US3712018A - Method of folding and bundling large sacks - Google Patents

Abstract

Sacks for collecting trash are individually folded at least twice and stacks of individually folded sacks are accumulated one on top of another to form a stack that is bundled by grouping the plurality of sacks together with two spaced bands of wire or cords extending in one direction circumferentially about the stack. The sacks are removed one at a time from the bundled stack without removing the bands from the remaining bundled stack and without unfolding the sacks remaining in the bundled stack at the trash collecting truck, by grasping the sack to be removed and pulling it in a direction perpendicular to the circumferential extent of the wire.

Description

United States Patent [191 Lundin [111 3,712,018 [4 1 Jan. 23, 1973 [54] METHOD OF FOLDING AND BUNDLING LARGE SACKS [75] Inventor: Erik L. Lundin, Vallingby, Sweden [73] Assignee: Sven Hansson & Co. AIL, Bromma,

Sweden [22] Filed: Jan. 18, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 107,356

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 782,108, Dec. 9,

1968, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl ..53/21, 53/26 [51] Int. Cl ....B65b 11/00, B65b 13/02 [58] Field of Search ..53/21, 26,117, 21 FW; 206/65 B, 57 R, 57 A, 83.5; 93/93 M; 221/63, 1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Petersen .-.22 1 I63 3,292,505 12/1966 Wiseman ..93/93 M 3,333,686 8/1967 Schnabel... ....206/57 R X 3,392,825 7/1968 Gale et al ....206/57 A X 3,406,818 10/1968 Barnett ..53/3 X 3,416,286 12/1968 Ciccone ..53/3 3,467,249 9/1969 Calvert ..206/83.5 X

Primary ExaminerTravis S. McGehee Assistant Examiner-Horace M. Culver Attorney-Burns, Doane, Swecker 8L Mathis [571 ABSTRACT Sacks for collecting trash are individually folded at least twice and stacks of individually folded sacks are accumulated one on top of another to form a stack that is bundled by grouping the plurality of sacks together with two spaced bands of wire or cords extending in one direction circumferentially about the stack. The sacks are removed one at a time from the bundled stack without removing the bands from the remaining bundled stack and without unfolding the sacks remaining in the bundled stack at the trash collecting truck, by grasping the sack to be removed and pulling it in a direction perpendicular to the circumferential extent of the wire.

5 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAH 23 I975 SHEET 2 [IF 2 km mw I INVENTOR.

ERIK LUNDI N ATTORNEYS METHOD OF FOLDING AND BUNDLING LARGE SACKS This application is a continuation-in-part of my application, Ser. No. 782,108, filed Dec. 9, 1968, now abandoned.

The present invention concerns sacks, bags, tote boxes and similar containers of paper or plastic that are of a size making them useful as trash or refuse bags, and more specifically, it concerns especially the method of bundling the sacks after their manufacture so stacks of sacks can be loaded onto a trash or refuse collecting vehicle, and the individual sacks removed, one at a time, without destroying the stack which remains as a bundle.

Sacks of the kind involved here are commonly bundled after manufacture in packets of, for example, from 25 to 100, the bundles being held together by bands comprising wire, cord, or the like. These sacks are, as a rule, manufactured from several layers of kraft paper, or of plastic, and are quite large and cumbersome to handle.

The bundling has hitherto been done so that the sacks are laid off from the machine for the manufacture of same, one at a time, on top of each other, until a desired number has been stacked. The sacks as extended are unfolded. A group of sacks used to make a single bundle is then usually folded'twice, pressed flat and tied under pressure.

The prior method, as described above, results in several technically and economically noticeable disadvantages, which the invention is intended to remove.

The greatest of the disadvantages is manifested in that in order to take out one sack at the location where trash is to be collected, the whole bundle must be untied to be unfolded, one sack removed, then the bundle refolded and retied and placed on the trash collecting vehicle. The bundle spreads over an area several times larger than the area the bundle needs for storage when unfolded. Since trash collection vehicles do not customarily have sufficient space for unfolding, the bundle is normally placed on the ground. Some sacks in each bundle are frequently ruined by this type of handling.

For example, getting out a single trash collecting sack from a conventional bundle is usually done in the manner that the whole bundle is laid on the ground and unwrapped, whereupon a sack is taken out, the bundle is again folded together and thereafter returned to its stowing place in the trash collecting vehicle. This procedure is highly inefficient and particularly badduring inclement weather, both with regard to work time and to the condition of the sacks.

A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved way of handling such sacks by providing a novel sack folding and packaging arrangement so that one sack can be removed at a time without untying or otherwise unbundling the stack of sacks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel arrangement wherein each sack in the bundle is individually folded two or more times to only a fraction of its original length before the sacks are brought together. Thereafter the sacks may be stacked on top of each other and tied in bundles with bands of wire or cords extending in planes parallel to the sack length. In order to simplify further the taking out of a sack, the

tension of the bands is sufficiently small so as to allow removal of the sacks, one at a time, by grasping theside edge of a sack to be removed and pulling in the direction of the width of the sack. Each sack is preferably folded so that the edge containing the socalled thumb grip is on an outer folded sack layer and located back from the adjacent fold line. This minimizes the likelihood of damage to the ends of the open end of the sack during removal of the sack from the stack.

Each sack is preferably also folded so that the socalled thumb grip, which in the illustrated embodiment is in the form of a notch in the upper edge of an outer layer of the folded sack, is fully visible and in some embodiments turned upward'in the bundle. The notch at a the same time facilitates the opening of the sack after its removal from the stack.

A further object is to provide a novel method wherein the sacks, when made of two or more layers of heavy kraft paper, are folded individually at least twice with the fold lines being perpendicular to the depth of the sack and with the upper and lower sack edges set back from the fold lines in folded sack panels that are on opposite outer sides of the folded sack. The sacks are thereafter bundled in stacks of at least 25 sacks each, with bands circumferentially surrounding the stacks. This method of folding provides for the easiest removal of sacks, one at a time, by grasping and pulling the sack in a direction perpendicular to the bands, all without disturbing the remaining sacks in the bundled stack.

These and other objects will become more fully apparent from the claims and from the description and accompanying drawings.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a finished paper sack as it comes in finished condition from the sack manufacturing machine; 7 FIG. 2 is a side elevation illustrating the first folding along folding line 4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation illustrating a second folding along folding line 5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is a side elevation illustrating the sack completely folded in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4B is a view similar to FIG. 4A but showing another embodiment wherein the edges of the top and folded bottom of the sack are located slightly inwardly of the fold lines 4 and 5;

FIG. 5A is a plan view showing the folded sack of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5B is a plan view showing the folded sack of FIG. 48;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic drawing of a machine for folding sacks in accord with the present invention;

FIGS. 7 and 8 show two ways the sacks may be folded by the machine of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a mobile trash collecting vehicle which carries the bundled stacks of sacks for distribution of the sacks, one at a time, as the trash or refuse is collected at each residence served by the vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings, FIG. I shows a sack of relatively large size, e.g., to 200 liters, that is adapted for use in the collection of trash or refuse. Such a sack may typically be from 75 to 100 cm. deep, from 50 to 75 cm. wide when folded flat, and may way a half pound or more. Sacks of this type may be used as replaceable liners in a container for accumulating the trash or refuse from a residence, and are variously referred to as a sack, a bag, or the like.

In many instances, trash sacks are manufactured from two or more layers of kraft paper. Sacks made of plastic also may be used. Certain advantages accrue in accord with the present invention when the outer layer is a tough kraft paper, regardless of whether the inner layer is paper or plastic. With such paper as the outside layer, the sacks are able to withstand the ordinary wear which trash bags are subjected to, and an outer smooth surface is provided which does not have a great deal of friction or static electricity which would interfere with the handling of the sacks when bundled in stacks, as described below.

The sack is frequently provided with an exterior bottom reinforcement layer 2 which serves to hold the sack together and increase its strength. Such a bottom reinforcement layer 2 does not need to be folded when the sack is folded in accordance with the present invention. When sacks are used having two or more layers, the layers are secured together with an adhesive around the open end of the sack.

