FR2790445A1 - Automatic closer for vegetable sacks has two wheels to feed sack into space in fixing plate with stapler - Google Patents

Abstract

The automatic closer for vegetable sacks has two wheels (140,141) placed in contact by belts and driven in mutually opposite directions to clamp the sack necks (340) transported on a conveyor belt (200) under the machine. The sack neck is fed into a space (C ) in a fixing plate (15) parallel to the wheels which contains a stapler.

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic machine for stapling

bag necklines.

  Some products are packaged in bags to simplify their sale and facilitate their transport between the dealer and the customer. It can for example be foodstuffs such as vegetables, of which a determined volume or mass is prepared

  then introduced into a single opening of a bag which must then be closed.

  This work can be done by sewing. The two ends of the opening are kept taut in order to allow the two lateral edges of the opening to come together, so that an industrial sewing machine sews them together. This

  operation can be automated and included in a complete bagging cycle.

  For commercial reasons, it may be advantageous to close the bags in a different way, by stapling the opening, the ends of which must first be brought together and then twisted so that a staple can be closed.

  around the neck thus produced.

  The bag thus formed has a beautiful cylindrical appearance and can be caught by its

  neckline for easy transport.

  However the operation consisting in bringing together then twisting the ends of a

  opening a bag is a delicate operation, carried out until now manually.

  Two operators are responsible for doing this work. One brings together then twists the ends of a bag opening after it has been previously filled at an automatic filling station or not, and the other grabs the bag and has its twisted neck in the mouth of the bag. '' a semi-automatic stapler that puts a staple around

neckline and close the bag.

  The object of the invention is therefore to propose an automatic machine for stapling the neck of bags, and the stapling operation of which can be included in a

complete conditioning cycle.

  To this end, the automatic machine for stapling the necks of bags comprises two wheels brought into contact with one another by their treads and which can be driven mutually in opposite directions from one another and which can catch the neck of a bag transported on a conveyor belt placed under the machine, the neck being taken between the treads then crumpled in a space C provided in a fixing plate mounted parallel to the wheels, two arms arranged on the side and other side of the plate successively compress

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  neckline in space C before a stapler mounted on the plate comes

  staple the periphery of the neckline.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the plate receives the stapler mounted downstream of the space C on a face of the plate, opposite the wheels, the opposite face of the wheels of the plate receives transversely a charger passing through said

  plate distributing staples to the stapler.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the space C formed in the plate has the appearance of a V, the opening of which forms an angle between 60 and 120 and is formed on said plate downstream of the point of contact of the wheels, the closed part of the

V is extended by a slit.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the plate is mounted at low

  distance from the wheels on the conveyor belt side.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the arms are mounted mobile in rotation on the plate by respectively two axes and are moved by respectively two jacks fixed on the plate, the free end of each arm is shaped

portion of ellipse.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, at least one of the wheels is

driven by a gear motor.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the wheels are equipped with

  tires whose inflation pressure is adjusted to a value less than I bar.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the speed of advance of the conveyor belt is substantially the same as the tangential speed of the

wheels at their point of contact.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the evacuation of the bag from the machine after it is stapled can be done by starting the motor in the opposite direction. According to another characteristic of the invention, the installation comprises a drive device by tracks driving plastic films from a reel, and used to manufacture bags filled subsequently by a metering and filling device, the bags then being separated by a knife and evacuated by a conveyor belt to an automatic machine to staple the necks of

  bags having at least one of the foregoing characteristics.

  The features of the invention mentioned above, as well as others,

  will appear more clearly on reading the following description of an example of

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  realization, said description being made in relation to the attached drawings, among

  which: Fig. I represents a perspective view of an automatic machine for stapling the necks of the bags according to the invention, FIG. 2 shows a view along A of an automatic machine for stapling the necks of the bags according to the invention, FIG. 3 shows a view along B of an automatic machine for stapling the necks of the bags and before stapling according to the invention, FIG. 4 shows a view along B of an automatic machine for stapling the necks of the bags during stapling according to the invention, FIG. 5 shows a top view of a bag packaging machine incorporating an automatic machine for stapling the necks of the bags according to the invention and,

  Fig. 6 shows a front view of the machine shown in FIG. 5.

  The automatic machine for stapling the necks of bags, shown in FIG. 1, comprises a rectangular frame 100 mounted on four feet 101-104 of identical lengths. Two of the side legs 101 and 102 are each extended by

a beam 110 or 111.

  At mid-length of each of the two longitudinal members 110 or 111 is attached a fixing 120 supporting a cheek 201 or 202 of a first conveyor belt conveyor

  can be driven by a first gear motor 210.

