US3696991A

US3696991A - Double package

Info

Publication number: US3696991A
Application number: US203318A
Authority: US
Inventors: William F Willis
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-11-30
Filing date: 1971-11-30
Publication date: 1972-10-10
Anticipated expiration: 1989-10-10

Abstract

A double package construction utilizing a single rectangular sheet of flexible material folded and sealed to form two containers each having front and rear broad surfaces, side edges, and top and bottom sealed edges, the rear broad surfaces of the packages being joined by a web portion midway between their side edges, the web portion including perforations along its length to facilitate the separation of the packages without disturbing any indicia disposed on their front broad surfaces.

Description

United States Patent Willis [54] DOUBLE PACKAGE [72] Inventor: William F. Willis, 174a Addison Road, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. 90274 [22] Filed: Nov. 30, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 203,318

52 US. Cl. .229/53, 206/56 AB 51 int. Cl. ..B65d 31/00 [58] Field of Search.....229/53, 56, 69; 206/47 A, 56 AB,

206/56 A, 56 AA, 57 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,332,548 7/1967 Piazze ..206/56 AB 51 Oct. 10, 1972 Primary Examiner-Donald F. Norton Attorney-John Holtrichter, Jr.

[ ABSTRACT A double package construction utilizing a single rectangular sheet of flexible material folded and sealed to form two containers each having front and rear broad surfaces, side edges, and top and bottom sealed edges, the rear broad surfaces of the packages being joined by a web portion midway between their side edges, the web portion including perforations along its length to facilitate the separation of the packages without disturbing any indicia disposed on their front broad surfaces.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures DOUBLE PACKAGE two parts.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains generally to the field of containers, and more particularly to packaging having multiple compartments.

2. Description of the Prior Art Packaging structures having a plurality of container portions or compartments are well known in the art. The majority of work done in this area concerns the fabrication of pairs of connected bags usually from a seamless continuous strip of plastic tubing or other flexible material, preferably thermoplastic for ease of sealing. The tubing is heat sealed along comparatively narrow transverse areas spaced apart to distances equal to the length of a pair of bags. Midway between the sealed areas, the tube is cut nearly in two along a transverse line and the tube cut up into sections and along lines midway between the side edges of each sealed area to form a plurality of pairs of bags sealed at the bottom and connected together for a short distance along the periphery of the open ends. These pairs of connected bags are then suspended at their interconnection on a horizontal bar of a suitable device for filling and sealing purposes. After sealing, the interconnection between the bags may either be cut to separate the bags or left intact with the filled bags connected at their tops and extending diagonally downwardly away from each other. It can be seen that this technique provides, if the bags are not separated, a cumbersome, space consuming, double package structure in which the bags may all too easily be inadvertently separated because of the narrow and relatively weak connecting portion. 7

This multiple packaging has been extensively used in order to minimize manual handling of the individual bags or enwrapments. For example, one well known scheme is to provide a plurality of enwrapments connected at their top into a chain or series to facilitate the supporting, advancing, opening, filling, closing, sealing, or other operations to which enwrapments may be subjected during their use for packaging. As in the first mentioned double packaging, the interconnection aspects of the containers is basically to facilitate filling, etc., and they are usually separated immediately after being filled. However, if they are not separated, they present a difficult and costly package structure to transport, store and display.

Still another type of prior art double packaging is one in which a pair of back-to-back compartments are formed by side gussets, and a separate elongated strip of material interconnecting the centers folds of the gussets. This type of structure is well adapted for use as a double compartment collapsible tube, but not one which allows the compartments to be separated into two individual containers.

Possibly the latest development in the prior art in the area of multiple and separable container packaging is that of forming two side-by-side containers from a single larger bag by forming a seal midway between the side edges of the larger bag and then providing perforations along this seal. This technique has the disadvantage of disturbing the broad surfaces of the package structure by the depression caused in the sealing process, and also by the perforations. This is significant since these broad surfaces invariably are used to carry the product name and other informational indicia, including a list of contents, and instructions in preparation and use of the contents of the package. It should be readily apparent that the disadvantages of this scheme are extensively heightened when the bags are separated along the center line perforations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing factors and conditions characteristic of the prior art, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved double package structure not subject to the disadvantages enumerated above.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a strong, yet compact, double package structure.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a double package structure in which the joined bags are not easily separated by accident.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a double package structure in which the broad surfaced portions of the joined bags are not disturbed by the means used for joining the bags and are not disturbed by the separation of the bags.

According to the present invention, a double package construction is provided including a pair of package portions each having front and rear broad surfaces, side edges, and sealed top and bottom edges. The construction also includes a web portion joining the rear broad surfaces of the package portion extending along a line between the top and bottom edges parallel to and midway between the side edges, the web portion including perforation means along the length thereof for facilitating the separation of the package portions thereat.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims, the present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by making reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which like reference characters refer to like components in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a double package construction in accordance with the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the package construction of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of one bag, after the double package construction of FIG. 1 has been separated along the perforations in the web portion;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a double package construction in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawing, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a double package construction 11 having a pair of

similar package portions

13 and 15, each having opposite facing front broad surfaces 17 and facing rear broad surfaces 19. Also, the portions 13 and include side edges 21 and sealed top and

bottom edges

23 and 25, respectively. A web portion 27 joins the rear broad surfaces 19 along a line extending between the top and bottom edges23 and 25 parallel to and midway between the side edges 21, the web portion including perforations 29 along the length of the web portion 27 for facilitating the separation of the

package portions

13 and 15 thereat.

