EP0046592B1

EP0046592B1 - Machine adapted to deaerate food-inserted bags

Info

Publication number: EP0046592B1
Application number: EP81106586A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Eiichi Sato
Original assignee: OSAKA KAGAKU GOKIN KK
Current assignee: OSAKA KAGAKU GOKIN KK
Priority date: 1980-08-26
Filing date: 1981-08-25
Publication date: 1984-11-21
Also published as: EP0046592A2; AU7435981A; EP0046592A3; ZA815789B; JPS5746714A; DE3167323D1; KR830006071A; ATE10353T1

Abstract

In order to remove the air, which remains in a ham-wrapping tube, from an open end portion thereof thorough ly, a double deaeration nozzle, in which the inner nozzle can be projected out of and retracted info the outer nozzle, is provided. When the tube-end in bound, the inner nozzle is retracted into the outer nozzle to allow the tube to be continuously deaerated via the outer nozzle even after the inner nozzle has been retracted thereinto.

Description

This invention relates to a machine adapted to deaerate food-inserted bags according to the preamble of the main claim.
Removing the residual air thoroughly from a bag containing, especially, food is essential to the maintenance of the quality thereof. A 100% removal of the residual air from such bag can be effectively carried out only when a deaerating operation for the bag has been shifted smoothly to a binding operation for an open end portion thereof.
In a conventional food-inserting bag binding operation, an open end portion of a tubular bag is gathered or drawn to the center of a cross section thereof before the open end portion of the bag has been bound. A deaeration nozzle is then inserted into the gathered end portion of the bag to remove the residual air therefrom. In order to bind the end portion of the bag after the residual air has been removed therefrom, it is necessary that the deaeration nozzle be removed to the outside of the bag so as to allow a gathered end-binding operation to be conducted simultaneously. During an extremely short period of time between the completion of removal of the deaeration nozzle and that of the binding of the gathered end portion of the bag, the outside air would enter the bag to reside therein after the gathered end portion of the bag has been bound.
The US-A-3 700 387 discloses a known machine adapted to deaerate food-inserted bags according to the preamble of claim 1, which permits eliminating the above-mentioned inconveniences. Means of this machine extend the open end portion of the bag onto an end area of a housing tube in which is received in sliding relation the inner nozzle member, whereby the deaeration continues to be carried out via the outer nozzle member even after the inner nozzle member has been retracted thereinto and the inner gathered portion of the end portion of the bag has been bound. Disadvantageously however, the outer portion of the end portion of the bag to be deaerated must be extended not only over said housing tube but further over a subsequent conical front part of the outer nozzle member, which surrounds said tube in a respective axial and radial distance with an according large width, as there is needed a long outer end portion of the bag for surrounding also said conical part of the outer nozzle member in a sufficient tight manner so as also the outer nozzle member can act on the inner content of the bag. Therefore a long outer end portion of the bag will be left as a waste chip, when having been cut off from the inner gathered portion of the bag. Such wasting of material as mentioned above causes the cost of manufacturing tube- wrapped food to be increased.
Another known machine according to the preamble of claim 1, disclosed in the GB-A-645 802 and of which the inner nozzle member is received in sliding relation directly within the outer nozzle member, which has a flat and in its longitudinal direction slightly conical configuration, has the same drawback, that there is needed a long outer end portion of the bag for surrounding said outer nozzle member in a sufficiently tight manner during its suction phase. It is a further disadvantage that there are needed differently sized outer nozzle members adapted to each different width of the outer end portion of the bag.
The invention is intended to remedy these drawbacks and to provide a novel device which permits deaerating a food-inserted bag perfectly while leaving a much shorter cut off portion of the bag left over as a chip when an excess section of a gathered end portion, which has been bound, of the tube is cut off.
To this end the invention provides a machine according to the preamble of claim 1, characterized in that the outer nozzle member (23) directly surrounds the inner nozzle member (24) in the form of a tube to be enclosed from the circular open outer end portion (7a) of the bag (7) and in that the gathering mechanism comprises gather-binding elements (26, 27) between regulating elements (21, 22), the gather-binding elements (26, 27) pressing by elastic pads (28, 29) the gathered open end portion (7a) of the bag (7) against the outer surface of the inner and the outer nozzle members (24, 23) during continued deaeration even with a member (24).
