Abstract: A machine for sheathing bales of material such as hay, straw and the like The machine has radially adjustable fingers to stretch a resilient sheath for the free insertion of the bales. The machine has elevating and guide mechanism for elevating and guiding the bales through the machine and as the bales exit the machine they are encased in the sheath. The resilient sheath will shrink to its original size to thereby fit closely to the contour of the bale. The machine has a swing away tow bar for offsetting the machine to either the left or right of the towing unit permitting the towing unit to travel on either side of the bale row. The swing away tow bar may be adjusted to a center position for ease of towing the machine from one job site to another or down a roadway. The swing away tow bar eliminates much of the side draft experienced previously.

Abstract: A packaging machine applies clips to rope sections of filled tubular casing to form clubs. In such a machine, a new clipping mechanism includes a piston-in-piston structure. Clip jaws are linked to the external piston to be driven by that piston. A punch is affixed to the internal piston. The punch is driven partially by the external piston as the internal piston "rides along", and partially by the internal piston. The punch is guided, in part, by punch guides present in the clip jaws, when closed. Also in the packaging machine, a cut-off knife is driven, and voider plates are driven in part by non-cylindrical and therefore consistently aligned pistons in non-cylindrical cylinders.

Abstract: A tubular shirred formation (34) is covered by a previously shirred tubular net (38), which is held ready on a supply drum (36), with one end (42) closed and, with axial insertion, the tubular shirred formation (34) is covered, and then the other end is closed off. To simplify the device and to avoid an axial expansion of the tubular shirred formation (34) before packing, its axial insertion into the closed tubular net (38) and the covering of the tubular shirred formation take place while the tubular shirred formation is still seated on the shirring tube (16). Before covering the tubular shirred formation (34) is compressed further by pushing its front end against a stop (64) which is fixed in the axial direction.

Abstract: In a conveyor system of dust containers for using in a building, particularly an apartment house, dust discarded from respective houses is contained in a cylindrical polysheet, which is clipped at separated points to form dust capsules having a smaller diameter than the inner diameter of a vertical chute so that the capsules in the chute are subjected to air resistance. A pressure detector is provided near the bottom of the chute. In response to the output of the pressure detector the quantity of air escaping to the outside from the upper end of the chute is controlled so that the falling speed of the capsule is adjusted to a safe value.

Abstract: Apparatus for use in combination with a protective flexible tubular material which facilitates the use of tubular material for the temporary storage of palleted goods. The apparatus retains a folded store of tubular material, and rearwardly dispenses a layer of the tubular material from the folded store. The apparatus frame defines an entrance into the tubular material and has a skid plate which facilitates loading of palleted goods within the tubular material. An inexpensive storage system results.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for voiding food product from the tail of a stuffed casing including a single pair of voider gates which close after the stuffed casing is gathered and a first closure is applied. The closed voider gates move to progressively constrict casing extending from the closure to strip any food product therein back to the stuffing horn and then a second closure is affixed to the constricted and stripped casing.

Abstract: In a stuffing machine for stuffing comminuted material in casing to form chubs, the machine comprising a stuffing horn for the passage of comminuted material and for the provision of casing, a casing brake for controlling casing withdrawal from the horn in relation to the exiting of comminuted material from the horn means, a clip applying apparatus for applying upstream and downstream clips to the casing and a looper assembly for applying loops to the upstream clip. The machine also includes a product support comprising a helical spring mounted adjacent the discharge end of the casing brake defining and extending along the path of the stuffed casing, the spring having a diameter sized to permit the spring to surround the stuffed casing exiting the casing brake and having a lateral strength to support the stuffed casing.

Abstract: The shirred casing disclosed is packaged in a plastic tube with the lead end of that tube formed into a combined brake/size means which applies oblique frictional force and variable size control to the food emulsion as it is being extruded into the case; also disclosed are means for permitting gas pressure build-up to be relieved and the gas to escape.

