DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FILLING OPEN BAGS
20170275032 · 2017-09-28
Inventors
Cpc classification
B65B43/26
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B39/12
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B43/14
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B1/26
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B1/28
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B1/46
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B1/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B43/50
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B65B43/26
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B59/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B1/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B1/28
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B43/14
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B43/50
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B1/46
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
Apparatus and method for filling bulk goods into empty open bags (3) comprising at least one weighing unit (7) and at least one filling station (11-18) and a bag receiving unit (10) disposed thereat, wherein a bag (3) received by the bag receiving unit (10) is filled. The bag receiving unit (10) is configured as a receiving box (30) having a receiving space (31) to receive a bag (3). The receiving box (30) is provided with a suction aperture (34) to temporarily receive in the receiving box (30) the empty bag (3) intended for receiving in a form-fit at least in sections. The receiving box (30) comprises suction apertures (34) in a lower region (31a) and in at least one region (31b, 31c) above that which are controlled differently.
Claims
1. Apparatus for filling bulk goods into empty open bags comprising at least one filling station and a bag receiving unit disposed thereat and at least one weighing unit, wherein a bag received by the bag receiving unit is at least partially filled, characterized in that at least one bag receiving unit is configured as a receiving box having a receiving space to temporarily receive a bag at which receiving box at least one suction aperture is disposed for form-fit reception of the empty bag intended for receiving in the receiving box at least in sections, and that the receiving box comprises suction apertures in a lower region and in at least one region above, which are controlled differently.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving box is tubular in configuration and comprises an open top end.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the bag receiving unit comprises an open bottom end.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving box comprises a plurality of suction apertures at least at one inner wall adjacent to the receiving space so that the bag wall rests against the receiving space, the top remaining open.
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving box is configured with double walls at least at one side and comprises an intermediate space so that at least in the intermediate space an air chamber for vacuum distribution is provided.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving box comprises at least one suction branch.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving box is exchangeably attached to a retaining device.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a separate bottom plate is inserted in a bottom end of each of the receiving boxes.
9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one suction aperture is provided at the bottom plate.
10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bottom plates of the receiving boxes rest on a base platform.
11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the retaining device comprises a pair of retaining arms and at least one suction duct.
12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least two opposite inner walls of the receiving box diverge conically upwardly.
13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of filling stations and a bag receiving unit at each filling station are provided.
14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the retaining devices are arranged at a filling carousel in a star pattern and wherein a deaeration duct is provided to which the bag receiving units can be connected.
15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a handover station with a swivel arm is provided for handing over open bags, wherein a receiving box is disposed at the swivel arm in a plane immediately above the top edge of the receiving box at the filling station, to take over in one swivel position an open bag intended for filling from a bag source and in another swivel position to hand over the bag to the bag receiving unit at the filling station.
16. Method for filling bulk goods into empty open bags having at least one weighing unit, at least one filling station and a bag receiving unit disposed at the filling station, wherein the bag received at the bag receiving unit is at least partially filled, characterized in that through the bag receiving unit configured as a receiving box an empty bag intended for receiving is temporarily received in the receiving box in a form-fit at least in sections, and that sucking off is provided differently at the receiving box in a lower region and in at least one region above.
17. The method according to claim 16 wherein air is sucked out of the receiving box through suction apertures provided in the inner walls so that the wall of an empty bag intended for filling comes to lie against the interior of the receiving box in a form-fit.
18. The method according to claim 16 wherein as an empty open bag is received, sucking off through suction apertures is firstly stronger in a bottom region of the receiving box than in a region above.
19. The method according to claim 16 wherein as an empty open bag is received, sucking off through suction apertures is firstly stronger in a mid or upper region and thereafter in a lower region of the receiving box.
20. The method according to claim 16, wherein as an empty open bag is received, suction apertures are sucked off in a lower region of the receiving box and in a region above.
Description
[0033] Further advantages and features of the present invention can be taken from the exemplary embodiment which will be described below with reference to the enclosed figures.
[0034] The figures show in:
[0035]
[0036]
[0037]
[0038]
[0039]
[0040]
[0041]
[0042]
[0043] With reference to the
[0044] In this exemplary embodiment the bag source 70 is provided with a film roll 71 on which a sheet of film 72 is wound. The sheet of film 72 unwound from the film roll 71 is fed to a shaping shoulder 73. There the sheet of film 72 consisting of a plastic film is guided around the shoulder and a longitudinal seam is welded so as to create a continuous tubular film.