The broad front surfaces 17, it will be noted, are well adapted to display brand name and other advertising indicia, for example, as denoted generally by reference numeral 31 in FIG. 1. Unlike certain double packaging of the prior art, the indicia 31 is not disturbed or encroached upon by an inwardly extending seam and perforations down the center of these broad surfaces. In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides the web portion 27 extending between and transversely to the inner broad surfaces 19 of the construction. The separation of the

package portions

13 and 15 is readily accomplished by grasping the web portion 27 with the fingers of each hand on opposite sides of the perforations 29, and pulling apart at this point. This action will cause the web portion to divide, as illustrated by the single package portion and associated part of the web portion in FIG. 3.

The invention contemplates the fabrication of the double package construction using a single rectangular sheet of flexible packaging material such as, for example, a cellulose acetate or other plastic films such as polyethylene, or a paper product, or a thin metallic film. The sheet of material 33 is folded by appropriate machinery, as shown in the sectional view of FIG. 4, with a beginning side 35 and an ending side 37 (which are parallel to the side edges 21) overlapping each other and sealed together by any suitable process, along with a central strip portion 39 of the sheet 33 at the web portion 27. At the same time the web portion is formed by a heat or pressure process, for example, the perforations 29 may be introduced. In fact, the

bags

13 and 15 may be formed and filled essentially simultaneously along with the web portion and its perforations.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 5, a double package construction 51 includes a first bag 53 and a narrower second bag 55, joined in a unitary construction by an integral, transversally extending, web portion 57 with its perforations 59 extending therealong. In all respects, except for the relative width dimension of the two package portions, this construction is similar to the presently preferred embodiment previously described. Thus, a rectangular sheet of suitable material is folded so that its sides overlap each other at the web portion 57 along with a strip portion which is closer to one of the sides than the other.

The embodiment of FIG. 5 is well suited for applications where a sample portion is desired to be removably joined to a full sized container, or where the ingredients of the larger bag 53 is to be mixed by a user with the small r vo ume or diffe ent fo of in ed ts contained in the relatively small r bag g A g aint t lre advertising, instructional, or other indicia may be imprinted or otherwise caused to be displayed on the broad surfaces of the bags, and the informational content of the indicia will not be destroyed or disturbed by the separation of the package portions along the perforations in the web portion.

From the foregoing, it should be evident that a very advantageous and novel double package construction has been described which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. Also, it should be realized that the materials used in fabricating the various embodiments of the invention are not critical and any material generally considered to be suitable for a particular function or application may be utilized. Likewise, any sealing and perforating means which is adapted to handle the particular flexible material used, may be employed.

Although only two embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that the invention is susceptible to other embodiments within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the foregoing disclosure and the showings in the drawing shall be considered only as illustrations of the principles of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A double package construction, comprising:

a pair of package portions each having front and rear relatively broad surfaces, relatively narrower side edges, and sealed top and bottom edges, the distance between said front and rear surfaces being less than the lateral dimension of each of said broad surfaces; and

a web portion joining said rear broad surfaces of said package portions along a line between said top and bottom edges parallel to and midway between said side edges, said web portion including perforation means along the length thereof for facilitating the separation of said package portions thereat.

2. A package construction according to claim I, wherein said web portion extends between said pair of package portions essentially transversally to said rear broad surfaces.

3. A package construction according to claim I, wherein said pair of package portions and said web portion are integrally formed from a single sheet of flexible material.

4. A package construction according to claim 3, wherein said single sheet of material is rectangular and has beginning and ending sides parallel to said side edges, said sides overlapping and sealed to each other and to a strip portion of said sheet at said web portion.

5. A package construction according to claim 4, wherein said package portions have essentially the same width dimension, said strip portion being midway between said sides of said sheet of material.

6. A package construction according to claim 4, wherein one of said package portions has a greater width dimension between said side edges than that of the other of said package portions, said strip portion being closer to one of said sides than to the other.

Claims

1. A double package construction, comprising: a pair of package portions each having front and rear relatively broad surfaces, relatively narrower side edges, and sealed top and bottom edges, the distance between said front and rear Surfaces being less than the lateral dimension of each of said broad surfaces; and a web portion joining said rear broad surfaces of said package portions along a line between said top and bottom edges parallel to and midway between said side edges, said web portion including perforation means along the length thereof for facilitating the separation of said package portions thereat.

2. A package construction according to claim 1, wherein said web portion extends between said pair of package portions essentially transversally to said rear broad surfaces.

3. A package construction according to claim 1, wherein said pair of package portions and said web portion are integrally formed from a single sheet of flexible material.