NZ555083A - Filling apparatus and procedures - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is apparatus for filling a bag to a threshold (or weight) having fill line apparatus to provide at least one fill line into a bag, a hopper which accumulates material below the threshold but can dump the material in a closed environment, make up apparatus to feed in a closed environment into a bag after hopper dumping, and apparatus to recognise when the threshold has been reached. The apparatus has equipment for providing partial evacuation of the closed environment prior to material loading into the bag.

Description

( - 1 555083 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 Divided out of Application No: 5433 85 Itself divided out of: 531913 Date: 2 November 2005/ 23 March 2004 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FILLING APPARATUS AND PROCEDURES We, TECHNOPAK LIMITED, a company duly incorporated under the laws of New Zealand of 110D Cryers Road, East Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand, 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: 555083 The present invention relates to improvements in and/or relating to container filling apparatus and more particularly (although not solely) to apparatus and related procedures and methods suitable for loading particulate material or materials into a bag.

Various procedures and apparatus exist for the filling of material into bags or other containers. Such apparatus frequently utilises augers to load to a required amount.

Where apparatus provides an initial bulk fill of such a bag or other container there can sometimes be a need for a make up amount to bring the fill in the container to a requisite desired weight. For this purpose the fill line has involved a removal of the bag from where it receives its initial bulk fill to a station horizontally spaced therefrom for the make up quantity to be added.

The present invention recognises a speed advantage as being possible from the provision of an initial bulk fill below a desired threshold followed without horizontal movement of the container by the addition of any make up amount(s).

Such an arrangement enables a refill of, for example, a bulk fill hopper or any other apparatus (hereafter "hopper") which has just provided a below threshold initial fill (and is to provide the initial fill in contemplation of a subsequent cycle) whilst the make up amount is being provided.

It is possible, by way of example, for a bulk fill hopper to be mounted in isolation such that a pre-determined quantity therein can be determined by weight (for example weighing with a load cell) although in other applications a particulate material (e.g. a powder, granules, prills or the like) may simply be loaded to a predetermined level or under a pre-arranged auger or other conveyor fill timing.

The arrangements contemplated by the present invention recognise a prospect that dust need not be allowed to disseminate from the container between the time of the initial bulk fill below the threshold amount and prior to and during the make up fill thereafter, e.g. by draining a partial vacuum prior to the bulk fill. Such an arrangement is possible by providing for the filling chute to be fully enclosed and to have the 555083 container sealed thereto by any appropriate means and with preferably the make up outlet being into that chute.

Such a chute if desired can be isolated insofar as its effect on the weighing of the bulk filling of the hopper is concerned and/or its variable effect on any optional weighing of the bag at the time of make up.

It is envisaged that the make up loading will preferably be with apparatus associated with the container in such a way that an accurate measure (for example, by way of a load cell) can be obtained for the bag (with and/or without) the chute apparatus weight isolated from the refilling or refilled hopper. All this preferably prior to removal of the bag make up loaded at least to the threshold for subsequent treatment, whether by way of simply sealing, gas evacuation and/or gas flushing, then sealing, etc.

It is therefore towards such apparatus, procedures, uses, methods etc that the present invention is directed.

In an aspect the invention is an apparatus for filling a bag to a threshold or weight, said apparatus comprising or including fill line apparatus to provide at least one fill line into a bag, in use, to be held thereto to receive material(s) to said threshold or weight, a hopper arrangement, in use, to accumulate material(s) below said threshold or weight yet, in use, able to dump such accumulated material(s) in a closed environment via said fill line apparatus into a bag held to said fill line apparatus, make up apparatus, in use, to feed in a closed environment material(s) via said fill line apparatus into a bag after a dump loading from the hopper arrangement until such time as the threshold or weight is recognised, and apparatus to recognise when the threshold or weight in a bag held to the fill line apparatus has been reached; wherein there is apparatus providing for partial air evacuation of said closed environment prior to the loading of material(s) via said fill line apparatus into a bag held thereto. 555083 Preferably the hopper arrangement commences accumulation of material(s) prior to the bag being removed from said fill line apparatus.

Preferably wherein the apparatus to recognise when the threshold or weight in a bag held to the full line apparatus has been reached is a load cell dependent apparatus on which the weight of the bag and its content bears directiy or indirectly.

Preferably said makeup apparatus is auger fed.

Preferably said fill line apparatus is directly below said hopper arrangement.

In another aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for filling a container to a threshold or weight ("threshold"), said apparatus comprising or including a hopper adapted or adaptable to accumulate and dump material(s) into a said container, such cumulation and dumping to be of an amount below the threshold, and filling apparatus adapted or adaptable to make up the amount in the container at least to said threshold.

Preferably said hopper and filling apparatus are at the same "footprint" i.e. when viewed in plan there is no substantial horizontal movement of the container prior to receiving the make up amount(s) subsequent to receiving the initial dump loading.

