Presses – Binding – With automatic or material-triggered control
Patent
1992-11-20
1993-10-05
Gerrity, Stephen F.
Presses
Binding
With automatic or material-triggered control
531382, 100 17, 100 30, 100 32, 100 33R, B65B 5716, B65B 5708
Patent
active
052495175
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus arranged to wrap a line around nursery stock, and secure the line with a metal clip in order to form a bundle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are existing apparatus which can secure flexible material around a variety of individual items to form a bundle.
In Mirfield, U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,862 pipes, tubes and the like can be bundled together by welding the ends together. In Countryman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,489,076 apparatus automatically straps a bundle of cables together by a closure member which holds the ends together. In Evans, U.S. Pat. No. 2,088,133 wire can be wrapped and secured around a box by welding.
In Mecker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,781, an automatic machine for tying or bailing uses a ring to place the tying material tightly around a package.
In Mills, U.S. Pat. Des. 220,001 and Des. 220,210 illustrate a curved arm which is pivotally mounted above an opening in a table top.
In Bartzich et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,379 apparatus for positioning and tensioning a plastic strapping band around a package and connecting the overlapping ends by not bonding is described.
A side binder nursery tyer Model BMNS manufactured by the Saxmayer company teaches the use of an arcuate needle to wrap a line around nursery stock being held by an operator which ties the ends of the line into a knot to secure the nursery stock into a bundle.
None of these previous inventions recognize or teaches: the use of a clip to attach the ends of a line about stock to form a bundle, the use of a dancer arm and air motor to pull the line tight before attachment, the further tightening of the lines around the bundle before the attachment of the clip to further compact the bundle, the use of a multi-element gripper to grip the end of the line securely after tightening and before clip attachment to securely grip the lines as the clip is being attached, or the use of pneumatic logic to coordinate the operations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This nursery stock tier apparatus will automatically form a bundle from a quantity of nursery stock placed upon a table, by using a clip to secure a flexible line about the stock. In operation the line extends from a supply box, through an upper apparatus mounted above the table top comprising a tensioner arranged to grip the line until a predetermined force is applied, through a pivoted dancer arm, which is arranged to pull against the line from the tensioner for tight bundle, through a hole in the free end of a rotated arquate needle arranged to wrap the line about the nursery stock, and finally through a slot in the table top where the end of the line is gripped by a lower apparatus.
A second embodiment of the upper apparatus adds a tension assist mechanism, which uses a drum powered by an air motor attached to the line between the tensioner and the dancer arm, to generate additional line tension for a tighter bundle wrap.
In the first part of the bundling operation, the needle of the upper apparatus wraps line from the supply box tightly about a quantity of nursery stock and pulls the line into the slot in the table top, while the lower apparatus holds the end of the line. After the needle has pulled the line tightly about the bundle, the lower apparatus then pulls on the two ends of the line wrapped about the bundle to further tighten the bundle, wraps a metal clip tightly about these two line ends to secure the lines, grips the two line ends in preparation for the next cycle, and cuts the line ends between the clip and the gripped portion to free the bundle.
The arcuate needle of the upper apparatus has one end attached to a driven axle. The axle is mounted horizontally above the table top and perpendicular to the front edge. The needle is positioned and arranged such that it will oscillate over the canter of the table, from a first position with the free end above the axle, to a second position with the free end inserted into the slot in the table. With this arrangement the free end of the needle will carry the line around the bundle and
REFERENCES:
patent: D220001 (1971-02-01), Mills
patent: 2052627 (1936-09-01), Hermann
patent: 2088133 (1937-07-01), Evans
patent: 2596862 (1952-05-01), Mirfield
patent: 3001346 (1961-09-01), Kiwi
patent: 3104606 (1963-09-01), Kerrigan
patent: 3114308 (1963-12-01), Saxton et al.
patent: 3247781 (1966-04-01), Meckler
patent: 3489076 (1970-01-01), Countryman
patent: 3820451 (1974-06-01), Tanaka
patent: 4527379 (1985-07-01), Bartzick et al.
Gerrity Stephen F.
Jacobson Donald A.
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