US3865018A

US3865018A - Apparatus for making plastic bags with handles

Info

Publication number: US3865018A
Application number: US308293A
Authority: US
Inventors: William Gaffney
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: JIFCEL Corp; MINT FACTORS A PARTNERSHIP OF NY
Priority date: 1972-11-20
Filing date: 1972-11-20
Publication date: 1975-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 1992-02-11

Abstract

In this apparatus, thermoplastic double layered bag body material which is longitudinally split on one side edge, is fed longitudinally intermittently. A pair of bag handle sheets are fed at right angles to the direction of feed of the bag material into the split between the layers, intermittently. The handle sheets are cut by hot wires to provide a pair of handles having pairs of end portions disposed between the top and bottom layers of the bag material, and portions interconnecting the end portions and offset therefrom and projecting beyond said bag material to form hand holes. The pairs of end portions of the severed handles are heat fused or sealed to the respective bag layers, and the bag material is then severed and sealed transversely to form individual bags. The handle sheets and the cutting wires are so shaped that there is no loss or waste of handle sheet material.

Description

United States Patent n91 Gaifney Feb. 11, 1975 APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLASTIC BAGS WITH HANDLES [75] lnventor: William Gaflney, Bronx, NY.

[73] Assignee: Charlotte Mintz, New York, NY.

[22] Filed: Nov. 20, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 308,293

[52] U.S. Cl 93/8 WA, 93/35 H [51] Int. Cl B3lb 1/86 [58] Field of Search 93/8 WA, 8 R, 33 H, 35 H [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,266,053 8/1966 Rochla 93/8 WA 3,392,636 7/1968 Lindley 93/8 WA 3,440,124 4/1969 Schwarzkopf 93/8 WA X 3,511,735 5/1970 Lindley 93/8 WA X Primary Examiner-Roy Lake Assistant Exnminer.lames F. Coan 57 7 ABSTRACT In this apparatus, thermoplastic double layered bag body material which is longitudinally split on one side edge, is fed longitudinally intermittently. A pair of bag handle sheets are fed at right angles to the direction of feed of the bag material into the split between thelayers, intermittently. The handle sheets are cut by hot wires to provide a pair of handles having pairs of end portions disposed between the top and bottom layers of the bag material, and portions interconnecting the end portions and offset therefrom and projecting beyond said bag material to form hand holes. The pairs of end portions of the severed handles are heat fused or sealed to the respective bag layers, and the bag material is then severed and sealed transversely to form individual bags. The handle sheets and the cutting wires are so shaped that there is no loss or waste of handle sheet material.

3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEB FEB 1 1 I975 SHEET 10? 2 PATENTED 1 I975 3,865,018

sum 2 OF. 2

//Za ///a APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLASTIC BAGS WITH HANDLES This invention relates to plastic shopping or carrying bags, and to method of and apparatus for making such bags.

An object of this invention is to provide in apparatus of the character described, means for cutting handles from a pair of sheets of thermoplastic handle material, of uniform width, by cutting all across the handle sheets to produce pairs of flat handles that have aligned end portions and central offset portions, whereby the end portions may be heat sealed to bag material and the central offset portions extend beyond the edge of the bag, to provide hand holes, without loss or waste of any handle material.

Another object of this invention is to provide in apparatus of the character described, handle sheet cutter means of such shape that no part of the handles cut from said sheets are too thin.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide in apparatus of the character described, cutting means for the handle sheets in the form of heated wires.

Still another object of this invention is to provide in apparatus of the character described, roller means to advance the handle sheets, roller means to advance the bag body material, means to actuate the handle sheets cutters, means to actuate the means for sealing the handles to the bag body material and means to transversely cut and seal the bag body material, and means to coordinate the operation all said means to produce completed bags.

A further object of this invention is to provide highly improved apparatus for making bags of the character described, which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, which shall be smooth and positive in operation and yet practical and efficient to a high degree in use.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a highly improved method of making bags which shall be economical and without waste of handle or bag making material, which method shall be easy to carry out.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide an improved bag of the character described with flat handles fused to a bag body and providing hand holes and cut from handle sheets without waste or loss of handle sheet material.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described and of which the scope of invention will be indicated in the following claims.

Referring now in detail to the drawing;

FIG. 1 is a top plan view illustrating apparatus and method of making bags, embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the matter shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. '1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the rollers for advancing the bag body material and the cutter and sealer for the bag body;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the structure shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagramatic view of the electrical system for control of the bag body rollers, handle sheets rollers, and handle sheet cutters and handle sealers;

FIG. 7 is a top view of a piece of handle sheet material illustrating the cutting lines to form handles; and

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view illustrating one of the wire cutters.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, 10 designates apparatus for making bags 11 from longitudinal thermoplastic bag body sheet material 12 and longitudinal sheets 13 of thermoplastic sheet material for making handles.

