CN112706960A

CN112706960A - Bag firing system for bag firing applicator assembly

Info

Publication number: CN112706960A
Application number: CN202011154001.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: S.布里奥斯基
Original assignee: FLSmidth AS
Current assignee: FLSmidth AS
Priority date: 2019-10-24
Filing date: 2020-10-26
Publication date: 2021-04-27

Abstract

A bag firing system for a bag firing applicator assembly for feeding a sewing valve bag to a rotating wrapper; the sewing valve bag includes a valve selectively movable between a closed configuration and an open configuration; a bag firing system configured for being supplied with bags having the valves in a closed configuration and for firing bags having the valves in an open configuration to a filling nozzle of the rotating wrapper; the bag shooting system includes: a receiving device configured for receiving a bag; a firing device configured for being supplied with the pouches by the receiving device and for firing the pouches to the filling nozzles of the rotating wrapper; an opening valve device comprising an opening valve frame provided with suction means configured for acting on the valve and forcing it into one piece with the opening valve frame; opening the valve frame is movable from a first configuration in which the valve is closed to a second configuration in which the valve is open.

Description

Bag firing system for bag firing applicator assembly

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of filling valve bags with powdered or granular products, in particular cement for the cement industry, building materials, fertilizers and chemical products. In particular, the present invention relates to a bag applicator assembly for use with "rotating" wrappers. As is known, the rotary wrapper comprises a plurality of filling stations arranged circumferentially alongside one another and supported by a rotating structure, so that during rotation each filling station cyclically faces the bag applicator assembly to receive an empty bag. The present invention relates to a bag applicator assembly for a rotary wrapper wherein valve bags are supplied from the bag applicator assembly to a rotating filling station not by a robotic arm but by a bag firing device configured for firing bags onto the rotating filling station. More in detail, the invention relates to a valve opening device for use in conjunction with a bag firing device as described above in a bag firing system. The invention also relates to a bag firing system for feeding sewn valve bags to a rotating wrapper.

Background

A special component called a wrapper is used in the cement industry. In particular, the wrapper assembly is an automated machine configured for handling and filling valve bags. A valve bag is a bag, i.e. a rectangular paper or plastic tube, having a back side and a front side (typically providing content indication), wherein each side is defined by two opposite long sides, two opposite short sides and two opposite ends closed by glue or stitching. Since the valve bags are stored in a compressed stack, it is immediately possible to see which side is the long side. In a valve bag, valves are provided at the corners between the long and short sides, the valves being in the form of open folded edge portions of the bag itself. In view of the above-described configuration, the valve is considered closed when the bag is in a compressed state (i.e., face-to-face compressed), even if the folded edge portions of the opposing faces are not physically constrained to one another. Since the valve bag is fed to the wrapper assembly in this pressurized state, it is important to open the valve in advance prior to the filling operation. In practice, in the wrapper assembly, the filling of the valve bag is performed by coupling the opening valve of the bag with the filling nozzle of the filling station.

The wrapper components may be divided into two groups. A first type of wrapper assembly may be defined as a fixed wrapper assembly and comprises a wrapper provided with a plurality of fixed filling stations, which are typically arranged alongside each other in a linear/straight direction. The supply of the valve bag to the filling station is performed by a bag applicator assembly comprising a bag applicator device (typically a bag applicator arm) extending along a linear/straight guide from the opening valve device to the filling station and vice versa. A second type of wrapper assembly may be referred to as a "rotating" wrapper assembly and comprises a wrapper provided with a plurality of filling stations arranged alongside one another (generally in the circumferential direction) in a moving configuration. In particular, in a rotating wrapper, the filling stations are supported by a rotating structure such that during rotation of the structure, each filling station cyclically confronts a bag applicator assembly configured for supplying empty bags to the rotating filling station. Further, the bag-applicator assembly used to rotate the wrapper assembly may also be divided into two sub-groups. A first bag applicator assembly includes an applicator arm configured for picking up bags to release the bags to a rotating filling nozzle. The second bag applicator assembly is called a shooting bag applicator assembly and comprises a bag shooting system, i.e. a system comprising a shooting device configured for shooting the bag with the valve in the open configuration into a filling nozzle rotated by the front of the bag shooting device itself. In particular, the bag firing system further comprises an opening valve device cooperating with the firing device and configured for forcing the valve in an open configuration prior to firing. As is known, the gunbag applicator assembly can provide a higher throughput (in terms of bags per hour) than the armbag applicator assembly. Today, however, when the bag is a sewn valve bag, the use of a bag firing applicator assembly for rotating the wrapper assembly is not recommended. By the term "sewn valve bag" according to the invention we mean a bag made by hand or low level mechanization, so that the bag has large dimensional tolerances (5% or more). Furthermore, sewn valve bags are typically made of thin plastic materials and therefore have little rigidity. Also, when the bags are stored in a compressed stack, they may exhibit incorrect alignment and may be provided with undesirable bends. In particular, bag firing applicator assemblies are not proposed today for sewing valve bags for the following reasons. As described above, the sewing valve bag is made of a thin plastic material, and thus has low rigidity. Due to this low rigidity, the presence of the sewing band can close the pockets and eventually lead to shape defects (these pockets are made manually), during the shooting from the applicator to the filling nozzle, trajectory deviations from the desired straight trajectory occur. Due to this deviation of trajectory, some bags missed the coupling with the filling nozzle. Further, in addition to this problem of trajectory deviation, the valves of a sewn valve bag tend to close elastically during shooting.

