Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ ~7~
1 BAGS ~AVING ZIPPERS AND BEIMG SERIALLY CONNECTED ~Y GUIDE
RI~ EQUIPPED STRIPS REMOVABLE FOR SEPARA~ING ~HE BAGS, A~D
METHOD OF ANDMEANS FOR FILLING AND SEPARATING SUCH BAGS
DESCRIPTION
This invention relates to zipper equipped bags, and
is more particularly concerned with such bags which are
connected together in a manner that facilitates handling for
manually filling and separating the bags.
Although automatic filling of zipper equipped chain
bags is known, reference being had, for example, to U.S.
Patent 4,49G,959 dated January 1, 1985 issued to Peter Lems,
one of the applicants herein, there has been a need for a
convenient and economiaal arrangement for manual filllng of
zipper equipped bags which will avoid the need for handling
of each individual bag. It is primarily to the solving of
that problem that the present invention has been directed.
Accordingly, it is an important object of the
present invention to provide 7ipp2r equipped bags in a
manner to facilitate manual filling of the bags.
Another obJect of the invention iB to provide a new
and improved method of manually filling zipper equippad
bags.
A further object of the invention is to provide new
and improved apparatus for manually filling zipper equipped
bags.
The present invention provides, integrally serially
connected top fillable bags wherein each bag has elosed
bottom and side edges and reclosable zipper means extending
~cross the top of each bag with upstanding front and rear
pull flanges extending above the zipper means, the bags
being partially separated by slots along their adjacent
s~des, the slots extending from the pull flanges
- .
1 continuously a substantial distance down past the zipp~r
means 80 that adjacent bags are freely separable at the
location of the zipper means. Respsctive continuous strips
integrally connect the tops of the front and rear pull
flanges of all of the bags and thereby connect the bags in
continuous series. The connecting strips have pr~truding
ribs extending continuously along their upper edge portions
for supporting the connected bags, so that the connected
bags can ~e slidably drawn throush supp~rting jaws serving
also as bag top filling separators. The strips are
removable from the tops of the pull flanges so that the bags
are separated from one another by virtue of the slots upon
removal of the trips.
This lnvention also provides a method of filllng
and separating top fillable serially connected bags which
are closed along thsir bottom and sides and have reclosable
zippers along their upper end portions with front and rear
pull flanges extending above the zippers, the bags being
partially separated from one another along their ad~acent
sides by separations which extend upwardly past the zippers
and to the tops of the pull ~langes and between the ends of
the pull flanges, there being respective continuous integral
strips connecting the tops of the front and rear pull
~langes and thereby connecting the bags to one another in
series, and the upper portions of the connecting strips
having continuous protruding guide ribs therealong for
supporting the connected bags. The method comprises
slidably engaging the ribs in supportiny and separating ~aw
means at a filling station, relatively sliding the ribs in
the iaw means and thereby moving and aligning the bags
seriatlm $nto the filling station, and as each bag is in
i7~
1 the filling station effecting sep~ration of the pull flanges
by means of the jaw means and thereby opening the top of the
bag by pulling the zipper of the bag open, filling contents
$nto the bag in the filling station, advancing the connected
bags and theraby moving the filled bag away from the filling
~tation and advarlcing a succeeding bsg into the filling
station for opening and filling, closing the zipper of the
filled bag, and ~eparating the connecting strips from the
tops of the pull flanges of the filled bag at a level at or
below the top of the separation to separate the filled bag
from the remaining connected bags.
~ here i~ also provided by the present invention
apparatus for filling and separating serially connected top
fillable bags which are closed along their bottom and sides
and have reclosable zippers along their upper end portions
with front and rear pull flanges extending above the
zippPrs, the bags being separatad from one another along
their adjacent sides by 6eparations which extend upwardly
past the zippers and to the tops of the pull 1anges and
between the ends of the pull ~langes, there being respective
contlnuous integral strips connecting the front and rear
pull flanges and thereby connecting said tops of the bags to
one another, the upper portions of the connecting strips
having continuous protuding guide ribs therealong for
supporting the connected bags, the apparatus comprising
means providing a bag filling station including supporting
and separating ~aws for slidably engaging the ribs for
movement of said bags along said ~aws and allgnin~ the bags
seriatim in the filling station. The ~aws include means for
separatlng the pull flanges and thereby the zipper of each
bag in the filling station to open the top of the bag for
7~
3A
1 receiving contents into the bag. There are means for moving
the filled bag from the filling station and advancing a
succeeding bag into the filling station for openlng and
fllling of the succeeding bag. Means are provided for
5 closing the zipper of the filled bag, and ~eans for
separating the connecting strips from the tops of the pull
flanges of the filled bag at a level at or below the top of
the separations to separate the filled bag from the
remaining connected bags.
ON THE DRAWINGS
Other objects, features and advantages of the
invention will be readily apparent from the following
description of representative embodiments thereof, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although
variations a~d modifications may be effected without
departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts
embodied in the disclosure, and in which:
,
1 FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a zipper equipped
bag produced according tG the present inventi~n.
