Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
¢ ( ( (
~05~58;~
1 Background of the Invention
Bag filling machines have been used for many years
to avoia the high labor costs in bagging flowable material.
In the bagging of powdery material such as flour, the first
bags used were burlap or cotton bags. These were permeabie
to air and hence as the baqs were filled air could escape
through the pores and of course some of the flour also escaped
~` through the pores. A standard method of filling powdery
material into such bags was by the method of filling from the
bottom up. A long spout was used and the bag was raised over
the entire length of the spout so that the bottom of the spout
was near the bottom of the bag~ Then as the bag was filled,
the bag was lowered more or less in unison with the filling
theoretically to flll the bag from the bottom up without much
aeration of the powdery materlal during filling. The industry
more recently has gone away from cloth bags to paper kraft
bags which are less permeable to air passage but still somewhat
permeable. Even more recently barrier bags have been used and
these are the ~pe with a plastic liner within the kraft paper
outer bag. Such plastic liner does not let the air escape
during filling so that it has been difficult to fill bags with
powdery material such as powdered milk. Another problem is
that with powdered milk or flour, strict sanitary precautions
must be observed. With many prior bag filling machines using
a barrier bag, after the plastic liner was filled on the machine,
a man had to separately twist together the top of the plastic
bag, put a twist tie on it and then tuck this fastened top of
the plastic liner down inside the kraft bag. The man's hands
would touch the inside of the bag and therefore this was not
particularly sanitary. Also it took about four or five men to
~k
- "` 105~3582
1 operate such a bag machine, yet only about two to four 50~pound
bags could be filled per minute. One reason for the slow
filling procedure was because the 50-pound slug of powdered
material would drop through the air and become aerated, and
it took time for the air to escape. A certain amount of time
had to elapse after the bag was filled to allow the powdered
material to settle before the bag could be closed. This
limited the productivity of the men and machine.
In some cases with the old machines a sufficient
; 10 volume of air became entrained in 'the powdery material so that
the bag did not have sufficient capacity to lnitially contain
the 50-pound slug of material and the bag would overflow.
Another problem with the prior art bag machine filling
systems was that in many cases a 50 thousand pound storage bin
,, was filled so full that the powdery material could not be
- de-aerated until the level of the powdery material in ~he bin
' had dropped to perhaps, one quarter full. This is because there
,
was so much weight of material on the material at the bottom~
that the air could not escape, As a result the material
augered from the bottom of this large bin into the funnel shaped
bag filling station in the machine woul~ definitely be aerated
and hence was aerated as it went lnto the bags. This aeration
was further caused by the dropping from the auger into the
funnel which would re-aerate the powdery material even if it
was de-aerated at the large storage bin.
Accordingly the problem to be solved is how t~
increase the productivity of a bag machine and how to prevent
as much aeration as possible and also to de-aerate the powdery
material before and during the time that it goes into the
bags.
--3--
` `` ~OS8582
.
Summary of the Invention
The invention may he incorporated in a bag filling
machine co~prising in combination, a base, a bag filling
station on said base, gripper means carried on said base,-
actuator means to move said gripper means, said gripper means
movable by said actuator means to grip near the top of a bag,
a hopper adapted to contain a powdery material and having an
outlet, an auger ln said hopper, mean~ to control said actuator
means to raise said gripper means and any said bag to have an
opening of the bag received on said outlet o~ said hopper,
fill control means to control the filling of~a bag on said
hopper outlet, weighing means responsive to the~welght on said
-~ gripper means relative to said basej dr1ve means ta rotate
- said auger to move material in said hopper to said outlet, and
first responsive means responsive to a predetermined weight of
said filled bag on said gripper mean~s to~aotuate said f
control~means to stop the fl11ing of~any said bag.
An ob~ect of the~invention is to~provide;a bag
- filling machine with a capability of ~illing a large number of
; 20 ~bags per man hour.~
nother ob~ect of~the invention is ~o provide a bag
filling machine wherein the powdery material is adequately
de-aerated before~it~moves~to a~bag fllling statlon and is
kept in this de-aerated condition.
Another object of the invention is to provide a bag~
filling machine wherein powdery material~is filled into a bag
from the top down forolng the bag open to eliminate aerating
the powdery material.~
Anotherobject of the inventlon is to provide a bag
filling machine wherein a bag is accurately filled to a
-4-
~058S82
1 predetermined weight by a scale connected to grippers supporting
the top of the bag.