Abstract: Apparatus for simultaneously placing a collogen film from a flat sheet of collogen film about the outside circumference of a product and placing netting about the outside circumference of the product. In one aspect, the apparatus comprises a base, a manifold assembly, a center product discharge tube, a collogen forming collar, a discharge horn and a netting support cylinder. Additionally, the apparatus may comprise a netting derucker, a discharge conveyor a product end clipper and other components and elements. The manifold assembly is mounted to the base, and the center product discharge tube extends from the manifold assembly. The collogen forming collar forms the flat sheet into a cylindrical shape, is concentric with the discharge tube and is mounted in association with the discharge tube. The discharge horn extends along a portion of the discharge tube away from the manifold assembly and is mounted in association with the discharge tube.

Abstract: A device for filling a tubular casing with a pasty product comprising a stuffing horn, a brake which encircles the outside of the stuffing horn in the vicinity of the orifice thereof, and a coaxial, cylindrical support tube accommodating a tubular net, which support tube is arranged at a distance from the outside of the stuffing horn and extends over the length of the stuffing horn to an end in the vicinity of the orifice of the stuffing horn, the brake being located at said end of the support tube. The invention enables the tubular net to continuously applied to the tubular casing during the stuffing operation.

Abstract: An improved packaging device designed for the filling of flexible, tubular casing and for the sealing of the casing in discrete lengths which may then be further processed or packaged. The device includes a mounting assembly having a floor mounted frame with a rotatable platform supported by the frame. Adjacent the frame and platform is a device for feeding product through a product horn into casing which is shirred on the horn. The platform includes a plurality of specially designed clippers arranged in a circular array. As filled casing is discharged from the feeding mechanism it is directed tangentially into the circular array of rotating clippers which are equally spaced from each other. The clippers sequentially operate to gather the casing, apply spaced, double clips to the casing, sever the connection between adjacent clips, and to then discharge the packaged link from the device.

Abstract: A device and method for baling a plurality of items in a sack-like bale enclosure which includes a conduit for conducting items from a conveyor to a sock-like item receptacle coaxially mounted over an outlet end of the conduit.

Abstract: A blade sheathing device for loading bales of an agricultural product, e.g. silage, into an elongated, flexible bag, comprises a framework movable along the ground and supporting an open-ended drum that has an outer surface for supporting the bag in a compressed condition. The device has pads connected to the framework that can be lowered to a location underlying the wheels of a vehicle that is used to load a bale through the drum and into a space in the bag beyond the drum. The result is to immobilize the device during the loading operation by virtue of the weight of the vehicle on the pads. The same vehicle can be used between bale loading operations to pull the sheathing device forwards to a new location to dispense a portion of the bag from the surface of the drum and hence create a space in the bag to receive the next bale.

Abstract: The packing of a tubular casing segment which has been shired together into a hollow cylindrical shirring formation occurs in a tubular net of such configuration that first, with the shirring accomplished with the aid of an abutment which is movable on the shirring tube, a certain initial segment of the tubular casing length is allowed to be left unshirred. Following termination of the shirring, the shirring tube is withdrawn with the abutment from the tubular shirring formation, and the unshirred tubular casing length segment is narrowed down or swaged and is sealed. Finally the sealed tubular casing length tip is inserted with force into the shirring and together with the shirring is thrust through a cylindrical carrier, in which a tubular net is recovered which is sealed to the tubular shirring. This is turned inside out with the thrusting through of the tubular shirring and surrounds this part along its entire length.

Abstract: A bale bagging apparatus for bagging round bales in tubes of plastic film includes a hoop and an annular flexible tube support projecting to the rear of the hoop. The tube support conforms to the shape and size of the bales being bagged, so that a tubing may be used that is fairly close in size to the size of the bales. This reduces the amount of air inside the bag and the ultimate looseness of the bagging tube on the bale, which affects its wind resistance and allows the bagging of bales in smaller tubes, which significantly reduces the cost of plastic film.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for building up a ground store of pressed vegetable material wherein the material is picked up by a tractor loader and successively put through a funnel element which carries a store of a retractable plastic sheet hose, whereby a long row of bails are stored in the hose. The funnel element is moved stepwise forwardly by the tractor to consecutively provide the necessary space in the hose for enabling an introduction of the next bail. The tractor and/or loader may be provided with equipment for applying a treating fluid to the bails during the handling thereof, and the bails, thus treated, are stored in a practically sealed manner in the tubular sheet hose.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for facilitating the bagging of large round hay bales. The apparatus has a supporting frame that supports a large ring on which a large flexible radially accordian-folded plastic tube is mounted. By positioning a bale inside of the ring and then moving the apparatus, the bale is covered by the plastic tube. The process is repeated until the tube is filled with bales.

