SUMMARY AND OBJECTIVE OF TOE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention therefore to overcome or substantially reduce these disadvantages, primarely the strengthening, increasing or reducing of the weft in the fabric where nessasary, which may be in various places and various lengths in a length of fabric used to make a flexible bulk container or any other type of bag with utility requiring such.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention , there is provided a method of making a flexible bag for the transportation of material, comprising the steps of weaving a base fabric on a loom but more specifically a circular loom from body yarns, and increasing or decreasing the weft yarns in selected areas during weaving of the base fabric in the intended load-bearing and non-load bearing directions, this may be accompanied with reinforced warp yarns in defined areas forming the fabric so-formed produced into a bag. and attaching lifting means to the bag or join with a seam, weld or glue at selected areas having the aforementioned increased weft yarns, the tension of the increased weft yarns during weaving preferably being greater than the tension of the lesser weft yarns in the longditudinal load-bearing direction where there are little or no lateral forces in certain types of designs described herein and being greater in the area where lifting belts or lifting devices are attached in other designs described herein or a cobination of both.

The tension of the increased weft yarn is preferably controlled to be higher than that of the lesser yarns. This achieved for example by using a programed servo drive or motor to increase and decrease the weft yarn, a programed servo motor is preferable as many patems can be achieved for various bag types, this may also be achieved by a number of gears but would not be as efficient and be more complicated compared to a server or step motor.

Typicaly there are between 6 and 8 shuttles in a circular loom, each shuttle may contain different types of yarns.

Because the weft yarns on a circular loom are on a bobbin in a shutle, the type and width of the yarn is important to get the maximum benefit of the desired pattern.

These yarns may be flat, fribrillated or multi fillamented.

In a typical constuction of the fabric described in this method a 5 mm yarn of 2300 denier with a 6 grams per denier strength, woven with 20 ends per 100mm will make a flat fabric with a strength of 300 kilograms per 100mm, when increased to 40 yarn ends per 100mm this will double to 600kg. This doubling will cause the 5mm yarns to fold and tighten the fabric in this area, The warp ends may be of another width and denier and of another type .

What is important and is one of the objects of the invention is in a single or two point lift container bag and where the body of the bag is used for lifting, there is a substantial part of the body that does not contain any product or particulate, The inventor understands that this area of the fabric has no lateral load-bearing only longditudinal load or lift load, what is also understood that there is a certain amount of fabric that needs to be drawn together to form the lifting part of the Container bag By reducing the weft in this area the yarn or fibers are easier to draw' together.

This will allow for a reduction in material and an increas in weaving output.

It is also understood that there are various tests that a FIBC must comply with, these being

1 Drop test

2 Pressure-bearing test

3 Topple test

4 Righting test

What the invention aims to overcome is to pass all these tests by decreasing the amount of raw material or yarns needed to to do the same in a convetional manner. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a flexible bag for the transportation of material comprising a body of textile material woven on a circular loom in the manner described herein, said flexible bag being very difficult and uneconomically to produce on a flat loom.

Said body of material being tubular and once cut to its desired shape is rotated 90 degrees whereby the weft now becomes the warp and warp becomes the weft.

The weaving of such a body of material allows for a variety of flexible bag designs that were not economically or able in the past.

What the invention aims to overcome is the making of coated bags with a base area greater than 900cm with reinforced or increased area of yarns by using a coating machine with a die of 2meters or less and such material made on a circular loom in accordance with the method of weaving described herein

It is understood that the hight of a FIBC bag cannot excede 2 times its base, therefore for tall coated bags a wide die coating machine is needed, to coat a circular woven material of 2 meters wide or 4 meter circumference with reinfoced areas in its warp direction a die greater than 2 meters is needed and such material needs to be ran twice as both sides need to be coated.

With the method described herein, a fabric can be woven on a circular loom, slit on 2 sides and wound on to 2 seperate winders to produce a flat cloth now with areas of increased strength in the horizontal plane, and may also have reinforced or areas of increased strength in the longitudinal plane.

The said woven material can now be cut in accordance to a pattern woven into such said length of woven material and completed to form a Flexible container bag.

