This invention relates to packaging and more particularly to a novel and improved method and apparatus for forming packages using pre-formed side connected bags.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,070 (the S P Patent) entitled PACKAGING MACHINE, MATERIAL and METHOD discloses a machine for use in packaging which has been highly successful commercially. The S P Patent and patents which resulted from divisional applications claim a machine and a plastic web used by that machine as well as a process of making packages.
With the machine of the S P Patent the web is fed first through a slitter which splits a top portion into two lips that are respectively grasped between associated pairs of belts for transport through a load section. The belts which transport the web through the load section are more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,218 issued Mar. 3, 1998 and entitled Plastic Transport System, herein (the Load Belt Patent).
As the web is fed to the load section, the lips are spread to effect the sequential opening of the side connected bags, each into a rectangular opening for receiving a product to be packaged. The lips are then returned to juxtaposed relationship and trimmed as the lips are grasped by further belts in a sealer section. The further belts are preferably belts of the type described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,238 issued Jan. 9, 2001 and entitled Sealing Machine and Method, herein (the Sealer Belt Patent).
The SP, Load Belt and Sealer Belt Patents are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
While the machine of the referenced patents has proved highly successful it is relatively difficult to clean and not suitably constructed for use in packaging food products. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a novel and improved machine of the SP Patent constructed to facilitate cleaning and to be adaptable for food packaging.
A machine made in accordance with the present disclosure includes loading and closure sections which are pivotal between package forming positions and cleaning positions. In the cleaning position the undersides of the loading and closure sections are positioned for facile cleaning. In the preferred and disclosed arrangement the sections are respectively mounted on an elongated tube for rotation about the tube axis between use and cleaning positions.
The preferred embodiment of the closure section of the machine, includes a heat sealer in which the source of heat for sealing is a resistance electrical heater. In order to enable washdown, such as with a pressure hose, the sealer heat source is readily removable from the balance of the sealer. In the preferred and disclosed arrangement once the heat source is removed from the balance of the closure section, it can be stored in a cabinet mounted on the back of the machine. The cabinet, once an access door is closed, is hermetically sealed so that the heater element when stored in the cabinet is protected from damage by cleaning fluid flowed against the machine.
Referring now to the drawings and to
When the machine is in use a supply in the form of a web or chain of side connect bags is positioned on the platform. The web is described fully in the SP Patent. The web is fed around web guides 20 to the entrance end 18 of the load section 14. The load section is as described in the referenced SP Patent with the exception of a redesigned burster 22 which now is driven by a stepper motor 24. Operation of the load section is also as described in the S P Patent while transport of the web through the load section is accomplished with belts as described and claimed in the Load Belt Patents.
The web 115 is fed from the supply into a bag feed and preparation portion 135 of the bagger section 117. The feed is over the mandrel 124 and past a slitter 136,
A plow 145 is provided and shown in
Once the lips are folded over the tops of the main transport belts 140, 141, the roller cam 146 presses endless, lip transport and clamp belts 148, 149 into complemental grooves 151, 152 in the main transport belts 141, 142 respectively. Thus, the grooves 151, 152 function as bag clamping surfaces that are complemental with the clamping belts 148, 149. More specifically, the clamp belts are circular in cross section, while the grooves 151, 152 are segments of circles, slightly more than 180° in extent. The camming of the clamp belts into the grooves traps the lips 138, 139 between the clamp belts and the grooves. The lip clamping firmly secures the lips between the coacting belt pairs such that the lips, due to their coaction with the belts, are capable of resisting substantial stuffing forces as products are forced into the bags at a load station 160. Sections of the clamp belts which are not in the grooves 151, 152 are trained around a set of lip transport belt pulleys 150.
The load station 160 includes a pair of parallel belt spreaders 161, 162. The belt spreaders are mirror images of one another. When the transport belts 140,141, are in the position shown in
A schematic showing of a supply funnel 166 is included in
The main transport pulley sets 142, 143 include two idler pulleys 175, 176 downstream from the load station 160. The idler pulleys 175, 176 are relatively closely spaced to return the main transport belts 140, 141 into substantially juxtaposed relationship following exit from the load station 160.
