GB2105286A

GB2105286A - Tea packing

Info

Publication number: GB2105286A
Application number: GB08119914A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rensburg C Van; D N Jarman
Original assignee: Encase Ltd
Current assignee: Encase Ltd
Priority date: 1981-06-25
Filing date: 1981-06-25
Publication date: 1983-03-23
Also published as: GB2105286B

Abstract

Tea is packaged in a known valve sack which is supported in a jig 10 at an inclined angle and vibrated during free flow of the tea into the sack by a motor 30 to obtain complete filling of the sack. The jig is pivoted by trunnions 14 on a static framework 18 to facilitate tilting of the jig between a sack discharge position and the tilted filling position. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tea packing This invention relates to apparatus for packing tea.

Tea, that is the dry fragments of the original leaves of the tea plant, is usually packed for trans-shipment from the country of production to the country of consumption in so-called tea chests made of plywood on light wooden skeleton frames, with sheet metal reinforcement along the edges of the parallelopiped chests. Often the chests are filled via an open top, and the lid is then secured in place after folding the paper liner. This is labour intensive and expensh/e of packing materials since it is not usually considered economically feasible to return and re-use the chests. There is therefore a long felt desideratum for an alternative simpler and cheaper packing system for tea.

in accordance with the invention, tea is packed in per se known valve sacks using packing apparatus comprising a jig for holding the sack in an inclined position so that a corner between a side wall and the top wall of the parallelopiped expanded and filled sack lies in a generally horizontal plane above all other corners of the sack, a vibratory motor mounted on the jig for vibrating the sack and contents during filling by free flow of the tea into the sack, and means pivotally mounting the jig for movement between the mentioned inclined position and a second position related to the first for gravity for near gravity discharge of the loaded sack from the jig.

The various essential features of the invention will be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrates a presently preferred embodiment of the apparaus. In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 an end elevation.

The apparatus shown in the drawings is intended to work with conventional paper valve sacks. Often the paper is reinforced, and for example this may be by a thermoplastic coating on the paper or there may be a separate plastics film lining. The sacks are factory made with glued or heat sealed seams and are stored in a generally flat condition but can be erected, for example by discharging tea into the sacks, so as to form a generally parallelopiped shape. Filling is through a valved aperture, that is to say a relatively restricted inlet which is arranged to be closed and nominally sealed either automatically when the contents charged into the sack bear upon a portion ofthe valve, or by an additional operation performed after filling for example heat sealing a tubular inlet to the sack then folding over.Since these valve sacks are well known in the packing art no further description is considered necessary.

The apparatus shown in the drawings comprises a jig 10 in the form of a skeleton structure or possibly a box having an open top 12. The internal dimensions of the box are apt to receive the sack in both its empty and full conditions, and the empty condition the area required as seen in Figure 1 may be larger than when the sack is filled, since the act of filling may separate the side walls of the sack and reduce the transverse dimensions.

The sox is provided with a pair of trunnions 14 journalled in plummerblocks 16which are mounted onto a stacticframework 18 by interposed coil springs located on either side of the plummer blocks. The springs are diagrammatically shown by the reference numeral 20 Figure 2.

The skeleton framework 18 supports a tea delivery funnel 24 connected to a delivery spout 26 which may be inserted into the inlet of the valve sack, when the apparatus is in use. A slot 28 provides for escape of air.

A vibrator motor 30 is mounted on the box, this being a conventional construction having out of balance weights so that in operation of the motor the structure to which it is clamped vibrates, and hence the box and its contents move relative to the framework 18 by virtue of the springs 20.

Tea is fed into the valve sack with free flow: that is to say the tea is not fluidised by air but is simply gravity discharged. When the sack is full it may seal automatically and the flow of tea through the spout 26 may be cut off, and then the box with the sack is tipped about the axis ofthe trunnions 14 so that the loaded sack can be withdrawn from or gravity ejected from, the box. A fresh sack is inserted, the box is returned to the illustrated position, and a fresh loading cycle commences.

It will be appreciated that the erected and filled sack is of substantially the same parallelopiped shape as the box 10, and has an uppermost corner corresponding to (but inevitably spaced below) the uppermost corner 32 of the box. Since the tea settles in the sack by gravity, this enables the sack to be very substantially filled, and indeed greater quantities can be loaded into a sack of unit size by this inclined loading position than is possible if the sack is loaded in a level position.

The change in shape of the valve sack during loading may reduce its dimensions as seen in Figure 1 but increase at least one of the transverse dimensions as seen in Figure 2. The box is designed to be of appropriate shape so as to confine the sack and prevent it bulging beyond the required transverse dimensions in Figure 2 and thus the jig assists in producing filled packages containing a maximum amount of the tea but retaining the regular paral lelopiped shape which is convenient for example when the sacks are stacked in a container for shipment.

