CA2235971C - Plastic bag bundle with offset coupons - Google Patents

Abstract

A plastic bag bundle is comprised of a plurality of juxtaposed flat plastic bags. Each bag has a front and rear wall panel and a mouth opening for inserting one or more articles in the bag. At least one flat article is retained captive in one of the front and rear panels. The bundle is formed of bags having the flat article in some of the bags disposed offset from the flat articles in others of the bags. The bags with the offset flat articles are interposed in a predetermined sequence with the others of the bags so as to form a bundle having a generally constant thickness in the area of the juxtaposed panels.

Description

CA 0223~971 1998-06-23 PLASTIC BAG BUNDLE WITH OFFSET COUPONS

This application is a divisional of Application Ser. No 2,148,237, filed October 21, 1993.

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a plastic bag bundle comprising a plurality of plastic bags wherein each bag contains a flat article, such as a coupon, retained thereon and with these flat articles of alternating bags offset from one another whereby to form a bundle having a general:Ly constant thickness.

BACKGROIJND ART
In U.S. Patent No. 4,268,344 issued May 19, 1981, there i'3 described a method and an apparatus for positioning and securing a coupon within a transparent plastic bag.
This coupon is positioned on the bag-forming film sheet and attached thereto by placing an attaching film sheet over the coupon and sealing both sheets together so that the coupon is retained in an immovable position on an inside wall of the bag which is later formed. These coupons are positioned at a common precise position on the bag. We have found that by doing this, there results certain inconveniences. One of these inconveniences is that when the bags are formed to be later supported and attached on wicket pins of a bag-loading machine, the area where the bag has the coupon bulges out and causes an enlargement and deformation of the stack of bags positioned on the wicket pins. This deformation of the stack causes problems in handling the bags in a bag-loading machine In an attempt to resolve this problem, fewer bags are positioned on the wicket pins. This means that the machine must be stopped more frequently to reload the wicket pins or to correct a malfunction caused by the bulging out of the stack of bags.

. .

Another inconvenierce o~ the above-mentioned . prior art ba~s pro~ided with coupons i~ that the mach~ ne ~or ins~rti~g the ooup~n ~s very slow and only between 70 to 80 coupons can be secured to the rilm every m~nute. This is caused by the fact that the t_ansfer o~ coupons iS done mechanicall~ in a reciprocating transverse manner.
With the above-mentioned prior art ~achine, it is only possible to aff'~ a single coupon to a bag wall. There i9, however, a ne~d to insert t~o or more coupons or cards to the s~me wall ~ a b~g or to a~ix two flat ar~icles whic~ are dif~eren~ ~rom one another and positioned side by side in a non-interfering manner.
lg SUMM~RY OF I~NTION
It is a ~eature o~ the present invention tc provide an apparatus ~or attaching flat articl~s, cards, packets or the li~e to a plastic bag ~all and which substan~ially overcomes the abcve-mentioned disadvantages of t~e prior art.
Another ~ea-ure of the present invention is to ~rov~e an a~paratus for attaohlng fla. artic-les, cards, pac~ets or the like to a plastic ~ag wall a~d ~5 wherein the ~1at articles or packets are positioned in a staggered, non-inte-fer'ng relationship on alternating bag-for~ing sections o~ a film sheet so t~at when a plurality of bags are formed and suspended on wicket pins, s~ch as in a bag-loading machine, the bags ~or~ a substantially uniform stack re~ulting in more bas~ being supported on the ~ wicket pins than with prior art bags and ~ewer malfunctions and ~ac~ne stoppages.
A~ot~er ~eature of the present invention is to 3~ provide an apparatus attaching flat articles, cards, packets or the like to a plastic bag wall and AMENDED SHEEl CA 0223~971 1998-06-23 wherein the article insertion machine inserts the articles in a staggered, alternating relationship and in an in-line manner with relation to the direction of travel of the bag-forming film sheet thereby substantially increasing the insertion speed of the articles, as compared with the above-mentioned prior art machine.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an apparatus attaching flat articles, cards, packets or the like to a plastic bag wall at a speed of up to approximately 300 articles per minute and with a capability of being able to match the speed of displacement of the bag-forming film sheet of the insertion machine.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for attaching flat articles, cards, packets or the like to a plastic bag wall and wherein two different articles are attached to the bag wall and spaced from one another.
According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides a plastic bag bundle comprised of a plurality of juxtaposed flat plastic bags.
Each ba(~ has a front and rear wall panel and a mouth opening for inserting one or more articIes in the bag. At least one flat article is retained captive in one of the front and rear panels. The bundle is formed of bags having the flat article in some of the bags disposed offset from the flat articles in others of the bags. The bags with the offset flat articles are interposed in a predetermined sequence with the others of the bags so as to form a bundle having a general]Ly constant thickness in the area of the juxtaposed panels.

