US2260302A - Means for filling and packing - Google Patents

Description

Oct; 28, 1941. I JQHJDRiSCOLL ETl'AL ,25

MEANs' FOR FILLING AND PACKING Filed Nov. 10, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig: 2

o o H D 1N\;ENTOR.

, $01 71 rzaco Y BY Ja'chard fprz'scall Fig: 1 2/ ATTORNEY.

Oct. 28, 1941. J. H. DRISCOLL ETAL MEANS FOR FILLING AND PACKiNG Filed Nov. 10, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. .71! flriscoll hardfibris'coll 4 4 W J n E h c m 03: G 0 n m f Y m m P A R 5, 5 m P m T v 1 A m u N b O Amw P l s m w PACK\NG CHAMBE ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 28, 1941 MEANS r-on FILLING AND PACKING John H. Driscoll, Edgewater, N. 3., and Richard J.

Driscoll, White Pia ins, N. Y.

Application November 10, 1937, Serial No. 173,894 9 Claims. (Cl. 226-48) This invention relates to machines for filling and packing containers, bags or casings with granular material such as beet pulp, cyanamid, zinc oxide, bran, granulated cork, oat hulls, grains of all kinds, and, generally, any free or semi-free" material which may be caused to flow through a supply pipe.

Heretofore, it has been found exceedingly difficult if not impossible to speedily fill a bag or container having a relatively small opening by means of an augur-type filling device. In order to obtain packing speed with a machine of this type, it is at present necessary to use a .widemouthed bag and an augur of such diameter and sizethat the entire top of the bag must be left open for filling purposes.

closure, the waste space created by the escape of air from the bag permits a relaxation of pressure upon the closure and a consequent dusting out of the contents of the bag.

A further object of this invention therefore,

is to provide a machine for filling and packing bags of the pre-sewn type above described at a speed at least approximately equal to that of.

other filling or packing machines, but which will nevertheless pack in such a manner that the material will not be aerated and will be packed solidly thus leaving no waste space, making it possible to use a smaller and less expensive bag This necessitates v a separate sewing or other closing operation upon the bag after itis filled, and requires that the bag have suflicient excess or waste material to permit the folding over for sewing or other closing operation, The use of a pre-sewn bag which as a relatively small opening which may autoltically or readily be closed, such as the Bates .alve bags described in Patents Nos. 810,318 and 907,557 (issued Jan. 16, 1906, and Dec. 22*, 1908,

respectively) would be a distinct advantage in that it saves the added work required in the operation of sewing or. tying the bag closedafter it is filled.

Accordingly, an object of our invention is to provide a machine of the augur type which may fill and pack with speed through a small opening and may thus be used in connection with bags of the type generally described as "presewn."

Since, heretofore, theuse of augur-type filling machines were found to be disadvantageous for packing pre-sewn bags, it has been necessary to use for such purpose machines of the rotary type such as the Bates Packer. means of filling a pre-sewn bag thus far used,

it is found that the material filled is aerated to such an extent that within a short period after filling, the material filled has settled when the large volume; and the augur of such machine In .any such 40 in the first instance, and creating a condition which will prevent dusting out of the contents of the bag.

Heretofore, it has been found that the packing speed. of a filling machine of the augur type is limited to the extent that the machine loses efilciency and packing speed when the augur,

rotates at a speed greater than 500 to 1000 R. P. M., different machines beginning to lose their emciency at different points within this-range.

Where the augur speed is greatly increased, it 7 r is found that the material merely lays up against the augur and does not enter its vanes for speedy v transmission downwards into the bag. Owing to this fact, it is necessary, in order to obtain speed with-an augur-type machine, to pack in is made of such a size that the entire top of the bag must be left open to permit the entry of material from the augur. This, of course,

requires that the augur-type Packing machine be a heavy cumbersome affair with concomitant ly greater cost,

Accordingly, a further object of this invention is to provide a method for filling and packing a bag by means ofa relatively small and light augur-type machine in which the augur may be caused to rotate at relatively unlimited speeds, as high as of the order of 2150 R. P. M. and higher." With such speed, we have found that an augur may be make to pack through an openair has seeped out. Owing to this condition, it mg as small as two inches in diameter. at speed is now necessary to use bags much, larger than are ultimately required so that the bag may waste space at the top of a one hundred poundgreater than that of any known augur-type ma- 1 chine and at least approximately equal to that 01 other types of filling machines. And that such machine notonly willpack and de-aerate,

but is not limited to exceedingly d y flowable bag. Aside from the added expense incurred in I the use of a larger bag,--in such pre-sewn bags as have a closure which is maintained by the material, but may also pack materialwhlch would tack" or wad in a filling machine ot the rotary type such as the Bates Packer.