Other objects and a fuller understanding of the
invention ~ay be had by referring to the following description
and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
,
Brief Description of the Drawin~
FIG. 1 is a ~ront elevational view of a machine
incorporating the invention;
~, 10 FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine of FIG. l;
FIG. 3 is an end vlew of the machine of FIG. l;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on line 4-4 of
:~- FIG. l;
, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the front of
' the machine; and
:i
. FIG. 6 is a closer perspecti~e~view of ~the front
' ~ - of the machine. ~
~ '
Description of the Prbferred Embodiment
.. ..
The fig~res of the drawing show a bag filling machine
11 incorporating the invention, This machine has a frame 12 on
which are mounted generally an alignment station 13, a first
bulk filling station 14, a second dribble filling station 15,
and a sealîng and closing station 16. A magazine 17 is
connected to supply bags sequentially to the machine 11. ~
bulk storage bin~18 may be on the frame 12 or separate therefrom
and is connected to supply powdery material to a primary
conditioning station 19 which in turn supplies a secondary
conditioning station 20 which supplies the powdery material :to
the first and second filling stations 14 and lS.
--5--
- (
1~5858Z
1 Bags are supplied sequentially from the magazine 17
to the alignment station 13 whereat the top edge of each bag is
aligned at a reference line 26. Each bag is then moved laterally
along the ~ertical plane of each bag to the bulk filling station
14 whereat the bag receives a major portion of its capacity of
powdery material. It then is again shifted laterally to the
dribble filling station 15 whereat it receives a minor portion
of its capacity to fill the bag to a predetermined calibrated
weight as determined by a weight scale operated from the hands
or grippers supporting the bag at this dribble filling station
- 10 lS. m e bag next moves to-the sealing and closlng station 16
to seal and close the bag.
The magazine 17 is adapted to receive the bags
standing vertically on their bottom edges with the openable
end at the top. A removal machanism 23 having vacuum cups
24 moves against the end most bag 25 in the magazine 17 and
pulls it from the end of the magazine to the vertical plane of
the a~ignment station 13~ The removal mechanism 23 then moves
the bag upwardly to the horizontal reference line 26 to
:
orient the top openable edge of the bag at thi5 reference line
26. Before said vacuum cups release the bag, the bag is
clamped by clamps 27 in the aligned position at reference line
26.
Front and rear movable frames 28 and 29 are shown in
FIG. 3 with the front movable frame 28 shown in more aetail in
FIGS. 5 and 6. These frames are similar and only the front
frame 28 will be described. This front frame is supported on
four arms 30 which are keyed to a shaft 31 pivoted on the frame
12. The movable frame 28 is mounted on the lower end of these
arms 30 ana carries movable sprockets and a chain or, as shown,
pulleys 32 and a V-belt 33. One or more motors 34, such as
- <
` ` - 10585t3Z
1 expansible fluid motors are connected to the arms 30 to swing
the movable frame 28 between the closed position of FIG. 3
and 6 and an open position as shown in FIG. 5. In the closed
position t~e inboard runs of the V-belts 33 of the front and
rear frames will engage the front and rear faces of the bags
25 near the top openable end thereof and maintain alignment
of the top of the bag at reerence line 26. When the belts
of the movable frames 28 and 29 are closed.on the bags, as
shown in FIGS~ 3 and 6, then the clamp~ 27 are released. A
motor 35 acts throu~h a clutch 36 shafts and universal joints
to drive the two belts 33 in synchronism so that when the inner
runs of the belts are closed on the bag 25, the bag will be
moved from the alignment station 13 to the first filling
station 14.
The powdery material may be contained in a bulk
storage bin 18 which for example may be quite large, 50,000
pounds as~an example. The primary conditioning station 19
includes a container 39 which may be immeaiately below bulk
storage bin 18 with an openable valve therebetween which will
separate the welght of the material in the bin 18 from the weight
of the material in the container 19. Alternatively, as shown,
a delivery screw:40 may be connected to deliver the powdery
material from the bin 18 to the container 39. The lever of
material in container 39 is regulated by a level control 38.
A second delivery screw 42 is connecte~ to deliver the powdery
material from the bottom of the primary conditioning container
39 to the bottom of a secondary conditioning container 43 at
the secondary conditioning station 20.. This forces the powdery
material upwardly into container 43 until a level control 44
is actuated to deactivate the drive 45 of the delivery screw 42.
