Abstract: The invention relates to a process and to apparatus for packing fibrous material in bales of high density, the material being pressed together in a final press and then being moved, together with the press-ram end piece and bottom plate, while still standing under pressure, out of the press compartment to further working positions where it is packed and reinforced.The invention enables the bales to be packed outside the press compartment which can be already fed, during the packing operation, with new material to be pressed.

Abstract: A method for wrapping commodities comprising supplying a pair of spaced apart layers of air-impermeable wrapping material and securing the layers together transversely along a leading end. A commodity is inserted between the layers to lie adjacent the secured leading end. The side or sides of the layers are secured together. The layers are then perforated in a transverse row adjacent the commodity on its side opposite the other side adjacent the leading end. The layers are then sealed transversely between the commodity and the row of perforations to completely seal the commodity within the layers. Prior to completely sealing the commodity, but after perforating, the space surrounding the commodity between the layers is evacuated. The invention also covers an apparatus for carrying out the method.

Abstract: A process for forming synthetic fibers into bales by multi-stage compression involves feeding the synthetic fibers to a plurality of depositing units wherein the fibers are precompressed into a retaining bin positioned at each of the depositing units to form a precompressed fiber parcel and then a plurality of the retaining bins are routed via guide means along a single continuous path to a central press unit wherein the parcels within the retaining bins are successively subjected to a finishing compression to form bales and, thereafter, the compacted bales are removed successively from the retaining bins and the empty retaining bins are, successively, returned along a single guide path back to individual guide paths leading to the depositing units.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for producing bales of tobacco compressed between opposed boards with strapping applied about the boards with predetermined tension. Tobacco is compressed in a chamber at the bottom of a charger and then ejected in one direction along a horizontal plane directly between a pair of opposed boards which are then moved with the tobacco therebetween at right angles to said one direction to the strapping station. The tobacco and boards are constrained during movement to the strapping station to control the dimension and shape of the bale prior to strapping which can then be applied with predetermined tension to maintain dimensional control over the bale.

Abstract: Packs of product move along a defined path, compressed in the grip of carrier jaws. A pair of webs of thermoplastic sheet material move towards said path from opposite sides thereof and are joined at a heat-fused seam to form an effective continuous strip across said path and into which a pair of carrier jaws moves with its pack. Pressure jaws converge just behind the carrier jaws to form the strip into a loop around the carrier jaws and produce two parallel, slightly spaced heat-fused seams between which the webs are severed and one of which connects the ends of said loop to form a band around the carrier jaws while the other connects the webs into a strip for formation of the next band. Until the band-completing seam has cooled, the carrier jaws keep the pack compressed enough to prevent seam rupturing tension on the band, then diverge enough to tension the band slightly, whereupon band and pack, in unison, are slid endwise out of engagement with the carrier jaws.

Abstract: A food packing machine employing a piston for compressing and preparing a cake of food for canning. The piston rides reciprocally in a carrier which is cam driven toward and away from a cake-forming cavity, wherein the piston acts against food particles. Operation of the carrier and piston, as the latter moves initially into the cavity's entrance, is characterized by nonyieldable biasing, or driving, of the piston into the cavity. Immediately thereafter, a spring which is interposed between the carrier and piston promotes continued, but now yieldable, drive of the piston into the cavity.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a packaged web product and apparatus therefor wherein superposed webs are compressed and while compressed webs pass through an open-ended forming device having a closed perimeter and simultaneously enveloping the compressed, superposed webs, and thereafter transversely severing the resultant product into identical units.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for compressing voluminous material easy to compress and for storing and transporting the material in said compressed state. According to the invention, thus, there are provided a bottom and two opposed vertical walls capable to approach each other for compressing the material between the walls. When the material has been compressed to the desired volume the material is transferred to a storage or transport crate, which is located with its floor beneath the bottom and with its sides outside of and adjacent the walls. When the material is being discharged between the walls, it expands and presses against the side of the crate and an end side connected to the crate whereby the crate is moved with the material while being successively filled. When the material is being compressed it is pressed downward by a belt acting from above on the material.