1. A tea packing system using per se known paper valve sacks and packing apparatus comprising a jig for holding the sacks in an inclined position so that a corner between a side wall and the top wall of the parallelopiped expanded and filled sack lies in a generally horizontal plane above all other corners of the sack, a vibratory motorforvibrating the sacks and contents during filling by free flow of the tea into the sacks, and means pivotally mounting the jig for

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

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. SPECIFICATION Tea packing This invention relates to apparatus for packing tea. Tea, that is the dry fragments of the original leaves of the tea plant, is usually packed for trans-shipment from the country of production to the country of consumption in so-called tea chests made of plywood on light wooden skeleton frames, with sheet metal reinforcement along the edges of the parallelopiped chests. Often the chests are filled via an open top, and the lid is then secured in place after folding the paper liner. This is labour intensive and expensh/e of packing materials since it is not usually considered economically feasible to return and re-use the chests. There is therefore a long felt desideratum for an alternative simpler and cheaper packing system for tea. in accordance with the invention, tea is packed in per se known valve sacks using packing apparatus comprising a jig for holding the sack in an inclined position so that a corner between a side wall and the top wall of the parallelopiped expanded and filled sack lies in a generally horizontal plane above all other corners of the sack, a vibratory motor mounted on the jig for vibrating the sack and contents during filling by free flow of the tea into the sack, and means pivotally mounting the jig for movement between the mentioned inclined position and a second position related to the first for gravity for near gravity discharge of the loaded sack from the jig. The various essential features of the invention will be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrates a presently preferred embodiment of the apparaus. In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 an end elevation. The apparatus shown in the drawings is intended to work with conventional paper valve sacks. Often the paper is reinforced, and for example this may be by a thermoplastic coating on the paper or there may be a separate plastics film lining. The sacks are factory made with glued or heat sealed seams and are stored in a generally flat condition but can be erected, for example by discharging tea into the sacks, so as to form a generally parallelopiped shape. Filling is through a valved aperture, that is to say a relatively restricted inlet which is arranged to be closed and nominally sealed either automatically when the contents charged into the sack bear upon a portion ofthe valve, or by an additional operation performed after filling for example heat sealing a tubular inlet to the sack then folding over.Since these valve sacks are well known in the packing art no further description is considered necessary. The apparatus shown in the drawings comprises a jig 10 in the form of a skeleton structure or possibly a box having an open top 12. The internal dimensions of the box are apt to receive the sack in both its empty and full conditions, and the empty condition the area required as seen in Figure 1 may be larger than when the sack is filled, since the act of filling may separate the side walls of the sack and reduce the transverse dimensions. The sox is provided with a pair of trunnions 14 journalled in plummerblocks 16which are mounted onto a stacticframework 18 by interposed coil springs located on either side of the plummer blocks. The springs are diagrammatically shown by the reference numeral 20 Figure 2. The skeleton framework 18 supports a tea delivery funnel 24 connected to a delivery spout 26 which may be inserted into the inlet of the valve sack, when the apparatus is in use. A slot 28 provides for escape of air. A vibrator motor 30 is mounted on the box, this being a conventional construction having out of balance weights so that in operation of the motor the structure to which it is clamped vibrates, and hence the box and its contents move relative to the framework 18 by virtue of the springs 20. Tea is fed into the valve sack with free flow: that is to say the tea is not fluidised by air but is simply gravity discharged. When the sack is full it may seal automatically and the flow of tea through the spout 26 may be cut off, and then the box with the sack is tipped about the axis ofthe trunnions 14 so that the loaded sack can be withdrawn from or gravity ejected from, the box. A fresh sack is inserted, the box is returned to the illustrated position, and a fresh loading cycle commences. It will be appreciated that the erected and filled sack is of substantially the same parallelopiped shape as the box 10, and has an uppermost corner corresponding to (but inevitably spaced below) the uppermost corner 32 of the box. Since the tea settles in the sack by gravity, this enables the sack to be very substantially filled, and indeed greater quantities can be loaded into a sack of unit size by this inclined loading position than is possible if the sack is loaded in a level position. The change in shape of the valve sack during loading may reduce its dimensions as seen in Figure 1 but increase at least one of the transverse dimensions as seen in Figure 2. The box is designed to be of appropriate shape so as to confine the sack and prevent it bulging beyond the required transverse dimensions in Figure 2 and thus the jig assists in producing filled packages containing a maximum amount of the tea but retaining the regular paral lelopiped shape which is convenient for example when the sacks are stacked in a container for shipment. CLAIMS

1. A tea packing system using per se known paper valve sacks and packing apparatus comprising a jig for holding the sacks in an inclined position so that a corner between a side wall and the top wall of the parallelopiped expanded and filled sack lies in a generally horizontal plane above all other corners of the sack, a vibratory motorforvibrating the sacks and contents during filling by free flow of the tea into the sacks, and means pivotally mounting the jig for movement between the mentioned inclined position and a second position related to the first for gravity or near gravity discharge of the loaded sack from the jig.

2. A tea packing system substantially as described.