Bag placer for a packaging machine

Apparatus to place a bag on a spout to receive a tightly compressed material comprising:

• a magazine to hold a stack of bags said bags having open ends and closed ends and with their closed ends facing toward the center of the apparatus;
• a spout positioned below the magazine, the said spout having expandable jaws to grip a bag with one end of the spout adapted to receive the open end of a bag and the opposite end of the spout adapted to receive the compressed material;
• an elevator to hold a bag lengthwise moveable between an up position adjacent the magazine and a down position aligned with the spout;
• a gripper arm moveable from a position over the closed ends of the bags on the magazine lengthwise of the elevator, the said gripper arm having grippers extendable into the magazine to grip and lift the closed end of the top bag in the stack;
• means to move the gripper bar and the bag held by the grippers along the elevator and place the bag on the elevator;
• means to lower and raise the elevator;
• upper and lower opening bars provided with vacuum cups facing each other positioned adjacent the bag end of the spout;
• means to move the elevator and bag horizontally to bring the open end of the bag between the opening bars to permit the opening vacuum cups to grip opposite faces of the open end of the bag;
• means to separate the opening bars and open the bag;
• a finger assembly comprising a pair of bars moveable horizontally on stationary rods along the opposite faces of the spout and fingers adapted to rotate into the mouth of the bag when the bag is almost opened and grip the bag;
• means to move the bars of the finger assembly and the bag gripped by the finger onto the spout for substantially the full length of the bag;
• and
• means to expand the jaws of the spout;
• whereby the bag will be held on the spout ready to receive the compressed material through the spout and then be pushed from the spout.