Human demand for bigger quantities of relied goods loaded to cheaper packages is daily increasing. In certain fields, the massive use of plastic materials for packaging of a variety of substances have almost replaced all the application of glass recipients.

Such is the case on the medical segment where plastic bottles and bags are in common use and enteral and parenteral solutions, for example, are being supplied to patients through this system.

Another field of application is in the food and beverage market where mineral water, for example, is being heavily bottled to plastic recipients.

One of the advantages of plastic bags when compared to rigid bottles is the collapsibility of its flexible walls that allows the exhaustion of bag's content only by the force of gravity whilst in rigid bottles the internal pressure that prevents free flow of its contents must be compensated by the admission through a diaphragm with filter, of a not-always-reliable external air.

The present bag of the art and its production method that can also be used for many other applications, have incorporated additional

advantages such as low production costs, non-hazardous sterilizing process, full automatization of the assembling line both at the vertical or horizontal form-fill-seal machines and many others such as the use of friendly polyethylene, polypropylene and polyester films instead of the undesirable PVC, for instance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved bag and method for making the bag that incorporates the above mentioned advantages.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide through a non-hazardous method, a sanitized bag suitable even for the medical use.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sanitized, empty or loaded bag with an exhaustion valve and an injection pad for the introduction of liquids inside the bag, both automatically fitted to the sanitized bag during its production process.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide such a bag and method for its production which bag and method are less expensive than the prior art.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide such a bag and method for making the same either through a vertical or horizontal fully automated form-fill-seal machine specifically conceived for that purpose.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a suitable box for the transportation and final use of the bag's contents.

SUMM.OF THE INVENTION A sanitized, airtight valvular plastic bag and method, which production is performed simultaneously both to the fitting of the exhaustion valve destined to the controlled exhaustion of its contents and, if desired, to the filling of the selected product.

The present bag of the art and its production method that can also be used as a container for many other applications. have incorporated additional advantages such as low production costs, non-hazardous sterilizing process, full automatization of the assembling line both at the vertical or horizontal form-fill-seal machines and many others such as the use of friendly polyethylene, polypropylene and polyester films instead of the undesirable PVC, ibr instance.

The bag is particularly useful in the medical segment due to its low production cost, non-hazardous sterilization production system and reduced cubic space to store both unused or dispensed units.

It also bears an injection pad for the introduction of liquids inside the bag and an exhaustion valve, both automatically fitted during the production process that allows the continuos and controlled flow of its contents.

The steps to get the final product include the use of a vertical or horizontal form-fill-seal machine dully adapted for the formation of a plastic tube from a plastic film, internal and external sterilization of the bag's walls, welding, fitting of the exhaustion valve, loading of the selected product and hermetically closing of the bag, being all of the described operations performed simultaneously.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figs. la and lb show a front view of the bag of the art, made up empty in this case, for further loading.

Fig. 1 c shows an exhaustion valve and its seal.

Fig. 1 d shows atype of cap for medical use.

Fig. 1 e shows an injection pad for introduction of liquids inside the bag.

Fig. 2 is a general view of avertical form-fill-seal machine of the art

Fig. 2a is an enlarged view of the transferring cylinder of the film with a middle aperture for the free passage of the exhaustion valve.

Fig. 3 is a general view of ahorizontal form-fill-seal machine of the art.

Figs. from 3a to 3d represent the sequence performed by the horizontal machine for the welding of the exhaustion valve, loading of the selected good and closing of the bag. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <P>Figs. 4 and 4a reproduce a pneumatic piston bearing either a welding element for the fixture of the exhaustion valve 1 and/or an injection pad of Fig. le for the introduction of liquids inside the bag, as shown in the figures, or a drill to perforate the film.

Fig. 5 shows the welding element for the lateral and diagonal closing of the bag.

Fig. 6a to 6e shows an optional welding element for the fixture of the exhaustion valve and/or an injection pad, directly over the forming tube in the vertical machine.

Fig. 7 shows an optional location of the exhaustion valve.

Figs. from 8a to 8c shows a box of the art destined to accommodate the valve bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As shown in Figs. la and lb. a bag shaped container generally formed from the folding of a piece of plastic film extracted from a coil in two identical halves and the welding of the three loose edges 2 of that piece of plastic, such bag holding an exhaustion valve 1 located at its not welded edge 3 lower end, is disclosed. The container also includes isolated portions 4 defined by the diagonal welding line 5 and horizontal 6 where apertures 7 have been inserted to permit handling the bag during its transportation and use.

