Patent GB-1253735-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to apparatus for filling flexible containers
Inventor: VOGT CLARENCE WEDEKIND
IPC: B65B1/26
Filed: 1969-01-24
Abstract: 1,253,735. Packaging. C.W.VOGT. 24 Jan., 1969 [26 Jan., 1968], No. 4112/69. Heading B8C. A filler for filling flexible containers with pulverulent material, comprises a filling head 21 including a housing 22 having an inlet 23 and an outlet 24, an impeller 33 rotatable within said housing and having a plurality of circumferentially adjacent transfer pockets for conveying material from the inlet to the outlet and means for removing entrained gases from and compacting said pulverulent material when in said transfer pockets, and securing means on the underside of said housing for clamping a mouth portion of a said flexible container to said housing in communication with the outlet. In the construction shown, the impeller has a plurality of sockets 34 and each socket contains a liner 35 which forms the pocket and which is made of a shape retaining porous material through which air and other gases can freely pass but which excludes the passage of the pulverulent material. The filling head 21 is provided with a valve 36 which is positioned centrally of the impeller 33 and which is fixed against rotation; the valve includes two ports 37 and 38 which are selectively connected with the sockets 34 through radial ports 40; the ports 37 and 38 are connected to sources of vacuum and pressure respectively, the vacuum source removing the majority of the entrapped gases in the material. The housing has its inlet 23 uppermost and its outlet 24 lowermost and secured to the inlet 23 is a hopper assembly 25 which includes an upper bifurcated portion 26 in which there is positioned a pair of valves 27, 28 which are interconnected by a mechanism 30 so that the valves are opened alternately; the portion 26 is connected to the discharges of a pair of known weighing mechanisms 31 and 32, the flow from which is controlled by the valves 27 and 28. The containers 42 are supplied in their flat state and before they are secured to the outlet 24 of the housing, adaptor frames 45 are positioned in the mouth portions 44 of the containers; a support 43 is provided for facilitating the manual insertion of the adapter frame and this has a pair of recessed guide blocks 48 under which the containers are passed and a pair of stops 50 which are carried by rods 51 and which are normally supported above the surface of the support 43 but are withdrawable down therethrough through aligned notches 52. The housing 22 is provided with a mounting adapter 53 in alignment with the outlet 24 which has a flange receivable snugly in the adapter frame after the frame has been positioned in the mouth portion of its container; after the frame has been telescoped over the flange it is clamped in place by the securing means which consists of two sets of opposed clamps 55 which have resilient faces; each clamp 55 is carried by a piston-rod 56 which is connected to a piston disposed in a cylinder 57, fluid pressure moving the clamps 55 into engagement with the container. Underneath the housing there is provided means for engaging opposite faces of the container 42 to be filled to retain the same in a flat condition as it is being filled so as to exclude the introduction of undue air into the container, the means comprises a pair of rollers 60, 61 which are engageable with opposite surfaces of the flattened container 42 immediately below the filler head 21 and which are movable downwardly as the filling of the container 42 progresses. The rollers 61, 62 are carried by frame rails 65 which are supported on vertical sleeves 66 which are telescoped over vertical supports 67 so that the frame can be moved vertically by means of a pair of fluid motors 83; the frame is provided adjacent one end with horizontally disposed fluid motors 68, each having a piston-rod 69 connected to a support 70 which is slidably mounted on the respective frame rail; the support 70 mounts a shaft 71 which is driven by a drive unit 72 and the end portion of a shaft 71 remote from the drive unit is provided with a gear 73 for driving the roller 60. The other roller 61 is mounted on horizontal portion of a shaft 74 which has a vertical portion carried for pivoting by one of the frame rails 65; the shaft 74 is pivoted to carry the roller 61 towards and away from the roller 60 by a fluid pressure drive unit 82 which acts through a rack 81 and a gear 80. The shaft 61 is rotated by the drive unit 72 via the gear 73 and a gear 78. Underneath the means 58 is a conveyer 62 which supports the lower end of the container and which carries it away to a sealing station where a seal 63 is applied to the mouth of the container when it has been filled. In a modification the clamps 55 and their associated pistons and cylinders are replaced by a ring 90, Fig. 9, which is of tubular construction and which is inflatable; underneath the ring 90 detents are provided which underlie the corners of the adapter frame 45 when in position and support it. Each of the detents 92 is carried by a plunger 93 which is part of a power unit 95 which can be a solenoid or a fluid pressure motor. The arrangement using clamps 55 can also be modified by making the flange 54 taper downwardly and suitably shaping the faces of the clamps. In this modification instead of the clamps having resilient faces the flange is recessed and is provided with a resilient sealing ring. An alternative form of apparatus, Fig. 16, is described in which the means 58 is not used and in which the containers 42 are fed from a hopper 105 by a transfer mechanism 108 which includes a pair of transversely aligned suction heads 110 which are movable in slots 111 formed in a support 106; a reciprocating mechanism not shown is connected to the transfer mechanism 108 to effect longitudinal reciprocation thereof. The containers 42 are moved along the support 106 with their edge portions passing under guides 115 until they come into engagement with stops 116, the adapter frames 117 are then inserted manually, the stops are moved downwardly by means of a treadle mechanism and the container with the adapter frame 117 is moved into engagement with an adapter frame 122 carried by the underside of the previously described housing 22. The adapter frame 122 is provided with detents 123 which are co-operable with openings 124 formed in opposite ends of the adapter frame 117 to fasten the frame 117 and the mouth portions of the container 42 in place.