AU487144B2 - Improvements in and relating to packaging - Google Patents

Description

65,286 n4

THIS INVENTION relates to a method of and apparatus for packaging articles into bags.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for loading bags in a loading

station comprising indexing a bag into a loading position

at said loading station; impelling air across the forward

edge of said bag in said loading position and opening

said bag thereby; loading an article to be inserted into the bag onto an article-carrying carriage;reciprocating

the carriage between a position remote from the loading station and a position adjacent to the loading station

by driving the carriage to said loading station with short

stroke pushing means that engages a loading position push

surface on the carriage, the stroke of said pushing means

being shorter than the distance travelled by the carriage;

shutting off the air stream across the forward edge of

said bag during advance of said article-carrying

carriage with a timing allowing the entrance of said

article into said bag prior to collapse of said bag;

receiving the carriage at said loading station with a

buffer stroke, the buffer stroke being shorter than the

distance travelled by the carriage; driving the carriage

to said remote position with further short stroke pushing means that engages a return push surface on the carriage,

the stroke of said further pushing means being shorter

than the distance travelled by the carriage, and receiving

the carriage at said remote position with a buffer stroke,

the buffer stroke being shorter than the distance

travelled by the carriage; removing said bag from its

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indexed loading position;indexing a new bag into said

loading position;and impelling air across the forward

edge of said new bag in said loading position. According to another aspect of the present

invention there is provided apparatus for packaging

articles into bags, such apparatus comprising a

reciprocable carriage movable between a first station

at which an article is loaded into the carriage and a

second station at which the article is loaded into a bag,

carriage propelling means located at each of the

first and second stationsfor reciprocating the

carriage between the first and second stations,

each carriage propelling means including an air

cylinder having a rod extending therefrom, the free

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end of the rod being engageable with a surface of the

carriage to thereby propel the carriage in one direction

of movement thereof through a power stroke which is

shorter than the distance through which the carriage

has to travel in the said one direction.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention will

now be described with reference to the accomrpanying

drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic top plan view of one form

of apparatus;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic side view of the apparatus

of Figure 1 with a chain of bags thereon with the lead

bag inflated;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the

loading table, tape pulling unit and aspirator of

Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic front view of a chain

of imbricated bags mounted on tape suitable for use

with the apparatus;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic front end view of the

support table and inflated bag of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic fragmentary view of

part of the carriage control means at one side of the

carriage in Figure 2 with parts broken away;

Figure 7 is a cross section through loading tray and the tray mounting portion of a carriage taken along line

7-7 of Figure 1 with the tray lifted off of the carriage;

and

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic perspective view of

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drawer of the apparatus of Figure 1 with its mounting

means.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown an

automatic bag loader having a frame 11 which has a bag

receiving guide and positioning section 12, a loading table

section 13, a 1bac fpqwng tapo pull ina. ;mn' holdEI- section

(Figure 2) a bag opening blowe ection 16 anda article receiving conveying and insertion section 17.

The bag receiving section includes a platform (Figure 2),which is connected to and forms a lower part of

the frame 11 at a sufficient height above the floor to

prevent contamination of the bags or their container from

materials on the floor. The platform consists of a series of interconnected metal rods extending between the legs of

the frame 11.

The bag guide and positioning se ction includes a

series of rollers 22a, 22b, and 22c. A roller 23 is positioned below the level of rollers 22a, and c which, are horizontally aligned with one another so that the bags.

-ixi thieifr-pferred form are the taped imbricated bags such as are shown in Figures 2 and 4. The taped bags 25 are preferably fed from a box 26 under the roller 23 where the

corners 27 of the bags, that extend beyond the tapes first

fall outwardly as shown on the under side of the roller 23

and then fall forward onto the top of the chain of bags as

the bags pass over the roller 22a. The bags are maintained in this flattened position by the close spacing

of rollers 22a, 22b, and 22c until they are drawn onto the

loading table the outer end of which is closely

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adjacent to roller 22c preventing the downward folding of

the corners of the bags. The corners 27 of the bags may

sag down slightly between the spaced rollers but not so far that they are not caught by the upcoming rotating

surface and realigned. For bags extending about 5 to 8

inches beyond the two spaced apart supporting tapes on

each side and spaced about 3/4 to 1 inches apart on the tapes, a roller spacing of up to about 2 inches is

acceptable. The rollers are rotated by the movement of

the bags passing over them and the corners of the bags

simply slide over the curved outer end of table 30. The rollers are journaled in the frame for easy rotation.

