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US 4,078,358 AGranted
Bag-hanging and bag-filling machines adapted for synchronous and independent operation and method of using same
AssigneeNational Distillers and Chemical Corporation
InventorHarold E. Henderson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bag-hanging machine including mechanism for opening a bag on a stack of lay-flat bags supported on a tiltable support table, and transfer arms for withdrawing the opened bag and suspending the latter. A bag-filling machine includes a hopper spout for receiving the bag from the transfer arms and filling the bag with a bulk material. The filled bag has its mouth portion shaped and closed by pivotable members mounted on the hopper spout, and is then deposited on a conveyor for transport to a further bag processing station. The conveyor includes movable bag guides thereon for supporting the bag and preventing it from falling off.
Claims30
A bag-hanging machine, comprising a frame;
- a table pivotally mounted on said frame for supporting a stack of lay-flat bags in an inclined position with the mouths of the bags facing towards the lower end of the incline, means for tilting the lower end of said inclined table upwardly;
- bag opening means including depending suction cups disposed in a plane above said stack of bags adjacent the mouths thereof, means for displacing said suction cups downwardly into contact with the upper surface of the topmost bag of said stack in synchronism with said tilting means effectuating upward tilting of said table, means for imparting a vacuum to said suction cups for grippingly engaging said bag surface, means for locking said table at a predetermined upper tilted position, said suction cup displacing means being adapted to concurrently raise said suction cups and the upper surface of said topmost bag to thereby open the mouth of the bag;
- a pair of spaced bag transfer arms pivotally mounted on said frame at their upper ends above said tiltable table;
- means for pivoting said bag transfer arms between a lower position for insertion of said arms into the opened mouth of the topmost bag on the stack and a raised position for lifting said bag from said stack and suspending said bag;
- and means for pivotally inclining said bag transfer arms towards and away from each other.
2 more elements
In a bag-filling machine including a hopper having a filling spout;
- means on said filling spout for alternately grasping and releasing the top edges of a bag suspended therebelow, said means including bag grippers spaced to receive the top edges of said bag therebetween and hopper clamps receivable within said bag upon the latter being positioned intermediate said grippers;
- and actuating means for opening said hopper clamps for clamping the top edges of said bag against said grippers responsive to the presence of a bag at said grippers, the improvement comprising:
- pivotable bag stretcher arms mounted on said hopper and extending below said spout in coplanar relationship with said hopper clamps in the closed position of the latter;
- spaced bag guide members hingedly mounted on said hopper exteriorly of said bag grippers and depending therebelow, said bag guide members extending in generally parallel relationship with said hopper clamps, grippers and stretcher arms;
- actuating means for retracting said stretcher arms below said hopper clamps during intervals of suspending a bag on said filling spout and the filling thereof and for extending apart said stretcher arms responsive to a filled bag being released by said hopper clamps to project into and shape the upper portion of said filled bag into a narrow elongate configuration;
- and further actuating means for closing said bag guide members against the exterior sides of the upper portion of the bag concurrent with the extension of said stretcher arms for closing the bag and exhausting air from the top thereof.
3 more elements
A method of conveying a bag from a stack of lay-flat, superimposed bags to a bag-filling machine having a hopper below which said bag is suspended, comprising the steps of:
- elevating the mouth-ends of the stack of bags;
- concurrently engaging the upper surface of the topmost bag with suction means, raising said suction means in conjunction with said topmost bag, engaging the mouth-end portion of said topmost bag with a finger to aid in opening said bag while concurrently locking said stack of bags against further elevating movement, inserting depending transfer arms into said open bag mouth, spreading said transfer arms to grippingly engage the inner end wall of said bag, and pivoting said transfer arms and bag gripped therebetween upwardly to the spout of said hopper.
A bag-hanging and filling apparatus for the sequential processing of bags, comprising in combination:
- (a) a bag-hanging device including a frame;
- a table pivotally mounted on said frame for supporting a stack of lay-flat bags in an inclined position with the mouths of the bags facing towards the lower end of the incline, means for tilting the lower end of said inclined table upwardly;
- bag opening means including depending suction cups disposed in a plane above said stack of bags adjacent the mouths thereof, means for displacing said suction cups downwardly into contact with the upper surface of the topmost bag of said stack in synchronism with said tilting means effectuating upward tilting of said table, means for imparting a vacuum to said section cups for grippingly engaging said bag surface, means for locking said table at a predetermined upper tilted position, said suction cup displacing means being adapted to concurrently raise said suction cups and the upper surface of said topmost bag to thereby open the mouth of the bag;
- a pair of spaced bag tranfer arms pivotally mounted on said frame at their upper ends above said tiltable table;
- means for pivoting said bag transfer arms between a lower position for insertion of said arms into the opened mouth of the topmost bag on the stack and a raised position for lifting said bag from said stack and suspending said bag;
- and means for pivotally inclining said bag transfer arms toward and away from each other;
- (b) a bag-filling device including a hopper having a filling spout;
- means on said filling spout for alternately grasping and releasing the top edges of a bag suspended therebelow, said means including bag grippers spaced to receive the top edges of said bag therebetween and hopper clamps receivable within said bag upon the latter being positioned intermediate said grippers;
- actuating means for opening said hopper clamps to clamp the top edges of said bag against said grippers responsive to the presence of a bag at said grippers;
- pivotable bag stretcher arms mounted on said hopper and extending below said spout in coplanar relationship with said hopper clamps in the closed position of the latter;
- spaced bag guide members hingedly mounted on said hopper exteriorly of said bag grippers and depending therebelow, said bag guide members extending in generally parallel relationship with said hopper clamps, grippers and stretcher arms;
- actuating means for retracting said stretcher arms below said hopper clamps during intervals of suspending a bag on said filling spout and the filling thereof and for extending apart said stretcher arms responsive to a filled bag being released by said hopper clamps to project into and shape the upper portion of said filled bag into a narrow elongate configuration;
- and further actuating means for closing said bag guide members against the exterior sides of the upper portion of the bag concurrent with the extension of said stretcher arms for closing the bag and exhausting air from the top thereof.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.