[0045] The bag bottom is manufactured at the handover station 60 by making suitable welding seams transverse to the longitudinal extension of the tubular film. The tubular film having a suitable cross-section is conveyed and taken into the receiving box 62 of the handover station 60. The open-mouth bag 3 intended for filling is form-fittingly received there. For supplying, the tubular film is cut to size so as to manufacture the open top end of the open-mouth bag 3.
[0046] It is also possible to manufacture the open-top bags from a prefabricated, e.g. extruded tubular film or else to feed completely prefabricated, flexible bags or sacks from a magazine or the like.
[0047]
[0048] As can be seen in the
[0049] Each of the filling stations 11 to 18 has a retaining device 20 fastened to the movable part 6. Each retaining device 20 in turn carries a bag receiving unit 10 which receives, retains, and guides the bags intended for filling.
[0050] This filling carousel 2 is provided for indexed operation so that the filling stations 11 to 18 and the bag receiving units 10 received thereon are successively transported to the individual handling stations 41 to 48.
[0051] The takeover station being the handling station 41 takes over an open-mouth bag 3 intended for filling by means of a bag receiving unit 10.
[0052] As can be seen in
[0053] After indexing the movable part 6 forward the bag intended for filling is conveyed to a compacting station 43 where the material bagged thus far is deaerated and compacted. In the next index the flexible open-mouth bag 3 reaches the handling station 44. This is where another filling turbine 82 driven by a motor 81 is located. The bulk goods intended for filling are fed in low speed flow to the open-mouth bag 3 through a filling pipe 86. Again, a covering hood 87 is provided which enters into the bag receiving unit 10 from above to reduce the height of fall of the bulk goods and thus the dust content and aeration.
[0054] Both the handling station 42 and the handling station 44 are provided with servo units 83 in the respective filling pipes 86 allowing pre-adjustment of the open cross-section of the filling pipes 86. In this way for example when filling different materials or identical materials with varying properties, the filling cross-section in high speed flow and the filling cross-section in low speed flow are preadjusted to achieve optimal filling properties.
[0055] After filling in low speed flow at the handling station 44 three further handling stations 45, 46 and 47 follow, each providing for compacting the filled material. The filled open-mouth bag is conveyed off at the handling station 48. The handling stations 45, 46 and 47 may be configured as a joint compacting station.
[0056] Each bag receiving unit 10 configured as a receiving box 30 is provided with a recognition unit 54 responsive to optical, magnetic or electronic requests and in particular returning a unique signal. In simple cases a bar code may be provided. It is preferred to use RFID (radio-frequency identification) for contactless recognition of the pertaining bag receiving unit 10. This allows to unambiguously identify and assign the bag receiving unit 10 concerned. This is significant for example when changing product or the size of the bags intended for filling to ensure attachment of the matching bag receiving units 10 to the filling carousel 2. This allows to also carry out other format-related machine settings.
[0057] Receiving boxes 30 of different heights may be provided for filling different quantities. The handling stations are oriented at the top ends of the receiving boxes 30 so as to dispose their top ends 32 (see
[0058] The filling carousel 2 is supported to rotate around the rotation axis 8 in its entirety. A handover of an open-mouth bag 3 intended for filling (presently) to the filling station 11 takes place at the handling station 41 in the swivel position 64 of the swivel arm 61. The swivel arm 61 with the coupling rod 65 forms a parallelogram-like swiveling device for the receiving box 62 whose basic structure is similar to the receiving boxes 30.
[0059] Each of these retaining devices 20 is provided with a pair of holder arms 21 and 22 which are covered on top by a covering hood 25 to protect from dust and contamination.
[0060] The height adjusters 85 are provided for height adjustment of the base platform 55 and the separate weigh platform 56. Individual height adjuster components may comprise a drive while other height adjuster components serve for guiding only.
[0061] Although the weigh platform 56 is mechanically decoupled from the base platform 55, it is height-adjusted concurrently with the base platform in the same way. A weighing unit 7 not visible in the
[0062] If any additional bulk goods or the like should accumulate over time on the weigh platform 56 or on individual receiving boxes 30, this may be taken into account by means of an empty run and capturing the tare weights. If the tare weight obtained by checking deviates too much from the original tare weight, a recommendation for servicing or cleaning may be emitted.