":e&Rig nowct Figures 1, 2 and 31the loading'

iOn A inz345 e leading table 30 which has a smooth flat bag supporting surface 31 and a smooth down-

wardly turned forward edge 32. The-supporting surface 31 of the table has a slightly raised region 33 through

which an air jet signalling means 34 is directed for

signalling purposes to be further explained later. The slightly raised region 33 ensures a secure engagement of

this region with the under surface of a bag held thereacross.

The bag is held taut across this raised area by the

supporting tapes 35 and 36, Figures 4 and 5. The downturned edge 32 of the table has a cut out 80 therein through

which an override signalling means 37 projects into the

path of any bag that excessively overrides the signalling

means 34. The bag moving,Ipulling andlholding section 15 has

two bag interconnection or tape positioning and orienting

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guiding means or wheels and 4i Figure 5 which guide

the tapes and hold them in their fully parted position

as they cross the upper .surface 31 of the loading table

and redirect the tapes into the bight of the meshing, pulling

or conveying means, powered gear wheel 42 and meshing

idler gear wheel 43. When the preferred chain of imbricated

bags is used with pressure sensitive adhesive tapes or

strips 35 and 36 interconnecting the bags the tapes are

initially oriented or laid over the guiding means with

their sticky sides against the guides 40 and 41 so that the

tapes will be squeezed together adhesive face to adhesive

face as they pass through the meshing gear wheel 42 and 43.

This reduces the instances of the tape sticking to the

apparatus as it passes from the meshing wheels 42 and 43, 3) through4 aspirator 44rand into the box 26.

Looking now in particular at Figures 2 and 3 as

well as at Figure 1, it may be seen that the loading table

advancing means 45 for sequentially advancing the

plurality of bags 25 into the loading position and the

aspirator 44 are in a single assembly 46. The outer assembly housing is a rectangular box like housing 47 with

an open bottom for easy access and sheet metal sides to

enclose the operating mechanisms. The loading table 30 is also of sheet metal, forming the upper closure of the

rectangular box-like housing. The assembly is removably

mounted on the frame 11 through a stud 50 which is bolted

to the housing 47 as shown and which has a semi-circular

cut out 49 in the bottom thereof which is seated on rod 51

which is secured in frame 11. A strap 48 is secured across

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the bottom of cut out 49 preventing assembly 46 from being

dislodged therefrom unintentionally. It will be understood

that a similar mounting arrangement is provided at the

other side of the housing 47. The other end of the assembly

46 rests on strap 52 which is pivotally connected at its

upper end to frame 11. The strap 52 has a handle 58. This

arrangement provides an easy means for rotating the box

backward so that its face will be exposed to make it

convenient to install a new package of imbricated bags on

the apparatus. The rear end of assembly 4.6 rests only on

strap 52. Therefore if the assembly is rotated forward

slightly on rod 51 handle 58 may be moved to pivot strap

52 rearwardly out of the way and the assembly 46 can then be

lowered back until its outer wall rests against stop 69.

It will be seen that this exposes face 59 of assembly 46.

To reposition the assembly 46 it is only necessary to rotate

the assembly forward on rod 51 and when it has cleared

strap 52, pivot the strap back into position as shown in

Figure 2. To remove the assembly 46 from the apparatus 3

for maintenance it is only necessary to remove straps 48

when the assembly is horizontal and then thereafter lift

assembly 46 from this position.

Looking now in particular at Figure 3, the powered

gear wheel 42 is controlled by an air jet signalling means

34 having an air jet 53 for sequential operation. The air jet 53 has an aperture or nozzle 54 through which a jet

of air 55 exits into the path of the lead bag in the chain

of bags 25. Air jet 55 is fed air through air line 56, which is broken for clarity of illustration. Air jet 487.144

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opens through connection 57 to a normally closed diaphragm

switch 60 which is electrically connected to a power

source (not shownm)through electric wires 61 and 62 and

controls the power to the motor 63 through electric wires

64 and 65. When the air jet 55 is stopped-up or blocked

the pressure in line 56 is increased, expanding the

diaphragm (not shown) and opening the switch. When the

air jet 55 is open the pressure in line 56 is insufficient

to expand the diaphragm and the switch closes completing

the electrical circuit, powering motor 63 and driving.

wheel 42 and thereby conveying the tape through the

meshing wheels pulling a new bag into the loading position.