It is now necessary to build machines of the pressure of the contents of the bag upon the augur type with speciflc'dimensions and clear.

' ances for specific products. An augur machine that will pack one kind of material such as pulverized zinc oxide cannot be used with any efficiency to pack another 'type such as beet pulp, A particular machine may thus be used advantageously to pack only a particular product.

.There'fore, a further object of our invention is to provide an augur type filling and packing machine which may be readily adjustable for use with diversified materials.

, Further objects and uses of this invention will be apparent from the following drawings and specification in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved augur type filling and packing machine. Figure 2 is a front elevation of the machine of Figure 1. 4

Figure 3 is a sectional view of our machine taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on-the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

We have here illustrated the simplest embodiment of our filling and packing machine. The material to be packed is retained in a large container or supply bin, l. A suitable timed feeding device such as a belt feed conveyor of the conventional type dribbles the granular material, to be packed into the' chute 2 from which such material drops by gravity into the inverted cone 3 striking the augur ,4 (Figure 3) angularly at its top and side. A motor 5 (Figures 1 and 2) through a belt drive 6 causes the augur 4 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the arrow 1, that being the direction opposite to that in which the vane of the augur descends.

The material is packed down by the augur 4 toward the bottom of the inverted cone 3 and is then forced out through the spout 8 to the opening 9.

The foregoing is merely a description of the through.

area of the surface of portion B of the vane where the downthrust of the vane again compensates for the narrowing of the cone3 so that the material is now partially compressed and the same weight of material moves at a constant rate of speed in spite of the confined space it must pass In the same manner, the material is forced into contact with a still greater area of the surface of portion C of the vane, and is almost solidly compressed at portion D of the vane, where the clearance between the vane and the wall of the cone is one fourth the clearance at portion A of the vane. E, E, E of the vane of .the augur is then to remove the packed material from the packing chamber I2 through the spout 8 \and out of the opening 9 into the bag l0. To assist the packing operation, we have found it advantageous to decrease the pitch of the vane of the augur 4 gradually toward the packing chamber IZ so that the distance between portions B and C of the vane is less than that between portions A and B, and the distance between portions C and D less thanv that between B and C. We have also found that an additional vane W, X, Y arranged on the augur between portions B, C and Dv of the main vane assist in packing down the material so that a greater amount of material may be fed into thetop of the cone. Since portions E, E, E of the vane must now remove the material which has been compressed and must do so with sufficient speed to prevent material from backing up into the cone, the shaft of the augur 4 is decreased in and course of the granular material from the original supply bin into the bag "I. What is far more important is that the invention here shown will fill and pack at much greater speed than maof the essence.

The material enters the cone at approximately the region ll. At the top of the cone, the clearance between the vane of the augur and the I wall of t e cone'is relatively large, such clearance gradually decreasing toward the bottom of the cone where' the clearance is small. Thus,

the clearance between the portion A of the vane and the wall of cone 3 is such that the material may. flow freely past such portion A, beingnevertheless assisted in its downward progress by the down thrust given by the edge of portion A of l the vane. The speed of revolution of the augur' l is such as to permit this slight contact of the material and the edge of portion A of the vane to.

so increase the rate of fiow of the material that the same weight of material entering the cone 3 at region ll may nevertheless pass'at a constant rate of speed to the narrower portion of the cone .iust below. A s the material passes down to portion B'of the vane of ,the augur, the narrowing diameter of the cone causes the wall of the cone to force the material into contact with a greater and the formation of the vanes of the augur arebelow the packing chamber l2 to the smallest diameter consistent with strength so that portions E, E of the vane may havethe greatest possible area, and thesaid portions E,E of the vane are further pitched at the greatest possible angle for swift removal of the material through the spout8, the pitch increasing .toward the opening 9. The clearance in the spout 8 is as small as it is possible to make it without interfering with the rotation of the augur 4. The additional vane,

, W, X, Ygives not merely added capacity and packing power but also serves to balance the augur during revolution and eliminates the necessity for an additional balancing vane at the bottom of the augur which may interfere with the speed of exit of the material.

