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US 3,968,619 AGranted
Method and apparatus for producing enclosed bales of compressible material
OwnerFrancis B. Fishburneinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Enclosed bales of compressible material such as tobacco are produced by forming a compressed cake of the material in a compression zone, placing the compression zone in communication with a laterally extending sleeve, placing a container such as a bag or carton over the sleeve in such fashion that a closed end of the container extends across the end of the sleeve, forcing the compressed cake of material through the sleeve, and positively moving the container off the sleeve at essentially the same rate at which the cake emerges from the sleeve.
Claims22
In the production of enclosed bales of compressible material such as tobacco, the method comprising
- confining a predetermined quantity of the compressible material within an upright zone which terminates at the bottom in a compression zone in the form of a hexahedron which is similar to but slightly smaller than the bale to be formed and which can be placed in communication with a laterally extending sleeve having a transverse cross-sectional shape corresponding to that of the compression zone;
- compressing the predetermined quantity of compressible material into the compression zone by forcing a press ram having a flat lower face downwardly through said upright zone until the flat face of the ram forms the top wall of the compression zone;
- disposing about the laterally extending sleeve a container having an open end adjacent the compression zone and a closed end extending across the end of the laterally extending sleeve which is more distant from the compression zone;
- placing the compression zone in communication with the laterally extending sleeve;
- forcing the compressed cake of material from the compression chamber into and through the laterally extending sleeve;
- maintaining the container on the sleeve until the compressed cake of material has reached the discharge end of the sleeve;
- then positively moving the container over and away from the sleeve in the same direction and at essentially the same speed as the compressed cake is moved by said forcing step;
- said steps of forcing the compressed cake and positively moving the container being continued until the cake has passed completely through the sleeve and the container has been removed from the sleeve;
- and
- closing the open end of the container;
- the compressed cake reexpanding, in the direction in which it was compressed, after the cake has emerged from the sleeve, such reexpansion causing the cake to place the container in tension.
8 more elements
In apparatus for producing enclosed bales of compressible material such as tobacco, the combination of
- upright charger means;
- vertical press means comprising
- a press ram having a flat lower face, and
- power means for moving said press ram downwardly from an initial position above said charger means to a fully lowered position and then upwardly to said initial position;
- feed means for supplying loose compressible material into the charger means;
- rectangular compression chamber means located at the bottom of said charger means and comprising
- two upright opposed side walls,
- a horizontal bottom wall extending betwen said side walls, and
- a gate forming one end wall of the compression chamber ane means mounting said gate for movement between an open position and a closed position;
- a sleeve having a transverse cross-section of essentially the same rectangular shape and size as the transverse cross-section of the compression chamber defined by the combination of said compression chamber means and the vertical press ram when the vertical press ram is in said fully lowered position;
- means mounting said sleeve in horizontal position as an extension of the compression chamber with one end of the sleeve being located at the position occupied by the gate and the other end of the sleeve spaced from the gate by a substantial distance;
- the internal and external surfaces of the sleeve being smooth and the thickness of the walls of the sleeve being small in relation to the total transverse cross-section of the sleeve, whereby a container having an open end and transverse dimensions only slightly larger than the transverse dimensions of the interior of the sleeve can be telescoped over said other end of the sleeve.
- first pusher means comprising
- a pusher head,
- power means for moving said pusher head horizontally between a retracted position, in which the pusher head forms the end wall of the compression chamber opposite the gate, and a fully advanced position at said other end of said sleeve;
- downward movement of said press ram through said charger means when the charger means contains a predetermined amount of loose compressible material, when the gate is in its closed position and the pusher head is in its retracted position serving to compress the material into a rectangular cake having the size and dimensions of the compression chamber, movement of the pusher head to its fully advanced position after the gate has been moved to its open position serving to push said cake through the sleeve with the sleeve acting to constrain the cake essentially to the rectangular size and shape of the compression chamber;
- and
- container pusher means comprising
- a push member disposed outside of the sleeve adjacent at least one wall of the sleeve, and
- means for moving the push member from an initial position, adjacent said one end of the sleeve, and a second position, adjacent the other end of the sleeve, at substantially the same rate of travel as and simultaneously with the first pusher means, such movement of the push member of the container pusher means being effective to push the container off the sleeve concurrently with emergence of the compressed cake from the sleeve.
17 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.