Automatic high-speed wrapping machine

An automatic film wrapping machine for wrapping products in heat sealable thermoplastic film in which the flow of products through the machine is substantially continuous and in a straight line comprising:

• an infeed conveyor for feeding said product into said machine at a continuous velocity and spacing,
• a folded film inverter,
• a film supply for providing folded plastic film to said inverter,
• a side sealer,
• said product being inserted into said inverter by said conveyor and surrounded by said film in said inverter while continuing to travel at said continuous flow, said inverter providing the edges of said film at one side of said draped product to said side sealer,
• said side sealer adapted to receive said film covered products from said inverter and sealing said edges while said product is running at a continuous velocity to form a tube of film containing said products with substantially uniform spacing and severing said excess selvage from said tube of film,
• an end sealer,
• said side sealer providing said film covered products to said end sealer,
• said end sealer providing a seal transverse to said tube of uniformly spaced products while said products are travelling through said end sealer at a substantially continuous velocity, said end seal severing the film tube between adjacent products to provide individually sealed packages at the output of said end sealer,
• said end sealer comprising:
• and end sealer conveyor belt having a horizontal table portion,
• said end sealer conveyor belt being adjacent to and adapted to receive said side-sealed film products from said side sealer conveyor belt,
• means for moving said end sealer conveyor belt in a longitudinal direction,
• an upper and lower sealing jaw,
• a toggle having a centrally-located pivot point,
• a rod pivotally connected at one of its ends to one end of said toggle and to said lower sealing jaw at its other end,
• a spring-loaded extensible rod pivotally connected at one of its ends to the other end of said toggle and to the upper sealing jaw at its other end,
• a first crank connected to said toggle,
• means including a first single-revolution clutch having its output shaft connected to drive said first crank,
• said first clutch having an input shaft connected to a first drive pulley,
• said upper and lower jaws being guided by a carriage, said carriage being supported on longitudinally extending horizontal rods,
• means for moving said carriage back and forth in said longitudinal direction,
• a second crank being connected to said moving means,
• means including a second single-revolution clutch having its output shaft connected to drive said second crank,
• a motor,
• said first and second clutches having input shafts connected to said motor to rotate in response to rotation of said motor,
• means for providing an electric signal in response to a package on said end seal conveyor belt,
• said second clutch being responsive to said electric signal to connect its output shaft to its input shaft to rotate said output shaft through one revolution,
• a switch connected to said second clutch output shaft to energize said first clutch upon initiation of rotation of said second shaft,
• said energized first clutch connecting its output shaft to its input shaft for one revolution of the output shaft,
• the input and output shafts of said first clutch rotating substantially at twice the rate of the input and output shafts of said second clutch;
• said first clutch output shaft single-revolution causing said upper and lower jaws to close and then open by moving said first crank and toggle through a single oscillatory motion to their original positions,
• said second clutch output shaft coupled through said crank to said carriage during its first half revolution causing said carriage to move forward at substantially the velocity of said end seal conveyor belt when said jaws are closed, said carriage comprising rollers to provide a "U"-shaped depression in said end seal conveyor belt in which said lower end seal jaw may move vertically, said depression moving longitudinally with said lower end seal jaw,
• said carriage moving to its most forward position from its rest position while said jaws are being closed and opened,
• said second clutch output shaft during the second half of its revolution causing said carriage to return to its rest position while said jaws are in their open and rest position,
• said upper jaw having a heating element along the lowermost edge to cause said film to seal when said jaws are closed,
• said upper and lower jaws being adjustable to close at the height of the elevation center line of the package.

An automatic film wrapping machine for wrapping products in heat sealable thermoplastic film in which the flow of products through the machine is substantially continuous and in a straight line comprising:

