Carlsson, Stig Martin (Orebro, SW)
Andreasson, Jan Erik (Orebro, SW)

05/303361

07/09/1974

11/03/1972

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Sunds Aktiebolag (Sundsvall, SW)

53/542

B65B5/06; B65B35/30

53/26,159,164,165,244,247

Spruill, Robert L.

Pierce, Scheffler & Parker

We claim

1. An apparatus for packaging bags containing fragile material in a container, comprising a bag conveying path (1) for feeding the bags to a bag lifting means (3, 4) comprising

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the path (1) comprises one or more chutes in which dogs (2) are arranged.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein several chutes are arranged in side by side relationship and that the distance between the chutes decreases in the movement direction of the bags at the same time as said channels are inclined in the same direction so that the bags overlap each other.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carriage (6) comprises a number of parallel rods arranged straight before the interspaces between the rows of pegs on the bag lifting means, each rod being provided with two pairs of upstanding supports (7) defining forward and rear portions of the carriage (6).

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the carriage (6) is movable in a path (8) obliquely upwardly between the rows of pegs and thereafter horizontally forward so that its rear portion lifts up the group of bags from the bag lifting means to the table (10), which consists of a number of stationarily mounted horizontal rods.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the forward portion of the carriage (6) is arranged to move the group of bags forward along the table (10).

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bag holder (11, 12) comprises a plate, the rear and forward edge of which is provided with a pivotally suspended gate (12) for fixing the group of bags on the table (10).

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means (13) for further advancing the group of bags along the table (10) comprises a frame, the rear and front edges of which are provided with gates, said frame being arranged to move reciprocatingly along the table (10), an inclined ridge being arranged to lift the rear gate above the group of bags upon rearward movement of said frame.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the means (14-16) for transferring the group of bags onto the container blank is located immediately behind the table (10) and directly above a transferring plate (19) of a packaging machine, the means for transferring the group of bags comprising a horizontal plate (14) arranged for vertical reciprocating movement and which is provided with gates at its forward and rear edge for pressing the group of bags onto the container blank placed on the transferring plate (19) of the packaging machine.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a lower plate 15 is suspended from said horizontal plate (14) in a manner such that said lower plate is freely movable up and down in relation to said horizontal plate.

11. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the pegs (4) of the bag lifting means are attached to chains (3) which, centrally of the path (1), extend over a wheel (5) the distance between the tops of the pegs (4) increasing and thereby enabling the bags to be fed in between the pegs, and in that the chains (3) are then horizontally arranged to fix the bags in the desired grouping array.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for packing bags in a container having the form of a box made from cellular cardboard or simple cardboard.

It has previously proven difficult to pack, mechanically, bags containing fragile, crushable or very light products such as potato chips, sweets, pastries, cakes and the like. Consequently, it has often been necessary to pack such bags manually into storage containers.

The problems encountered with the mechanical packing of such bags reside in the fact, that the contents of the bags are easily crushed, and that owing to their shape etc. are difficult to arrange and maintain in a desired packed array.

These problems are eliminated by means of the apparatus of the present invention, which is constructed to prevent the bags from being squeezed together in a manner such as to cause the contents thereof to be broken and crushed, and to maintain the bags constantly in a fixed array during their transport through the apparatus.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises a bag conveying path, a bag lifting means arranged cooperating with said path and having the form of parallel rows of outwardly projecting pegs arranged to move along endless paths and adapted to receive therebetween groups of bags in a predetermined array, a horizontally and vertically movable carriage, the rear portion of which is intended to lift the group of bags from the bag lifting means onto a bag receiving platform, and the front portion of which is adapted to move the group of bags along said platform, a vertically movable holder for said group of bags arranged above the platform, a means for further advancing the group of bags along the platform, and a means for transferring the group of bags onto a blank from which the container is subsequently formed about the group of bags.

The apparatus is intended to be used in combination with a packaging machine, operating according to the wrap-around principle for closing and sealing the outer container.

The apparatus can be constructed for different packing arrays. With the described and illustrated embodiment, the apparatus is constructed to pack the bags in an array comprising three rows of bags, each row containing eight bags.

The invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows the apparatus according to the invention in its entirety,

FIG. 2 diagrammatically represents the feeding and gathering steps;

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken at line A--A of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken at line B--B of FIG. 2 and showing a row of three bags in the course of being raised from horizontal to vertical position by and between pegs 4, 4;

and FIGS. 3-8 inclusive diagrammatically serially represent different stations, subsequent to the gathering station, incorporated within the apparatus of FIG. 1.