The bag body material 12 comprises similar, symmetrical top wall portions 15 joined at one side by an inwardly pleated gusset 16. At the opposite side of each wall portion 15 is an inwardly folded flap 17. Thus the bag material 12 has a longitudinal split or open side between the layers 15 and flaps 17. The completed bag 11 comprises a body 20 composed of the topand bottom walls 15, the gusset l6, sealed parallel side edges 21, and it is open between the flaps 17. Sealed to the flaps 17 in the manner hereinafter explained, are a pair of similar, superposed flat handles 23 cut from the handle sheets 13. Each handle has aligned end portions 24 projecting in opposite directions. Extending from said end portions 24 are converging inclined handle portions 25 joined by a transverse straight central portion 26 parallel to end portions 24. The handle 23 is of similar width throughout when measuring in the longitudinal direction of the handle sheets 13. Said sheets 13 are of uni form transverse width and are pulled from rolls 30 of said sheets. The front and rear edges of each handle are identical. The sheets 13 extend as right angles to the longitudinal direction of the bag body material 12 which comes off a roll 32 of said material. The bag material is pulled to the right in a horizontal plane looking at FIGS. 1 and 2 in the manner hereinafter explained. The handle sheets 13 are also pulled in a horizontal plane toward the bag body material at a level between the flaps 17, in the manner hereinafter explained.

The bag material is pulled to the right by a pair of rollers 33 fixed on shafts 33a. The handle sheets are pulled to the left, looking at FIG. 3 by a pair of rollers 34 fixed on shafts 34a.

Between the sheets 13 is a plate 35 of Teflon or like high heat resisting insulating material to which the plastic sheets will not stick. The plate 35 projects into the split or open side of the bagbody material as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing.

Above the top wall 15 and its flap 17 is a heat seal member 40 having a flat longitudinal bar 41 as long as a handle 23 and controlled by a solenoid coil 42. Below the bottom wall 15 and its flap 17 is a heat seal member 43 having a flat upper bar 44 similar to bar 41, and controlled by a solenoid coil 45.

The bars 41 and 44 extend across the bag to the ends of the end portions 24 of handles 23. Between the bar 41 and the top wall 15 is a Teflon protective sheet 50. Between the bar 44 and the bottom wall 15 is a Teflon protective sheet 51. The handle sheets 13 are fed in the manner hereinafter appearing, until the forward edges 24a of ends 24 of the handles areat the inner end edges 17a of the flaps l7 and then the feed stops until the next operation.

The cutting of the handle sheets is accomplished by top and bottom heated wires 60 connected in parallel to each other and in series with a power source 61 in a circuit controlled by a manual switch 62. Each wire 60 has the shape of the forward or rear edge of the handie 23. One wire is disposed above the upper sheet 13 and one is disposed below the lower sheet 13. Each wire thus has portions 64 conforming to the edges 24a of end portions 24 of the handle, converging portions 65 conforming to the edges 25a of portions 25 of the handle, and a portion 66 conforming to the inner edge 26a of central portion 26 of the handle. It will be noted that the front and rear edges of each handle are cut by the same wire 60, and hence the front and rear edges of each handle are exactly alike.

The wires are so located that the ends 64 thereof are substantially aligned with the folds 17b of the flaps 17. The wires 60 are so positioned as to be centralized with the finished bags. The width of the handle sheets 13 is less than the width of the finished bags as seen in FIG. 1. The portions 65 of the wires are straight and converge outwardly beyond the bag material and the portions 66 of the wires are parallel to and spaced beyond the folds 17b of the flaps 17 so that when the handles are sealed to the bags, hand holes 70 are provided bounded by the folds 17b, and

portions

25, 26 of the handles. The longitudinal distance from the rear edges 24a of end portions 24 to the forward edge 26a of portion 26 of the handle must be such as to provide enough space to get a hand into the hand hole 70.

The wires 60 are moved toward and away from each other by solenoid coils 75, 76 (See FIG. 6).

The solenoid coils 42, 45, 75, 76 are connected in parallel circuit to each other, and in series circuit with a pair of terminals 77, 78. l The control of the solenoids 42, 45, 75, 76 and of the operation of the roller 33 and of roller 34 is illustrated in FIG. 6 of the drawing. As shown in the drawing, a cam shaft 80 rotated by a synchronous motor (not shown) makes one revolution in the time it takes to make one bag.