In another aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for filling a container to a threshold or weight ("threshold"), said apparatus comprising or including, a hopper adapted or adaptable to accumulate and dump material(s) into a said container, such accumulation and dumping to be of an amount below the threshold, and filling apparatus to make up the amount in the container at least to said threshold, wherein the container does not move (at least to any significant extent) (other than optionally vertically) from its position under the hopper before the make up amount(s) are added into the container. 555083 In another aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for filling a container to a threshold or weight ("threshold"), said apparatus comprising or including, a hopper adapted cyclically or adaptable cyclically to accumulate and dump material(s) into a said container, such cumulation and dumping to be of an amount below the threshold, and filling apparatus to make up the amount in the container at least to said threshold, wherein the hopper accumulates at least some material(s) for a subsequent cycle whilst the make up amount(s) are added into the container of the current cycle.

In another aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for filling a container to a threshold or weight ("threshold"), said apparatus comprising or including, a hopper to accumulate and dump material(s) into a said container, such accumulation and dumping to be of an amount below the threshold, and filling apparatus to make up the amount in the container at least to said threshold, wherein a common filling chute is used by both the hopper and the filling apparatus to dump and/or cascade material(s) into the container.

In any of the preceding forms of the present invention, preferably the hopper is mounted so as to be substantially isolatable for the purpose of allowing its weight, and that of its material(s) content, to be weighed e.g. by a load cell.

Preferably the bag or other container (and any optional chute provided thereto from one or other or both of said hopper and filling apparatus) is weighable as the make up amount(s) is (are) being cascaded or dropped thereinto (e.g. under the weighing apparatus controlled feed e.g. of make up auger laterally into the chute).

In still a further aspect the present invention consists in a machine fill of a container to a threshold weight, said machine fill involving weighing in a supply vessel a quantum of material(s) below the threshold weight, 555083 filling the container with at least substantially all of that quantum, machine making up the weight of the at least part filled container to the threshold, characterised by any one or more of the following: (i) the vessel is a hopper and the apparatus for machine making up the weight of the at least partly filled container to the threshold does not require any substantial movement of the container horizontally from its position at which it received at least substantially all of the quantum from the hopper, (ii) there is provided a common chute for both dumping at least substantially all of the quantum from the supply vessel into the container and the dumping , cascading, dropping, etc of make up amount(s), (iii) the supply vessel is supported so as to be weighable so as to determine when the vessel has received a sufficient feed of raaterial(s) prior to the dumping thereof into an underlying container, (iv) weighing apparatus is associated with the bag so as to measure when it sufficient make up material(s) has been deposited into the bag, (v) weighing apparatus provides control of the make up amount(s), (vi) a dust trap collects dust from above the container without wantonly allowing dust release from one or both the filling and/or make up steps.

In yet a further aspect the present invention consists in a fill line which includes at least one zone where a container is to be both dump filled below a threshold value and to be made up with fill material(s) subsequently to receiving its dump fill, such making up being to at least to a required threshold, wherein the material(s) accumulated for the dump fill is accumulated for a subsequent dumping for a next container at least in part whilst there is at least in part a making up of the material(s) in the current container being filled.

In another aspect the invention consists in methods and apparatus substantially as hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 555083 In still other aspects the invention is a container filled, by a method or apparatus of the present invention.

In another aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for filling a container to a threshold or weight ("threshold"), said apparatus comprising or including a hopper adapted or adaptable to accumulate and dump material(s) into a said container, such accumulation and dumping to be of an amount below the threshold, and filling apparatus adapted or adaptable to make up the amount in the container at least to said threshold. wherein the dump fill follows at least a partial air evacuation from the container and/or the fill line.

Preferably said hopper and filling apparatus are at the same "footprint" i.e. when viewed in plan there is no substantial horizontal movement of the container prior to receiving the make up amount(s) subsequent to receiving the initial dump loading.

In another aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for filling a container to a threshold or weight ("threshold"), said apparatus comprising or including, a hopper and related apparatus adapted or adaptable to accumulate and dump material(s) into an at least partially air evacuated said container, such accumulation and dumping to be of an amount below the threshold, and filling apparatus to make up the amount in the container at least to said threshold, wherein (preferably) the container further below the hopper from its position under the hopper before the make up amount(s) are added into the container.

In another aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for filling a container to a threshold or weight ("threshold"), said apparatus comprising or including, a hopper adapted cyclically or adaptable cyclically to accumulate and dump material(s) into a said container, such accumulation and dumping to be of an amount 555083 below the threshold, apparatus to draw at least a partial vacuum in chute, funnel or equivalent passage below the hopper and in the associated container, and filling apparatus to make up the amount in the container at least to said threshold, wherein the hopper accumulates at least some material(s) for a subsequent cycle whilst the make up amount(s) are added into the container of the current cycle.

