GB2080754A - Apparatus for orienting and loading flat bags into a container - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for orienting and stacking flat bags includes a conveyor belt 2, a diverter 5 for directing incoming bags into either of two paths, and article counters 6, 7 along the two paths. Projections 15, 16 extend into the paths to orient the bags uniformly on the belt. The bags are inverted as they fall from the conveyor onto longitudinally movable platforms 21, 22 where they are stacked in overlapping relationship. Suction heads lift the bags in groups for transfer to containers. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for orienting and loading flat bags into a container Specification This invention relates to an apparatus for receiving, orienting and arranging flat bags so that they can be loaded into a container, such as a crate, in layers.

Background of the invention Filled flat bags are commonly ejected from a filling machine with the backsides upward onto a conveyor belt. These bags must be loaded in layers with the front sides thereof facing upwardly into a crate, and this task must be accomplished manually.

Brief description of the invention An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus by which flat bags supplied to the conveyor belt are oriented in the proper positions and loaded with their front sides facing upwardly in the desired positions in the crate.

Briefly described, the invention includes an apparatus for orienting and loading flat bags into a container comprising a belt conveyor, means for delivering bags to an inlet end of the conveyor, guide means for establishing a flow path for the flat bags along the upper surface of the conveyor, means for counting the bags as they move along the path, means along the path for engaging the bags and causing rotation thereof about an axis perpendi cular to the conveyor surface, receiving means disposed below the outlet end of the conveyor for receiving bags falling from the conveyor so that the bags invert as they fall from the outlet end to said receiving means, and means responsive to said means for counting for transferring a predetermined number of inverted bags from said receiving means to a container.

The flat bags arriving lengthwise with respect to the apparatus are turned so that they are further conveyed transverse to the device, then turned over, so that their front sides lie upward, and they are partially laid one over the other, in an overlapping relationship, so that they can be conveyed several at a time into the crate where they are placed inside in the proper position.

In order that the manner in which the foregoing and other objects are attained in accordance with the invention can be understood in detail, particularly advantageous embodiments thereof will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and wherein: Figure 1 is a top plan view of an apparatus in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic side elevation of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an end elevation of the apparatus of Figures 1 and 2 in the direction of arrow A; and Figure 4 is a schematic top plan view of a further embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention.

As will be recognized, the figures illustrate the apparatus in a schematic form, omitting, for clarity, various conventional components such as frame members and the like.

A conveyor belt indicated generally at 1 is seriesconnected with respect to a packing machine, not shown, for receiving from the packing machine flat bags which have been filled with articles such as baked goods, pastries, or the like, the conveyor transporting the articles in the direction of arrow B.

This conveyor delivers the articles onto a distributor conveyor belt 2 which conveys the articles in the same direction as belt 1. Both belts are parts of belt conveyors of which the frames 1 a and 3 are only partially represented and which, as is conventional, have guide rollers at their ends for guiding the endless belts. The upper surfaces of belts 1 and 2 lie in substantially the same plane. Slightly above the upper surface of belt 2 is a deflector indicated generally at 4 which has a hinged flap or diverter 5 which can be moved between two angular positions about a vertical axis by a conventional drive mechanism, and can be controlled by counting devices 6 and 7 which are conventional feeler or non-contact counter devices disposed above conveyor 2 on opposite sides of the conveyor.As will be recognized, when flap 5 is in the position shown, bags, such as schematically illustrated at 30, are caused to follow a path below counter 7, and when the flap is moved to a similar angular relationship on the otherside of the center line of belt 2, the bags are caused to follow a flow path on the other side of the conveyor.

Following deflector 4 is a guide arrangement 8 which includes guide strips 9 and 10 extending outwardly toward the sides of belt 2, the angle between strips 9, 10 being an acute angle approaching 90". The ends of these guide strips merge into further guide strips 11 and 12 which extend parallel to the direction of conveyance to a location approximately two thirds the way along belt 2.

