US2306426A

US2306426A - Bag opening device

Info

Publication number: US2306426A
Application number: US389795A
Authority: US
Inventors: Philander R Bundy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1941-04-22
Filing date: 1941-04-22
Publication date: 1942-12-29
Anticipated expiration: 1959-12-29

Description

Dec. 29, 1942.l P. R. BUNDY 2,306,426

BAG OPENING DEVICE Fiiea April 22. -1941 Patented Dec. 29, 1942y UNITED STATES rATrNT .oFFlcE BAG OPENING DEVICE Philander R. Bundy, Indianapolis, Ind. Application April 22, 1941, Serial No. 389,795

12 Claims.

This invention relates to dispensers and more particularly to an improved bag opening device.

One object of the invention is to provide a bag opening device which will operate in a highly eiiicient manner for opening bags, sacks or similar containers, particularly those containing lime, carbon, cement or other powdered material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bag opening device wherein means are employed for spreading the sides of the bag so that the contentsl thereof may be fully and completely discharged.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bag opening device which may be removably mounted on a hopper and can, therefore, be

` readily transferred from one hopper or machine to another.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character wherein the cutting blade employed may bereadily removed and sharpened when necessary.

And another object' of' the invention is to provide a bag opening device wherein means: is eniployed for urging the opening fingers toward operative or inoperative` position.

Still further objects of the invention, not specifically mentioned hereinbefore, will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In they drawing forming a part of my application:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectionalv proved bag openingA device,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the invention, v Figure 3 is a top plan View, and

Figure 4' is an .enlarged detail side elevation particularly showing the shifting mechanism for the opening' ngers.

Referring now to they drawing in` more detail, the numeraly I indicates in general a tubular body which is preferably formed off sheet metal of a suitable weight. The body I is formed with a laterally andv radially extending mounting flange 2 which is normally engaged with. the margin dening a-n opening 3v in a hopper, a portion of the` top wall of which is' shown at 4." It should be understood that the body I' is of'sufli- View of my imvcient height and diameter to accommodate con'- ventional bags of the type employed for transporting lime, carbon, cement or other dusty material.

Mounted in the body I and extending upwardly throughout the major portion of the height thereof and diametrically thereof is an invert-ed V-shaped cutting blade 5, said bladebeing hat and having a cutting edge vIi. Removbeeomevbent, As bestably mounting theY cutting blade in the lower end of the body I are brackets 1 and 8, said brackets being disposed at diametrically opposite points on the body and each having a mounting leg 9 secured to the ange 2 by a stud III. As will be seen, ythe brackets Tand 8 include clips II and I2 which engage the lower end cor-l ners of the blade 5 and are removably fastened thereto by means of screws I3. It should be understood that, while I have shown three screws extending through each of the clips, one screw or bolt extending through each of said clips may be substituted if desired. In other Words, one screw, it isl believed. will be suiiicient in all ordinary applications. The brackets 1 and 8- also are each formed with a supporting arm I 4, the supporting arms of saidv brackets being disposed in horizontal alinement and being formed with alined openings defining bearings I 5 the purpose for which Will be described in more detail hereinafter. 4 f

Mounted on the blade 5v medially of the width thereof and near its point are spreading elements I6. One of the spreading elementsYY is mounted. on each side of the blade andv said elements are connected to the blade by means of studs I7. The elements I6 are, furthermore, positioned with their free end portions extending downwardly and outwardly. The purpose for the spreading elements will be set forth in more detail hereinafter.

In order to spread the mouth of asack or bag to full ,open position `to permit full discharge of the contents of the bag or sack., I provide spreading fingers. I8 whichform parts of spreading iinger assemblies IIJI and 20.. The spreading finger assembly I9 is mounted atone side of the blade and the assembly 20 is mounted on the other side thereof. The assemblies I9. and. 20- are of identical construction so that a description of one will suflice for both. The spreading iinger assembly I9 includes a rock shaft 2I which has its opposite ends journaled inL alined bearings I5 of the arms I'4. The assembly I9 also lincludes the fingers I8 Which-are, as shown, three. i-n number and are disposed in spaced relation along the rockr shaft. It should beunderstood that, while I have shown but three of the fingers I8, any suitable number of them may be employed. They may be of equal lengthfor, as shown inFigure 1, the center'in'ger may be slightly longer. than the'ngers disposed at each side of said center nger. The fingers I8` are formed of wireor other desired materiall and are sufficiently stiff so that they willv not easily shown in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawing, the ngers are normally disposed with their upper ends in engagement with the opposite faces of the blade 5. The upper ends of the centermost fingers, as will be seen, terminate in vertically spaced relation to the lower ends of the elements IB.

