Background Of The Invention Many packaging applications, especially food packaging, require or benefit from the use of bags made from various thermoplastic materials and structures. Examples of com- mercial bags include heat shrinkable bags supplied by Cryovac, Inc., including for example bags sold under the sales codes L 340 and B 620.

These bags are commonly used in large scale meat processing and/or packaging systems where production speed and efficiency are important. Bags to be used in these systems are often themselves packed in boxes as a festooned or serpentine chain of bags, the individual bags taped together so that they will feed in a predictable and efficient man- ner to an article loading station. Typical of such technology is US Patent No. 3,161,347 (Hannon), disclosing a tape to which bags are attached, and US Patent No. 3,587,843 (Wing), disclosing two tapes to which are attached imbricated (i. e. shingled) bags.

An alternative is to ship the imbricated, taped bags as a roll, preferably mounted on a spool.

In use at a packaging facility, imbricated, taped bags are typically dispensed from the box of bags, and advanced to a loading platform. Each bag is then opened and loaded with a meat or other product.

The present invention is directed to a packaging system which simplifies the loading process.

Summary Of The Invention In a first aspect, a packaging system comprises a chain of imbricated, taped bags; and a shipping container into which the chain of imbricated, taped bags are disposed, the shipping container comprising a cover, the cover adapted to function, when in an ex- tended position, as a loading platform for the chain of imbricated, taped bags.

In a second aspect, a packaging system comprising a chain of imbricated, taped bags, wherein the chain of bags includes a pair of tapes, and an adhesive, such that each bag is adhesively but releasably attached to the pair of tapes; and a shipping container into which the chain of imbricated, taped bags are disposed, the shipping container comprising a

cover, the cover adapted to function, when in an extended position, as a loading platform for the chain of imbricated, taped bags.

Brief Description Of The Drawings Further details are given below with reference to the drawings wherein, in accor- dance with various embodiments of the invention: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chain of imbricated taped bags being dispensed onto a cover of a shipping container; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a chain of imbricated taped bags being dispensed in association with a take-up cassette; and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of Fig. 3.

Definitions The term"spool"herein refers to any elongate shaft, spool, core, rod, or the like, of any suitable material and cross sectional shape, which functions to support a rolled chain of imbricated taped bags wrapped around the spool.

Detailed Description Of The Invention Figure 1 discloses, at reference numeral 10, a packaging system including a chain of imbricated taped bags 14 disposed as a chain of bags in a shipping container 12. Al- though for the sake of clarity the bags have been shown in simplified fashion, it should be understood that the bags are imbricated, i. e. shingled or in overlying sequence, in a manner well known in the art, and shown e. g. in US Patent No. 3,587,843 (Wing), incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The bags in the chain are preferably substantially identical and are preferably formed in conventional manner from tubular film so that each bag has a bottom end seal and an open end forming the mouth of the bag. The uppermost bag preferably has its mouth towards the leading end of the chain, as do all bags in the chain, so that the weight of overlying bags tends to retain the mouths of the underlying bags closed to prevent debris from entering the bags.

Side seal bags can also be arranged in imbricated or shingled relationship.

At least one thermoplastic tape, and preferably two or more spaced apart and paral- lel thermoplastic tapes, connect the chain of end seal or side seal bags into a chain of bags.

Adhesive in the form of a continuous coating or strip, on the surface of each bag and/or tape in contact with each other, or in the form of discontinuous patches or spots disposed

on each bag and/or the portion of the tape or tapes in contact with each bag, functions to create the chain of bags.

Specifically as indicated in FIG. 1, the chain of bags 14 comprises a chain of bags that have been stored in festooned manner in shipping container 12.

The bags are connected by one or more tapes, such as the pair of tapes 16a and 16b shown in Figure 1. These tapes are connected to the bags by a continuous coating or strip, on the surface of each bag and/or tape in contact with each other, or in the form of discontinuous patches or spots disposed on each bag and/or the portion of the tape or tapes in contact with each bag. Thus, an adhesive strip or coating can be applied to the un- derside of the tape (the side to be placed in contact with the bags), or on the bags them- selves, or both, in either a continuous or discontinuous manner. Any suitable adhesive can be used, such as the types of adhesive well known in the art in connection with the use of taped bags generally. An example of a suitable adhesive is a noncuring pressure sensitive adhesive.

The tapes can be applied to either the bottom of the chain of bags, as shown in Fig- ures 1 and 2, or else can be applied to the top of the chain of bags as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 1 shows a cover 18 which functions during shipment of the bags as a cover or top for shipping container 12. When the cover is opened into the extended position shown in Figure 1, cover 18 is adapted to function as a loading platform for the chain of im- bricated, taped bags. By"extended position"herein is meant that the cover is brought up from the top of container 12, and pivoted outward such that it extends beyond the closed dimensions of the container. Preferably, the cover forms a horizontal table on which bags 14 can rest. The cover can be hinged to container 12 along the common line 15 formed by the cover 18 and the side wall 13. Suitable discrete hinges can be used, or for example the cover may be integrally connected to the container, as can be the case if the container is made from corrugated or paperboard. Line 15 can alternatively represent a line of weak- ness in a paperboard or plastic material which allows the cover to be swung up and out- ward upon opening the container.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that suitable means can be used to retain the cover in its extended position. For example, the inherent properties of the material forming the cover and container may serve to retain the cover in its extended position.