The advantages offered by the invention are mainly that during the suction phase the outer end portion of the bag is positively and tightly clamped by the elastic pads on the outer surface of the outer nozzle member just adjacent to the gather-binding elements so that there is no longer needed a long outer portion of the bag tightly surrounding the outer nozzle member during its suction phase.
In the US-A-3 796 020 is disclosed a further machine adapted to deaerate food-inserted bags, differing from the preamble of claim 1 in so far as the projecting inner nozzle member is not rectractable so that there is also required a long distance from the gather-Binding and cut-off-point of the bag until the outer end of its end portion, clamped to an outer conical part of the outer nozzle member.
One way of carrying out the invention is described in detail below with reference to drawings which illustrate only one specific embodiment, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view;
Fig. 2 is a right side elevational view in section taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;
Figs. 3 and 4 are front elevational views in section taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 1, which illustrate the operation of the present invention (a pair of gather-binding elements being in their binding position);
Fig. 5 is a right side elevational view in section taken along the line 5-5 in Fig. 3 (however the gather-binding elements being in their retracted position) and
Fig. 6 is an enlarged front elevational view of a principal part of what is shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the device as a whole according to the present invention. A single- or multilayer tube 7 which consists of a thermally contractible synthetic resin, such as Saran (Registered Trade Mark) film and which contains ham 8, has been transferred onto a working table 10 by a transfer means (not shown) with a tube bottom 9 having already been gathered and bound in another place. A vertically movable piston rod 11 is joined to the lower surface of the working table 10 as shown in Fig. 2. As soon as the removal of air from and the binding of an open end of a food-inserted tube have been completed, an air cylinder (not shown) is actuated, and the rod 11 is moved upwardly along a guide 12 to lift the working table 10 up to the upper end of a wall 13, so that a product is rolled along an inclined wall 14 to be carried out of the apparatus.
In the meantime, a piston rod 15 for use in forwardly and backwardly moving the working table 10 is joined to the guide 12 for the rod 11, which piston rod 1 5 is extended in the direction of the length of the working table 10 and moved forwardly and backwardly by an operation of an air cylinder 16 shown in Fig. 1, with the assistance of a guide roller 17.
When the working table 10 is moved to an advanced position, an open end portion 7a of the ham-inserted tube 7 set on the working table 10 enters in a circularly opened state the central opening of a gathering, binding and cutting mechanism 18.
An example of a mechanism for gathering an open end portion of a ham-inserted tube and binding the gathered end portion of the tube with a clip is shown in Fig. 5. This mechanism is provided with machine frames 19, 20 disposed in an opposed relationship, and a pair of regulating elements 21, 22, which are extended parallel to each other and at right angles to the machine frames 19, 20 in such a manner that the regulating elements 21, 22 can be displaced along the machine frames 19, 20. The machine frames 19, 20 and regulating elements 21, 22 define a rectangular space. When the regulating elements 21, 22 are in their opened positions, the circularly opened end portion 7a is inserted into the rectangularly opened space mentioned above.
An inner nozzle member 24 of a double deaeration nozzle, a part of the deaerator according to the present invention, consisting of two concentrically arranged nozzle members 23, 24 is projected into the central portion of the above-mentioned rectangularly opened space, and in opposition to the open end portion 7a of the ham-inserted tube 7. When the circularly opened end portion 7a is forwardly moved, the nozzle 24 is enclosed therewith.
The forward movement of the open end portion 7a of the tube 7 is detected by a sensor (not shown). In accordance with a detection signal from the sensor, the regulating elements 21, 22 are actuated at once by operations of air cylinders (not shown). The regulating elements 21, 22 are moved toward each other from positions of two-dot chain line in Fig. 5 and stopped in positions of solid line in the same drawing, in which the regulating elements 21, 22 are close to each other with a gap 25 left therebetween. The gap 25 has a width equal to that of each of folds to be formed on the open end portion 7a when it is gathered. While the regulating elements 21, 22 are moved toward each other, the end portion 7a of the tube 7 is changed from a circularly opened state to an elongated half-opened state (refer to what is designated by "7a" and shown in solid line in Fig. 5). At this time, the inner nozzle member 24 is kept inserted in the central portion of the elongated half-opened end portion 7a of the tube 7.
