The present invention relates to a coupling device for connec¬ ting a material outlet to a packing, preferably designed for vis¬ cous material and having walls of plastic foil, whereby the coup- ling device comprises two interconnectable coupling means one of which is mounted on the packing and the other on the material out- let.

It is previously known to provide packings of various types with an opening and an outer connection piece at which a hose is connectable such that material may be fed out of the packing via the opening and the hose. Such an arrangement is suitable if the hose is applicable at the connection piece before the packing is filled with material or if a filled packing is easy to handle or form suclj that the hose may be applied afterwards without mate- rial flowing out, e.g. by temporarily turning the packing upside down so that the connection piece is directed upwards, which means that material can not flow out while the connection piece is opened and the hose is connected.

However, there are packings, e.g. of plastic foil, which are difficult to handle in such a way that a hose or another material outlet is quickly and efficiently applicable without risk for over¬ flow.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate said pro¬ blem and provide a device by simple means which permits applica- tion of a material outlet at the packing in a simple and efficient way without remedies and competence.-According to the invention this is achieved at while the coupling means of the packing is mounted on an unbroken wall portion of the packing and provided with a separating portion arranged inside the packing and having a grip portion for the coupling means of the material outlet, side openings for through-flow of material and a support portion direc¬ ted towards an opposed wall portion of the packing, whereby the coupling means of the material outlet has a hole-punching portion for punching the unbroken wall portion and a grip portion for se- curable fitting in the grip portion of the separating portion ^• after punching.

The invention will be further described hereinafter with refe- rence to the accompanying drawings in which figure 1 with a side

view illustrates a half-filled packing to which a hose is connec¬ ted via a coupling device according to the invention; figure 2 is a section through an enlarged part of an almost empty packing to which a hose is connected via a coupling device according to the invention; figure 3 is a section through a part of a filled packing before applying a hose via a coupling device according to the invention and figure 4 illustrates the part of the packing shown in figure 3 when connecting the hose via the coupling de¬ vice according to figure 3. In figure 1 a container 1 is shown having a suspension de¬ vice 2 on which a packing 3 is suspended. The packing 3 has two opposed walls 3a and 3b of foil material and contains a viscous mass 4, e.g. tomato ketchup, mustard or sauce. For feeding the viscous mass 4, the packing 3 is interconnectable to a feeding device 5 e.g. including a pump 5a, a conduit 5b for connection to the packing 3, a check valve 5c for preventing return flow of the mass 4 to the packing 3 and a conduit 5d extending from the pump 5a for portioning the viscous mass 4 out of the system. The pump 5a of the feeding device 5 is designed to suck out the viscous mass 4 from the packing 3 until it reaches the pump and to press out the mass 4 in the pump 5a via the portioning conduit 5d. Since such a principal of feeding is well known as well as devices for carrying out said principal, it has been only briefly described and the device shown schematically. In order to be able to connect said feeding device 5 or a material outlet of another type to the packing 3, a coupling device 6 is used having a coupling means 6a mounted on the packing 3 and a coupling means 6b mounted on the material outlet 5.

Especially regarding storage of food in the packing 3, it is essential that the packing can be transported and delivered comp¬ letely sealed and breakage of the packing ought not be done before the content shall be drained off. In order to enable breakage of the packing when it is ready for portioning the material and per¬ mit said breakage to be carried out by anybody without the risk for overflow, and without tools or skill, the coupling means 6a of the packing 3 is mounted on an unbroken wall portion 3a of the packing 3 and the coupling means 6a has a separating portion 6c disposed inside the packing, said separating portion comprising a

grip portion 6p for the coupling means 6b of the material outlet 5, side openings 6h for through-flow of material from the inte¬ rior of the packing 3 to the material outlet 5 and a support por¬ tion 6g directed towards an opposed wall portion 3b of the packing 3. The coupling means 6b of the material outlet 5 is provided with a hole-punching portion 6d (formed by the end edge of the coup¬ ling means 6b) designed for punching the unbroken wall portion 3a. The coupling means 6b has also a grip portion 6r, preferably with peripheral teeth and with conically tapering shape, which is de- signed to fit into the grip portion 6p, after breaking the wall portion, until the coupling means 6b is connected to the coupling means so that they can be separated only by applying greater sepa¬ rating forces onto the coupling.

By placing the wall portion 3b to engage an underlayer and design the coupling means 6b with sufficient height, the coupling means 6b may be pressed towards the wall portion 3b until the sup¬ porting surface 6g engages the wall portion 3b (see figure 4), whereby the coupling means 6b forms a holder-on during the punching moment. Furthermore, the coupling means 6b has a separating func- tion in such a way that it separates the wall portions 3a, 3b, 3d of the packing 3 when draining off the packing, so that said wall portions do not prevent draining off of the last portions of the material. Instead, the separating portion 6c forms pockets from which the material may flow and the wall portions will take part in the formation thereof by folding in a suitable manner.

Thus, the coupling means 6a, 6b have a greater number of functions which are all essential for the desired result while said means permit efficient breakage of the packing 3, quick- connection and separation of the packing 3. While the coupling means 6a of the packing 3 is entirely moun¬ ted within the wall portion 3c, the packing 3 will down below have no protruding parts which during transport may stick and cause damages.

In order to ensure that the coupling means 6b does not reach too far into the coupling means 6a so that it can not receive the last remains of the material and disturb the supporting function of the coupling means 6a, the grip portions 6p, 6r of the coup _¬ ling means 6a, 6b may be designed so that the coupling means 6b of the material outlet 5 reaches a limit position for conn

relative to the coupling means 6a of the packing 3 before it has reached the support portion 6g of the coupling means 6a of the packing 3.

While the grip portion 6p of the coupling means 6a comprises a thin ring 6n which is mounted on the wall portion 3a and which preferably is made of elastic material, the grip portion 6p may take a suitable form at application of the coupling means 6b.

The coupling means 6a may be designed in various ways. Thus, the coupling means 6a shown i figure 1 and 2 has the shape of a sleeve while in figure 3 and 4 the coupling means 6a comprises the ring 6n, legs 6s extending inwards therefrom and an inner ring 6g, which forms the support portion of the coupling means 6a fa¬ cing the wall 3b. At this double-ring embodiment of the coupling means 6a, huge material inlets 6h are obtained, since these are formed between the three or four relatively thin legs 6s.

The embodiments described above and shown on the drawings may vary Within the scope of the following claims regarding the design of details. It may be noted that the coupling means 6a of the packing 3 preferably is made of thermoplastic material such that it may be "welded" to the wall 3a of oil material. In order to provide an especially simple and durable arrangement, the wall 3a of foil material of the packing 3 may be made of a laminated polyester foil while the wall 3b is made of a polyamide foil. These foils 3a, 3b are "welded together" and together they form the suspension portion 3d of the packing 3. It may be finally noted that the packing may be of the single-use type or of another type, that the packing may be of another material than plastic foils, that the packing may be intended for other material than viscous masses and that the coupling means 6b may have another form than the form shown and described.