Alternatively, brackets, hinges, or springs, appropriately positioned on the cover or container in the vicinity of their line of intersection 15, may function to retain the cover in its extended position.

In still another alternative, projections of any suitable material, such as metal, plas- tic, wood, or paperboard, can be positioned on the exterior face of the cover (viewed as

closed), or can be positioned on an upper portion of the exterior surface of side wall 13 of the container, closest to the extended cover. Either of these embodiments will effectively function as a stop, allowing the cover to be supported from underneath the extended cover.

Figure 2 discloses, at reference numeral 20, a packaging system including a chain of imbricated taped bags 24 disposed as a chain of bags in a shipping container 22. The bags are of the type disclosed in FIG. 1. Thus, bags 24 correspond to bags 14 of Figure 1, and cover 28 corresponds to cover 18 of Figure 1. The pair of tapes 26a and 26b shown in Figure 2 correspond to the pair of tapes 16a and 16b shown in Figure 1.

Shipping container 22 is shown as polyhedral in cross section, and can accommo- date a rolled chain of bags, optionally wrapped around a spool 23. As shown, container 22 has a flat bottom to provide stability to the overall system. However, container 22 can be of any suitable shape, and can have a curved exterior or interior bottom.

A chain of bags can be simply rolled onto the spool 23 in a given configuration, where each wind of the chain is directly on top of the previous wind. However, because of the presence of the tape or tapes, and the adhesive, this format results in a roll that is bowed out at the lateral midpoint of the roll. To avoid this, and to enhance shipping density per spool, the spool (and the side supports if present) can be made wider than the bag chain, with the bag chain played back and forth across the transverse width of the spool face while winding, to achieve a level wind.

The extent that adjacent bags in the chain are offset one from another can vary de- pending on a variety of factors, and this is a matter of optimization that will be evident to the skilled artisan.

The spool 23 can be made from any suitable material, including metal, plastic, pa- perboard or cardboard, or the like.

Figure 3 discloses, at reference numeral 30, a packaging system like that of Figure 1, and having a container 32 corresponding to container 12, a chain of bags 34 correspond- ing to chain of bags 14, a pair of tapes 36a and 36b corresponding to the pair of tapes 16a and 16b, and cover 38 corresponding to cover 18, but also including take-up cassette 35 attached by any suitable means to cover 38. Take-up cassette 35 can optionally be used to take up the tape 36a and 36b as the bags are fed forward during a packaging cycle. The cassette includes take-up reels (not shown for sake of clarity), and such cassettes are well known in the art. Appropriate indentations, holes, slots, clamps, etc. can be provided in the cover and/or the cassette to achieve attachment of take-up cassette 35 to cover 38. The cassette can be like that described in U. S. Patent No. 4,796,412 (O'Neill), incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In FIG. 4 is shown a packaging system 40 including a shipping container 42 for holding the chain of bags 44. Container 42, chain of bags 44, and a pair of tapes 46a and 46b correspond to container 12, chain of bags 14, and the pair of tapes 16a and 16b of Figure 1.

Take-up cassette 49 corresponds to take-up cassette 35 of Figure 3.

The embodiment of Figure 4 provides a take-up cassette that can perform the dual function of tape take-up and bag chain leader. The cassette can be moved or passed to some optimal position for indexing the bags to a loading position. The movement from the installation position to the optimal position of the tape take-up reels can be readily mecha- nized since the reels would be of regular dimensions and not flexible. This allows larger design freedom of the loading equipment, i. e. the take-up reel and loading position need not be readily accessible by the machine attendant.

Take-up reels can function as an integral part of a taped bag chain. In addition to the action as tape take-up devices, the reels would be sufficiently regular in dimension and rigid to permit automated thread-up of loading equipment, eliminating an operator function, and enabling design of equipment with constrained operator access. Sequential box or spool automated loading could greatly reduce machine down time and operator interaction.

For most applications, each bag of the chain of bags is preferably a thermoplastic bag, more preferably a thermoplastic heat shrinkable bag, and most preferably a thermo- plastic heat shrinkable crosslinked bag. The bags can optionally have at least one hole therein, as disclosed e. g. in US Patent No. 5,810.706 (McDonald et al.), incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The invention thus provides a cover of a shipping container which in an extended position can function as a support or tray for supporting taped bags for opening and load- ing. The cover can be an integral part of the shipping container for the bags, and can be permanently fixed to the container or detachable from the container.

The cover of a box, spool, or other shipping container of taped bags can thus be re- positioned, by unfolding, opening, molding, or the like to become a platform for loading taped bags, and a take-reel system for the tape can be integral to that cover.

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be utilized with- out departing from the principles and scope of the invention, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Accordingly, such modifications and variations may be practiced within the scope of the following claims.