Air pressure at about 2 psi is supplied to line 56 by the

flow control valve 66 which trims fluctuations in the air

pressure. Air is supplied to the flow control valve 66

through air line 67 which is maintained at about 27 psi in

this preferred embodiment after passing through pressure

regulator 68. The pressure regulator is adjustable to the

desired reading which may be checked on gauge A mechanically operated override switch 72 is

operated by the override signalling means rod 37 which is

positioned in the path of the lead bag in the chain of bags beyond the air jet 53. Rod 37 is shown broken for

clarity of illustration. The override switch is a normally closed air valve connected to the air line 67 at connection

73 by air line 74 which is also broken for clarity of

illustration. Air line 67 is operated in this particular

embodiment at about 27 psi which happens to be the air

pressure available in the plant. It will be'understood

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that if a bag overrides the signalling means 53 it will

engage the override signalling means 37 which will engage

against plunger 75-admitting air at a pressure of about

27 psi through air line 76 into air line 56 through air line connection 77 which will increase the pressure in that line above 2 psi opening diaphram. switch 60 and shutting off motor 63 even though air jet 54 remains open. The positioning of the override signalling means 37 in the cut wway 80 which exitends through the downwardly curved

edge of the loading table 30 and into the flat plannar bag supporting surface thereof positions the rod 37 c lose

enough to the signalling means 34 so that a bag will not bi- pulled down over the edge of table 30 to such an extent that it would be wasted before motor 63 is shut of f. Instead the bag is stopped in a position in which it can almost always be opened and used.4

Idler gear wheel 43 is carriedl.*f a frame 81 and journalled therein for easy rotation. The frame is carried on an air cylinder rod 82 so that the idler wheel 43 may be closed into mesh with the driven wheel 42 or retracted therefrom by the air cylinder 83. The air cylinder 83 is spring loaded to the retracted position and held closed by constant air pressure in the cylinder 83 in response to the positioning of valve handle 84. Air line 85 is connected via connection 73 to air line 67 which is maintained set at 27 psi. One of the advantages of having this air closure of the meshing gears 4-2 and 43 is that should someone's fingers be drawn into the meshing wheels they should part and not cause injury.- Pressure regulator 94- is connected 4 8 7,144*

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na air at about 80 psi. This happened to be eceives the specific instance described. -he plant air pressure in through air line 95 and he plant pressure was received air passes into air egulated to 27 psi which pressured on gaugekH and Line 67. This pressure may be checked

the regulator adjusted as needed. with The bag loader 10 is equipped to operate 24 inches in width, for various size bags from 10 inches to 41 are adjustable. They example. The guiding means 40 and they are journalled are mounted on bolt members on which in threaded for easy rotation, the bolts are secured In the position shown in apertures on a mounting bar. 86a is 2 1/4 inches from this preferred embodiment aperture of the gear wheels a centre line passing through the bite positioned in an 42 and 43 the guide wheel 40 would be centre and aperture 86c:would aperture 3 1/4 inches from the of bags of about be 4 1/4 inches from the centre for receipt 24 inches 14 inches, 14 to 18 inches and 18 to spaced the same distance respectively in which the tapes are 4 inches, from the centre .on each side of the bag and about

6 inches and 8 inches apart respectively. the motor 63 Aspirator 44 is shut off each time circuit through the is shut off being in the same electrical use of plant air and switch. This both economises on the aspirator. Electric wires improves the effectiveness of the 60. Through and 91 connect the aspirator to the switch valve 92 which this connection the switch 60 controls air

is solenoid operated. Air valve 92, which is normally line 92 to closed, is connected to air line 95 through air 487.144

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air line and connection 96. Connection 96 is in air line

which is the plant air. When valve 92 is opened air

passes through air line 98 and via connection 101 and air

lines 102 and 103 to aspirator passages 104 and 105

respectively which feed into passages 106 and 107

respectively, -down through passages 110 and 111 respectively

into the channel 112, which has an enlarged fluted opening

113 for easy feeding of the tapes thereinto. The

supporting means or tapes that interconnected the bags

passes through the channel 112 and is dispensed therebelow

into any convenient container for disposal. When a new

package of bags is to be installed on the machine before the

chain of the previously installed bags has run out the

spent tapes are grasped where they extend below the aspirator

and positioned in the mouth 114 of the cutter 115 and drawn

across the knife blade 116 and severed. The cutter 115 is

mounted on the one end of the aspirator. Then the end 26 attached to the waste tape is allowed to fall into boxJ2fr

and the unused bags are released by opening the idler wheel

43 and unthreaded from the apparatus 10 and returned to the

box 26. If desired a pipe member may be attached to the

outlet from the aspirator and the spent tape may be directed

through the pipe and conveyed by the air to a disposal bin

or the like.

