Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
312~L9~i 7
Descri~
PACKA~ING METHOD AND APPARATUS
Technical Field
-
The present invention relates to the
packaging of articles such as food products and the
like in flexible packaging bags made from thin
plastic sheet material. More specifically, the
present invention relates to an improved packaging
method and apparatus for sequentially opening
flattened, flexible packaging bags one at a time
from a stacked and wicket held supply of such bags
and then filling each opened bag with an article to
be packaged. In a more specific aspect, the present
invention is directed to an improved packaging
method and apparatus for sequentially opening and
filling flexible packaging bags in the manner as
described which allows the use of a stacked and
wicket held supply of bags incorporating a
significantly greater number of individual bags than
heretofore possible, thereby facilitating the
packaging operation and improving the efficiency
thereof.
Background Art
:
Packaging operations in industry are of
~5 significant import and interest towards promoting
the rapid, efficient and economical packaging of
products for the market. Food packaging generally
and particularly the bakery and meat packaging
industry require additionally strict maintenance of
sanitary conditions. Automatic or semiautomatic
packaging techniques have been developed towards
: ' ~
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achievement of these desired goals. Semiautomatic
packaging techniques, that is to say, those
re~uiring the cooperation of a human operator with a
machine, are uniquely of interest to the bakery and
meat packing industry since the products being
packaged frequently are not exactly alike as to
size, shape and weight, a circumstance militating
against fully automatic packing. To the extent that
~ food products, such as bakery goods, meat cuts and
the like are at least sufficiently alike in size,
shape and weight in a given series to permit the use
of packaging bags of the same size and material,
some degree of automation in the packaging operation
is possible.
U.S. Patent No. 3,763,627 to Kupcikevicius
et al. is illustrative of such semi-automatic
packaging techniques and apparatus. As disclosed
therein, the packaging operation is carried out by
placing a number of flexible packaging bags adjacent
to the packa~ing apparatus which is equipped with an
air blower. The blower directs a stream of air into
the open end of each bag in order to inflate the
bags and facilitate entry of articles such as bakery
goods, meat cuts or other food products. The
flexible packaging bags are arranged in flatwise
contiguous manner one on top of the other to form a
stacked supply of bags which is held together by a
wicket~ Each bag is provided with two wicket holes
which are maintained in substantial registration
with the wicket holes in respectively contiguous
bags in the stack. The wicket extends through the
wicket holes in each bag and is usually secured at
one end of the stack in order to hold the same
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neatly in a bundle. Various types of wickets can be
used such as those disclosed, for example, in U.S.
Patent Nos. 3,770,134 and 3,777,930.
During the packaging operation, a stacked
S and wicket held supply of packaging bags is placed
on a flat surface or table adjacent to the packaging
station. The discharge end of the blower is then
located adjacent to the stacked supply of bags with
the nozzle resting on top of the wicket. The wicket
is formed at its center with a retaining element
which carries the weight of the nozzle and which in
turn bears down on top of the stacked supply of bags
to hold the same in place. The packaging apparatus
is usually provided with locking devices such as
sockets or the like, which receive and hold the ends
of the wicket. This arrangement assures proper
alignment of the bags with respect to the discharge
end of the nozzle. The blower directs a stream of
air toward the bag stack which opens and inflates
the topmost bag. The article to be packaged such as
precut meat is then placed inside the inflated bag
by the operator. The article filled bag is easily
removed from the wicket by simply pulling the bag in
an opposite direction. This immediately exposes the
next contiguous bag in the stacked supply o f bags
and the whole operation is repeated again in
sequence.
It will be readily apparent from the above
description that the size and particularly the
height of the stacked and wicket held supply of bags
must necessarily be limited to some practical
dimension which will not interfere with or obstruct
operation of the packaging apparatus. For example,
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where it is desirable to incorporate a large number
of packaging bags in a single stack of bags for
purposes of efficiency or convenience, it may nst be
possible owing to the increased size or height of
the bag stack to properly locate the blower nozzle
on top of the wicket. Another serious problem has
been that whenever the number or "count" of
individual bags employed in the stack is
significantly increased, the weight of the stack
increases and the stack may become bulky and
difficult to handle. The added height of the stack
of bags frequently leads to difficult problems since
the locking devices used to hold the wickets in
place may not be able to sustain the added Eorce
applied to them. Accordingly, the wickets may
loosen and allow the bags to move in a direction
away from the blower nozzle. As a consequence, it
may be necessary at times to stop the packaging
operation at least temporarily to realign the bags.