When the movements of the regulating elements 21, 22 toward each other have been completed, a pair of gather-binding elements 26, 27, which are provided in an opposed relationship in bores in the central portions of the opposed machine frames 19, 20, respectively, are moved, by operations of air cylinders (not shown), toward each other along the gap 25 between the regulating elements 21, 22. As a result, the elongated half-opened end portion 7a of the tube 7 is gathered in the central portion of the gap 25, and pressed against the outer circumferential surface of the inner nozzle member 24 as the inner nozzle member 24 is enclosed with the end portion 7a. Each of the gather-binding elements 26, 27 has a recess in an end portion thereof. A clip (not shown) is bent by the pressing effect of these recesses provided in the gather-binding elements 26, 27, so that the end portion 7a is finally bound. Since this tube-end binding operation is out of the gist of the present invention, a description thereof will be omitted. A perfect deaeration of a ham-inserted tube, which constitutes a step to be carried out immediately before a tube end-binding operation, will be described in detail.
As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 6, each of the gather-binding elements 26, 27 is provided on its right and left sides with elastic pads 28, 29, by which the end portion 7a of the tube 7 is pressed against the outer circumferential surfaces of the inner and outer nozzle members 24, 23. It is necessary that each of the elastic pads 29, out of the pads 28, 29, be used to press at the greater part of the lower surface thereof the end portion 7a of the tube 7 against the outer circumferential surface of the outer nozzle member 23. Thus, the connection of the outer end 7a of the tube 7 and the inner and outer nozzle members 24, 23 is completed.
The outer nozzle member 23, one of the concentrically arranged inner and outer nozzle members 24, 23 is fixed to a machine frame 30 at a rear end portion thereof, and connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) via an air discharge pipe 31. While a deaerating operation for a ham-inserted tube 7 is conducted, the inner nozzle member 24 is extended at a front end portion thereof out of the outer nozzle member 23 (refer to Figs. 3 and 6) as the nozzle member 24 maintains a narrow gap between the outer circumferential surface thereof and the inner circumferential surface of the outer nozzle member 23. While a tube-end binding operation is conducted, the inner nozzle member 24 is retracted into the outer nozzle member 23 (refer to Fig. 4). The inner nozzle member 24 is connected at a rear end portion thereof to a piston rod 34, which is adapted to be displaced forwardly and backwardly by an operation of an air cylinder 33 provided on a bracket 32 connected to the machine frame 30. The inner nozzle member 24 is communicated with a vacuum pump (not shown) via a discharge pipe 35.
Referring to Fig. 1, an electric heater 37 is provided behind the working table 10, the electric heater 37 being directed to the tube bottom 9 which has already been bound. A blower 36 is provided behind the electric heater 37. An air current sent from the blower 36 to the tube bottom 9 is heated when it passes through the heater 37, so that hot air is applied to the tube bottom 9. The tube bottom 9 exposed to the hot air is thermally contracted to cause the residual air therein to be sent to the open end portion 7a of the tube 7. The residual air sent to the open end portion 7a is sucked by the inner and outer nozzle members 24, 23 to be discharged outside.
When the circularly opened end portion 7a is moved into the gather-binding mechanism 18 by a forward movement of the working table 10, the inner nozzle member 24 of the double nopzzle is projected from the front end of the outer nozzle member 23 (refer to Figs. 3 and 6) by an operation of the air cylinder 33. As a result, the outer circumferential surface of the inner nozzle member 24 thus projected from the outer nozzle member 23 and the outer circumferential surface of the outer nozzle member 23 are covered with the end portion 7a, so that the end portion 7a and the double nozzle are connected together. When the covering of the inner and outer nozzle members 24, 23 with the end portion 7a has been completed, an instruction by a signal representative of the completion of the above-mentioned covering of the nozzle members with the tube end is given to allow a vacuum pump (not shown) to be actuated. Consequently, the air in the ham-inserted tube starts being discharged through the inner and outer nozzle members 24, 23. The air in the tube is discharged substantially in an instant.
When the heater 37 and blower 36 are operated to apply hot air to the tube bottom 9 to thermally contract the same during or prior to the deaeration of the tube 7, the degree of vacuum in the tube 7 will be further increased.
