Collapsible filling spout

[57] ABSTRACT

A collapsible filling spout employing sidewall members constructed of a resilient, deformable material, preferably spring steel or the like. The spout is deformably movably between a rest or collapsed position, and a filling position wherein such sidewalls are forcibly flexed or “bowed” outwardly and apart from each other. Such a spout can be used cooperatively with opposed movable belts which pass tautly about the indicated sidewalls, respectively. Spreadable flaps associated with the bags to be filled are gripped firmly underneath the belts and against the sidewalls, so that accompanying outward expansion or deformation of the spout, the bags are opened automatically and held in such position as to efficiently receive the product fill. The use of such a spout minimizes the height required of the bag flaps.

Claims, 4 Drawing Figures

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ΪΖ

Patented July 17, 1973

3,746,056

Sheets-Sheet 1

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ATTORNEY

Patented July 17, 1973

Sheets-Sheet 2

3,746,056

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INVENTORS.

Oliver R. Tlichen a/ by Wil Ham Afirms/rony

ATTORNEY

3,746,056

COLLAPSIBLE FILLING SPOUT

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Collapsible spout constructions such as “duck bill” spouts are familiar to the art, particularly for filling bags fed individually thereto as is disclosed in some detail in U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,842. However, it is more difficult to effectively use such a filling spout where the bags are fed thereto as a continuous chain or series of connected bag elements.

For example, a troublesome aspect to this latter type use is that when the spout opens or expands accompanying the filling step, the bag underneath the spout is usually necessarily foreshortened in the machine or feed direction; and thus tends to tug at the bags located immediately adjacent thereto. Inherent operating difficulties are therefore encountered relating to the indexing or positioning of the bags in the machine, the tearing apart or damaging of the bags due to strain placed thereon when opening the spout, and the like.

Nevertheless, substantial advantages can be obtained by employing a collapsible spout. For example, bags in connected series form oftentimes include spreadable flaps that are adapted to be continuously “plowed open” to assist filling the bags successively. Usually a flap height of approximately 2 to 5 inches is required to permit the flaps to pass adequately about the opposite sides of a filling spout of non-changeable dimension. A collapsible filling spout, however, would allow for a significant reduction in the required height of such flaps. Since the flaps are customarily trimmed from the bags after filling and discarded as a scrap, the savings in material as obtained by a reduction in the height of the same would be appreciable.

Accordingly, it is the principle object of the present invention to provide a novel and efficient collapsible filling spout satisfactory for use on bags of a type connected together in series or chain form.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly then, in the type spout construction contemplated herein, the spout is constructed of opposed sidewall portions or members formed of a resilient deformable material, spring steel representing a preferred example of such material. In the preferred embodiment, a reversely movable actuating means is connectively associated with one end of the filling spout, and compresses the same to cause the aforesaid sidewalls to “bow” outwardly and apart from each other, thereby opening the spout to the filling position. Reverse movement of the actuating means allows the sidewall members to relax and thereby move to a position relatively closely adjacent each other. Cooperatively associated with the filling spout are opposed continuous belts movable about suitable pulley systems or the like, and which tautly engage and pass slidingly about the aforesaid sidewall members, respectively. Spreadable flaps associated with the bags to be filled are gripped firmly underneath the belts and against the sidewall members, so that accompanying outward expansion of the spout, the bags are automatically opened and held in such position as to conveniently receive the product fill. The problem of tugging and strain between the bags accompanying expansion of the spout and foreshortening of the bag therebeneath can be relieved by automatically drawing the bag chain inwardly toward the spout as the same expands or opens, as will be explained more fully hereinafter.

The preferred embodiment of the present ihvention is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein wheresoever possible like reference numerals designate corresponding material and parts throughout the several views thereof in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of automatic bag filling apparatus of a type incorporating a collapsible filling spout constructed according to the teachings herein;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the bag filling apparatus of FIG. 1 only with certain parts thereof broken away to better illustrate the construction of the aforesaid filling spout.

