Apparatus for emptying bags containing loose material

Abstract

An apparatus for emptying bags containing loose material. The apparatus comprises a cutting member for cutting the bags and a support grid including a row of rods arranged downstream of the cutting member and onto which the bags are carried once they have been cut. The rods are associated with a motovibrator designed to cause the rods to vibrate, facilitating the emptying of the bags. Furthermore, a resilient spacer is interposed between each pair of adjacent rods.

Claims

1. An apparatus for emptying bags containing loose material, comprising: a cutting member for cutting the bags; a support grid including a row of rods arranged downstream of the cutting member with respect to an advancement direction of the bags and on which the bags are carried once they have been cut; a motovibrator associated with the rods and configured to vibrate the rods and aid the process of emptying the bags; and a resilient spacer interposed between each pair of adjacent rods.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rods each have opposite end regions and are free in at least one end region.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rods are free at both opposite end regions.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rods each have a median zone and are strictly tightened in the median zone.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a pair of heads and wherein the rods are held between the pair of heads connected to the median zone.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the motovibrator is connected to the pair of heads.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rods each have a median zone and wherein the motovibrator vibrates the rods in the median zone.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rods substantially extend along the advancement direction.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rods comprise a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the second portion inclined with respect to the advancement direction and between the first and third portions that are substantially parallel to the advancement direction.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pressurized gas circuit configured to blow a jet of gas towards the bags once the bags are cut by the cutting member.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the support grid has opposite sides and the pressurized gas circuit has a plurality of nozzles arranged along the opposed sides of the support grid and oriented towards the support grid, substantially perpendicular to the advancement direction, with each nozzle having an adjustable head allowing adjustment of the direction of the jet of gas.

12. An apparatus for emptying bags containing loose material, comprising: a cutting member for cutting the bags; a support grid including a row of rods arranged downstream of the cutting member with respect to an advancement direction of the bags and on which the bags are carried once they have been cut, wherein the rods each have a median zone and opposite end regions, are free in at least one end region, and are strictly tightened in the median zone; a motovibrator associated with the rods and configured to vibrate the rods in the median zone of the rods and aid the process of emptying the bags; and a resilient spacer interposed between each pair of adjacent rods.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the rods are free at both opposite end regions.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a pair of heads and wherein the rods are held between the pair of heads connected to the median zone.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the motovibrator is connected to the pair of heads.

16. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the rods substantially extend along the advancement direction.

17. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the rods comprise a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the second portion inclined with respect to the advancement direction and between the first and third portions that are substantially parallel to the advancement direction.

18. An apparatus for emptying bags containing loose material, comprising: a cutting member for cutting the bags; a support grid including a pair of heads and a row of rods arranged downstream of the cutting member with respect to an advancement direction of the bags and on which the bags are carried once they have been cut, wherein the rods each have a median zone and opposite end regions, are free at both opposite end regions, and are strictly connected to and held between the pair of heads in the median zone; a motovibrator connected to the pair of heads, associated with the rods, and configured to vibrate the rods in the median zone of the rods and aid the process of emptying the bags; and a resilient spacer interposed between each pair of adjacent rods.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the rods substantially extend along the advancement direction.

20. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the rods comprise a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the second portion inclined with respect to the advancement direction and between the first and third portions that are substantially parallel to the advancement direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The characteristics and advantages of the invention will become clearer from the detailed description of preferred embodiments, provided by way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an apparatus for emptying bags containing loose material developed in accordance with this invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an emptying unit of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

(4) FIGS. 3 and 4 are enlarged scale and perspective views, respectively, from above and from below of a component of the emptying unit shown in FIG. 2; and

(5) FIG. 5 is an enlarged scale and plan view from above of a detail of a variant embodiment of the component shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) With reference to the figures attached, reference number 1 identifies, overall, an apparatus for emptying bags 2 containing plastic granules.

(7) The apparatus 1 can be slaved to a plant for transformation of plastic material into granules, such as, for example, a molding or extrusion plant.

(8) The loose material contained in the bags 2, however, as well as its intended purpose, may differ from those described here by way of example.

(9) The apparatus 1 comprises, in all, an unloading unit 3 designed or configured to unload the bags 2 from a pallet 4 and an emptying unit 10 adjacent the unloading unit and designed or configured to slit and empty the bags 2 coming from the unloading unit 3.