• an infeed conveyor for feeding said product into said machine at a continuous velocity and spacing,
• a folded film inverter,
• a film supply for providing folded plastic film to said inverter,
• a side sealer,
• said product being inserted into said inverter by said conveyor and surrounded by said film by said inverter while continuing to travel at said continuous flow, said inverter providing the edges of said film at one side of said surrounded product to said side sealer,
• said side sealer adapted to receive said film surrounded products from said inverter and to seal said edges while said product is running at a continuous velocity to form a tube of film containing said products with substantially uniform spacing,
• said side sealer comprising:
• an upper pair and a lower pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending belts, each belt in a vertical plane, each belt of said upper pair being vertically aligned above and spaced from the corresponding belt of said lower pair, each of said belts being supported by a pair of pulleys, means for driving at least one of said pulleys and its supported belt,
• an upper jaw supporting upper jaw rollers and supporting a heating element along its lower edge, said upper jaw rollers being disposed on both sides of said jaw, the rollers on one side of said upper jaw being above the lower portion of one of said upper pair of belts,
• the rollers on the other side of said upper jaw being above the lower portion of the other of said upper pair of belts,
• said upper jaw heating element also being above the space between the lower portion of said upper pair of belts,
• a lower jaw supporting lower jaw rollers along its upper edge, said lower jaw rollers being disposed on both sides of said lower jaw and in contact with the upper portion of the lower pair of belts, the upper edge of said lower jaw being under and aligned with the heating element along the lower edge of said upper jaw,
• means for forcing said upper jaw down to cause said upper jaw rollers to press the upper pair of belts against the lower pair of belts supported by said lower jaw rollers and to cause said heating element to press against the upper edge of said lower jaw, said heating element being above the space between said upper belts when said forcing means is not actuated,
• said upper and lower pair of belts having a film input,
• a side sealer conveyor belt adjacent to said inverting head for supporting said film surrounded products and adapted to receive said products from said inverting head,
• said inverter providing the edges of the film surrounding the products to the said film input at the space between said upper and lower pair of belts, said film being grasped by said belts and moved longitudinally by said belts when said upper and lower jaws are forced against each other, said film edges being between said heating element of the upper jaw and the upper edge of said lower jaw to form a seal and sever the excess selvage from said tube of film;
• an end sealer,
• said side sealer providing said film surrounded products to said end sealer,
• said end sealer providing a seal transverse to said tube of uniformly spaced products while said products are travelling through said end sealer, said end sealer severing the film tube between adjacent products to provide individually sealed packages as the output of said end sealer.

An automatic film wrapping machine for wrapping products in heat sealable thermoplastic film in which the flow of products through the machine is substantially continuous and in a straight line comprising:

• an infeed conveyor for feeding said product into said machine at a continuous velocity and spacing,
• a film inverter comprising:
• a fixed bed,
• an inverting head extending in a direction which is substantially an angle of 45.degree. with respect to the longitudinal direction of travel of said product through the machine,
• means for movably supporting and releasably securing said inverting head on said fixed bed to allow movement of said support means and said inverting head as a unit along said 45.degree. angular direction in the direction of the extension of the inverting head to allow the end of said inverting head to be positioned and secured near one edge of the product provided by said infeed conveyor to adjust for different product widths,
• a film supply providing folded plastic film to said inverter with the fold in said film at said end of said inverting head,
• a side sealer,
• said product being inserted into said inverter by said infeed conveyor and surrounded by said film by said inverter while continuing to travel at a continuous flow, said inverter providing said surrounded products to said side sealer, with the free edges of said film at one side of said surrounded product,
• said side sealer adapted to receive said film covered products from said inverter and to seal said free edges while said product is running at a continuous velocity to form a tube of film containing said products with substantially uniform spacing,
• an end sealer,
• said side sealer providing said film covered products to said end sealer,
• said end sealer providing a seal transverse to said tube of uniformly spaced products while said products are travelling through said end sealer at a substantially continuous velocity, said end sealer severing the film tube between adjacent products to provide individually sealed packages as the output of said end sealer.

An automatic film wrapping machine for wrapping products in heat sealable thermoplastic film in which the flow of products through the machine is substantially continuous and in a straight line comprising:

• an infeed conveyor for producing product input to said machine comprising:
• a table having an end edge with a longitudinal slot extending to said end edge, said end edge being at an angle of 45.degree. to said slot,
• a pair of chain belts,
• a plurality of pulleys arranged to support each chain belt in a vertical plane, each belt extending longitudinally along and under said table and vertically at the table end, each belt being transversely spaced from said slot on different sides of said slot, the upper portions of said belts being in proximity to and extending longitudinally under said table,
• a plurality of horizontal plates each pivotally connected to each chain belt, said pivot connections having a longitudinal displacement on each plate which is the same as the longitudinal displacement of corresponding points on said chain belts,
• a plurality of lugs, each removably and transversely connected to a different plate and projecting vertically upward through said table slot,
• means for driving at least one pulley of a chain belt to cause said belts to rotate in said vertical planes about said pulleys, to cause said plates and lugs to move along said slot to the end of said slot,
• said slot terminating at said end edge of said table,
• said lugs maintaining their vertical projection at the slot termination at the table end as said plates move vertically to cause said lugs to retract below said table,
• a folded film inverter comprising,
• a fixed bed,
• an inverting head extending at substantially an angle of 45.degree. with respect to the longitudinal direction of travel of said product through the machine,
• support means for movably supporting and releasably securing said inverting head on said fixed bed to allow movement of said support means and said inverting head as a unit in the direction of the extension of the inverting head to adjust for different product widths,
• said inverting head and said infeed conveyor table edge being substantially parallel and proximate to each other, the distance between the point of closest approach of the lugs of said infeed conveyor and said inverting head being constant irrespective of the extension of the inverting head along its direction of extension,
• a film supply for providing folded thermoplastic film to said inverter,
• a side sealer,
• said product being inserted into said inverter by said conveyor and surrounded by said film by said inverter while continuing to travel at said continuous flow, said inverter providing said surrounded products to said side sealer, the free edges of said film at one side of said surrounded product,
• said side sealer adapted to receive said film surrounded products from said inverter and to seal said free edges while said product is running at a substantially continuous velocity to form a tube of film containing said products with substantially uniform spacing,
• an end sealer,
• said side sealer providing said film surrounded products to said end sealer,
• said end sealer providing a seal transverse to said tube between uniformly spaced products while said products are travelling through said end sealer at a substantially continuous velocity, said end sealer severing the film tube between adjacent products to provide individually sealed packages at the output of said end sealer.

A side sealer for sealing together the free edges of continuously moving adjacent layers of heat sealable thermoplastic film on one side of film-surrounded products flowing in a longitudinal direction and for severing the excess selvage edges from said surrounded products comprising:

• upper and lower longitudinally extending belts, each belt being in a vertical plane, said upper belt being vertically aligned above the corresponding lower belt, each of said belts being supported by at least a pair of pulleys, means for driving at least one of said pulleys and its supported belt,
• means for urging the lower run of said upper belt against the upper run of said lower belt with said layers of film clamped therebetween,
• an upper jaw supporting a heating element along its lower edge,
• a lower jaw having an upper edge, said upper edge of said lower jaw being under and aligned with the heating element along the lower edge of said upper jaw, said jaws extending along and adjacent the clamping runs of said belts, and
• means for pressing said heating element supported by said upper jaw against the upper edge of said lower jaw to seal and sever the selvage of said adjacent layers of said film therebetween when said film is clamped between the upper and lower belts by said urging means,
• said lower jaw being tapered at the film input portion of its longitudinal dimension, said tapered portion causing said lower jaw to be spaced from said upper jaw at the end of the jaws near the film-input end of said upper and lower belts,
• said film being in proximity with the heating element of the upper jaw where it is preheated and softened in the tapered spaced region of the jaws, and said film being sealed and severed in the region where said jaws are in pressure contact,
• said layers of film being supplied with said free edges to run between said belts.

A side sealer for sealing together the free edges of adjacent layers of heat sealable thermoplastic film on one side of film surrounded products and for severing the excess selvage edges from said surrounded products comprising:

• an upper pair and a lower pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending belts, each belt being in a vertical plane, each belt of said upper pair being vertically aligned above the corresponding belt of said lower pair, each of said belts being supported by at least a pair of pulleys, means for driving at least one of said pulleys and its supported belt,
• an upper jaw supporting upper jaw rollers and supporting a heating element along its lower edge, said upper jaw rollers being disposed on both sides of said jaw, the rollers on one side of said upper jaw being above the lower portion of one of said upper pair of belts, the rollers on the other side of said upper jaw being above the lower portion of the other of said upper pair of belts,
• said upper jaw heating element also being above the space between the lower portion of said upper pair of belts,
• a lower jaw supporting lower jaw rollers along its upper edge, said lower jaw rollers being disposed on both sides of said lower jaw and in contact with the upper portion of the lower pair of belts, the upper edge of said lower jaw being under and aligned with the heating element along the lower edge of said upper jaw, and
• means urging said upper jaw down to press the upper pair of belts against the lower pair of belts supported by said jaw rollers;
• means for pressing said heating element against the upper edge of said lower jaw when sealing said adjacent layers of said film,
• said layers of film being supplied to run with said free edges between said belts.