Guide rails 13 and 14 extend along the side edges of belt 2 from a position approximately opposite the counting devices 6,7 to near the outlet end of belt 2.

Inwardly of strips 13 and 14 are means for engaging the bags to cause rotation thereof, these means comprising angle bars 15 and 16 which are mounted close to the outlet end of belt 2 and just inwardly of guide rails 13 and 14. Rails 13,14 and angle bars 15, 16 are supported on a transverse rail 17 which extends across belt 2 upwardly spaced therefrom so as to provide clearance for the articles handled by the belt, rails 17 being mounted at its ends on frame 3. Side rails 13, 14 are mounted so as to be slidably adjustable on rods 18 which extend perpendicularly downwardly, so that all of elements 13-16 can be adjusted, as desired, for the handling of articles of different sizes. Guide rails 13, 14 and strips 11, 12 or 9, 10 are supported by similar transverse rails, not shown, in the area of deflector 4.Likewise, counting devices 6,7 are supported yet another rail, not shown.

A longitudinally movable carriage structure including platforms 21 and 22 is located below the outlet end of distributor belt 2, these platforms being longitudinally movable, parallel to the direction of conveyance, by drive means such as piston end cylinder assemblies 19 and 20 which can also be responsive to accumulated counts of counting devices 6 and 7. Platforms 21 and 22 are provided as receiving means for bags which fall from the outlet end of belt 2. As will be recognized, with the belt moving at a suitably slow speed, the bags tilt as they fall off of the end of belt 2 and invertthrough an angle of 1800 about their transverse axes as they descend from belt 2 to the platforms.

Transfer devices 23 and 24 are provided to engage the flat bags on platforms 21 and 22, each transfer device having a downwardly facing suction head which is vertically reciprocable by a piston and cylinder device 25.

Each transfer device 23, 24 can be transversely moved with respect to the longitudinal axis of belt 2 by means of piston and cylinder assemblies 27 and 28 (Figure 3), the transfer devices being mounted so that they can slide transversely on frame 3.

As will be recognized, belt 1 conveys the filled flat bags with their backsides facing upwardly in the longitudinal direction of the belt. The flat bags transferred from belt 1 to belt 2 are guided by flap 5 of deflector 4 into one of the flow paths on belt 2.

After a predetermined number of bags in succession, e.g. three bags, has been conveyed along one of the paths, the counting device, which would be device 7 in the deflector position shown in Figure 1, produces a signal causing flap 5 to move to its other position so that the next bags pass onto the other path. After a predetermined number of bags pass along the other path, the counting device 6 produces a signal to return to flap to the position shown in Figure 1.

The bags arrive from belt 1 spaced apartfrom each other and those spaces are also maintained on belt 2. When a bag on the "right" path (as viewed from belt 1) of belt 2 arrives at angle bar 16, the bag is caused to rotate 900 about an axis which is vertical, i.e., perpendicular to the upper surface of belt 2. This function is also performed by an angle bar 15 for bags traveling along the left conveyor path. Angle bars 15 and 16 are adjusted so that they protrude a predetermined distance from their respective guide rails 13 and 14 for proper turning of the bags. The degree of protrusion and the impact width of a bag is essentially dependent upon the material with which it is filled.With porous or light weight filling material, such as pastries, it is advantageous to adjust the angle bars so that they have an impact width extending to approximately four tenths of the width of the bag, and with more compact (higher density) filler material an impact width of approximately two tenths the width of the bag is appropriate. The average impact width is about one third the width of the bag, for most bags. The bag arriving on either path is guided such that it engages on guide rails 13 or 14 along the path, and the angle bar 15 or 16 is so adjusted relative to the guide rails that the bags turn around an axis which is perpendicularto the upper surface of belt 2 and are then conveyed along their short sides. The device for turning the bags thus includes guide rails 13, 14 and angle bars 15,16.