  The fasteners 120 are adjustable on their respective longitudinal members 110 or 111 and allow the distance between the first conveyor 200 and the rectangular frame 100 to be varied. The orientation relative to the rectangular frame 100 is also

  made possible by fixings 120.

  The cheek 202 of the conveyor belt 200 receives two proximity detectors 220 and 221 responsible for detecting the presence of bags which the

conveyor 200.

  A cross member 1 15 joins each of the free ends of each beam 110

  or 111 perpendicular to them.

  Two trapezoidal plates 130 or 131 are fixed perpendicularly

on sleeper 115.

  These plates 130 or 131 are oriented parallel to the rectangular frame

  and inward of the projection thereof.

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  Each plate 130 or 131 receives respectively a wheel 140 or 141 assembled perpendicularly to its respective plate 130 or 131, by its axis

  of rotation, preferably mounted on ball bearings.

  Each wheel 140 or 141 receives a tire 142 or 143, the inflation pressure of which is adjusted so as not to exceed a few hundred grams per cm2. The distance between the wheels 140 and 141 is calculated so that the wheels 140 and 141 come into contact with each other by each of the treads of their

tires 142 and 143.

  The free faces of these wheels 140 or 141 are oriented towards the frame

rectangular 100.

  The wheel 140 is mounted idly on its plate 130, while the wheel 141 can be rotated by means of a second geared motor 145 mounted

  on the plate 141 by its face opposite to the wheel 141.

  The rotation of the wheel 141 causes the rotation of the wheel 140 by the contact

  treads to each other, their tires 142 and 143.

  Parallel to the plates 130 or 131, is also attached to the longitudinal members 110 and 111, a rectangular fixing plate 150, positioned at a

  short distance from the free faces of the wheels 140 and 141.

  In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a bag filling machine 300 is associated upstream with an automatic machine for stapling the necks of the bags. The bag filling machine 300 mainly comprises a storage area 310 for the products to be bagged, a dosing head 320, actuated by a control pedal 325, and making it possible to determine and prepare a precise mass of these products. A filling chute 330 makes it possible to distribute the mass of product to be bagged in a bag 340. Bag 340 can be

  type of those used to transport vegetables.

  A support 400 of bags allows to receive individually a bag under the

filler neck 330.

  Downstream of the automatic machine for stapling the necks of the bags, a second conveyor belt 250 allows the bags to be evacuated 340

  stapled to a shipping location.

  A 380 programmable controller controls all of the machine's functions

  automatic to staple the necklines of the bags.

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  In Fig. 2, the fixing plate 150 receives a clip loader 170 in the shape of a U positioned in a median plane at the wheels 140 and 141 between the crosspiece and the wheels 140 and 141. The charger 170 crosses the plate perpendicularly

  fixing 150 by an opening formed therein.

  The loader 170 is fixed in this opening so that its engaged end stops at the outlet of one of its face 150c exposed towards the conveyor belt 200. Staples 171 can be threaded in the form of bars

in magazine 170.

  The fixing plate 150 also receives two arms 160 and 161 mounted free in rotation by respectively two screw-axes 162 and 163 attached

  perpendicularly on said fixing plate 150.

  The two arms 160 and 161 are assembled parallel to the plate 150. The arm 160 is mounted on the face 150c of the fixing plate 150, exposed towards the conveyor belt 200 and, the arm 161 is mounted on the face 150d of the plate of

  fixing 150, exposed towards the free faces of the wheels 140 and 141.

  A bag 340 is shown placed on the first conveyor belt 200,

before the stapling of its neckline.

  In Fig. 3, the arms 160 and 161 can be moved in rotation around their respective screw-axes 162 and 163 by respectively two cylinders 164 and 165 of pneumatic type for example. Each of the cylinders 164 and 165 is mounted floating on the

  fixing plate 150 by means of a screw 168 or 169.

  Each of the jacks 164 or 165 can drive its respective arm 160 or 161 by means of a ball joint 166 or 167 passing through each of said arms 160 or 161 to

  near one of its ends.

  The other end of each of arms 160 or 161 is shaped like a

portion of ellipse.

  In Fig. 3, the arms 160 and 161 are shown in a first rest position where the shaped ends of each of the arms 160 or 161 in the form of an ellipse portion are spaced from each other symmetrically to the contact plane of

  tire treads 142 and 143 on wheels 140 and 141.