The illustrated apparatus comprises a continuously operating conveying path consisting of three sheet-metal chutes 1 along which bags containing, for example, fragile goods, are arranged to move. Movement of the bags along the chutes 1 is effected by chain-driven dogs 2 arranged for longitudinal movement centrally of the chutes. The chutes are arranged in side-by-side relationship and along the initial portion of their length mutually extend in the same plane and are subsequently angled slightly relative to said plane, at the same time as the outer chutes converge towards the center line of the bag conveying path at the forward portion thereof. The bags are fed into the rear portion of the chutes 1 in their desired pattern of orientation, which in the illustrated case (see FIG. 2) consists of groups of three. The dogs 2 are arranged to advance the bags along the chutes 1 in such grouping (FIG. 2A), and when reaching the forward portion of the path the bags will slightly overlap each other as a result of the construction of the chutes 1 (FIG. 2B).

At the discharge end of the chutes 1 there is arranged a continuously operation bag lifting means, which is arranged to lift the bags from the chutes 1 while retaining the desired grouping of the bags. In the illustrated embodiment the illustrated bag lifting means comprises a number of parallel endless chains 3 spaced at some convenient distance from each other laterally and having pegs 4 attached thereto and extending perpendicularly from the chains. Pegs 4, 4 provide uniformly spaced partitions, in rows transverse to the direction of movement of the chains. At the rear portion of the bag lifting means the chains pass over wheels 5, arranged so that upon passage of the chains therearound (as indicated by the arrow) at a point between lower flight and upper flight of the chains the distance between the tops of the pegs is caused to increase so that the bags can be received from path 1 and accomodated between the pegs without damaging the contents of the bags. As will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, as the dogs 2 on the conveying path 1 are moved out of engagement with the bags, the bags are lifted by the pegs 4 on the bag lifting means onto a planar portion (i.e., the upper flight) of said bag lifting means, the bags being securely but gently held between the pegs. The spacing between the pegs is adjusted to the thickness of the bags being packed and to the degree of crushability of the bag contents. Cooperating with the bag lifting means 3, 4 is a continuously operating carriage structure consisting of a number of parallel and horizontally extending rods 6, each of which is provided with two pairs of upright pins 7. Each rod 6 is disposed intermediate two adjacent chains 3, 3, of the bag lifting assembly. When removing a group of bags from the bag lifting means the rear portion of the rods 6 extend between the chains 3 and the carriage is moved upwards as indicated by reference number 9 in FIG. 3. The group of bags is held together by pins 7 on the rods 6. The rods are held together by a frame structure, which in turn is supported by four short arms (not shown) connected to four chains 8, two on each side of the apparatus (in a manner not shown). The chains 8 are arranged to be moved by means (not shown) in a manner such that the carriage structure follows a trapezoidal movement pattern, as indicated by the arrows on chains 8 in FIG. 3. The rear portion 9 of the path travelled by the carriage is inclined to an extent such that the horizontal speed of the bag lifting means and the speed of the carriage are of equal magnitude, thereby synchronizing the movement of the two machine portions so that the carriage is able to remove bag groups from the bag lifting means at predetermined time intervals. Removal of the bag groups from the bag lifting means by the carriage is effected by the rear portion of the rods 6 on the carriage, the pair of pins 7 arranged on said rear portion acting as supports for the bags. As will be seen from FIG. 3, the carriage is arranged to move beneath the bag lifting means and when reaching a pre-set limit of travel, is arranged to move obliquely upwards to lift a selected number of bag groups from the bag lifting means, the height to which the bags are lifted being such as to enable the remaining bags to pass freely beneath the upraised rods on the carriage. At this stage the carriage has reached its rear, upper limit of travel, from which it moves forward to its forward, upper limit position (FIG. 4), from where it moves perpendicularly downwardly to complete the illustrated movement pattern. Arranged in the upper movement path of the carriage 6, 7 is a table or platform 10, comprising a number of stationarily mounted, parallel rods (not shown in detail) arranged in spaced apart relationship. Each rod is disposed intermediately in the space between two adjacent rods 6, 6 of the carriage, the space between the rods being such as to permit passage of the rods 6 therebetween. As will be evident from the drawings, the rods 6 of the carriage with the group of bags can be moved in between the rods of the table 10 where the bag holder 11, 12 is lowered and holds the group of bags on the table when the carriage is lowered. Thus, in each cycle of movement at this station the bags are carried by the carriage 6, 7 to the table 10 and, upon continued movement of the chains 8, are pushed onto said table, in the grouping array in which they were collected from the bag lifting means 3, 4 by the carriage.

