Bag filling apparatus and method
AssigneesAlberta Sunflower Seeds, Ltd., Systematic Design Services Ltd
InventorsThomas W. Droog, Stephen A. Withington, Douglas Greening
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Automated apparatus for filling of a bag with a loose commodity comprises a bag filling station for dispensing commodity into a bag; a wicket for feeding a stacked and interconnected array of empty bags; and a conveyor for removing filled bags from the filling station. Reciprocating clamps grip the open mouths of the filled bags, and transfer the filled bags away from the filling station, with a subsequent bag being drawn into appropriate position for filling by means of the connection formed between the contacting bags.
Claims11
A bag filling apparatus for filling bags with a loose commodity comprising a bag wicket (44) for holding an interconnected array of empty bags, a bottom-opening discharge hopper (28), means for positioning said bags sequentially beneath said hopper and a bag gripping means for closing said bag when filled and displacing said filled bag away from said hopper;
- said bags having opposed sides and opposed ends;
- said hopper (28) including drive means (40) for displacing said hopper in a reciprocating vertical motion and a hopper mouth (34) insertable into said bag for holding said bag in an open position during filling;
- said bag gripping means comprising a first pair of arms (62a and 62b) each terminating in a downwardly-depending finger (64a and 64b);
- and a second pair of arms (66a and 66b) positioned between said first pair and each terminating in a corresponding downwardly-depending finger (67a and 67b), said second pair of arms being driven by first reciprocating drive means (70) for horizontal diverging and converging movement whereby within a converged position said fingers of said second arms are positioned for insertion within an open mouth of a bag, and in said diverged position, said fingers are positioned to draw apart opposed ends of said bag, thereby drawing together the opposed sides of said bag;
- second reciprocating drive means (92) to lower said fingers (67(a) and (b)) of said second pair of arms into the open mouth of said bag;
- and third reciprocating drive means (98) to retract said fingers and said first and second pairs of arms in tandem in a horizontal direction away from and opposite to the bag wicket (44) while gripping said bag for drawing the next empty bag from said wicket under said hopper.
A method for filling a bag with a loose commodity and transferring said filled bag to a processing means, comprising the steps of:
- providing a source of loose commodity for dispensing from a hopper;
- providing a stacked array of flattened bags on a wicket means (44) and sequentially releasing an individual bag towards said source of loose commodity, said bags each having a mouth, two opposed sides and opposed ends;
- sequentially opening said bags and dispensing a predetermined quantity of said commodity therein;
- transferring filled bags away from said source, to a downstream conveyor or processing means;
- said method characterized by:
- providing said bags in an interconnected array;
- providing a hopper (28) having an upper region for receiving said loose commodity and a lower region defined by a pair of reciprocating jaws (36 and 38) for releasing said loose commodity into the open mouth of the bag;
- raising said hopper to a first, elevated position;
- positioning a bag under said hopper;
- lowering said hopper to a second position wherein said jaws extend into the mouth of said bag;
- opening said jaws to dispense said commodity while holding said bag open;
- raising said hopper back to said first position;
- gripping the filled bag with a bag gripping means and drawing the open mouth of said bag substantially closed, by drawing apart opposed ends of said bag, thereby drawing together the opposed sides of said bag;
- and said bag gripping means comprising a first pair of arms (62a and 62b) each terminating in a downwardly-depending finger (64a and 64b);
- and a second pair of arms (66a and 66b) positioned between said first pair and each terminating in a corresponding downwardly-depending finger (67a and 67b);
- sequentially displacing said bag gripping means to withdraw said filled bag away from said commodity source in a horizontal direction opposed to said wicket means (44), while said filled bag is connected to a second empty bag thereby drawing said second of said interconnected bags under said source for filling with said loose commodity;
- and
- subsequently transferring said filled bag in a generally horizontal direction towards said conveyor or downstream processing means (54).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.