Abstract:
A packaging system having a bar code reader integrated therein for conveying information concerning the size and filling requirements of a product to a packaging machine which will produce the product. The packaging machine is capable of consecutively filling cartons with different products in a single production cycle. The bar code reader provides this information from the bar code placed on every blank that is to be produced into a formed, filled and sealed carton. The filling system of the packaging machine may have a primary and secondary product for mixing in a package to produce a final product. Alternatively, the filling system may have several filling pipes, each filling pipe dispensing a different product. The bar code reader instructs the conveyor under which fill pipe a particular carton should be filled to match the product with the carton.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/063,763 filed Apr. 21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,434 issued Apr. 19, 2000. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to linear form, fill and seal packaging machines. Specifically, the present invention relates to packaging machine capable of processing a multitude of different products and having a bar code reader to properly process each of the products in the correct carton. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Packages formed from a blank are usually processed on a linear form, fill and seal packaging machine. Each blank is delivered to a mandrel of the packaging machine from a carton blank opener. The blank opener is fed with a series of blanks from a magazine. The magazine holds a stack of flat blanks that are erected on the carton blank opener prior to placement on the mandrel. 
     Once on the mandrel, each carton has its bottom formed prior to placement on a conveyor. On the conveyor, each carton may be fitted with a fitment and sterilized prior to filling and top sealing. Novel filling techniques as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,779 have emerged to fulfill a need in the packaging industry, that need being the ability of a packaging machine to consecutively fill cartons with different products. This breakthrough in the packaging industry has created additional problems that must be met before the full potential of the novel filling systems is realized by dairies and other producers of flowable food products such as milk, juice, yogurt and the like. 
     One of the most pressing needs is to instruct the packaging machine of the product to be filled in a carton. The packaging machine must be able to automatically know which product to fill the carton with in order to fully utilize the system. Manual instructions would under utilize the potential of the novel filling system. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Andersson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,67,779 (“&#39;779 patent”) for a Packaging Machine System For Filling Primary And Secondary Products Into A Container, having a common assignee with the present application and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a system for filling two products simultaneously into a package. A portion of the &#39;779 patent discloses programming the packaging machine, via a user interface at a control panel, to produce a product with a desired milkfat content. The operator also selects the number of cartons to be filled and the volume of each carton. The operator may select several different products that vary in quantity. Once the packaging machine is programmed, a production cycle may be commenced to produce the desired products. 
     The present invention builds upon the &#39;779 patent, and provides for the elimination of the need to program the packaging machine for filling purposes prior to each production cycle. The present invention allows for the novel filling system to achieve its full potential in the processing of different products during a single production cycle. The present invention is able to accomplish this achievement by providing a bar code reader that is integrated on the packaging system to obtain from each individual carton the filling and size requirements of the carton thereby eliminating the need of an operator to program the packaging machine for each production cycle. 
     The packaging machine may be a single processing line or dual processing line machine. The bar code is utilized in connection with a programmable logic controller (“PLC”) to control the filling and other necessary operations of a packaging machine. The bar code reader may be placed on a magazine, a carton opener or along the machine conveyance line or lines. 
     The present invention allows for a single packaging machine to process different products during a single production cycle. For example, skim milk, whole milk and two percent milk may be produced during a single production cycle without suspending the operation. Also, the same product for different retail distributors may be produced in a single production cycle. Further, it is contemplated that various products ranging from juice, to milk to yogurt may be filled in cartons on a single packaging machine during a single production cycle. 
     It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a packaging system for filling various products consecutively on a packaging machine, each of the different products having its own distinguishing carton. 
     It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a packaging machine with a bar code reader for controlling the filling operation of the packaging machine. 