An automatic film wrapping machine for wrapping products in heat sealable thermoplastic film in which the flow of products through the machine is substantially continuous and in a straight line comprising:

• a film inverting head,
• an infeed conveyor for providing packages to the input of said inverting head,
• means for providing folded film to said inverting head,
• said inverting head inverting said film and enveloping said packages in said film while said film is substantially tension free,
• a side sealer for sealing together the free edges of adjacent layers of said heat sealable thermoplastic film on one side of the film surrounded products and for severing the excess selvage edges from said surrounded products comprising:
• upper and lower longitudinally extending belts, each belt being in a vertical plane, said upper belt being vertically aligned above the corresponding lower belt, each of said belts being supported by at least a pair of pulleys, means for driving at least one of said pulleys and its supported belt,
• means for urging the lower run of said upper belt against the upper run of said lower belt with said layers of film clamped therebetween,
• an upper jaw supporting a heating elements along its lower edge,
• said upper jaw heating element also being above the lower portion of said upper belt,
• a lower jaw having an upper edge, said upper edge of said lower jaw being under and aligned with the heating element along the lower edge of said upper jaw, said jaws extending along and adjacent the clamping runs of said belts,
• means for pressing said heating element supported by said upper jaw against the upper edge of said lower jaw to seal and sever the selvage of said adjacent layers of said film therebetween when said film is clamped between the upper and lower belts by said urging means,
• said lower jaw being tapered at the film input portion of its longitudinal dimension, said tapered portion causing said lower jaw to be spaced from said upper jaw at the end of the jaws near the film-input end of said upper and lower belts,
• said film being in proximity with the heating element of the upper jaw where it is preheated and softened in the tapered space region of the jaws, and said film being sealed and severed in the region where said jaws are in pressure contact,
• said layers of filimg being supplied with said free edges to run between said belts,
• means for removing said selvage edges after said film has been sealed,
• an end sealing mechanism having end sealing jaws,
• means for closing the end sealing jaws of said end seal mechanism on that portion of the film between the packages to simultaneously seal the end of said packages and sever the film between successive packages at the seal,
• said end sealing jaws moving at approximately the same velocity and direction as said film where said jaws are closed,
• said end sealing jaws moving in the opposite direct to said film after said seal is made and said jaws are opened,
• said end sealing mechanism having means to deliver said sealed packages to the output of said machine.

An automatic wrapping machine for wrapping product in heat sealable thermoplastic film in which the product is introduced manually into the machine comprising:

• a film inverter comprising:
• an inverting head extending in a direction substantially 45.degree. with respect to the longitudinal direction of product flow through said machine,
• a film supply for providing folded thermoplastic film substantially tension free to said inverter, said product being manually pushed into said film supplied inverting head to surround product with film, a side sealer comprising:
• a side sealer for sealing together the free edges of adjacent layers of heat sealable thermoplastic film on one side of film surrounded products and for severing the excess selvage edges from said surrounded products,
• upper and lower longitudinally extending belts, each belt being in a vertical plane, said upper belt being vertically aligned above the corresponding lower belt, each of said belts being supported by at least a pair of pulleys, means for driving at least one of said pulleys and its supported belt,
• means for urging the lower run of said upper belt against the upper run of said lower belt with said layers of film clamped therebetween,
• an upper jaw supporting a heating element along it lower edge,
• said upper jaw heating element also being above the lower portion of said upper belt,
• a lower jaw having an upper edge, said upper edge of said lower jaw being under and aligned with said heating element along the lower edge of said upper jaw, said jaws extending along and adjacent the clamping runs of said belts,
• means for pressing said heating element supported by said upper jaw against the upper edge of said lower jaw to seal and sever the selvage of said adjacent layers of said film therebetween when said film is clamped between the upper and lower belts by said urging means,
• said lower jaw being tapered at the film input portion of its longitudinal dimension, said tapered portion causing said lower jaw to be spaced from said upper jaw at the end of the jaws near the film-input end of said upper and lower belts,
• said film being preheated and softened in the tapered space region of the jaws, and said film being sealed and severed in the region where said jaws are in pressure contact,
• said layers of film being supplied with said free edges to run between said belts to form a tube,
• an end sealer,
• said side sealer providing said film covered products to said end sealer,
• said end sealer providing a seal transverse to said tube of uniformly spaced products, said end sealer severing said film tube between adjacent products to provide individually sealed packages as the outputs of said end sealer.