It is therefore an important object of the
present invention to provide an improved method and
apparatus for packaging articles, particularly food
products and the like, in flexible packaging bags,
which is far more reliable, practical and economical.
Another more speciEic object of the present
invention is to provide such an improved packaging
method and apparatus which will allow a greater
number of individual bags to be incorporated into
each stacked and wicket held supply of bags than
heretofore possible without at -the same time causing
any serious misalignment problems.
Still another object of the present
invention is to provide such an improved packaging
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method and apparatus which will permit a number of
the packaging bags to be taken from the stacked
supply of bags at one time and placed in position
ready for use at the packaging station while the
remaining bags in the stack are held apart in a
separate storage area.
Disclosure of the Invention
-
The present invention is directed to an
improved method and apparatus for packaging
articles, particularly food products such as bakery
goods, meat cuts and the like, in flexible packaging
bags, which method and apparatus are far more
reliable, practical and economical than those of the
prior art. In a broad aspect, the present invention
comprehends a packaging method for sequentially
opening flattened flexible packaging bags one at a
. time at a packaging station and then filling each
open bag with an article to be packaged, each bag
having wicket holes provided in a portion thereof
adjacent to its open end, comprising:
(a) providing a plurality of the packaging
bags arranged in a flatwise contiguous manner one on
top of the other forming a stacked supply of
: packaging bags, each bag having wicket holes
maintained in substantial registration with the
wicket holes in adjacent bags, the stacked supply of
packaging bags being held together by a wicket
including an upper portion and lower portion, the
lower portion of the wicket being contiguous with
the upper portion and extending through the wicket
holes provided in each bag, the upper portion of the
; wicket extending outwardly beyond the stacked supply
of packaging bags,
91;219~i6~7
- 6
(b) placing the stacked and wi.cket
held supply of packaging bags within a storage area
located beneath the packaging station;
(c) selecting one or more of the
packaging bags from the top of the stacked supply of
bags and removing the same from the storage area
while still held on the wicket;
(d) guiding the selected packaging
bags along the upper portion of the wicket;
(e) holding the upper portion of the
wicket at a location above the stacked supply of
packaging bags;
(f) placing a substantially flat,
horizontal surface underneath the selected packaging
bags, the substantially flat, horizontal surface
overlying the remainder of the stacked supply of
bags held within said storage area;
(g) retaining the upper portion of
the wicket in place at the packaging station;
(h) placing the selected number of
packaging bags down on top of the substantially
flat, horizontal surface with the open end of the
bags disposed adjacent to the packaging station;
(i) directing a stream of air toward
the open end o~ the bags so as to inflate and open
the topmost bag and then filling the inflated open
bag with an article to be packaged;
;
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~9567
The present invention also comprehends a
packaging apparatus for sequentially opening and
filling flattened flexible packaging bags one at a
time at a packaging station from a stacked supply of
bags, each bag having wicket holes provided in a
portion thereof adjacent to its open end, the
stacked supply of packaging bags being held together
by a wicket extending through the wicket holes
provided in each bag, which apparatus comprises, in
combination:
(a) an apparatus frame having an aft
and a fore end;
(b) a packaging table mounted on the
apparatus frame and adapted to be at least partially
removed therefrom, said packaging table having a
substantially flat horizontal surface for holding a
plurality of packaging bags in a substantially
flatwise manner adjacent to the packaging station;
(c) means provided on said apparatus
frame for storing a stacked and wicket held supply
of packaging bags in an area beneath the packaging
table;
(d) means for positioning the wicket
adjacent to the packaging station thereby enabling a
selected number of the packaging bags to be periodically
selected and removed from the top of the stacked and wicket
A
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held supply of bags and placed on kop of the
packaging table for use in the packaging operation
while still held on the wicket; and
(e) an air blower mounted on the aft
end of the frame, the blower having a discharge
nozzle for directing a stream of air towards the
packaging bags placed on top of the packaging table,
the air stream inflating and opening the topmost bag.
In a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the wicket includes a substantially rigid
upper portion having elongated leg members which are
adapted to pass through the wicket holes in each of
the bags. The lower portion of the wicket is
preferably a flexible, tubular binding member
e~tending upwardly through the wicket holes in each
of the bags and ~5oining with the legs on the upper
portion of the wicket.