--7--
(
` ` ` ~05858Z
l The lower end of the container 43 is connected by conduits 46
and 47, respectively, to first and second bag filling hoppers
48 and 49 at the first and second filling stations 14 and 15,
; respectively. Both of these hoppers 48 and 49 are funnel
; shaped with clam shell valves 64 and 65 on the respective
lower ends of these hoppers at the discharge outlets, and
outer clam shell spouts 50 and 51 surrounding the valves 64
and 65, respectively. Augers S2 and 53 are provided in the
hoppers 48 and 49, respectively, and driven by auger motQrs 54
and 55, respectively. Agitators 56 and 57 are disposed in the
` hoppers 48 and 49, respectively, and are in the form of stirring
; rods disposed closely adjacent the conical inside surface of the
hoppers. These agitators are driven by agitator motors 58 and
S9, respectively. The filling of the container 43 up the level
control 44 means that the conduits 46 ana 47 and hoppers 48 and
49 are all full completely to the covers 60 and 61 on the
hoppers 48 ~nd 49, respectively. A vacuum line 62 may optionally
be connected to the upper portion of the container 39 and 43
through a vacuum break 63 so as to~ maintain a partial vacuum
at the upper volume of these containers 39 and 43. A vacuum
probe 66 may be raised and lowered by a motor 68 to extend
downwardly through the hollow stem of the auger 52 and into any
bag 25 being filled at the first bag filling station 14.
Gripper means are provided to support the bags 25
from a position near the top of the bag. These may be one set
of grippers but as shown are two sets of grippers, one set at
each of the filling stations. Grippers 72 may be closea by a
motor 73 and are supported on arms 74 which have an elbow pivot
75 for horizontal movement and a shoulder pivot 76 for vertical
3C movement with the shoulder pivot 76 being supported on the frame -
12. An air cylinder motor 77 extends horizontally between the
arms 74 to move the grippers horizontally toward and away from
--8--
i ,,
` 105~358Z
1 each other. A cylinder motor 78 reacts against the frame 12
to raise and lower the arms 74 and hence raise and lower the
grippers 72.
The grippers at the second filling station 15 have an
arrangement similar to that at the first filling station 14
but include a scale 81. FIG. 4 shows the gripper arrangement
for the second filling station 15 as including grippers 82
which may be opened and closed by a motor 83 and are carried
on arms 84 which have an elbow pivot 85 for horizontal
movement of the forearm and are supported on a shoulder pivot
86 for vertical movement of the arms 84 and grlppers 82. A
motor such as an air cylinder~motor 87 is connected between
the forearms to move these arms 84 toward and away from each
other. A motor~such as an air cylinder motor 88 is connected
to raise and lower the arms 84. The motor 88 reacts against
a movable frame 89 which is pivoted at 90 to a beam gl, pivoted
` at 92 to the frame 12. A loaa cell may act as the scale 81
- and connects the ~rear of the~beam 9i to the fixed frame 12.
~ Thus as a bag 25,~carried by the grippers 82, is filled with
, :
powaery material, the beam 91 tends to tip counter clockwise
as viewed in FIG. 4 and this is resisted by the load cell 81
to weigh the bag and its contents.
At the first filling station 14, the outer clam shell
spout 50 has front and rear halves 94 and 95 which may be closed
- to facilitate spouting of the bag and opened to open the bag
top and to allow material to flow into the bag 25. Bag sensors
96 pivote~ relative to the front and rear clam shell halves 94
and 95 determine whether or not a bag has been positioned on
the spout 50 so that material will not be discharged with a
bag being absent or improperly spouted. The second filling
_g_
585~3Z
1 station 15 has a similar arran~ement with an outer front clam
shell 98 and outer rear clam sh~ll 99 being also openable and
closeable to facilitate respouting of the bag, and front and
rear sensor~s 100 are pivoted relative to the outer front and
rear clam shell halves to detect the presence or absence of
a bag or an improperly spouted bag.
A split belt conveyor 103 has belts 104 and 105
spaced slightly apart and this conveyor is positioned below
the first and second filling stations 14 and 15. The space
between the belts 104 and 105 is to permit the empty, flat
bag to move from the alignment station 13 to the first filling
station 14 with the bag in this space between the belts. Later
the bags may be liftea onto the spout 50 as shown in FIG. 5
and then filled and after filling they will be lowered onto
both belts 104 and 105 to be supported thereby.