As the demand for the use of sewn valve bags continues to increase, there is a need today to implement a new bag firing system for a bag firing applicator assembly that can be used in a rotating wrapper assembly with high reliability even in the case of sewn valve bags.

DE102013016924 discloses a pouch firing system according to the prior art, which comprises a pouch firing device as described previously. In particular, DE102013016924 discloses a valve opening device cooperating with a firing device, wherein the valve opening device is provided with suction means. In more detail, according to DE102013016924, the opening valve device comprises a valve opening duct (i.e. a fixed guide or structure) delimited by duct walls facing each other and configured as a valve for housing the bag. At least one of such duct walls is provided with at least one suction port connected to a suction device configured for creating a partial vacuum in the valve-open duct with respect to the environment outside the valve-open duct. Thanks to the suction device described above, air can be drawn out of the valve opening duct and force the valve in the open configuration. According to DE102013016924, the suction ports can be realized in the form of a plurality of aligned suction apertures or in the form of suction slots.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a bag firing system for a bag firing system of a rotating wrapper assembly that is adapted to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, the main scope of the present invention is to realise a bag firing system which is also adapted to ensure high efficiency in the case of feed sewing valve bags. In more detail, the main aspect of the invention relates to an innovative opening valve device for a bag firing system. As previously mentioned, a valve bag is a tubular element closed at opposite ends, comprising (at least in a compressed configuration) two opposite rectangular faces, each of which is bounded by two opposite long sides and two opposite short sides. In the corners between the long and short sides, valves are provided in the form of open folds. The term "sewn" valve bag refers to a bag of thin plastic material (thus having little rigidity) and made by hand or low level mechanization (thus having a large dimensional tolerance of-5% or higher). Thus, in the following, the term bag refers to both normal bags and sewn bags as defined above.

The present invention provides a bag firing system for a firing bag applicator assembly of a rotating wrapper assembly. As is known, the shoot bag applicator assembly includes:

-a feeding device comprising a support plane defining a seat configured for receiving a bag; the feeding device is fed with individual bags or stacks of bags (in this latter case, the feeding device is also provided with unstacking means);

a bag firing system configured for being supplied with bags off the support plane and for firing the bags to the rotating wrapper (as is known, the firing system comprises opening valve means);

-a bag applicator device configured for cyclic movement between a pick-up position for picking up bags from the support plane of the feeding device and a release position for releasing bags to the bag firing system.

With reference to the bag firing system, the bag firing system is configured for being supplied with bags having valves in a closed configuration and for firing bags having valves in an open configuration to a filling nozzle of a rotating wrapper. As is known, the bag shooting system therefore comprises:

-a receiving device configured for receiving a bag from the bag applicator device;

-a firing device configured for being supplied with the pouches by the receiving device and for firing the pouches to the filling nozzles of the rotating wrapper;

-opening valve means cooperating with the firing means and configured for forcing the valve in an open configuration.

Starting from the above structure, the valve opening device comprises an opening valve frame provided with a suction device. The suction device is configured for selectively forcing the valve into unity (contact) with the open valve frame. According to a main aspect of the present invention, the opening valve frame is a movable frame configured to be selectively moved from:

a first configuration, in which the frame receives the valve in the closed configuration, and the suction device is activated (contacted) on the closed valve, to

-a second configuration in which the frame moves the valve to the open configuration.