An automatic film wrapping machine for wrapping products in heat sealable thermoplastic film in which the flow of products through the machine is substantially continuous and in a straight line said machine having a frame for supporting elements comprising:

• a film inverting head,
• an infeed conveyor for providing packages to the input of said inverting ehad,
• means for providing folded film to said inverting head,
• said inverting head inverting said film and enveloping said packages in said film while said film is substantially tension free,
• a side sealing means for continuously heat sealing the free edges of said folded film in proximity to said package, severing the excess selvage from the package and drawing said film over said inverting head,
• means for removing the selvage of the film after said film has been sealed,
• an end sealing mechanism comprising a carriage mounted for reciprocating longitudinal motion on said frame,
• means for providing the side sealed packages to said end seal mechanism,
• upper and lower sealing jaws mounted on said carriage for movement transverse to said longitudinal motion above and below the path of said packages passing through said end sealing mechanism,
• a toggle crank arm mounted for rotation on said frame and driven by a single revolution clutching means,
• a linkage from said crank arm to each of said upper and lower jaws to reciprocate said jaws in said transverse movement with approximate harmonic velocity derived from rotation of said crank arm, said velocity being a maximum at the start of closing said jaws and approximately a minimum as said jaws close to provide dwell time during minimum velocity to make the transverse seal,
• a single motive power drive means for reciprocally driving said carriage longitudinally of said frame and said toggle crank arm transversally of said frame to provide said reciprocating longitudinal motion synchronized with the closing of said sealing jaws on that portion of the film between the packages to simultaneously seal the ends of said packages and sever the film between successive packages at the seal,
• said sealing jaws moving longitudinally at approximately the same velocity and direction as said film when said jaws are closed,
• said sealing jaws moving in the opposite direction to said film after said seal is made when said jaws are opened,
• said end sealing mechanism having means to deliver said sealed packages to the output of said machine.

A side sealer for sealing together the free edges of adjacent layers of heat sealable thermoplastic film on one side of film surrounded products and for severing the excess selvage edges from said surrounded products comprising:

• an upper pair and a lower pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending belts, each belt in a vertical plane, each belt of said upper pair being vertically aligned above and spaced from the corresponding belt of said lower pair, each of said belts being supported by a pair of pulleys, means for driving at least one of said pulleys and its supported belt,
• an upper jaw supporting upper jaw rollers and supporting a heating element along its lower edge, said upper jaw rollers being disposed on both sides of said jaw, the rollers on one side of said upper jaw being above the lower portion of one of said upper pair of belts,
• the rollers on the other side of said upper jaw being above the lower portion of the other of said upper pair of belts,
• said upper jaw heating element also being above the space between the lower portion of said upper pair of belts,
• a lower jaw supporting lower jaw rollers along its upper edge, said lower jaw rollers being disposed on both sides of said lower jaw and in contact with the upper portion of the lower pair of belts, the upper edge of said lower jaw being under and aligned with the heating element along the lower edge of said upper jaw,
• means for forcing said upper jaw down to cause said upper jaw rollers to press the upper pair of belts against the lower pair of belts supported by said lower jaw rollers and to cause said heating element to press against the upper edge of said lower jaw, said heating element being above the space between said upper belts when said forcing means is not actuated,
• said upper and lower pair of belts having a film input region,
• means for providing the edges of the film surrounding the products to the said film input region at the space between said upper and lower pair of belts, said film being grasped by said belts and moved longitudinally by said belts when said upper and lower jaws are forced against each other, said film also being between said heating element of the upper jaw and the upper edge of said lower jaw to form a seal and sever the excess selvage from said tube of film.