WO2004045952A1

WO2004045952A1 - Bagging apparatus, method of bagging and processing line

Info

Publication number: WO2004045952A1
Application number: PCT/NZ2003/000260
Authority: WO
Inventors: Richard Archer Melville; Anthony Mate Matos; Jason Edward Ian James
Original assignee: Machinery Developments Limited
Priority date: 2002-11-21
Filing date: 2003-11-21
Publication date: 2004-06-03
Also published as: AU2003283891A1

Abstract

A bagging apparatus (1) is provided that includes a plurality of bag supplies (10) feeding at leastone bag dispenser, said bag material supplies (10) and said at least one bag dispenser operableto supply bags of different widths depending on which bag material supply (10) is used. One ormore first sensors (20a, 20b) are provided to detect the width of bag material held by each of saidplurality of bag material supplies. A product sizer (4) may be provided detect at least one dimensionof product to be bagged. A control system (5, 19) may indicate the appropriate bag material supply(10) to be used to supply a bag for containing the product. The bagging apparatus (1) may check that the correct width material has been provided on said bag supplies (10).

Description

Bagging Apparatus, Method of Bagging and Processing Line

Technical Field

The present invention relates to bagging apparatus for dispensing bags (baggers), methods of bagging, processing lines including baggers and associated control systems. In particular, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to baggers for variable dimension products such as cuts of meat.

Background

In processing lines, such as meat processing lines, it is often required to locate product within bags. The bags can be a significant cost driver to the overall process cost. Therefore, the cost of the bags needs to be kept to a minimum.

Bagging apparatus that can supply multiple bag widths and lengths are known. In use, the bagging apparatus receives a signal from a sensor that senses dimensions of the cut to be bagged and from that indicates to the bagging apparatus which bag it should dispense and the length of the bag. For example, the bagging apparatus may include multiple baggers, each for supplying tubing of different widths and operable to dispense variable length bags. The multiple baggers may be located adjacent to each other for convenience. Once a bag has been dispensed, the operator removes the bag and places it about the cut.

When operated correctly, baggers that can supply variable bag widths and lengths may provide significant cost advantages. However, there is a need to ensure that each bagger in the bagging apparatus is operated correctly or at least to know when the bagger is being operated incorrectly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bagger and method of bagging that overcomes or alleviates problems in existing baggers, or at least to provide the public with a useful alternative.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bagging apparatus including a plurality of bag supplies for supplying at least one bag dispenser, said bag supplies and at least one bag dispenser operable to supply bags of different widths, wherein the bagging apparatus further includes one or more sensors to detect the width of bags supplied by each of said plurality of bag supplies to said at least one bag dispenser and provide an output indicating the detected width of the bags.

Preferably, the bagging apparatus may include a control system in communication with said one or more sensors, the control system including a memory storing required bag widths for said plurality of bag supplies and operable to compare said required bag widths with bag widths detected by said one or more sensors and provide an output indicating the result of said comparison.

Preferably, the control system may issue an alarm or notification if a bag width detected by said one or more sensors for a bag supply is different from the required bag width for that bag supply by a predetermined extent.

Preferably, the control system may be capable of changing its operation to adapt to a switch in width of bags supplied between at least two of said plurality of bag supplies. The control system may issue an alarm or notification if the one or more sensors detects that a required range of bag sizes is not available from said plurality of bag supplies.

Preferably, in use each of said plurality of bag supplies hold and supply a continuous feed of material for forming individual bags. The bagging apparatus may be operable to form bags of variable length from each of said plurality of bag supplies.

Preferably, the controller may be operable to communicate the required width bags or bag material that needs to be loaded in an empty bag supply in the plurality of bag supplies in order to maintain a required range of bag sizes over said plurality of bag supplies.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bagging apparatus including: a plurality of bag material supplies feeding at least one bag dispenser, said bag material supplies and said at least one bag dispenser operable to supply bags of different widths depending on which bag material supply is used; one or more first sensors to detect the width of bag material held by each of said plurality of bag material supplies and provide a first output indicating the detected width; one or more second sensors to detect at least one dimension of product to be bagged that dictates an appropriate width bag to be used to contain that product and provide a second output indicating the detected at least one dimension; and a control system in communication with said one or more first sensors and said one or more second sensors and operable to receive said first and second outputs and indicate the appropriate bag material supply to be used to supply a bag for containing said product.

Preferably, in use each of said plurality of bag material supplies may hold and supply a continuous feed of material for forming individual bags.