The mechanical shape of the frame for opening the valve and the configuration of the suction device described above may be of any kind, as long as the frame is a movable frame supporting the suction device configured for keeping the valve integral with the frame during its movement from the first configuration to the second configuration. In the following description of the figures, an embodiment will be described in which the opening valve frame comprises two moving arms, wherein each arm is provided with a suction device. These arms are configured for acting on the valve (i.e. the upper part of the bag) and are selectively movable between a first proximal configuration, in which they act on the valve in the closed configuration and the suction action of the suction device is activated, and a second distal configuration, in which the suction action is maintained and the valve is forced in the open configuration. The action of the suction means is performed during the entire movement of the arm. Preferably, the arms in the first configuration are parallel to each other and the distance between the arms substantially corresponds to the dimensions of the valve in the closed configuration. Preferably, in the second configuration, the arms are arranged in a V-shape such that the distal ends of the arms (arranged at the firing means) force the valves in an open configuration prior to firing.

With reference to the suction device, according to a preferred embodiment, the device can be realized in the form of a plurality of suction elements. In the previously described embodiment with the V-shaped arms in the open configuration, the suction elements are arranged along the arms with a higher density (i.e. a smaller distance) at the distal ends of the arms.

Preferably, these suction elements can be made of metal material (high resistance to wear) and shaped as mushrooms, with enlarged heads projecting from the relative arms and stems housed in the holes of the arms themselves. These suction elements comprise a through hole for connecting the head acting on the valve to the inner space inside the arm, in turn connected to a suction device configured for extracting air from the arm. Preferably, at the head, the through hole is tapered so that a portion of the valve can be partially housed within the head itself. The angle of the tapered portion of the bore is configured so that the suctioned portion of the valve is not trapped inside the suction element during firing.

The invention structurally described above may alternatively be functionally described as a method of operating a bag firing system for a bag firing applicator assembly for feeding sewing valve bags to a rotating wrapper. Thus, the method comprises the steps of:

-feeding the bag with the valve in the closed configuration to a bag firing system as previously described;

-opening the valve;

-firing the bag with the valve in an open configuration towards the filling nozzle of the rotating wrapper.

According to a main aspect of the invention, the step of opening the valve is performed according to the following sub-steps:

-forcing the valve into one piece with the movable frame;

-moving the frame to place the valve in the open configuration.

Preferably, the step of forcing the valve into one piece with the movable frame is performed by providing the frame with suction means.

Preferably, the suction device is configured for acting also on the valve during the firing step.

Finally, the present invention is also directed to a bag shot applicator assembly for feeding sewn valve bags to a rotating wrapper, wherein the bag shot applicator assembly includes a firing system as previously described. As is known, upstream of the firing system, the bag firing applicator assembly may include:

-a feeding device provided with a support plane configured for receiving the bags; and

-an applicator device configured for cyclic movement between a pick-up position for picking up the pouches from the support plane and a release position for releasing the pouches at the firing device.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Other advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims.

Drawings

Other advantageous benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

The invention itself, however, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a rotating wrapper assembly, including a bag firing applicator assembly and a rotating wrapper;

figure 2 is a schematic view of a valve bag;

figures 3 and 4 are schematic views of the valve bag of figure 2 with the relevant closed and open valves, respectively;

figure 5 is a schematic view of a bag shooting applicator assembly;

figure 6 is an enlarged view of the detail of figure 5, marked with the reference VI;

figures 7 and 8 are schematic views of an embodiment of the opening valve device according to the invention in two different configurations;

figures 9-10 are schematic views of the elements of the valve opening device of the previous figures.

Detailed Description

Technical contents and detailed description of the present invention will be described below according to preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent variations and modifications made in accordance with the appended claims are covered by the claims of the present invention.

Reference will now be made in detail to the accompanying drawings that represent embodiments of the invention. In particular, reference is now made to figure 1, which is a schematic illustration of a rotary wrapper assembly, indicated by reference numeral 1. According to this example, the rotating wrapper assembly 1 of fig. 1 comprises a bag applicator assembly in the form of a bag firing applicator assembly 2, a rotating wrapper 3 comprising a plurality of filling stations 4, and a conveyor 5. As is well known, the shoot bag applicator assembly 2 is configured for being supplied with a plurality of stacks of valve bags, particularly pressurized valve bags, and shooting the bags onto the nozzles of the filling station. The filling stations 3 are accommodated adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction in a rotating structure 6. Due to the rotation of the rotating structure 6 (indicated by arrow R in fig. 1), each filling station 4 cyclically faces the shot bag applicator assembly 2 to receive an empty bag. Once received, the bags are gradually filled during rotation until reaching the conveyor means 5 where the filled bags are conveyed.

