GB1351998A - Packaging method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

1351998 Manual bagging of articles; endless conveyers UNION CARBIDE CORP 19 April 1971 [26 Feb 1970 (2)] 22579/71 Headings B8C and B8A The manual bagging of articles such as a meat cut is facilitated by raising the meat above a conveyer to allow a bag to be placed about the meat. In one embodiment, Fig. 1, the meat is conveyed by a plurality of laterally spaced endless belts 13 over a forked platform 17 initially disposed below the belts 13 and trips a switch 22 which actuates an arrangement for raising the platform 17 and the meat 11 to the position shown. A bag is then placed around the meat 11 and the platform 17 before the platform 17 is lowered to a position below its initial position to tension the bag about the meat, and the meat, now enveloped in the bag, is subse- quently pulled off the platform 17 by the conveyer belts 13. The arrangement for indexing the platform 17 at the three different positions comprises two double acting pneumatic piston and cylinder assemblies 18 and 20 connected in tandem through a bell crank 27. In a similar embodiment (Figs. 6 and 7) the meat is conveyed on a single belt conveyer (14) and meat lifting bars (16) are arranged on both sides of the belt (13). In a further embodiment, Fig. 8, the meat is gripped between two gripping members 120, 122 which extend from a stanchion 118 in the direction of movement of the meat on the conveyer belt 114. In operation the grippers are caused by pneumatic piston and cylinder assemblies 130, 132 to grip the meat and are then raised by a piston and cylinder assembly 150 acting on a parallel crank four bar linkage (Fig. 9). In a modified arrangement of the grippers (Figs. 14 and 15), they comprise two sets of three fingers (220, 222) extending on opposite sides of the belt. These fingers are mounted so that they are independently movable towards and away from their opposite counterparts. The conveyer may be multiple or single endless belts, as shown, an endless chain or chains, or a walking beam.