Preferably, each of said bag supplies in use may hold tubing and the bagging apparatus includes means to seal and sever or perforate said tubing, said one or more second sensors detect dimensions of product and the control system uses the detected dimensions to indicate the required bag length for that product in addition to the appropriate bag material supply to be used.

Preferably, the control system may indicate the appropriate bag material supply to be used by causing the bag material supply of said plurality of bag material supplies that holds an appropriate width bag material, and its associated bag dispenser, to supply a bag.

Preferably, the control system may indicate the appropriate bag material supply to be used by displaying a bag width to an operator.

Preferably, the bagging apparatus may display to an operator the width of bag material held by each of said plurality of bag material supplies.

Preferably, the appropriate bag material supply may be the minimum sized bag that can be produced from said plurality bag material supplies that will contain the product.

Preferably, selection of the appropriate bag material supply may include a predetermined tolerance. In one embodiment, in use said bag supplies hold preformed bags.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method bagging product using a bagging apparatus including a plurality of bag supplies feeding at least one bag dispenser and operable to supply bags of different widths depending on which bag material supply is used, the method including: a) detecting the width of bags held by each of said plurality of bag supplies and providing a first output indicating the detected width of the bags; b) detecting at least one dimension of product to be bagged that dictates an appropriate width bag to be used to contain that product and providing a second output indicating the detected at least one dimension; and c) receiving said first and second outputs and controlling the bagging apparatus to dispense a bag that has a width that makes the bag appropriate for containing said product to be bagged.

Preferably, the step of receiving said first and second outputs and controlling the bagging apparatus to dispense a bag that has a width that makes the bag appropriate for containing said product to be bagged may be performed automatically by a controller that receives the first and second outputs.

Preferably, the method may include detecting a length and width dimension of product to be bagged and controlling the bagging apparatus to dispense a bag having an appropriate length to contain the product to be bagged in addition to having an appropriate width to contain the product to be bagged.

Preferably, the bag appropriate for containing said product to be bagged is the minimum sized bag that can be produced from said plurality of bag supplies that can still contain the product to be bagged.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling the operation of a bagging apparatus including a plurality of bag supplies for supplying at least one bag dispenser, said bag supplies and at least one bag dispenser operable to supply bags of different widths, the method including using one or more sensors to detect the width of bags supplied by each of said plurality of bag supplies to said at least one bag dispenser and providing an error signal if the detected width of bags falls outside of predetermined requirements for the bag widths.

Further aspects of the present invention, which should be considered in all its novel aspects will become apparent from the following description, given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 : Shows a cutaway side view of a bag dispensing apparatus in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention.

Figure 2: Shows a schematic representation of a processing line including a bagger in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Drawings

Referring first to Figure 1 , a cutaway side view of a bagging apparatus 1 in accordance with an aspect of the present invention is shown. The bagging apparatus 1 includes at least two baggers for dispensing bags. The bagging apparatus in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 has two baggers 1a and 1 b located vertically adjacent to each other. The baggers 1a, 1 b may be substantially identical. In Figure 1 , many of the details of bagger 1 b are omitted for clarity.

The bagging apparatus 1 includes at least two bag supplies. In Figure 1 only the bag supply 10 for bagger 1 a is shown. Another bag supply is provided for bagger 1 b and may be located approximately horizontally adjacent to a shock absorbing roller 12a (see herein below). The remainder of baggers 1a and 1b can be loosely described as bag dispensers. In the preferred form of the invention, the material for forming bags is tubing 11 provided in a continuous length and having a fixed width. The bagging apparatus 1 may therefore select the length of the bag dependent on how much tubing 11 it dispenses before sealing the tubing 11. In Figure 1 , the tubing for the bagger 1 a is referenced by 11 a and the tubing for the bagger 1 b is by 11 b.

The tubing 11a and 11b is first fed about shock absorbing rollers 12a, 12b respectively, which may move vertically upwards and include damping so as to avoid excessive shock resulting when the tubing 11 a, 11 b is first drawn taut. The tubing 11 a, 11b is then fed around feed rollers 13a, 13b, on to drive rollers 14a, 14b respectively. The drive rollers 14a, 14b are driven by a suitable motor and provide the motive force for the dispensing of tubing 11a, 11b. A sealing and cutting section 15a, 15b forms individual bags from the tubing 11a, 11b. The sealing and cutting section 15a, 15b may sever the tubing completely or weaken the tubing along the line of the end of the bag, allowing an operator to pull the tubing apart when required to retrieve a bag from output rollers 16a, 16b. The operation, arrangement, orientation and components of the baggers 1 are not important to the present invention and many alternatives exist. In some alternative embodiments the baggers 1a, 1b may share components, with the tubing 11a, 11b feeding to the shared components.

