2 and part of the collar 8 are now located outside the opening 7 in the space 10 of the pallet 9. Since another part of the flexible collar 8 is located on the inner side of the outer bag 5, said part of the collar 8 is clamped against the inner side of the outer bag 5 upon filling the bag 2. The outer bag 5 is stopped by the bars 4 of the grid-like container 3. To fill the bag 2, said bag is placed in the container 3 (possibly in folded condition) and the valve 6, as well as part of the bag 2 and the collar 8, are pulled outwards through the opening 7. The valve 6 may be connected to the bars 4 of the container 3, as described in the foregoing. As Fig. 5 shows, in this case the flexibility of the collar 8 makes it possible to position the valve 6 at an advantageous location relative to the container 3. In the illustrated embodiment, the valve 6 is positioned under a supporting upper surface of the pallet 9, so that emptying the bag 2 can take place in an efficient manner.

Fig. 6 shows an alternative embodiment of a bag-in- box assembly 1, in which the container 3 has grid-like outer walls comprising bars 4, which are arranged crosswise relative to each other, which outer walls are at least partially lined with a cloth-like material 5 on the other side thereof. Because of the grid-like nature, an opening 7 is formed, via which the valve 6 can extend outwards through the container 3. The edge of the opening is thus defined by parts of the bars 4. In this case the collar 8 may be made of a rigid ma- terial, but it is also possible to use a flexible material.

In the illustrated embodiment, the collar 8 is positioned between the cloth-like material 5 and the bars 4 of the grid- like outer wall of the container 3. This means that, seen from the bag 2, the valve 6 extends through an opening in the cloth-like material 5 and the valve 6 is provided with the collar 8 on the outer side of the cloth-like material 5, the circumference of the collar 8 being larger than that of the opening 7. As a result of this construction, the collar 8 is pressed against the bars 4 of the grid-like side wall of the container 3 in the filled condition of the bag 2, and the cloth-like material 5 is pressed against the collar 8. This is only shown very schematically in Fig. 6, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the bag 2 will press itself against the cloth-like material 5 around the collar 6 in the filled condition thereof, and thus press the collar 8 against the bars 4 of the container 3.

In contrast to that which is shown in Fig. 6, it is also possible for the collar 8 to be positioned between the bag 2 and the cloth-like material 5. In fact, a situation equivalent to the one shown in Fig. 5 is obtained in that case. The opening 7 is in that case formed by the opening in the cloth-like material 5, through which the valve 6 extends outwards. The collar 8 may in that case be so large that its circumference is not only larger than the opening 7 in the cloth-like material 5, but also larger than the opening formed by the bars 4 of the container 3. In that case the collar 8 is not only clamped against the inner wall of the cloth-like material 5, but also against the bars 4 of the container 3 via the cloth-like material 5.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the bag-in-box assembly according to the invention provides a greater degree of flexibility. The invention is not limited to the embodiments as shown in the drawings and described in the foregoing, which can be varied in various ways within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A bag-in-box assembly (1) comprising a bag (2) to be filled with a liquid material and a box (3) for accommodating said bag (2) therein, said bag (2) having an outflow element (6) for emptying the bag (2) , which outflow element {6} extends outwards through an opening (7) of the box (3) and which has a cross-sectional dimension smaller than that of the opening (7), and being provided with a collar (8) at the location of the outflow element (6), which collar (8) surrounds the outflow element (6) and which extends beyond the edge of the opening (7) relative to the outflow element (6), and which bag (2) is freely movable with respect to the box (3), at least at some distance from the outflow element (6), in the unfilled condition of the bag (2), characterised in 'that: the collar (8) is designed so that the outflow ele- ment (6) is fixed in position relative to the box (3) substantially by clamping engagement of the collar (8) between the filled bag (2) and the box (3) in a filled condition of the bag.

2. A bag-in-box assembly (1) according to claim 1, wherein the collar (8) is designed so that the outflow element (6) is freely movable with respect to the box (3) in an unfilled condition of the bag (2), whilst in the filled condition of the bag (2) the outflow element (6) is fixed in position relative to the box (3) only by the clamping engage- ment of the collar (8) between the filled bag (2) and the box (3) .

3. A bag-in-box assembly (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the collar (8) is flexible.

4. A bag-in-box assembly (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the collar (8) is made of a cloth-like material.

5. A bag-in-box assembly (1) according to claim 4, wherein the cloth-like material of the collar (8) has a greater strength than the material of the bag (2) .

6. A bag-in-box assembly (1) according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the cloth-like material envelopes substantially the entire bag (2).

7. A bag-in-box assembly (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the box (3) comprises a grid-like side wall, which is at least partially lined with a cloth-like material (5) on the inner side, which cloth-like material has a greater strength than the material of the bag (2).

8. A bag-in-box assembly (1) according to claim 7, wherein the collar (8) is positioned between the cloth-like material (5) and the grid-like side wall.

9. A bag-in-box assembly (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the assembly (1) is provided with a rigid supporting platform (9) for supporting the bag (2) and the box (3), in which supporting platform a space (10) is present for receiving the outflow element {6} , which is located near a lower part of the box (3) .

10. A bag-in-box assembly (1) according to claim 1 or one of claims 3-8 in combination with claim 1, wherein means of attachment (11) are provided for attaching the outflow element (6) to the box (3) also in the unfilled condition of the bag (2) .

11. A bag (2) for a bag-in-box assembly (1) ac- cording to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said bag

(2) is provided with an outflow element (6) for emptying the bag (2), and with a collar (8) surrounding the outflow element (6), which collar (8) extends beyond the circumference of the maximum cross-section of the outwardly oriented, rela- tive to the collar (8), part of the outflow element (6) in relation to the outflow element (6), whilst the collar (8) is free from fixation means.

12. A bag (2) according to claim 11, wherein the outer circumference of the collar (8) is located at least 10% outside the circumference of the maximum cross-section of the outflow element (6).

13. A bag (2) according to claim 11 or 12, wherein said collar (8) is flexible.

14. A bag (2) according to any one of claims 11- 13, wherein said collar (8) is made of a cloth-like material.

15. A bag (2) according to claim 14, wherein said cloth-like material has a greater strength than the material of the bag (2) .

16. A bag (2) according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the cloth-like material envelopes at least substantially the entire bag (2) .

17. A method for using a bag-in-box assembly (1) according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the bag (2) to be filled is placed into the box (3) and the outflow element (6) is passed outwards through the opening (7) in the box (3) from the inside of the box (3) , being positioned so that the outflow element (6} is movable with respect to the box (3) before filling of the bag (2) takes place and the collar (8) is pressed against the inner side of the box (3) around the opening (7) by the filled bag (2) while the bag (2) is being filled.