Patent Grant
9387944
1. Field of the Invention
A packaging system and method for forming and filling a transportable container with a plurality of bulk goods received from a feed source.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art packaging systems to which the subject invention pertains are packaging systems which include turntables driven by mechanical drives. One such packaging system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,104,520 to Ours, et al wherein a frame of the packaging system includes a bottom support and an upper support and at least one support column extending therebetween. An upper turntable is rotatably supported within the upper support and defines a feed opening for receiving the bulk goods from the feed source, and a lower turntable is rotatably supported on the bottom support. A drive system including a drive is interconnected to the upper and lower turntables for generating a mechanical force to drive rotation of the upper and lower turntables.
Although the prior art packaging systems are capable of driving rotation of the upper and lower turntables, these packaging systems require multiple heavy chain drives and motors to establish rotation of both the upper and lower turntables. In addition, the prior art drives can often require the use of discrete, interlocking mechanical members such as chain sprockets, spur gears or timing belts. Accordingly, there remains a need for a packaging system which can drive rotation of the upper and lower turntables using less complex and less expensive drive systems.
The invention provides for a drive system including at least one pulley system interconnected to at least one of the upper and lower turntables and the drive for receiving a rotational force from the drive and communicating the rotational force to the at least one pulley system to simultaneously drive and synchronize a rotational speed of the upper and lower turntables. The pulley system of the subject invention achieves a straight and uniform square load of bulk goods in the transportable container through the use of a simple belt and pulley system. Said another way, the pulley system of the subject invention maintains straightness and squareness for an entire fill cycle of the bulk goods in the transportable without separate mechanical drives for each of the upper and lower turntables. Accordingly, the pulley system eliminates the need for separate and distinct mechanical drives as currently required in the prior art packaging systems, and thus reduces cost and complexity of the packaging system.
Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, a packaging system 20 for forming and filling a transportable container 22 with a plurality of bulk goods received from a feed source 24 is generally shown in
Throughout the present specification and claims the phrase “bulk goods” is used as a shorthand version of the wide range of products that can be packaged utilizing the present invention. The present invention finds utilization in packaging any material that can be bulk packaged. These items can encompass large bulk packaged pieces as well as very small bulk packaged pieces. Examples of smaller bulk goods include, but are not limited to, the following: agricultural products like seeds, rice, grains, vegetables, fruits, chemical products like fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, raw chemicals, fertilizers, plastics like plastic resin pellets, plastic parts, rejected plastic parts, machined plastic parts, cereals and cereal products such as wheat, a variety of machined parts of all sorts, wood products like wood chips, landscaping material, peat moss, dirt, sand, gravel, rocks and cement. The present invention also finds utilization in bulk packaging of larger bulk goods including, but not limited to: prepared foods, partially processed foods like frozen fish, frozen chicken, other frozen meats and meat products, manufactured items like textiles, clothing, footwear, toys like plastic toys, plastic half parts, metallic parts, soft toys, stuffed animals, and other toys and toy products. All of these types of materials and similar bulk packaged materials are intended to be encompassed in the present specification and claims by this phrase.
As best shown in
The slip frame former 42 has at least one former wall 44 to define a frame opening 46 disposed in fluid communication with the feed opening 38. In the preferred embodiment, the former walls 44 are from about six to fifteen inches in height and may be made from metal, plastic, or any other material known in the art. Further, the at least one former wall 44 is a continuous wall that extends down from the entirety of the upper turntable 34. However, the at least one former wall 44 could also include former arms or fingers (not expressly shown) extending downwardly from the upper turntable 34.