The sealing and closing station 16 has a conveyor 108
which is a single belt conveyor on the same level as the conveyor
belts 104, 105. All of these conveyors may be raised and
lowered as shown in the~phantom position of FIG. 3 in order to
ZO accommodate bags of different dimensions, for example bags of
from 25 to 110 pound capacity. The sealing and closing station
16 also has a supporting V-belt 109 at the front and a V-belt
110 at the rear riding on pulleys 111 and driven by a motor 35.
These V belts provide support to hold the bag in a vertical
-position so it will not tip over and to maintain the top edge
of the bag at the reference line 26~ The motor 35 drives all
bag transport means in synchronism so that bags are conveyed
throughou~ at a constant rate.
The sealing and closing station has means to open the
top of the bags to expose inner heat-sealable material areas for
--10--
~OS~S~2
1 air-blast cleaning of such areas in preparation for heat-sealing
of bags. A wire 124 pushes back the lon,ger rear lip 115 of bag
25 above the part of the bag held closed by belts 109, 110 and
a downstre~m air jet 125 and an upstream air jet 126 blow on
the inside of the front lip and rear lip 115 to clean them of
any powdery residue. Ey this aix-blast cleaning of the front
and rear lips of bags prior to sealing, the bag top is closed
securely. Also the sealing and closing station has means to
heat-seal inner heat-sealable materials~of such bags for
protection of bag contents from~deleterious effects caused by
absorption of moisture, etc~ during storage.
The sealing and closing station 16 aIso~has means 114
to fold over the longer rear lip 115 of the bag 25 which carries
a heat sensitive adhesive and which is then carried over a
vented plenum chamber where controllea, heated air is impinged
on the adhesive to activate it after which the folding of the
' flap is completed by means which bring it in contact with the
adjacent area of~the bag, to which it seals itself under influence
, ~ of c-o~pres-s'i~ belts 117 which impress on the folded top securing
the folded flap. Control means 120 i5 provided including a
control panel mounted so as to be accessible to a machine
attendant and which contains all controls necessary for proper
functioning of the machine. ~he various ~control and limit
switches such as ~the bag sensors 96 and 100 are connected into
this control means and control the various motors in a sequence
of operation.
'~
m e bag filling machine 11 is usable with most any
solid particulate or flowable material ana is particularly
aavantageous with powdery material of the nature of foodstuffs
~8582
1 such as dried ~ilk~ o~ fl~'u~ 'or''o't~er powde~y ~aterials such a~
may' be ~anu~act~re~d ~y va'rious ~industries. m e powdery
material will be present in the bulk storage bin 18 and supplied
by the deli~ery screw 40 to the primary conditioning station 19
equip~ed ~ith level controls 38. Container 39 has sides
converging toward delivery screw 42 which further conveys
material to hoppers 48 and 49 and the secondary conditioning
station 20 which is thus filled from the bottom ~p and the
proauct level therein is controlled b~ level controls 44. It
can be~ seen that when the level of product in the secondary
conaitioning station 20 reaches a preset maximum as determined
by level control 4~, screw 4~ will be stopped allawing screw 40
to fill the primary conditioning station 39 until stopped by
its level control 38. The ~ntire system thus filled contains
sufficient product so as to allow time for air to be dissipated
from the powdery material even while material is being withdrawn
at the bulk and dribble auger stations during operatione
Dissipation of air is aided by the partial vacuum established
by the vàcuum line 62 above both conai*i~nin-g con-tainers.
This is also aided by the agitators 56 and 57 to make certain
that no pockets of air might be trapped inside these hoppers
48 and 4g. The amount of powdery material thus stored within
this conditioning system has a definite advantage~ The
advantage being that time is permitted in this conditioning
system to substantially completely ae-aerate the powdery
material.