In order that the rock shafts 2| of the assemblies l9 and 20 may be rocked for shifting the ngers from inoperative to operative position, and vice versa, I provide shifting mechanism which will now be described. At corresponding ends of the rock shafts 2| are mounted shifting

links

22 and 23. As seen in Figures l and 2, the

shifting links

22 and 23 extend toward each other so that their major portions lie in substantially close spaced relation to each other. The

links

22 and 23 are provided with slots 24 and 25 respectively, said slots being disposed in substantially horizontally alined position. As shown at 26, the ends of the shafts 2l which are mounted in the

links

22 and 23 are squared so that relative movement of said links and said shafts will be prevented. Mounted on the upper face of the flange 2 near the edge thereof is a mounting bracket 21, said mounting bracket being of substantially reverse L-shape and including a vertically extending arm 28. Pivotally mounted on the upper end portion of the arm 28 of the bracket 21, by means of a pivot bolt 29, is an operating lever 36, said lever having a relatively long arm 3|, which is manually engageable, and having a relatively short arm 32 which is connected with the

links

22 and 23 by a connecting link 33 and by pivot bolt-s 34 and 35, said bolt 34 extending into the end portion of the arm 32 and said bolt 35 extending through the slots 24 and 25 of the

links

22 and 23. Mounted on the bracket 21 is a lug 36 which has anchored thereto the lower end of a retractile spring 31, the upper end of said spring being connected to the arm 3| of the lever 30 by means of a lug 38.

The operation of my improved bag opening device will now be described.

It is iirst presumed that my improved bag opening device has been positioned on a hopper or other container which is to receive the contents of a bag of cement, carbon, lime or the like. A bag to be emptied is inverted and its lower end is inserted in the upper end of the body l. The bag or sack is forced downwardly for engaging the points of the cutting blade 5. By forcing the llower end of the bag or sack against the cutting blade, said cutting blade will slit the lower end of the bag so that the contents thereof will be free to be discharged. As the lower end portions of the bag, which lower end portions were dened by slitting the lower end of said bag, move downwardly along the blade 5, the elements I6 will cause these lower end portions to spread slightly and thus to clear the upper ends of the fingers I8 which are, in inoperative position, caused to bear against the opposite faces of the blade by tension of the spring 31. When the bag has been moved to its fullest extent within the body I, the lower end portions of the side walls of the bag will be disposed near the lower end of the blade 5. In order that the contents may be fully and completely discharged, the lever 3| is manually engaged and is shifted for raising the link-s 22 and 23 and thus rocking the fingers outwardly to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 4. When the ngers are thus moved outwardly, the mouth of the sack or bag will be opened to its fullest extent for permitting full discharge of the contents into the hopper or other container which is disposed beneath the device. In order that the operation of the shifting mechanism may be more completely understood, it is desired to state that shifting of the lever 30 will be imparted to the

links

22 and 23 through the link 33 and the

pivot bolts

34 and 35. Said pivot bolt 35 will, of course, be capable of sliding movement within the slots 24 and 25 in the

links

22 and 23. The spring 31 is mounted in such a manner that it will exert its tension for moving the lever toward operative or inoperative positions. That is to say, the spring is mounted so that, when it is in vertical position, it is on dead center and when it is moved to either side of Vertical position, it will exert equal pulling vor tensioning stress on either side of dead center. Therefore, the spring will urge the lever toward the inoperative position shown in Figure 2, after dead center has been passed, or it will urge the lever toward the operative position shown in dotted lines in Figure 4, on the other side of dead center.

It is desired to call attention to the fact that, inasmuch as the body l completely surrounds the lower end of the sack or bag, there will be no possibility of diifusion of the contents in the form of dust. Thus it will be seen that waste is largely prevented and that cleanliness of the establishment within which the device is used is enhanced. Moreover, as best seen in dotted lines in Figure 2, the fingers I8 are provided with rods 68a to limit downward movement of the bag along said iingers.

It is also desired to call attention to the fact that my improved bag opening device may be readily removed from one hopper or container and installed on another, when desired. The

invention is characterized by the utmost simplicity in construction.