Reference is now made to fig. 2-4, which are schematic illustrations of the valve bag of the present invention. As is known, this valve bag 7 is a bag in the form of a rectangular tube having a front face 8 and a rear face 9, and wherein each face is defined by two opposite long sides 10, two opposite short sides 11 (defining two opposite ends closed by glue or sewing). The valves 12 are arranged in the form of folded edge portions of the bag itself in the corners between the long sides 10 and the short sides 11. By unfolding the bag 7, the valve 12 can be moved between a closed configuration (see fig. 3) and an open configuration (see fig. 4) in which the folded portions of the opposite faces are separated to form an opening connecting the inner space of the bag itself. According to the invention, the bag 7 can be a "sewn valve bag", i.e. a bag of thin plastic material (therefore hardly rigid) and made by hand or low-level mechanisation (therefore with large dimensional tolerances-5% or higher). Also, when storing the bags in a compressed stack, they may be highly misaligned and may be provided with undesirable curvatures. Hereinafter, the term "bag" will refer to a valve bag as described above, in particular also to a sewn valve bag as described above.

Reference is now made to fig. 5 and 6, which schematically disclose the shoot pack applicator assembly 2. In fig. 5, the filling nozzle 13 is also schematically shown facing the shoot bag applicator assembly 2. As is known, the shoot bag applicator assembly 2 includes a feeder 25, the feeder 25 being provided with a support plane 14 configured for receiving the bag 7. The bags 7 may be supplied to the support plane 14 by an upstream feed plane 26, the upstream feed plane 26 being provided with a supply of feed strips, for example with individual bags or a stack of pressed bags. The feeding device 25 may also be provided with a de-stacking device in case a stack of pressed bags is present. Furthermore, the gunbag applicator assembly 2 of fig. 5 comprises an applicator device in the form of an L-shaped swivel arm 15 and is provided with a gripping element 16 at its free end. As is known, this applicator arm 15 is configured to move cyclically between a pick-up position, in which the gripping element 16 is actuated to grip the bag 7 on the support plane 14, and a release position, in which the bag 7 is released by the arm 15 to the shooting device assembly, indicated with reference number 17 in fig. 5. As is known, the firing assembly 17 is configured for firing the bag 7 on the nozzle 13. The firing assembly 17 also comprises an opening valve device 18 which acts on the opposite face of the bag which is held in the upright configuration. Further details of the opening valve means 18 will be described with reference to fig. 7-10. According to the embodiment disclosed in fig. 5 (as is known), the firing means 17 comprises receiving means in the form of a first belt means 27 configured for receiving the bag from the applicator arm 15 and moving the bag to a firing means in the form of a second belt means 28 configured for firing the bag to the filling nozzle 13. As is known, a portion of the first strap arrangement 27 is movable between a configuration for receiving the bag 7 and a configuration for moving the bag 7. Along a part of the second band device 28 the firing system 17 is provided with a guide 20 in the form of a vertical parallel wall configured for receiving and guiding the short side 11 of the bag 7 provided with the valve 12. As disclosed in fig. 6, which is an enlarged view of the portion marked with the reference VI in fig. 5, the guide 20 ends with a front plate 21 having a door 22 shaped to allow the passage of the valve in an open configuration.

Reference is now made to fig. 7 and 8, which are schematic illustrations of an embodiment of the valve opening device according to the present invention. As described in the summary section, opening the valve arrangement 18 comprises opening a valve frame, which is a frame selectively movable between a first configuration in which the frame receives a bag with the valve in a closed configuration and a second configuration in which the frame forces the valve in an open configuration. Starting from this general definition, fig. 7 discloses the open valve frame in a first configuration, while fig. 8 discloses the same frame in a second configuration. Generally, the frame is provided with suction means, so that the valve remains integral with the frame during the passage from the first configuration to the second configuration in which the valve is open. In the embodiment disclosed in fig. 7 and 8, the opening valve frame comprises two arms 29 facing each other and acting on the valve 12 (not shown). Each arm 29 is L-shaped with a long part arranged along the firing direction and an orthogonal short part connected to a fixed frame 30 at the approximate end of the firing device by a hinged connection 31. By means of an actuator, in this embodiment a piston actuator 32, each arm 29 is movable from the configuration of fig. 7 (in which the arms 29 are parallel to each other to clamp the valve 12 in the closed configuration) and the configuration of fig. 8 (in which the downstream ends of the arms 29 are spaced apart to reach the V configuration). Since from the first configuration of fig. 7 the arm 29 is provided with a plurality of suction elements 33 acting on the valve, during the movement of the arm 28 the valve 12 is progressively opened until the final configuration of fig. 8 is reached. According to the invention, the suction element 33 also remains active during the firing of the bag.