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of how material
for producing connected zipper equipped bags i6 adapted
to be produced by extrusion.
FIG. 3 shows a fragmentary portion of a modified
extruded bag making material.
FIG. 4 shows another modification of the material.
FIG. 5 shows how the bag material of FIG. 2 i5
adapted to be supported and guided.
FIG. 6 shows how the bag material o~ FIG. 3 is
adapted to be supported and guided.
FIG. 7 shows how the bag material of FIG. 4 is
adapted to be supported and guided.
FIG. 8 shows a further modification.
FIG. 9 shows another modification.
FIG. 10 shows ~till another modification.
FIG. 11 is a schematic ill~stration of bag filling
and separating apparatus with bag supporting and opening
jaws in the open position; and
FIG. 12 shows the arrangement of FIG. 11 with the
jaws closed.
The bags 15 (FIG. 11 is sho~l as an example of the
type of bag which is adapted to be made according to the
present invention. It is of the top filling type,
commonly made from a suitable plastic film such as
polyethylene. A p~uch for the bag 15 is provided between
wall panels 17 which are secured together along a bottom
edge 18 and opposite side edges 19. As shown, the
bottom edge 18 is formed by folding a film web upon
itself to provide the wall panels 17. On the other hand,
if preferred, the wall panels 17 may comprise separate
strips which are secured together as by means of heat
sealing, electronic wPlding, or the like. The cides 19
of the bag are secured together as by a means of heat
sealing or electronic means.
i7~
1 Within the top portion of the bag 15 is a re-
closa~le zipper 20. In a desirable form, the zipper 20
comprises a generally arrowhead shaped rib profile 21
which is separably interengageable within a groove-
shaped profile 22. Both of the profiles 21 and 22 are
resiliently flexible for readily snapping together for
closing the zipper and for pull-apart separation by
manipulation of front and rear pull flanges 23 which
project upwardly fr~m the zipper 20. As shown, at th~ir
opposite ends the profiles 21 and 2~ are secured together
by spot seals 24 aligned with the side seals 19. It will
be noted that the ends of the pull flanges are also
sealed together at l9a in line with the spot seals 24 and
the side seals 19.
As represented in FIÇ. 2, the material for the
bag 15 may be economically formed by extrusion. By means
of an extrusion die 25 which has a suitably configured
extrusion orifice 27 by which, in this instance, a
tubular extruded plastic film blank B is adapted to be
produced as a continuous tube having on its inner dia-
meter integrally extruded therewith two sets of the ~
profiles 21 and 22 and with the expanse of the blank B
of such size as to produce two lines of bag material web
with each web eq~ipped with cooperatively related
complementary zipper profiles 21 and 22.
In addikion, the extruded bag making blank B has
integrally extruded therewith guide ribs 28, there being
a pair of the ribs 28 fvr each of the bag making webs of
the blank B when the blank B is separated along lines 29
between the ~uide ribs 28. The func~ion of the guide
ribs 28 will be m~xe particularly described hereinafter.
In one desirable arrangement, the guide ribs 28
are of general T-shape as shown in FIG. 2 and in FIG. 5.
In this instanc~ the guide ribs 28 are l~cated on the
inner ~ides of the blank B or the webs to which they are
att~ched, that is, on those portions of the web which
will face one another in the bag format.
.
7~
1 In another formation of the guide ribs identified
as 28' (FIGS. 3 and 6) the suide ribs are formed at each
side of the iubular extrusion, but extending lengthwise
across the blank B' so that when the web is 6eparated
along the line 29' between the ribs 28', the ribs 28'
will be along the top edge of the web and desirably with
a narrow crown projection spacer 30 along the upper sides
of the guide ribs.
In another form, ribs 28'' (FIGS 4 and 7) may he
formed along the outer side of the blank B'' so that
upon separation along tne line 29' ' the ribs 281 ' will
be at the outside of the webs of blank B''.
Other fGrms of the guiding ribs may be found
useful. For example, in FIG. 8, instead of the T-shaped
rib arrangement of FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 7, companion ribs
31 of solid rectangular form lFIG. 8 or 10) m~y be
provided on the upper edge of the bag making wab. On
the other hand, the guide ribs may be as shown in FIG. 9
wherein the ribs 32 are of genexally diamond shape with
one of the corners of the diamond shape cross-section
attached to the bag wall web.
The various forms of the guide ribs are especially
useful in adapting bags made from the bag making material
for hand filling of the bags in a convenient, efficient,
labor saving manner.
A hand filling set~up is schematically illustrated
in FIGS. 11 and 12. For this purpose, the extruded bag
making material is formed into a continuous, connected
series of the bags 15. In the series, the bags are
partially separated from one another by separations 33
along and between the adjacent sealed side edges 19 of
the bags. Each separation 33 extends all the way from
the bottom 18 up between the spot seals 24 on the
conti~uous bags and to a desirable extent past and a~ove
the zippers of the bags as shown at the upward extensions
of the ~eparations 33 and 34. The length of the
separation extensions 34 is equal to the desired width
1 of the pull ~langes 23 between the ends o which the
separation extensions extend. In a preferred arrangement
the pull flanges have their ends sealed together as shown
at l9a.
