US 4,586,412 AGranted

Rotary tin-tie cutting mechanism for a packaging machine

AssigneeDoboy Packaging Machinery, Inc.

InventorGerald R. Johnson

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Abstract

In a packaging machine of the type in which a "tin-tie" strip is affixed to a bag to allow repeated reclosures of the bag, a machine for cutting a continuous strip of tin-tie material into predetermined lengths and feeding the cut lengths into a bonding station where they are adhesively bonded to the bag proximate its top opening. The machine comprises a frame supporting a pair of electromagnetic clutches, one for selectively coupling a continuously driven shaft to an output shaft to which a tin-tie strip feedwheel is attached and the other for selectively coupling a continuously driven shaft to an output shaft to which a rotary cutting head is secured. Passage of a bag past a sensor triggers the two clutches which function to withdraw a predetermined length of tin-tie material from a supply reel and to sever the strip while feeding the cut length to the bonding station at the same speed as the bag is moving.

In a bag sealing machine of the type including conveyor means for continuously transporting filled bags past a tin-tie strip bonding station, apparatus for supplying cut lengths of said tin-tie strips to said bonding station in synchronism with the arrival of the continuously moving filled bags, said apparatus comprising in combination:

(a) a frame;
(b) first and second shafts journaled for rotation in said frame;
(c) continuously rotating drive means operatively coupled to said conveyor means and driven at a speed proportional to the speed of said conveyor means;
(d) guide means secured to said frame for routing flexible strip material along a predetermined path terminating in a close parallel relation to the path of travel of said bags along said conveyor means;
(e) friction roller means disposed on said first shaft and positioned relative to said guide means selectively for engaging said strip material and moving said strip material along said guide means;
(f) a rotary cutter head attached to said second shaft and positioned relative to said guide means for periodically severing said strip material passing along said guide means;
(g) a first electrically actuated clutch for selectively coupling said continuously rotating drive means to said first shaft for driving said friction roller means independent of said rotary cutter head;
(h) a second electrically actuated clutch for selectively coupling said continuously rotating drive means to said second shaft for driving said rotary cutter head from a home position to a strip material severing position and back to said home position;
and
(i) means responsive to the presence of a bag at a given location along said conveyor means for applying control signals to said first and second electrically actuated clutches to continuously advance a length of said strip material through said guide means and to cut a predetermined length of said strip material from a supply source with the cut length of strip material being moved at the same relative velocity as the bag as the two enter said bonding station.

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Abstract

Claims4