Patent GB-1458793-A (GB)
Title: Machine for manufactu'ing bag-like two-chamber packages more particularly tea-bags
IPC: B65B29/02
Filed: 1975-01-31
Abstract: 1458793 A machine for manufacturing baglike, two-chamber packages P G KLAR 31 Jan 1975 [7 Feb 1974] 4285/75 Heading B8C The invention relates to a machine for manufacturing bag-like two-chamber packages of flexible material, more particularly tea-bags, which are formed exclusively by folding and are closed by stapling, in which a bag string filled with portions of contents, is fed continuously to the machine, and wherein, on a continuously revolving transport means, there are arranged fabrication units A which are controlled by means arranged outside the path of the transport means and of which each unit has folding elements to form the bag bottom, two erecting arms 40, 41 to erect the bag halves, a device to receive a label attached to a thread in one, 40, of the erecting arms, and a device for severing the bag string. The machine is characterized in that in each unit there are arranged, on a common support frame of the unit, a receiving pocket 43 for inserting the label into said one of the erecting arms, a folding plate 38 movable transversely to the bag string with folding down elements 18, 36 co-operating therewith, to form the bag bottom, a device 37 for severing the label thread 8, folding-over means 46, 66 to make a V-shaped head closure in a portion of the bag, a device for folding over and finally forming the head closure part, and a device 90 for stapling the thread to the bag head. As shown, a revolving turret has mounted thereon a plurality of fabricating units A each of which travels continuously and successively through spaced functional zones I-VIII. In advance of zone I a device E produces, in timed relation with the machine, a continuous series of spaced labels 2 on a thread 8 and delivers them, one at a time, through a guide channel 11 to the zone I where each label 2 is received in a pocket 43 in the end of the folding arm 40 of the corresponding unit A, where the thread 8 is severed by means 37, Fig. 4. At zone II a string of bags 17 previously fabricated and filled with contents F at B, Fig. 1, is laid on to a frame 16 of the unit A at this zone where two holding-down elements 18, 18, Fig. 4, each mounted upon a pivot arm 19, Fig. 5, are rotated to lie within the bifurcated ends 36 of a pair of clamping arms 32 to retain the bag string 17 in position on the frame 16. The arms 32 are pivotally mounted upon a pin 30, and are movable towards each other by a spring 31, the movement being controlled by a plate 33 which is carried by a ram 34 and which co-operates with rollers 35 on the arms 32. Before entering the zone III the bag string is parted from the preceding bag by a severing device 75 having seissor-type cutters (79), Fig. 12, not shown. In zone III the bag bottom is formed by moving the ram 34 upwards so that the two clamps 32, 32 can move towards each other under the action of the spring 33 and, in conjunction with a plate 38 at the upper end of the ram 34, fold the bag bottom as shown in Fig. 6. The erection of the two bag halves is effected in zone IV where erecting arms 40, 41, and bag-folding arm 45, are pivoted, by means (51, 60), Fig. 10, not shown, the bag string 17 being so placed with respect to the plate that the bag portion (86) projects beyond portion (85), Fig. 11, not shown. When a shaped piece 66, Fig. 7, at the end of the arm 41 meets a shoulder 44 on the arm 40 the arm 41 remains stationary while folding shoes 46, on the ends of the arms 45, 45, pivotally mounted at 48, 48 continue to move and sweep the projecting upper edge of the bag over the shaped piece 66 and the shoulder 44 in the form of an inverted "V". The arms 45, 45 are then moved together by a ram arm 57 to complete the shaped turn over the bag head, Fig. 13, 13a. The bag tip BS is folded over and the label 2 is stapled to the bag head in zone V by a stapling device 90, Fig. 15, which turns over through 90 degrees in sweeping over the bag tip and then descends so that the bag tip BS is folded over 180 degrees, a recess 56 in the shoulder 44 or, in the label-receiving pocket 43, providing a space to receive the stapling head. In zone VI the folding-down elements 18 and the arms 45 are retracted so that the bag is released. The arm 40, with the bag engaged over the shoulder 44, and the arms 41, 45, are pivoted back into their initial position, Fig. 4, at zone VIII. The removal of the bag (DB) is effected at zone VIII where tongs (105) follow a track (106), Fig. 16, not shown. A modification, Figs. 17, 18, not shown, allows the concentration of components of movement orientated transversely to the bag transport direction (R) into a feed movement (Z) which is effected by the holding-down elements (18), the stapling device (90), and the severing device, Fig. 12, not shown.