US2933868A

US2933868A - Mechanism for treating filled packages

Info

Publication number: US2933868A
Application number: US770537A
Authority: US
Inventors: Graefingholt Alfred
Original assignee: FR Hesser Maschinenfabrik AG
Current assignee: FR Hesser Maschinenfabrik AG
Priority date: 1957-11-14
Filing date: 1958-10-29
Publication date: 1960-04-26
Anticipated expiration: 1977-04-26

Description

April 26, 1960 A. GRAEFINGHOLT 2,933,868

MECHANISM FOR' TREATING FILLED PACKAGES Filed Oct; 29, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet l M M yw mm m 1 M W uww N Arr i April 26, 1960 A. GRAEFINGHOLT 2,933,868

' MECHANISM FOR TREATING FILLED PACKAGES Filed Oct 29, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 26, 1960 A. GRAEFINGHOLT 2,

I MECHANISM FOR TREATING FILLED PACKAGES Filed Oct. 29, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 a W 7 M 5 WWW W. /M m p m i April '26, 1960 A. GRAEFINGHOLT ,933, 8

MECHANISM FOR TREATING FILLED PACKAGES Filed Oct. 29, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig. 7

//V VE/V 7' 0 F I M 59x0 GRA fF/NG/fOA r 9 wad MK M161 Arryll.

g'esellscliaft, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, Germany, a corpar-arise of Germany Application October 29, 1958, Serial No. 770,537

Claims priority, application Germany November 14, 1957 10- Claims. (Cl. 53--95) .Tlie iiive'ntion relates to a mechanism for packaging. plants or the like and, more particularly, for evacuating, atidgas-tr'eating, packages which are filled with-various kihds' of contents.

Mechanisms are known which extract by suction any' air remaining in'a package after filling. Such mechanisrns use anozzle which is introduced into the package and, where appropriate, then fills the package with an inert gas. These mechanisms, however, are not suitable for use with packages and charged-in commodities when comparatively large amounts of air remain in the package after the latter has been filled. In these cases, the walls of the packageareusually so severely deformed, during the evacuation of the remaining air, that the deformation cannot be rectified by the subsequent application of-inert gas.

It has, therefore,.becn proposed to evacuate the pickages in a chamber which is capable of being closed airtight, and. in which the same pressure is ensured both inside and outside the packages. To increase the rate of production, a plurality ofsuch chambers have been arranged on a rotary disc, but the packages have had to be placed in, and taken out of, the individual chambers by hand. I

To dispose of the drawbacks previously encountered, the mechanism according to the present invention comprises a plurality of chambers which are arranged in a circle and each pivotally mounted on an intermittentlymovable drum. Each chamber is adapted to be closed airtight, and each chamber is adapted to receive a package to be treated. A fixed cam disc or the like cooperates with the passing chambers so that, in each step of the drum, two of the chambers are brought parallel to one another and perpendicular to a conveyor mechanism having holders or the like in which the packages are in troduced to the treating mechanism and transported therefrom. Simultaneously with this step, each of the two charnbers is opened sothat a package to be treatedlis pushed from a conveyor holder into one of the two chambers opened by the pivoting movement and an evacuated, or an evacuated and gas-treated, package is pushed from the other of these two chambers out into the conveyor holder which has been emptied of its package during the preceding step.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention one or more pairs of jaws arranged on a siide are used to empty the chambers. At the same time, the jaws close the packages, by using pressure and heat, during the period in which the evacuated or gas-treated packages are extracted from the chambers and introduced into the conveyor, holders. Other features of this inventionare disclosed the following specification.

The mechanism according to the present invention can be built into packaging plants or the like, such, as filling arid closur'e machines, or wrapping machinesjof standare types. In addition, the mechanism permits a rapid evacuation and gas-treatment of the filled packages with gssasss Patented Apr. 26, 1960 out requiring any further operating personnel, so that" the output of the parent machine does not have to be Figure 5 is a sideview of thedevice illustrated in- Figure L- Figure 6 shows a package which is to be evacuated and I gas-treated by means of the mechanism.

Figure: 7 shows, in elevation, a detail of the driving mechanism. I

The mechanism described hereafter is suitable for; the evacuation, gas-treatment and closure of packages, particularly of packages of the form shown in Figure 6. In the example illustrated in the drawing, the mechanism is disposed vertically above the conveyor means of a packaging plant.