In another aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for filling a container to a threshold or weight ("threshold"), said apparatus comprising or including, a hopper to accumulate and dump material(s) into a said container, such accumulation and dumping to be of an amount below the threshold, and filling apparatus to make up the amount in the container at least to said threshold, wherein a common filling funnel, chute or the like passageway defining head ("head") is used by both the hopper and the filling apparatus to dump and/or cascade material(s) into the container. and wherein at least a partial vacuum can be drawn in the filling head and the attached container.

In any of the preceding forms of the present invention, preferably the hopper is mounted so as to be substantially isolatable for the purpose of allowing its weight, and that of its material(s) content, to be weighed e.g. by a load cell.

Preferably the bag or other container (and any optional chute provided thereto from one or other or both of said hopper and filling apparatus) is weighable as the make up amount(s) is (are) being cascaded or dropped thereinto (e.g. under the weighing apparatus controlled feed e.g. of make up auger laterally into the chute).

In still a further aspect the present invention consists in a machine fill of a container to a threshold weight, said machine fill involving weighing in a supply vessel a quantum of material(s) below the threshold weight, 555083 filling the container with at least substantially all of that quantum once the container has been at least partially evacuated of air, machine making up the weight of the at least part filled container to the threshold, characterised by any one or more of the following: (i) the vessel is a hopper and the apparatus for machine making up the weight of the at least partly filled container to the threshold does not require any substantial movement of the container horizontally from its position at which it received at least substantially all of the quantum from the hopper, (ii) there is provided a common chute for both dumping at least substantially all of the quantum from the supply vessel into the container and the dumping, cascading, dropping, etc of make up amount(s), (iii) the supply vessel is supported so as to be weighable so as to determine when the vessel has received a sufficient feed of material(s) prior to the dumping thereof into an underlying container, (iv) weighing apparatus is associated with the bag so as to measure when it sufficient make up material(s) has been deposited into the bag, (v) weighing apparatus provides control of the make up amount(s), (vi) a dust trap collects dust from above the container without wantonly allowing dust release from one or both the filling and/or make up steps.

In yet a further aspect the present invention consists in a fill line which includes at least one zone where a container evacuated of at least some air is to be both dump filled below a threshold value and to be made up with fill material(s) subsequently to receiving its dump fill, such making up being to at least to a required threshold, wherein the material(s) accumulated for the dump fill is accumulated for a subsequent dumping for a next container at least in part whilst there is at least in part a making up of the material(s) in the current container being filled. 555083 In another aspect the invention is a method of container filling which involves prefilling and making up to weight at the same footprint in a fill line.

In another aspect the invention consists in methods and apparatus substantially as hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In still other aspects the invention is a container filled by a method or apparatus of the present invention.

A preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a diagram of a bag fitted below apparatus in accordance with the present invention, the apparatus being shown in a diagrammatic form, Figure 1 corresponding to stage 1, Figure 2 is as in Figure 1 but corresponding to stage 2, Figure 3 is as in Figures 1 and 2 but corresponding to stage 3, Figure 4 is as in Figures 1, 2 and 3 but corresponding to stage 4, and Figure 5 is as in Figures 1 to 4 but corresponding to stage 5.

In the preferred form of the present invention the structural components and those including the material are preferably formed from a suitable material, such as stainless steel, whilst preferably flexible connections the like are preferably formed from a flexible synthetic plastics material, such as for example a silicon rubber. Movement, where and when required, can be by any suitable magnetic, electric, hydraulic and/or pneumatic means, or combination thereof, preferably under the control of machine control systems and/or operator input.

In the accompanying drawings there is shown a bag (e.g. of one or more plies and/or sleeved) being filled by the apparatus and showing the important features of the methodology and apparatus of the present invention, viz. inter alia the preferred same footprint bulk fill below a threshold and subsequent make up to the threshold, and the ability to seal the passage through which material from the bulk fill vessel or hopper is to flow or pass.

In the accompanying drawings the Figures 1 through 5 show respectively stages 1 through 5. 555083 Stage 5 Stage 1 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 2 pre weigh filling bag loaded head sealed bag vacuumed product dumped from pre-weigh vessel into bag lower filling head to isolate for weighing begin accurate final filling and weighing lower bag onto outfeed conveyor and load next bag In the drawings there is shown a pre-weigh chamber, vessel or hopper 1 in accordance with the present invention having a valving arrangement (in this case a butterfly valve but it could be any other equivalent valving arrangement) 11 that controls download of materials therefrom into a flexible connection 4 to a more stable region. It is into this flexible connection or rigid parts of it (e.g. of steel) that a make up auger 7 feeds.

The filling of the hopper 1 is preferably with a bulk feed auger 5 connected to the hopper 1 by a flexible connection 3.