The container at this particular sequence was produced empty for further loading, as in the case for enteral use. for which a seal 8 has been inserted in the end of the valve's tube of Fig. le to guarantee the integrity and hermeticity of its interior. Between the valve's tube and base, there is a groove 9a for reception of the segmented portion of the cap.

After the removal of the seal, it is attached the cap of the Fig. Id with a segmented line 10 that defines the portion 11 to be inserted in the groove 9a existing at the exhaustion valve 1, portion 11 that is detached whenever the cap is removed, as well as an elongated tube 12 as from the cap's ceiling with an internal diaphragm to be pierced at the moment of final use of e container's content.

The injection pad of Fig. le is conceived for the introduction of medicine liquids to the interior of the bag through a needle at any time desired. Made of atoxic plastic, rubber or any other cicatnzable material, the pad is welded right over the bag's Wall by a welding band 13, being the thick central portion 14 of the pad made up of a self-recover material that after has been penetrated by the needle's injection is able to recover the previous shape and condition avoiding so any leakage possibility.

Through Figs. 2 and 3 we have a general view of a vertical and horizontal form-fill-seal machine of the art, fitted for the production of the airtight sanitized valvular bag due to the incorporation of the following items: -pneumatic piston with drill 15 to perforate the film right at the poillt where the 1willbefixed;valve -pneumatic piston with a circular welding element 16 for the fixture exhaustionvalve1and/ortheinjectionpadofFig.1e;ofthe - exhaustion valve's feeder 17, linked to a conveyior and a positionner ofpieces;

-Fig. 5 welding element for diagonal 5 and lateral 5a weldings ; -optional injection pad feeder for specific bags ; -ventilator 18 with filter and electrode destined to warm the air blown to the interior of the machine in order either to dry the remaining of the liquid that sanitizes the film and to create a positive pressure inner chamber : -vented pipe 19 through which the warm air is pressed against part or the whole film's circuit, after the sanitizing bath and welding of the exhaustion valve 1 has been done ; -electric motor 20 for the exhaustion of the warm air blown by the ventilator ; -bath container 21 to store sanitizing liquids such as hydrogel peroxide which is warmed by an electrode located either in an inner container 22 loaded with liquids such as destilled water, or close to an outer wallof the container ; -supplying container 23 of sanitizing liquid connected from its low level to the operational level of the bath container 21 by a tube 24 : -transferring cylinder of the film of Fig. 2a with a middle aperture for the free passage of the exhaustion valve 1.

The horizontal machine of Fig. 3 has additionally incorporated a folding element 26 to get each half of the film in vertical position to permit the use of a traction element 27 against a separator 28 and consequently the <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> easy handling for the welding of the bag's edges, filling of the selected content, up to the discharge at the end of the assembling line of the ready- for-use airtight sanitized valvular bag.

The vertical and horizontal welding system, filling of the selected product, cut of the bag's edges and traction system at the horizontal machine are described through the Figs. 3a to 3d:

a) on fig. 3a, after filling of the welded edges'bag, the filling pipe 29 is raised to permit the horizontal movement of the horizontal welding element 30 for the bottom closing of the filled bag. b) on Fig. 3b the horizontal welding element 3Q has been descended and closed against trie welding point at the bag's bottom ; -d) on Fig. 3c, still in the closing position, the horizontal welding element 30 is horizontally displaced simultaneously to the traction of the film by the traction element 27 up to the cutting point and discharge of the ready-for-use airtight sanitized valvular bag, as shown in Fig. 3d.

An alternative system for welding the exhaustion valve 1 and/or the injection pad of Fig. le right over the forming tube 31 on a vertical form- fill-seal machine whenever the sanitizing of the bag is not required, is represented by the sequence of Figs. 6a to 6e that shows a longitudinal flat portion 32 against which the exhaustion valve 1 is compressed by a piston 33 with a welding element, the whole set being connected to a feeder 34, :, linked to a conveyor and aposiotioner of pieces.

Fig. 7 shows how the exhaustion valve 1 can be welded in a extreme position over the folded edge 3 especially for the case of bag-in-box products, as represented by Figs. 8a to 8c that disclose a preferably rectangular box made up of carton.

Fig. 8a is an upper view of the open box with apertures 35 either at the upper side 36 to create a handle 36a for transportation and at the bottom 37 of the box creating a window 37a to expose the exhaustion valve 1, after the bag has been inserted, as shown in Figs. 8b and 8c.

To strength the box's mechanical resistance, the lateral portion 38 has been elongated and stick top