FORM FILL COMPRESSION SEAL AND CUT-OFF PACKAGING SYSTEM FOR COMPRESSIBLE GOODS
The present disclosure relates to a packaging system for compressible goods utilizing pre-punched alignment apertures on wicketed and/or chain-linked open bottom bags. The disclosure relates to a bag transport and indexing system through the form fill compress and seal system. The disclosure further relates to the use of sprocket pins spaced accordingly on either a horizontal linear or rotary machine so that the sprockets correspond to the pre-punched apertures on the wicketed and/or chain-linked open bottom bags.
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This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/536,263 filed on Sep. 19, 2011, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a packaging system for compressible goods utilizing pre-punched alignment apertures on wicketed and/or chain-linked open bottom bags. The disclosure relates to a bag transport and indexing system through the form fill compress and seal system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, the form fill compress and seal technology has been substantially developed. This technology forms a container, typically from polymeric material, fills the container with a compressible good, typically a large compressible good such as, but not limited to, a blanket or similar item, compresses the compressible good within the package and then seals the package shut.
Typical examples of this prior art have been developed by the assignee of the present application and include U.S. Published Patent Application 2011/0266188 entitled “Form Fill Seal Packaging Method and Apparatus for Compressible Goods” published on Nov. 3, 2011; U.S. Published Patent Application 2011/0198260 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Compressing and Holding in Compression Woven Fabric Articles and Products Thereof” published on Aug. 18, 2011; and U.S. Published Patent Application 2011/0197549 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Compressing and Holding in Compression Woven Fabric Articles” published on Aug. 18, 2011, the contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
In the prior art, the bags have typically required loops or thickened material on both film webs of the open bottom. These loops or thickened material are used to transport the bags on guide rails or similar retaining means. This requires that the side of the bag with the loop or thickened material must be the control fixed or datum side, which may make the bags more difficult to control accurately. Moreover, the loops are formed on material which must be removed from the final product.
While these disclosures are well-developed and suited to their intended purposes, further improvements are sought which respect to accurate bag handling and increased manufacturing speed.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREIt is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide improvements in the form fill compress and seal technology, particularly with respect to accurate bag handling and increased manufacturing speed. These improvements are sought in both manual and automated production and in both horizontal and vertical fill application.
This and other objects are attained by providing either wicketed open-bottom vacuum bag or chain-linked open-bottom vacuum bags, which may possibly include zippered closures or one-way vacuum valves. Other embodiments may use open-bottom non-vacuum bags, such as one-time-use laminate film bags. These bags are typically made from two-layer laminate films, the outer layer being made from a gas barrier material such as nylon or polyester, the inner layer being made from a polyolefin type heat sealable material such as low density polyethylene. These bags have pre-punched apertures spaced across the open bottom, extending through one or both film webs. These bags are then loaded, either horizontally or vertically, with compressible goods. The goods are compressed and the open bottom is sealed shut. By use of drive machinery with sprocket pins which aligned with the pre-punched apertures, very accurate registration of the bags is achieved along with increased manufacturing speeds. Additionally, this configuration allows for fast and simple changeover from packing of one size of compressible goods to another size of compressible goods. Moreover, the bag making becomes more simplified because the control, fixed or datum side becomes the inverted closed top of the bags, which may include a zipper. The incoming film can be a continuous piece of material across its width, and there may be only one throw-away piece, rather than two pieces. Thus waste is reduced. The opening of the bag bottom through which the product is loaded may have either offset flanges of different lengths or flanges of equal lengths to assist with the bag opening and product loading processes. The apertures, can be pre-punched during the bag making process or even punched in the packaging machinery.
Further possible advantages may include semi-automatic or manual loading of the compressible goods and ease of registration and feeding of the bags into and through the process. Furthermore, the process could run at a speed convenient to the operator, the machine could be easier to control and may even have a smaller footprint as compared to previous designs.
A further embodiment could employ chain-linked vacuum bags with a reclosable zipper through which the compressible products are loaded. The pre-punched apertures are formed in the film above the zipper.
Further objects and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views, one sees that
A further envisioned embodiment is the vertical rotary carousel wherein the path and movement is vertical, with vertical rotation and individual stations having sprocket pins spaced to accept the bags with the pre-punched apertures on one or both film webs on each of the wicketed and/or chain-linked open bottom bags. This is accomplished in that it still utilizes a rotary carousel style machine with multiple stations that can accept and use either wicketed bags or chain-linked bags that are open bottom and may include zippered closures and/or one way vacuum valves. Typically, a smaller footprint (i.e., less floor space required) is achieved by such a configuration.
Additionally,
It is further envisioned that some embodiments might load through an opened zipper of an upright bag (with a sealed bottom), compress the bag and contents and then close the zipper. This typically would eliminate film-to-film sealing after compression thereby reducing the need for alignment of the bag walls. Moreover, the zipper end stomps could be held and used to support the bag during zipper opening, product loading and zipper closing. The alignment apertures would be typically eliminated. Additionally, a peel seal may be provided above or below the zipper, with activation provided by a heat seal jaw after compression. This embodiment could further use the zipper itself for guiding, support and bag transport thereby eliminating the extra material needed for bag guidance in the previous embodiments.
Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A method, comprising the steps of:
- providing a concatenation of packages, wherein the packages include an upwardly facing opening and further include a series of spaced apertures proximate to the upwardly facing opening;
- engaging the series of spaced apertures with a plurality of pins;
- a first step of transporting the concatenation of packages by moving the plurality of pins, whereby the packages are successively placed in a filling station which inserts compressible goods into the upwardly facing opening;
- compressing the filled package thereby reducing the volume of the filled package; and
- closing the upwardly facing opening.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of closing is a sealing step.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of sealing includes thermal sealing.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the concatenation of packages is provided as a stack.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the stack is a wicketed stack of packages, wherein rods pass through spaced apertures of successive packages.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the packages of the concatenation are inverted whereby the upwardly facing opening is a bottom of the package and the top of the package is at a lower position.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the bottom of the package includes a reclosure.
8. The method of claim 6 wherein the bottom of the package is closed.
9. The method of claim 6 wherein the packages includes sidewalls.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein at least one of the sidewalls includes a valve.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the sidewalls are polymeric.
12. The method of claim 6 further including a second step of transporting the concatenation of packages by moving the plurality of pins, whereby the packages successively moved from the filling station to a compressing station for the step of compressing and the step of closing.
13. The method of claim 12 further including a third step of transporting the concatenation of packages by moving the plurality of pins, whereby the packages successively moved from the compressing station to a cutting station for a step of cutting the packages from the concatenation of packages.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the first, second and third transporting steps are combined into a single indexing step wherein the first, second and third transporting steps apply to different packages within the concatenation.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein the filling station, the compressing station and the cutting station are configured around a circular path.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein the compressible goods are provided successively along a conveying device.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the filling station includes a gripper which sequentially engages the compressible goods and places the compressible goods into the packages.
18. The method of claim 13 wherein the filling station and compressing station are combined into a single station.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein the series of spaced apertures is placed on at least one flange extending from the open bottom of the package.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein the filling station includes a plow for spreading apart the upwardly facing opening.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 19, 2012
Publication Date: Mar 21, 2013
Applicant: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC. (Glenview, IL)
Inventors: Daniel MCDONALD (Palatine, IL), Donald Lee CREVIER (Essex, IL), Lawrence SHARE (Skokie, IL), Stanley PIOTROWSKI (Addison, IL), Benito GONZALEZ (Arlington Heights, IL), Gary LIND (Franklin Park, IL)
Application Number: 13/622,628
International Classification: B65B 31/00 (20060101);