Arranged above the table 10 is an intermittently operating bag holder, consisting of a plate 11, provided at the rear and front edge surfaces thereof with a hinged, suspended gate structure 12. The bag holder is arranged for vertical reciprocating movement between an upper position, in which it is remote from the table, and a lower position, in which it embraces a group of bags located on said table, movement of the means between said positions being effected by two cams (not shown). The gates 12 are spring biased so that when the bag holder occupies its upper position the gates are inclined outwardly at about 15°. As the bag holder reaches its lower position, the gates are actuated by two levers (not shown) and moved to a vertical position, in which they bear gently but firmly against the group of bags on the table 10. This arrangement is provided so as not to damage the outer bags in the group of bags. The group of bags is retained by the bag holder until the carriage has completed one further revolution. This portion of the apparatus is illustrated more clearly in FIG. 4.

The next sequence of operations is illustrated in FIG. 5. This station comprises the forward portion of the carriage 6, 7. When the carriage has again reached its rear upper limit position, the forward portion of the carriage together with its pairs of rows of pins has reached a point located beneath the group of bags retained by the bag holder. In this position the carriage is arranged to take over the function of the bag holder, thereby leaving the bag holder free to be returned to its upper limit position. It should be noted that, throughout all the described sequence, the bags are at no time left unsupported, neither laterally nor vertically. As the carriage then moves forward following the aforedescribed movement pattern, the group of bags is moved by the forward portion of the carriage to the next station of the apparatus, illustrated in FIG. 6, which corresponds to the forward end of the path travelled by the carriage.

Arranged at the forward end of the upper movement path of the carriage 6, 7 is an intermittently operating rake means 13 which comprises a frame structure which is open upwards and has hinged gates at its rear and forward edges. The rake is arranged to reciprocate between a front and a rear limit position, for instance by means of a piston rod. When it moves backwards the rear edge of the frame together with its associated gate is lifted by means of an inclined ridge along which the rear edge slides. At the rear limit position the rear edge falls down from the ridge behind the group of bags and the rake means takes over the group of bags from the forward portion of the carriage, which carriage is then lowered. Located at the rear and forward edges of the frame structure are hinged gates similar to those arranged with the bag holder. When the rake moves rearwardly, the rear portion of the frame structure is lifted together with its associated gate by means (not shown) to an extent such as to enable it to pass freely over the bags. When reaching its rear limit position, the frame structure is arranged to fall with the rearmost gate located behind the group of bags, and in contact with the extreme surfaces thereof, at the same time as the front gate of the rake means reaches and engages the front edge of the group of bags. The rake means has now charge of the group of bags and the carriage moves downwardly. Subsequent to the rods on the carriage passing beneath the lower edge surfaces of the bags, the rake means moves forward to the next its front limit position, corresponding to station of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 7.

Arranged adjacent the front limit position of the bag raking means is an intermittently operating bag transferring means, consisting of two horizontally positioned and superimposed plates 14, 15 depending from a compressed air cylinder 16 arranged above the group of bags and directly over the downlifting plates 19, 19 of a known bag packaging machine. Plates 14, 15 of the transferring means can move down through the open frame structure of rake 13. The upper plate of the plates 14 is securely connected with the cylinder and is provided with outwardly movable gate structures at its rear and front edges. The lower plate 15 is freely mounted in the upper plate 14 in a manner to enable it to be moved upwardly from its starting position towards said plate 14.

At the same time as the rake draws a group of bags forward to the transferring means 16, 14, 15, the transferring plate of the packaging machine moves upwardly and a sheet of material 17 (container blank) is advanced into position beneath the bags, being supported on a pair of supporting plates 19, 19. When the rake has reached its forward limit position, the group of bags has been moved to a position in which they rest on the portion of the blank forming the bottom of the container when shaped.

The plates 14, 15 in the transferring means are arranged to move down through the bag raking means which is open upwardly and the gate structure on the upper plate 14 rests on the sheet 17, enclosing the group of bags (FIG. 8). The lower plate 15 remains as a weight on top of the group of bags.

The sheet of material or container blank 17 and the group of bags are then pressed down in the first station of the known packaging machine as shown at 18, where the blank is shaped into the container. The plates 14, 15 in the transferring means then return to their upper position, the weight exerted by the lower plate 15 on the bags preventing them from being lifted by the gates as the transferring means is moved by the piston 16 to its upper limit position.

The container together with its contents can then be moved stepwise through the known packaging machine and closed and sealed therein.