Together the separation of a filling head 6 and its spout 8 from any direct connection to an extension of the final fill auger arrangement 7 and its associated flexible connection and the separation provided by the flexible connection 3 means that the load cell 2 can pre-weigh auger 5 loading of the hopper 1 whereupon there can then be a dumping of a known accumulation of material via the flexible connection 4, the more stable region 12, the filling head 6 and the filling spout 8 into a bag 10.

In the stage 1 condition shown in Figure 1 there is pre-weighed filling of the hopper 1 and the bag 10 is loaded onto the filling spout by any appropriate means.

At stage 2 (Figure 2) the head 6 is uplifted by any appropriate means to seal against the region 12 that depends downwardly from the auger 7 and the supporting flexible connection 4. This allows stage 2 to also draw a reduced pressure in the bag 10 (as shown by the bag collapse) by any appropriate vacuum means. A partial vacuum, administered through the vacuum duct 14, reduces air in the bag and the 555083 chute (i.e. passageway, funnel, spout, etc. arrangement of the apparatus) which might otherwise give rise to dust issuance subsequently.

At the time of stage 3 (Figure 3), the load cell 2 weighed hopper with its contents 13 is then released by the butterfly valve being opened as shown in Figure 3. This has the effect of moving that pre-weighed mass of material 13 down to the condition shown in Figure 3. The partial or full vacuum created (e.g. by a reverse flow fan system acting via duct 14) during stage two now allows the contents 13 to pass freely into the puckered container 10 with minimal air displacement.

Thereafter with the butterfly valve 11 in a condition as shown in Figure 4, the filling head 6 is lowered to isolate (from 12) the structure 6 and 8 that supports the bag 10 so that the load cell 9 can provide an accurate measure of the making up (i.e. above the bulk fill below threshold volume thus weight) to the requisite threshold under the cascading flow shown in Figure 4 under the action of the make up auger 7 within the apparatus below the flexible connection 4 and above the filling head 6 and the spout 8.

At the same time as the make up auger 7 is making up the weight under the control of the load cell 9, the hopper 1 can be subject to refilling over the closed butterfly valve 11 under the action of the auger 5.

Stage 5 then means that, whilst the hopper continues to be filled under the action of the auger 5, the bag 10 while still being supported can be further lowered onto an out-feed conveyor to enable that bag to then be taken to a downstream processing station whilst a bag for the next cycle is loaded to that spout 8 or a different spout 8.

Downstream processes include simply sealing and/or the prospect, prior to sealing, of the insertion of a vacuum lance and/or gas (e.g. nitrogen) flush lance into the material contained within the bag.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate how some of the cycle time is avoided by no need for any substantial horizontal movement of the bag prior to the weighing of the make up quantities or quantity and this represents a significant saving, whilst at the same time of allowing make up whilst the hopper accumulates its next load. Cycling to 200 bags or more an hour is envisaged. 555083 Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the ability to pull a negative pressure in the bag prior to the bulk fill thus minimising dust generated in the system to only that which might result from the top up quantity infeed as a cascade or trickle from the final fill auger 7.

All in all, several inventive aspects are embodied in apparatus in accordance with the present invention including the ability to isolate the pre-weight hopper and/or filling head/spout from undue influence on associated load cells.

Moreover persons skilled in the art will appreciate that whilst a pre-weigh followed by a make-up to threshold weighing occurs, alternatives to the pre-weigh are possible, e.g. filling to a below threshold volume, etc.

Also should there be any alternative to weighing for the make up to volume threshold any such alternatives fall within the scope of the present invention. 555083

Claims (5)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Apparatus for filling a bag to a threshold or weight, said apparatus comprising or including fill line apparatus to provide at least one fill line into a bag, in use, to be held thereto to receive material(s) to said threshold or weight, a hopper arrangement, in use, to accumulate material(s) below said threshold or weight yet, in use, able to dump such accumulated material(s) in a closed environment via said fill line apparatus into a bag held to said fill line apparatus, make up apparatus, in use, to feed in a closed environment material(s) via said fill line apparatus into a bag after a dump loading from the hopper arrangement until such time as the threshold or weight is recognised, and apparatus to recognise when the threshold or weight in a bag held to the fill line apparatus has been reached; wherein there is apparatus providing for partial air evacuation of said closed environment prior to the loading of material(s) via said fill line apparatus into a bag held thereto.

2. Apparatus of claim 1 wherein the hopper arrangement commences accumulation of material(s) prior to the bag being removed from said fill line apparatus.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the apparatus to recognise when the threshold or weight in a bag held to the full line apparatus has been reached is a load cell dependent apparatus on which the weight of the bag and its content bears directly or indirectly.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said makeup apparatus is auger fed.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said fill line apparatus is directly below said hopper arrangement. P APPLICANT