These designs and methods will be shown in the drawings

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to containers for the transport of materials and more particularly to flexible intermediate bulk containers for the transportation of particulate material in bulk such as powders, pellets, granules, flakes, etc.

There are m an y methods of producing such container bags and improvments to the ma terials, machines and methods of construction, are being made but there are still disadvantages in some areas.

Ultimately the invention must have an economical advantage whether it is in the material or the manufacturing process .

The invention covers both.

There are two main variables to consider when producing such container bags being the load in the horizontal direction and the load in the longitudinal direction.

The horizontal being pressure contained by the weft yarns and the longitudinal being load carried by the warp yarns.

Other considerations are the type of fabric used and the way such fabrics are produced and the way in which the fabric is used to make such container bags

The containers are intended to contain a substantial quantity of material, for example in the range of one half of a ton to two ton. A problem that arises in the construction of such a container, known in tire art as an Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC), is that of providing adequate strength because the containers may be roughly handled and/or mishandled and subjected to impulsive forces by the crane or fork lift truck during lifting and transportation.

Common failure points are at the seams, on the base or body of the woven material or at the point of of attachment of a lifting loop to the main body of the container bag.

The company Mulox was the first to focus on overcoming the failure of the material at the point of attachment of lifting loops in a 4 point lift bag.

There have been many advancements in various fields related to FIBC container bags as in Mulox reducing the overall weight or use of materials in the production of FIBS container bags by reducing material in the non load-bearing area of the bag or the Omega type bag using a pleat to distribute the load more eavenly over the bag in the lifting or the developent by Norsk Hydro of a single point lift bag using the full strength of all the warp ends when lifting therby reducing the weight of the fabric used in a four point lift bag.

There are two types of looms, circular and flat.

There is also a complication in producing coated reinforced fabrics.

Reinforced fabric first invented by Charles Futerman when all production of woven materials for FIBCs were produced on flat looms.

The fabrics were mainly uncoated and coating technology for wide woven fabric was not really developed at the time

Fabrics for the use in FIBCs are now mainly produced on circular looms whether it is for paunel type bags or circular.

Starlinger who are a leader in circular loom technology and weaving polypropylene have a loom with the means of increasing and decreasing the weft insertions but is limited to two vairiables and is used to create a crammed weft area when there is a weft or warp break and have also has claimed to use it to stop fraying when cuting plain woven fabric and with stitching the ends.

Circular looms are much faster, cheaper, simpler and more commonly used for the wea ving of materials for FIBC container bags but lack the complexity of a flat loom. This invention adds more complexity and variables to producing a fabric by means of a circular loom.

References to patents in this field are to Starlinger Co and Mulox and Norsk Hydro

The comon base size of a FIBC is I meter and the largest 1.2M therefor a circular fabric of two meters is produced and looms are not realy produced to make fabrics wider than this.

Most coating machines can handle 2 meter wide fabric but the coating of 2 meter wide tabular fabric is difficult and time consuming.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING S

Features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG 1 shows various flexible containers le and Id having a body and lifting loops fabficated from the body of the bag and 1c a variant of the invention

FIG. 1 and FIG 1.1 are a fragmentary view of the material of a fabric weave showing the top and side views of the said woven material used to produced the said intermediate bulk container in the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a cut length of fabric used to produce said container bag;

FIG. 3 shows a continuous length of woven fabric used to make one said type of container bag described in the patent and more so in FIGS 7,8;

FIG. 4 shows other variations of a weave used to produce flexible container bags at various stages;

FIG. 7 shows a diagrammatic view of a continuous length of a said woven fabric with a said woven pattern and a said cut pattern in the fabric together with perspective views of the flexible intermediate container at various stages in its manufacturer in accordance of at. least one claim in. the patent;

FIG. 8 shows a diagrammatic view of a continuous length of a said woven fabric with a said woven pattern and other said cut patterns in the fabric together with perspective view's of the flexible intermediate container at various stages in its manufacturer in accordance of at least one claim in the patent;

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view of a cut length of a continuous woven fabric with a weave in accordance of at least one claim in the patent and the forming of a flexible container bag from such;

FIG 10 shows a diagrammatic view of a continuous length of a said woven fabric with a said woven pattern and other said cut patterns in the fabric together with perspective views of the flexibl e intermediate container at various stages in its manufacturer in accordance of at least one claim in the patent;