On said shaft 80 is a cam 81 to control operation of rollers 34 for advancing the handle sheets 13; a cam 82 to control operation of the rollers 33 for advancing the bag body material; and a cam 83 to control the operation of the solenoid coils 42, 45, 75, 76 for controlling the simultaneous operation of the sealers 40, 43 and the cutting wires 60.

Cam 81 has a rise that extends less than 180 in angular extent. Cam 82 has a rise which preferably extends about 180, angularly. The leading ends of

cams

81, 82 are preferably at the same angular point. The rise of cam 83 begins where the rise in cam 82 ends, and the angular extent of the rise in cam 83 is about 135.

Cam 81 controls a normally open micro-switch in a circuit having lead wires 91, 92. A manual switch 93 may be interposed in wire 91. The micro-switch 90 may be interposed in wire 92. Wires 91, 92 have terminals 91a, 92a which may be plugged to

terminals

95, 96 connected by wires 95a, 96a to a solenoid 97 controlling a valve in an air cylinder 98. A piston (not shown) in the cylinder connects through a piston shaft 99 to a rack 100 meshing with a pinion 101 mounted through a one way clutch (not shown) on one shaft 34a for turning roller 34 when the solenoid 97 is energized, during the time that the rise in cam 81 closes the normally open microswitch 90.

Connected to wires 91, 92 are

wires

110, 111 leading to terminals a, 111a. Said terminals 110a, 111a can be plugged to

terminals

112, 113 which are connected by wires 112a, 113a to a solenoid 114 which controls a valve in an air cylinder 115 to move a piston (not shown) therein, to move a piston shaft 116 fixed to a rack 117 meshing with a pinion 118 mounted through a one way clutch (not shown) on a shaft 33a carrying one of the rollers 33 for advancing the bag body material.

In wire 111 is interposed a micro-switch l11b closed by the rise in cam 82. Switch l llb is normally open.

When the switch 99 is closed and the terminals 910, 920 are connected to the

terminals

95, 96 and the terminals 110a, 111a are connected to

terminals

112, 113, the racks will move while their respective microswitches are closed, to advance the bag material and the handle sheets. When

solenoids

97, 114 are deenergized the

racks

100, 117 are retracted but do not rotate

shafts

34a, 33a because of the clutches. The advance of the bag material and handle sheets may start at the same time but the bag material can keep advancing after the advance of the handle material ceases.

Also connected to said leads 91, 92 are

wires

120, 121. In wire 120 is interposed a normally open microswitch 122 positioned to be closed by the rise in cam 83. At the ends of

wires

120, 121 are terminals 120a, 121a which can be plugged to terminals 77, 78. When the rise in cam 82 moves away from micro-switch 111b, the rise in cam 83 begins to close micro-switch 122, to do two operations, to wit, to seal the handles and the flaps to the bag, and to cut the handles which are fused or attached to the bag. The actuation of the solenoid coils 42, 45, 75,76 starts only after the advance of the bag material and the handle sheets stops, and advance of the bag material and of the handle sheets does not start until the sealers 40, 43 are retracted and the wire cutters 60 are retracted by deenergization of solenoid coils 42, 45, 75, 76. The arrangement is such that the solenoid coils 42, 45, 75, 76 actuate the sealers and wire cutters when said solenoids are energized, and retract said sealers and wire cutters when said solenoid coils are deenergized. The flaps 17 are sealed to the handle ends 24 of the handles and also to the bag layers 15.

Teflon sheets 50 and 51 act as shields to prevent the bags from clinging to bars 41, 44.

Means is provided to cut the bag material transversely while the rollers 33 for advancing the bag material are stationary. Said rollers 33 are located beyond the plate 35. Said rollers 33 are located above and below said bag material and are so spaced that rotation of the rollers will grip and advance the bag material to the right.

The rollers 34 are located above the upper handle sheet 13 and below the lower handle sheet 13 and are arranged to press said sheets against opposite sides of plate 35 so that when said rollers 34.rotate, the handle sheets will be fed to the left, looking at FIG. 3.

Located beyond rollers 32 is a shaft transversely of the bag material and therebelow. On shaft 140 are a pair of similar cams 141. Shaft 140 is rotated one revolution for each revolution of the cam shaft 80, in any suitable well known manner. Mounted in suitable guides, is a bag material cutter 143. Said cutter 143 comprises a pair of vertical side or throw arms 144 car rying follower 145 at their lower ends riding on cams 141. Side arms 144 carry a transverse knife 146 having a lower cutting edge 147 located above the level of the bag material. The knife is heated in any suitable manner, so that it can cut and seal the cut layers of the bag material on both sides of the knife edge.

Below the knife edge is a roller 150, against which the knife cuts. The cutter is guided as it is moved up and down by the cams 141 in synchronization with the periodic advance of the bag material.