     Having briefly described this invention, the above and further objects, features and advantages thereof will be recognized by those skilled in the pertinent art from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Several features of the present invention are further described in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     There is illustrated in FIG. 1 a packaging system of the present invention; 
     There is illustrated in FIG. 1A a preferred placement of the bar code reader on the packaging system; 
     There is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 top perspective views of cartons of different sizes and products; 
     There is illustrated in FIG. 4 a schematic view of a dual stream filling system; 
     There is illustrated in FIG. 5 a schematic side view of an alternative filling system; 
     There is illustrated in FIG. 6 a schematic top plan view of the filling system of FIG. 5; 
     There is illustrated in FIG. 7 a schematic view of yet another embodiment of a filling system; 
     There is illustrated in FIG. 8 a flow diagram of the information and instructions from a bar code reader to the filling system. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     There is illustrated in FIG. 1 a packaging system generally designated  20 . The packaging system  20  includes a packaging machine  22 , a carton opener  22 , a magazine  26 , and optionally an automatic carton loader (“ACL”)  28 . The packaging machine may be a typical linear form, fill and seal packaging machine such as a TETRA REX® packaging machine available from Tetra Pak, Incorporated of Chicago, Ill. The packaging machine  22  may have a programmable logic controller (“PLC”)  21  to control the various operations of the packaging system  20 . Also, disposed within the packaging system  20  is a bar code reader  50  which communicates the size and filling requirements to the necessary components of the packaging machine  22 , such as the filling station  40 , via the PLC  21 . 
     A plurality of different blanks  30  are transported from the ACL  28  to magazine  26 . The blanks  30  are then transferred individually to the carton opener  24  for erection of the blank for placement on a mandrel of the packaging machine  22 . After bottom forming on the mandrel, each carton is transported along the conveyor for eventual filling with a product at a filling station  40  that is described below. 
     FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate various cartons that may be consecutively produced on a packaging system  20  of the present invention. Each carton  90 - 93 , has a bar code  51  thereon which conveys the product and volume of the carton. The bar code  51  may also have the final destination information contained therein. The final destination information may be used to direct the finished product to a special shipping area or distribution site allowing for further automation of the packaging system  20 . All of the carton may be placed within a single magazine  26  or have separate magazines on a multiple magazine apparatus disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/063,908 filed on Apr. 21, 1998, for a Multiple Magazine For A packaging Machine, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. For example, the magazine  26  may hold blanks for two percent milk packaged in an one liter carton  90 . The magazine  26  may also hold blanks for whole milk packaged in a one liter carton  91 . Further, the magazine  26  may hold blanks for cream packaged in a five-hundred milliliter carton  92 . Yet further, the magazine  26  may hold blanks for skim milk packaged in a five-hundred milliliter carton  93 . During processing of the blanks  30  from the magazine  26  to the filling station  40 , the bar code reader  50  reads the bar code  51  of each of the carton  90 - 93  and conveys this information to the packaging machine  22  via the PLC  21 . The PLC then instructs the various components of the machine  22  in order to produce a product as indicated by the bar code  51 . The operational flow of the bar code  51  information is described in FIG.  5 . 
     As shown in FIG. 1A, the bar code reader  50  may be placed at the intersection of the magazine  26  and the carton opener  24 . As each blank  30  is prepared for erection on the carton opener  24 , the bar code reader  50  reads the bar code  51  and transmits the information to the PLC  21 . The PLC  21  may be a component of an overall control system for the packaging system  20 . A preferred control system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,627 for a Control System For A Packaging Machine which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, and which has the same assignee as the present application. A preferred bar code reader  50  is a laser bar code reader. A preferred laser bar code reader is the BL-500 laser bar code reader available from Keyence Corporation of America, Woodcliff Lake, N.J. 