When the sack is manufactured, a thumb grip 1 may be provided at the open end of the sack. As shown also in FIGS. 4A and 5A, the thumb grip 1 may be preformed to extend upwardly so that when the sack is folded, it can be more easily grasped. Alternatively, and as illustrated in FIGS. 43 and 5B, the thumb grip can be thenotch 6 in one side of the sack which is customarily found in paper sacks. In either case, the thumb grip is an important aid in opening a sack after its removal from the bundled stack, particularly when the person handling the sack is wearing gloves.

The sack is received from the sack making machine in the form substantially as illustrated in FIG. 1. The sack is folded, as shown in FIG. 2, along fold line 4 and is thereafter folded again, as illustrated in FIG. 3, along fold line 5. By locating fold lines 4 and 5 so as to provide folded sections of equal length, the folded sack will have an appearance as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 5A.

In FIGS. 48 and 58, a folded sack is illustrated where the fold lines 4 and 5 have each been moved outwardly from the center of the sack so that the outer folded layer containing the upper open end, including thumb grip 6, is located back from the adjacent fold line 4. Similarly, the outer folded layer containing the bottom 3 has its edge 7, as illustrated in FIG. 48, located back from the adjacent fold line 5.

In FIG. 6, apparatus is shown for effecting the folding of the sacks. The sacks 11 are shown coming from a manufacturing machine on a moving conveyor 12. A high speed conveyor 13 grasps the sacks, one at a time, and separates them so that they arrive each individually at a folding station 14. A folding knife 15 engages the sack to cause it to come into contact with folding rollers 16 and 17 and thereby produce the fold line 4, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The sack thereafter moves to a position in front of folding knife 18 which engages a sack to cause it to come into contact with folding rollers 19 and 20 to thereby produce the second fold along line 5, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The sack then has a configuration as illustrated in FIG. 7.

By changing the location of the sack guide path after the sack engages folding rollers 16 and 17 sothat it contacts folding roller 22 and the associated folding knife, the sack will be folded a second time so that it has a configuration as illustrated in FIG. 8.

In either event, the sack, after being folded two times, is delivered to a storage station 23, where the sacks are accumulated in stacks of a suitable size.

The number of sacks in each stack is determined somewhat by the bulk and weight of the stacks, that is, each bundled stack should preferably contain as many sacks as can be easily carried by one person. For larger sized sacks, stacks of 25 sacks may be all that can be easily handled. For sacks having capacities of, for example, l25 liters, a bundled stack may comprise 50 or more folded sacks. I

When the desired number of sacks to form a bundled stack has been accumulated at station 24, the entire group 26 is transported to a conventional tying or bundling machine 25 which then produces a bundled stack of sacks, as illustrated at 27.

In the bundling of the stacks of sacks together, one or more bands 29, which may be of any conventional material, may be used. Cords, paper covered wires, or the like may be used for circumferentially surrounding the stack of sacks. The tension in the bands should be sufficient to maintain the integrity of the bundled stack while being handled and yet not be so tight as to prevent removal of sacks, one at a time, by grasping and pulling the sack in a direction perpendicular to the plane containing a band 29.

It has been found that for sacks of the size useful for the purposes of the present invention, the stack of sacks is preferably circumferentially girded by more than merely one band. Accordingly, in FIG. 6, two bands 29 have been illustrated, which are separated so as to be located part way between the center and the edges of the folded sacks in the stack. If a folded sack has a depth and length dimensions which are substantially equal, the girding bands 29 may be oriented so as to lie in the direction either of the width of the sack or the direction of the length of the sack, but not both. However, if, as is customary, the sacks have a greater depth than width when folded so as to have proportions as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the best results in removing the sacks one at a time from a bundle without untying or destroying the bundle, are obtained by having a girding band extending circumferentially about the stack of sacks in a direction parallel to the depth of the sacks. Thereafter, removal of the sacks from the bundled stack is by grasping and pulling the sack to be removed in the direction of the width of the sack, which direction is perpendicular to the plane in which the circumferentially extending bands are located. Thus, in the preferred embodiment, the spacing between the bands 29 is approximately one-third of the flattened sack width, as illustrated in FIG. 58.

