BUNDLE COMPRISING A TIED STACK OF FOLDED PAPER SHEETS

Abstract

A bundle comprising a plurality of paper sheets lying upon another and defining a stack and a tie having a first end and a second end opposite to the first end is provided, wherein a first portion of the tie at the first end overlaps a second portion of the tie at the second end and is connected to the second portion to tie the stack, the first portion being positioned on an end face of the stack, wherein the first portion comprises at least one opening accessible by a user's finger to grip the tie and break the connection between the first and second end portions.

Claims

1. A bundle, comprising: a plurality of paper sheets lying upon another and defining a stack; and a tie having a first end and a second end opposite to the first end, wherein a first portion of the tie at the first end overlaps a second portion of the tie at the second end and is connected to the second portion to tie the stack, the first portion being positioned on an end face of the stack, wherein the first portion comprises at least one opening configured to be accessed by a user's finger by inserting said finger into the opening to grip the tie and break the connection between the first and second end portions.

2. The bundle according to claim 1, wherein the opening is a cut.

3. The bundle according to claim 2, wherein the cut is a straight line and extends along a longitudinal direction of the tie.

4. The bundle according to claim 2, wherein a further cut in the form of a straight line is provided in the first portion crossing the cut.

5. The bundle according to claim 1, wherein the opening is a cutout.

6. The bundle according to claim 5, wherein the cutout has the shape of a rectangle, the rectangle being oriented with a longer leg of the rectangle arranged along a longitudinal direction of the tie.

7. The bundle according to any one of the preceding claim 1, wherein two openings are provided, the openings being arranged side-by-side in a direction transverse to a longitudinal direction of the tie.

8. The bundle according to claim 1, wherein the first portion is adhered to a leading paper sheet of the stack.

9. The bundle according to claim 8, wherein the first portion is releasably adhered to the leading paper sheet of the stack.

10. The bundle according to claim 1, wherein the first portion is connected to the second portion adjacent the first end.

11. The bundle according to claim 1, wherein the tie is made of plastic material.

12. The bundle according to claim 1, wherein the first portion is heat-sealed to the second portion.

13. The bundle according to claim 1, wherein the first portion of the tie has a larger width (W1) transverse to a longitudinal direction of the tie than a remainder of the tie.

14. A dispenser comprising a bundle according to claim 1 and a casing having a longitudinal dispensing opening, wherein a longitudinal direction of the tie intersects with the longitudinal direction of the dispensing opening.

15. The dispenser according to claim 14, wherein the dispensing opening of the dispenser has a widened portion coinciding with the opening of the tie.

16. The bundle according to claim 11, wherein the plastic material comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene and polylactide.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a tie according to a first embodiment;

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a tie according to a second embodiment;

[0025] FIG. 3 shows a plan view of a tie according to a third embodiment;

[0026] FIG. 4 shows a plan view of a tie according to a fourth embodiment;

[0027] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a bundle according to the present disclosure with the tie of FIG. 4;

[0028] FIG. 6 shows another perspective view of a bundle according to the present disclosure with the tie of FIG. 4; and

[0029] FIG. 7 shows a dispenser comprising a bundle as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0030] Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals have been used for the same elements.

[0031] FIGS. 1 to 4 show different embodiments of a tie 10 that may be used to tie a stack 30 of paper sheets 40(see FIG. 5).

[0032] The tie 10 in all of the embodiments is a longitudinal flat strap having a length L. The length L is governed by the height of the stack 30 of paper sheets 40, i.e., by the number of paper sheets 40 to be tied and the desired amount of overlap of the end portions of the tie.

[0033] The tie 10 has a first portion 11 having a first width W1 and a second portion 12 having a second width W2. The first portion 11 is disposed at a first end 13 as seen in the longitudinal direction of the tie 10. The second portion 12 extends from the first portion 11 in the longitudinal direction to an opposite second end 14. The width W1 is larger than the width W2. The width W1 may be in a range from 20 mm to 60 mm and the width W2 may be in a range from in a range from 10 mm to 50 mm. A ratio between the width W1 and the width W2 may reside in the range between 2 and 1.2.

[0034] Further, the tie 10 may have a thickness perpendicular to the plan view in FIGS. 1 to 4 in a range from 0.05 mm to 0.3 mm. In one example, the thickness is about 0.1 mm (0.004 inch).

