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US 5,704,197 AGranted
Bag filling and closing machine
AssigneeBemic Company, Inc.
InventorJon W. Gifford
Life of this patent
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AssigneeBemic Company, Inc.
InventorJon W. Gifford
Estimating the term…
Bag pick up and feed assembles pick up a flat folded bag from a magazine and direct the picked up bag to a bag positioner assembly, the feed assembly including a first set of rollers moved away from a second set before the bag is moved therebetween and thence together to feed the bag. The positioner assembly moves the bag to extend vertically for top edge portions being clampingly engaged by a carriage assembly and thereby forwardly conveyed to beneath a hopper spout. Bag top side wall portions of the clamped bags are spread by vacuum cups of the carriage assembly. Power operated linkage mechanism moves closed spout jaws downwardly between the spread side wall portions and thence open the jaws to spread the bag side walls as product is discharged through opening jaws to open the clamped bag. The carriage assembly includes clamp plates mounting bag top clamps, vacuum cup mounting members and mechanical linkage interconnecting the clamp plates and vacuum cup mounting members to move the clamp plates toward one another as the opening spout jaws force the cup mounting plates apart. A shaker subassembly mounts a saddle subassembly for vertical movement while the saddle subassembly includes a bag bottom support member that is reciprocate for shaking a bag during filling.
In bag filling apparatus having a positioner station, a filling station longitudinally forwardly of the positioner station and a discharge station longitudinally forwardly of the filling station for feeding a flat folded bag having opposite side walls, bag top edge portions including front and rear corner edge portions defining a bag mouth, a bottom edge portion that at least in part defines a bag bottom when the bag is filled, a leading edge and a trailing edge from a bag magazine to a positioner station and thence to a bag filling station, a longitudinally elongated main frame having a front end and a rear end, a bag positioner assembly mounted on the frame at the positioner station for supporting a flat folded bag in a generally vertical condition with the bag top edge portions at a higher elevation than the bottom edge portion, the bag positioner assembly including transversely opposite first and second bag side wall support members for having a flat folded bag fed therebetween, the first support member having at least an upper portion pivotable between an open position inclined upwardly and transversely away from the second support member for having a bag slid thereover and a closed position straightening the flat bag to extend generally vertically between the first and second support members, first means mounted to the main frame for pivoting the support member upper portion about a longitudinal axis between its positions, a bag pick up assembly mounted to the main frame for picking up a flat folded bag from the magazine and feeding the picked up bag toward the positioner assembly and feed means mounted to the frame for receiving the picked up bag from the pick up assembly and transversely feeding the picked up bag to slide over the first support member upper portion when the first support member upper portion is in its open position, said feed means including a pair of transversely spaced first rollers for feedingly engaging one of the side walls of the picked up bag, second means for mounting the first rollers to the main frame and drivingly rotating the first rollers about a longitudinal axis, third means movable between a first position for cooperating with the first rollers to receive the picked up bag from the pick up assembly and to feed the picked up bag to the positioner assembly when the support member upper position is in its open position to reduce the amount of possible skewing of the picked up bag as the picked up bag moves from the pick up assembly to the positioner assembly and a second position of a greater minimum spacing from the axis of rotation of the first rollers than in the first position to facilitate the picked up bag being moved into feeding relationship to the first rollers, fourth means movably mounted to the main frame for mounting the third means to the main frame for movement between its positions and power operated means for moving the fourth means to move the third means to its second position prior to the pick up assembly moving the picked up bag transversely toward the positioner assembly.
Bag filling apparatus having a filling station and a discharge station for opening a flat folded bag and filling the bag with product wherein the flat folded bag has opposite side walls, bag top edge portions including opposite corner edge portions defining a bag mouth, a bottom edge portion that at least in part defines a bag bottom when the bag is filled, a leading edge and a trailing edge, and filling the opened bag, comprising a longitudinally elongated main frame having a front end and a rear end, a spout subassembly for controlling the flow of product into an opened bag, first means for mounting the spout subassembly to the main frame, a hopper for discharging product into the spout subassembly, an assembly frame, means mounting the assembly frame to the main frame, longitudinally spaced first and second operable clamp means for clampingly holding the opposite corner edge portions of the bag, a first clamp mount for mounting the first clamp means for movement therewith, a second clamp mount for mounting the second clamp means for movement therewith, first clamp mounting mechanism for mounting the first clamp mount to the assembly frame for longitudinal movement relative thereto, second clamp mounting mechanism for mounting the second clamp mount to the assembly frame for longitudinal movement relative thereto, transversely opposed first and second vacuum cups for vacuumingly engaging the adjacent side wall bag top edge portion longitudinally intermediate the bag corner edge portions, first and second vacuum cup mounting means for mounting and moving the vacuum cups toward one another from a retracted position to an extended position for vacuumingly engaging the adjacent bag top edge portion and spreading the bag top edge portions while being retracted in vacuum engagement with the bag top edge portions, third and fourth mounting mechanisms mounting the first and second vacuum cup mounting means for transverse movement toward and away from one another, and mechanical linkage means interconnecting the first and second clamp mounts and the first and second vacuum mounting means to longitudinally move the first and second bag clamp mounts longitudinally toward one another as the first and second vacuum cup mounting means move away from one another.