Referring particularly to bagger 1a, a printer 17 is provided to print information on to the tubing 11a, a ram 18 is provided to drive the sealing and cutting section 15a, and a control system 19 is provided to control the operation of the various components of the bagger 1a and to provide communication functions as required. The control system 19 may be any suitable controller, including for example a microprocessor, microcontroller, programmable logic controller or dedicated hardware.

A bagging apparatus 1 in accordance with the present invention includes somewhere along the path of travel of the tubing 11a, 11b one or more sensors for detecting the width of the tubing 11 a and 11 b. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1 , each bagger includes a separate sensor (shown only in respect of Bagger 1a) and includes a transmitter 20a and receiver 20b. The transmitter 20a may be a line of light emitting diodes directed vertically upwards and the receiver 20b may be a series of light sensitive elements located and oriented to receive light from the transmitter 20a. The transmitter 20a and receiver 20b extend across the tubing 11 a to an extent at least as wide as the widest tubing 11 a that will be used.

Those skilled in the relevant arts will appreciate that there are various sensors that may be used to detect the bag width. Contactless sensors may be preferred for reasons of reliability and to avoid potential damage to the tubing, but tactile sensors may also be used. The output from the receiver 20b may be received by the control system 19, which determines the actual width of the tubing 11a based on the received signal. As described in more detail herein below, the control system 19 may use the actual bag width information as required, for example to match the measured width with the expected width and to provide monitoring of the actual bag width. An output signal to another control system may be provided for use by that control system, and/or an alarm may sound or other form of notification issued should a particular width be detected, such as a width outside of a predetermined range.

Those skilled in the relevant arts will appreciate that it may be possible to modify the baggers 1a, 1 b so that they feed a common output. In this case, a single sensor may be used to detect the width of tubing from each bag supply as a bag is being produced.

Referring now to Figure 2, a schematic representation of a processing line 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The processing line

100 includes a bagging apparatus 1c including bag supplies 10a and 10b for supplying tubing (not shown in Figure 2). In one embodiment, the bagging apparatus 1c may include four baggers, which may comprise two of the bagging apparatus 1 shown in Figure 1 arranged side-by-side.

An operator (not shown) may stand on the opposite side of a conveyor 3 to locate bags dispensed by the bagging apparatus 1 c around product being conveyed on the conveyor 3. Various arrangements and apparatus may be provided to assist with the bagging operation, including providing automated apparatus for bagging.

Upstream of the bagger 1 c along the conveyor 3 is a product sizer 4, which is any suitable means for detecting the dimensions, of product to be bagged by the bagging apparatus 1c. The product sizer 4 may scan the product as it moves along the conveyor 3 to determine at least some of its dimensions. It. is anticipated that at least a width and length measurement will be taken in order for an appropriate bag to be produced by the bagging apparatus 1c. The results of the dimension determination are communicated from the product sizer 4 to a controller 5 through a communication channel 6b. The controller 5 also receives from the bagging apparatus 1c, through communication channel 6a, a value of the width of tubing that the bagging apparatus 1 c may use to form bags. The controller 5 may also receive from the product sizer 4 a value for the length of the product in order to allow an appropriate length bag to be produced. An alternative is to produce bags of a standard length, with the disadvantage of reduced material savings.

The controller 5 specifies to the bagging apparatus 1c the width of the bag and optionally the length of the bag that the bagging apparatus 1c should dispense, or in other words which bagger it uses to dispense a bag and optionally how much tubing it should feed through before sealing the bag end. The dispensed bag is the minimum size bag required to contain the product. A tolerance may be included in the calculations, adding say 10 mm to the determined minimum bag size, to ensure that the fit is not too tight, which may slow the insertion of the product into the bag and to accommodate local variations in the product dimensions if these are not accounted for. The tolerance may also take into account the accuracy of the measurement of the bag width and accuracy of the measurement of the dimensions of the product. The control of the bagging apparatus 1c may be achieved by a suitable control signal communicated through the communication channel 6a, or a separate communication channel may be provided for the control signal.

In an alternative and less preferred embodiment of the invention, the controller 5 could indicate to the operator either the product dimensions or the minimum sized bag required to contain the product that the product sizer 4 detected the dimensions of. The controller 19 would then display to the operator the measured widths of the tubing used to make the bags, allowing the operator to manually select the appropriate bag.