     There is illustrated in FIG. 5 a dual stream filling system of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/897,554 filed on Jul. 21, 1997 and an entitled Dual Stream Filling Valve, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The filling system  40  has a primary tank  118  and secondary tanks  120  in flow communication with nozzles  144 . Pumps  122  and  124  control the flow of the product into cartons, not shown, which are positioned under the nozzles  144 . Each primary fill pipe  116  has a secondary fill pipe  110  concentrically enclosed therein. Pump mechanisms  124  control the flow of the secondary product from the secondary tanks  120  to the secondary fill pipes  110 . The pump mechanisms  122  control the flow of the primary product from the primary tank  118  to primary fill pipes  116 . Each of the pump mechanisms  122  and  124  are controlled by a servomotor  125  which are controlled by servo amplifiers  131 , not shown. In operation, the secondary product may be cream and the primary product skim milk. The PLC  21 , with instructions from a bar code reader  50 , instructs the filling system  40  to fill a predetermined quantity of cartons with a specific product. For example, if the product is two percent milk, the fillings system  112  dispenses a set quantity of skim milk from the primary product tank  118  and a set quantity of cream from secondary tanks  120  directly into a carton for mixing. This filling system  40  allows for the continuous product of different products without the need to deactivate the packaging machine  22  to produce a different product. A similar filling system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,779 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, an alternative filling system  40   a  having multiple filling stations  202 - 207 . Each filling station  202 - 207  dispenses an unique product. For instance station  202  may dispense yogurt, station  203  may dispense jam, station  204  may dispense water, station  205  may dispense juice, station  206  may dispense skimmilk, and station  207  may dispense cream. Each station  202 - 207  has a pump  124   a,  a servomotor  125  to control the pump  124   a,  and a fill pipe  220 . As cartons are conveyed into the filling system  40   a,  the PLC directs the positioning of the cartons  92 ,  93 ,  211 - 214  under a specific filling station  202 - 207  according to information from the bar code reader  50  which transmitted such information to the PLC  21 . 
     As shown in FIG. 8, yet another alternative filling system  40   b  is disclosed. In this system, the fill pipes  320   a  and  b  are positioned adjacent to each other instead of concentrically disposed within one another. Pumps  324   a  and  b  control the flow of product to the fill pipes  320   a  and  b  form product sources  330   a  and  b.  The pumps are in turn controlled by servomotors. 
     As shown in FIG. 9, the instructional communication flow from the bar code reader  50  to the filling systems  40 ,  40   a  and  40   b  is set forth. At step  400 , the bar code reader  50  reads the bar code on a blank  30  or partially formed carton. At step  402 , this information is transmitted to the PLC  21 . At step  404 , the information is transmitted from the PLC  21  to a programmable axis manager. The programmable axis manager (“PAM”) controls the plurality of servo amplifiers that control the plurality of servomotors on the packaging machine  22 . At step  406 , the PAM directs servo amplifiers which controls servomotors  125  for a filling system  40 ,  40   a,    40   b.  At step  408 , servomotors  125  actuate a pump  122 ,  124 ,  124   a  or  324   a  and  b  to dispense a specific product into a carton when a specific carton arrives at the filling system  40 ,  40   a  and  40   b.  The PLC  21  is able to control the filling of a carton that has traveled some distance on the packaging machine  22  away from the bar code reader  50  due to the controlled/indexed movement of cartons on the packaging machine  22 . In this manner, the PLC  21  is aware of the position of each carton that has had its bar code  51  read by the bar code reader  50 . At step  410 , the pump pumps product into a carton according to instructions obtained from the bar code  51  of the carton. 
     The PLC  21  may also control adjustments to the packaging machine  22  to produce a certain product. For instance, if the volume changes from one liter to five-hundred milliliters, then a lifter on the machine  22  must be adjusted to account for the difference in package height. Also, the PLC would control the top sealing and even the bottom forming to adjust for changes in the size of the cartons. In one embodiment, as different size cartons are prepared to enter the machine  22 , the PLC suspends movement, and thus introduction of cartons, while the machine  22  adjusts to the new carton size. 
     From the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention and will readily understand that while the present invention has been described in association with a preferred embodiment thereof, and other embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, numerous changes, modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which is intended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in the following appended claims. Therefore, the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims: