Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1116~;~5
This invention relates generally to the art of dispensing individual
flexible plastic containers and more particularly to a technique for dispensing
such containers when they are attached in an imbricated manner to a carrier
strip.
Various techniques for dispensing flexible containers or bags utilizing
a carrier strip have been devised. One such technique is described in United
States Patent No. 3,161,347 to Hannon. The technique discloses therein com-
prises attaching the open end of a container to a carrier strip which advances
the chain of bags in a desired fashion. Each of the bags are disposed along
the chain in an imbricated manner such that each bag opening is covered by
the bag which immediately precedes it. The carriers disclosed therein may
take the form of a strip having substrips of adhesive thereon. The system
is arranged to operate in a manner such that the open end of the lead bag
leads the advance of the overall chain. In this manner forced air may be
utilized to open the lead bag to permit the grasping of a portion of the opened
bag and facilitate the insertion of an object into the bag.
Another technique for dispensing imbricated bags as disclosed in
United States Patent No. 3,587,843 to Wing. The invention disclosed therein
is a chain of imbricated bags connected together and supported by two strands
of tape. The bags each have two overlying sides, one of the sides being secured
to both of the tapes. The open end of the bags are oriented in the same
direction with each bag offset along the tape and overlying the opening of the
underlying bag. It is an object of the invention disclosed therein to provide
a package of bags that will inflate to a square type opening when the lead
bag is impinged upon by a stream of fluid.
While these prior art techniques are perfectly satisfactory for many
applications, it is desirable to provide alternative techniques for dispensing
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flexible containers for use in a packaging operation.
It is an object of this invention to provide a novel method for
dispensing imbricated bags.
It is another object of this invention to provide a novel apparatus
for dispensing imbricated bags.
According to a first broad aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a method for dispensing flexible bags from a chain of imbricated
bags, said bags being removably secured to a carrier, comprising the steps of:
moving said carri.er in a first direction to dispose the leading bag of said
chain of imbricated bags in a dispensing position~ said bags having a closed
end and an open end, said closed end being secured to said carrier and pre-
ceding said open end in said first direction;
removing said lead bag from said chain along a path substantially
oppositely opposed to said first direction; and
advancing said carrier along said first direction to dispose a
second bag in said dispensing position.
According to another broad aspect of the present invention, there is
provided an apparatus for dispensing flexible bags said flexible bags being
attached in an imbricated fashion to a carrier said bags having an open end
2~ and a closed end, said closed end being attached to said carrier, said apparatus
comprising;
a dispensing surface;
means for advancing said carrier in a first direction across said
dispensing surface;
means for detecting the presence or absence of a container in a
dispen~ing position on said dispensing surface; and
control means for deactivating said means for advancing when said
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dispensing position is occupied and for activating advancing means when said
dispensing position is vacant.
The present invention and that of Canadian application Serial No.
301,388 will no~ be described in greater detail with reference to the accompany-
ing drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a chain of imbricated bagsi
Figure 2 is an isometric drawing of a bag in the dispensing position
in accordance with the process of this invention;
Figure 3 illustrates a modification of the embodiment shown in
Pigure 2;
Figure 4 schematically illustrates an apparatus for use in accordance
with this inventionj and
Figure 5 illustrates a more complete illustration of the apparatus
utilized in accordance with this invention.
Figure 1 illustrates a chain of imbricated bags which has been
developed for dispensing in a continuous packaging process. The chain of
imbricated bags is useful in the method of this invention wherein the imbri-
cated bags are continuously dispensed in such a packaging operation. An
apparatus is provided in accordance with this invention which embodies the
; 2~ method of dispensing imbricated bags.
Prior art techniques of dispensing containers or bags are primarily
designed for situations involving manual handling of the articles to be
packaged with emphasis upon automated bag movement. With the advent, howeverJ
of automatic bag loading equipment wherein the articles to be handled are
effective~y within the domain of automatic machinery and the bags are manually
positioned for the functioning of the bag loading equipment, conventional
bag dispensing means proved less than totally satisfactory for such equipment.
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Such automatic bag loading apparatuses are disclosed, for example, in
United States Patent No. 3,942,624. The use of such bag loading equipment
makes it necessary for bags to be readily at hand and dispensed in a manner
such that they are easily opened in order to meet the bag loading equipment
in a time which coincides with the unloading time of the bag loading equipment.
It has been found that a chain of imbricated bags having the sealed
end of the bag attached to the chain satisfies the need for an article from
which such bags can be individually dispensed. By utilizing a carrier which
is movable in a direction opposite to the direction from which the bags are
removed the carrier is placed in a state of tension during the step of bag
removal. An additional advantage of such a technique is that the supply
of bags as well as the discarded carrier are located in a position which is
remote from the operator. The advantage of such remoteness is that the
operator is not hampered by the presence of packaging and auxiliary equipment
during the packaging process. Further advantages will be apparent from the
following particularized description with reference to the accompanying
figures of drawing.
~ ith further reference to Figure 1 the chain of imbricated bags
preferably includes a carrier in the form of a pair of tapes 1. The tapes
are attached to one side of a plurality of bags 3. The leading bag 5 has
a sealed end 7 and an open end 8. The open ends of the bags are shown as
loops 8 for purposes of illustration. In actuality the open end would have
one side of the bag substantially coextensive with the opposite side of the
bag such that the generally elliptical appearance of the opening 8 would not
exist. ~owever, hags having sides which do not have a coterminous opening
may ~e utilized ~ith the chain of imbricated b?gs so as to produce an open-
ing having the elliptical configuration shown in the drawings.
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The characteristics of the tape carrier may in general be the same
as those characteristics described in United States Patent No. 3,587,845.
Optionally, however, the carrier may take the form of a strip as is described
in United States Patent No. 3,161,347.