As the sensor in each bagger detects the actual bag width, the controller 5 may more accurately select the appropriate width tubing. At present there is often a variation in the width of tubing supplied, caused by allowing a manufacturing tolerance for the tubing. For example, 400mm wide tubing may in practice be at least 400mm and may range from 400mm to 420mm depending on the particular batch. In systems that do not detect the actual bag width, if a 410mm wide cut needs to be bagged, the next bag width would be required, which may be 450mm. The bagger 1 of the present invention senses the actual width of tubing that has been located in each bagger and therefore may inform the controller 5 of this through the communication channel 6a. The controller 5 may then ensure that the most appropriate bagger in the bagging apparatus 1c, and therefore the most appropriate width tubing, is used for each product. With knowledge of the actual bag width, it can be determined whether product that falls just over the upper limit for a smaller bag can actually be bagged by the smaller bag due to the manufacturing tolerance.

Accordingly, savings in material may be made by using the apparatus of the present invention.

Typically, tubing 11 is loaded manually on to each bagger. Therefore, operators may load the wrong tubing into a particular bagger or load the wrong combination of tubing widths into a bagging apparatus including multiple baggers. Without feedback on the actual dimensions, this may cause the bagging apparatus to operate incorrectly by supplying incorrect bag widths. In addition, the operator may load only the larger size tubing in order to avoid having to go through the trouble of handling or selecting the appropriate tubing size. The applicant has identified these as being areas where increased cost has unnecessarily occurred in existing processing lines.

The controller 5 may detect that the required range of bag widths are not present and alert an administrator of this, for example by raising an alarm or issuing some other notification. In addition, when a supply of tubing runs out, the controller 5 may indicate to the operator through a suitable display the width tubing that is required and may verify that the correct tubing is supplied, providing an error message or other notification should the wrong width tubing be detected.

Furthermore, even if the right range of bag widths is available, it may be that the tubing is switched between baggers. The controller 19 or controller 5 may receive the measurement of the width of the tubing and update the operation of the bagging apparatus 1c to maintain the dispensing of the appropriate width bags even if the supplies are switched. The controller 19 may therefore not issue an alarm or notification if the required range of bag widths is present, when it otherwise would if the controller 19 could not accommodate switching of tubing between baggers.

Those skilled in the relevant arts will appreciate that many modifications may be made to the present invention. The particular baggers described herein have been given by way of example only, as has been the simplified processing line 100. The controllers 19 of each bagger may be combined into a single controller for the bagging apparatus.

The controllers 5 and 19 may be combined into a single controller located at anywhere in the processing provided the necessary communication channels remain in place. Alternatively, the control functions could be further distributed.

Furthermore, the product sizer 4 may detect more than one dimension and may for example detect the profile of the upper surface of product to the bagged and compute an estimate of the product volume. The value of product volume may be used in addition to a width and/or length measurement to select the appropriate bag dimensions. The product sizer 4 may detect the profile of the product to be bagged and a value representing the maximum cross-sectional area that the product occupies along its length may be computed, which may also be used to select the appropriate bag for use. The dimensions or selected dimensions detected by the product sizer 4 may be printed onto the bags using the printer 17. Those skilled in the relevant arts that various different combinations of dimensional measurements and calculations may be made to select the most appropriate sized bag for each product.

In a less preferred embodiment, the product sizer may detect only the width of product, with the bagging apparatus dispensing bags of equal length. Where elongate product is to be bagged, the processing line 100 may orient the product so that the approximate smallest width dimension is detected.

Although the foregoing description has focussed on the formation of bags from pre-manufactured tubing, the supply of material for the bags could be a web, which is folded over and welded for form the bags. The sensor may detect the width of either the web or the tubing after folding and welding. If there are variations in the folding and welding process, then increased accuracy may be obtained by measuring the tubing.

Similarly, the bags could already be formed, removing the need to seal and cut or perforate tubing but also removing the ability to have variable length bags.

Although this invention has been described by way of example and with reference to possible embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that modifications or improvements may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

Where in the foregoing description reference^' has been made to specific components or integers having known equivalents, then those equivalents are hereby incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

Claims

Claims:

1. A bagging apparatus including a plurality of bag supplies for supplying at least one bag dispenser, said bag supplies and at least one bag dispenser operable to supply bags of different widths, wherein the bagging apparatus further includes one or more sensors to detect the width of bags supplied by each of said plurality of bag supplies to said at least one bag dispenser and provide an output indicating the detected width of the bags.

2. The bagging apparatus of claim 1 including a control system in communication with said one or more sensors, the control system including a memory storing required bag widths for said plurality of bag supplies and operable to compare said required bag widths with bag widths detected by said one or more sensors and provide an output indicating the result of said comparison.