FIG. 2α is a view like FIG. 2 only with additional parts thereof broken away, and illustrates the filling spout in the open position; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the bag filling apparatus of FIG. 2 taken along reference line 3—3 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now more particularly to the drawings there is shown in FIGS. 1-3 bag filling apparatus 10 including a bottom conveyor belt 12, and spaced generally centrally above conveyor belt 12 is a collapsible filling spout 14. Filling spout 14 is actuated between rest and expanded or filling positions as is shown in FIGS. 2 and 2a, respectively, such as by an air cylinder means 16 which operates a reversely movable plate 18, in tum, connectively associated with the forwardmost end 20 of spout 14. Affixed rotatably to the top side of plate 18 are sets of opposed roller assemblies 22 and 24, which are grooved inwardly along their surfaces of revolution as denoted at 26. The grooves 26 rotatably “track” or accept stationary rail means 28 and 30 which extend parallel each other in the machine direction (see FIG. 3). Accordingly, plate 18 is carried underneath and “rides” reversely on rail means 28 and 30 by virtue of rotatable engagement therewith through roller assemblies 22 and 24. Such movement is controllably actuated as aforedescribed by a vertical extension arm 32 affixed centrally to the top side of movable plate 18 and which, in turn, is operated by the actuating arm 34 of air cylinder 16. Extension arm 32 is slidingly guided to assist reverse movement, such as between opposed stationary guide plates 36 and 38, which, in turn, fixedly mount rail means 28 and 30 via connection therewith through flange assemblies 40 and 42, respectively.

Spaced beneath movable plate 18 is a bag guide means or mandrel 46 functional as described hereinafter, and which extends horizontally in the machine direction. The rearwardmost extent of mandrel 46 comprises an elbow 48 which is rigidly attached to the underside of movable plate 18. A slitting means or blade 50 is affixed to mandrel 46 at a region generally immediately forward of elbow 48.

Referring now again to spout 14, the same essentially comprises a pair of opposed sidewall members 52 and 54 constructed of a resiliently deformable material like spring steel, resilient plastic, or the like. The forward vertical edge regions 56 and 58 of sidewall members 52 and 54 are connectively associated with movable plate 18 via their fixed attachment to elbow 48, and the rear3.746.056 ward vertical edges of regions 60 and 62 thereof are affixed such as by attachment to stationary bracket means 66. Bracket means 66, in turn, is attached to a horizontal stationary bracket plate 68 disposed slightly thereabove at a region behind spout 14. Spout 14 further includes an upwardly displaced hollow generally conical shaped member of upper hopper portion 70 of sheet metal, for example, which communicates with sidewall members 52 and 54 such as by means of a peripherally continuous flexible connecting piece 72. Such a connecting piece can be constructed of flexible rubber tubing, synthetic cloth, or a like appropriate material of reasonably durable quality.

Cooperatively associated with spout 14 are a pair of movable endless belts 74 and 76 which travel continuously about closed pulley systems 78 and 80, respectively. Sets of idler squeeze pulleys 82 and 84 are located generally contiguous with the forward and rearward extents, respectively, of spout 14 to assist the belts to snugly pass about the sidewall members 52 and 54 thereof. The rearward set of pulleys 84 is attached rotatably to the underside of bracket plate 68. The forward set of pulleys 82, together with a pair of end anchor pulleys 86 and 88 disposed at the forwardmost extreme of pulley systems 78 and 80, are rotatably attached to the underside of movable plate 18 so aS to be reversibly movable therewith, for reasons as will be explained more fully hereinafter. Slack occasioned in belts 74 and 76 by virtue of such movement is adjusted for by a spring loaded belt tensioning assembly 90 located at a spaced distance downwardly of spout 14. Such an assembly includes a stationary horizontal fastening plate 92 having arm members 94 and 96 pivotally attached thereto. The outer extremities of arm members 94 and 96 carry idler rollers 98 and 100 which bear externally inwardly against belts 74 and 76 to take up any slack occasioned therein. The degree of force exerted by rollers 98 and 100 is controlled by springs 102 and 104 affixed at one end to fastening plate 92, and at their opposite ends, to arm members 94 and 96, respectively. The rearwardmost pulleys 106 and 108 in systems 78 and 80 can be rotatably operated by suitable power means (not shown) to drive belts 74 and 76 about the pulley systems, respectively.

OPERATION

To operate apparatus 10, bag elements 110 are fed connectively thereto where they are initially received on mandrel 46 via a tunnel structure 112 extending continuously along the top edge portion 114 of the bag chain. Such a tunnel structure is expediently formed, for example, by cross sealing tubular film material at spaced intervals as denoted by seals 116. Seals 116 can extend upwardly from an area contiguous with the bottom ends 118 of bag elements 110, but terminated at a point spaced from the top edge portion 114 thereof to provide the continuous tunnel structure 112 as indicated generally hereinbefore. Transversely extending lines of weakness (not shown) such perforations or slits, are oftentimes desirably located between adjacent bag elements 110 to assist such bags to be separated apart from each other after the filling step. For yet further detail on various bag structures of this type and applicable modifications thereto, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,874, issued Feb. 2, 1971.