The height of thenaterial in the container 39 to the
level set by ~he level control 38 is in the order of the height
of a bag being filled and is approximately one to two times the
height of such bag. It has been aiscovered that material in a
-12-
` ` ~OS85~2
1 bulk 5torage bin such a9 the bin 18 often may be stored in such
a large vertical dimension that the sheer weight and compaction
of the material prevents air from escaping from the powdery
material néar the bottom. Thus when it was delivered as by a
mechanism such as a delivery screw 40, it still was in an
aerated condition. If it was supplied directly to bag filling
hoppers similar to hoppers 48 and 49 and then supplied into the-
bags, these prior art machines often delivered aerated powdery
material. Thus the primary conditioning system gives time for
1~ the air to escape from this powdery material by the temporary
storage in a relatively small quantity at a relatively small
vertical height of material. In the prior art machines with
the aerated powde~y material delivered to the bags, time was
necessary for the material to settle in the bag and let the air
out of the material before the bag could be sealed and closed.
This severely restricted the productivity of the prior art
bag machines. In severe cases it was often found that the
delivery of the material to the bags had to be slowed or left
uncompleted because the bag simply did not have enough capacity
to contain all the material, it might overflow before it had
reached the required weight~
Bags 25 are supplied by the magazine 17. me '
removal mechanism 23 pulls off one bag at a time from the rear
end of the magazine 17 and moves it to the vertical plane
- beneath ~he horizontal reference line 26. The removal mechanism
23 then moves the bag upwardly until the top openable edge of
the bag is at this reference line 26. Provided the bag top is
le~el with respect to reference line 26 as determined by two
cooperating sensors, which must both engage the bag top, the bag
is then clamped in this attitude by clamps 27~ At this time the
-13-
95858Z
1 vacuum cups 24 may release their hold QD the bag~ At this
time the control means 120 actuates the motors 34 to close
the V-belts on the bag 25 in the position 25A at the alignment
station 13,tsee FIG. 6. The control means 120 then actuates
a clutch 36 to move the belts and advance the bag from the
alignment position 25A to a position 25B at'the first or
bulk filling station 14. In this advancing movement the
bottom of the bag moves into the space between the belts 104
and 105, also dri~en thru clutch 36. Motors 73 are actuated
so that the grippers 72 grip over the top corners o~ the bag
25. The bag has been maintained with the top edge in the
horizontal reference line 26 by the V-belts 33 so that the
~ grippers 72 grasp successive bags at the same horizontal
; reference line position. The motors 34 then swing the belts
.33 away from the bag because it is now being held by the grippers
72. The bag is in a position similar to the position 25B
shown in FIG. 6, except the bag is not filled at this point in
time.
Next ~he front and rear outer clam shells 94 and 95
are closed and because the front outer clam shell 94 is longer
it strikes the upwardly extending rear lip 115 of the bag and
: pushes it backwardly despite the urging of the air cylinder 77
which urges apart the arms 74. This creates a positive opening
between the front and rear faces of the bag 25. Next .the air
pressure is released on motor 77 and motor 78 lifts the arms 74
and hence a closed outer clam shell spout 50 penetrates between
: the front and rear faces of the bag. The grippers 72 are lifted
sufficiently to positively spout the bag 25 on the outer clam
shell spout 50 to the position 25C shown in FIG. S.
-14-
` ` ` 10585~3Z
1 The released air pressure on air motor 77 during
this upward movement of the bag permits the arms 74 to move
together slightly as necessary to permit the bag to be raised
upwardly on the outer clam shell spout without stressing
the bag.
When the bag is thus raised onto the outer clam
shell spout air motor 122 causes the two halves of the outer
clam shell spout to open in preparation for filling the bag.
At this time, also, sensors 96 are either engaged or not
depending on whether or not the bag has been properly positioned
and is ready to receive a charge of material. The bag thus
spouted remains almost completely closed because it is a side
gusseted bag and because the grippers 72, clamped on these
gussets, prevent the opening of the gussets at the top and
hence restrain the opening of the entire bag. This opening
of the bag top around the outer clam shell spout 50 is the
extent to which the bag is open, thus there is a minimum of
air volume insiae the bag ~t this time.
Next the auger 52 is driven by the motor 54 and the
clam shell valve 64 opens to bulk fill the bag in the position
25C as supported by the grippers 72. A major portion of the
nominal capacity of the bag is forced downwardly into the
bag at this bulk filling station 14. The auger 52 may be a
; large diameter single pitch thread auger to rapidly fill the
- bag to about 90 percent of its nominal capacity, for example.