Fig. 9-10 are schematic illustrations of the elements of the preferred embodiment of the suction element 33 of the previous fig. 7-8. According to this embodiment, the suction elements are a plurality of metal mushroom-shaped elements, wherein each element 33 comprises an enlarged head 34 projecting from the relative arm 29 and a stem 35 housed in a hole in the arm 29 itself. These suction elements 33 comprise through holes 36 for connecting the head 34 to the inner space inside the arm 29, in turn with suction means (not shown) configured for drawing air from the arm 29. Preferably, the through hole 36 at the head 34 comprises a tapered portion 37, so that during the suction step, a portion of the valve can be locally housed inside the head 24 itself. The angle of the tapered portion 37 of the bore 36 is configured so that the suctioned portion of the valve 12 is not trapped inside the suction element 33 during firing.

Although the invention has been described with respect to the preferred embodiments described above, it will be understood that many other possible modifications and variations could be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications and variations as fall within the true scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A bag firing system for a bag firing applicator assembly (2) for feeding a sewing valve bag (7) to a rotating wrapper (3); the sewing valve bag (7) comprises a valve (12) selectively movable between a closed configuration and an open configuration; a bag firing system (17) configured for being supplied with bags (7) having the valves (12) in a closed configuration and for firing bags (7) having the valves (12) in an open configuration to a filling nozzle (13) of the rotating wrapper (3); the bag shooting system (17) comprises:

-receiving means (27) configured for receiving a bag (7);

-a firing device (17) configured for being supplied with the pouches (7) by the receiving device (27) and for firing the pouches (7) to the filling nozzles (13) of the rotating wrapper (3);

-an opening valve device (18) comprising an opening valve frame provided with suction means configured for acting on the valve (12);

characterised in that the valve-opening frame is a movable frame configured to be selectively moved from a first configuration in which the frame acts on the valve in the closed configuration and a second configuration in which the valve-opening frame moves the valve to the open configuration.

2. The bag shooting system of claim 1, wherein the open valve frame comprises two arms (29) that are selectively movable from a first configuration in which the two arms (29) are parallel to a second configuration in which the distal ends of the two arms (29) are arranged in a V-shape.

3. A bag shooting system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the suction means comprises a plurality of suction elements (33) arranged along each arm (29).

4. A bag firing system according to claim 3, wherein the distance between the suction elements (33) decreases towards the free end of the arm.

5. The bag shooting system of claim 4, wherein, in the first configuration, the suction element (33) of one arm (29) faces the suction element (33) of the other arm (29).

6. Bag firing system according to one of the preceding claims 2 to 5, wherein the suction element (33) is made of a metallic material.

7. A bag shooting system according to claim 6, characterized in that the suction elements (33) are mushroom-shaped with enlarged heads (43) protruding from the arms (29), each suction element (33) being provided with a through hole (36) for connecting the head (34) with the inner space of the arm (29) and thus to the suction means.

8. The bag shooting system according to claim 6, wherein at the enlarged head (34) the through hole (36) comprises a tapered portion (37).

9. A method of operation of a bag firing system for a bag firing applicator assembly (2) for feeding sewn valve bags (7) to a rotating wrapper (3), the method comprising the steps of:

a) -providing a bag firing system (17) according to any one of the preceding claims;

b) feeding a bag having a valve in a closed configuration;

c) opening the valve;

d) firing the bag with the valve in an open configuration toward the nozzle;

characterized in that the step of opening the valve comprises the sub-steps of:

-integrating said valve with a movable open valve frame by suction means;

-moving the frame to move the valve to an open configuration.

10. A bag shot applicator assembly (2) for feeding a sewn valve bag (7) to a rotating wrapper (3), the bag shot applicator assembly (2) comprising:

-a feeding device (25) provided with a support plane (14) configured for receiving the bags (7);

-a bag firing system configured for being supplied with bags (7) from a support plane (14) and for feeding bags (7) to a rotating wrapper (3);

-an applicator device (15) configured for cyclic movement between a pick-up position for picking up the pouches (7) from the support plane (14) and a release position for releasing the pouches (7) at the firing device (17);

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the bag firing system is according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 8.