WO1994025349A1

WO1994025349A1 - Apparatus for mounting binders on packing constrictions

Info

Publication number: WO1994025349A1
Application number: PCT/DK1994/000182
Authority: WO
Inventors: Flemming Kroman
Original assignee: Copaco A/S
Priority date: 1993-05-05
Filing date: 1994-05-05
Publication date: 1994-11-10
Also published as: DK52993D0; AU6645894A

Abstract

A known apparatus for clamping opposed binder parts (2, 12) together about a constriction on a wrapping casing makes use of working pistons for various required movements. With the invention only a single piston (32) is used, as the associated cylinder part (34) is utilized for effecting another movement when the piston (32) has finished its working stroke. The cylinder part may even be used for effecting a final, third movement by compressing a pretensioned, resilient block member.

Description

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING BINDERS ON PACKING CONSTRICTIONS

The present invention relates to an apparatus for mounting binder clamps on packing constrictions, in particular the type of binder clamps illustrated in Fig. 1 of US-A-4,878,702. In that publication. Figs. 23-25 illustrate a mounting apparatus, and it is the purpose of the present invention to provide a considerably simp¬ lified apparatus for carrying out the same functions.

The actual task is to clamp together two binder parts to be mutually locked about a constriction, e.g. on a bag mouthing, whereby the binder parts should also be made free of their holding means. This requires vari¬ ous pressure and movement impacts, and according to the invention it is a primary endeavour to provide an appa¬ ratus, in which these impacts can be produced by means of but a sole working cylinder, whereby it is also achievable that the apparatus can be designed as a light unit with small space requirements, e.g. for use as a table model.

In their preferred design the relevant binders are provided with special wedge portions, which should be forced into complementary receiver openings for fixation of the joined position of the binder parts, and accord¬ ing to the invention it is found possible to effect even this operation by means of the said working cylinder.

Now, reference is made to the drawing, in which

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one of the relevant binders,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the binder in a closed position thereof.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an apparatus ac¬ cording to the invention,

Figs. 4-6 are schematic sectional side views of the apparatus, and

Figs. 7-9 are a sequence of sectional views of the lower part of the apparatus. The clamp binder shown in Fig. 1 and 2 is of the said known type, comprising a U-shaped loop element having an oblong clamp beam 4 with free end legs 6. In the free end of each of these legs is provided an incis¬ ion 8, from an edge area of which a fixation wedge 10 protrudes. This element 2 cooperates with an opposed clamp beam member 12 having receiving holes 14 for the legs 6.

The two parts are forced together about the materi¬ al to be bound, this initially being collected in the loop element 2, and the forcing together is continued until a certain distance between the beams 4 and 14 has been reached, e.g. as shown in the left hand side of Fig. 2. Thereafter the wedges 10 are pushed upwardly for ^"expanding the leg ends, such that these become locked against retraction from the holes 14, i.e. for fixation of the clamp.

The apparatus shown in Fig. 3-6 is designed as a 'table apparatus', i.e. a self carried, movable unit, what can hardly be obtained with the said known appara¬ tus. The apparatus has a base portion 20 with a front recess 22, into which an operator may lay in the materi¬ al to be bound, e.g. a constriction area between two adjacent sausages or a mouthing portion on a bag pack¬ ing. Overhead the recess 22 is pivotally mounted a lever 24 having a projecting handle 26, by means of which a pressure portion of the lever can be swung into the recess for compacting the material received therein against the rear wall area. Above that area there is a laterally extending channel for sideways introduced U-elements 2, which are supplied as or in a coherent band structure 26 by a stepping operation of a coacting push-in cog wheel 28. Correspondingly, in a manner not shown, the beam members 12 may be fed to a position just underneath the recess 22.

Overhead the place of introduction of the U-ele- ments 2, see Figs. 4-6, is mounted a piston rod 30, which, via a piston 32 in a cylinder housing 34, is operable by means of compressed air to force down the element 2 over the material collected in the recess 22. The piston 32 has a depending, thick shaft portion 36 which projects through an opening in a bottom portion 38 of the cylinder housing 34, beneath which the shaft portion has a radially protruding part 40 that is recei¬ ved in a recess 42 in the fixed lower part 20, such that the piston movement will be upwardly limited to the part 40 abutting the underside of the bottom portion 38, while downwardly limited by the part 40 abutting the bottom of the recess 42, designated 44.

The piston 32 has an upstanding, tubular adjustment rod 46, and the lower piston rod 30 is extended upwardly through the piston system 36,32 to the rod 46, which is in threaded engagement with the piston system 36,32 and has an upper adjustment screw 48, by means of which the length of the depending rod 30 can be adjusted.

The piston cylinder 34 is provided in an upper housing portion 50, which is upwardly displaceable in an upper socket portion 52 on the lower part 20, the hous¬ ing portion having depending guide rods 54 extending downwardly through guiding channels 56 in the lower part 20 and at their lower ends being rigidly connected with a lower block member 58, which is vertically displace- ably housed in a bottom recess 60 in the lower part 20. This under-block and therewith the entire upper housing portion or block 50 is spring biased downwardly by means of one or more compression springs 62 mounted in down¬ wardly open bores 64 in the lower part 20.

