Methods of making flexible containers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10414523-B2
Application number	US-201715586313-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 4, 2017
Priority date	Aug 6, 2012
Publication date	Sep 17, 2019
Grant date	Sep 17, 2019

Abstract

Methods of making non-durable self-supporting flexible containers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of forming a flexible container, the method comprising providing one or more flexible materials, wherein the method further comprises:
joining together at least a portion of the one or more flexible materials to form:
a product volume;
a plurality of structural support members, each of which includes an expanded structural support volume, which is a fillable space made from the one or more flexible materials configured to be filled with one or more gases at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure to create tension in the one or more flexible materials, wherein the plurality of structural support members supports the product volume; and

forming, from the one or more flexible materials, a dispenser that is configured to dispense a fluent product from the product volume when the product volume is squeezed;
filling the product volume so that the product volume directly contains a fluent product.

2. The method of claim 1 , including providing into the structural support volume one or more expansion materials, which form the one or more gases to fill the one or more structural support volume, wherein the providing occurs before the filling of the product volume.

3. The method of claim 2 , including expanding the one or more expansion materials to form the one or more gases that fill the one or more structural support volume, wherein the expanding occurs before the filling of the product volume.

4. The method of claim 1 , including providing into the structural support volume one or more expansion materials, which form the one or more gases to fill the one or more structural support volume, wherein the providing occurs at the same time as the filling of the product volume.

5. The method of claim 4 , including expanding the one or more expansion materials to form the one or more gases that fill the one or more structural support volume, wherein the expanding occurs at the same time as the filling of the product volume.

6. The method of claim 1 , including providing into the structural support volume one or more expansion materials, which form the one or more gases to fill the one or more structural support volume, wherein the providing occurs after the filling of the product volume.

7. The method of claim 6 , including expanding the one or more expansion materials to form the one or more gases that fill the one or more structural support volume, wherein the expanding occurs after the filling of the product volume.

8. The method of claim 1 , including providing into the structural support volume one or more expansion materials, which form the one or more gases to fill the one or more structural support volume, wherein the one or more expansion materials include one or more materials selected from the group consisting of:
a compressed gas;
a cold gas; and
combinations thereof.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more expansion materials includes liquid nitrogen.

10. The method of claim 1 , including providing into the structural support volume one or more expansion materials, which form the one or more gases to fill the one or more structural support volume, and closing the structural support volume by sealing, after the providing of the one or more expansion materials.

11. The method of claim 1 , including closing the product volume with a seal, after the filling of the product volume.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing includes providing the one or more flexible materials, which include a flexible inner sheet and a flexible outer sheer.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the providing includes providing the flexible inner sheet, which is a continuous sheet.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the providing includes providing the flexible outer sheet, which is a continuous sheet.

Assignees

• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Stanley Scott Kendyl
• Mcguire Kenneth Stephen
• Berg Jr Charles John
• Arent Lee Mathew
• Rapach Andrew Paul
• You Jun

Classifications

• B65D75/008 Primary

  Standing pouches, i.e. "Standbeutel" · CPC title

• B65D81/3261

  Flexible containers having several compartments · CPC title

• B65D75/525

  External rigid or semi-rigid supports · CPC title

• B65D33/02

  Local reinforcements or stiffening inserts, e.g. wires, strings, strips or frames {(B65D33/007 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B65B3/02 Primary

  Machines characterised by the incorporation of means for making the containers or receptacles · CPC title