It will be noted that each time the wires 60 cut the handle sheets, the leading edges of the handle sheets have the

edges

24a, 25a, 26a, 25a, 24a extending across the whole width of said sheets. The sheets are then fed for a length equal to the width of the end portions 24 of the handle. Then what will be the rear edges 24a of the end portions 24 are aligned with the folds 17b and the leading edges 26a of the sheets are spaced outwardly of the folds 17b to provide hand holes. Upon the next cutting, the

rear edges

24a, 25a, 26a of the sealed handles are cut, thereby forming the leading edges of the handle sheets. The bag moves beyond to the right and then the handle sheets are again advanced to the position in which another cutting by the hot wires 60, cut a new pair of handles. Since the cutting is entirely across and the cutting of each pair of handles provides the hand holes for the next pair of handles, no loss of handle material results and there is no waste of such material.

The cams 141 are so arranged as to cause the cutter 146 to cut only while the bag body material is not being moved by the rollers 33.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an article in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative only.

I claim:

1. An apparatus to make bags comprising:

a. means to intermittently feed an elongated thermoplastic bag body sheet having superimposed upper and lower layers unconnected at one side and joined at the other side, and having superimposed edges at said one side;

b. means to intermittently feed elongated superimposed upper and lower imperforate thermoplastic handle sheets of uniform width between the upper and lower layers at said one side;

0. means to intermittently fuse leading ends of said upper and lower handle sheets to said upper and lower layers of said bag body sheet, respectively, while said bag body sheet and handle sheets are not being fed, said bag body sheet and said handle sheets being fed in the directions of their lengths, said directions of lengths being perpendicular to one another; and

(1. means to intermittently cut entirely across said handle sheets on identical parallel lines having aligned, spaced outer portions adjacent said superimposed edges of said superimposed layers of said bag body sheet, converging portions extending from the inner ends of said outer portions outwardly beyond said superimposed edges and a central portion interconnecting said outer ends of said converging portions and in spaced relation to said superimposed edges of said bag body sheet to provide by successive spaced cuts handles for said bag and for each handle a hand hole defined by said central portion, said converging portions and said edge of said bag body sheet intermediate the converging portions, said handle having parallel inner and outer edges across the full length of said handle and having a similar width throughout when measured in a direction from said joined side of said bag body sheet to said unconnected side so that said handles are formed without waste, said means for intermittently feeding said bag body sheet and handle sheets including means to feed said bag body sheet and handle sheets only while said means to intermittently fuse said handle sheets to said bag body sheet is not being actuated and while said means to intermittently cut said handle sheets is not being actuated, said means for intermittently feeding said handle sheets advancing said handle sheets a distance equal to the width of said handles.

2. The combination of claim 1, said cutting means having aligned outer end cutting portions, straight inclined converging portions extending from said aligned portions, and a central portion parallel to said aligned outer end cutting portions and interconnecting said inclined cutting portions.

3. The combination of claim 1, said converging portions being straight and inclined at equal angles.

Claims

1. An apparatus to make bags comprising: a. means to intermittently feed an elongated thermoplastic bag body sheet having superimposed upper and lower layers unconnected at one side and joined at the other side, and having superimposed edges at said one side; b. means to intermittently feed elongated superimposed upper and lower imperforate thermoplastic handle sheets of uniform width between the upper and lower layers at said one side; c. means to intermittently fuse leading ends of said upper and lower handle sheets to said upper and lower layers of said bag body sheet, respectively, while said bag body sheet and handle sheets are not being fed, said bag body sheet and said handle sheets being fed in the directions of their lengths, said directions of lengths being perpendicular to one another; and d. means to intermittently cut entirely across said handle sheets on identical parallel lines having aligned, spaced outer portions adjacent said superimposed edges of said superimposed layers of said bag body sheet, converging portions extending from the inner ends of said outer portions outwardly beyond said superimposed edges and a central portion interconnecting said outer ends of said converging portions and in spaced relation to said superimposed edges of said bag body sheet to provide by successive spaced cuts handles for said bag and for each handle a hand hole defined by said central portion, said converging portions and said edge of said bag body sheet intermediate the converging portions, said handle having parallel inner and outer edges across the full length of said handle and having a similar width throughout when measured in a direction from said joined side of said bag body sheet to said unconnected side so that said handles are formed without waste, said means for intermittently feeding said bag body sheet and handle sheets including means to feed said bag body sheet and handle sheets only while said means to intermittently fuse said handle sheets to said bag body sheet is not being actuated and while said means to intermittently cut said handle sheets is not being actuated, said means for intermittently feeding said handle sheets advancing said handle sheets a distance equal to the width of said handles.