In more particularity, the mechanism comprises a drum 1- which is secured to a shaft 3 rotatably mounted in a frame? The drum is is moved intermittentlvby a gearing of known type, for example by a Maltese cross gearing; Eight shafts 5 are, for example, rotatably mounted in the drum 1, and a casing defining a chamber dis associated with each of them. Attached to each of the shafts 5 are levers 7 having guide pins 8 which runv in a groove in a stationary cam disc 9 and determine the position at all times of the chamber 6' radially of the drum- Thecam disc 9 is fastened to a side wall of the frame 2 and is of a form such that at any onetime the bottom two chambers ii adjacent and opposite the conveyor F of a machine (not shown) are rocked successively into a vertical position so that they stop, during the pause followingeach step in the movement of the drum, directly above two holders 4 of the conveyor F located therebeneath (see Figure 1,).

A pair of radial guideways 11 are arrangedat regular intervals around the periphery of the drum 1, these being of anumbercorresponding to that of the chambers 6. Plates 12 serving as closure covers for these chambers are displaceably arranged in the guideways 11 and are urged towards the chambers 6 by springs 13, Figure 2. Apacking device 14 of appropriate shape serves to seal eachchamber 6 gas-tight.

Before a: chamber 6 is rocked into a position perpendicular to the conveyor F, the associated plate 12'is 'lifted'by means of guide rails'ftS which are arranged at the two Isides thereof on the frame 2, and have two rollers 16 mounted on. the plates 12 running thereon.

V Each plate 12 remain". in this lifted position for two steps in the intermittent rotary movement, so that the chamber 6 concerned can be emptied, and thereupon immediatelyv re-fille'd.

Packages P, of the form depicted in Figure 6, are conducted by means of a slide 19 into the chambers 6 and held firmly by clips 21 which are arranged in pairs in the upper end of these chambers. In addition, two pairs of gripper-

type distending fingers

23, 24 urged together by a spring 22, are arranged in each chamber 6. One of the

disten'ding fingers

23, 24 has at its inner'sidea nose 25 whichengage's in a corresponding're'cess 26 in the other finger. When these fingers are closed together} the nose 25 engages in a portion A pressed out of-the closure seams N, N of the package P and pushes the opposite part of the other closure seam into the recess 26. The result of this is that the closure seamslare held open, this being particularly important for the gas-treat ing process.

The inert gas, when introduced during the gas treatment, flows directly from a nozzle-like tube 27, which is provided for this purpose, into the opening of the package, which is being held open in this way. To prevent the distending fingers 23 interfering with this stream of gas, an opening 29 is provided in the nose 25 of the finger 23. During the charging and discharging of such chamber 6, the distending

fingers

23, 24 are forced apart by two pairs of wedges 28 which are secured to rams 20 and engage the spring anchorages 32 on these fingers.

Two pairs of gripper jaws 30 are additionally provided, together with the slide 19, on a common ram 20, and these are opened and shifted over the closure seams N, N of the package P, as the ram 20 moves upwards, by means of bars 31 which reciprocate in timed relation with the machine operation.

The jaws 30, each of which is heated by an electrical heating element, engage the package P at the two closure seams N, N, and press these together during the period t that the package P is guided out of the chamber 6. As a result of this, the package P is closed by heat sealing during the conveyed travel thereof.

A plurality of

valves

35, 36 which are controlled by fixed cams 37, 37' are installed in each of the two walls of the drum for controlling the suction and the gas, these successively connecting each chamber 6 first with a suction blower or the like and subsequently with a gas container. For this purpose, the valves 35, which are used to control the gas supply, are connected firstly through a flexible conduit 42 to each chamber 6 and secondly through an opening 28 provided in a wall of the drum, with an opening 40 in the shaft 3, through which the gas is admittel from the gas container. The valves 36 controlling the suction are similarly connected to the chamber 6 through opening 39 in the other wall of the drum and an opening 41 in the shaft 3 to the suction blower.

The individually-moved parts of the mechanism are driven from an electric motor 53 which drives a shaft 55 through a chain 54. The shaft 55 is coupled through a chain drive 56 to an element 50 of a Maltese cross gear which moves the drum 1 intermittently, cf. Figure 7. The star 51 of the Maltese cross gear is arranged directly on one of the two walls of the drum 1.