The packaging system 20 further includes a bottom support 48 attached to the at least one support column 28 of the frame 26 and a lower turntable 50 is rotatably supported on the bottom support 48. As best shown in
As best shown in
The drive 60 of the drive system 58 includes a drive motor 76 and a gearbox 78 disposed on the bottom support 48 and interconnected to both of the upper and lower pulley systems 62, 64 for generating the rotational force and simultaneously communicating the rotational force to both of the upper and lower pulley systems 62, 64. As best shown in
At least one of the bottom support 48 and the upper support 32 are vertically movable relative to the other along the at least one support column 28 between a first position, as shown in
The packaging system 20 also includes a stretch wrapping device 90 disposed in spaced and aligned relationship with at least a portion of the former wall 44 of the slip frame former 42. As best shown in
The packaging system 20 also includes at least one sensor 94 which extends downwardly from the upper support 32 for sensing a fill level of the bulk goods within the transportable container 22, and a controller 96 is in communication with the at least one sensor 94 for receiving the fill level and comparing the fill level to a predetermined threshold to generate a fill signal when the fill level exceeds the predetermined threshold during the filling of the transportable container 22 with bulk goods. The controller 96 is also in in communication with at least one of the bottom support 48 and the upper support 32 to initiate the relative vertical movement of the bottom support 48 and the upper support 32 in response to the fill signal for disengaging previously disposed portions of stretch wrap 92 from the slip frame former 42 to squeeze the filled portions of the transportable container 22 with the stretch wrap 92 and lock together the bulk goods disposed therein.
In the preferred embodiment, the transportable container 22 includes a transportable base 98 that is placed on the lower turntable 50 and is also used to begin the initial forming of the transportable container 22. Said another way, the roll of stretch wrap 92 extends outwardly from the stretch wrapping device 90 and is disposed in overlapping relationship with at least a portion of the former wall 44 and the transportable base 98 disposed on the bottom support 48 in the first position to encircle both the transportable base 98 and the at least on former wall 44 during an initial simultaneous rotation of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. Accordingly, the rotation of the lower turntable 50 also drives rotation of the transportable base 98 when the transportable base 98 is used to form the transportable container 22. The transportable base 98 is made of molded plastic, but may be manufactured by any process known in the art and made of any other material known in the art. In a preferred embodiment, the transportable base 98 is square, but the transportable base 98 may be round or any other shape known in the art. The square transportable container 22 allows for the greatest amount of space to be utilized when a plurality of transportable containers 22 are placed next to one another in a shipping truck. The transportable base 98 initially forms the bulk goods or particulates disposed in the transportable container 22 and further allows for the transportation of the transportable container 22. The transportable base 98 may further be a slip sheet, pallet or any other transportable base 98 known in the art. The slip sheet is typically a folded sheet of cardboard, but may be any other material known in the art, including but not limited to plastic. The pallet may be wood, plastic or any other material known in the art. Typically, the pallet and the slip sheet are used together.
The controller 96 is also disposed in communication with the clutch 80 of the drive system 58 to disengage the clutch 80 during the relative vertical movement of the bottom support 48 and the upper support 32 for ceasing transfer of the rotational force from the drive motor 76 to the upper turntable 34. Accordingly, rotation of the upper turntable 34 is accomplished using only the overlapped layers of stretch wrap 92 extending between the bottom support 48 and the slip frame former 42 and thus straightness of the bulk goods transferred to the transportable container 22 is maintained during the fill cycle without the need to drive the upper turntable 34 with the upper pulley system 62. Said another way, once the transportable container 22 is initially formed with a few wraps of the stretch wrap 92 during initial simultaneous rotation of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50, the loading process of bulk goods into the transportable container 22 can maintain straightness and squareness during the entire fill cycle without the need to drive the upper turntable 34 with the upper pulley system 62. When a transportable base 98 is used, the upper turntable 34 is driven using only the overlapped layers of stretch wrap 92 extending between the transportable base 98 and the slip frame former 42
As best shown in
In a preferred embodiment, the slip frame former 42 may be altered to allow for the slip frame former 42 to be easily pulled away from the stretch wrap 92 as the level of the bulk goods in the transportable container 22 increases. For example, the at least one former wall 44 may be altered by a Teflon coating, a dimpled surface, or any other method known in the art for decreasing the amount of friction between the slip frame former 42 and the stretch wrap 92. Once the previously disposed portions of stretch wrap 92 are pulled away from the slip frame former 42, the roll of stretch wrap 92 of the stretch wrapping device 90 continues to overlap both the previously disposed portions of stretch wrap 92 and the slip frame former 42 during relative vertical movement of the bottom support 48 and the upper support 32 as well as continued simultaneous rotation of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. This allows for the transportable container 22 to continue to form between the bottom support 48 on the transportable base 98 and the slip frame former 42. Said another way, as the level of bulk goods increases in the transportable container 22, at least one of the bottom support 48 and the upper support 32 are moved relative to one another to accommodate additional bulk goods and continue to form the transportable container 22 with the stretch wrap 92. During movement, the stretch wrap 92 is spirally wrapped at a predetermined level below the level of bulk goods to continue to overlap the stretch wrap 92 over both the previously disposed portions of stretch wrap 92 and the slip frame former 42.