Turning our attention now to the bag opening blower

section 16 and looking in particular at Figures 1 and 2,

an electric motor driven centrifugal fan blower unit 120

is mounted within a rectangular housing 122 which is open

at its bottom region for easy access and is surrounded by 12 487.144

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sheet metal walls 123 to protect the operating parts from

being damaged by articles falling into the operating area

and to prevent contamination. A sheet metal upper housing closing member 124 has wings 128a and 128b extending forward

of the main closing member portion. The opening 125 formed between wings 128a and 128b opens to an air delivery chute

126 having a bottom surface 127 and side walls 130a and 130b

for directing the air from blower unit 120 upwardly and

directly across the forward edge of the loading table surface

to inflate a bag positioned thereon.

Drawers 132a and 132b slide out of the sidewalls

130a and 130b to constrict the width of the chute changing the chutes capacity so that the chute may be wide to allow a delivery of a wide air stream from its passageway for

opening wide bags, for example bags 24 inches wide, and

narrow for opening narrow bags, for example bags 10 inches

wide. If the stream directed against the mouth of the bag

is much wider than the spacing of the tapes the air stream

will blow the edges of the bags up particularly after the

lead bag has been inflated so that it does not even loosely

cover the next bag in the chain at its outer edges extending

beyond the tapes. This would disrupt the clear surface beyond the desired, one open bag at a time, on the loading

table 30. Because the tapes are held taut between the meshing gears 42 and 43 and that portion of the chain of

bags extending off of the back of the table 30 by the weight

of the bags themselves, the bottom surface of the inflated

bag attached to the tapes is held in position by its

attachment to the tapes thus securely covering the under-

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lying bags mouth between the tapes 35 and 36. Each

drawer 132a and 132b has a small positioning pin 133a and

133b respectively in its bottom edge. Each of the pins 133a,

133b is adapted to engage in a respective series of holes

129a and 129b (Figure 1) formed in the bottom wall 127 of

the chute 126 and aligned with the respective pin in a

straight line extending across the chute. The holes 129a

are about inch apart as are the holes 129b. It will be

understood that the drawers 132a and 132b are grasped by handles 131a and 131b respectively and a respective drawer 132a or 132b

is thereby pulled out or pushed in until aligned with the

desired aperture of the apertures 129a or 129b and the

projection or pin 133a or 133b is positioned therein to positively position the drawer. It is necessary to lift up

slightly to free the pins 133 from the apertures for

movement. The pins are only about 1/8 inch long in the

particular preferred embodiment shown. It has been found

that with bags 18.1 to 24 inches wide a chute of 8 inches

is preferable. This would be the position with the drawers

completely pushed in. For bags of about 14 to 18 inches a

chute width of about 6 inches is preferable. For bags of

about 10 to 14 inches, 14 to 18 inches, and 18 to 24 inches,

chute widths of about 4 inches 6 inches and 8 inches

respectively are preferred. There is a space 138 between

the bottom surface 127 of the chute and the blower outlet

139 so that fluids and other matter falling into the chute will not pass into the blower but fall through to below the apparatus.

Looking at Figure 8, it may be seen that each

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drawer has a front face 153 and a top wall 154. The outer

edges 155 and 156 of the top wall 154 are mounted in of a runners 157 and 158 which are secured to the underside

wing 128a or 128b. It will be understood that the outlet the from the blower 139 is not as wide as the chute until the drawers are positioned in the outermost position with

pin in the outermost aperture. Only in this position would

any air from the blower be propelled behind the front face

153 of a drawer. The edge 157 top wall 154 of the drawer

extends closely adjacent to the bottom surface 127 of the

chute so that the leakage through the chute behind the

face 153 is not sufficient to inflate the outer edges of

bags lying beyond the tapes and in alignment with this

area of the chute.