The substantially rigid upper portion of
the wicket also preferably includes a straight
horizontal center section which is adapted to bear
do~n on a part of the topmost bag adjacent to its
open end for holding the bags firmly in place during
the bag opening and filling operation.
Also in a preferred embodiment of the
present invention, the packaging table is composed
of two substantially flat, horizontal panels which
are hingeably joined together at the center of the
table, the foremost panel being also hingeably
joined to the fore end of the apparatus frame. This
structure enables the packaging table to be easily
removed Erom the top of the apparatus frame and
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placed aside while a stacked and wicket held supply
of packaging bags is loaded into the storage area.
In order to facilitate the bag loading
operation, the air blower assembly is preferably
pivotally mounted to the aft end of the apparatus
frame so that the whole assembly can be easily
lifted or rotated to a remote position. The blower
assembly also preferably incorporates a
substantial~y flat, horizontal top surface for
supporting an article to be packaged.
In those instances where a substantially
rigid wicket is used in conjunction with a stacked
supply of packaging bags, it is desirable to employ
a wicket holder on the apparatus frame for locating
the rigid wicket in place at the packaging station.
The wicket holder assures that each bag will be
properly aligned with its open end facing toward the
discharge nozzle on the air blower assembly.
In a preferred embodiment of the apparatus,
the wicket holder is an elongated, rectangular block
having open grooves provided in its side wall for
receiving and holding the rigid wicket. A U-shaped
wicket retainer adapted to fit around the side walls
of the wicket holder may also be employed to retain
the rigid wicket in place inside the wicket holder,
this retainer being preferably mounted adjacent to
the rearward end of the packaging table so that the
retainer is automatically disengaged when the table
is removed from the apparatus frame.
Brief Description of the Drawing
; The present invention will now be described
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-- 10 --
in greater detail with particular reference to the
pre~erred embodiments thereof which are illustrated
in the accompanying drawing wherein-
Figure l is a side elevational view of
apparatus according to the present invention as the
apparatus appears just prior to loading the storage
area with a new supply of bags, the blower assembly
being shown in its raised or rotated position in
phantom lines;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of a
preferred wicket bag packet for use in the apparatus
of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a side elevational view of
apparatus according to the present invention as the
apparatus appears during the loading operation, with
a new supply of bags placed inside the storage area
; and with the moveable hingeably joined top panels
: partly removed;
Figure 4 is a similar view of apparatus
according to the present invention, illustrating the
various steps involved in removing a selected number
of bags from the storage area;
Figure 5 is a perspective view of the
grooved wicket holder block and U-shaped wicket
retainer used in the apparatus;
Figure 6 is an enlarged detailed view of a
portion of the apparatus showing the U-shaped
retainer engaging the wicket holder block for
holding a wicket in place;
Figure 7 is a view similar to Figures l, 3
and 4 showing apparatus according to the present
invention as the apparatus appears during the
packaging operation; and
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Figure 8 is a perspec~ive view of a part of
the apparatus showing a modification of the present
invention.
Detailed Descri~tion
Referring to the drawing and particularly
Figures 1 and 3 - 7 inclusive, a packaging apparatus
according to the present invention includes a frame
: 10 having an aft end 11 and a fore end 12. A flat
horizontal base plate 13 is supported by the frame
10 at the bottom of the apparatus. Mounted
pivotally on the aft end 11 of the frame 10 is an
air supply blower assembly indicated at 14. This
blower assembly 14 includes a housing 15 which
encloses and supports a motor driven air blower 16.
The housing 15 has a flat, elongated, substantially
horizontal top surface 17 which forms part of a
nozzle 18. The nozzle 18 is provided with an air
discharge opening 19 at its outer end. A pivoted
flapper 20 is mounted on the nozzle 18 adjacent to
: 20 the discharge opening 19 for regulating-the angle at
which the air stream is directed from the nozzle
18. As shown more particularly in Figures 3 and 4,
the blower assembly 14 can be raised to a
substantially vertical position by pivoting the
housing 15 on horizontal trunnions 21 disposed at
the aft end 11 of the frame 10.