It will thus be'obvious that the essential consideration here is the combination of cone and augur and the critical relationships between them. The spout 8 and the portions E, E of the vane are merely incidental but useful means for taking away the material as soon as it -is packed down. The proper relative dimensions as to allow room for additional supply. Lower in the cone, the clearances must diminish so that I the material will be packed solidly into the vanes,

much and thus leave a void in the packing area.

For the proper operation of the machine, we have found that all the material should not be thrown down the chute 2 at one time. Suflicient play must be given to the granular material so The function of portions that the vane of the augur may act upon it.

, great speed. The dribbling herein described is not intended to mean the slow dripping ofmaterial, but a situation in which one hundred pounds of material may fall in a steady flow over afew seconds instead of all at once. We have found that with an experimental model with a'spout, 8, two inches in diameter, we have been able to was removed from portion A of the 'vane, only a narrow strip of chalk was removed adjacent fill and pack materials at speeds greater than heretofore accomplished. Since most packing machines are generally built in such a manner that they have two or three spouts so that an operator may adjust a bag to one spout while the other is filling, capacities are given for such compound machines. ,With one spout, we have been able to pass five pounds of poultry mash per second; thus, a two spout machine built according .to our invention, and of an experimental nature only, can pack as 'much as 350 one hundred pound bags of poultry mash per hour. And this may be done with a pre-sewn bag, through a two inch opening and in such a manner that the material is not aerated and may thus be packed tightly and will remain tightly packed.

To illustrate the exact relationships of a suc cessful experimental model made according to our invention, Figures 1, 2 and 3 show the exact proportional relationships of the augur, cone and chute of such model, the exit spout 8 of such model being two inches in diameter and the top of the cone on the line l3--l3 being five inches in diameter. The economy resulting from the use of such a small machine, which is at least as effective in operation as other filling and/or packing machines, will be apparent. Of course, in-larger machines, or different kinds of machines made in accordance with our invention, clearances may be increased; the number and type of feeding. packing and exit vanes may be changed; but theymust all be formed in 9.0-.

cordance with principles which will now be clear.

In every case, the cone 3 must-be designed and built to conform with the augur l, to produce the decreasing clearances toward thev packing chamber, to permit a packing of the augur at high speed and the subsequent exit of the compressed material through the spout 8 into the bag In.

The combination of regulated pre-packing in the bottom of the cone and high speed rotation of the augur is necessary to deliver volume through a small spout adapted tobe fitted into a bag of the pre-sewn type with a small opening such as that shown in-bag ID of Figure 3. Indeed, we' have found that if the machine is stopped while it is packing and the spout 8 removed, the material'packed is seen to be solidly packed into the vane of the augur between the portions of the vanes D and Y and the portion E immediately below, showing the manner in to the edge of vane B, vanes W, C and K were progressively polished clean closer to the shaft of the augur,.and vanes D, Y andE were polished entirely clean; showing the manner in which the decreasing clearances, between the cone and augur, caused a progressive packing of the ma-,

terial. I

When relatively light material is packed, there is a tendency for such material to whirl when striking the portions M and N of the vane of the augur, where such vane tapers off. A very small amount of such material may remain suspended by such whirling action. Placing a shield l4 over such portions M and N of the vane,

so that a' smooth conical surface is presented,

to the flowing material around which it may readily flow, prevents such whirling and suspension. After'this-shield'is' in place, we found that observation through a small hole at l5 "showed the material apparently falling straight down toward the packing chamber. To further prevent leakage and dusting from the machine itself, we provide a felt gasket IB at the opening I'l through which the augur shaft enters the cone.

As material isejected under compression and pressure, the bag is filled to capacity and beyond if held to the spout. This eliminates aerating and the consequent settling which produces loosely filled bags and allows a' smaller bag to be used,-thereby reducing bag cost. As the bag is filled tightly, the contents do not shift or breathe" when handled; andthe added outward pressure of the contents causes the valve l8or a similar opening in the pre-sewn bag to seal more tightly and further prevent dusting and leakage.