The thrust and descending'movement of the ram 20, i.e. of the slide 19 and the jaws 30, are controlled by

cams

60, 61 secured to a shaft 63 which is driven from shaft 55 through a chain drive 62. One of these cams, viz. 60, produces the thrust movement, whilst the other 61 controls the descending movement, and a rotatably-mounted lever 64, which is forked at the end, runs overthese cams, this lever 64 being connected at its other end to a link 65 which is articulated to the ram 20. This ram is mounted for displacement. on a stationary, vertical post 66, whereby the ram will carry out a rectilinear upward and downward motion.

The jaws 30 are closed and opened by a cam disc 70 which is also fixedly secured to the shaft 63. During its rotary movement, this cam disc 70 operates the link 31 through a pivotally mounted plate 71 and a coupling lever 72 articulated thereto, so that when the link 31 is in its forwardly-displaced position, the jaws 30 are opened against the action of springs 32, and in the retracted position cf the link 31 the jaws 30 are closed by these springs.

The operation proceeds as follows:

After the drum 1 and theconveyor mechanism F have moved one step, the lifting slide 19 shifts a package P from a conveyor holder 4 into the left hand chamber 6 of the two parallel, bottom chambers, and the packpackage P, which is located in the right hand chamber" 6 and has previously been evacuated and gas-treated, at the closure seams N, N and close it by heat-sealing during the downward movement of ram 20.

During the next-following step, the freshly-charged chamber 6 is pivoted back by the cam 9 into its radial position and is gas-tightly closed by the associated plate 12. Thereupon the valve 36 is opened by the cam 37, and suction applied to this chamber for a predetermined period, until the valve 36 closes again, and the gas valve 35 is then opened to admit the protective inert gas to The gas valve 35 is re-closed shortly before the rocking of the chamber into the discharge this chamber.

position.

To ensure that no air can pass into the package during the opening of the chamber 6 and the closing of the packages concerned by the jaws 30, this package is filled with gas at a pressure which is somewhat higher than that of the outer atmospheric air. The gas following out on opening the chamber prevents the entry of air into the package, which, at this moment, is still open.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment which has been illustrated and described above, but can be implemented in modified ways.

What I claim is:

1. A gas-filling device for treating filled packages comprising a rotatable drum, a plurality of chambers mounted in a circle on said rotatable drum, means to pivot each of said chambers relative to said drum, means to rotate said rotatable drum in predetermined incremental steps, means to close each of said chambers airtight, conveyor means at least part of which is in contiguous relation with said rotatable drum to convey packages to said chambers, a cam disc means cooperating with said chambers to turn two chambers parallel to each other and perpendicular to said conveyor means during each step of said drum movement, means on said rotatable drum to open said two chambers during their turning movement, first means adjacent said conveyor means to push a package from said conveyor means into the leading one of said two chambers, second means adjacent said conveyor means to push a package from the other of said two chambers into said conveyor means substantially simultaneously with the action of said first means, and means to apply a suction to each of said two chambers as it is returned to its radial position after being supplied with a package to be treated.

2. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1, including means to introduce an inert gas into a chamber for a predetermined interval of time.

3. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1, comprising a reciprocable slide to lift a package from said conveyor means into one of said two chambers, and clip means in the upper end of each chamber to seize and hold a package.

4. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1, comprising reciprocable gripper jaws to seize closure seams of each package in a chamber to draw the package from the chamber.

5. A mechanism as set forth in claim 4, including means to heat said gripper jaws to close each package by heat-sealing.

6. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1, wherein a closure plate is provided for each chamber at the periphery of said rotatable drum to close each chamber when in a radial position, means adjacent each closure plate to press each closure plate airtight against the associated chamber, and means to lift each closure plate from the associated chamber when two chambers are pivoted perpendicular to said conveyor means.

7. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1, including spring-urged pairs of gripper means at opposite inner sides of each chamber, a nose formed on at least one of said gripper means, the other gripper means of each pair being formed with a recess to receive said nose.

8. A mechanism as set forth in claim 7, including a nozzle-type tube to inject a stream of inert gas into said package to be treated.

9. A mechanism as set forth in claim l, including spring clip means in each of said chambers to hold a package in a fixed position within the chamber.

10. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1, including a plurality of valve means arranged in two coaxial circles at opposite sides of said rotatable drum, cam means positioned adjacent said drum to actuate said valve means for controlling the feed of inert gas and of suction air to each of said chambers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,130,761 Bickford Sept. 20, 1938 2,482,609 Berch Sept. 20, 1949 2,570,956 Kronquest Oct. 9, 1951 2,729,378 Pujol y Font Jan. 3, 1956