The stretch wrapping device 90 can comprise a conventional stretch wrapping device 90 such as, for example, a LANTECH O SERIES semi-automatic wrapper. Additionally, in the preferred embodiment, the stretch wrap 92 has a high cling factor and a width between 10 and 30 inches, but the stretch wrap 92 may be any of a variety of stretch wrap films known in the art. Other packaging materials such as netting, strapping, banding, or tape may be used as well. As best shown in
The stretch wrap 92 generates hoop forces which apply a gentle squeeze to the bulk goods and thus help to stabilize the bulk goods disposed within the transportable container 22. The hoop forces stabilize the bulk goods by promoting controllable contact between the elements of the bulk goods being loaded into the transportable container 22, thereby promoting bridging between the components of the bulk goods. For example, when the bulk goods are a bulk cereal in puff or flake form, hoop forces promote bridging between cereal pieces, thereby reducing the relative motion between the pieces and immobilizing the cereal within the transportable container 22. Said another way, hoop forces allow for a very compact and rigid transportable container 22, which does not allow the bulk goods to shift or get crushed within the transportable container 22. In addition, the slip frame former 42 acts as a force control mechanism, i.e. the wrap is applied to the slip frame former 42 as opposed to being applied directly to the product. As such, the slip frame former 42 reduces product damage that could result from the direct application of the stretch wrap 92 to the bulk goods in the transportable container 22.
While the packaging system 20 could work with or without a bag 108, the preferred embodiment includes a scrunched bag system having an intermediate carrier 110 for holding a flexible bag 108 in an open and scrunched or bunched position. The bag 108 is preferably a gusseted bag 108 and can be formed from any suitable material for the bulk goods disposed in the bag 108 of the transportable container 22, such as for example, low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, a food grade polymer, or nylon. The intermediate carrier 110 has a carrier base 112 and a plurality of carrier arms 114 extending from the carrier base 112 to an arm end 116. The carrier base 112 may be any shape known in the art, including but not limited to, round, square, rectangular, and U-shaped.
Each of the arm ends 116 may include a cap portion or may be rounded to assist with guiding the bag 108 onto and off the intermediate carrier 110. The arm ends 116 also maintain contact with the bag 108 to create an opening in the bag 108, and hold the bag 108 in its proper open position. The arm ends 116 push outwardly against an inside surface of the flexible bag 108 to create tension on the bag 108 and to secure the bag 108 onto the intermediate carrier 110.
In the exemplary embodiment, the intermediate carrier 110 is placed on a top hat portion 118 that extends from the upper turntable 34 of the upper support 32. The top hat portion 118 is secured to the upper turntable 34 such that when the upper turntable 34 rotates, the top hat portion 118 is rotatable therewith. The carrier arm 114 extends downwardly from the top hat portion 118 and through the feed opening 38 such that the bag 108 will be disposed and extend from the intermediate carrier 110 through the feed opening 38 of the upper support 32 and the frame opening 46 of the slip frame former 42 and to the transportable base 98 as bulk goods are fed from the feed source 24 into the bag 108.