With continued reference to FIG. 5B, the upper open end which contains thumb grip 6 is on an outer folded sack layer and located back from the adjacent fold line 4. This facilitates the removal of the sacks from the bundled stack by reducing the likelihood of the sack edge from getting bound with band 29, particularly where a sack other than the uppermost sack in the stack is removed. Edge 7 on the other outer folded sack layer is preferably also recessed for the same purpose.

ln connection with sacks folded as illustrated in FIG. 8, the bottom section of the sack is located inside the fold so that only the upper open end is part of an outer folded sack layer. In this embodiment, as in FIG. 5B, the upper open end is located back from the adjacent fold line.

In FIG. 9, a trash or refuse collection vehicle is illustrated which contains a large hauling bed 30, which may be of conventional construction. Since such trucks do not customarily have a working space, the bundles of sacks 27 are carried in a suitable holder 32, and preferably near the loading region for the hauling bed 30. In operation, a single sack is removed from stack 27 without untying or unbundling the stack at holder 32, and carried from the truck to a location at the residence where a frame is available for holding the sack. A sack filled with trash is removed from the frame and replaced by the new sack and thereafter the filled sack is returned to the truck and hauled to a place of disposal.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The above-described embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A method of bundling large sacks for the accumulation and transport of trash to a mobile unit comprismg:

providing sacks having a depth from an upper open end of at least 75 cm. and when flattened awidth of at least 50 cm;

individually folding each of said sacks at least twice along lines in planes perpendicular to the depth thereof, the folding being such as to locate the upper open end of each sack on an outer folded sack layer;

accumulating a group of flattened and folded sacks one on top of another to form a stack;

bundling said stack with a pair of bands lying in spaced parallel planes on opposite sides of the center line of said stack and extending circumferentially about said stack in a direction parallel to the depth of said sack with sufficient tension to maintain said sacks in the stack during subsequent handling of the stack;

transporting the bundled stack on a mobile unit to trash-collecting sites; and

removing said sacks, one at a time, from said bundled stack without removing said bands from the remaining sacks of said bundled stack and without unfolding said remaining sacks, by grasping a sack to be removed and pulling in the direction of the width of the sack whereby the removed sack may be carried from the mobile unit while the bundled stack remains with the mobile unit. 2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the pair I sack has a reinforced bottom and double layers of kraft paper with the layers being secured by an adhesive near the upper open end thereof, the pair of band members are spaced apart by a distance equal to approximately one-third of the flattened sack width and the tension of the bands is sufficiently loose as to allow the sacks to be removed one at a time.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein said stack comprises a group of at least 25 sacks, and said upper open end of each sack being disposed back from the adjacent fold line.

Claims (5)

1. A method of bundling large sacks for the accumulation and transport of trash to a mobile unit comprising: providing sacks having a depth from an upper open end of at least 75 cm. and when flattened a width of at least 50 cm; individually folding each of said sacks at least twice along lines in planes perpendicular to the depth thereof, the folding being such as to locate the upper open end of each sack on an outer folded sack layer; accumulating a group of flattened and folded sacks one on top of another to form a stack; bundling said stack with a pair of bands lying in spaced parallel planes on opposite sides of the center line of said stack and extending circumferentially about said stack in a direction parallel to the depth of said sack with sufficient tension to maintain said sacks in the stack during subsequent handling of the stack; transporting the bundled stack on a mobile unit to trashcollecting sites; and removing said sacks, one at a time, from said bundled stack without removing said bands from the remaining sacks of said bundled stack and without unfolding said remaining sacks, by grasping a sack to be removed and pulling in the direction of the width of the sack whereby the removed sack may be carried from the mobile unit while the bundled stack remains with the mobile unit.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the pair of band members are spaced apart by a distance equal to approximately one-third of the flattened sack width.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein each sack has a multiple layer construction with the outer layer comprising kraft paper sufficiently tough to prevent being torn when removed from the stack.

4. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein each sack has a reinforced bottom and double layers of kraft paper with the layers being secured by an adhesive near the upper open end thereof, the pair of band members are spaced apart by a distance equal to approximately one-third of the flattened sack width and the tension of the bands is sufficiently loose as to allow the sacks to be removed one at a time.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein said stack comprises a group of at least 25 sacks, and said upper open end of each sack being disposed back from the adjacent fold line.

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