BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a taped bag feeder of the present disclosure showing the operator side;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the taped bag feeder of FIG. 1 disclosure showing the non-operator side;
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the drive mechanism for the taped bag feeder of FIG. 1 taken from the operator side;
FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the drive mechanism for the taped bag feeder of FIG. 1 taken from the non-operator side; and
FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the differential assembly of the taped bag feeder of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
While the present disclosure will be described fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which a particular embodiment is shown, it is understood at the outset that persons skilled in the art may modify the disclosure herein described while still achieving the desired result of this disclosure. Accordingly, the description which follows is to be understood as a broad informative disclosure directed to persons skilled in the appropriate arts and not as limitations of the present disclosure.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an embodiment of the taped bag feeder of the present disclosure has a housing with an operator-side panel 52, a non-operator side panel 54, an upstream panel 56 and a downstream panel 58. Taped bags 1 may be loaded into the feeder from an external source, such as a box 2 or a reel (not shown). The bag train is brought over the top of the bag guide 3 with the tape strands 4, 5 facing down so the bags can be opened from the top with an air amplifier or nozzle 6. Tape guide 7 has a number of openings, channels, slots, grooves, or the like, positioned side-by-side to receive tape strands 4, 5 spaced at typical dimensions, as is generally known in the packaging industry. The two tape strands 4, 5 are then placed in the appropriate spacing of the tape guide 7 to keep the two tapes parallel.
Tape guides 8a, 8b are positioned to correspond to the take-up reels 34a, 34b, respectively. Take-up reels 34a and 34b are horizontally offset from each other to prevent interference between the tape strands, therefore tape guides 8a and 8b are offset to align with their corresponding take-up reel. From the tape guide 7, the tape gets threaded through the aperture in the round tape guides 8a, 8b located inline with two take-up reels 34a, 34b.
A knot is tied in the end of each tape strand 4, 5 and slid into the slot 11 on reel 10, knot facing out. The tape 4 that is threaded through the round tape guide 8a gets attached to the corresponding inline reel 34a. Tape 5 runs through the second round tape guide 8b and gets attached to the second reel 34b.
To start, the bags 1 should be located behind the switch actuator 13 (see FIG. 3), which protrudes from the bag guide 3. If bags 1 are located over the top of the switch actuator 13 (see FIG. 3), several bags should be removed from the two strands of tape 4, 5 to ensure the bags 1 will be in the correct position during the first cycle.
The tape bag feeder advances bags 1 forward as an operator or machine moves product 14 into the opened bag 15 on the bag guide 3. Bags 1 are opened by use of a compressed gas stream. In the embodiment shown, a pneumatically operated air amplifier or nozzle 6 is focused towards the bag opening. The bag 15 to be filled is popped open from the air turbulence as the lower portion of the bag is held by the two pieces of tape 4, 5. As bag 15 is removed, the switch actuator 13, which was held down by the just removed bag, tips upward, prompting advance switch 18 to activate.
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the switch actuator 13 being in the upper position causes pneumatic cylinder 19 to advance by way of an electronic solenoid valve or air operated logic switch, both of which are generally known in the art. A dual acting air cylinder 19 is given brief bursts of air, alternating between ports 20 and 21, rotating the pivot arm 22 forward and back. Pivot arm 22 is connected to the ratchet shaft 23 via a one-way needle clutch bearing 24. Bearing 24 grips the ratchet shaft 23 firmly in the push stroke and rolls freely in the opposite direction. Therefore, as the cylinder 19 actuates back and forth, the ratchet shaft 23 rotates in one direction advancing the downstream components. Ratchet shaft 23 is supported by two bearings 42, one on each end.
Firmly affixed to the ratchet shaft 23 is a spur gear 25. Gear 25 mates to another spur gear 26 attached to the outer housing of differential unit 28. Differential 28 consists of three shafts each with bevel gears incorporated into them, as is shown in FIG. 5. The two output shafts, primary 29 and secondary 30, have a bevel gear 31 affixed to their ends internal to the differential housing. Gears 31 mesh with bevel gears 33 on differential cross shaft 32, held in place by the differential housing. Shaft 32 is perpendicular to output shafts 29 and 30, and runs through the center of the differential 28. The two bevel gears 33 are free to rotate on the cross shaft 32. Therefore as the main spur gear 26 turns the outer housing of differential 28, both output shafts 29 and 30 rotate with the differential 28 as long as the output shafts 29 and 30 have similar torque loads. This is because equal loads are distributed through the gears 31 and 33 to the differential cross shaft 32, which turns with the differential 28. If one of the output shafts, for example shaft 29, is held in place as the differential 28 housing rotates, the other corresponding output shaft 30 turns twice as fast to allow the housing to continue moving. This happens as the internal bevel gears 33 now engage the non rotating output shaft 29. This creates the extra rotational speed as 50% of the movement comes from the housing differential 28 movement and the other 50% comes from the rotational movement of the internal bevel gear 33 relative to the non-rotating shaft 29. By use of such a differential 28, tensions between the two spaced tapes 4 and 5 can be kept the same. This equalization of tensions ensures the shingled bags 1 track properly through the taped bag feeder and allows variations in tape length to be accounted for.
Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the output differential shafts 29 and 30 is supported by outboard one-way needle clutch bearings 24. Each of these bearings 24 ensures the shafts 29 and 30 do not rotate in the opposite direction, which could cause the tape 4, 5 on the reels 34a, 34b to become loose. The primary differential shaft 29 is connected to a backing plate 9 having a hub (not shown). A removable outer plate 10 attaches on the end of the primary output differential shaft 29 via a hand knob 38 or similar mechanism. Backing plate 9 and outer plate 10 cooperate to form a take up reel 34. The hub of backing plate 9 provides a gap with the outer plate 10 allowing tape 4 to be accumulated for disposal. The outer plate 10 has a slot 11 to accept a tape 4, 5 with a knot in the end. The knot gets placed on the outer side of the outer plate 10, so as to wind-up a length of tape 4, 5 as it is used up from the supply of bags 1. This allows for removal of tape 4, 5 after it has accumulated to the outer diameters of the reels 34a, 34b.
The secondary output differential shaft 30 has another spur gear 39 affixed to it. Gear 39 meshes with an intermediate spur gear 40 that rolls freely on the opposite end of the ratchet shaft 23. The purpose of this freely rotating gear 40 is to get the same rotational reference between the two tape take-up reels 34a and 34b. The intermediate spur gear 40 meshes with another spur gear 41 mounted on the secondary tape rewind shaft 12. The secondary tape rewind shaft 12 is attached to a second reel 34b to accept a second length of tape 5. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that first gear 39 positioned on an opposing second end of said third shaft 30 and second gear 41 positioned on said second end of said second shaft 12 provide the drive mechanism with a means for transferring motion 44 from said third shaft 30 to said second shaft 12.
While an embodiment has been illustrated and described in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustrations and descriptions are considered to be exemplary and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only an illustrative embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected. The applicant has provided description and figures which are intended as an illustration of certain embodiments of the disclosure, and are not intended to be construed as containing or implying limitation of the disclosure to those embodiments. There are several advantages of the present disclosure arising from various features set forth in the description. It will be noted that alternative embodiment of the disclosure may not include all of the features described yet still benefit from at least some of the advantages of such features. Those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own implementations of the disclosure and associated methods that incorporate one or more of the feature of the disclosure and fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the impendent claims.
Patent Application
20080073836
