Apparatus and method for enhancing evacuation of bulk material shipper bags

An arrangement enhancing output of viscous contents of a bag including:

• an air input port formed on a multiple-ply bag, the multiple-ply bag including a plurality of plies of substantially identical perimetral extent, at least one edge of each ply being joined to at least one respective edge of another ply, the air input port being connectable to a source of pressurized air;
• an interply region between two plies of the plurality of plies of the bag with which the air input port is in fluid communication so that the interply region can fill with pressurized air from a source of pressurized air when a source of pressurized air is connected to the air input port;
• a drain extending from an interior of the bag to an exterior of the bag allowing contents of the bag to be emptied when present;
• a portion of the bag acting as a bottom of the bag;
• and
• an inner of the two plies having a bottom part at least partially overlying the bottom of the bag and being arranged so that an increasing portion of the bottom part of the inner ply can become a wall part of the inner ply substantially non-parallel to a the bottom of the bag to increase a depth of the bulk material remaining in the bag.

A method of enhancing drainage of viscous contents of a multiple-ply bag, the bag including at least two plies all of substantially identical dimension, the method including the steps of:

• pulling an inner ply of two plies of the bag;
• changing part of the inner ply from being part of the bottom of the bag to being a movable wall a portion of which is substantially perpendicular to the bottom of the bag;
• moving the movable wall toward a drainage port of the bag;
• and
• urging viscous contents of the bag toward the drainage port.

A system for evacuating semi-flowable bulk material from a multi-ply pillow bag arranged within a shipping container, the system comprising:

• a. an air input passageway extending to an interply region of the pillow bag that extends under liquid contained within bottom plies of the bag supported on a bottom of the container;
• b. the interply region of the bag being configured to contain pressurized air accumulating initially in a region opposite a drain from the bag and to exclude the pressurized air from substantial upper regions of the bag;
• and
• c. the bag being configured and located within the container so that pressurized air within the interply region counteracts liquid pressure within the bag to raise a ply of the bag against the bulk material in a region remote from the drain, thereby urging bulk material toward the drain and increasing bulk material depth so that folds of material collecting from bag collapse ride on the surface of the bulk material, the surface of the bulk material being maintained at a level above the drain by the raised ply of the bag in the interply region, thereby preventing blockage of the drain port by the folds of material.

A combination of a shipping container and a multi-ply pillow bag arranged within the container for holding a semi-fluid material within the multi-plies of the pillow bag for shipment with the container, the combination comprising:

• a. an air inlet arranged in communication with an interply region of the pillow bag extending below an equator of the pillow bag and underneath the material contained within the pillow bag;
• b. seams of the pillow bag being configured to contain within the interply region low pressure air pumped into the interply region and to substantially exclude the low pressure air from a top region of the bag;
• and
• c. the interply region being arranged to be balloonable in a region opposite a drain from the bag so that air pressure ballooning the interply region of the bag counteracts material pressure applied in a bottom region of the bag to displace the material toward the drain.