Package making – Methods – Forming or partial forming a receptacle and subsequent filling
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-01
2001-10-30
Sipos, John (Department: 3721)
Package making
Methods
Forming or partial forming a receptacle and subsequent filling
C053S370700, C053S386100, C053S469000, C053S481000, C053S571000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308501
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to packaging apparatus, and in particular to packaging apparatus for packaging in plastics bags, semi rigid blocks of product such as cheese.
BACKGROUND ART
Conventional packaging apparatus for such applications generally involve one or more towers in which a product is collected ready for packaging, and an ejection apparatus at the base end of each tower for ejecting the product in predetermined lengths from a horizontally aligned outlet thereof onto a horizontal support device. The ejection apparatus generally has a square or rectangular shaped outlet, and is provided with a device for gripping a bag when fitted over the outlet. In operation, the inlet portion of a bag which is generally made of an impervious material such as plastics, is manually fitted over the outlet and the gripping device then operated to hold the bag in place. The ejection apparatus is then operated to eject a length of the product into the bag, which is cut off by a cutter at a predetermined size, and the gripping device released, to allow the filled bag to be pushed by an ejector of the ejection apparatus onto the support device.
Since the operation of fitting the bag to the outlet of the ejection apparatus, is carried out manually, the operation is time consuming, contaminants can be introduced to the product, and space is required to allow the operator access to the region.
The support device is generally in the form of a conveyor belt which then conveys the filled bag to a weighing apparatus where the bag is weighed. If the weight is below a predetermined weight, then the bag must be topped up with additional product. Since this is done manually and generally requires turning the bag to an upright condition with the opening at the top, the operation is time consuming and contaminants can be introduced to the product. (Incidentally a continual problem here is that human operators develop occupational overuse syndrome in their wrists from the activity). To minimise this requirement, the bags are generally over filled, thus providing more product than necessary with a loss of profit.
Once the bag has been weighed, the top of the bag is folded to form gussets ready for scaling under vacuum, or alternatively a “pillowcase seal” is prepared by a process involving stretching part of the neck of the bag. This also is done manually, and is thus time consuming and can introduce contaminants to the product. Moreover, there is the possibility of finger contamination of the surface of the inlet portion of the bag, which can cause defective sealing by the subsequent sealing apparatus. Furthermore, the manual operation results in a lack of uniformity of the surfaces which can result in wrinkles, again affecting the subsequent sealing operation. Moreover, the bag must be accurately positioned by hand on the conveyor so that the inlet portion is lined up with scaling bars of the subsequent vacuum sealing apparatus.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a packaging apparatus which addresses the above problems with conventional apparatus, or at least provides the public with a useful choice.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a packaging apparatus for packaging in bags, semi rigid blocks of product ejected in predetermined sizes from a substantially horizontally aligned outlet of a product ejection apparatus onto a substantially horizontal support device, the product ejection apparatus having means to grip a bag when fitted over the outlet, the packaging apparatus comprising a bag fitting apparatus for fitting an inlet region of a bag over an outer peripheral surface of the outlet.
In another aspect the invention broadly consists of a packaging apparatus adapted for packaging a product which is moved substantially horizontally into a bag, said packaging apparatus comprising: a bag fitting apparatus including a bag supply means, means for supplying a bag from the bag supply means, and means for holding an inlet region of the bag open to receive said product.
By providing a bag fitting apparatus for the packaging apparatus, then problems due to the manual operation of fitting the bag to the outlet can be eliminated.
Bags may be supplied to the bag fitting apparatus by any suitable means. For example this may be a standard bag supply device used with bag packaging equipment, similar to that made by Matam of the Netherlands. Alternatively the bags may be supplied from a novel bag supply device wherein the bags are stored in a storage magazine in a stack in a flattened condition. Means may be provided which separate and isolate each bag from the stack to overcome obstacles such as the presence of electrostatic cling between the bags in the stack.
The bag fitting apparatus may comprise any suitable device whereby the inlet region of a bag can be fitted over the outer peripheral surface of the outlet.
For example this may comprise: a bag opening device for opening an inlet to a bag supplied thereto, a bag gripping device for releasably gripping an inlet portion of a bag opened by the bag opening device, and an actuating device for moving the bag gripping device between a position where an inlet portion of a bag is gripped by the bag gripping device and a position where the inlet portion of the bag being gripped by the bag gripping device is positioned over the outer peripheral surface of the outlet.
The bag opening device may comprise any suitable device whereby the inlet to a bag supplied thereto may be opened sufficiently to enable gripping by the gripping device. For example this may comprise: an opening member provided with an attachment device for attaching the opening member to an outer surface of the bag, and a positioning device for moving the opening member between a first position wherein a bag can be attached to the opening member by the attaching device, and a second position wherein a wall of a bag attached by the attachment device is moved to thereby open the bag inlet.
The attachment device for attaching the opening member may involve any suitable means whereby the opening member can be releasably attached to the outer surface of the bag. For example this may comprise a suction device for providing a negative pressure force to an outer face of the bag. Such a device may involve a plurality of suction cups arranged along an outer surface of a member and a device for releasably drawing a vacuum in the suction cups.
The abovementioned bag gripping device may comprise any suitable device whereby the inlet portion of a bag may be gripped and held in an open condition. For example this may comprise: two members supported in spaced apart relation by respective arms so as to be movable relative to each other between a first separation distance and a second separation distance, the two members being adapted to fit inside the bag inlet when at the first separation distance and to grip the bag when at the second separation distance. Preferably the two members are arranged parallel to each other so as to grip opposite sides of the bag inlet. With is arrangement, in the case where the outer faces at the inlet of the bag is being held by suction devices, the action of moving to the second separation distance to grip the bag can be used to separate the opposite sides of the bag from the suction devices. The bag gripping device may further comprise a rotation device for turning the two members about a longitudinal axis thereof when the bag gripping device is positioned over the outer peripheral surface of the outlet. With this arrangement the two members may have a flat portion eccentric to their axis of rotation so that they can be released from the gripping condition by simply rotating the two members and moving them away from the end of the bag.
The abovementioned actuating device may comprise any suitable device whereby the gripping device can be moved between the beforementioned positions. For example this may comprise a shaft and a mounting device for mou
Marshall Gerstein & Borun
Sipos John
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