As previously suggested, the bags are turned through 1800 while they are being ejected from the distributor belt onto platforms 21, 22. For this, the speed of conveyance of distributor belt 2 and the distance between the upper surface of belt 2 and the upper surface of platsforms 21, 22 is selected such that if the back surface of the bag faces upwardly on belt 2 it will be inverted so that its front side faces upwardly on plafform 21 or 22. The platforms 21, are responsive to counting devices 6 or 7 and are moved stepwise longitudinally so that bags falling onto platforms 21,22 overlap each other by approximately half their length.

When a predetermined number of bags which are stacked in overlapping relationship are present on platforms 21 or 22, the associated one of transfer devices 23 or 24 drops, picks up the bags from the platform with the suction head 26, and elevates somewhat to clear the plafform. The sliding carriage supporting platforms 21 or 22 then returns to its original position. The suction head is then transfered laterally and lowered into the delivery position so that the bags are positioned, as described, into a crate or other container 29, whereupon the suction is removed and the bags are released. The suction head is then returned to its original position.

Meanwhile, on the other platform 22 or 21, the predetermined number of bags is stacked in overlapping relationships so that they can be picked up by the associated head 26 and loaded into a crate. Thus, the transfer devices 23, 24 work alternately. When the contain is filled, it is simply removed and replaced by an empty container.

The number of bags and the layers of bags to be placed in each crate can, of course, be varied. It is also possible to use a type of alternate stacking or stacking in adjacent piles by the conveyor devices, as desired.

A second embodiment of the apparatus is shown in Figure 4 in which those components which are the same as described in connection with Figures 1-3 are identified by the same reference numerals and modify components are identified by reference numerals followed by the letter a.

As shown in Figure 4, the means for engaging and rotating the bags are angle bars 15a and 16a which are mounted on the hindged flap 5a on deflector 4a at a right angle thereto, these being used instead of the angle bars 15, 16 of the first embodiment, the impact width being essentially the same.

Guide strips 9a-12a are used instead of guide strips 9-12, with guide strips 9a and 10a being 7 arranged at a right angle to the conveyor directions and are narrower than angle bars 15a, 16a.Atthe ends of guide strips 9a, 1 0a are connected guide strips 11 a and 1 2a which extend in the direction of conveyance. Belt 2 in the embodiment of Figure 4, need not be so long as in the first embodiment. The positions of guide strips 9a-12a and angle bars 15a, 16a can be adjustable.

While certain advantageous embodiments have been chosen to illustrate the invention it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein with departing from scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (8)

1. An apparatus for orienting and loading flat bags into a container comprising a belt conveyor, means for delivering bags to an inlet end of the conveyor, guide means for establishing a flow path for the flat bags upon the conveyor, means for counting the bags as they move along the path, means along the path for engaging bags and causing rotation of the bags about an axis perpendicular to the conveyor surface, means for receiving bags falling from an outlet end of the conveyor disposed so that the bags invert as they fall from the outlet end to said receiving means. and means responsive to said means for counting for transferring a predetermined number of inverted bags from said receiving means to a container.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said guide means includes a deflector near the inlet end of said conveyor for selectively diverting bags to one of a plurality of paths along said conveyor said deflector being responsive to said means for counting to distribute said bags substantially equally between said paths, said apparatus further including means for engaging bags along each said path, receiving means and means for transferring bags at the end of each said path.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each said means for engaging bags comprises a projection extending transversely from said deflector into said path a distance no greater than approximately half the width of a bag.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for engaging bags comprises a projection extending transversely into said path a distance no greater than about half the width of a bag.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said means for receiving includes a platform movable relative to said conveyor, said platform being responsive to said means for counting.

6. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein said means for transferring includes a suction head for simultaneously engaging one or more bags, and means for vertically reciprocating said suction head.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said means for transferring further includes means for horizontally moving said suction head transversely with respect to the direction of travel of said conveyor.

8. An apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 or 4 of the accompanying drawings.