1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a film laminate from which bag packagings with an integrated film handle can be produced in a form-fill and seal bag machine.
2. The Prior Art
Within the scope of the invention, a packaging machine that works according to the so-called VFFS (vertical form fill sealing) method is referred to as a form-fill and seal bag machine. In such a bag machine that works according to the VFFS principle, the film laminate is formed into a sleeve, and sleeve sections are filled with product and sealed with sealing seams. During the entire process, the material web that forms the sleeve is moved vertically downward. VFFS form-fill and seal bag machines are primarily used for packaging solids in powder and granulate form, for example dry food for animals. They have high machine speeds, and allow efficient production and filling of bags for pourable products.
Bags that have been formed and filled in VFFS form-fill and seal bag machines can have handle punch-outs in the head region, which are introduced during the VFFS process in the form-fill and seal bag machine. A disadvantage of these bags is an often difficult combination of the handle punch-outs, placed at the head side, with opening aids, for example perforations. Also, formation of a simple removal opening is made difficult by handle punch-outs on the head side.
Therefore, bags that have a handle loop in a side surface configured as a side fold are preferably used. The handle loop is glued on or sealed on using measures known from practice. Such handle configurations hinder processing of the film laminate in a VFFS form-fill and seal film machine. In most cases, the machine speed of the form-fill and seal bag machine is so greatly impaired by affixing the film handles that the machine no longer works efficiently. For numerous bags, for example in the animal food sector, pre-finished bags are therefore used, which are individually passed to a filling machine and filled. However, producing these pre-finished bags and filling them is significantly more expensive than producing and filling bags in VFFS form-fill and seal bag machines.
Side-fold bags that have a film handle integrated into the side fold are described in German Utility Model No. DE 84 28 169 U1. The known side-fold bags are pre-finished as individual bags and filled with the material to be packaged, in a separate filling system. The bag wall of the side-fold bags consists of a film laminate that has an imprintable outer film and a sealable film glued to the outer film. In the region of a side fold, a reinforcement sheet has been laminated in between the sealable film and the outer film; this sheet is glued only to the outer film. The film handle is formed by introducing parting cuts that pass through the outer film and the reinforcement sheet connected with the outer film. The sealable inner film of the packaging remains intact and seals off the interior of the bag packaging. The handle loop formed by parting cuts makes a transition into the bag wall at its ends, in one piece with the wall.
International Application No. WO 2008/038308 A1 relates to bag packagings with an integrated handle, which are produced from a two-ply film laminate. The film laminate has an imprintable outer film as well as a sealable film glued to it. In the handle region, the outer film and the sealable film that lies on the inside are not glued together. Handle punch-outs are introduced into the outer film, so that the outer film forms a handle loop. However, the handle loop is not reinforced and therefore is only suitable for packaging products that have a low weight.