  A cutout 151, the sides 151a and 151b of which have a V shape, is produced in the fixing plate 150 from one of its longest sides 150e most

close to wheels 140 or 141.

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  This cutout 151 is centered around the contact plane of the treads of the tires 142 and 143 of the wheels 140 and 141. The cutout 151 is extended by a rectangular slot 152 also centered around the plane of

  contact of the treads of the tires 142 and 143 of the wheels 140 and 141.

  The cutout 151 as well as the rectangular slot 152 are made in the plate 150 so that the volume freed allows the neck of a bag to be received in the space C defined by hatching in FIG. 3 between the treads of the tires 142 and 143 of the wheels 140 and 141 and the sidewalls 151a and 151b associated with the

rectangular slot 152.

  A stapler 175 is mounted on the face 150c of the fixing plate 150 near the rectangular slot 152. The stapler 175 can be moved axially from its rest position visible in FIG. 3, by a pneumatic type jack 180 for example, allowing it to catch a staple 171 in the loader 170, then

  move open towards rectangular slot 152.

  When the clip 171 is positioned at the perimeter of the rectangular slot 152, jaws 176 articulated by links 177 can crimp said clip 171 under the action of the jack 180. The release of the action of the jack opens the

  jaws 176 and moves the stapler 175 to its rest position.

  The distance between the carpet 200 and the wheels 140 and 141 of the automatic machine for stapling the necks of the bags is adjusted beforehand as a function of the size of the bags, then the machine 380 is powered up. Staples 171 are

arranged in the charger 170.

  The opening of an empty bag can be presented by an operator around the chute 330. The operator presses on the control pedal 325. A load of

  bagging products is placed in the bag which rests on the support 400.

  The operator then grabs the filled bag 340, then pushes it onto the first

  conveyor belt 200 as shown by arrow A in FIG. 1.

  The proximity detector 220 detects the presence of the bag on the conveyor, then the machine 380 controls the powering up of the first geared motor 210 actuating the conveyor belt 200 which moves the bag 340 filled in

direction of wheels 140 and 141.

  The bag 340 reaches the proximity detector 221 which triggers

  the stapling operation of the neck of the bag.

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  The automaton 380 controls the energization of the second geared motor 145 which drives the wheel 141 in the direction indicated by the arrow D in FIG. 3. By reaction, the tire 143 drives the tire 142 of the wheel 140 by contact, which starts to turn in the opposite direction, in this respect arrow D '. The speed of rotation of the wheels 140 and 141 is approximately one revolution per second, while the duration of rotation is of the order of one second. The speed of advance of the conveyor belt conveyor is synchronized with the tangential speed of the wheels 140 and 141 taken at the point

  contact of the two tires 142 and 143.

  The neck of the bag is snapped up between the tires 142 and 143, then extruded into space C. The stopping of the first and second geared motors 145 and 210 is

  controlled by PLC 380 approximately at the same time.

  The low inflation pressure of the tires 142 and 143 makes it possible to tighten the neck of the bags 340 well. Furthermore, the operation of these wheels 140 and 141 does not present any danger to the person working on the machine even if,

  inadvertently, his hands pass between the wheels 140 and 141.

  Then the machine 380 controls the operation of the jack 164 and then of the jack which respectively drive the arms 160 and 161 as shown in the

Fig. 4.

  The end shaped as an ellipse portion of each of the arms 160 and

  161 throttles the neck of the bag in the rectangular slot 152.

  Finally, the machine 380 controls the operation of the jack 180 which pushes the stapler 175 as shown in FIG. 4. The latter extracts a clip 171 from the magazine 170 and drives it open at the periphery of the rectangular slot 152, then the jaws 176 close around the free ends of the clip 171 closing it

around the neck of a bag.

  The jacks 180 then 165 and 164 are successively used in the opposite direction to respectively return the stapler to its rest position and open

  the arms 161 and 160 in their initial rest position visible in FIG. 3.

  The bag 340 is extracted by the downstream side of the automatic machine to staple the necks of the bags by restarting the first geared motor 210 which drives the bag 340 to the second conveyor belt 250 to evacuate it to a storage place . The neck of the bag 340 is then extracted from the space C. In an operating variant, it is possible to extract the bag 340 from the upstream side of the automatic machine to staple the necks of the bags. For this

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  do this, the machine 380 simultaneously requests the momentary start-up of the second gearmotor 145 and the first gearmotor 210, in the opposite direction for a short time, of the order of one second. The neck of the bag 340 passes in the opposite direction between the tires 142 and 143 of the wheels 140 and 141, while the first conveyor belt conveyor 200 brings the bag 340 back.