Since the main and lip transport belts are relatively flexed in a vertical plane as they are brought together to grip a bag and relatively flexed in a horizontal plane as they pass through the load station, it will be seen that the belts are flexible in two directions which are orthoganal to one another.
Once the machine is in operation, the top section 123 of the web 115 is fed along the mandrel 124 and slit by the slitter 136. This forms the lips 138, 139 which are folded over the main transport belts 140, 141 by the action of the plow 145. The lip clamp belts 148, 149 descend from the elevated and spring biased pulleys 150S, as shown in
As adjacent runs of the transport belts 140, 141 progress downstream from the bag feed and preparation portion 135, the belts are spread under the action of the belt spreaders 161, 162. As the belts are spread, the lips 138, 139 cause the front and back faces 131, 132 adjacent the lead edge of each bag to separate from the lips 138, 139 by tearing a sufficient length of the perforations between them to allow the lead edge to become the mid point in a bag span between the belts as the bag passes longitudinally through the load station 160. Similarly, the perforations adjacent the trailing edge are torn as the trailing part of the bag is spread until the bag achieves a full rectangular opening as shown in
Next a product is inserted into the rectangular bag as indicated schematically in
After the product has been inserted, the adjacent runs of the main transport belts are brought back together and the loaded bag tops are spread longitudinally of the path of travel.
As is best seen in
One of the outstanding features of the machine 10 is the provision of an elongate cylindrical pivot tube 25 which is the backbone of the machine. The tube 25 is positioned near the top and to the rear of the frame 12. The tube 25 extends the full length of the machine from the entrance end 18 to an exit end 26. The load and closure sections are rotatably mounted on the tube 25. The sections are moveable between generally horizontal operating positions as viewed in
A shock absorber 27 cushions movement between the operating and cleaning positions. An adjustable bolt and lock nut 28 act against a stop 30 to accurately position the sections in their operating positions,
When the sections are in the elevated or upright position of
A drive 34 is operable to drive the workpiece feed belts of both the loading and the closure sections. Driving force is supplied by a motor 36. The drive also causes an annular knife blade 38 to rotate and sever workpiece web lips which support a plastic web as it is transported through the loading section,
The trimmed web is fed through the closure section by belts made in accordance with the teachings of the Sealer Belt Patent and sealing is effected with sealer mechanism as described in the Sealer Belt Patent modified to utilize a new and novel heat source subassembly 44. Indeed, the principal novelty of the closer section 15 resides in a heat source subassembly 44 as shown in
Referring now to
The provision of a single elongate heating element 48 provides one of the advantages of the present machine over the machine of the S P Patent. More specifically the single heating element contrasts with the prior machine which used a series of relatively small resistance heaters. While the series of heaters simplified the machines design in certain respects and reduced repair costs when an element failed, the prior system produced problems. For example a heat sensor was provided to sense heater failure. Early stages of failure of one of the elements remote from the sensor would not be detected and faulty seals would result.
As is best seen in
When the subassembly is to be mounted on the closure section, a pointed free end of the locating rod is inserted into a mating hole of the subassembly to achieve location transversely of the path of workpiece travel through the closure section. The locating rod then pivots about the pivot rod 61 to guide the subassembly into its mounted use position on the closure section.
When the sections are to be moved form their operating positions to their cleaning positions, the sections will be cleared of any plastic web used in packaging and the subassembly 44 is removed. It is then necessary to rotate the loading section first. Returning now to
On subsequent return of the loading section to its operating position a locating pin 66 in the closure part extends into an alignment bore 68 in the drive to bring the drive into appropriate alignment with the closure part. Once the motor 36 is energized the drive will rotate until a drive pin 70 engages a driven pin 72 in the closure part. Once the pins 70,72 are in engagement the sealer belts will be driven to feed loaded bags through the closure section. Any delay between energizing the motor 36 and driving of the sealer belts is not a problem because a web of bags must first be fed through the previously emptied loading section.
Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a safety air cylinder 74, best seen in
Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction, operation and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
This application is a divisional application of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/738,694, filed Dec. 17, 2003, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10738694 | Dec 2003 | US |
Child | 11363337 | Feb 2006 | US |