FIG 11 shows a length, of a said woven fabric to make said container bag with a said woven pattern

Fig 12 shows a continuous length of woven fabric used to make a said type of container bag described in the patent

FIG 13 shows a flexible intermidiate bulk container with lifting loops attached flat to the side walls of the body of the bag of the fabric cut length of fabric used to produce said container bag;

FIG 14 shows a flexible inteermidiate bulk container with lifting loops attached in between a folded pleat of the side walls of the body of the bag around the circumference

FIG's 15 and 16 show the side view of a wall of the container bag with the attached lifting belts DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a length of fabric la, the construction of the fabric described in the patent showing the warp 6 and weft 7 tapes and the different amounts in the different areas and a side view lb of the weft tapes 2,3,4 and the warp tape 5, 2 being its unfolded or compressed size 3 being half its original size and 4 a A, 5 showing the different densities in each area.

FIG 1.1 shows a length of fabric 1.1a, the construction of the fabric described in the patent showing a reinforced or strengthened warp area 9 with warp tapes 6 and 7 and weft tapes 8 and the different amounts in the different areas and a side vie w lb of the weft tapes 2,3,4 and the warp tape 5, 2 being its unfolded or compressed size 3 being half its original size and 4 a A, 5 showing the different densities in each area.

FIG 2 shows a full length of fabric cut to produce a flexible container bag 2a where 1 shows an area of high weft insertions and where 2 is reduced compared to 1 and where the area at 3 has little or no weft or contains high amounts of recycled in a alternate constructed weave and 4 may be sewn or be an aperture used for lifting. 5 shows an area where there is no product and an area of fabric which only use is for lifting the bag and has no need for weft yarns. 8 shows the area where product is contained and where 6 is an area as shown in 2 but indicated a area of lesser horizontal load* bearing area as opposed to 7 showing an area of higher horizontal load-bearing than 6

FIG 2 describes the different densities in the length of the fabric in various areas what is not shown but can be understood is that there may be a continuous reduction of the weft insertions as the fabric is woven from A through to B up-to the point where no product is held and there after up-to C where the weft is reduced to a minimum being less that 10% of the initi al or starting insertions at A or totally removed. This may also apply to a four point lift bag be it cross corner or a comer lift and may be fabricated from a flat cloth as well as a circular cloth.

FIG 3shows a length of woven fabric with different weft densities 1 being a high density weft 2 being the least dense weave, whose area contains no product and whose bodies weave is designed for lifting the said container bag, 3 shows the flexible containers area where the product is held and most lateral or horizontal force is exerted and whose bodies weave which is designed to carry the load in both directions when stacked and dropped, 4 shows various cuting points depending on the type of bag requirement. 5, 3a, 3b and 3c shows the various bags to be produced from the said length of woven fabric in the invention.

FIG 4 shows yet other variations of the weave claimed in the invention where the length of fabric 4a is woven on a circular loom and slit to form two lengths 4a and 4b, where 1 is the main body 2 and 3 are increased weft areas and, where 3 is used for attaching a lifting belt and where there are eight areas and 4 lifting belts and 10 is a cut point and separated and 2 is used as a strengthened area to sew a seam and join two ends to form the body of the bag which is further shown in FIG 9, the size of one of the areas 2 may be increased so as also to be used as an area where a seam is sewn to join the fabric to form the bag, the same area 2 is also used to attach a lifting belt and will result in a different pattern, the length also shows 4 being reinforced areas in the warp when woven, the lengths 4a and 4b show a weave pattern 4c, 4d, 4e used to produce a said flexible container in accordance with the invention. FIG 7 shows yet other patterns and ways of assembling a flexible container bag, FIG 7 shows a Length of woven circular fabric and where 7a and 7.1a are separate bags and 8 is the main body and 1 are the integral lifting loops and 5 is a cut line.

