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US 5,402,619 AGranted
Tin-tie bending machine
AssigneeBedford Industries, Inc.
InventorsScott L. Nelson, Stan W. Drietz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tin-tie bending device for bending the ends of a tin-tie about the edges of a bag wherein the tin-tie is secured to across the width of the bag and the ends of the tin-tie extend beyond the edges of the bag prior to bending. The device includes means for moving the bag along a travel path past a detecting means and a bending means of the device. The detecting means detects the bag as it travels past the detecting means. The bending means bends the end of the tin-tie about the edge of the bag and is actuated upon the detecting means sensing the passing of the bag along the bag travel path.
Claims14
A tie fastener bending device for use with a packaging container having a tie-fastener secured thereon wherein a leading end and a trailing end of the tie fastener extends beyond a leading edge and a trailing edge, respectively, of the packaging container, the bending device comprising:
- means for moving the packaging container and for maintaining the packaging container in a generally vertical plane as the container moves along a travel path from a first end of the device to a second end of the device;
- means for detecting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the packaging container traveling past the detecting means, the first detecting means producing a first signal upon detection of the leading edge of the packaging container and producing a second signal upon detection of the trailing edge of the packaging container, the detecting means being disposed between the first and second ends of the device along the packaging container travel path;
- first means for bending the leading end and the trailing end of the tie fastener relative to the respective leading edges and trailing edges of the packaging container, the first bending means including a first paddle being capable of selectively rotating in a generally vertical plane transversely across the travel path of the container perpendicular to the generally vertical plane of the container to contact the end of the tie, the first bending means being spaced from and independent of the detecting means and being electrically connected to the detecting means so that the first bending means is selectively actuated in response to the first signal from the detecting means to bend the leading end of the tie fastener and selectively actuated in response to the first signal from the detecting means after a predetermined delay to bend the trailing end of the tie fastener, the first bending means being disposed between the detecting means and the second end of the device at a first location along the container travel path;
- and
- second means for bending the trailing end of the tie fastener relative to the trailing edge of the packaging container, the second bending means including a second paddle being capable of selectively rotating in a generally horizontal plane perpendicular to the generally vertical plane of the packaging container along the direction of container travel to contact the trailing end of the tie, the second bending means being spaced from and independent of the detecting means and being electrically connected to the detecting means so that the second bending means is selectively actuated in response to the second signal from the detecting means, the second bending means being disposed at the first location along the container travel path adjacent to and on an opposite side of the container travel path relative to the first bending means.
2 more elements
A method for bending a pair of ends of a tie fastener about a packaging container having the fastener secured thereon wherein a leading end and a trailing end of the tie fastener extend beyond a leading edge and a trailing edge of the container, respectively, the method comprising the steps of:
- moving the container continuously on a travel path from a first end to a second end of the path and maintaining an upper portion of the container in a first plane along the travel path;
- providing a first paddle adjacent the travel path, the first paddle including a first end and a second end and being capable of selectively rotating in a second plane substantially perpendicular to the first plane defined by the container;
- providing a second paddle adjacent the travel path, the second paddle including a first end and a second end and being capable of selectively rotating in a third plane substantially perpendicular to the first plane defined by the container, the second paddle being located adjacent to the first paddle and on an opposite side of the container travel path relative to the first paddle;
- detecting the leading edge of the container as the container moves along the travel path and producing a first signal indicating detection of the leading edge;
- detecting the trailing edge of the container as the container moves along the travel path and producing a second signal indicating detection of the trailing edge;
- rotating the first paddle a first time, as the leading end of the tie fastener moves along the container travel path past the first paddle, to sweep a path transversely across the container travel path to strike the leading end of the tie fastener and bend the leading end of the tie fastener relative to the leading edge of the container, the first paddle rotating after a first predetermined time delay in response to the first signal;
- rotating the first paddle a second time, as the trailing end of the tie fastener moves along the container travel path past the first paddle, to sweep a path transversely across the container travel path to strike the trailing end of the tie fastener and bend the trailing end of the tie fastener relative to the trailing edge of the container, the first paddle rotating after a second predetermined time delay in response to the first signal;
- and
- rotating the second paddle, as the trailing end of the tie fastener moves along the container travel path away from the second paddle, to sweep a path adjacent the container travel path to strike the trailing end of the tie fastener and further bend the trailing end of the tie fastener relative to the trailing edge of the container, the second paddle rotating after a predetermined time delay in response to the second signal.
6 more elements
A tie fastener bending device for use with a packaging container having a tie-fastener secured thereon wherein an end of the tie fastener extends beyond an edge of the packaging container, the bending device comprising:
- means for moving the packaging container and for maintaining an upper portion of the packaging container in a first plane as the container moves along a travel path from a first end to a second end of the device;
- first means for bending the end of the tie fastener relative to the edge of the packaging container, the first bending means including a first paddle capable of selectively rotating in a second plane transversely across the travel path of the container perpendicular to the :first plane of the container to contact the end of the tie fastener, the first bending means being disposed between first end and the second end of the device at a first location along the container travel path;
- and
- second means for bending the end of the tie fastener relative to the edge of the packaging container, the second bending means including a second paddle capable of selectively rotating in a third plane perpendicular to the first plane of the packaging container along the direction of the container travel to contact the end of the tie fastener, the second bending means being disposed at the first location along the container travel path adjacent to and on an opposite side of the container travel path relative to the first bending means.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.