Abstract: A method of stuffing an aerated expanded flexible filler into a snug fitting cover, wherein air is evacuated from the filler while resting upon a support so as to shrink the filler and permit rapid application of the cover thereto. The apparatus includes a cantilevered chambered support with multiple openings in its filler supporting surface and selectively operable means for withdrawing air from the chamber and an air impervious sheet draped over the filler and the support.

Abstract: A load arresting station is provided in an apparatus for stacking and compressing batts of compressible material which includes a removable platform on which batts are supported and front and back stop walls for arresting the forward motion and recoil motion of batts driven into the load arresting station along a generally horizontal path.

Abstract: A press for panels or like articles comprising a lower press platen having depressed portions, U-shaped channel beams carried in the depressed portions having parts extending downwardly below the press platen, the beams being vertically movable with respect to the press platen and supporting rollers therein. When the press platen is moved to its lower non-pressing position the downwardly extending parts contact the stationary press structure and move the beams upwardly with respect to the platen so that the upper ends of the rollers protrude above the upper pressing surface of the platen to allow easy movement of the panels over the rollers into and out of the press, and when the press platen is lifted to exert its pressing action it moves upwardly with respect to the beams until the upper ends of the rollers no longer protrude above the upper pressing surface of the platen.

Abstract: A device for modelling and packing of an object, the device having a container adapted to be closed to enclose the object and driving means for the closing movement of the container, and wherein the driving means contains elastic elements which permit the container to close less than completely if the object is too big.

Abstract: A device for modelling poultry provided with pivotably interconnected shell members and flaps, the latter being pivotably mounted, for catching the wings, from an open or spread-out position towards a position in which their end edges nearly engage each other, so that the wings are guided and laid against the body of the poultry before the shell members of the modelling apparatus close.

Abstract: A device for handling objects such as poultry objects provided with an attaching means for receiving the objects and having one or a pair of feelers located in the region of the attaching means and movable between a first position wherein normal operation of the device is prevented and a second position wherein normal operation of the device is permitted, movement to the second position being caused by an object in the attaching means. The attaching means may include a pair of slots for receiving a pair of poultry knee-joints in which case the absense of either knee-joint from its respective slot will allow its respective feeler to move to its first position. The feelers are mounted on a subframe which is vertically movable on a main frame, the two frames being movable transversely along a track which includes guides for controlling the operation of the device.

Abstract: An apparatus for stuffing cushions, mattresses, and the like. The apparatus includes a cantilevered hollow support with multiple perforations in its upper wall and selectively operable means for evacuating air from the hollow support. Cushion stuffing material is placed on the support and covered with an air impervious film advanced from a supply member carried by the apparatus and cut by a cutter adjustably mounted on the apparatus. The film closes exposed perforations of the support which are not covered by the stuffing material. The apparatus is used to evacuate the air from the stuffing material, thereby shrinking the material to allow the rapid application of a cover over the stuffing and support, followed by withdrawal of the cover and contained stuffing from the support.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for inserting filled bag-like containers into despatch or display boxes, cartons or the like, comprising the steps of feeding the containers to a conveying system which has a plurality of compartments for receiving the containers, each compartment extending transversely to the conveying direction conveying the containers to an ejector station, ejecting a preselected number of containers at the ejector station from said compartments to a buffer store where initially the containers are loosely arranged, subsequently pressing the containers in the buffer store closely against each other, moving the tightly packed containers into a position directly in front of the opening of a carton to be filled and loading the tightly packed containers into the opened carton.