As best shown in
As best shown in
The controller 96 is disposed in communication with the upper and lower proximity switches 128, 132 for receiving the upper and lower proximity signals and associating a time stamp with each receipt of the proximity signals. Said another way, the controller 96 records a time of day when the upper and lower proximity flags 126, 130 pass by the proximity switches 128, 132. The controller 96 then proceeds to compare the respective time stamps of the upper and lower proximity signals to generate a timing difference between each respective time stamps of the upper and lower proximity signals. Said another way, the controller 96 determines how much time, for example number of seconds, that passes between each respective time stamp. In the preferred embodiment, when the upper and lower turntables 34, 50 are synchronized, the upper turntable 34 is set to run slightly ahead of the lower turntable 50. However, sometimes during rotation, the turntables 34, 50 can get out of sync and the upper turntable 34 can rotate too far ahead of the lower turntable 50. Accordingly, it is desirable in these situations to resynchronize the rotation of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. Thus, the step of comparing the respective time stamps includes subtracting the respective time stamp of the lower proximity signal from the respective time stamp of the upper time stamp to calculate a timing difference between the respective time stamps. The controller 96 then proceeds to compare the respective timing differences to an upper predetermined timing threshold and a lower predetermined timing threshold. For example, each of the upper and lower predetermined timing thresholds could be values that are equal to a percentage of time that it takes the turntables 34, 50 to make an entire 360-degree rotation. Further, the upper predetermined timing threshold could be a value that equals 1-2% of the amount of time it takes the turntables 34, 50 to make an entire 360 degree rotation. The controller 96 then proceeds to generate a first alignment signal in response to the timing difference being less than lower predetermined threshold and a second alignment signal in response to the timing difference being greater than the upper predetermined timing threshold. The controller 96 proceeds to engage the clutch 80 in response to the second alignment signal to reapply the transfer of rotational force from the drive motor 76 to the upper pulley system 62 for accelerating the rotational speed of the upper turntable 34. The controller 96 also proceeds to cease transfer the rotational force from the drive motor 76 to the upper pulley system 62 in response to the second alignment signal to slow the rotational speed of the upper turntable 34 and allow realignment of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. In addition, as previously mentioned, the disengagement of the clutch 80 allows the portions of stretch wrap 92 extending between the lower turntable 50 and the upper turntable 34 to manage the synchronization of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. The control of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50 using the first and second alignment signals is advantageous because it allows for the tuning of the rotational speed of the upper turntable 34 simply by altering between use of the disengaged and engaged positions of the clutch 80, and thus helps in managing a packaging system 20 which drives 60 the upper turntable 34 with the stretch wrap 92.
In an alternative embodiment, the packaging system 20 only requires a single pulley system to simultaneously drive and synchronize a rotational speed of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. In this alternative embodiment, the lower turntable 50 is disposed in interlocked relationship with the upper turntable 34 during the initial rotation of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. As best shown in
In the preferred embodiment, the single pulley system is a lower pulley system 64 in communication with the lower turntable 50. However, the packaging system 20 with only the lower pulley system 64 may not be robust enough to keep the upper turntable 34 and the lower turntable 50 in synchronized rotation depending on the type of bulk goods disposed within the transportable container 22. Accordingly, the packaging system 20 which includes the pin 136 and the notch 134 and the lower pulley system 64 could also be modified to include an upper pulley system 62 in communication with the upper turntable 34. In this arrangement, the drive 60 is disposed between and interconnected to both of the upper and lower pulley systems 62, 64, and a clutch 80 is disposed between the drive 60 and the upper pulley system 62. Similar to the earlier embodiments, the clutch 80 is adjustable from a disengaged position during the interlocked and simultaneous rotation of the turntables 34, 50 for ceasing transfer of the rotational force to the upper pulley system 62 to an engaged position during the unlocked rotation of the turntables 34, 50 for tuning synchronization of the rotational speeds of the turntables 34, 50 during the relative vertical movement. Said another way, the additional upper pulley system 62 could be added to adjust and tune the rotational speed of the upper turntable 34 when the pin 136 and the notch 134 are disposed in unlocked relationship. However, when this tuning feature is not required, the upper turntable 34 is only driven by the stretch wrap 92 extending between the bottom support 48 and the upper turntable 34.
