Patent Publication Number: US-5421571-A

Title: Apparatus for the separate supply of film bags to a filing machine

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to an apparatus for the individualized, separate or single supply of film bags to a filling machine. 
     DE-OS 2,922,877 discloses an apparatus for the separate supply of valve bags to a filling machine and in which the valve bags to be supplied rest in a fanned out manner on a belt conveyor and are separated or individualized by a clamping wheel. 
     British Patent 492,920 discloses an apparatus for the supply of sheets, in which blanks are conveyed on a belt conveyor and separated by a driven wheel. 
     The problem of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for the separate supply of film bags to a filling machine. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the invention this problem is solved by the features of the apparatus. My apparatus for supplying film bags to a filling machine employs a belt conveyor to transport the bags with a drive element acting on the belt conveyor. A vertically movably mounted separating wheel rests on the top of a film bag supplied by the conveyor. A linear device with a suction cup at one end supplies the first film bag on the belt conveyor to the filling machine. A drive element moves the separating wheel. A photoelectric sensor determines the height of the separating wheel while controlling the belt conveyor drive. A second photoelectric sensor controls the separating wheel drive. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter relative to the single diagrammatic drawing illustrating an embodiment of the invention as an elevational view partially in section. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The apparatus comprises a belt conveyor 12 onto which the film bags 10 to be supplied separately to the not shown filling machine are placed in the form of an oblique, fanned out stack. The belt conveyor 12 is provided with a drive 14, which moves the upper strand of the belt conveyor 12 towards a stop 16 of a delivery section. 
     A separating wheel 18 is movably mounted on a pivoted lever 20 and is driven clockwise by a drive 22 via a driving chain, the pivoted lever 20 and the drive 22 being mounted on a bridge 32 displaceable in the conveying direction. As the separating wheel 18 rests on the in each case top fill bag 10, it moves the said top bag 10 towards the stop 16 of the delivery section. 
     A first sensor 24 determines the position of the pivoted lever 20 and therefore the height of the separating wheel 18 above the belt conveyor 12. The sensor 24 controls the drive 14 of the belt conveyor 12 in such a way that the number of film bags 10 below the separating wheel 18 remains substantially the same. If the number of film bags 10 below the separating wheel 18 is too low, the belt conveyor 12 is driven and supplies further bags, whereas if the number of film bags 10 below the separating wheel 18 is adequate, then the belt conveyor 12 is stopped. 
     The sensor 24 can be a photoelectric cell. However, it is also possible to provide a potentiometer, which is located in the pivot point of the pivoted lever 20. There can also be a continuous control in the case of such an apparatus. 
     A second sensor 28 also constructed as a photoelectric cell is positioned in the vicinity of the stop 16 of the delivery section and detects when the separating wheel 18 has supplied a film bag up to the stop 16 of the delivery section. This second sensor 28 acts on the separating wheel 18 and therefore ensures that the bag has been inserted up to the stop 16. 
     A linear unit 26 provided with a suction cup takes the separated film bag 10 from the delivery section and supplies it to the filling machine, where it is gripped with not shown devices and supplied to the filling station.