FIG 7 shows the two bags 7a and 7. J a interlocked in their lifting areas and 6 showing a reduced area of weft insertions 2 being a base and 3 a seam and 4 being the finished lifting loop and where FIG 7 is a single point lift type bag,

FIG 8 shows yet other patterns and ways of assembling a flexible container bag more specifically but not limited to a two point lift bag and a four point lift bag and where strips 1 of body of the bag are joined at 12 and used to lift such bag and where such bag may have a bottom 11 and a top 13, such top and bottoms may have a filling or discharge spout

Such bag may also have a liner and be coated with a material and may be made with a woven material described in the patent where there are variations 4a and 4b in the weft at predetermined positions.

The sixteen integral extension’s 1 in 8b and 8e are joined in various configurations to form a single, t.wo or four point lift bag. In 8x it shows a perspective top view of the sixteen extensions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, on one side and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 on the other, 8y shows 3 joined to 6, 4 joined to 5 and 1 to 8 and 2 to 7, these are all then joined together to form a lifting loop, the same will be done on the other side to form a second loop. 8G show's a 4 point lift bag where 3 is joined to 6 and 4 is joined to 5 and where a lifting loop is formed, the same is done to join 1 to 8 and 7 to 2, this is repeated on the other side.

In another 4 point configuration 3 is attached to 5 and 4 is atached to 6, 7 to 1 and 8 to 2. this is repeated on the other side.

The said attachments may vary, they may overlap each other and have another piece or strip of material between them where a seam or stitch is formed, they may be folded-over and stitched to form a seam or they may be brought together and stitched to form a seam.

They may also be joined by a webbing belt.

Fig 8i and 8i2 shows another variation of a flexible container bag in accordance with the invention which has four extensions and 1 is joined to 4 and 2 is joined to 3 and forming a loop at 12.

Fig 8x shows a flexible container bag with a top cover with a filling spout

Fig 9 show's yet another type of flexible intermediate container bag where 9a and 9b is a cut length of one bag with a weft pattern woven such that 1 forms the basic body of the bag and where 3 and 4 are areas of increased weft and where 2 and 5 show areas of reinforced warp.

Fig 9c, and 9f shows a flexible container bag assembled in accordance with the invention having lifting loops 6 attached at 9 in the area 3 and 2 and having a base 7 and side seam at 8, such side seam may be at any point depending on the pattern desired.

Fig 9d shows a length of material woven in accordance with the invention where 1 show's the main body and 10 an area of lighter warp and 11 a higher warp area

Fig 9g shows a attached lifting belt 6 or webbing between a pleat 13 of reduced weft 10 material attached by 12 a series of seams and a denser weft material 11 being part of the body 1 where such is made from a circular unslit material or fabric and which may also be used with a length of material shown in 9d and where the bag shown in 9f may be of a circular unslit material and where there is no seam at 4 Fig 10 shows a similar process and bag as in Fig's 8h and 8j what is added is the reinforced warps in the area 6, this may apply to any of the described bags and may be in any area where strength in the lifting direction is required.

Fig 11 show a length of cut fabric that will be used to construct the said flexible container bag with a 1 strengthened or altered weft woven area and 2 other areas also with 4 reinforce warp sections for 3 attaching lifting belts

FIG 12 shows a continuous length of fabric woven in accordance of one of the paterns in the patent where 1 is an area of strengthened or higher weft insertions fabric in relation to 2 and where 1 is the area used to attach lifting belts or lifting devices also to 3 the reinforced warp areas and where 5 is a cut line where the length will be cut and separated into bags 3a, 3b, 3c so to construct the said container bag and where 4 is used to close the bottom if gusseted or to attach a base panel

FIG 13 and FIG 14 shows a flexible intermediate bulk containers with 1 a strengthened weft area where 4 lifting belts are attached to 5 a reinforce warp area and where 2 is an area with a lesser weft then that of the area 1 and where there is no lifting belts attached. 6 shows a strengthened weft area where a base panel is attached

FIG 15 and FIG 16 show a side view of the fabric where 10 shows the area used to attach 6 a liftingdevice or belt and is an area with a higher number of weft ends and a strengthened fabric and shows 11 an area of lesser weft ends or fibres as those in the area 10, the area shown in 10 also has more weft ends therefore allowing for a stronger bond to the 6 lifting belt or device 13 shows a method of attaching a lifting belt or device to a pleated or folded 10 strengthened area of fabric and where 12 show s a method of using stitching, another method could be ultrasonic welding or glue