Mounted on top of the frame 10 and spaced
above the base plate 13 is a flat packaging table
indicated generally at 22. This table is made of
two separate, elongated panels 23, 24, which are
joined together by a hinge 25. The hinge 25 is
secured to the underneath side of both panels 23, 24
,
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- 12
along their adjoining lateral edges at the center of
the table 22. The panels 23, 24 rest on top of two
spaced apart, elongated, horizontal aprons 26, 27 as
best shown in Figure 1. The two aprons 26, 27 are
each mounted to the fore end 12 of the frame 10 and
are secured midway along their length by stanchions
28. The stanchions 28 are attached to and extend
upwardly from the base plate 13. It will be seen
from the above description that the two panels 23,
24, while they rest in position on top of the
horizontal aprons 26, 27, provide a flat, elongated
surface for supporting a plurality of packaging bags
29 on top of the apparatus as more particularly
shown in the view of Figure 7. ~t will also be seen
from the above description that the frame 10 taken
in conjunction with the table 22 and base plate 13
: defines an open area 30 for storing a stacked and
wicket held supply of the packaging bags 29 as shown
in the several views of Figures 3, 4 and 7.
The two panels 23, 24 joined by the center
hinge 25 are pivotally mounted to the fore end 12 of
the frame 10 also by a hinge 31. The hinge 31 is
secured to the underneath side of the forward panel
23 along its lateral edge disposed adjacent to the
fore end 12. This structure enables the two panels
23, 24 to be removed from their normally horizontal
position by simply lifting the two panels upwardly
while they rotate about the center hinge 25 and
simultaneously sliding the panels forward along the
horizontal aprons 26, 27 in a manner depicted, for
example, by the phantom lines in Figure 4. It will
also be noted that the overall length of the two
panels 23, 24 is chosen such that when the blower
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assembly 14 is placed Ln its normally horizontal
operatin~ position as shown in Figures 1 and 7, the
discharge open end 19 of the nozzle 18 will clear
the edge of the rear panel 24.
Figure 2 illustrates a wicket bag packet
for use in the practice of the present invention.
As shown, the bag packet includes a plurality of
individual, flattened, flexible packaging bags 29
which are arranged in a flatwise contiguous manner
to orm a stack0d supply of bags as indicated at
32. Each bag 29 is preferably made from a single
sheet of plastic film material, e.g., polyethylene,
polypropylene, etc., which is folded upon itself to
form two plys, namely, a lower ply 33 and an upper
ply 34. The upper ply 34 has a top edge 35 which is
made deliberately short so as to clear the
corresponding top edge of the lower ply 33 and
thereby provide a lip portion 36 adjacent to the
open end of each bag. A pair of wicket holes 37, 38
are formed in the lip portion 36 of each bag along
with a tear slit 39, 40, respectively, for direction
prone tearing oi the lip portion 36. All of the
wicket holes 37, 38 in the contiguous bags are
maintained in substantial registration with one
another throughout the stacked supply of bags 32.
Each bag is closed at its bottom end 41 and is
provided with two side seals 42, 43 by heat sealing
or the like.
A rigid wicket 44 is provided in the bag
packet for holding a number of the packaging bags 29
on top of the table 22 ~n position ready for use
during operation of the packaging apparatus. In a
preferred form of the rigid wicket as illustrated in
:
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Figure 2, the wicket is generally M-shaped with a
straight center section 45 which turns upwardly at
each end to define a pair of shoulders 46, 47. The
shoulders 46, 47 are in turn joined by a pair of
downwardly extending wicket legs 48, 49. The wicket
44 may be made from any rigid metal, e.g., aluminum
or steel, or it may be molded from a rigid plastic
- - material.
A flexible, tubular, U-shaped wicket
binding member 50 is also provided for securing
together the whole stacked supply of bags 32. The
flexible binding member 50 has two leg portions 51,
52 which extend from the bottom of the stack through
the pairs of wicket holes 37, 38 in all the bags.
Preferably, the length of the binding member 50 is
greater than the height of the stacked supply of
bags so that a substantial portion of the binding
member extends beyond the top or bottom or both of
the stack. The open ends 53, 54 of the respective
leg portions 51, 52 are pressed, heat sealed, glued
- or otherwise firmly attached or joined to the legs
48, 49 of the rigid wicket 44. Thus, it will be
seen that the flexible binding member 50 taken in
conjunction with the rigid wicket 44 provides a
continuous flexible binding loop which serves to
effectively hold the whole stacked supply of bags 32
in a neatly arranged and easily handled bundle. The
binding member may be solid as well as tubular and
may be made from any number of flexible materials
such as polyethylene, vinyl~ rubber and the like.