[0063]
[0064] The swivel arm 61 and the coupling rod 65 of the handover station 60 are located in the swivel position 64, in which an open-mouth bag 3 intended for filling is handed over from the receiving box 62 to the receiving box 30 located directly underneath. The receiving box 62 and the receiving boxes 30 are provided with suction apertures 34 (see
[0065] After positioning the receiving box 62 in the swivel position 64 illustrated in
[0066] In
[0067] Each of the receiving boxes 30 comprises a receiving space 31 having a cross section, in this case rectangular, that is approximately constant over the height. Preferably the inner walls extend slightly conically diverging upwardly to facilitate insertion from above and upwardly removal. A preferred angle is between 0.25° and 2° and it may be e.g. 0.35° or 0.5°. The dimensions of the rectangular cross-section depend on the desired dimensions of the filled open-mouth bags. The dimensions are predetermined by the dimensions of the receiving boxes 30 and the flexible bag material is selected accordingly, or vice versa.
[0068] Except for the handling station 44 where the weighing unit 7 is provided, the receiving boxes 30 at the other handling stations are each located above the base platform 55.
[0069] As can be seen in
[0070]
[0071] A receiving box 30 may be decoupled by means of a control device not shown in detail. Manual decoupling is possible any time by way of the unlatching device 26.
[0072] In
[0073]
[0074] At the bottom end of the receiving boxes 30, bottom plates 50 lie on the base platform 55 so that a bag 3 received in the receiving box 30 is supported on the top surface of the bottom plate 50. The bottom surface of the bottom plate 50 is in gliding contact with the base platform 55 when the filling carousel 2 is indexed further.
[0075] Thus, the bottom plate 50 represents a gliding plate or wear plate that protects the bottom of an open-mouth bag 3 intended for filling from being contaminated or damaged while the filling carousel 2 is rotated or indexed further.
[0076] The receiving box 30 is shown in
[0077] The intermediate space 37 is supplied with a vacuum through the suction branch 38. The shown suction branch 38 ends slightly spaced apart from the suction duct 23 attached to the movable part 6. The suction duct 23 couples to the suction connection 52 at the specified fixed angular positions. A sealing connection is provided by means of the gliding sleeve 53 which glides over the outer surface of the presently annular deaeration duct 9 while the movable part 6 rotates.
[0078] The bottom plate 50 is also provided with suction apertures 34 through which air is sucked off preferably at the takeover station 41 to suck an open-mouth bag 3 intended for filling into the receiving box 30 from above or to support the movement. It is also possible to provide, instead of suction apertures 34 in the bottom plate, additional, controlled suction apertures in a bottom region of the receiving box 30.
[0079] The
[0080] For handing over an open-mouth bag 3 intended for filling to the bag receiving unit 10 or the receiving box 30, air may firstly be sucked off e.g. only in the upper region 31c through the suction apertures 34 in the upper region 31c along the drawn arrow. When the bag 3 has already been sucked some distance into the receiving box 30, suction may be activated or boosted in the mid region 31b while in the upper region 31c suction is reduced and optionally temporarily entirely deactivated. Finally, suction takes place in the lower region 34 so that a bag 3 is pulled all the way down.
[0081] It is also possible and preferred to then emit an air blast from above downwardly into the opened bag 3 which takes the bag 3 that is held open reliably and reproducibly down and positions it on the bottom plate 50 or on the base platform 55 in case no bottom plate 50 is provided. The strength of the air blast emitted through one or more air nozzles may be determined by experimenting. In the alternative or supplementarily to an air blast, a mechanical pressing device may force the bag bottom downwardly. At the same time, the suctioning action through the suction apertures 34 may be slightly reduced to ensure reliable lowering of the opened bag 3 in the bag receiving unit 10.
[0082]
[0083] It can be seen that a plurality of suction apertures 34 each is arranged in the lower region 31a, in the mid region 31b, and in the upper region 31c. The suction apertures in the different regions 31a to 31c may preferably be controlled separately if the separating webs 35a and 35b shown in broken lines are provided which then subdivide the intermediate space 31 in separate air chambers 37a, 37b and 37c. Controlling may be provided by separately controlled valves.
[0084] Or else it is possible to provide a specific suctioning profile across the height of the receiving box 30 by way of the number and types of suction apertures or by way of their cross-sections or by way of fixed flow cross-sections and flow paths.
[0085]
[0086]
[0087] Resting on the weigh platform 56 is the bottom plate 50 which is free to move in the vertical direction relative to the receiving box 30 while being configured high enough so that the receiving box 30 pulls the bottom plate 50 along in the rotational motion of the filling carousel 2. Thus, there is gliding relative motion between the bottom surface of the bottom plate 50 and the weigh platform 56 respectively the base platform 55 as the movable part 6 is indexed further. To ensure better transfer of the bottom plate 50 from the base platform 55 to the weigh platform 56 or in the next index from the weigh platform 56 to the base platform 55, the weigh platform 56 is provided with a momentum grade 57 and the base platform 55 is provided with a momentum grade 58.