  The operator can grab the bag 340 and manually evacuate it.

  At the end of the evacuation of the bag 340, the automatic machine for stapling the

  bag necks is ready for a new bag stapling operation.

  The machine which has just been described ensures automatic stapling of the bags which are presented to it. Compared to a semi-automatic stapler, which requires manual twisting of the neck of the bag, the invention makes it possible to increase the rates and reduces the risk of accident by a high factor. The strenuous work of

twisting the bags is removed.

  The machine only requires the help of a person responsible for presenting and possibly removing the bags after stapling. Two people were employed

  on state-of-the-art semi-automatic machines.

  The stapling made on the neck tightened by the machine ensures a

  nice presentation of the stapled bag.

  In Fig. 5, an automatic machine for bagging and stapling bags is shown. This machine consists of a frame of a parallelepipedal structure 400 formed by four longitudinal beams 410 connected two by two by several

sleepers 420.

  Positioned at one end of the machine, to the left of Fig. 5, a reel 430 is provided for delivering two perforated plastic films 431 and 432 making

facing each other.

  Plastic films 431 and 432 are of the type used for manufacturing

  bags for transporting vegetables in this exemplary embodiment.

  The two films 431 and 432 are mounted on the reel 430. Their lateral edges

  on one side are welded together forming the bottom of a bag.

  The two plastic films 431 and 432 are mounted in the machine so that they can bypass a first and second cylinders 440 and 441 parallel to the coil 430 and positioned at the same height as said coil 430. The two plastic films 431 and 432 then follow a rectilinear trajectory in a plane

  substantially median of the machine until its exit.

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  A track drive device 450 is supported by a crossmember 420. It consists of two drive tracks 451 and 452 which come into contact with one another and which can rotate around a set of respective pulleys 453, 455 and 454,

  456 when they are driven by a first geared motor 457.

  The tracks 451 and 452 can drive the two plastic films 431 and 432 longitudinally, by pinching, by their non-welded side edges, opposite the welded side edges, in this direction of the arrow A, after bypassing the second cylinder 441 by the two plastic films 431 and 432. The side edges

  trained are also those who will form the neck 471 of a bag 470.

  Furthermore, the drive takes place in steps of a length P in FIG. 5.

  Parallel to the axis of the coil 430 and under the track drive device 450, a welding head 460 of parallelepipedal appearance faces

  transversely to the two plastic films 431 and 432.

  The welding head 460 is equipped with a heating blade 461 disposed near the two plastic films 431 and 432, capable of splitting them transversely by heating in the part located under the drive device by tracks 450 and joining the transverse edges by welding. of the two plastic films 431 and 432 thus formed. At the outlet of the track drive device 450, bags 470 are formed and joined together by a strip 472 situated at the same height as their

neck 471.

  Downstream of the track drive device 450, a metering and filling device 480 is arranged in the same plane as that of the two films

plastics 431 and 432.

  The metering and filling device 480 is provided for successively filling by their neck 471 each of the bags 470, with a precise mass of

  bagging product which is supplied by a storage area not shown.

  Downstream of this is installed a roller drive device 490 resting on two of the longitudinal beams 410, and comprising a set of rollers 491 and 492 in contact with one another, one of which can be driven in rotation by a second geared motor 495. The two rollers 491 and 492 can drive the two plastic films 431 and 432 longitudinally, by pinching, by the band 472. The first and second geared motors 457 and 495 have a synchronized operation

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  Positioned downstream of the roller drive device 490, a shear 500, consisting of a knife 505 mounted perpendicular to the plastic films 431 and 432, is assembled on one of the longitudinal beams 410. The knife 505 can be driven in rotation in a movement covering approximately a quarter of a circle by means of a third geared motor 510. The knife 505 is positioned so as to be able to cut, during its

  movement, the strip 472 connecting two bags to one another.

  At the other end of the machine for bagging and stapling bags, on the right in Fig. 5, an automatic machine 600 for stapling the necks of the bags is installed. Its structure and operation are identical to those described in Figs. I to 4. A conveyor belt 700 is arranged in a horizontal plane under the bags 470 which it supports in their movement, from the metering and filling device 480, to the outlet of the automatic machine 600 for stapling the

bag necklines.

  The conveyor 700 can be driven by a fourth geared motor 710

  whose commissioning is synchronized with that of the first and second motorcycles

  457 and 495 reducers. Its forward speed is also roughly the same

than those of bands 472.