It should be noted at this point that the
width of the rigid wicket 44 is chosen such that two
wicket legs 48, 49 extend freely though the pair of
9~219S6~
wicket holes 37, 38 provided in each of the packaging
bags for holding a number of the bags on top of the
table 22 as mentioned above. However, it is not
necessary to place the legs 48, 49 of the wicket down
through the wicket holes 37, 38 in each of the bags
during the time when the bag packet is being handled,
shipped or placed in storage. The rigid wicket 44 may
hang freely on top of the bag packet and serves as a
convenient handle for carrying the packet. The
flexible binding member 50 attached to the rigid wicket
44 at the same time holds together the entire stacked
supply of bags. The bag packet described hereinabove
is disclosed and claimed in the copending application
of J.A. Nausedas, now U.S. Patent Number 4,519,504 and
assigned to the common assignee hereof.
As more particularly shown in Figures 5 and 6
a wicket holder 55 is provided for receiving the rigid
wicket 44. The wicket holder 55 may be made from an
elongated, rectangular block having formed within its
side walls a series of spaced apart open grooves 56 for
receiving and holding the rigid wicket 44. The wicket
holder S5 is preferably mounted between the two aprons
26, 2/ within the rearward end of the table 22 with the
series of grooves 56 facing outwardly in a forward
direction toward the fore end 12 of the frame 10. The
wicket holder 55 may employ any number of grooves 56 to
accommodate wickets of varying width commonly used in
the industry. It will be seen that when the legs 48,
49 of a rigid wicket 44 are placed inside a particular
pair of grooves 56 on the side wall of the wicket
holder 55, the wicket 44 will be held in a
substantially vertical position just in front of the
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- 16 -
discharge opening 19 of the nozzle 18.
A U-shaped wicket retainer 57 is also provided
~or retaining the rigid wicket 44 inside the wicket
holder 55. The wicket retainer 57 is preferably
attached to the underneath side of the rear panel 24 at
a location such that when the panel 24 is placed down
~lat on top of the two horizontal aprons 26, 27, the
V-shaped retainer 57 will automatically engage with the
wicket holder 55 as best shown in the view of Figure
6. The U-shaped retainer 57 is of a size such that its
side walls will fit snugly over the wicket holder 55 to
close off the series of open grooves 56. It is
important to note, however, that the U-shaped retainer
57 does not actually lock the wicket legs 48, 49 in the
grooves 56 but rather only loosely holds the legs in
place allowing the rigid wicket 44 freedom to move
downwardly through the wicket holder 55 as the article
filled bags are removed from the top of the packaging
table 22.
Operation of the apparatus according to the
present invention involves first loading the storage
area 30 with a stacked supply of packaging bags
preerably in the form of a bag packet such as shown in
Figure 2. Assuming the apparatus has been used
previously to package articles such as bakery goods,
meat cuts and the like, then in that case, the wicket
assembly from the prior bag packet including a rigid
wicket 4~ will remain in place inside the wicket holder
55 as shown, for example, in Figure l. To facilitate
removal of the wicket assembly and also permit ready
access to the storage area 30, the air supply blower
assembly 14 is rotated clockwise about the pinions 21
to an elevated position as shown by phantom lines in
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- 17 -
the drawing. This removes the discharge opening 19 of
the nozzle 18 from its normally operating position on
top of the rigid wicket 44. The two panels 23, 24 are
removed from the table as described above by lifting
the panels and moving them in a forward direction along
the aprons 26, 27 toward the fore end 12 of the
apparatus frame lO. The removal of the two panels 23,
24 also disengages the wicket retainer 57 mounted on
the underneath side of the rear panel 24. The wicket
44 left behind from the prior bag packet is easily
removed from the wicket holder block 55 and is then
discarded. A new bag packet is loaded into the storage
area 30 by dropping it through the open space left
behind by the removal of the panels 23, 24. The whole
packet is placed down flat on top of the horizontal
base plate 13 with its rigid wicket 44 located just
beneath the wicket holder block 55, as shown in Figure
3.