It has been found that an air current of about

100 300 cubic ft./minute is preferable and generally

desired for orderly opening of the bags without ripping

them off the tapes or otherwise destroying the sequential

opening operation of the bag loader 10. The lower volume

of air for narrow chute widths and the upper portion of

the range of wider chute widths. A damper plate member or

means 134 is pivotally mounted by a pin so that it may be

pivoted or positioned to partially close or block the air

inlet opening to the blower 120 to varying degrees to

constrict the air entering said fan inlet and thereby

restrict the air current passing to the chute 127. The

damper plate 134 is controlled by rod member 137 which is

connected by pin 140 to the damper plate member 134. The

rod 137 passes out through the rear sheet metal wall of the

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rectancgular housing 121 which has a slot 141 formed therein-

and extends outwardly from the apparatus for manipulation.

The bottom of the rod 137 has a plurality of positioning

teeth 142 formed thereon which can engage the thin sheet

metal siding at the lower edge 143 of the slot to hold the

damper in the desired position. The thin sheet metal'serves

as a catch member for positioning the rod in the slot

aperture by engaging between the teeth.

When the carriage 144 which is part of the article

receiving, conveying and insertion section 17, which will.

be further described further on in this application; is

moved forward it actuates valves 145 by engaging against

roller lever member 146. This supplies air through air line 150 to air cylinder 151 which has a piston receiprocal

therein for moving closing shut off plate member 152 over

the air inlet 148 opening to the blower. As the cylinder 151 pushes the plate 152 forward it engages the plate

against damper plate 134 and pushes it against the air

inlet opening so that the closure of the air inlet opening

includes such portion of the plate 134 as is in position

over the opening 148 as a damper. The cylinder 151 is spring loaded so that when the carriage 144 passes back

across the roller 146 reversing the valve 145 and opening

a relief port therein the spring returns the air closure shut

off plate 152 to the blower open position and the damper

plate 134 which is normally spaced about 1 to 2 inches from

the blower's air inlet 148 returns to its position partly

obstructing the air inlet opening to the blower. The blower is shut off by the plate 152 when the carriage passes

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-65.286 174

carriage over the chute 126 to prevent the bottom of the air and the parts carried by it from deflecting the bags passing upwardly through the chute downwardly causing normal below the top bag to be inflated inhibiting the operation of the loader

Turning our attention now specifically to the 17, and article receiving,, conveying and insertion section be seen looking in particular at Figures 1 and 2, it may for that carriage 144 is mounted on rods 160 and 161 position reciprocation thereon between-the outer loading and the 162 in which the carriage is shown in Figure 1 163 forward bag loading position or insertion position 2. It will be which the carriage is positioned as in Figure the rods understood that the carriage 144 is received on (not or carriage mounting bars 160 and 161 by bushings article shown) for easy reciprocation between the outer

loading position 162 which is remote from the loading loading position and the inner article insertion or bag The position 163 which is adjacent to the loading position. and mounting bars 160 and 161 are secured to said apparatus

extend parallel thereto in alignment with the loading but position. The bag loader 10 is not fully automatic a semi-automatic being actuated by an operator engaging which knee against the outside of the hinged plate 164 switch presses against the plunger on a reverse actuation so that air valve 165. The hinged plate 164 is arranged at any the operator may actuate the switch while standing

position along the operators side of the bag loader 144. to bring about the reversing movement of the carriage 487.144

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The actuation of the valve 165 switches the air under a pressure of about 24 psi in this preferred embodiment from cylinder 166 to the cylinder 167 or vice versa. The cylinders have equivalent arrangements in their air lines

although the attachments in the air lines are shown only

with respect to cylinder 166. As may be seen, air line 170 going to cylinder 166 has a flow control 171

giving free flow ball check throttle out control to the cylinder 166 so that when air is supplied to cylinder 166 the air will actuate the piston therein with a rapid motion pushing the carriage 144 at about 120 feet per minute for the length of the piston movement which is about 4 inches causing the carriage to continue its movement until it

engages against the bumper pad 172 of cylinder 167 (see Figure 6) which serves to slow the carriage through the throttled escape of the vented air from the cylinder 167 through the flow control (not shown) such as 171 connected thereto. The pistons stroke is not the length of the distance to be traversed or travelled by the carriage. The carriage continues its movement until the reverse pad 173 engages against the face 174 of the carriage control

mounting 175. The bumper pads 172 and stop pads 173 are mounted on the pusher or work block 176 of the rod 177. The bumper pads on the outer face of the work block and the stop pads on the inner face. The carriage locking arm member 180 is 'pivotally mounted and rides in the bite or yoke of the pusher block 176 over a pin 181 and drops down ca rning surface 182 to drop over pin or locking catch means 183 and lock the carriage in position as shown in solid