The substantially completely de-aerated powder material is
forced downwardly into the bag and this is what opens the bag,
thus precluding the entrance of practically all air into the
bag. m us the bag is filled from the top down by being forced
thereinto by the auger 52. This auger may be a large diameter
-15-
1~5~358Z
1 for example appro~imating 1/3 the width of the bag. In one
machine constructed in accordance with the invention the
auger was five inches in diameter for a bag of about lS inches
in width w~ich might hold 50 pounds of material. As an option,
the vacuum probe 66 may be lowered into the bag through the
hollow stem of the auger 52. This vacuum probe is a tube with
a porous material along its length so that it will evacuate any
air which might tend to be within the material in the bag.
This vacuum probe is lowered by the motor 68 and is withdrawn
just before the inner clam shell valve 64 is closed. After
the slug of material filling the major portion of the capacity
of the bag has been forced into the bag, the auger 52 is stopped
and the inner clam shell valve 64 is closed. The grippers 72
are lowered by the motor 78 so that the nearly fillad bag rests
on the two belts 104 and 105 in position 25B shown in FIG. 6,
- ; with the top edge of the bag aligned with respect to reference
7 line 26. The motor 34 for the arms 30 are actuated to close
the V-belts on the top portion of the bag maintaining the top
of the bag on reference 1ine 26 and then the motor 73 releases
the grippers 72. The V-belts 33 then may be actuated at the
same time that the conveyor 104, 105 is actuated to move the
nearly filled bag from the first to the seco~d filling station.
At the second filling station 15, the motors 83 are
actuated so that the grippers grip over the top corners of the
bag in a position 25D, see FIG. 6. The grippers grip the
gussets to keep these gussets closed and to maintain the top
edge of the bag at this same reference line 26. The V-belts
33 are then actuated to move away from the bag. The outer
clam shell spout 51 is then actuated closed so that the outer
front clam shell 98 engages and pushes rearwardly the upwardly
-16-
.. .... . . .. . . . . _ . . .. . . . .. .. . . .
;
1051~582
1 extending rear lip 115 of the bag to slightly open the bag.
The motor 87 is then deactivated to remove the outwardly
urging force between the two arms 84. Motor 88 is actuated
to raise t~e arms 84, grippers 82 and the nearly filled bag
upwardly to the position 25E shown in FIG. 5. This is the
position with the openable end of the bag received on the
outer clam shell spout 51.
The auger motor 55 is a two speed motor and it is
started in the high speed position to drive auger 53 at the
same time that the inner clam shell valve 6S opens. This is a
dribble fill or secondary fill of the bag which will relatively
rapidIy fill the bag to a predetermined calibrated value, in
` this case the value îs the weight of the bag and contents.
When the bag reacbes a predetermined value, for example, about
99 percent full, then the motor 55 is actuated to a second slower
~ spee~ condition for a final topping off of the contents within
`~ the bag. W~hen the load cell or scale 81 reaches the predeter
, mined value, this stops the auger drive motor 55 and closes
' the inner clam shell valve 65 to maintain this precise weight
of the bag and contents. This final filling of the bag at the
position 25E takes place at approximately the same time as the
' ~ ~ bulk filling of the next sequential bag at the first filling
station 14, so that a continuous process of filling bags is being
achieved by the machine 11.
The motor 88 then lowers-the arms 84 and grippers 82
so that the completely filled bag rests on the conveyor bel~ts
104 and 105 with the top edge of the bag aligned with respect
to reference line 26. This will be the position as shown in
FIG. 6. Next the V-belts 33 are moved inwardly by the motors
34 so as to maintain the top edge of the bags at the reference
-17-
` ` 105~58Z
1 line 26~ The motors 83 release the grippers 82 and the
conveyor 103 is actuated along with the arive of the V-belts
33 to move the completely filled bag off the end of the
conveyor 103 onto the conveyor 108. This conveyor 108 is
driven continuously by motor 35 so as to transport the now
filled bag throughout the sealing and closing device. Also
belts 109, 110 are being driven, continuously and in
synchronism to receive and movingly support the top of the
bag at reference line 26. The filled bag then moves into the
bag cleaning and sealing means 114 whereat the top of the
bag is partially opened and sub}ect to a "scrubbing" action
by high pressure air jets directed onto the inner heat-sealable
areas of the bag and the top rear llp, having thereon a heat
sensitive adhesive, for the purpose of removing excess dust
; which might impair the security of heat-seals and/or secure
bag closure. Next, in sequence, the bag passes through a
series of spring-loaded heated platens where the inner heat-
sealable material is sealed and a set of compression rolls
the purpose of which is to set the seal. Continued movement
of the bag on conveyor 108 moves the bag through the bag closing
means 116 whereat the longer rear lip 115 is partially folded
; over, the adhesive thereon is activated by heat, the lip
folding completed and the resulting bag closure secured by the
compression belts 117~
The pre~sent machine is considerably superior to the
prior art machines which took a long time and considerable man
hours in order to fill powdery material into bags. The prior
art machines were attempting to fill bags with powdery material
which was aerated and hence a considerable amount of time was
required for the powdery material to settle within the bag
-18-
10~35~2
1 before the bag could be closed. In the present case the amount
of air entrained in the powdery material is kept to a minimum
because of the primary ana secondary conditioning stations 19
and 20. A~so by forcing the powdery material down into the
nearly completely closed bag at the bulk filling station 14,
a minimum of air is intrvduced into the bag at this time.