3. The bagging apparatus of claim 2, wherein said control system issues an alarm or notification if a bag width detected by said one or more sensors for a bag supply is different from the required bag width for that bag supply by a predetermined extent.

4. The bagging apparatus of claim 2, wherein said control system is capable of changing its operation to adapt to a switch in width of bags supplied between at least two of said plurality of bag supplies.

5. The bagging apparatus of claim 4, wherein said control system issues an alarm or notification if the one or more sensors detects that a required range of bag sizes is not available from said plurality of bag supplies.

6. The bagging apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein in use each of said plurality of bag supplies hold and supply a continuous feed of material for forming individual bags.

7. The bagging apparatus of claim 6, operable to form bags of variable length from each of said plurality of bag supplies.

8. The bagging apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the controller is operable to communicate the required width bags or bag material that needs to be loaded in an empty bag supply in the plurality of bag supplies in order to maintain a required range of bag sizes over said plurality of bag supplies.

9. A bagging apparatus including: a plurality of bag material supplies feeding at least one bag dispenser, said bag material supplies and said at least one bag dispenser operable to supply bags of different widths depending on which bag material supply is used; one or more first sensors to detect the width of bag material held by each of said plurality of bag material supplies and provide a first output indicating the detected width; one or more second sensors to detect at least one dimension of product to be bagged that dictates an appropriate width bag to be used to contain that product and provide a second output indicating the detected at least one dimension; and a control system in communication with said one or more first sensors and said one or more second sensors and operable to receive said first and second outputs and indicate the appropriate bag material supply to be used to supply a bag for containing said product.

10. The bagging apparatus of claim 9, wherein in use each of said plurality of bag material supplies holds and supplies a continuous feed of material for forming individual bags.

11. The bagging apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of said bag supplies in use holds tubing and the bagging apparatus includes means to seal and sever or perforate said tubing, said one or more second sensors detect dimensions of product and the control system uses the detected dimensions to indicate the required bag length for that product in addition to the appropriate bag material supply to be used.

12. The bagging apparatus of any one of claims 9 to 11 , wherein the control system indicates the appropriate bag material supply to be used by causing the bag material supply of said plurality of bag material supplies that holds an appropriate width bag material, and its associated bag dispenser, to supply a bag.

13. The bagging apparatus of any one of claims 9 to 11 , wherein the control system indicates the appropriate bag material supply to be used by displaying a bag width to an operator.

14. The bagging apparatus of any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the bagging apparatus displays to an operator the width of bag material held by each of said plurality of bag material supplies.

15. The bagging apparatus of any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein the appropriate bag material supply is the minimum sized bag that can be produced from said plurality bag material supplies that will contain the product.

16. The bagging apparatus claim 15, wherein selection of the appropriate bag material supply includes a predetermined tolerance.

17. The bagging apparatus of claim 1 or claim 9, wherein in use said bag supplies hold preformed bags.

18. A method bagging product using a bagging apparatus including a plurality of bag supplies feeding at least one bag dispenser and operable to supply bags of different widths depending on which bag material supply is used, the method including: a) detecting the width of bags held by each of said plurality of bag supplies and providing a first output indicating the detected width of the bags; b) detecting at least one dimension of product to be bagged that dictates an appropriate width bag to be used to contain that product and providing a second output indicating the detected at least one dimension; and c) receiving said first and second outputs and controlling the bagging apparatus to dispense a bag that has a width that makes the bag appropriate for containing said product to be bagged.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of receiving said first and second outputs and controlling the bagging apparatus to dispense a bag that has a width that makes the bag appropriate for containing said product to be bagged is performed automatically by a controller that receives the first and second outputs.

20. The method of claims 18 or claim 19, including detecting a length and width dimension of product to be bagged and controlling the bagging apparatus to dispense a bag having an appropriate length to contain the product to be bagged in addition to having an appropriate width to contain the product to be bagged.

21. The method of any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the bag appropriate for containing said product to be bagged is the minimum sized bag that can be produced from said plurality of bag supplies that can still contain the product to be bagged.

22. A method of controlling the operation of a bagging apparatus including a plurality of bag supplies for supplying at least one bag dispenser, said bag supplies and at least one bag dispenser operable to supply bags of different widths, the method including using one or more sensors to detect the width of bags supplied by each of said plurality of bag supplies to said at least one bag dispenser and providing an error signal if the detected width of bags falls outside of predetermined requirements for the bag widths.

23. A bagging apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.

24. A processing line substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.

25. A method of bagging as claimed in claim 18 and substantially as herein described.

26. A method of bagging as claimed in claim 22 and substantially as herein described.