BRIEF DESSCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE lA is a plan viel~r of the bag-~or~ing ~ilm sheet illustra.ing twa panels which will form two bags a~d wherein ~lat-liXe articles, such as coup~ns, are positioned on each bag-~orming panel and at staggered ~recise loc~tion~ and retained thereon by an ~ttaching ~ilm sheet which is sealed with the bag-~~rming film sheet;
FIGURE lB is a section ~iew 3long section lines II-II of Figure lA;
10FIGUP~ 2A is a perspective ~iew showing a plurality of bags held on wicl~et pins and carrying a s ingle coupon as inserted with prior art appara~us i FI~URE 2B is a perSpectiJe view similar to F~gure 2A but showinS a staok of bags having 15st~gger~l coupons secured thereto;
FIGURE ~ is a perspective view of the appa~atus of the present invent~ cn ill~lstrating the ulanner in which the ~'~ at articles a~e transferred ~rom supply magaz i nes onto as~ociated s-:pport surfaces ror 20transfer bet~"een the ba5-forming f ilm sheet ~nd the attaching f ilm sheet;
FIGURE 4 is a side viaw illustrating the construction o~ tne apparat~ls o~ the presen invention ar.d its operation;

2~FIGURE 5 is ar. end view sh~wi.~g the p~sition of ~he support surf aces and their relationship with the sealing headsi FTGU~E 6 is a view similar to ~igure 5 but illustrating the ~e7 a~ionship o~ the supply 30magazi~es in relation to the support sur~aces and sealins heads;
FIGURE; 7 iS a sche~natic side view illustrating the relationshi~ of the films with respect to the support surface and the manne~ in which the articles 35are grasped and fed between the bag-f~r~ing ~il~
sheet and the attaching ~ilm sheet; and AMENDED Sl'IEEl FIGV~E 8 is a block diagram showing the ccntrol system for the a~paratus o~ th~ ~r~sent inventio~

DEScRIPTI~N OF PRE~RRED EM30DIMENTS:
~ Referring now to the drawings and ~ore - particularly to r igure3 tA and lB, there ~ shown a bag-farming ~ilm sheet 10 de~ining two bag-for~ing panel~ 10' and on e~ch of which flat articles, such aS cards, packets, co~pons 11 or the like articl2s 1~ have been positione~ a-ld secured by an attach~ng film sheet 12 ~ealed thereover ~y a plurality of sealing lines 13 extending longitudina~ly alor.q the ~ons axis of the 4ag-~orming film shQet 10. Two of the seal Lines, namely seal lines 13', extend across the flat articie, herein a coupon 11, to im~o~aDiy r~tain the coupon between the bag-forming ~ilm sheet 10 and the attachment ~ilm sheet 12. The cross-section view or Figure 1~ clearly illustrates the mar.ne~ in ~hiCh the ~oupons are held in position.
2~ The panel sections 10" are then ~o~ded lor.gi~udinally and sealed toset~.er to fo~m an adjacent side wall 14 o~ a bag. According;y, the couponS 11 are located inside the ~2g cavity 15, as shown in Figure 2B.
As shown in Figures 2A and 2B, the bags ~6 - ~o~med by a prior art ~ethcd, whe~ein coupons 11 are positioned at a common pcsition, causes a stack of bags supported on wicket pins 18 to bulge out in ~he area 17 where the coupons are located as the bags are thicker in ~hat area. This ~ulging out area 17 of the bags when stacked together causes m~y inconveniences and the en~ result is that fewer bags can be ~ositioned on the wicket pins 18 which we find in most bag-loading machines. By stag;~êring the coupons 11 at dif~erent alternating positions on the bags 10, 2 bundle 9 of uniform thickness is A~F~In~ r r .