The inner nozzle member 24 projected from the outer nozzle member 23 obstructs a tube-end binding operation, which is conducted after the deaeration of the tube 7 has been completed. Accordingly, the inner nozzle member 24 is retracted, before a tube-end binding operation has been conducted, into the outer nozzle member 23 by an operation of the air cylinder 33 via the piston rod 34. The gather-binding elements 26, 27 are then applied at their respective free end surfaces to the end portion 7a as shown in Fig. 4, to seal the tube 7 with a clip (not shown).
A very short period of time elapses between the starting of the retraction of the inner nozzle member 24 and the completion of a tube-end binding operation. The deaeration of a ham-inserted tube during such a short period of time as mentioned above is not satisfactorily carried out by a conventional deaerator of this kind. In other words, the outside air enters the tube, which has once been deaerated sufficiently, during a short period of time referred to above. In fact, a tube-end binding operation with conventional deaerator and gather-binding elements is carried out under the above-mentioned condition.
According to the present invention, the outer nozzle member 23 is still in close contact with the end portion 7a of the tube 7 even after the inner nozzle member 24 has been retracted (refer to Fig. 4), so that the tube 7 is still subjected to deaeration. A tube-end binding operation is conducted under such condition, so that the outside air does not enter the tube during a tube-end binding operation. In other words, the tube is sealed in a perfectly deaerated state. Therefore, a decrease in the quality of a ham product due to the residual air in the tube in which the product is sealed can be completely eliminated. The above effect of the present invention has been achieved by the concentrically arranged deaeration nozzles 23, 24. Accordingly, an elongated end portion 7a is not required. In fact, the length of a tube left over as a chip after a ham-sealed tube with the end portions thereof bound has been subjected to a cutting operation for an excess portion thereof is as short as 1-2 cm. This contributes to the nursing of resources, and results in a decrease in the cost of manufacturing packaged ham products. Consequently, low-priced, high-quality packaged ham products can be supplied to the consumers.
The present invention is not, of course, limited to the above embodiment; it may be modified in various ways within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. Machine adapted to deaerate food-inserted bags comprising a frame (30) provided with a double deaeration nozzle consisting of concentrically arranged inner (24) and outer (23) nozzle members, an actuator means for displacing the inner nozzle member (24) between a position in which it is projected from the front end of the outer nozzle member (23) and a position in which is is retracted in the outer nozzle member (23), means for connecting the open end portion of the bag to the nozzle and to suck off air through both nozzle members (24, 23), and further comprising a gathering mechanism working on that section of the bag which is extended around the inner nozzle member in its projected position and a binding mechanism working on that gathered end portion of the bag after the inner nozzle member has been retracted, characterized in that the outer nozzle member (23) directly surrounds the inner nozzle member (24) in the form of a tube to be enclosed from the circular open outer end portion (7a) of the bag (7) and in that the gathering mechanism comprises gather-binding elements (26, 27) between regulating elements (21, 22), the gather-binding elements (26, 27) pressing by elastic pads (28, 29) the gathered open end portion (7a) of the bag (7) against the outer surface of both the inner and the outer nozzle members (24, 23) during continued deaeration even with a retracted inner nozzle member (24).

2. Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that there are provided a pair of regulation elements (21, 22) extended parallel to each other and displacable along two frame members (19, 20) disposed parallel to each other and at right angles to the regulating elements (21, 22) so as to define a rectangular space in which projects the inner nozzle member (24) in its projecting position rectangular to the plane of said regulating elements (21, 22), and a pair of gather-binding elements (26, 27) displacable supported in said frame members (19, 20) in opposed relationship on both sides of the projecting inner nozzle member (24) and displacable towards each other along a gap (25) provided by said space when both regulating elements (21, 22) having been displaced against each other and at the same time against said inner nozzle member (24) when surrounded by the open end portion (7a) of the bag (7), said gather-binding elements (26, 27) being provided on each of their opposed sides lying in the direction of the axis of the nozzle with an elastic pad (28 resp. 29), which pads (28, 29) when said gather-binding elements (26, 27) are moved against each other are pressed not only on one side against an inner part of the open end portion (7a) of the bag (7) but also on the other side against an outer part of the end portion (7a) thereby pressing the same with the greater part of their surface against the outer circumferential surface of the outer nozzle member (23).