Woven Pouch Bag and Methods of Making the Same

Abstract

A bag having front, back, first side, and second side walls and top and bottom ends. The first and second side walls are disposed on opposite sides of the front and back walls and connect the front and back walls. The bag is adapted to form a substantially cubic shape when filled with a filling material. The top end includes a portion that is configured to be folded and removably attached to the top end thereby forming a substantially flat surface when the bag forms the substantially cubic shape. Each of the front, back, first side, and second side walls include (i) a first layer including a woven layer including strips of high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, or a combination thereof, and (ii) a second layer laminated to the first layer and including a film including polyethylene, polypropylene, or a combination thereof. At least a portion of the bag is heat sealed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A bag comprising:
 a front wall, a back wall, a first side wall, a second side wall, a top end, and a bottom end;   wherein the first side wall and the second side wall are disposed on opposite sides of the front wall and the back wall and connect the front wall to the back wall;   wherein the bag is adapted to form a substantially cubic shape when filled with a filling material;   wherein the top end comprises a portion that is configured to be folded and removably attached to the top end of the bag thereby forming a substantially flat surface when the bag forms the substantially cubic shape when filled with the filling material;   wherein each of the front wall, back wall, first side wall and second side wall comprise (i) a first layer comprising a woven layer comprising strips of high density polyethylene, polypropylene, or a combination thereof, and (ii) a second layer laminated to the first layer, said second layer comprising a film comprising polyethylene, polypropylene, or a combination thereof; and   wherein at least a portion of the bag is heat sealed by adding heat.   
     
     
         2 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein the second layer comprises polyethylene film. 
     
     
         3 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of: the first layer forms an interior surface of the bag or the second layer forms an exterior surface of the bag. 
     
     
         4 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein the second layer further comprises a low-density polyethylene fabric, a low-density polypropylene fabric, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of a portion of the top end or a portion of the bottom end is heat sealed to close the bag. 
     
     
         6 . The bag of  claim 5 , wherein a hot seal bar is used to seal at least one of a first edge of the front wall, a first edge of the back wall, a second edge of the front wall, a second edge of the back wall, the top end, or the bottom end. 
     
     
         7 . The bag of  claim 5 , wherein at least one of a first edge of the front wall, a first edge of the back wall, a second edge of the front wall, a second edge of the back wall, the top end, or the bottom end is sealable at a temperature of approximately 350° F. or below. 
     
     
         8 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein the heat sealing occurs due to at least a partial melting of at least one of the first layer or the second layer. 
     
     
         9 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of a first edge of the first side wall and a first edge of the front wall and a first edge of the back wall and a first edge of the second side wall are sealed to form a sealed corner, wherein an independent third film layer is combined inside the sealed corner. 
     
     
         10 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein the front wall, the back wall, the first side wall, and the second side wall comprise a plurality of additional seals arranged at the bottom end and extending between approximately 30° and approximately 45° from an edge of each of the front wall, the back wall, the first side wall, and the second side wall to form diagonal seals at the bottom end. 
     
     
         11 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the top end or the bottom end is folded so that the front wall is at least partially covered by a portion of the back wall and an adhesive is arranged between the front wall and the portion of the back wall to form a pinch seal. 
     
     
         12 . The bag of  claim 11 , wherein one of the top end or the bottom end forms the pinch seal and the other of the top end or the bottom end is heat sealed to close the bag. 
     
     
         13 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the top end is sealed and the sealed portion of the top end is folded over and attached to an exterior surface portion of the front wall or the back wall. 
     
     
         14 . The bag of  claim 13 , wherein the sealed portion of the top end is attached to the exterior surface portion of the front wall or the back wall using an adhesive. 
     
     
         15 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the top end is sealed and the sealed portion of the top end comprises a handle. 
     
     
         16 . The bag of  claim 1 , wherein the top end and the bottom end of the bag are sealed, and wherein the bag comprises between 3 and 60 pounds by weight of a filling material. 
     
     
         17 . The bag of  claim 10 , wherein the diagonal seals exhibit less than a 3% failure rate when the bag is subjected to a drop test in accordance with ASTM D5276 including hanging a filled bag at 145° F. for 72 hours followed by a 6 point drop test from a height of at least 4 feet, followed by storage at −27° F. for 24 hours followed by another 6 point drop test from a height of at least 4 feet. 
     
     
         18 . The bag of  claim 10 , wherein the diagonal seals exhibit less than a 3% failure rate when the bag is subjected to a drop test in accordance with ASTM D5276 including hanging a filled bag at 145° F. for 144 hours followed by a 10 point drop test from a height of at least 4 feet followed by storage at −27° F. for 72 hours followed by another 10 point drop test from at height of at least 4 feet. 
     
     
         19 . A plurality of bags arranged for display, storage, or transportation, the plurality of bags comprising:
 a plurality of bags,   wherein each of the plurality of bags is filled with a filling material and is substantially cube-shaped and comprises a top end, a bottom end, and front, back and two side walls   wherein each of the top end, bottom end, and front, back and side walls comprise a woven polymer layer and a polymer film layer laminated to each other,   wherein when each of the plurality of bags is filled with a selected amount of a filling material, at least one of the bottom end, front, back and side surfaces bulges outwardly from a center of the bag, and   wherein at least one of the plurality of bags is stacked on top of another of the plurality of bags.   
     
     
         20 . The plurality of bags according to  claim 19 , wherein each of the plurality of bags has substantially the same shape and dimensions. 
     
     
         21 . The plurality of bags according to  claim 20 , wherein at least one of a first edge of a first side wall and a first edge of the front wall and a first edge of the back wall and a first edge of a second side wall are sealed to form a sealed corner, wherein an additional film layer is combined inside the sealed corner. 
     
     
         22 . The plurality of bags according to  claim 21 , wherein each of the plurality of bags is adapted to have a plurality of the bags stacked on top of it. 
     
     
         23 . The plurality of bags according to  claim 22 , wherein each of the plurality of bags is adapted to have at least three of the bags stacked on top of it.