For connecting the bags 15 together in series,
connecting strips 35 of the bag wall web material connect
the tops of the pull flanyes 23 and extend solidily
continuously along the length of the ribbon o~ connected
bags to a desirable width above the upper ends of the
separation extensions 34. The width of the connecting
strips 35 together with the relative mass of the guide
ribs 2B is such as to maintain the individual bag sections
15 in a stable connected relation for filling manipulation.
In the filling station the bags 15 are guided
seriatim into a filling position by means of the guide
ribs 28, 28', 28'', 31 or 32, as the case may be, and are
opened, filled, and then moved from the filling station.
The connecting strips are then removed below or along the
tops of the separation extension 34, with the zipper 20
of each bag which had been opened for filling being
closed, and the separated filled bag 15 removed from the
~eries. To this end, the guide ribs 28 are threaded
through complementary dovetail guideways 37 o~ combin-
ation supporting and bag opening jaws 38 (FIGS. 5, ll and
12). These jaws 38 may be mo~ted on reciprocating
guides 39 connected by means of respective cranks 40 to
respective links 41. The links 41 are connected to means
such as a foot operated treadle 42, so that by operating
the treadle 42 the jaws 38 can be moved apàrt from the
closed position in FIG. 12 in opposition to biasing means
such as springs 43.
For filling the bags 15, each successive bag may
be pulled into filling position such as by manually
grasping the lead bag in the series and pulling it to
slidably advance the ribs 28 through the jaws 38. When
each successive bag 15 is in the filling position, the
jaws 38 which normally are biased toward one anothex as
.
~ .
,
'
,
1 shown in FIG. 12, are pulled apart by operation of the
treadle 42 into separated position as showm in FIG. 11.
Thereby the jaws 38 pull the connecting ~trips 35 apart
at the top of the bag 15 that is to be filled so that
through the strips 35 the separating pull of the jaws 38
is passed on to the pull flanges 23 and causes the pro-
files 21 and 22 of the zipper 20 of the affected bag 15
to open. To further improve the pulling force of the
jaws 38, it is focused between the sealed ends l9a of the
affected pull flanges 23. Contents may then be loaded
into the top opened bag in any desirable manner. After
the contents have been filled into the bag, the series of
bags is pulled onward to advance another bag 15 into
filling position.
As the filled bag is pulled away from the filling
station, the connecting strips 35 are separated from the
filled bag, such as by means of a sharp instrument 44,
i.e. a knife blade, which may be stationarily mounted in
proper shearing position on the fram~ of the apparatus.
Before or after the cut off knife 41, but preferably
i~mediately before, the zipper 20 is closed by means for
pressing the profiles 21 and 22 together. In one form
such means may comprise pinch rollers 45 mounted rotatably
on skub shafts 47 and having respective grooves 48 for
recei~ing the zipper 20 therebetween for not only closing
the zipper, but also supporting the bag which is engaged
between the rollers 45 against sagying away from the cut
off member 44. If necessary a second set of rollers may
be provided for the purpose of supporting the bag.
It will be observed that the cut-off m~mber 44 is
located to separate the strips 35 from the tops of the
pull flanges 23 in line with or just below the top ends
of the separation extensions 34. The filled bag is not
fully separated from the connecting strips 35 until the
preceeding bag has been filled. Thereupon, by pulling on
the filled bag or on the partially se~ered strips 35 as
indicated by the directional arrow 49, the previously
filled bag is advanced co~pletely past the cut-off nember
7:~Zl
1 44 and thus en~irely separated from the series of bags,
while at the same time the next *illed bag is advanced
for cut-off by the cut-off member 44 and closure of the
zipper 20 by the rollers 45. Each bag advancing maneuver
is facilitated by the indexing advantage afforded by the
filling station mechanisms~
It will thus be apparent that the filling, bag
separating and zipper closing apparatus can be operated
easily and efficiently by advancing the successive bags
one at a time by one minipulating hand while the other
hand is used for filling the bag which is in position
and which is opened by operating the foot treadle to open
the bag supporting and opening jaws. Relatively unskilled
persons can quickly learn and easily operate the apparatus,
which can be inexpensively produced.
The different forms of the guide ribs ~8', 28l',
31, 32 in FIGS. 6-9, can be reail~ accommodated in simple
~odifications of the shoes or jaws 38 to provide comple-
mentary and properly positioned tracks for the respective
xibs. If desired the shoe jaws may be modified to accept
all or at least a number of the various rib forms in one
jaw configuration.
Xn FIG. 10 the jaws 38' are substantially the same
as the jaws 38' in FIG. 8 but ~o positioned that the
connecting strips 35 are maneuvered into a generally
horizontal direction away from one another, thus affording
more head room, where that is a consideration.
It will be understood that variations and modifi-
cations m~y be effected without departing from the spirit
and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.