created and a greater nu~ber of bags can be held on the wicket pins, as shown in Figure 2B. The bundle g does not form an enlarged or bulged-out area 17, as illustrated in Figure 2B. A~cordingly, ~any more bags can be held on the wicket pins 18, with ~ewer machine mal~ncti~ns resulting an2 fewer ~ach_ne stoppages to reload.
Refer~ing now additional 1 y to Figures 1 to 7, there will be described t:qe construction and lo operation o~ the coupon-insertion apparatus 20 of the present invention. As erein shown, in the apparatus, a roll 21 of a attaching ~ilm sheet 22 is held on a suppor~ rod 23 and guided to an articl~
insertion station 24 by a plur~l~ty ~ guide roils 25. At the inse-tion station 24, a nip roll 26 posit~ons ~he attaching film sheet 22 against a support r~ll 27 on whic~ a bag-for~ing ~ilm 28 is guided. This is better illustrated in Figure 4 cf the drawings.
In this particular embodiment, two cards or coupons 11, as shown in Figures lA and 1~, are positloned on a side wall panel of the ~ag-forming ~ilm sheet. As previously described, these coupons are ~ed in-lin~ ~itn the bag-forming shee~ 10 and this is made possible by t~e arrange~ent o~ the article transfer mechanism 30 which will no~ ~e described The articles li are shown in Fig~res 3 and 4 as con.ained ~n two supply magazinec 2~ which are pasitioned side by side on t~p of the machine and su~ported at an ~nclined angle ~y fra.~e ~e.~bers (not shown) and directed towards a discharge end.
The article transfer mechanism 30 is a turret mechanism compri~ed ~~ two spaced apart support wall~ 31 having transverse support rods 32 and on 3~ which is secured a suction grasping element 33. ~he entire ~echanism is rotatabLe about a central axle AMENDED S~IEET

34 to which a planetary gear coupling is connected, as more clearly illustrated i~ Figure 4. Planeta~y gears 35 are ~oupled to a drive gear 36 oonnected to the axle 34 and through chain links 37, the 3upport rods 3~ are caused to rotate counterclock~ise so as ~o displace the ~uction g~asping elements 33 about ~he suDport rods 32 to execute a trans~fer of articles 11 from ~he supply magazines 29 The suction gLasping elements 33 are con~ected to a suction p~mp (not shown) where~y suction can be applied t~ the suction cup head 38 in a timed manner as dic~ated ~y the control circuit illustrated in Figure 8.
As shown in Figure 6, ~he grasping elements on alternate support rods 32 are po~itioned o~fset ~rom o~e another and allgned with a respective one o~ two ~upport ~u~r~aces 42 cr article holding mean~ whi~h are in turn aligned with distinct sections of the film sheet 22. When the suc~ion ele~le~t is at its position 33' (see Figure 4), su~tion iS applied t~
the suction head 38 and the outermost element 11 is grasped from the ~ischar~e 2nd o~ on~ of the magazines Z9. As the turret continues to rotate in a clockwise direction, as illust~ated by arrow 39, the next suction element ~iLl grasp an article from the cthe- ~agazine. The suction grasping elements 33 a~e d_splaced in a rotating counterclockwise ~anner, as shown by arrow 38', and the va~uum is mai~tained ~o risidly retain the article 11 on ~he 3~ sucti~n ~up head 3~ until it reaches its unlo~ding position 40 where the c~p nead 38 is disposed vertica~ly downward and over the support sur~ace 42 of ~ vacuum chamber 41. The su~face 42 is perfora~ed to retain the elements 11 positioned thereover. Although ~he sur~ace 4Z here~n described :has a vacuum applied thereto, this ~ay not be AMENDEI) S~IEEl' re~ulred due to the precise synchronism o~ the turret, ~ilm speed and grasping nip r~ll.
As shown in Figure 4, the card-like article 11 is positioned with a leading edge 11' thereo~
extending over the side wa'l 43 o~ t~e s~ction box 41 and retair.ed in this position by the continuous vacuum applied to the ariicle 11 thereon. As ~oon a~ the article 11 ~ positioned on the s~ppoLt sur~ace 42, it is retained by the suotlon applied to lo the surface 4z. The sucti~n frol~ the suction cup head 3~ is immediately cut off ~s the turret continue3 to rotate and all this is do~e withi~ a spLit second. The leading edge 11' o~ the article 11 rests o~er a portion o~ the support rcll Z7 but 1~ is not drawn by the rotation o~ the bag-forming film sheet 2a as the suction in the suction box is greater than the friction ~orce on tne leading edge of the a-ticle 11.
Ser,sing means in the form of a pnotooell 70, as shown in Figure 8, detec~s index ma~kings ~n ~e bag-~orming ~ilm sheet 28 and synchronizes the operation ~f the bag transfer mechanism 3~, t~e suction box 41 and the operation o~ the niF roll Z6.
As shown in Figuros 4 a~d 7, thQ nip r~ll 26 is secu~ed to a support block 45 connecte~ to a clutch mechanism 69 (see Figure 5) and mo~es in a reciprocating manner to position the nip roll 26 ~rom a non-grasping position 26' (see Figure 7) to a grasping position as s~own in Figures 4 and 7. ~h~
nip roll 26 is suppo~ted on an axle 47 which is secured at its opDosed ends to f 1 exible suppor~ arms 48 ~ormed of spring steel. The nip roll 26 is aligned for ~rictional c~ntact with the 6upport .block roll 27. By adjusting the angle a~ t~e ;5 support blocX 45, we can adjust the biasing pressure ~E the nip roll 26 against the support roll 27. ~s AME~'~DI'~