[0035] Moreover, the tie 10 may be made of any kind of material having enough flexibility to wrap the tie about the stack 30 of paper sheets 40. In one example, a plastic material is used, such as polyethylene or polypropylene. Such plastic material has been proven advantageous from the view point of flexibility, mutual connectability of the opposite ends and a low friction for removing the tie 10. In a particular example, an impact resistant UHMW polyethylene (Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene) film was used.

[0036] In order to connect the first portion 11 to the second portion 12 when tying the stack 30 of paper sheets 40, a heat-sealing method is used. This has been proven beneficial, particularly when plastic material is used for ease of manufacture. In addition, this technique avoids the use of glue in the manufacturing process and is beneficial in view of maintenance and cleaning of the manufacturing apparatus. In the examples, the heat-sealing areas are indicated by the hatched rectangles 21 and 22. In order to avoid that the end 13 is loose and may stick out of a dispensing opening of a dispenser and/or interfere with other stacks if a plurality of stacks are loaded into the dispenser, at least one of the heat-sealing areas is located in proximity to the end 13, i.e., at the end 13 or in a short distance to the end 13. Such a distance should not be more than about 15 mm and preferably less than 5 mm.

[0037] In any case, all heat-sealing areas 21 and 22 should reside in the area of overlap (indicated at 25 in FIGS. 1 to 4 by the dotted rectangle within the first portion 11) between the first portion 11 and the second portion 12.

[0038] In addition, each of the ties 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 has an adhesive strip 23 also indicated by a hatched area. This adhesive strip 23 is located outside of the area of overlap 25 and in use adheres the first portion to a leading end face 41 of a leading paper sheet 43 in the stack 30.

[0039] In the examples, the heat-sealing areas 21 and 22 as well as the adhesive strip 23 have been shown as rectangular areas. Yet, other shapes including dots, straight lines, curved lines, areas with straight borders, curved borders or arbitrary borders as well as other geometric shapes like circles, ovals, squares, etc., may be employed. In addition, the positioning and/or shape may be adapted to the respective use.

[0040] The embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 all comprise an opening 15 in the first portion 11.

[0041] In FIG. 1, the opening 15 is formed by a cut 16. The cut 16 corresponds to a straight cut in a longitudinal direction of the tie 10.

[0042] In FIG. 2, the opening 15 is formed by the cut 16 and an additional further cut 17. The cut 17 crosses the cut 16 and is oriented perpendicularly to the cut 16. Hence, the cut 17 corresponds to a straight cut in a transverse direction of the tie 10.

[0043] In FIG. 3, the opening 15 is formed by a cutout 18. The cutout 18 has a rectangular shape with rounded corners. A longer leg of the rectangle forming the cutout 18 is oriented in the longitudinal direction of the tie 10. A width in a transverse direction of the tie 10 of the cutout 18 may be resided within 5 mm to 10 mm to enable easy insertion of a finger.

[0044] In FIG. 4, two openings 15 are provided. The two openings 15 are defined by cutouts 19, but could as well be defined by parallel cuts 16 as explained with respect to FIG. 1. The cutouts 19 as well have a rectangular shape with rounded corners and with their longer leg being oriented in the longitudinal direction of the tie 10. The cutouts 19 are located side-by-side in the transverse direction of the tie 10. A width in a transverse direction of the tie 10 of the cutouts 19 may be resided within 5 mm to 10 mm to enable easy insertion of a finger. A web 20 is formed between the cutouts 19.

[0045] In the example of FIG. 4, it is also shown that the heat-sealing area 22 at the end 13 of the first portion 11 may be oriented in the longitudinal direction of the tie 10. The heat-sealing area 22 may also be located at least partly between the two cutouts 19 and, hence, on the web 20.

[0046] In the following, the use of the tie 10 as shown in FIG. 4 wrapped about a stack 30 of paper sheets 40 is described with respect to FIGS. 5 to 7. It is, however, to be understood that any of the ties shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 may be used in a similar manner.

[0047] As best seen in FIG. 6, the stack 30 comprises a plurality of folded, preferably interfolded paper sheets 40. The stack has opposite end faces 41 and 42, wherein the end face 41 is considered as the leading end face 41, whereas the end face 42 is considered as the trailing end face 42. In other words, the end face 41 may be the front or top of the stack, whereas the end face 42 may be the back or the bottom of the stack. In line with this, the first paper sheet 43 in the stack 30 is defined as the leading paper sheet. Moreover, the stack 30 has four side faces 44.