The lower block 58 has a forwardly protruding por¬ tion 66 carrying a resilient support body 68 for an upper plate 70, which has an upstanding central portion 72 serving to receive at its top side the successively supplied, lower clamp beams 12. The upper plate 70 is. by means of bolts 74, tightened downwardly against the base portion 66 with a pre-tension of e.g. some 500 kp against the resilient body 68.

In the upstanding portion 72, see also Fig. 7, is provided uplet channels for a pair of pressing pins 76 upstanding from the base portion 66 through the rubber body 68. These pins have their tops located in a pair of depressions 78 in the top side of the portion 72, just underneath the places where the introduced clamp beams 12 will have their holes 14 located.

When the packing material is collected in the front recess 22 the front lever 24 is swung downwardly and inwardly just underneath the introduced U-clamp element 2 and just above the introduced clamp beam 12. There¬ after the piston 32 is actuated to be moved downwardly, confer Fig. 5, whereby the U-clamp element 2 is forced downwardly over the packing material for full reception thereof. The downwardly directed working stroke is stop¬ ped by the protruding portion 40 on the piston shaft 36 abutting the bottom 44 of the recess 42, now with the free leg ends of the U-clamp element 2 being located immediately above the holes 14 in the clamp beam 12.

When compressed air is still supplied to the space above the piston 32 the piston cannot be moved further down, due to its abutment with the bottom portion 44, but on the other hand the entire upper block part 50 with associated depending rods 54 and therewith the bottom block 58,66 will be pushed upwardly against the action of the spring 62, until the top side of the bot¬ tom block 58 abuts the ceiling of the bottom recess 60 in the base block 20, see Fig. 6. Hereby the support 66 of the rubber block 68 is raised, such that also the upstanding portion 72 is raised, e.g. with a raising pressure of 300 kp. Thereby also the clamp beam 12 is forced upwardly, such that the legs 6 of the U-clamp element are introduced into the holes, with the leg wedges depending into the depressions 78.

When it is desired to secure a predetermined en¬ trance depth of the legs 6 in the holes 14, correspond¬ ing to a desired final distance between the clamp beams 4 and 12, the plate 70 with upstanding portion 72 should be stopped by abutting a fixed portion 80 of the base block 20, and this will happen before the bottom block 58 has arrived at the top of the bottom recess 60. This implies that the said raising pressure should be taken up by the pretensioned rubber block 68, which will thereby be further compresses. The associated final raising will be transferred to the pressing pins 76, which will thus, see Fig. 9, be forced upwardly concur¬ rently with the bolts 74 being moved upwardly from the top plate 70. Thereby the upper ends fo the pressing pins 76 will be moved against the lower ends of the wedge portions 10 as depending from the ends of the legs 6 of the U-element, and these wedges will thus be forced upwardly into the incisions 8 in the legs 6 so as to cause the legs to be locked in the holes. This upward forcing will take place in an attenuated manner owing to the counter pressure from the rubber block 68, such that no uncontrolled impact forces are transferred to the binder at the end of the operation.

The decisive function of the pretensioned rubber block 68 is that it allows for the transfer of the re¬ quired closing force on the clamp binder 2,12 without being noticeably compressed, while in the final phase it is compulsorily compressed for enabling the actuation of the pressing pins 76. It is decisive, therefore, that the pretensioning of the block be sufficiently high to safeguard the required closing pressure on the clamp binder.

The clamp beam .12, when introduced, is received in a guided manner in a recess 82, Fig. 7, in the fixed block portion 20, and by the raising movement according to Fig. 8 this beam will be lifted off the recess, such that upon the final acutation of the locking wedges 10 it will be free to be removed from the front recess 22 together with the remainder of the binder and the com¬ pacted packing material therein, subject to the lever 24 being pivoted outwardly.

Claims

C L A I M S :

1. An apparatus for mounting binder clamps on pack¬ ing constrictions, using binder clamps of the type com¬ prising two opposed clamp elements that are joinable about such a constriction in being forced together thereabout, the single sets of clamp elements having cross connection parts, which may be brought into mutual holding engagement by said forcing together, said appa¬ ratus comprising means for feeding the clamp elements to an operation area and pressure piston actuated means for forcing the clamp elements together and out of respec¬ tive receiver openings so as to liberate the joined clamp elements for an easy removal from the apparatus,

^"characterized in that it is made with a lower and an upper part mounted with a packing constriction receiving recess provided in one of these parts, in one of which there is mounted a pressure piston operable to project the clamp element seated in this part towards the com¬ plementary element in the other part, and such that a further actuation of the pressure piston, after the piston having met a projection stop, will result in a mutual repulsion of the two parts and thereby in a move¬ ment, by which a support for the opposed clamp element brings this element free of its seating in the respec¬ tive opposite part of the apparatus.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which the mutual fixation of the clamp elements requires a pres¬ sure excerted on locking pins or wedges on one of the clamp elements, characterized in that for the applica¬ tion of this pressure there is provided a resilient block member, which, generally and in a pretensioned condition, is operable to transfer a resilient yieldable pressure against the relevant clamp element, while through this block member there extend pressure pins. which are operable to actuate the said locking pins or wedges independently of the degree of pressing together of the resilient block member.