In addition, by raising or lowering. the augur fractions of an inch, we can adapt the same machine to pack diversified materials. Thus, for freely flowing pulverized material, the augur should be lowered so that the clearances are at a minimum; and for coarse materials, such as beet pulp, the augur should be raised to increase the clearances. At l8, we have'shown a means for marking the augur shaft 'for degrees of coarseness, so that the operatormay adjust the augur shaft higher or lower in its mounting according to the gauge of coarseness desired. Other means of automatically raising and lowering the augur and other means of indicating the correct ad- Justment'will be obvious.

In various experiments with the same machine,

' we havefound' that we can get speeds at least as which this invention compresses the material a for packing at the entrance to the spout 8. We

have also found that the cooperation between the walls of the cone 8 and the'augur is illus- 707 permitting even a larger exit spout, a machine of tratedeby an experiment in which we applied chalk to the under surface of the vanes of the augur and to the top surfaces" as well. We found that, after packing, virtuallynoneof the chalk great and often greater speeds with many materials than heretofore obtained. Thus, using the same cone spout and augur. we can, with our experimental model, in addition to the figures stated above for poultry mash, pack at the rate of more than 610 ninety-four pound bags of cement per hour or one hundred pound bags of bran per hour,-with a two spout machine. We have also found it possible topack and compress such materials as asbestos, ground cork and beet pulp.

In addition, since the contents of the bag are to be packed tightly, the valve or other opening 01' thepre-sewn bag may be made larger, thus correspondingly increased capacity, anda greater flllingspeed.'. I Many other objects and uses of our invention will now be apparent to those skilled in the art.

' the vane descends; me

1 so arranged that its diameter decreases toward the base thereoi; an auger extending along the axis of said chamber, the clearance between the wall ofsaid chamber and the auger gradually decreasing toward' the base; means for rotating the auger in a direction opp site to that in which for creating a steady flow o1 material into the top of said chamber, the rotation of the auger and the said decreasing clearance forcing said material into said auger; said auger in its rotation compressing the material toward the base of said chamber; and means for removing said material from the base of said chamber, the pitch of the said auger decreasing toward the base of said chamber, and said auger having an additional vane interpolated between the spirals of its main vane in that portion of l the auger immediately above the base of said chamber, said decreased pitch and interpolated vane assisting in further compression of the material.

2. A machine for packing and flllinggranular material into a container, comprising in combiauger in a direction opposite to that in which the vane descends; means for creating a steady flow.

of material into the top of said-chamber; the rotation of the auger and the said decreasing bag; an augur extending along the axis of said being diametered and pitched to feed and pack a predetermined amount into said packing chamher; the vane of said spout augur being filled in 'said packing chamber; the pitch of said augur being increased downwardly from flight to flight in said spout; said spout and the portion of the augur in said spout being proportioned to have a capacity and speed of ejection substantially equal to the capacity of the feed portion of the augur to fill said packing chamber.

5. An apparatus for packing and filling gran-' 'ular material into a container, said apparatus comprising in combination a hopper, a packing chamber and a spout; said spout being of a size adapting it for insertion into the valve opening 'of a bag; an augur'extending along the axis of clearance forcing said material'into said auger;

rial toward the base of said chamber; and means for removing said material from the-base of said chamber, said means comprising a spout immediately below the base of said chamber, the said auger extending into said spout, the pitch of the said auger being increased in said spout to assist in rapid removal.

3. A machine for packing and filling granular material into a container, comprising in combination a conically shaped chamber having a wall'so arranged that its diameter decreases toward the chamber, said means comprising a spout immedi ately below the base of said chamber, the said auger extending into said spout, said auger having a decreased diameter in said spout, means for raising and lowering said auger; said raising and/or lowering said auger being adapted to adjust the machine to pack materials at the-en- 1 I trance to the spout at difiering densities.

