Side-gusset bag made of a plastic fabric composite, and method for the production thereof

A method of making a side-gusset bag from a plastic/fabric laminate, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a continuous web made of a plastic fabric and at least one closed plastic layer;
• shaping the continuous web into a tube such that edge strips of the continuous web overlap and that a first face of the continuous web forms an inner surface and a second face of the continuous web forms an outer surface of the tube;
• bonding at the overlap, the first face of the continuous web at the respective outer edge strip with the second face of the continuous web of the respective the inner edge strip by an adhesive in order to peripherally close the tube;
• feeding the closed tube into a folder that shapes it into a flat gusseted tube with opposite front and back panels having gussets at longitudinal-edge folds between the front and back panels and the gussets, so that the gusseted tube has four layers at the gussets and two layers between the gussets of the continuous web;
• forming the gusseted tube such that the overlap is at least partly in a region of the gusseted tube formed by four layers of the continuous web;
• and
• cutting tubular pieces from the gusseted tube to form individual side-gusset bags.