A method of forming and filling a transportable container 22 includes simultaneously rotating an upper turntable 34 including a slip frame former 42 and a lower turntable 50 disposed on a bottom support 48 with a drive 60 to synchronize a rotational speed of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. The method proceeds by applying stretch wrap 92 to at least a portion of the slip frame former 42 and the bottom support 48 during the simultaneous rotation of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50 to form a transportable container 22 extending therebetween, and then moving at least one of the upper turntable 34 and the bottom support 48 relative to one another to disengage previously disposed portions of stretch wrap 92 from the slip frame former 42 and overlap the previously disposed portions of stretch wrap 92 and the slip frame former 42 with the stretch wrap 92. Once the stretch wrap 92 is sufficiently disposed between the bottom support 48 and the slip frame former 42, the method proceeds by disengaging rotation of the upper turntable 34 with the drive 60 during the relative movement of the upper turntable 34 and the bottom support 48 to continue to drive rotation of the upper turntable 34 using only the overlapped layers of stretch wrap 92 extending between the bottom support 48 and the slip frame former 42. In the preferred embodiment, the simultaneous rotation of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50 is achieved with at least one pulley system 62, 64, 66 interconnected to the drive 60.
The method also provides for the tuning and re-synchronization of the rotational speeds of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. In this embodiment, the method includes the steps of monitoring an upper proximity flag 126 disposed on the upper turntable 34 using an upper proximity switch 128 to generate an upper proximity signal when the upper proximity flag 126 rotates past the upper proximity switch 128, and monitoring a lower proximity flag 130 disposed on the lower turntable 50 using a lower proximity switch 132 to generate a lower proximity signal when the lower proximity flag 130 rotates past the lower proximity switch 132. Once the proximity signals are generated, the method proceeds by associating a time stamp with each receipt of the upper and lower proximity signals. In the preferred embodiment of the method, since the upper turntable 34 is set to run slightly faster than the lower turntable 50, the method includes subtracting the respective time stamp of the lower proximity signal from the respective time stamp of the upper time stamp to calculate a timing difference between the respective time stamps. Once the timing differences are calculated, the method proceeds by comparing each of the timing differences to a lower predetermined timing threshold to generate a first alignment signal in response to the timing difference being less than the lower predetermined timing threshold. As previously mentioned, the predetermined timing thresholds could be any desired values of time, such as number of seconds. If a first alignment signal is received, the method proceeds by re-engaging rotation of the upper turntable 34 with the drive 60 in response to the first alignment signal to re-synchronize the rotational speeds of the upper and lower turntables 34, 50. The method also includes the step of comparing of each of the timing differences to an upper predetermined timing threshold to generate a second alignment signal in response to the timing difference exceeding the upper predetermined timing threshold. If a second alignment signal is received, the method proceeds by disengaging rotation of the upper turntable 34 with the drive 60 in response to the second alignment signal to slow the rotational speed of the upper turntable 34.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings and may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described while within the scope of the appended claims. These antecedent recitations should be interpreted to cover any combination in which the inventive novelty exercises its utility. The use of the word “said” in the apparatus claims refers to an antecedent that is a positive recitation meant to be included in the coverage of the claims whereas the word “the” precedes a word not meant to be included in the coverage of the claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/545,336 filed on Oct. 10, 2011 and entitled a “Drive System for Forming Transportable Container for Bulk Goods”.
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