초록 ▼

An article bagging unit particularly useful in bagging ice cubes. A bag, positioned to receive articles to be bagged, is partially opened by an air blower and then fully opened by two pairs of fingers. Each of the fingers is movable into and out from a bag. After the fingers are moved into a partial

An article bagging unit particularly useful in bagging ice cubes. A bag, positioned to receive articles to be bagged, is partially opened by an air blower and then fully opened by two pairs of fingers. Each of the fingers is movable into and out from a bag. After the fingers are moved into a partially open bag, one pair of fingers moves away from the other pair of fingers and spreads the front and the back of the bag. Next, a prescribed quantity of articles is delivered to the bag. Then the fingers are retracted from the bag and a pair of heat-sealing members converge to clamp the tops of the front and the back of the bag to seal the bag.

대표청구항 ▼

An article bagging unit comprising: means for storing a strip of bags interconnected by perforated lines extending between the top edge of the back of each bag and the bottom of the next bag; means for storing articles to be deposited in said bags; a dispensing compartment within which said bags are

An article bagging unit comprising: means for storing a strip of bags interconnected by perforated lines extending between the top edge of the back of each bag and the bottom of the next bag; means for storing articles to be deposited in said bags; a dispensing compartment within which said bags are filled with said articles; means for delivering said articles to said dispensing compartment; means for feeding said bags to said dispensing compartment and for positioning said bags to receive said articles from said article delivering means; means for opening a bag positioned in said dispensing compartment to receive articles from said article delivering means and for closing and sealing a bag filled with said articles, said bag opening, closing and sealing means including: (a) an air blower for blowing air into the top of a bag to separate the tops of the front and the back of said bag and partially open said bag, (b) a first pair of fingers movable downward into said bag and upward out from said bag and fixed relative to opposite directions transverse to said front and said back of said bag, (c) a second pair of fingers movable downward into said bag and upward out from said bag and also movable in said transverse directions away from and toward said first pair of fingers, (d) a pair of aligned heat-sealing members positioned to engage the outside surfaces of said tops of said front and said back of said bag and movable in said transverse directions toward and away from each other (e) first drive means for moving said first pair of fingers and said second pair of fingers downward into said bag and upward out from said bag, (f) second drive means for moving (1) said second pair of fingers in said transverse directions away from and toward said first pair of fingers and (2) said heat-sealing members in said transverse directions toward and away from each other, and (g) power supply means for energizing at least one of said heat-sealing members; and control means for: (a) actuating said bag feeding and positioning means to position a bag in said dispensing compartment to receive said articles from said article delivering means, (b) actuating said air blower to separate the tops of the front and the back of said bag to partially open said bag, (c) actuating said first drive means to move said first and said second pairs of fingers into said partially open bag, (d) actuating said second drive means to move said second pair of fingers in a first of said transverse directions away from said first pair of fingers to spread said front and said back of said partially open bag to fully open said bag, (e) actuating said article delivering means to fill said fully open bag with a prescribed amount of said articles, (f) actuating said first drive means to move said first and said second pairs of fingers upward out from said filled bag, (g) actuating said second drive means to move said heat-sealing members in said transverse directions toward each other to close said filled bag and clamp said tops of said front and said back of said filled bag between said heat-sealing members, (h) applying power from said power supply means to said heat-sealing member to energize said heat-sealing member to seal said filled bag, and (i) actuating said second drive means to move (1) said second pair of fingers in the second of said transverse directions toward said first pair of fingers and (2) said heat-sealing members in said transverse directions away from each other.