It is now thought that the construction and operation of my improved bag opening device will be thoroughly understood.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A bag opening device including a body, a cutting blade, means mounting the cutting blade in the body, said cutting blade being engageable with the lower end of a bag for opening said bag within the body, means carried by the cutting blade for initially spreading the opened lower end of the bag, and means carried by the body and operable for secondarily spreading the mouth of the bag for permitting full discharge of the contents thereof through the body.

2. A bag opening device including a body, a cutting blade in the body for opening a bag, means on the blade and engageable with portions of the bag for initially spreading the mouth of the bag` and means carried by the body below the cutting edge of the blade and movable from an inoperative position adjacent the blade to an operative position extending toward the wall of the body for secondarily spreading the mouth of the bag. 3. A bag opening device including a body, a cutting blade in the body for opening a bag, means on the blade and -engageabie with portions of the bag for initially spreading the mouth of the bag, means carried by the body below the cutting edge of the blade and movable from an inoperative position adjacent the blade to an operative position extending toward the Wall of the body for secondarily spreading the mouth of the bag, said last-mentioned means including a nger, and a rock. shaft operatively mounting the finger.

4. A bag opening device including a body, a blade, means removably mounting the blade in the body, said blade being operative for slitting the lower end of a bag in the body, and means in the body below the cutting edge of the blade for spreading the mouth of the bag after slitting of the lower end thereof whereby complete discharge of the contents of the bag may take place, said means including a rock shaft, a linger on the rock shaft, and means for imparting rock'- ing movement to the rock shaft.

5. A bag opening device including ra body, a cutting blade in the body, said cutting blade having an edge engageable with a bag for slitting the lower end thereof, fingers carried in the body and engageable within the bag upon downward movement of said bag along the blade, and means for shifting the fingers away from the blade for spreading the mouth of the bag.

6. A device of the class described including a body, a blade operatively mounted in the body and engageable with a bag for slitting the lower end thereof, a plurality of lingers engageable within the bag as said bag is moved downwardly along the blade for spreading the mouth of the bag, a rock shaft mounting the fingers, means operatively connecting the rock shaft with the body, and means for imparting rocking movement to the rock shaft.

7. A device of the class described as recited in claim 6 wherein said penultimate means removably mounts the blade within the body.

8. A device of the class described including a body, a blade mounted in the body and being engageable with a b-ag for slitting the lower end thereof, a rock shaft, means operatively connecting the rock shaft with the body, a finger carried by the rock shaft and extending upwardly along the blade, an operating link carried by the rock shaft, an operating lever, means operatively connecting the operating lever with the body, and means operatively connecting the lever with the operating link, said lever being engageable for shifting the link and rocking the rock shaft whereby the` finger will be swung away from the blade for spreading the mouth of the bag and thus permitting complete discharge of the contents thereof through the body.

9. A bag opening device including a body, a blade,y means operatively mounting the blade in the body, said blade being engageable with a bag for slitting the lower end thereof, a pair of rock shafts, one of said rock shafts being mounted on each side of tne blade, lingers carried by the rock shafts, said fingers being arranged in spaced relation to each of said shafts, operating links carried by the shafts and extending toward each other and in parallel relation throughout portions of the links, said operating links having slots, an operating lever, means operatively con necting the operating lever with the body, and means operatively connecting the operating lever with the operating links, said lever being shiftable for shifting the operating links and rocking the shafts whereby the lingers on each shaft will be swung away'froin the blade for spreading the mouth of the bag after the lower end thereof has been slitted whereby complete discharge of the contents from the bag will be permitted.

10. A bag opening device including `a body, a cutting blade, means removably mounting the cutting blade in the body, said cutting blade being engageable with the lower end ofA a` bag for slitting the same, spreading elements carried by the blade and engageable with portions of the bag for initially spreading the mouth of the bag, rock shafts, means operatively connecting the rock shafts with the body, links carried on the rock shafts, an operating lever, means operatively connecting the operating lever with the links, lingers on the rock shafts and extending upwardly along the blade, said fingers being engageable within the bag as said bag is moved downwardly along the blade, said fingers having their upper ends in engagement with the walls of the blade in operative position, said operating lever being shiftable for rocking theshafts and swinging the fingers away from the blade into operative position secondarily spreading the mouth of the bag, and means connected between the body and the operating lever and urging said operating lever toward operative or inoperative positions. n

11. A device ofthe class described as recited in claim 10 wherein'said last-mentioned means is constituted by a retractile spring, said spring havingv one end connected with the operating lever and the opposite end connected withthe body.

12. A device of the class described as recited in claim 6 including means onthe fingers for limiting downward movement of the bag.

PHILANDER R. BUNDY.