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line in Figure 6. These with their operating parts

function as the carriage locking means. When the operator

next actuates the plate actuator 164 and thereby the switch

165 and causes a reversing of the carriage the plunger (not

shown) in cylinder 167 is actuated by the air pushing the

end member 176 from its solid line position tovward its'

phantom line position shown in Figure 6 causing the pin 181

to engage the cam surface 182 unlocking the locking groove

or slot 185 on the outer end of arm 180 from the pin 183

by lifting it from the position shown in solid line to the

position shown in phantom line allowing the carriage 144

to move freely on the rods 160 and 161. Groove 185 has

sufficient length to allow locking before pad 173 engages

face 174 and unlocking by the cam action of cam 182 before

pin 183 engages the other end of the groove 185. The lock

slot has an open length corresponding to the length lineally

of the cam surface required to raise the locking slot from

the carriage locking means. It may be seen that as the

pin 181 moves outwardly on the carriage locking member 180

it retains the carriage locking member in raised or

unlocked position. The carriage locking member 180 is

pivotally mounted in a cut out recess 187 in the carriage

control mounting 175 by pin 1.86. The cylinder 167 is

secured in the carriage control mounting 175 by having its

forward end 190 threadably secured therein as shown in

Figure 6 and the rod 160 is secured in the upper end

thereof by nuts on its threaded outer end and the carriage

controls wount is bolted to the frame 12. It will be

understood that cylinder 166 has the same apended parts

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as cylinder 167 and so they will not be detailed here.

Both sides 191 and 192 of the carriage 144 have end faces 193 which face the inner article insertion or

bag loading position 163. One of the end faces 193 serves as the return push engaging surface of the carriage. These faces extend forward so that the carriage will be stopped

at the inner article insertion or bag loading position 163

straddling the exposed operating parts of the means for

sequentially conveying the bags into the loading position.

The other end face 194 of the carriage 144 is flush and

faces the outer article loading position 162. Face 194 serves as the loading position direction push engaging

surface of the carriage. The cross bar 195 of the frame 11 which mounts the forward end of the air box or housing 122 is raised in its medial region and lowered in

the regions below the sides 191 and 192 of the carriage so that the side where they extend downwardly as shown in Figure 2 may pass across the cross member 195. Of course the carriage straddles the air box 120 so that it may

reciprocate back and forth on the rods 160 and 161 without engaging the air box 120 itself. The bottom surface of the carriage at one side serves as the camming surface for activating valve 145 and maintaining the valve in actuated position,

Looking now at Figures 1 and 7, the carriage 144 has a mounting means 196 thereon that mates with a mounting means 198 and 199 on an article carrying means or tray 200. The particular article carrying means shown is formed from a plurality of rods as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

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It will be understood that the center portion of

the carriage 144 is shaped as a saddle to form part of the

mounting means 196 as may be seen in Figure 7. This mounting means 196 includes pins 201 and 202 on the mounting

means 196 that engage with the mating grooves or slots 203

and 204.on the mounting means 198. It may be seen that the groove 203 faces to the side so that the article

carrying means 200 is angled to position this groove on pin

201 and then the other side is lowered to position groove

204 on pin 202 and thereafter the weight of the tray

operating thereon holds the tray in position against

accidental dislodgement. It will be understood that mounting means 199 is simultaneously mounted in the same

manner on pins on the other side of mounting means 196.

There are a pair of pins on each side of the

carriage, one pin of each of the pairs on each side of the

saddle. There is also, therefore, two pairs of mounting

means one on each side of the tray, with one pair having

outwardly directed slots and the other pair downwardly

'directed slots. For larger article carrying means other

sets of pins such as 205 and 206 may be provided.

Because the plant air pressure may not be at

the desired pressure or properly cleaned of foreign matter

air pressure regulating and filtering means such as are

illustrated at 205 may be desirably attached to each bag

loading apparatus. Both the details of this apparatus and

the detailed air line connections have been omitted from

the equipment in order to make the diagrammatic represent-

ation clearer when taken with the description given herein,

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it will be understood that those skilled in the art may

easily run air lines between the various operating and

control apparatus to provide safe operation of the

equipment and provide safety switches at appropriate positions

such as for example to be opened by rotating back of the

assembly 46 for feeding on a new chain of bags 25, and as

may be required by the laws of the various governments.