Abstract: A pack comprising a core and pleated tubing is used to provide a series of packages each containing a disposable object such as a baby's nappy along the tubing as it passes over the top edges of the core and then down through the core. The core is turned by means of a lid about a cylinder to twist the flexible material at locations between the adjacent packs to seal the packs at their ends thereby providing hygienic disposal of the waste. A safely located rotatable cutter in the lid is provided for severing the flexible tubing above the top twist.

Abstract: An improved packaging device designed for the filling of flexible, tubular casing and for the sealing of the casing in discreet lengths which may then be further processed or packaged. The device includes a mounting assembly having a floor mounted frame with a rotatable platform supported by the frame. Adjacent the frame and platform is a device for feeding product through a product horn into casing which is shirred on the horn. The platform includes a plurality of specially designed clippers arranged in a circular array. As filled casing is discharged from the feeding mechanism it is directed tangentially into the circular array of rotating clippers which are equally spaced from each other. The clippers sequentially operate to gather the casing, apply spaced, double clips to the casing, sever the connection between adjacent clips, and to then discharge the packaged link from the device.

Abstract: An article packaging apparatus with a cylindrical cassette having a tube made of resin fitted on the outer peripheral surface thereof is mounted below a charging station for charging articles. Heated press heads for heating and fusing the resin tube are arranged below the cassette. The heated press heads are moved from a standby position remote from the resin tube to a clamping position for clamping the tube. The heated press heads are then lowered a predetermined distance from the clamping position in order to pull the resin bag and move the heated press heads to a fusing position for fusing said tube. The heated press heads are lowered a short distance from the fusing position and the heated press heads are moved to a separating position for separating an individual bag from the resin tube.

Abstract: Conifers and other plants, in particular, those are to be used as Christmas trees, are advantageously packed securely and in a space-saving manner, using an apparatus that has a U-shaped frame which has on one side one or a plurality of funnels with associated net tubes and nets and other side has a gripper that can be moved on the frame, this gripper having a scissors joint with gripper jaws that are configured as blades and which can be opened and closed automatically when the gripper is moved back and forth.The gripper jaws have a closing lock that can be released when the trunk of the tree is introduced into the mechanism and at one end has a withdrawal mechanism that acts on the tube and which opens the gripper jaws when this is done.FIG. 2 is intended for this disclosure.

Abstract: A casing article is disclosed which includes a shirred casing having a tubular leader extending through its bore wherein one end of the leader is attachable to a web for drawing the web through the bore of the shirred casing.

Abstract: A length of flexible packaging is provided for use with a sterile enclosure or isolator. The packaging is attached to a port on the outside of the sterile isolator and is adapted to enable an item to be passed from the interior of the sterile isolator through the port into the interior of the packaging. A transverse seal is made in the packaging to seal the dangerous chemical in a segment of the packaging. The packaging is cut transversely along the sealed section and the segment containing the item is separated from the packaging.

Abstract: An arrangement for providing a plant with a guard which has the form of a net, foil or the like and which is effective against insect attack, the arrangement including an applicator which has a plant through-passage (3) and which is arranged to carry a plurality of hose-like plant guards (17) which surround the aforementioned passage and which are provided with means (19) for stripping the plant guards from the applicator when a plant moved through the passage is caused to pass out from the applicator. A plant guard (17) included in the arrangement comprises a first portion (21), arranged to surround at least the lower part of the plant above the ground, and a second portion (25) intended to surround the plant in the ground. The first guard portion is capable of decomposing in an atmospheric environment within the space of a few years, while the second guard portion is capable of decomposing in the soil environment in a much shorter space of time.

Abstract: An apparatus for loading a row of round bales into an elongated plastic bag includes a front frame for bearing against the front end of the row of bales, and a rear frame which is placed at the rear end of the row of bales. The rear frame includes a chute for guiding the bales into a bag mounted on a cylinder, which is pivotally mounted on the rear frame, and a pair of skids with pulleys on the front ends thereof. The ends of a cable are connected to the sides of the front frame, and the cable extends rearwardly around the pulleys on the rear frame and then forwardly to a towing vehicle. Forward movement of the vehicle causes movement of the rear frame towards the front frame, whereby the chute moves beneath the bales and the bag is moved forwardly around the bales.

