GB1562281A - Valved bag feeding and opening device of apparatus for engaging empty valved bags onto filling nozzles of a rotary babbing machine - Google Patents

Description

(54) A VALVED BAG FEEDING AND OPENING DEVICE OF APPARATUS FOR ENGAGING EMPTY VALVED BAGS ONTO FILLING NOZZLES OF A ROTARY BAGGING MACHINE (71) We, HAVER AND BOECKER, a German Kommanditgesellschaft, of Carl Haver-Platz, 4740 Oelde 1, Federal Republic of Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- The invention relates to a combined rotary bagging machine and bag loading apparatus of the kind claimed in our Patent Application No. 2556/77 (Serial No.

1558143) and particularly to a bag feeding and opening device of said bag loading apparatus.

Claim 1 of our Patent Application No.

2556/77 (Serial No. 1558143) claims.- A rotary bagging machine rotatable about a vertical axis and bag loading apparatus for engaging empty valved bags onto filling nozzles thereof, comprising a bag feeding device for taking an empty valve bag from a stack of bags or from a conveyor belt and opening the valve in the top end of the bag and, for each of a plurality of filler nozzles of the bagging machine, a respective bag engaging device, each bag engaging device being mounted on the bagging machine for rotation therewith and comprising a bag gripper having clamping jaws mounted on a pivotable lever about the longitudinal axis of which the bag gripper can be rotated, and being so arranged that, in a position in which gripping edge regions of the clamping jaws when opened lie tangential to circles having their centres on said vertical axis, the bag engaging device can take a valve bag with an opened valve from the bag feeding device, with the gripping edge regions of the clamping jaws of the bag gripper gripping the bag below the top end of the bag, the pivotable lever can then be pivoted to move the bag radially inwardly towards said vertical axis and the gripper can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of the pivotable lever, thereby to engage the bag held in the clamping jaws onto the respective filling nozzle.

The bag feeding device described in the specification of Application No. 2556/77 (Serial No. 1558143) has two suction strips which grip the top and bottom bag ends.

According to the present invention, there is provided a rotary bagging machine rotatable about a vertical axis and bag loading apparatus for engaging empty valved bags onto filling nozzles of the rotary bagging machine, of the kind claimed in claim 1 of Application 2556/77 (Serial No. 1558143), wherein the bag feeding and opening device of the bag loading apparatus comprises a pair of shaped plates between which the top end of a bag, which top end is laidflat and includes the valve, can be transported and a conveyor so as to transport the bag, each of the plates being bent about a line extended generally parallel to the path of the bag between the plates and the bent plates being disposed with their concave sides facing one another, the pair of shapes plates defining, considered in the direction of conveyance of the bag, an intake portion in which the bend lines in the plates are spaced apart by a distance which is greater than the width of the laid-flat bag top, an intermediate portion in which the bend lines in the plates converge so that the distance between the bend lines in the plates reduces to a dimension which is less than the width of the laid-flat bag top and in which the bag top passes over upwardly directed portions of the pair of shaped plates whereby the bag top is bent into a ridge shape, and a further portion in which the bend lines in the plates continue to converge so that the distance between the bend lines is further reduced and in which the bend lines in the plates are angled upwardly to extend at an acute angle to the direction of feed of the conveyor transporting the bag.

Such a bag feeding and opening device, which opens the valve in the top end of each bag while structurally simple can functionally be very reliable.

By the use of shaped plates for opening the valve in the top end of the bag, wear and tear can be substantially less than in the case of the constructions described in Application 2556/77 (Serial No.

1558143). Furthermore, servicing of the bag feeding and opening device according to the present invention can be easier.

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a side view of a bag feeding and opening device according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view corresponding to Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a section taken on line III-III of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a section taken on line IV-IV of Figure 1; and Figure 5 shows a section taken on line V-V of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, a bag feeding and opening device to open the valves on paper or plastics valved bags has conveyors by which valved bags are brought tangentially to a circle having its centre on the axis of rotation of a bagging machine there to be taken by a bag engaging device and fitted to the bagging machine.

A first of the conveyors of the device transports a horizontally disposed valved bag 1 in the direction of the arrow A the bag 1 having its folded end portions lying flat thereon as seen at the right-hand side of Figure 2. At the downstream end of the first conveyor, the forwardly projecting portion of the folded top end portion 2 of the valved bag, i.e. the end portion in which the valve is provided, strikes an abutment 3, thereby actuating a switch (not shown) which controls a compressed air cylinder 4.

The free end of the piston rod of the compressed air cylinder 4 mounts a roller 5 which, when the cylinder 4 is energised following actuation of the switch, is pressed downwardly onto said forwardly projecting portion of the folded top end portion 2 of the bag. Said projecting portion of the top end portion 2 of the bag is thereby pressed onto a constantly revolving conveyor belt 6 by which the bag is transported leftwardly as viewed in Figures 1 and 2.

Said projecting portion of the top end portion 2 of the bag 1 is then engaged by an endless belt 7 provided above the endless conveyor belt 6 and the bag is conveyed between the belts 6 and 7, the belts 6 and 7 comprising a second conveyor with a direction of feed at right angles to the first conveyor. While this is happening, the top end portion 2 remains in a horizontal position but the remainder of the bag pivots downwardly through 90" under its own weight so that, as shown in Figure 1, said remainder hangs downwardly. The conveyor belts 6 and 7 which pass around rollers with -horizontal axes, pass the bag to a third of the conveyors comprising belts 8 and 9 which pass around rollers with vertical axes. The conveyor belts 8, 9 grip said remainder of the bag at a position below the top end portion 2 in which the valve is provided.The top end portion 2 is transported between a pair of shaped plates 10. The pair of shaped plates 10 comprise two sheet metal members 11, 12 each bent through an angle of approx. 90 about a bend line 13 which extends generally parallel to the path of the bags between the plates, the plates having their concave sides facing one another. In an intake portion, in the region of the section line III-III and shown in Figure 3, the gap between the bend lines 13 is greater than the laid-flat width of the top end portion 2 of the bag.

In an intermediate portion, in the region of the section line WJV and shown in Figure 4, the bend lines 13 of the pair of shaped plates 9 are so close to each other that the distance between them is now smaller than the laid-flat width of the top end portion 2 of the bag.

On the way between the positions of the section lines III-III and IV-IV, the top end portion 2 passes over upwardly directed portions 14 of the pair of shaped plates 13 by which portions 14 the laid-flat top end portion 2 is bent into a ridge shape.

In a further portion in the region of the section line V-V and shown in Figure 5, the pair of shaped plates have their bend lines 13 even closer together and also angled upwardly.

At this location, the valve in the bag is opened wide so that the top end portion can be gripped by a gripper on of bag engaging means of the rotating bagging machine, said gripper taking over the bag from the bag feeding device described above. The top end portion is pushed onto a filler nozzle of the bagging machine by the bag engaging means.

It can be seen in Figure 1 that the bend lines 13 in said further region, between the section lines IV-IV and V-V, form an acute angle with with respect to the direction of movement of the belts 8, 9 which transport the bag.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A rotary bagging machine rotatable about a vertical axis and bag loading apparatus for engaging empty valved bags onto filling nozzles of the rotary bagging machine, of the kind claimed in claim 1 of Application 2556/77 (Serial No. 1558143), wherein the bag feeding and opening device of the bag loading apparatus comprises a pair of shaped plates between which the top end of a bag, which top end is laid-flat and includes the valve, can be transported and a conveyor so to transport the bag, each of the plates being bent about a line extending generally parallel to the path of the bag between the plates and the bent plates being disposed with their concave sides facing one another, the pair of shaped plates defining, considered in the direction of conveyance of the bag, an intake portion in which the bend lines in the plates are spaced apart by a distance which is greater than the width of the laid-flat bag top, an intermediate portion in which the bend lines in the plates converge so that the distance between the bend lines in the plates reduces to a dimension which is less than the width of the laid-flat bag top and in which the bag top passes over upwardly directed portions of the pair of shaped plates whereby the bag top is bent into a ridge shape, and a further portion in which the bend lines in the plates continue to converge so that the distance between the bend lines is further reduced and in which the bend lines in the plates are angled upwardly to extend at an acute angle to the direction of feed of the conveyor transporting the bag.

2. A rotary bagging machine rotatable about a vertical axis and bag loading apparatus for engaging empty valved bags onto filling nozzles thereof, of the kind claimed in claim 1 of Application 2556/77 (Serial No. 1558143), the bag loading apparatus including a bag feeding device substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (2)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. section lines IV-IV and V-V, form an acute angle with with respect to the direction of movement of the belts 8, 9 which transport the bag. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A rotary bagging machine rotatable about a vertical axis and bag loading apparatus for engaging empty valved bags onto filling nozzles of the rotary bagging machine, of the kind claimed in claim 1 of Application 2556/77 (Serial No. 1558143), wherein the bag feeding and opening device of the bag loading apparatus comprises a pair of shaped plates between which the top end of a bag, which top end is laid-flat and includes the valve, can be transported and a conveyor so to transport the bag, each of the plates being bent about a line extending generally parallel to the path of the bag between the plates and the bent plates being disposed with their concave sides facing one another, the pair of shaped plates defining, considered in the direction of conveyance of the bag, an intake portion in which the bend lines in the plates are spaced apart by a distance which is greater than the width of the laid-flat bag top, an intermediate portion in which the bend lines in the plates converge so that the distance between the bend lines in the plates reduces to a dimension which is less than the width of the laid-flat bag top and in which the bag top passes over upwardly directed portions of the pair of shaped plates whereby the bag top is bent into a ridge shape, and a further portion in which the bend lines in the plates continue to converge so that the distance between the bend lines is further reduced and in which the bend lines in the plates are angled upwardly to extend at an acute angle to the direction of feed of the conveyor transporting the bag.

2. A rotary bagging machine rotatable about a vertical axis and bag loading apparatus for engaging empty valved bags onto filling nozzles thereof, of the kind claimed in claim 1 of Application 2556/77 (Serial No. 1558143), the bag loading apparatus including a bag feeding device substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.