The functioning of the chain of imbricated bags as a means of dis-
pensing is best understood by reference to Figure 2 of the drawings. As is
shown in Figure 2 of the drawings the leading bag 5 is shown in its dispensing
position such that the bag is removed by grasping near the opening 8 and
pulling in the direction illustrated by arrow ~ such that the bag is removed
in a direction substantially oppositely opposed to the direction of movement
of carrier 1. It is readily understood that by having the carrier move in
one direction and the removal force being applied in an oppositely disposed
direction the carrier remains in a tensioned state during the dispensing
operation.
An alternative embodiment is shown in Figure 3 of the drawings where-
in the embodiment of Figure 2 is provided with a roller 11 so as to grasp
the open end of the bag during the removal step. By the use of roller 11,
the open end 8 is trapped beneath the roller while the closed end 7 is attached
to the carrier 1. By grasping the visible surface of the lead bag 5 and gently
applying a force in the dispensing direction, a single side of the bag is
grasped such that the bag may be readily opened upon removal from the dispensing
means. As is shown in Figures 2 and 3, the carrier is advanced by rollers or
other appropriate advancing means 13. The overall operation of the process
in accordance with this invention can best be understood from referring to
Figure 4 of the drawings. As is shown therein the carriers 1 are advanced
by advancing means, 13 from a source of supply 15 in a first direction to meet
a dispensing top 17 across a roller 19 for maintaining a chain in a proper
11~
orientation across the end 21 of dispensing surface 17. The end 21 is a pivot
point about which the direction of travel of the carrier changes substantially
180. It will be noted that the opened end 8 of the lead bag 5 is substantially
coincidental with the pivot point 21 when it is in its dispensing position.
It is apparent that upon removal of bag 5 the carrier can be advanced in a
direction opposite to the removal direction so as to place the next following
bag in the dispensing position. A particular advantageous feature of this
arrangement is that upon removal of the lead bag 5, the carrier 1 remains in
a tensioned state. The removal of the lead bag tends to have a smoothing
effect upon the bag which immediately follows it and underlies so as to render
that following bag more suitable for dispensing ~hen in the dispensing position.
The apparatus utilized in carrying out the dispensing method o~f
this invention which utilizes the chain of imbricated bags is more fully
illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings. As is shown therein a flat dispensing
surface 17 is utilized to support the chain of bags 3 when the lead bag is in
the dispensing mode. The surface 17 is integrally associated with means 18
for mounting roller 11 tnot shown in this view) for pinching the open end of
the lead bag against edge 20 of surface 17. The means for advan~ing 13 ad-
; vances the carrier 1 across idler rolls 23 and 25 so as to advance the bags in
a direction hhich is substantially oppositely opposed to the dispensing direction.The apparatus is in its preferred mode provided with a sensing means 27 in the
form of a spring loaded switch such that the advance of the imbricated bags
depresses the spring loaded switch so as to deactivate the advancing means 13.
Such deactivation may take place through wellknown control means such as 29
in the form of a control box. Such controls may be either pneumatic or electric
as are ~ell known to those skilled in the art. Upon removal of the lead bag
5 the switch 27 is no longer depressed but springs forward such that the con-
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trol means 29 again activates the advancing means until the following bag a-
gain contacts switch 27 to depress the same and deactivate the advancing means
13. The switch 27 is preferably adjustably located on support surface 17 such
as by means of slot 34 so as to allow for the dispensing of various sized bags.
With the above description of the apparatus of this invention in
mind, it is readily apparent that such apparatus may be modified to provide
for more than one dispensing surface. Such an apparatus may have dispensing
surfaces disposed one above the other and/or side by side. With such an
arrangement, an operator is able to have a display of various si~e bags with-
in easy grasp so as to be able to choose an appropriately sized bag for thearticle being packaged.
It is thus seen that the method for dispensing the chain of imbricated
~ags and the apparatus used in carrying out such method provide a novel and
highly useful technique for dispensing bags for use in a continuous packaging
process. It is seen that the operator is located to the front of the dis-
pensing surface 17 such that the fron~or open part of lead bag 8 is grasped
by the operator to readily facilitate the opening thereof for the insertion
of an article. ~hile this disclosure has used the term "bag" to refer to
flexible containers which are dispensed by the chain of imbricated bags it is
readily apparent that containers of similar structure such as pouches and
casings are within the scope of the term "bag". The term "bag" is thus used
broadly to include any type of flexible container or recepticle.
From viewing Figure 1 of the drawings it is readily apparent that
various parameters go into the construction of the chain of bags. Such para-
meters, however, are not critical. For example, the spacing between bags
needsj only be sufficient for the bag to have sufficient area attached to the
tape to provide for a release when a force of about 2 pounds is applied to
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1116135
the bag at an angle of 30 from the plane of the carrier. It is readily
apparent that the same force of 2 pounds may be utilized to calculate the tack
and necessary tape area. For example, utilizing bags which are approximately
12 inches by 12 inches may be readily dispensed ~hen attached to a pair of
tapes at intervals of l to 1 and 1/2 inches. Generally the tape may be on
the order of 1/4 inch across to provide sufficient tack to maintain the
integrity of the chain during dispensing and yet permit easy removal of the
bag during the actual step of dispensing. The adhesives are generally spaced
apart on the imbricated bag about l/4 of the width of the bag in from each
;10 side within a tolerance of about l/8 of the width of the bag. Such parameters,
however, are preferred and are not critical to carrying out the dispensing
technique of this invention.
It is thus seen that the chain of imbricated bags, the technique
for dispensing such bags and the apparatus utilized therein, provide a novel
solution to the problem of dispensing bags for use in a continuous packaging
operation, particularly when an automatic bag loader is utilized.
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