Abstract: An automatic bagging system useful for packaging a stack of a compressible material, such as a stack of folded disposable diapers into a drawstring type plastic bag. The apparatus includes means for compressing gradually the stack of diapers while reorienting the stack so that when the stack is packaged, the diapers will fit snugly in the bag with the folded portion of the diaper near the open end of the bag, for convenience in removing each diaper from the bag. Further the apparatus comprises means for handling and conditioning the bag for the insertion of the diaper stack that includes collapsible funnels for holding the bag open in a box-like shape in order to receive the compressed stack of diapers.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for the automatic filling of plastic bags with, for example, elastic, soft and deformable contents. In order to provide for the automatic handling of empty bags without intermediate, especially manual, steps, the invention provides that the empty bags are attached by extending flaps to a plastic carrier web across a tear line. The apparatus of the invention places a quantity of goods into the bag by means of an axially moving filling piston which passes between spreadable jaws that hold the bag open. The continued motion of the filling piston eventually exerts a force sufficient to cause fracture along the tear line and separation of the filled bag from the flap which stays attached to the carrier web. The piston then moves the filled bag into position for sealing. A number of embodiments is presented.

Abstract: A method of stuffing an aerated expanded flexible filler into a snug fitting cover, wherein air is evacuated from the filler while resting upon a support so as to shrink the filler and permit rapid application of the cover thereto. The apparatus includes a cantilevered chambered support with multiple openings in its filler supporting surface and selectively operable means for withdrawing air from the chamber.

Abstract: A cartoner for elongated articles including a source of a series of unshaped bundles thereof, a first conveyor having first article buckets thereon with a first reach adjacent to the source of articles so that each first article bucket receives an unshaped bundle of articles therein, a second conveyor having a set of second article buckets each having at least one wall shiftable between receiving and shaping positions with a first reach of the second conveyor adjacent to the first reach of the first conveyor so that each of the second article buckets receive an unshaped bundle of articles from one of the first article buckets, a leveling plate for leveling the contents of the second article bucket with the wall in the shaping position thereof, a set of filler members on the second conveyor for pushing the elongated articles from the second article bucket into a carton on an adjacent carton conveyor, and suitable control mechanism for causing the proper interaction of the various conveyors and parts thereof.

Abstract: Shredded paper for use as animal bedding material is compacted for packing by a reciprocating hydraulic compacting ram which displaces the material into an ejector chamber in a number of successive storkes. The pressure in the compacting ram is monitored by a pressure switch, and when a threshold pressure corresponding to a desired degree of compaction is reached a limit switch is effectively primed to trip the operation of an ejector ram upon completion of a compaction stroke, to eject the compacted material from the ejector chamber.The production of fertilizer particles is also described in which shredded paper impregnated with manure after use is comminuted and at least partially dried.

Abstract: Apparatus for packaging shoelaces in which flattened shoelace convolutions are moved away from a winding means for being received in an elongate lace confining channel of a first lace receiving unit which is then moved in a substantially vertical path into substantially aligned proximal relation to an elongate lace confining channel of a second lace receiving unit. The proximal portions of the units have elongate openings therein, communicating with the respective channels of the units, and through which the flattened shoelace convolutions are transferred from the channel of the first unit into the channel of the second unit. As this occurs a wrapper, previously positioned to extend across the elongate opening in the second lace receiving unit, is wrapped partially around the flattened convolutions.

Abstract: Batts are sequentially delivered to a reception station and deposited in columnar order on a platen substantially in one continuous movement in one plane while said platen is advancing from said reception station towards an ejection chamber spaced therefrom in steps commensurate with the delivery rate and thickness of the batts; a preceding batt column previously disposed in the ejection chamber being compressed by the advancing platen and thereafter expelled, while compressed, into a prepared bag.

Abstract: A system for packaging articles within containers, each including a lower article receiving portion, wherein a plurality of container receivers are continuously rotated in an endless path and displaced radially of their axis of rotation to various work zones. Each of the receivers is provided with a loading tube and a ram for positioning an article within a container lower receiving portion, and dispensing means are provided for rotating and accurately positioning the container lower portion within the receiver, and for positioning an upper lid or cap portion with respect to the lower container portion.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for pressing and binding voluminous material into bales, in which material in the form of several layers is supplied through a closable opening into a pressing chamber where compression takes place of each supplied layer. Final pressing is carried out at high pressure after a desired number of layers have been supplied into the pressing chamber, whereafter the pressing effect is lowered to a substantially lower pressure, so that the material compressed into a bale is permitted to expand, and the bale thereafter is discharged from said pressing chamber through a closable opening and bound while said substantially lower pressure is being maintained.