In any event, once bag elements 110 are received and advanced forward on mandrel 46, the guide function of tunnel structure 112 is accomplished and the tunnel therefore is continuously slit in the longitudinal direction by blade 50, thus dividing the tunnel into freely spreadable flaps, as denoted at 120 and 122 in FIG. 2. 5 The bags in this condition are then ready to be advanced to filling spout 14 preferably one bag at a time, or alternately in groups if a large filling spout relative to bag size is employed. To this end, belts 74 and 76 cooperatively grip the bag chain selectively along the re10 gion of flaps 120 and 122, and assisted by bottom conveyor belt 12, advance the bags in intermittent fashion. Simultaneously with such movement, flaps 120 and 122 are continuously plowed apart from each other as they pass about elbow 48 and thereafter sidewall members 15 52 and 54, respectively, of the spout; and are thus gripped underneath belts 74 and 76 and against sidewall members 52 and 54 as the spout is later deformably moved between the rest and filling positions.

In any event, once the bag element is properly in 20 place beneath spout 14, air cylinder means 16 is triggered to operate movable plate 18 forward toward the spout, thereby compressing the same and causing sidewall members 52 and 54 to “bow” apart from each other as is best illustrated in FIG. 2α. Simultaneously 25 with such movement, the bag chain is drawn forward by belts 74 and 76 a linear amount corresponding to the amount of movement of plate 18. That is, the select portion of belts 74 and 76 as exist between pulleys 82 and end anchor pulleys 86 and 88, move linearly an ³θ amount corresponding to the movement of plate 18, via attachment of the aforesaid pulleys thereto; thereby automatically drawing the bag chain inwardly toward the spout an amount sufficient to offset the foreshortening of the bag element being filled. Cooperatively, the ³⁵ spring loaded idler rolls 98 and 100 resiliently bear against the belts to maintain a suitable degree of tension therein. The bag therefore is maintained properly gripped and supported to automatically receive product fill through the expanded spout. At the completion of the filling step, air cylinder means 16 is reversely operated moving sidewall members 52 and 54 to the rest position as is shown in FIG. 2. The bag chain 110 is then advanced one position forward by belts 74 and 76 and conveyor belt 12, to repeat the filling cycle on the 45 next succeeding bag element. Alternately air cylinder means 16 can be reversely removed to return sidewall members 52 and 54 to the rest position generally simultaneously with the forward movement of the bag chain, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Referring now to some of the specifics of the invention, to assist infeeding of the chain from a compact supply source, mandrel 46 can be cooperatively employed with an infeeding device of the type as illustrated in copending application Ser. No. 816,588, filed Apr. 16, 1969, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,127. Such a device assists to roughly align the bag chain vertically in apparatus 10 for advanceinent to mandrel 46, and can be used with bags fed from a folded pile, as opposed to ₆₀ feeding the bags from roll stock, for example. Moreover, such an infeeding arrangement places the chain in relatively little tension as it is advanced forward into the filling apparatus. In other words, the chain is virtually “slack or tension-free on the infeed side of the fill₆5 ing spout.

Additionally, while the invention has been described particularly as regards the use of a mandrel 46 cooperative with a tunnel 112 constructed into the bag chain,

3,746,056 .5 various other bag constructions are applicable for use in the present invention. For example, bags employing spreadable flaps can be received directly by apparatus 10 from a roll feed, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,085. In such instances the function of mandrel 46 would be substituted for by various other indexing means as would be appropriate for the flap structured bags, and therefore the mandrel means can be deleted from apparatus 10 to accommodate this latter type bag structure and feeding arrangement.

It may be noted that such apparatus as is disclosed herein would normally additionally include a suitable bag closing station (not shown). Such a bag closing station can comprise a mechanism for tying closed the tops of the bags, or alternately clipping the bags closed after filling; or where the bag comprises a heat seal thermoplastic material, cooperating sealing bars can be employed to form a heat seal closure across the top end of the bag, thereby securing the product fill within the bag.

As still yet other specifics of the invention, frequently it might be desirable to have sidewall members 52 and 54 “bowed” slightly outwardly from each other even in the rest position. This (or like suitable means) would set the initial pattern for the further bowing apart of the sidewall members are the spout is compressed. Alternately, rather than compressing the spout, it might for certain uses, be desirable to “pull” the walls apart to the expanded condition. For example, movable rods or the like could be attached to mid-portions of the side walls, respectively, to pull the same apart from each other, thereby expanding the spout. Such modifications, of course, would be mechanical in nature and readily incorporated in apparatus constructed according to the inventive principles and teaching herein contained.

Accordingly, while certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.