4. An apparatus for packing and filling granular material into a container, said apparatus. comprising incombination a hopper, packing chamber and a spout; said spout being of a size adaptingit Ior insertion into the valve openingot a 75 saidauger in its rotation compressing the matesaid hopper, packing chamber and spout; said augur having a reduced diameter in said packing chamber and spout; said augur having a larger diameter in said hopper; said packing chamber being at the lowest extremity of and in communication with said hopper; the portion of the augur in said hopper being diametered and pitched to feed and pack a predetermined amount into said packing chamber; the vane of said spout augur being filled in said packing chamber; the pitch of said augur being increased downwardly from flight to flight in said spout; said spout and the portion of the augur in said spout being proportioned to have a capacity and speed of ejection substantially equal to the capacity of the feed portion of the augur to fill said packing chamber; and an adjustment for raising and lowering the augur which varies the cubic dimension of the packing chamber and the compressive action 4 thereof in packing the vane of the spout portion of the augur.

6. An apparatus for packing and filling granular material into a container; said apparatus comprising in combination a hopper, a packing chamber and a spout; said spout being of a size adapting it for insertion into the valve opening of a bag; an augur extending along the axis of said hopper, packingchamber and spout; said augur having a reduced diameter in said packing chamber and spout, and a larger diameter in said hopper; said packing chamber being at the lowest extremity of and in communication with said hopper; the portion of said augur in said hopper rial to be packed; said packing chamber being proportioned to compress said material, the vane of the spout augur being filled in said packing chamber with said compressed material at a. predetermined rate; means for varying the cubic dimension or the packing chamber and the com- 'pressive action thereof in packing the vane 01 the spout portion of the augur; the pitch of said augur being increased downwardly from flight to flight in said spout; said spout and the portion of the augur in said spout'being proportioned to have a capacity and speed of election substan-' tially equal to the capacity of the feed portion.

or the augur to fill said packing chamber.

7. An apparatus for packing and filling granular material into a container, said apparatus comprising in combination a hopper, a packing chamber and a spout; said spout being of a size adapting'it for insertion into the valve opening of a bag; an augur extending along the axis of said hopper, packing chamber and spout; said augur having a reduced diameter in said packing chamber and spout, and a larger diameter in said hopper; said packing chamber being at the lowest extremity of and in communication with said hopper; the portion of the aug'ur in said hopper being diametered and pitched to feed and pack a predetermined quantity of material at a predetermined rate into said packing chamber; means for increasing the supply of material to thepacking chamber and for balancing and equalizing the pressure of said material in the packing chamber, said means comprising an added vane for the feed portion of the augur interpolated between the flights of the principal vane of said augur immediately above the packing chamber; the vane of said spout augur being packed with said material in its compressed state in said packing chamber; the pitch of said augur 1 being increased downwardly from flight to flight in said spout; said spout and the portion of the augur in said spout being proportioned to have a capacity and speed of ejection substantially equal to the capacity of the feed portion of the augur to fill said packing chamber.

8. An augur apparatus for packing and filling granular material at high speed, said apparatus comprising in combination a hopper, a packing chamber and a spout; said spout being of a size adapting it for insertion into the valve opening of a bag; an augur extending along the axis of said hopper, packing chamber and spout; said augur having a reduced diameter in said packing chamber and spout, and a larger diameter in said hopper; said packing chamber being at the lowest hopper; the portion of said augur in said hopper being diametered and pitched to feed and pack a predetermined quantity of material at a predetermined rate into said packing chamber; an added vane interpolated between the flights of the principal vane, of the augur immediately above the packing chamber; said added vane immediately above the packing chamber equalizing and balancing the pressure within the pack-' ing chamber; the vane of the spout augur being packed in said packing chamber, the material chamber.

- extremity of and in communication with said 9. An apparatus for packing and filling granular material into a container, said apparatus comprising in combination a hopper, a packing chamber and a spout; an augur extending along the axis of saidhopper, packing chamber and spout; said augur being of a reduced diameter in said spout and of a larger diameter in said hopper; the spout portion of the augur extending into said packing chamber; the portion of said augur in said hopper being diametered and pitched to feed a predetermined quantity of material at a predetermined rate into said packing chamber; said material being compressed to its greatest density in said packing chamber; an added vane interpolated between the flights of the principalvane of the augur in that portion of the augur immediately above the packing chamber, the pressure upon the material in the packing chamber being thereby equalized and balanced; the 'vaneoi the spout portion of the augur being packed with said material in its compressed state in said packing chamber; the spout portion of the augur being adapted to remove said material from said packing chamber.

' JOHN H. DRISCOLL.

RICHARD J. DRISCOIL.

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