Abstract: The invention relates to a material portioning apparatus and a method which provides portions of material of predetermined weight by measuring and portioning an appropriate volume of the material. Although the apparatus is especially useful when the material consists of whole pieces larger than the portioned sizes, such as fillets of fish or meat, it can also be used for portioning granular materials, or materials of sizes smaller than the portioned sizes. It is only necessary that the material, or bulks of the material, be of such a nature that, when it is compressed in one direction, it will expand or be forced to move in a different direction. In accordance with the invention, the apparatus comprises a preforming stage having an adjustable volume, and a weighing stage also having an adjustable volume. Material is fed, through the preforming stage, into the weighing stage and the weighing stage is overfilled to include a volume greater than the desired weight.

Abstract: A machine for packaging chickens in plastic bags comprising tong-like gripper means which engage the legs of a chicken as it comes from a conveyor, a hopper into which said gripper means force the chicken so that its legs come to lie at the side of the body, the hopper having a bottom adapted to be withdrawn in transverse direction, a plastic bag mounted below the hopper, being adapted to be inflated and held by supporting means to receive said chicken, the top of the filled bag being clamped by transporting clamps which guide it into means for gathering the top of the bag and closing it by a clip.

Abstract: Apparatus for use with a pad stacking and packing machine for diapers or the like includes means for tipping vertical pad stacks on end and grouping two stacks together in a horizontal row or group of pads, with the group discharged as a unit into a shipping container. In one embodiment a conveyor with a vertical run and curved run picks up the pad stacks and turns them on edge and carries them to a grouping station where the stacks are accumulated into a group and the group is laterally discharged into a shipping container. In another embodiment, a turret which rotates about a horizontal axis receives the diapers in magazines arranged around the turret. The vertical and compressed stacks of diapers coming off the stack forming machine are loaded into the magazines at one position of the turret and the turret is rotated 90.degree. to position the pads on edge at the container loading station.

Abstract: A package of a hose of flexible material which comprises a succession of folded sections of flexible hose material superposed on one another to form a package having an inner section with an inner surface and an outer section with an outer surface. The folded sections between the inner and outer sections have the same axial length. The sections gradually increase in circumferential extent from the inner surface to the outer surface. Each section has a foil length of the same initial circumferential extent so that the sections are progressively expanded from the inner surface to the outer surface. The inner surface is of four-pointed star shape such that the folded sections are stretched over the points of the star to lie against one another at the points of the star while the outer surface is formed as a quadrangle with corners at the points of the star.

Abstract: Disclosed in a binding tape dispensing and dealing mechanism for an apparatus for binding a bundle of paper sheets such as paper money with the binding tape, which mechanism comprises a ring-like or annular flyer provided with tape guide rollers for holding and guiding the binding tape therebetween. The annular flyer is adapted to be rotated about a bundle of the stacked papers disposed substantially at a center portion of the flyer ring, to thereby wind the binder tape about the paper bundle as the flyer ring is revolved about the center thereof. The tape dealing mechanism further includes a cutter for cutting the tape in a predetermined length, a pressing lever for pressing the cut end portion of the binder tape wound around the bundle of stacked papers against a lateral side of the paper stack, a spring and cam for controlling the operation of the cutter, and another spring and cam for controlling the movement of the pressing lever relative to the lateral side of the paper stack.

Abstract: There is provided an apparatus for wrapping commodities, which may be compressible, and a corresponding method, in which a commodity is conveyed along a fixed path, a pair of opposed lengths of wrapping material are fed in an opposed relationship and in registry, the commodity is inserted between the opposed lengths of the wrapping material which have a leading end which has been sealed to form an open-sided and open-trailing end envelope, the lateral sides of the wrapping material are then sealed, and thereafter, a bag length is severed from the pair of lengths of wrapping material and sealed. Preferably, the commodity is fed under compression in between the opposed lengths of wrapping material, maintained under compression while the wrapping material is side-sealed and is vacuum-packaged while also under compression.