The prior art machines attempted to fill from the bottom up,
but in order to fill from the bottom up, the bag had to be
completely opened a~d inserted upwaxdly over a long spout which
reached to the bottom o~ the bag. This meant that the bag
was substantially completely open and full of air. Then when
the powdery material was dropped into the bottom of the bag,
; it was aerated by this dropping in addition to having possibly
; also been aerated before or during the time that it was
introduced into the bag filling hopper. The present inven,~ion
eliminates this nuisance of having aerated material in the bag
and thus achieves a considerably greater productivity per
i machine and per man hour.
,~ ~ Many diferent types o~ bags may be used on this
machine. Pinch bottom bags are shown. These are bags which
have gussets along the full length of the sides caused by a
folding of the material hence are termed folded-side-gusseted
bags. S~uare bottom bags may also be used which are side
gusseted or flat-type bags may also be used which are not side
gusseted because in each case the grippers 72 and 82 grip over
the sides of the bag to maintain them closed and thus form
restraining means to restrain the opening movement of the bag
until the bag is forced open by the entrance of the powdery
material. Barrier bags may also be used namely those of a
kraft paper outer bag with a plastic liner as a barrier to
--19--
~os~s~z
1 moisture and entrance of vermin and the like where foodstuffs
are being bagged, The barrier or plastic liner may be of many
types either permanently, semipermanently, or partially
attachèd W the interior of the kraft outer bag.
The V-belts 33 and V-belts 109, 110 act as clamping
conveyor means engaging the flat faces of the bags just below
the level of the grippers 72 and 82 to maintain the bag upright
during the lateral shifting and to maintain the top lip of the
bag always in alignment at the reference line 26. This
lateral shifting is effected by the first shifting means or
conveyor 103 as the primary supporting and conveying means of
the bags. The grippers 72 and 82 of course grasp the bag
above the level of these V-belts 33 and 109, 110. It will also
be noted that the motor 78 is an actuator means to relatively
; bring together the bag and the outer clam shell spout at the
bag filling station. In the preferred embodiment illustrated
this relative movement is caused by a raising of the bag onto
the outer clam shell spout. Several forms o powered supply
means supplying the powdery material to the bags may be
provided, and in the preferred embodiment this powered supply
means are the a~gers 52 and 53.
The actuator means also lncludes the grippers 72 and
82 and because these grippers grasp the side gussets of the bags
they act as restraining means restraining opening of the bag
against the forced opening by the entry of the powdery material.
The primary and secondaxy conditioning stations 19 and
20 comprise a de-aeration meanc to substantially de-aerate the
powdery material. The material is supplied to and stays for a
sufficiently long time period in each of the containers 39 and
43 and at a sufficiently small vertical height of material so
.
~20-
.. ... . . .. . . . . ~ . . ~ . .. ...
11)5858Z
1 that any air therein is permitted to gradually escapa rom this
material~ Also the delivery screw 42 once hoppers 48 and 49
are initially filled, forces ~he powdered material upwardly
from the bottom up into the container 43 and thus it does not
- have a chance to fall downwardly out of the end of this
` delivery screw, as in the prior art machinesl and hence the
.
powdery material does not become again aerated.
While we have ~llustrated and described a preferred
embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that this
j 10 is by way of example only and not to be construed as limiting.
':~
.: : :
; :
~ 20
.~: : `
.~ ' ' ` .
. 30
-21-