Turning now to the operation of the bag loader, a

box 26, of taped bags 25 is positioned on the platform

as shown in Figure 2. The chain of taped bags 25 is fed

below roller 23 and over roller 22a, 22b, and 22c and

pulled forward over the upper surface 31 of loading table

The tapes which project forward of the lead bag are

pulled down and fed one on each'side of the guide wheels

and 41, stuck together and fed between the gear wheels

42 and 43. The idler wheel 43 is moved into mesh with

wheel 42 clamping the tapes therebetween. The tapes are then

fed down through the aspirator opening 113 and through

channel 112. As the tape is later conveyed between the

gear wheels 42 and 43 through the aspirator it will return

to the box 26 so that when the box is removed the waste

tape will be removed with it. It is important that the

bags pass against the wheel 23 to ensure that the bags

move in a manner causing the ears to fold downwardly

prior to traversing roller 22a and also serves to indicate

to an operator loading a new chain of bags on the apparatus

that the box is properly positioned as shown in Figure 1.

It may be observed that the corners 27 of the bags

fall outwardly as they pass under the roller 23 and then

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flop back into their normal bag flattened position as they

pass over roller 22c. It is important that the rollers 22c, 22b and 22a be positioned sufficiently close together so that the corners of the bags will not flop down between

them and turn back under. Thus for bags spaced about 3/4 inches apart to 1 inches apart and extending from about to 8 inches out beyond the tapes at the sides the rollers

should not be spaced more than about 2 inches apart. At this time the carriage 144 would be in the outer article loading position 162 and locked therein. The assembly 46 is then raised back into operating position on strap 52. The air power and the electric power would now be turned

on. This would cause the lead bag to index if it was not already in its loading position and the blower would cause the lead bag to inflate. The bag would of course be stopped in the indexed position by the signalling means 34. The operator loads the article to be inserted into a bag onto the article carrying means 200. The operator then hits the plate 164 with a knee switching the valve 165 and powering the piston 167 driving the pushing block 176 against the 2nd 194 of the carriage 144 and unlocking the carriage by Lifting the locking means 180 and propelling the carriage 144 to the inner article insertion or bag loading position .63 as shown in Figure 2, the operator then manually :ompletes the positioning of the item to be loaded in the )ag and usually shoves the bag from the apparatus to mother conveyor for closing or other precedures. The perator hits the plate 164 with a knee reversing the valve and activating cylinder 166 which operates in the same

487.144

65.286 /74

manner as cylinder 167 to return the carriage to position

162. The sequence is then repeated with the machine power

not having to be reactivated and the next bag being

automatically indexed immediately after the loaded bag is

removed from over the signalling means 34. Normally the

operator will strip the loaded bag from the tajes by engaging

the upper lip area of the bag with his arm with a forward

motion as he shoves the article from the carrier 200. To

load on a new chain of bags onto apparatus after the box 26

is empty it is necessary to drop assembly 46 bacck to expose

face 59 and repeat the sequence of loading the first chain

of imbricated bags onto the loading apparatus

To adjust the machine for handling a different size

bag it is necessary to position the guides 40 and 41 to

the distance substantially corresponding to the spacing

between the tapes and to adjust the drawer member 132a and

132b to substantially the spacing of the tapes. It is

generally also desirable to adjust the air passing into the

air blower by adjustment of the damper through the

manipulation of the rod 137 to position the proper notch

between teeth 142 over the lower edge 143 of the slot 141

so the proper amount of air will be delivered to the

forward edge of the bag to open the bag without unduly

tearing at the bag.

In order to save the expense and trouble of having

a mechanic come and move the guides 40 and Al when

necessary to accommodate different sized bags it is often

preferably to secure a guide in each position so.%that in

the embodiment illustrated herein there would be 6 guides.

4 8 7.1 44

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Of course, any number of guides may be employed depending

on the number of bag widths, the specific apparatus is to be used with.