The operator then grasps the rigid wicket 44
in one hand lifting it upwardly beyond the bag packet
while grasping with the other hand a selected number of
packaging bags to be used during the packaging
operation. The bags are then removed from inside the
storage area 30 by sliding the bags upward along the
elongated wicket legs 48, 49 until the bags reach a
point near the top of the rigid wicket 44. The legs
48, 49 of the rigid wicket 44 are then inserted into a
pair of grooves 56 located on the side wall of the
wicket holder block 55. With the fingers of one hand
temporarily holding the rigid wicket 44 in place inside
the holder block 55, the operator then lifts the
packaging bags upwardly to a remote location away from
the packaging table 22 as depicted by the phantom lines
- 18
in Figure 4. The two hingeably joined top panels 23,
24 are then lowered and moved backwardly, as depicted
by phantom lines, along the aprons 26, 27, until they
rest flat on top of the aprons. It will be seen in
particular that during this step the two panels 23, 24
are placed underneath the packaging bags 29 held
elevated by the operator's hand while at the same time
the U-shaped wicket retainer 57 moves again into
engagement with the wicket holder block 55. With the
rigid wicket 44 held in place inside the holder block
55, the packaging bags 29 are now placed down flatwise
on top of the two hingeably ~oined panels 23, 24 as
shown in Figure 7. The air blower assembly 14 is then
lowered again by rotating it counterclockwise about the
trunnions 21 until the discharge opening 19 of the
nozzle 18 rests in its normally operating position on
top of the straight center section 45 of the rlgid
wicket 4~. (See Figure 7.)
: The air blower 16 is then activated and a
continuous stream of air is directed from the
discharge opening 19 of the nozzle 18. This air
stream passes over the top of the packaging bags 29
placed on the table 22 and inflates the topmost bag
as illustrated in Figure 7. An article to be
packaged such as a meat cut 58 is placed on top of
the substantially horizontal top surface 17 of the
blower assembly 14, from whence the meat cut or
other product may be easily directed into the open
inflated bag. Guide means may also be provided on
the top surface 17 for guiding the article into the
bag as described in U.S. 3,763,627. Once the bag
has been filled with the article, the filled bag is
removed from the packaging table 22 by pulling the
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- lg -
bag in a direction toward the fore end 12 oE the
frame 10. This causes the legs 48, 49 of the rigid
wicket to tear through the bag lip 36 along the tear
slits 39, 40 (see Figure 2). The continuous stream
of air from the discharge opening 19 of the nozzle
18 again inflates the next topmost bag 29 an~ the
whole process for sequentially opening and filling
the packaging bags is repeated again in sequence.
It is important to note that throughout the
bag opening and filling operation as described
above, the packaging bags 29 that are placed on top
of the packaging table 22 are always maintained in
proper alignment with the discharge opening 19 of
the nozzle 18 by the co-action of both the holder
block 55 and U-shaped wicket retainer 57. These two
members, when engaged, serve to hold in place the
rigid wicket 44 which in turn maintains alignment o~
the bags 29. In addition, it should be noted that
the weight of the discharge opening 19 of nozzle 18
on top of the center section 45 of the rigid wicket
44 serves to hold down the bag lip 36 and thereby
acilitate the bag opening operation. In this
connection, the ability of the rigid wicket 44 to
move freely downwardly through the holder block S5,
as the bags 2~ are filled and removed, is important
since this feature allows the wicket 44 to exert a
substantially constant pressure at all times on the
lip 36 oE each bag 29. It may be desirable in some
instances to also employ a spring-loaded support pad
59 located underneath the blower housing 15 in order
to help in counter-balancing the weight of the
nozzle 18 on the wicket assembly.
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- 20 -
An important feature of the present
invention resides in the flexible, tubular, U-shaped
binding member 50. As can be seen particularly in
the view of Figure 7, this flexible binding member
50 holds the stacked supply of packaging bags 29
which remain in the storage area 30 without adding
the weight of these bags onto the rigid wicket 44
and otherwise interfering with the operations of the
packaging apparatus. As indicated above, the length
of the flexible binding member 50 is greater than
the height of the stacked supply of bags so that a
; substantial portion of the binding member extends
beyond the top or bottom or both of the stack. This
allows the bags to rest completely on top of the
base plate 13 without adding the weight of the bags
to the wicket 44. Of course, the base plate 13 must
also be positioned on the apparatus frame 10 such
that for any given bag packet, the bags will be
supported independently on the plate. It will be
seen, therefore, that virtually any number of
packaging bags can be employed in a single bag
packet . It will be further noted that more than
one bag packet can be kept in the storage area 30,
that is two or more packets can be stored one on top
of the other or side by side for convenience sake,
although only one bag packet is used at a time
during the packaging operations.