[0048] In order to prepare a bundle according to the present disclosure and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a tie 10 is wrapped around the stack 30. In this context, the second portion 12 extends along the trailing end face 42 and along two opposite side faces 44 of the stack as well as a portion of the leading end face 41. The first portion 11 is primarily located on the leading end face 41, but may also extend to one or both of the opposite end faces 44.

[0049] In this context, the first portion 11 overlaps the second end portion 12 on the leading end face 41. The first portion 11 and the second portion 12 are mutually connected, in the example by heat sealing, in the heat-sealing areas 21 and 22 as indicated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

[0050] In addition, the adhesive strip 23 is adhered to the leading end face 41, i.e., to the leading paper sheet 43.

[0051] In order to remove the tie 10, a user inserts a finger through one of the cutouts 19 hooking the web 20 and exits the finger through the other of the cutouts 19. By pulling the first portion 11 away from the stack and, hence, the second portion 12, the mutual connection between the first portion 11 and the second portion 12 is broken. In the example, the heat-sealing areas 21 and 22 are broken. Subsequently, the tie 10 may be removed from the stack 30.

[0052] The present disclosure is particularly applicable to removal of the tie 10 when the bundle is loaded in a dispenser 50.

[0053] The dispenser 50 as shown in FIG. 7 may include a casing 51, wherein a dispensing opening 52 is defined in the casing 51. As shown in FIG. 7, the dispensing opening 52 may be longitudinal. In a further example as shown, the dispensing opening 52 has a widened portion 53 in the center of the dispensing opening 52 in the longitudinal direction. The dotted lines in FIG. 7 represent the portions of the tie 10 hidden by the front of the dispenser 50.

[0054] Once the bundle is loaded into the dispenser 50, the opening 15 should be located within the widened portion 53, but at least be accessible through the dispensing opening 52. In a particular example, in which the tie 10 as shown in FIG. 4 is used, it is preferred that the web 20 is located within the widened portion 53 and extends perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the dispensing opening 52. Thus, also the tie 20 when loaded into the dispenser 50 should extend with its longitudinal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the dispensing opening 52.

[0055] Thus and as shown in FIG. 6, the user can with its finger enter one of the cutouts 19 to hook the web 20 and thereby pull the tie 10 through the dispensing opening 52 out of the dispenser 50. As the leading paper sheet 43 is connected to the first portion 11 by the adhesive strip 23, the leading paper sheet 53 is also withdrawn through the dispensing opening 52 at the time of pulling the tie 10 at the first portion 11 out of the dispensing opening 52. Thus, when interfolded paper sheets 40 are used, the paper sheet following the leading paper sheet 43 will partly be withdrawn through the dispensing opening 52 for later use. This leading paper sheet 43 may be discarded together with the tie 10. Alternatively, the adhesive force between the first portion 11 or more particularly the adhesive strip 23 and the leading paper sheet 43 may be defined so that it is lower than the friction forces between the leading paper sheet 43 and the interfolded consecutive paper sheet 40 so that when withdrawing the tie 10 at the first portion 11, the leading paper sheet 43 is only partly entrained with the tie 10 and after complete removal of the tie 10 partly protrudes from the dispensing opening 52. In embodiments, in which the tie 10 is to be removed from the stack 30 before being placed in a dispenser 50, the adhesive strip 23 may also be omitted.

[0056] Even though the function has been described with respect to the tie 10 shown in FIG. 4, the ties shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 could be employed as well. In case of the ties shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a user would insert or press the finger onto the cut 16 or the cuts 16 and 17 pushing away the material of the tie 10 in the first portion 11. Consequently, the user could hook the finger around the outer edges of the first portion 11 and thereby pull the tie 10 at the first portion 11 out of the dispensing opening 52. In case of the tie 10 as shown in FIG. 3, the user inserts the finger into the cutout 18 again hooking the first portion 11 at the outer edges and thereby enabling easy gripping of the first portion 11 and withdrawal of the tie 10.

[0057] It is to be understood that the above disclosure describes some particular embodiments, but is not limited to these embodiments. In particular, the present disclosure is not limited to the shapes of the cutouts 18 and 19, the cuts 16 or 17, the dimensions of the tie 10 and/or the arrangement and/or areas of the mutual connection 21 and 22 between the first portion 11 and the second portion 12 as well as of the adhesive strip 23. The present disclosure is also not limited to the kind of paper sheets and whether the individual sheets are folded or even interfolded.

[0058] While the present invention has been illustrated by description of various embodiments and while those embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of Applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such details. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. The present invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of Applicants' invention.