(10) The apparatus 1 comprises a movement device 5 that can hook the bags 2 at the unloading unit 3 and move them along an advancement direction X towards the emptying unit 10.

(11) In the preferred form described here, the movement device 5 comprises a mobile trolley 6 that can move along guides 7, which define the advancement direction X, and a plurality of hooks mounted on the mobile trolley 6 to hook the bags 2.

(12) The emptying unit 10 comprises a support frame 10a onto which a cutting member 11 is mounted, designed or configured to cut the bags 2. The cutting member 11 is made up of a plurality of blades 12 oriented parallel to the advancement direction X.

(13) The blades 12 are positioned in a row, alongside each other, along a transverse direction Y, substantially perpendicular to the advancement direction X, at regular distances from each other, defining a pitch of approximately 50-100 mm.

(14) The blades 12 are circular and rotate about a single rotation axis, parallel to the transverse direction Y, driven by a motor 12a.

(15) Immediately downstream of the blades 12, there is a support grid 13, made up of a plurality of rods 14 arranged in a row, next to each other, and all substantially extending along the advancement direction X.

(16) The support grid 13 defines a plane parallel to the directions X and Y, set at a height such as to be a few centimeters lower than the upper row of the blades 12.

(17) The rods 14 are parallel and spaced regularly, with a pitch similar to the pitch between the blades 12.

(18) Each rod 14 is also positioned on the support grid 13 in such a way as to be substantially aligned with a respective blade 12.

(19) In the embodiment described here with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the rods 14 are vibrating rods and are therefore vibrated by a motovibrator 15. For example, the motovibrator 15 is a motor that causes an eccentric mass to rotate at a speed of approximately 3,000 rpm.

(20) Each rod 14 has an elongated conformation along the advancement direction X, covering the entire length of the support grid 13, of approximately 100-150 cm, a thickness, understood as the dimension parallel to the transverse direction Y, of approximately 3-10 mm and a height, understood as the dimension perpendicular to the plane defined by the directions X and Y, of approximately 30-100 mm.

(21) On each rod 14, a median zone 14a is defined, which is substantially central and extends for approximately 20% of the length of the rod 14 and two end regions 14b, extending in opposite directions from the median zone 14a.

(22) The rods 14 are held together by a pair of support bars, for example threaded bars, extending along the transverse direction Y and which pass through the rods 14 at respective holes made in the median zone 14a of each of the rods 14.

(23) By this configuration, the rods 14 are connected to each other at their median zone 14a, leaving the opposed end regions 14b free to oscillate.

(24) The end portions of the end regions 14b facing the cutting member 11 are, for example, inclined downwards, so as to help the bags 2 coming from the blades 12 to rest on the support grid 13.

(25) Each rod 14, at its respective median zone 14a has a greater height than the end regions 14b and, for example, a hole 14c is created in the rod 14 to reduce its weight.

(26) A spacer 16 made of resilient material, through which one of the two support bars also passes, is positioned between each pair of adjacent rods 14.

(27) The rods 14 and spacers 16 are strictly tightened together thanks to the action of respective threaded nuts 16a provided at the opposing ends of the support bars.

(28) The ends of the support bars are, in turn, fixed to a pair of heads 17, arranged externally and to the side of the rods 14.

(29) Each head 17 comprises a tubular element extending parallel to the advancement direction X and fixed to a bracket 10b of the support frame 10a, with the inter-positioning of suitable anti-vibration elements, so as to ensure that the vibrations caused by the motovibrator 15 remain confined to the support grid 13 and are not conveyed to the whole of the emptying unit 10.

(30) A pair of crosspieces 18 extend between the heads 17 parallel to the transverse direction Y and are integral with the heads 17 jointly.

(31) The crosspieces 18 are positioned below the rods 14, immediately alongside their median region 14a. Centrally and below the crosspieces 18, the motovibrator 15 is also fixed, by a pair of brackets 15a welded to the crosspieces 18.

(32) The apparatus 1 also comprises a pressurized gas circuit 20 designed or configured to blow a jet of gas towards the bags 2, once cut by the blades 12.

(33) The pressurized gas is typically compressed air, but may be any other type of gas.

(34) The pressurized gas circuit 20 can be independent, with a compressor and one or more storage tanks, or it can be connected to an external compressed air line.

