US 5,813,196 AGranted

Automatic sequential bagging machine with constant feed and method of operation

AssigneeGlopak Inc.

InventorsSerge Page, Guy Champagne, Dave Roberts, John Edwards

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Abstract

A method and a machine for automatically bagging articles in a bag and in a sequential and uninterrupted manner. A plurality of articles are continuously fed to the machine and received in two or three compartments, herein three compartments. Once the third article is received in the third compartment, all three articles are discharged within a bag held under the machine. A control circuit, after a predetermined time delay actuates an article support element which is caused to enter into the third compartment or the first compartment depending on the sequence of loading the machine whereby to support a fourth article entering the third compartment due to the fact that the bottom end of all compartments is open. The feeding device is uninterrupted and continues to feed articles to the machine regardless if the bottom discharge gate is open and the sequence is automatically reversed, back and forth, between the first and third and third and first compartments.

Claims16

Dependent claims

An automatic article bagging machine for placing at least two articles in a bag from an article receiving housing having at least two compartments loaded in alternating sequences from an article feeding device carrying a plurality of spaced articles, said housing receiving said articles therein in an uninterrupted manner, said housing having a hinged gate to guide a first one of said articles from said article feeding device to a first one of said compartments when said hinged gate is in a guiding position, a further one of said articles being discharged in a further one of said compartments with said hinged gate moved to a non-obstructing open position with respect to said further one of said compartments, said housing having a discharge gate at a lower end thereof, bag support means for holding a bag under said compartments in a position to receive said at least two articles when said hinged gate is moved to a discharge open position, detection means to sense the presence of said first and second articles as they enter said first and further compartments, control means for receiving signals from said detection means, article support means displaceably movable in and out of a lower section of each of said compartments above said discharge gate and actuable by said control means to momentarily enter its associated compartment to support a succeeding article being discharged in at last loaded one of said compartments moments after said discharge gate is moved to said discharge position where said articles in said compartments are released from a bottom open end of said housing and with said hinged gate remaining in said non-obstructing open position to accept a first article of a next group of said at least two articles in said further one of said compartments.

A method of automatically bagging at least two articles in a bag from an article receiving housing having at least two compartments loaded in alternating sequences from an article feeding device carrying a plurality of spaced articles, said method comprising the steps of:

i) feeding by means of a hinge gate a first one of said articles in a first compartment of an article holding housing,
ii) detecting said first article entering said first compartment,
iii) displacing a first hinge gate to a non-obstruction open position with respect to a further compartment to accept a second article in said further compartment,
iv) detecting said second article entering said further compartment,
v) discharging said articles from a bottom end of said compartment through a hinged gate to release the articles into said bag,
vi) actuating an article support means to enter said further compartment to obstruct an open bottom end of said further compartment a predetermined time delay after said step (v) to support a first article of a next group of articles being discharged in said further compartment while said hinged gate remains in said non-obstructing open position to accept said first article of said next group of said two articles.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.