.4 87,144

Claims (1)

1. 286 /74

   The claims defining the invention are as follows:

   i. A method for loading bags in a loading

   a loading position station comprising indexing a bag into

   at said loading station; impelling air across the forward

   edge of said bag in said loading position and opening

   said bag thereby; loading an article to be inserted into

   the bag onto an article-carrying carriage;reciprocating

   the carriage between a position remote from the loading

   station by station and a position adjacent to the loading

   with short driving the carriage to said loading station

   stroke pushing means that engages a loading position push

   the stroke of said pushing means surface on the carriage,

   being shorter than the distance travelled by the carriage;

   forward edge of shutting off the air stream across the carriage said bag during advance of said article-carrying

   said article into with a timing allowing the entrance of

   receiving the said bag prior to collapse of said bag;

   carriage at said loading station with a buffer stroke,

   distance travelled the buffer stroke being shorter than the

   by the carriage; driving the carriage to said remote

   means that position with further short stroke pushing

   the stroke engages a return push surface on the carriage,

   than the of said further pushing means being shorter the distance travelled by the carriage, and receiving

   stroke, carriage at said remote position with a buffer

   than the distance the buffer stroke being shorter

   travelled by the carriage; removing said bag from its

   bag into said loading indexed loading positionindexing a new

   forward edge of said position;and impelling air across the

   new bag in said loading position.

   26 487.144

   65.286 174 2. Apparatus for packaging articles into bags,

   uch apparatus comprising a reciprocable carriage movable

   etween a first station at which an article is loaded into

   he carriage and a second station at which the article is

   oaded into a bag, carriage propelling means located at I

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   65.286 /74

   each of the first and second stations for reciprocating the carriage between the first an-d second stations, each carriage propelling means including an air cylinder having

   a rod extending therefrn, the free end of the rod being engageable with a surface of the carriage to thereby

   propel the/ in one direction of movement thereof through a power stroke which is dhorter than the distance

   through which the carriage has to travel in the said one direction.

   3 5- Apparatus as claimed in claim 44-, in which each air cylinder includes a throttle valve for throttling air vented from the air cylinder when the air pressure is

   switched therefrom to thereby provide a buffer action

   for the carriage at the end of movement of the carriage

   in a direction opposite to the said one direction.

   2ft3 k-&.'Apparatus as claimed in claiU4.-ei- 5, in which the free end of each rod has a block member connected

   thereto, the block member having a bumper pad on its outer face and a stop pad on its inner face.

   S' 3 49'. Apparatus as claimed in claimAg5, in which the carriage includes a locking catch means, and the block member includes a yoke, a pin extending across said yoke, a pivotally mounted locking arm extending through said yoke, a lock slot on the outer end of said arm, a cam surface on said arm, said cam surface being oriented to ride over said pin as the block member is reciprocated

   to lift said lock slot off and lower it back onto said carriage locking catch means to lock and unlock said 28 4 87.144

   65.286 /4

   carriage from its two extreme positions of reciprocation, said lock slot having an open length corresponding to the

   length of can surface required to raise and lower said

   lock slot from said carriage locking catch means, said pin engaging said cam surface on the outer stroke of said

   rod to lift said arm and unlock said locking slot fran said

   carriage locking catch means, said bumper pad engaging the surface of said carriage on its outer stroke to push

   said carriage and power into its opposed position through

   its reciprocal path.

   6 2 Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims24 to

   I, in which the carriage includes means for mounting a tray thereon, the mounting means including a saddle and a

   pair of pins arranged on each side of the carriage.

   7 6 Apparatus as claimed in claimk&, which includes

   a tray mountable on the mounting means of the carriage, the tray including a pair of mounting members on one side thereof

   iaving downwardly directed slots, and a pair of mounting

   nembers on the opposite side thereof having an outwardly

   lirected slot directed at a right angle to the said down- ardly directed slots, the said slots being engageable

   qith respective pairs of pins on the carriage to thereby

   lount the tray in position.

   824 7 Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4-4b-e ihich includes means for sequentially and periodically onveying a chain of imbricated bags one at a time to the

   econd station. 9 .487.144

   65.2 8 6 4

   into bags, 9. Apparatus for packaging articles for sequentially indexing such apparatus comprising: means a time to a loading a chain of imbricated bags one at stream of air across the station; means for directing a at the loading station; leading edge of a bag positioned for loading an article a reciprocable loading carriage loading station; means into an open bag positioned at the said loading station to drive said loading carriage from is to be placed on to a further station where an article carriage from said said carriage; means to drive said when carrying such further station to said loading station at the loading station: an article for loading into a bag o.00

   stream during moveme6nt and means for shutting off the air an article into the bag of the reciprocable means to load after the article h'ad, whereby the air stream is cut off carriage driving means entered the bag; each said loading means having a stroke comprising short stroke pushing between said shorter than the path of carriage travel 0

   stations. a0 o0

   Dated this 5th day of Apirl 1977

   W.R. GRACE CO., By its Patent Attorneys, DAVIES COLLISON

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