Closure strip guide and method
AssigneeIrwin Research and Development, Inc.
InventorDale L Vantrease
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A closure strip guide is provided having a front plate, a back plate and a plate keeper. The back plate is carried proximate and spaced from the front plate to provide a gap thickness configured to guide a strip of clips. The plate keeper is configured to retain together the front plate and the back plate to retain the gap thickness to slidably receive and guide the strip of clips. The plate keeper also expands the gap thickness between the front plate and the back plate responsive to a stack-up jam to accommodate multiple layers of clips in the event the strip of clips dislodges and/or jams. A bag closing apparatus and a method are also provided.
Claims20
A bag closing apparatus, comprising:
- a frame configured to carry a strip of clips;
- and
- a closure strip guide having:
- a front plate;
- a back plate;
- at least one strip guide cooperating between the back plate and the front plate to define a strip guide track having a width and a depth to guide a strip of clips;
- and
- a displaceable retainer configured to retain together the front plate and the back plate into a stack to have a slot depth sized to slidably receive and guide the strip of clips and enable expansion between the front plate and the back plate under a stack-up jam to accommodate multiple layers of clips in the event the strip of clips dislodges or jams.
A closure strip guide, comprising:
- a front plate;
- a back plate carried proximate and spaced from the front plate to provide a gap thickness configured to guide a strip of clips;
- and
- a plate keeper configured to retain together the front plate and the back plate to retain the gap thickness to slidably receive and guide the strip of clips and expand the gap thickness between the front plate and the back plate responsive to a stack-up jam to accommodate multiple layers of clips in the event the strip of clips dislodges or jams.
A method of clearing a jam in a strip closure guide of a bag closing apparatus, comprising:
- providing a closure strip guide having a front plate, a back plate spaced from the front plate to define a gap sized to guide a strip of clips, and a displaceable retainer configured to retain together the front plate and the back plate sized to slidably receive and guide the strip of clips and enable expansion between the front plate and the back plate;
- urging apart the front plate and the back plate responsive to an overlap jam of more than one layer of the strip of clips present in the gap between the front plate and the back plate;
- advancing forward the overlap jam between the front plate and the back plate while urged apart;
- and
- releasing the more than one layer of the strip of clips from between the front plate and the back plate to clear the overlap jam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.