  Another conveyor belt 800 adjoins the end positioned at the outlet of the machine, the conveyor 700. It is installed at the outlet of the automatic machine for bagging and stapling bags and allows the automatic evacuation of filled 470 bags and stapled to a shipping location. This conveyor 800 can be

  continuously driven by a fifth geared motor 810.

  An 880 programmable controller controls all of the machine's functions

  automatic bagging and stapling of bags.

  In Fig. 6, a coil 430 is installed in the automatic machine for bagging bags and the plastic films 431I and 432 introduced into the device

  drive system 450, then the roller drive device 490.

  The automaton 880 is energized, the plastic films 431 and 432 are driven in successive steps of a length P by the drive device by tracks 450. During their stop between each step P, that is to say during each stop of the first and second geared motors 457 and 495. the plastic films 431 and 432 stop in front of the welding head 460, the heating blade 461 of which splits Xh l 2790445 transversely the plastic films 431 and 432 on part I of their widths L in FIG. 6 and welds together the transverse edges of the two plastic films 431 and

432 on part 1.

  A bag 470 is then formed and, at the outlet of the track drive device 450, the bands 472 connect the bags 470 to each other. Each bag 470 formed also stops under the metering and

  filling 480 which delivers, at each stop of the first and second moto-

  reducers 457 and 495, a precise mass of product to be bagged, through their

neck 471.

  The bags 470 filled but not separated from each other, are transported by the conveyor belt 700, and also driven by their bands 472 by the rollers

  491 and 492 of the roller drive device 490.

  Downstream of the rollers 491 and 492 and when each bag 470 stops, the

  knife 505 cuts the strip 472 which separates a bag 470 from its predecessor.

  The automatic bag stapling machine is started in the same way as that described in Figs. I to 4, i.e. thanks to a

  proximity 221 which detects the presence of the bag 470 on the conveyor 700 downstream.

  For its operation, reference will also be made to Figs. I to 4

  The filled and stapled bags are then evacuated by the conveyor 800.

  The automatic machine for bagging and stapling bags ensures the formation of the bags then the filling thereof with a particular volume of product, and the stapling of said bags. It operates without shift staff. Its cadence is also high. It also allows the stapling of the bags by their tight neckline providing a

  enhancement of bagged products.

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Claims (9)

  1) Automatic machine for stapling the necks of bags, characterized in that it comprises two wheels (140, 141) brought into contact with one another by their treads, and which can be driven mutually in opposite direction l '' of one another and being able to catch the neck of a bag (340) transported on a conveyor belt (200) placed under the machine, the neck being taken between the treads then crumpled in a space C provided in a fixing plate (150) mounted parallel to the wheels (140, 141), two arms (160, 161) arranged on either side of the plate (150) successively compress the neck in space C before a stapler (175) mounted on the plate (150) staples the periphery of the neck.   2) Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the plate (150) receives the stapler (175) mounted downstream of the space C on a face (150c) of the plate, opposite the wheels (140,141), the face (150d) opposite the wheels (140, 141) of the plate (150) receives transversely a loader (170) passing through said plate (150)   distributing staples (171) to the stapler (175).   3) Machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that   the space C formed in the plate (150) has the appearance of a V, the opening of which forms an angle between 60 and 120 and is formed on said plate (150) downstream of the point of contact of the wheels (140 , 141), the closed part of the V is extended by a slot (152).   4) Machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that   the plate (150) is mounted a short distance from the wheels (140, 141) on the side of the conveyor belt (200).   5) Machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that   the arms (160, 161) are mounted mobile in rotation on the plate (150) by respectively two axes (162, 163) and are moved by respectively two jacks (164, 165) fixed on the plate (150), the end free of each arm (160, 161) is   shaped like a portion of an ellipse.   6) Machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at   at least one of the wheels (140, 141) is driven by a geared motor (145).   7) Machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that   the wheels (140, 141) are fitted with tires (142, 143), the pressure of which   inflation is adjusted to a value lower than I bar. 13 2790445   8) Machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that   the speed of advance of the conveyor belt (200) is substantially the same   as the tangential speed of the wheels (140, 141) at their point of contact.   9) Machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that   the evacuation of the bag (340) out of the machine after its stapling can be done by a   reverse gear drive (145).   ) Installation comprising a track drive device (450) driving plastic films (431, 432) from a reel (430) and used to make bags (470) subsequently filled by a metering and filling device (480 ), the bags (470) then being separated by a knife (505) and removed by a conveyor belt (700) to an automatic machine for stapling the necks of bags, characterized in that the automatic machine for stapling the   bag necks is a machine according to one of the preceding claims.