(35) The pressurized gas circuit 20 comprises a plurality of nozzles 21, which are, preferably, arranged along the opposed sides of the support grid 13, for example three per side. More specifically, the nozzles 21 are fixed on the sides 10c of the support frame 10a, situated laterally to the support grid 13 and lower down than the support surface defined by the support grid 13.

(36) The nozzles 21 are oriented towards the support grid 13, substantially perpendicular to the advancement direction X.

(37) Each nozzle 21 in any case has an adjustable head, so as to ensure that the direction of the jet of gas can be adjusted at will.

(38) Beneath the support grid 13, there is also a discharge hopper 30 designed or configured to collect up any material that has fallen from the slit bags 2.

(39) The apparatus 1 operates as follows.

(40) The bags 2 containing the loose material are conveyed along the advancement direction X by the movement device 5 towards the cutting member 11, at which the bags 2 are cut deeply by the blades 12, which are rotated by the motor 12a.

(41) The bags 2 cut longitudinally by the blades 12 remain hooked on the movement device 5, which drives them onto the support grid 13, resting on the rods 14.

(42) Here, much of the loose material contained in the bags 2 falls, through the support grid 13, into the discharge hopper 30 below.

(43) As the slit bags 2 pass over the support grid 13, the pressurized gas circuit 20 is activated, so that the nozzles 21 emit jets of gas of a suitable flow and duration towards the shreds of the bags 2.

(44) The jet of gas may be continuous or, more preferably, intermittent.

(45) More specifically, the gas may be emitted alternately first from the nozzles 21 on one side of the support grid 13 and then from the nozzles 21 on the other side of the support grid 13, so as to shake the shreds of the bags 2, first on one side and then on the other side.

(46) In this manner, the jets of gas shake the shreds of the slit bags, causing any material that may have become caught in the folds of the bags 2, to fall.

(47) Moreover, as the bags 2 are moved on the support grid 13, the motovibrator 15 is activated.

(48) The vibration movement generated by the motovibrator 15 is conveyed directly, through the crosspieces 18 and heads 17 to the median zone 14a of the rods 14 positioned to the sides of the support grid 13 in direct contact with the heads 17. The vibration is therefore conveyed to the other rods 14 by the support bars and spacers 16, again at the respective median zones 14a.

(49) On each rod 14, the vibratory motion is conveyed from the median zone 14a to the end regions 14b, which, as they are unrestricted, oscillate at a different amplitude and phase from the median zone 14a, according to the geometric and physical characteristics of the rods 14.

(50) In general, the amplitude of the oscillations of the end regions 14b is greater, thereby ensuring greater shaking of the slit bags 2.

(51) Moreover, each rod 14 can vibrate differently from the others, due to the provision of the spacers 16 made of resilient material, which convey the vibration between adjacent rods 14, varying some characteristics of the vibration (phase and amplitude).

(52) This variation causes the movement of each rod 14 to differ in its various regions and to differ from the other rods 14, shaking the shreds of the slit bags 2 with an overall uneven movement, obtaining a more effective emptying.

(53) The apparatus 1 according to the invention therefore allows a high degree of emptying of the bags 2, with recovery of most of the loose material.

(54) Moreover, the apparatus emptying system can be easily and extensively customized, adjusting the flow, direction, and duration of each individual jet.

(55) FIG. 5 shows a variant embodiment of the support grid 13, indicated overall as 113, in which the rods are identified as 114.

(56) In this variant embodiment, the rods 114 do not extend in a straight line along the advancement direction X, like the rods 14 of the preferred example described previously; rather they have lateral spacing.

(57) More specifically, on each rod 114, starting from the cutting member 11, three consecutive portions are identified, indicated as 115, 116, and 117.

(58) The first portion 115 is approximately 10 cm long and substantially parallel to the advancement direction X; the second portion 116 is approximately 15 cm long and is inclined with respect to the advancement direction X by approximately 250; finally, the third portions 117 is substantially parallel to the advancement direction X and extends as far as the end of the support grid 13.

(59) In this case, the emptying phase of the bags 2 is assisted by the fact that the shreds of the bags 2 conveyed between the rods 114 are upturned as a result of the lateral spacing due to the inclination of the second portions 116.

(60) The rods 114 may also vibrate, in a similar manner to the rods 14.

(61) This invention thus solves the above-described problem and yields numerous other advantages.

(62) Although illustrated and described above with reference to certain specific embodiments, the present disclosure is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.