Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF T}E INVENTION
The invention relates generally to a series of packaging bags
on a carrier which, in use, are sequentially advanced to a loading
station More particularly, the invention relates to a series of taped,
imbricated bags which is fed ~o a taped bag loader.
In the field of packaging articles such as food products, it is
known to load the products into plastic bags, and then to seal the bag
openings. It is also known to carry out the sealing operation in a
vacuum chamber where the residual atmosphere within the bag can be with-
drawn and the package sealed under vacuum conditions in order to avoid
deterioration of the food product in the sealed bag.
It is known to load product articles into packaging bags, made
of flexible heat shrinkable film material, by supplying bags to a bag
loader, in the form of a continuous chain of discrete bags carried
releasably on adhesively-coated support tapes. Articles to be packaged
are situated a-t a loading station typically by feeding on a conveyor belt
into a guide from which the article is loaded into the leading bag of -the
chain, after opening of the bag for example by an inflation air jet. The
bag loader accepts the bags in shingled or imbricated configuration, and
it is then left up to eit.her the operator or some article-advancing means,
to remove the top loaded bag from the imbrica-ted bag chain before the next
successive bag can be inflated and loaded. Supplying the bags in
imbricated configuration in a taped chain offers considerable advantages
over supplying the bags one at a time to the loading equipment.
The present invention aims to provide a packaging system which
is capable of more rapid and economic operation for loading articles into
bags which are fed to a loading station in the form of a sequence of bags.
Such system is intended to enable the packaging operation to be
speeded up in the vacuumizing and sealing steps as well.
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U.S. Patents 3,l61,347 and 3,331,182 disc1Ose typica:L bag
loading processes and apparatus and illustrate the use of a chain of bags
in imbricated form supported 0l1 a continuous support member so that the
imbricated bags arrive a-~ a loading station where the uppermost bag is
pneumatically infLated and has a product article placed therein, after
which the bag is removed from its elongate support member and delivered
ready for subsequent advance to a bag closing station.
Of general interest is the disclosure of IJ.K. Patent Applica-
tion 2,078,654A for "Loading Plastic Bags For Packaging Purposes" pub-
lished January 13, 1982, directed to a pac~aging process that utilizes a
chain of side-sealed packaging bags with the mouths of the bags facing
laterally of the chain of bags. Several oE the bags are loaded in a
batch, and the bags are subsequently closed in batch-wise fashion.
Of general interest are the disclosures of U.S. Patents
3,587,843; 3,587,844; and 3,587,845 for "Package Of Bags" issued June 28,
l971 to Wing, directed to a chain of imbricated bags connected together
and in one embodiment being supported by two longitudinal strands oE
tape.
Of general interest is the disclosure oE U.S. Patent 3,507,090
issued April 21, 1970 to D'Angelo, directed to apparatus for filling a
series of long open-ended bags affixed to a shingle strip with each bag
over-lying the open end of the next bag.
Of general interest is the disclosure of U.S. Patent 2,653,752
issued September 29, 1953 to Vogt, directed to appartus for feeding bags
in succession in an upright position to and from a filling mechanism, the
bags being connected together in a chain by two or more ~apes serving as
the means for advancing the bags.
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SUMMARY OF T~E INVENTION
The present invention is direc-ted to multibags on a carrier
which may be handled essentially as a single bag upon sequential presenta-
tion -to a bag loader thereby multiplying output from the loader. This
handling advantage ls also realized in subsequent vacuumizing and sea]ing
operations, further enhancing productivity.
Accordingly, there is provided a series of packaging bags,
comprising a plurality of multiple-bag units, each including a separable
chain of side-sealed bags, said plurality being sequentially arranged on
and removably affixed to a carrier.
Preferrably, said multiple--bag units are imbricated longitudi-
nally on carrier tape and said bags are separable by lines o:E perforation.
Also, there is provided a method of packaging, comprising
providing a series of multiple-bag units, each including a separable
chain of side-sealed bags, said plurality being seqLIentially arranged on
and removably affi~ed to a carrier; feeding said series of multiple-bag
units to a loading station; and as each uni-t is presen-ted at the loading
station, inflating the bags of each presented unit a-t the loading station;
loading the bags of each presented unit with produc-t; and advancing each
said unit to a bag closing station.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~ DRAWINGS
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Further details are given below with reference to the embodi-
ments shown in the drawings wherein;
FIG. 1 shows a conventional perforated series of side-sealed
bags;
FIGS. 2A,B show representative multibag units having two and
three component bags, respectively;
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FIG. 3A shows partially a series of multlple-bag units serially
arranged on longi-tudinal strands of carrier tape;
FIG. 3B shows partially a series of multiple-bag units imbri-
cated longi~udinally on carrier tape;
FIG. 4A shows partially a series of multiple-bag units serially
arranged on transverse carrier tape; and
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FIG. 4~ shows partially a series of~multiple-bag units imbricat-
ed transversely on carrier tape.