the nip roll is displac~d from its position 26' ~see Fi~ure 7) to its grasping position 26, it m~ve~
along a bag-grasping segment 27' of the support roll 27 to grab the leading edge 11' of the artic~e 11 and draw the a~ticle 11 off the surface 42 and position it between the bag-form~ng film sheel 28 and the attaching fi~m sheet ~2 at a precise location, a~ ~hown in Figure lA. There are two suction blocks and suuport surfaces 42 positioned side by side, as shown 1~ Figure 5, and aligned w~k distinct areas or sections 50 of the bag-~orming ~ilm sheet 2 8, as shown in Figure lA.
AS more clearly illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, both film sheets 22 and 28 having the articles il 1~ held by ~iction therebetween, are then fed to a sealing station where hot air sealing heads 51 of each sealing device 52 apply ~usins line~ 13 and 13 ' to seal the attaching film sheet 22 to the bag-rorming film sheet Z8 and at the s~ne time secure the artic'e or coupons 11 therebetween. ~he composite bas-forming film sheet 10 is then fed to a bag-for~ing station ~not shown wh~re bags are ~ormed from the panels 10', as illustrated in Figure lfi.
Referring now to Figure 8, there i~
schematically illustrated the control system whiCh is in~egrated with the apparatus 2~ of the present invention The control system Consists ol a position control circuit 60 ~o which a signal ~rom the photocell 45 is appli~d. Th~ control circult 60 has a memory ~irc~it, not shown, and which is obvious ~o ~ perscrl skilled in the art, and control~
the speed o~ the turret 30 Dy following the speed of the b~g-forming ~ilm 28 v~ a the tacho~neter 61. The operation of the system is actuated by the switch 3~ 62. The opera~lon of the article transfer mecha~ism 30 is controlled ~y ~n automat~c s~eed signal on the AMENDED SHEET