A modification of apparatus according to
the present invention is shown in Figure 80 In this
modification, a wicket holder block 60 is provided
wi~h at least two open grooves 61, 62 in its side
wall for receiving and holding the substantially
upper portion of a wicket 63. The upper portion of
lL9S67
- 21 -
this wicket 63 is rigid an~ has elongated legs 64,
65 and a straight center section 66. The lower
portion of the wicket 63 is a substantially U-shaped
tubular binder member 67 having elongated leg
portions 68, 69 which are adapted to extend Erom the
bottom of a stacked supply of bags (not shown)
through the wicket holes in each bag as described
hereinabove. The leg portions 68, 69 also join at
their upper ends with the elongated legs 64, 65
provided on the upper portions of the wicket 63.
The U-shaped binder member 67 may be made from a
flexible, semi-rigid or rigid material. In the case
where the binder member 67 is made from a semi-rigid
or rigid material, the lower end of the binder
member 67 may be formed by bending, crimping or khe
like or more preferably by cutting the tube at two
places as at 70, 71, the cuts extending only partly
across the tube, e.g., about 180, and then bending
the tube at these points to form the substantially
U-shaped tubular binder member 67. The binder
member 67 may of course vary somewhat in its
configuration from a subskantially ~-shaped member
having square corners to one having smooth rounded
corners as essentially shown in Figure 1. The
center portion o~ the binder member 67 is preferably
made ot sufficient lengths so that the continuous
loop formed by the legs 68, 69 extend a substantial
distance underneath the stacked supply of packaging
bags when initially loaded into the storage area 30
of the packaging apparatus.
~ n important feature of this modification
is the provision of slideable wicket retainers 72,
73 incorporated directly inside the wicket holder
A
~L~:~g~
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block 60. The wicket retainers 72, 73 are
preferably U-shaped metal rods extending from the
side wall of the block 60 into each groove 61, 62,
respectively. The U-shaped retainer rods 72, 73 are
adapted to move inside the block 60 in either
direction as indicated by the arrows and thus can be
employed to open and close the grooves 61, 62 when
installing or removing a wicket. It will be readily
seen that this embodiment eliminates the necessity
~or a separate wicket retainer.
Although it is preferred to employ a wicket
assembly which inc]udes a substantially rigid upper
portion having elongated legs extending through the
wicket holes in each of the bags, along with a lower
flexible tubular portion forming a binder member for
holding together a stacked supply of packaging bags,
the present invention is not at all restricted to
the use of this particular wicket assembly and other
wickets can of course be employed successfully
during operation of the packaging apparatus. For
e~ample, it is entirely possible to employ in the
present apparatus a wicket having both upper and
lower portions which are substantially rigid, such
wickets being more or less of conventional design
such as disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 3,770,134 and
3,777,930. Substantially rigid wickets of this type
may be readily held in place by the combined wicket
holder and wicket retainer of the present invention
instead of locking the wickets in conventional
sockets or the like. It is also possible to employ
in con~unction with the method and apparatus
according to the present invention wickets made
entirely from a flexible material. A wicket similar
A
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23 -
to this proposal is disclosed in U.S. Patent No.
4,262,803. Finally, it is also possible to employ a
wicket assembly including a substantially rigid
lower portion for holding together a stacked supply
of packaging bags and an upper portion which is
flexible, such as a flexible tube. In variations in
which at least the upper portion of the wicket is
flexible, it will suf~ice to provide means to
position and maintain the flexible wicket next to
the blower nozzle thus aligning the bags for proper
operation of the apparatus. For example, the
discharge end o~ the air nozzle can be employed as a
retainer for the flexible wicket.
It will be readily seen from the above
description that the present invention provides an
improved packaging method and apparatus which
enables the use of a stacked and wicket held supply
of packaging bags incorporating a greater number of
individual bags than heretofore possible without
causing any serious misalignment problems. Further,
the present invention provides an improved packaging
method and apparatus which permits a selected number
of bags ~rom the stacked and wicket held supply of
bags to be placed in position ready ~or use at the
packaging station while the remaining bags are held
apart in a separate storage area. It will also be
readily seen from the description that these
advantages are readily obtained irregardless of the
type of wicket assembly that may be used, that is to
say, the present invention is applicable to the
employment of rigid, flexible or partly rigid and
partly flexible wickets.
A