DESCRIPTION OF T~E PR~FERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring specifically to the drawings, in FIG. l a conven-
tional series 10 of perforated side-sealed plastic bags is shown, for
example being of indefinite length and made of polyethylene. Bags within
the series, such as bags 11 and 12, are separated by a line of perfora-
tion 17, with side-seals 14 and 15 on either side of perforation 17. Ba8
ll, for example, is defined by side seals 13 and 14, fold line 18 and
extended lip opening 16. Such a series of bags may be made by conven-
tional techniques, for example, first extrudil1g a plastic tube, then
collapsing said tube to a lay-flat configuration possibly following
orientation, cutting along one fold line to form an extended lip opening,
and repeatedly forming transverse seals, such as by impulse welding, and
lines of perforation at regular intervals along the collapsed -tube to
create a series of side-sealed bags which open la-terally and which are
separated by lines of perforation. Such a series of side-sealed bags is
the starting material for utilization of the present invention.
In general, it is contemplated that component bags within the
feed series are separable, i.e. a bag may be readily separated from
an adjacent bag by pulling along a predetermined line of weakness. ~ost
preferably, such lines of weakness are lines of perforation, as discussed
above. Another mode, for e~ample, includes scored lines, wi-th or without
one side of the series being scored completely through.
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In FIGS. 2A and 2B, there are shown representative examp1es of
multibag units, for defin:itional purposes. In FIG. 2A, there i5 shown a
two bag multibag unit 25, having component bags 26 and 27 which have been
jointly separated from a chain oE perEorated s-ide-seale(l bags at separated
lines of perforation 3~ and 35. Bag 26, for example, is as disc~lssed
above having extended :Lip opening 28, fold 29, and side-seals 30 and 33.
At the junction between the two bags making up the multibag unit there
are side-seals 3~ and 31 juxtaposed about line of perforation 32. Line
of perforation 32, however, is partially separated as indicated between
points A and B. Preferably, partial separation between bags within a
multibag unit is symme~rical with respect to the length of the bags as
shown. Op~ionally, the partial separation may be asymmetric even -to the
extent tha-t partial separation begins at an edge of the multibag unit.
Thus, in the example shown, bags 26 and 27 are held together by perfora-
tion segments 36 and 37 -to unify the multibag unit. In FIG. 2B, there is
shown a -three bag mul-tibag unit 45, having component bags 46, ~7 and ~
Individual bags within unit 45 have been partially separated along their
respec-tive lines oi perfora-tion as indicated by segments AB as discussed
in connection with FIG. 2A. Multibag uni-ts of any number of bags may be
made.
The bags are used preferably by longitudinally imbricating on
carrier tape so that a series of such taped multibags may be fed -to a
conventional taped bag loader with the advantage tha-t a multibag unit may
be handled during loading, vacuumizing and sealing essentially as a
single bag, thereby correspondingly multiplying output from the packaging
operation. Optionally, the sealing operation may include trimming off
excess material beyond the outermost seals of each unit. :Fo~Llowing
sealing of -the loaded bags, the individual bags within a unit may be
easily separated due to the pre-existing partial separation along the
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lines of perfora~ion delimiting the bags within a multibag unit. Com-
ponent ba~s may easily be separate(l from ~heir respec~ive mul~ibags at
any time a~ter the packaging operation as desired, for example imrnediately
after vacuumizing and sealing or during marketing by ~he retai]er or
later by the end user.
In FIGS. 3A -through 4B, various modes of the invention are
shown. In ~IG. 3A, part of a series 50 of multibags Oll carrier tape is
shown. Multibags 51A and 51B, being two bag units for example, are
arranged seq~entially on carrier tapes 52A,B in longitudinal fashion,
i.e. the carrier tape extends leng-thwise o-f the multibag units. In use,
the series is fed -to a conven-tional taped bag loader so that each multi-
bag unit is presented for loading essentially as a prior art single bag,
and then, after loading, removed Erom the carrier tape and passed to a
closing station. Generally, any number of carrier tapes are contemplated,
as may be needed for a given application; however, 2 to 5 carrier tapes
are preferred, with 2 tapes being most preferred for usual app]ications.
In FIG. 3B, part of a multibag series 60 is shown having representa-tive
multibags 61A,B,~ imbricated or shingled on longitudinal carrier tapes
62A,B with the leading multibag unit being the uppermost unit.
In ~IG. 4A, par-t of a series 70 of multibag units is shown
taped laterally, i.e. representa-tive mul-tibag units 71A,B are sequen-
tially and removably affixed to carrier tapes 72A,B which extend widthwise
of the bags. Loading of the bags with product is conducted transverse of
the forward feed direction of the carrier tape. In FIG. 4B, part of a
series 80 of multibags imbricated on lateral carrier tape is shown.
Representatively, multibags 81A,B are imbricated on carrier tapes 82A,B
with the leading multibag 81A being uppermost.
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Although the present invention has been described in conjunc-
tion with preferred embodiments, it :is to be understood that modifications
and variations may be utilized without departing from the principles and
scope of the invention~ as those sk:illecl in the art wi.ll readily under-
stand. Accorcling:Ly, such modi.fications and variat:ions may be practiced
within the scope of the following claims-
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