GB772960A - Improvements in the packaging of articles in pre-formed bags - Google Patents

Abstract

772,960. Filling and closing bags. ROSE BROS. (GAINSBOROUGH), Ltd. June 21, 1955 [June 22, 1954], No. 18225/54. Class 94(1). A machine for opening collapsed bags, filling them with biscuits and then closing their mouths by heat-sealing, comprises an intermittentlyrotatable, horizontal bag carrier 1, having a series of pockets defined by pairs of jaws 9, and an intermittently-rotatable feed wheel 28 mounted below the carrier on a parallel axis and formed with a series of pockets 29 for the reception of charges of biscuits, the wheel and carrier being driven in synchronism so that successive pockets and pairs of jaws are brought into alignment at a filling station 31. The jaws of each pocket are lined with rubber and comprise members 7, 8, Fig. 2, pivoted to arms 4, 6 secured to a shaft 3 journalled in bearings 2 in the carrier 1, the members 7, 8 being urged together by a spring 14 connected between one of the arms 6 and a projection 11 on the member 7 which is coupled by a link 13 to a projection 12 on the member 8. The projection 12 carries an adjustable stop which engages an extension of one of the arms 4 to limit the inward movement of the jaws. Collapsed, gussetted bags 49 of heat-sealable material are fed in succession by belts 51 along a table 52 and the base of each bag is received by spring-loaded grippers 39, Fig. 2, associated with each pair of the jaws, the grippers being pivoted to a support 32 secured to the shaft 3 and temporarily opened for the reception of a bag by a lever 46 operated by a cam-actuated arm 48. The carrier 1 moves each bag to an idle station, where a bag detector may be located, and then to the filling station 31, the arms 4, 6 being simultaneously swung downwardly through 90 degrees by linkage 22, 23 operated by a stationary cam 27 to present the bag mouth downwards in register with a pocket 29, see Fig. 4. A pair of suckers 53, slidably mounted in bearings 54, are then reciprocated by cam-operated linkages 56, 57 to seize and pull apart the sides of the bag, the grippers 39 being simultaneously released, and spring-loaded fingers 58, mounted on a slidable member 59, are moved upwardly into the bag by a cam-operated link 61 to form a mouthpiece through which a charge of biscuits 62 is inserted by a pusher 64, the gap between the top of the pocket 29 and the bottom of the fingers 58 being bridged by stationary spring fingers 63. The jaws 9, which have been held open by a cam-operated lever 18 acting on an extension 16 of the member 8, are then allowed to close on to the filled bag, and the suckers, mouth-piece and pusher are retracted to allow the carrier to move the bag to a closing station 66, the arms 4, 6 being simultaneously returned to their original position. At station 66, Fig. 5, a pair of stretchers 67, pivotally mounted on a cam-operated slide 68 and connected for opposite pivotal movement. by linkage 69, 71, 72 and 73 are moved horizontally and then apart to distend the mouth of the bag. Pivoted pairs of blades 74 then clamp the bag mouth adjacent the batch of biscuits while spring-loaded, heat-sealing elements 76 are operated to seal the mouth after withdrawal of the stretchers. The carrier then moves the bag to a final folding station 77 where the sealed mouth 78 is folded against the end of the batch by a movable blade 79 and the lateral tabs thus formed are folded down by a pair of movable folders 82 and sealed by a reciprocating heated member 83. The carrier then moves the bag to an idle station at which a label may be affixed if desired and finally to a discharge station 84 where the jaws 9 are opened and the package ejected on to a delivery conveyer 86 by a rake 87. The biscuits 62 are stacked in four magazines 88 arranged about the periphery of the feed wheel 28 at different levels according to the number of biscuits to be fed from each. Each magazine is associated with a reciprocating pusher 89 which moves four biscuits over a stationary table 90 into a pocket 29 when the latter is brought to rest in register therewith. To avoid uncontrolled dropping of the stacks on the withdrawal of the pushers, the latter are moved downwardly during their return strokes and then upwardly in readiness for the next charging action, the pusher mechanism of adjacent pairs of magazines being mounted on a vertically-movable support 92 slidable on a column 93 under the action of cam-operated linkage 94, 96 and the pair of pushers being reciprocated by a cam-operated arm 97 connected thereto by universally-jointed links 98. The various parts of the machine may be adjustable to suit different sizes of biscuits.