Abstract: Apparatus for packing bulk material including high moisture agricultural products such as grain in plastic bags has a transferring mechanism with a rotating device disposed in a generally upwardly directed plane relative to a support frame for positioning and locating the rotating device to create a rotating wedging action against bulk material within a plastic bag to provide an acceptable level of density both for ensiling of agricultural products and for storage of bulk materials.

Abstract: A plant for producing plastic curd cheeses such as mozzarella, caciocavallo and the like, comprising at least one device for chopping the curd, at least one kneading device for kneading the chopped curd with an aqueous liquid, at least one plasticizing device with mechanical implements for plasticizing the kneaded curd to obtain plastic curd, an extruder fed with plastic curd and feeding the plastic curd into a tubular sheath, and an apparatus for cutting and closing predetermined sections of tubular sheath filled with plastic curd.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for making cleaning pads from a tubular meshed network having inner and outer surfaces and a resilient filler by simultaneously turning said meshed network inside out and feeding said tubular meshed network and said filler into a hollow mandrel whereby said filler is enveloped by the reversed tubular meshed network.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for making cleaning pads from a tubular meshed network having inner and outer surfaces and a resilient filler by simultaneously turning said meshed network inside out and feeding said tubular meshed network and said filler into a hollow mandrel whereby said filler is enveloped by the reversed tubular meshed network.

Abstract: Apparatus for stuffing meat into a casing mounted on a horn comprising a pair of plates mounted in facing relationship, on one of which plates the horn is mounted, and on the other a meat supply conduit, together with a ram. The plates are relatively movable between a first station at which the conduit and horn are in communication, and a second station at which the ram and conduit are in communication, the ram serving to extrude meat contained in the horn into the casing. A knife is inlaid into one or both plates to sever meat bridging the horn and conduit when the plates are relatively moved. In the preferred embodiment the plates are mounted on an elongated shaft for rotary movement, and the shaft is itself mounted so as to be axially movable, so as to transmit a clamping pressure to retain the plates together. When the clamping pressure is released the plates can be relatively moved along the shaft for cleaning and maintenance purposes.

Abstract: For cyclically charging the filling tube of a sausage stuffing and closing machine with ready-for-stuffing tubular casing lengths, a tubular casing material flatly wound upon a supply roll is first withdrawn, opened and, in respectively one section length, drawn upon a support. Thereupon the drawn-on casing section is divided off the material cord and, along with the support, is placed ahead of the charging tube for conveyance thereto while at the same time, a new casing section is drawn onto another support to repeat these working steps in permanent alternation of the two supports. The invention resides in that each support after being placed ahead of the charging tube along with the casing section drawn thereonto is pushed in the same direction in which the drawing onto the support was performed beforehand, onto the charging tube up to the stopping means, whereupon the support is advanced in the same direction, pulled out of the retained casing section and, finally, removed laterally.

Abstract: A brake for exerting a tensioning force on a casing into which meat or the like is stuffed includes a movable braking element whereby the tensioning force may be released at an appropriate point in the cycle to permit air to be exhausted from the stuffing horn. Preferably the braking element comprises an inflatable elastomeric collar.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed for the continuous automated manufacture of sausage wherein tubular material for sausage casing from a supply source is axially shirred by shirring means into shirred sections, of continuously measured length; the shirred sections are stuffed with force meat into divided up and closed off portions with the amount of tubular material utilized being continually measured; and, the entire process is controlled and activated by sensing means, memory means, comparator means and means responsive to such sensing, memory and comparator means, to maximize utilization of shirred casing and to avoid stuffing into a void.

Abstract: An automatic packaging system comprising a container fabricating mechanism for forming a tubular structure from laminated paper capable of heat sealing, marking folding guidelines for forming rectangular-prism-shaped containers, cutting individual pouched containers from the tubular structure, and shaping one end of each pouched container, and a packaging mechanism for filling the shaped containers with a filling material and sealing the openings of the containers. The container fabricating mechanism includes a rotating mandrel mechanism formed of a plurality of radially arranged pairs of forming plates to receive the cut pouched containers.

Abstract: A bale-sheathing device is provided for placing a tubular plastics sheath around bales of straw, grass, hay or silage, in order to facilitate chemical treatment of the latter. The bale-sheathing device includes a mobile sheath-carrying structure for supporting and holding open an axially closed-up portion of the sheath in a manner enabling this closed-up portion to be progressively pulled out rearwardly off the sheath-carrying structure. The sheath-carrying structure is forwardly provided with means, such as a pair of inclined guides, for lifting up a bale to be sheathed and guiding it through the closed-up portion of the sheath as the device is advanced. The bale-sheathng device enables a sheath to be passed around each successive bale of a row of juxtaposed bales without having to drag the bale over the sheath or the sheath under the bales.

Abstract: A transportable bagging apparatus for continual, sequential loading of individual bales of agricultural products such as grass, alfalfa, corn stalks, hay, etc., into plastic tubing. The apparatus can be towed by an ordinary farm tractor or other vehicle, and can be loaded with any fork-type bale carrier or loader. A removably mounted bracket delivers plastic tubing from a roll over one of opposite open ends of a vertically positioned, pivotally mounted drum on the apparatus. When the entire roll of plastic tubing is gathered over the drum outer surface and tied over one of the drum's opposite open ends, the drum is then pivoted to a horizontal operating position with the opposite open end facing a bale engaged by a carriage. The engaged bale activates a hydraulic cylinder to force a telescoping ram against the opposite face of the carriage. This causes the engaged bale to enter the drum and load into the plastic tubing.

Abstract: A machine for packaging articles within material supplied in the form of a flexible tube, in which the material is transferred to the articles from a tubular shuttle. Initially the articles rest on a support carried by the shuttle, and projecting away from one end of it. During packaging the articles are restrained from moving with the shuttle, so that the shuttle passes over them until, fully covered by packaging material, they lie clear of the other end of it. There are then means for sealing both the package and the new free end of the material remining on the shuttle, removing the completed package from the path of the shuttle, returning the shuttle to its starting position and recharging the support with articles to be packaged.

Abstract: Apparatus for shirring a tubular casing includes a pair of shirring wheels with helical teeth.The wheels 21,22 (FIG. 9) are moulded from flexible rubber or polyurethane. The leading edge 43 of a tooth of one wheel 22 is aligned (shown by a nominal straight line 48) with the leading edge 42 on the adjacent tooth on the other wheel 21.The helical teeth are of controlled flexibility and the wheels may include circumferential walls joining the teeth.Other features of the invention relate to the curvature of the crest or face surface of the teeth which are related to wheel diameter and to the desired diameter of the shirred stick or slug which is to be produced.

Abstract: A meat packaging apparatus comprises a horn having an inlet thereto intermediate the ends thereof. A knife is located adjacent the inlet for severing meat locating partly in the horn, and a ram locates normally in the rearward part of the horn for extruding meat in the horn into a casing therefor mounted on the forward portion of the horn.

Abstract: In the making of sausages wherein a continuous web of plastic sheet is supplied and formed into a tubular wrapper about a filling tube, the wrapper is filled with sausage meat, and the filled tubular wrapper is intermittently closed to form sausages, the improvement which comprises controlling the filling and closing steps in dependence upon the amount of unfilled formed tubular wrapper waiting to be filled. An apparatus therefor is provided, including a stop displaceable longitudinally along the filling tube against a spring, the stop actuating certain switches as it moves back and forth along the filling tube, the switches controlling the supply of plastic sheet, filling supply and closing of the sausages.

Abstract: An apparatus for shirring a tubular casing in which the compression of the shirred stick is produced by employing a tapered mandrel positioned between shirring wheels. The taper is carefully chosen to produce uniform shirring and compression.In the drawing (FIG. 3) is shown part of a shirring machine comprising a pair of shirring wheels 21.22 located on opposite sides of a mandrel 15. The mandrel 15 has a tapered section 27 which begins immediately upstream of the line 27B joining the centers 21A, 22A of the shirring wheels and continues a substantial distance downstream of the line 27B. Back pressure is generated by rolls 28, 29.A preferred rate of taper is about 1 in 5 but the rate of taper may be anywhere in the range 1 in 4 to 1 in 30.

Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like comprises a stuffer tube for stuffing sausage dough into a casing, a pump for supplying the sausage dough into the stuffer tube, a casing pusher for propelling the casing, a chuck for receiving the stuffed casing discharged out of an end of the stuffer tube, the chuck being rotatable and frictionally engageable with the stuffed casing, and a linking device coacting with the chuck for twisting the stuffed casing as pushed out of the chuck into a chain of links. There are provided speed changing devices such as conical pulleys and endless belts trained therearound for changing the speeds of operation of the pump and the linking device, respectively. The casing pusher may be actuated either manually or automatically by a fluid cylinder. Manual actuation of the casing pusher permits less rigid collagen casings or irregular animal casings to be propelled without the risk of getting ruptured while being stuffed with sausage batter.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is an apparatus that comprises a station for infeeding containers that subsequently pass inside a net carrying pipe and are supplied to a station where each container is enshrouded in a net and at which there is a station for fixing the reinforcing strips to the containers as well as a station for labelling the said containers, all the said stations operating automatically and on a time relationship basis, one with the other.

Abstract: An expandable casing sizing mechanism and casing sizing method wherein the movement of a sizing member onto a stuffing horn automatically moves an expansion member radially outward to a casing stretching size.

Abstract: An improved apparatus and arrangement is disclosed which is adopted for the automatic encasement of chunk, sectioned and formed meat products. More particularly, the improved apparatus and arrangement of the instant invention provides for automatically stuffing chunk, sectioned and formed meat products into continuous stock tubular casing.

Abstract: An automatic form-and-fill packaging machine especially adapted for the ultrasonic sealing of food products in flexible bags from ultrasonically sealable flexible packaging material, and a method to utilize said machine. A packaging machine is provided with a first ultrasonic back seal forming unit for producing a continuous longitudinal back seal on the bag, and a second ultrasonic sealing unit provided in a pair of jaw members which are adapted to form the end seals of the bag perpendicular to the direction of travel of the packaging material. The second ultrasonic sealing unit is provided with a horn and an anvil in opposing jaw members, such that when the jaws are shut, the flexible packaging material is tensioned against sealing land areas to provide the end seals.

Abstract: An expandable casing sizing means including a pair of elements which can be implanted within an unstretched portion of the casing. The elements are arranged for manipulation through the wall of the casing for expanding the effective diameter of the sizing means to a size greater than the diameter of the unstretched portion of casing.

Abstract: A method of treating aqueous liquid and semi-liquid wastes to render them fit for ultimate disposal in a sedentary mass, by admixing with the waste a solidification agent, encapsulating the admixture before solidification in an elongate, pliable, tubular membrane, sealing the ends of the membrane, and allowing the admixture to set to a sedentary mass.

Abstract: A multistage piston assembly is provided in apparatus for stuffing large meat articles in flexible tubular food casing. The piston assembly is mounted in longitudinally axial alignment with the article-loading chamber and stuffing horn and includes a first stage piston and a second stage piston coaxially mounted inside the first stage piston. During the first stage of operation, the two pistons move together to force the meat article through the article-loading chamber and into the stuffing horn. The second piston is then actuated to force the meat article through the stuffing horn and into the food casing. In order to prevent loss of liquid from the meat article during the stuffing operation, the two pistons are constructed so that they fit snugly inside the loading chamber and stuffing horn with minimum clearance and also are made to be substantially coextensive in the longitudinal direction with both the chamber and horn.

Abstract: An apparatus for stuffing a shirred tubular casing with a fluid material such as a sausage composition or pieces of ham comprising a stuffing horn having an aperture through which the fluid material is forced under pressure into the casing, a device located on the periphery of the stuffing horn and within the interior of the casing for smoothing and expanding the casing, the device comprising at least two disk-shaped planar bodies, at least one of which is rotatable in a plane parallel to and/or shiftable perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stuffing horn, the outer circumference of each planar body being smaller than the inner circumference of the tubular casing, whereby the projection of the cross-sectional surfaces of the planar bodies in the direction of the longitudinal axis upon rotating or shifting of the bodies results in a total surface having a greater circumference than the inner circumference of the tubular casing.