Bag filling apparatus having a filling station for opening and filling a flat folded bag with product wherein the flat folded bag has opposite side walls and bag top edge portions including opposite corner edge portions defining a bag mouth, comprising a longitudinally elongated main frame having a front end and a rear end, a hopper, a spout subassembly for controlling the flow of product from the hopper and into an opened bag, first means for mounting the spout subassembly to the main frame, an assembly frame, means for mounting the assembly frame to the main frame, longitudinally spaced first and second operable clamp means mounted to the assembly frame for clampingly holding the adjacent corner portions of a flat folded bag while the flat folded bag is being opened and filled and closing the filled bag, opening means mounted to the assembly frame for spreading the bag top edge portions while the bag is being clampingly held by the clamp means, the spout subassembly including first and second jaws movable between a closed position blocking the discharge of product from the spout subassembly and an open position, said jaws having side walls that transversely converge in a downward direction to provide a bottom apex in a closed position for blocking the discharge of the product from the hopper to the bag, said hopper having an upper section mounted at a fixed vertical elevation and a lower hopper vertically movable relative to the hopper upper section for having product flow therethrough from the hopper upper section, first pivot means for mounting the jaws to the lower hopper section for pivotal movement between the jaw closed and open positions and vertical movement with the lower hopper section, a first link and a second link each having a first end and a second end, second pivot means for connecting the first link first end to the first jaw for moving the first jaw with movement of the first link, third pivot means transversely spaced from the second pivot means for connecting the second link first end to the second jaw for moving the second jaw with movement of the second link, bracket means for pivotally mounting the links second ends at a lower elevation than the first pivot means and in downward diverging relationship in both the jaw closed and open positions, a piston cylinder combination connected to the main frame and connected to the bracket means for vertically moving the bracket means between an elevated positions that the jaws are in a closed position and vertically spaced from the bag top edge portions of the bag being clampingly held by the clamp means and means for cooperating with the second and third pivot means to retain the jaws in a closed position as the bracket means is moving downwardly from its elevated position until the bottom apex enters between the spread apart bag top edge portion and then one of permitting the jaws to move and moving the jaws to their open position.
Bag filling apparatus having a filling station for opening and filling a flat folded bag with product wherein the flat folded bag has opposite side walls, bag top edge portions including opposite corner edge portions defining a bag mouth and a bag bottom edge portion that at least in part forms a bag bottom when the bag is filled, comprising, a longitudinally elongated main frame having a front end and a rear end, a hopper spout assembly mounted to the main frame at the filling station for discharging product into a bag having spread apart bag top edge portions, first means mounted to the main frame to spread the bag top edge portions of a flat folded bag and clampingly holding the bag beneath the hopper spout assembly as the bag is being filled, closing the bag top edge portions after the bag is filled and releasing the clampingly holding of the bag after the bag is filled and closed, a saddle shaker assembly mounted at the filling station beneath the hopper spout assembly for settling product in the bag is being filled and the bag is being clampingly held, said saddle shaker assembly including an operable saddle subassembly for vertically shaking the bag during filling, said saddle subassembly having a bag bottom support member for abutting against the bottom of the bag clampingly held by the first means and means for vertically reciprocating the bag bottom support member between a first elevated position relative to the shaker subassembly and a lowered elevation relative to the shaker subassembly to shake the bag, and a shaker subassembly for mounting the saddle subassembly for vertical movement and moving the saddle subassembly to a lowered position while the saddle subassembly is operated to shake the bag and an elevated position for having the bag moved thereover from beneath the hopper spout assembly after the bag has been filled, and means for mounting the shaker assembly to the main frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.