output line 63 o~ the position contr~l circuit 60 ~hich -s transmitt~d after additionally proce~sing a iignal fed to it by a proximity sensor 64 associ~ted with the turret trans~er mechanism and which dete~ts the position o~ the ~ucticn grasping elements 33.
~rhe out~ut signal a~ output 63 is fed to a controller circ~it 65 which controls the motor 66 thereby controlling ~he speed of operatLon of the turret mechanism. A reducer 67 couples the mo~o~
rive to ~he trans~er mechanislll 30. Accordingly, ~ith the use o~ the ~hotocell 45 which sen~es exac.
positio~ on the bag-forming film sheet, 2nd tr.e proximity sensor 64 which senses the ~osition or the suction-gras~ing elements 33, it is poss i~le to synchroniz~ th~ speed of the ~ilms and the cou~on transfer speed With his apparatus, ZOO-300 coupons can be positioned every minute-. The ,lpplication oE vacuum to the suction cups of the gra~ping elements is synch~onized to the speea oE
~0 the fil~s. The fact that articles are p~sitioned .3 ide by s ' de 'n a staggered arrangement also permits the article insertion speed to be greatly incre~sed.
As can be aDpreciated wit~ the present .invRntion, it is also possible to irsert articles in ~S transversely aligned relationshi~ whereby two - ,~rticles are positioned side ~y side, in a non-interferinq manner, on the same ~ag-~Grming panel 10'. If t~is is desi~a~le, each o~ t:~e support rods .32 could be fitted with two suction g-asping 3U elements 33 and the nip roll 26 would be ac~ivated each time two coupons are deposited in the surfaces ~2.
Brie~ly sun~arizing . the operation o~ the present invention, a bag-fo-ming film sheet 28 is fed to a r.ip roll 26 positioned at an article :insertion station 24 and which is in frictional AI~EN[)ED S~IEEl rotational contact with a suppor~ roll 27 over which an attaching fil~ sheet 22 is 5uided ~or facial contact with the bag-for~ing film sheet 28.
~rticleQ 11, such as cards, coupon~ or Clat packets, are then t~ansferred ~rom supply magaz i rles 2 9 by the Tespective ~rans~er mec:~ani~ms 30 to resp~ctive ones of two or ~ore, herein two, article holding 14 3urface~ 42. These sur~aceY are perforat~d vacuum sur~aces cap~ble o~ retaining an article 11 at a lo precise position a~ dlctate~ by the position of the suction-grasping ele~ents 33. These surfaces ~2 are each po6itioned side by side and aligned with a clistinct area or sQct~on of th~ bag-forming film sheet 28, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. The articles 1~ are supported on the surfaces 42 by vacuum with a leading edge 11' of the articles 11 belny placed at a grasping position with a leading edge portion 11 ' of the ariicle e.Ytending ~ver a portion of the supp~rt roll 27. The n~p roll 26 is then displaced over a grasping segment ~7' of the su~port roll 27 ln a direction towards the leadir.g edse li' of the ar~icle 11 to ~asp the article ~nd pull it between lhe bag-~orming ~ilm sheet and the at~aching ~ilm ~heet alon~ an as60ciated one o~ the two distinct areas or sections 50 (see Figure lA) of the film ~3heet. ~he articles are then capti.~e be~ween the film sheets 22 and 28 and are secured b~ heat seals ~ormed bet~eer. the tw~ ~ilm sheets. The film can then be fed to a supply roll -or use on a bag-forming machine where a bag is then formed by a ~orming section of the machine (not shown).
It is also pointed out that the tension or pre~sure between the nip r~ll ~6 and the support roll 27 can be adjusted by adjusting the tilt angle ;5 ~f the assembly 46 ' . It is also pdinted out that fo~ pu~pose o~ illustration, the vacuum ~hamkers 41 AN,EN~ED SHEET

are herein lllustrated as being larger than they actually are and the relationship between the sea!ing devices 5Z and the ~ilm support rolls 25 are of distorted pr~po~tions in these drawings This i~
obvious when comparing the drawings oE Figure lA
with, for example, Figures ~ and 6.

As above described the present invention ~ro~ides a plastic bag bundle 9, as sho~n in Figure o ~3, w~lerein ~he bundle is of su~st~ntially ~ni~or~
thickness. This is accomplished by stacking the bag~ in an alternating seqyence with c~up~ns of adjacent bass being placed adjacent one another.
Accardingly the problem o~ the prior art as IS illustrated in F gur~ 2A is oD~iated. - It is aiso pointed out that the bags may be positioned in alternating groups, i.e., t~o or tnree ~ags with coupons of each group of~set ~rom coupons of the . adjacent yroups. Accordingly, more bags can ~e held on the wicket pins 18 which means that the wicket pins need not be reload~d as frequently as with the prior art Also, with the prior art the faGt that the bottcm portion o~ the bags flare olltwardly, also results in mach~ne mal~unct~on and thereforQ it is necessary to stop the machine and realign the bags, and this is costl y. The bags as specifically .illustrated in Figure ~B are fo~med with a wicket ~ttac}l.ing panel 16' ~ormed in the rear wall panel of the ba~ and extending above the n~.outh opening 16 " .
~Ioles l6" ' are formed in ihe at~aching par.el ~or ppo~ting the ba~ bundle on tne wicket pins 18.
It is w~ thin the a~it of the present ~ nvention t o cove~ any other ob~ ous mod ~ications not mentioned herein, provided such modifications ~all within the scope o~ the a~pended cla~ms.

A~lEr~DED SHEET

Claims (3)

CLAIMS:

1. A plastic bag bundle comprising a plurality of juxtaposed flat plastic bags, each bag having a front and rear wall panel and a mouth opening for inserting one or more articles in said bag, at least one flat article retained captive in one of said front and rear panels, said bundle being formed of bags having said flat article in some of said bags disposed offset from said flat article in others of said bags, said bags with said offset flat article being interposed in a predetermined sequence with said others of said bags so as to form a bundle having a generally constant thickness in the area of said juxtaposed panels.

2. A plastic bag bundle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said flat article is offset and in alignment with one another, said flat article being retained captive behind one of said front and rear wall panels by an attaching film sheet.

3. A plastic bag bundle as claimed in claim 2 wherein said attaching film sheet is attached to said one of said front and rear wall panels by heat seals, said seals maintaining said article captive.