[0088] A broken line in
[0089] The base platform 55 is height-adjustable and it may be adjusted high or still higher, for example up to the broken line 89, for mounting suitable receiving boxes 30 to the handling stations 41 to 48. After an exchange, bags having correspondingly smaller volumes may be filled.
[0090]
[0091] To facilitate lowering the receiving box relative to the filled bag, the connection of the suction duct 23 with the suction branch 38 may be interrupted at the weighing station to enable relative motion between the bag and the receiving box. Even if the receiving box is not lowered completely, the receiving box together with the bag rests on the weigh platform 56 by way of friction fit, which results in precise weighing by the gross method as it has been described.
[0092] For example if bulk goods intended for filling should accumulate in the intermediate space 37, the service door 39 may be opened as required to empty out and optionally clean the intermediate space 37.
[0093]
[0094] The receiving box 30 may be supported on three feet 30b in all the configurations. At least one of the feet 30b may be adjustable. Preferably all of the feet 30b are adjustable. This prevents the receiving box 30 from resting on its outer frame as the receiving box 30 is lowered at the weigh platform 56. In the case of any manufacturing tolerances the receiving box 30 may be prevented from slightly inclining in any direction. Thus the receiving box 30 can be prevented from leaning against the holding brackets which would adulterate the weight. One, two or three adjustable feet 30b ensure that the receiving box 30 sits in a defined position but not on the circumferential rectangular frame. This allows optimal adjustment of every receiving box 30.
[0095] It is also possible to omit the feet 30b so that the receiving box 30 rests on its circumferential rectangular frame, if sufficiently narrow tolerances are ensured.
[0096] On the whole the invention provides an advantageous apparatus and an advantageous method which allow simple, efficient handover to a filling station of open-mouth bags intended for filling and which are still empty. The bottom of the open-mouth bag 3 is conveyed into the receiving box 30 due to gravitation and supported by suctioning. Due to the suction through the suction apertures 34 the bag wall comes to rest form-fittingly against the receiving box 30 so that the open-mouth bag 3 assumes an ideal, desired shape even prior to filling. This achieves efficient and material-saving filling. Moreover an optically appealing shape of the filled open-mouth bag 3 is ensured. Moreover the dust hood 87 is enabled to safely enter into the receiving box 30 and in particular even into the opened bag 3.
[0097] The receiving boxes 30 guide the open-mouth bags 3 intended for filling during transport by means of the movable part 6. To enhance weighing the receiving box 30 at the weighing station is taken to a decoupling position to determine the weight remaining to be filled and in particular to control filling the remainder into the open-mouth bag in low speed flow. A number of stations are provided where the filled material is compacted. Vibrating is possible both from beneath and from above, or else a vacuum lance or a vibrating lance or the like may enter into the opened open-mouth bag 3 to carry out efficient deaeration and thus compacting.
TABLE-US-00001 List of reference numerals: 1 filling machine 2 filling carousel 3 open-mouth bag 4 bulk material 5 stationary part 6 movable part 7 weighing unit 8 rotation axis 9 deaeration duct 10 bag receiving unit 11-18 filling station 19 drive 20 retaining device 21-22 holder arm 23 suction duct 24 locking unit 25 covering hood 26 unlatching device 27 clamping cone 28 detector 29 lift 30 receiving box 30a lug 30b foot 31 receiving space 31a lower region 31b mid region 31c upper region 32 top end 33 bottom end 34 suction aperture 35 inner wall 35a separating web 35b separating web 36 outer wall 37 air chamber 37a air chamber 37b air chamber 37c air chamber 38 suction branch 39 service door 40 retaining link plate 41-48 handling station 50 bottom plate 50a groove 50b wire cloth 51-52 suction connection 53 gliding sleeve 54 recognition unit 55 base platform 56 weigh platform 57 momentum grade 58 momentum grade 60 handover station 61 swivel arm 62 receiving box 63 swivel position 64 swivel position 65 coupling rod 66 drive 70 bag source 71 film roll 72 sheet of film 73 shaping shoulder 75 locking position 76 decoupling position 79 spring 80 intermediate silo 81 motor for turbine 82 turbine 83 servo unit 84 compacting drive 85 height adjustment 86 filling pipe 87 dust hood 88 hose coupling 89 higher position