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US 10,864,664 B2Granted
Foam-in-bag device with bag-status indicator
AssigneePregis Intellipack LLC
InventorMichael Paul Jones
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed herein is a foam-in-bag dispensing system, including a dispensing apparatus operative to dispense foam precursor, the foam precursor being configured for expanding and solidifying into a polymeric foam, to a dispensing location between first and second web plies extending respectively on first and second sides of the dispensing apparatus; and a bag-status indicator associated for providing an indication to the operator indicative of the readiness of the bag for removal from the device for avoiding premature bag removal.
Claims30
A foam-in-bag dispensing system, comprising:
- a dispensing apparatus operative to dispense foam precursor, the foam precursor being configured for expanding and solidifying into a polymeric foam, to a dispensing location between first and second web plies;
- an assembly that includes:
- a sealing mechanism that performs a sealing operation to form a seal that seals the web plies to each other, thereby trapping the foam precursor therebetween to form a filled bag;
- a cutting mechanism co-located with the sealing mechanism, wherein the cutting mechanism performs a cutting operation to cut the filled bag from an adjacent bag;
- and
- a jaw assembly configured to pinch the web plies during the sealing operation and the cutting operation, the filled bag being removable from the foam-in dispensing system by an operator pulling the filled bag from the jaw assembly;
- and
- a bag-status indicator having a plurality of indication modes including a bag-ready mode, wherein the bag-status indicator is connected to the assembly to receive a signal to cause the bag-status indicator to change to the bag-ready mode upon sufficient completion of the sealing and cutting operations, wherein the sufficient completion is when the filled bag can be pulled apart from the adjacent bag without pulling the adjacent bag in a manner that compromises the seal, thereby providing an indication to an operator that the filled bag is ready for removal from the jaw assembly without compromising the seal for avoiding premature bag removal, and
- wherein the jaw assembly continues to pinch the filled bag after the bag-status indicator changes to the bag-ready mode.
6 more elements
A foam-in-bag dispensing device for creating one or more bags comprising:
- a controller for controlling select operations of the foam-in-bag dispensing device;
- a cutter that performs a cutting operation to make a cut on the one or more bags;
- a sealer that performs a sealing operation to form a seal on either side of the cut on the one or more bags, the cutter and the sealer being in electrical communication with the controller;
- a pair of opposing jaws configured to hold a bag of the one or more bags during the sealing operation and the cutting operation, the bag being removable from the foam-in dispensing device by an operator pulling the bag from the pair of opposing jaws;
- and
- a bag-status indicator in electrical communication with the controller, the bag-status indicator having a plurality of indication modes including a bag-ready mode, wherein the controller is configured to transmit a signal to the bag status indicator to cause the bag status indicator to change to the bag-ready mode upon sufficient completion of both the cutting operation and the sealing operation, wherein the sufficient completion is when the bag can be pulled apart from an adjacent bag without pulling the adjacent bag in a manner that compromises one or both of the seals, thereby providing indication to an operator that the bag is ready for removal from the pair of opposing jaws without compromising one or both of the seals for avoiding premature bag removal, and
- wherein the pair of opposing jaws continue to pinch the bag after the bag-status indicator changes to the bag-ready mode.
4 more elements
A foam-in-bag dispensing system, comprising:
- a dispensing apparatus operative to dispense foam precursor, the foam precursor being configured for expanding and solidifying into a polymeric foam, to a dispensing location between front and back web plies;
- a sealing mechanism that performs a sealing operation to form a seal that seals the web plies to each other to trap the foam precursor therebetween to form a filled bag;
- a cutting mechanism that performs a cutting operation;
- a holding assembly that holds the filled bag by pinching the front and back web plies during the sealing and cutting operations and after the sealing and cutting operations are complete, the filled bag being removable from the dispensing system by an operator pulling the filled bag from the holding assembly;
- and
- a bag-status indicator having a plurality of indication modes including a bag-ready mode, the bag-status indicator being connected with the sealing and cutting mechanisms such that the bag-status indicator changes to the bag-ready mode upon sufficient completion of the sealing and cutting operations, wherein the sufficient completion is when the filled bag can be pulled apart from an adjacent bag without pulling the adjacent bag in a manner that compromises the seal, thereby providing an indication to the operator that the filled bag is ready for removal from the dispensing system without compromising the seal for avoiding premature bag removal, and
- wherein the holding assembly continues to hold the filled bag after the bag-status indicator changes to the bag-ready mode.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.