Part packing system and method

A part packing system for packing a part elongated along a longitudinal axis in an elongated bag, the part packing system comprising:

• a bag dispensing machine having a supply of elongated bags located adjacent a bag rail, the bag dispensing machine having a bag manipulator holding a bag gripper mechanism, the bag manipulator moving the bag gripper mechanism to pull a length of the bag from the supply along the bag rail, the bag dispensing machine having a cutter configured to cut the elongated bag from the supply;
• a bag holding machine including a bag end manipulator holding a first bag end gripper mechanism and a second bag end gripper mechanism, the bag holding machine configured to receive an end of the bag between the first and second bag end gripper mechanisms, the first and second bag end gripper mechanisms opening the end of the bag to form a mouth at the end of the bag;
• and
• a part loading machine including a part manipulator holding at least one part gripper mechanism configured to hold the part, the part manipulator moving the part gripper mechanism to a loading position upstream of the mouth of the bag, the part manipulator moving the part gripper mechanism to load an end of the part into the mouth of the bag to load the part into the bag.

A method of packing a part in an elongated bag elongated along a longitudinal axis, the method comprising:

• grabbing a top of the elongated bag at an end of the bag using a first bag end gripper mechanism;
• grabbing a bottom of the elongated bag at the end of the bag using a second bag end gripper mechanism;
• opening the end of the elongated bag to form a mouth;
• moving the mouth of the bag into alignment with an opening of a part funnel;
• grabbing the part using a part gripper mechanism;
• loading the part into the mouth of the bag through the opening in the part funnel;
• releasing the part from the part gripper mechanism into the bag;
• grabbing the elongated bag with the part therein using a product gripper mechanism;
• and
• moving the elongated bag with the part therein to a packaging station using the product gripper mechanism.

A part packing system for packing a part elongated along a longitudinal axis in an elongated bag, the part packing system comprising:

• a bag holding machine including a part funnel having an opening configured to receive an end of the part, the bag holding machine including a bag end manipulator holding a first bag end gripper mechanism and a second bag end gripper mechanism, the bag holding machine configured to receive an end of the bag between the first and second bag end gripper mechanisms, the first and second bag end gripper mechanisms opening the end of the bag to form a mouth at the end of the bag, the bag end manipulator moving the first and second bag end gripper mechanisms to position the mouth of the bag immediately downstream of the opening of the part funnel;
• a part loading machine including a part manipulator holding at least one part gripper mechanism configured to hold the part, the part manipulator moving the part gripper mechanism to a loading position upstream of the part funnel, the part manipulator moving the part gripper mechanism to load the end of the part through the opening in the part funnel into the mouth of the bag to load the part into the bag;
• and
• a product packaging machine configured to move the part and the bag when the part is in the bag, the product packaging machine having a product manipulator holding a product gripper mechanism, the product manipulator moving the product gripper mechanism away from the part funnel to a packaging container.