Former Assembly

Abstract

To provide a former assembly for a packaging machine.SOLUTION: A former assembly 10 includes a frame 11 that supports a former shoulder 17. The former shoulder 17 has a former opening 20 aligned with a cylindrical delivery chute 21. A product is delivered to the chute 21 which delivers the product to the former opening 20 and thence to the former shoulder 17. The delivery chute 21 has an interior 22 with a plurality of ridges 44 in the form of a protruding part 45. The ridges are generally disposed at a spaced angular position about a central axis 19 and have the longitudinal extension directed downwardly.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a former for a packaging machine. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent document 1, filed on March 15, 2012, discloses a former for a packaging machine. It has been done.

[0003] The former receives the bag material in the form of a strip and converts the strip into a tubular bag material for delivery to the packaging machine. The product is delivered to the inside of the tube, and then the packaging machine seals it transversely. A stop is formed and the bag material is cut transversely to form a bag of product. The food may be a snack food such as chips.

[0004] The former assembly includes a former through which the strip of bag material passes to be reformed into a tubular shape. The former includes a mounting plate to which a sheet metal plate is attached, providing a former surface. The product tube protrudes through the upper opening, and the product is delivered to the bag material through the product tube. The material is delivered to the interior. Above the former there is a former chute (cylinder).

[0005] Above the former chute, a batch of product is fed into a tube for delivery into the interior of the tubular bag material. The weighers are arranged at angularly spaced locations about a generally upright axis. a plurality of buckets for forming batches to be placed into the bags to be formed; Open to deliver the desired amount of product. As the batch moves downward, As a result of this stretching of the batch, the downstream packaging machine must operate at a limited speed. A further drawback is that the batch is slowed down as it moves downwards, This will further exacerbate the shortcomings of the elongation of the The drawback of the above assembly is that the assembly causes the batch to stretch and slows down the batch speed. The goal is to lower it. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 421,596 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] Provided herein is a former assembly for a packaging machine, comprising: to the packaging machine so that the former assembly can deliver the tubular bag material to the packaging machine. a frame fixed to the A former shoulder attached to the frame, the former shoulder being a belt a former shoulder provided to receive the strip-shaped bag material and reform the strip-shaped bag material into a tubular bag material; The former includes a former surface through which the strip of bag material passes to be reformed, the former surface being a tube. Former shoulders that converge upward to the former opening through which the bag material passes and, a product delivery chute extending downwardly into the adjacent former opening, a product delivery chute through which the product is delivered into the interior of the tubular bag material; Including, The product delivery chute and former shoulder have a generally upright central longitudinal axis, and the product The product flows downward through a product delivery chute onto the former shoulder, an inner chute surface surrounding a central longitudinal axis, the inner chute surface being oriented in a direction perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis; The product has a plurality of protrusions having generally parallel extending directions, the plurality of protrusions being arranged to allow the product to be attached to the product delivery system. preventing angular movement of the product about said central longitudinal axis as it falls through the chute; A former assembly is disclosed.

[0009] Preferably, the plurality of protrusions are arranged at angularly spaced positions about the central longitudinal axis. It will be placed.

[0010] Preferably, each protrusion has a longitudinal extension generally parallel to said central longitudinal axis and a longitudinal extension generally parallel to said central longitudinal axis. It has a short side that is radial to the longitudinal axis.

[0011] Preferably, the inner chute surface converges downwardly toward the central longitudinal axis. do.

[0012] Preferably, the inner chute surface is generally circular in cross section.

[0013] Preferably, each projection is a ridge extending inwardly toward said central longitudinal axis.

[0014] Preferably, each ridge does not extend angularly about said central longitudinal axis.

[0015] Preferably, the product delivery chute includes a cylindrical body providing the interior chute surface. Each protrusion is attached to the cylindrical body. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic isometric view of a former assembly for a packaging machine.

[0018] [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional isometric view of the assembly of FIG. 1.

[0019] [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic isometric view of the tubular chute of the assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0020] [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the cylindrical chute of FIG. 3.

[0021] [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of the cylindrical chute shown in FIG. 4.

[0022] [Figure 6] 6 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the tubular chute shown in FIG. 5 taken along line 6-6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] The accompanying drawings show the specifications of U.S. Patent No. 5,622,032 and U.S. Patent No. 7,159,376. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,336. A former assembly 10 is shown generally in FIG. 1. No. 6 describes a former assembly, the preferred embodiment of which is described below. The form is improved.

[0024] The former assembly 10 has a base 13 from which extend branch arms 14. The frame 11 includes a first frame member 12 that is "U-shaped" as shown in FIG. The tubular member 12 is constructed to have a longitudinally extending passageway through which gas can be supplied. is tubular.

[0025] The frame 11 further includes a lateral support member 16 secured to the end 15 of the arm 14; Member 16 extends inwardly relative to an upright central axis 19 .

[0026] Supported by the frame 11 is a strip of bag material 32 formed into a tubular shape 23. Former shoulder 17 (shown in "hidden lines") has former face 18 passing over it for The former surface 18 faces outward, away from the upright central axis 19, and 9 and converges upward toward the upright central axis 19 through which the The former opening 20 is formed. Extending toward the former opening 20 are For delivery of the product into the interior of the tubular bag material 23 into which the bag is formed, an interior 22 into which the product is delivered and a product delivery tubular chute 21 having a

[0027] The former opening 20 engages and extends across the former surface 18. The upwardly moving bag material is deflected downwardly through the former opening 20, resulting in At the lower end of the product delivery chute 21 so that it can extend downward in the direction 34 towards the packaging machine. are placed adjacent to each other.

[0028] The former surface 18 extends upwardly and is supported by a raised portion 35 adjacent the former opening 20. The former 17 terminates in the former opening 20. The raised portion 35 is in the form of an arcuate edge. The tubular portion 24 extends downward from the raised portion 35. The tubular bag material 23 is then transported to a packaging machine below. 1. The former 17 slides downwardly inside the tubular portion 24 of the former shoulder 17 for delivery of the Portion 24 can be partially or entirely tubular in shape.

[0029] The former shoulder 17 is secured to the tubular portion 24 of the former shoulder 17. The support is provided by a member 16.

[0030] The frame 11 has a central mounting portion fixed to the base 13 so as to extend upward from the base 13. The product delivery chute 21 further includes a mounting portion 25. The mounting portion 25 is secured to the product delivery chute 21. an upwardly extending support 26 secured at its upper end to the product delivery chute 21 for support; The product delivery chute 21 is mounted for further support by a mounting portion 25. It can also be attached to the attachment portion 25.

[0031] The former 17 is folded to help increase the stiffness of the former shoulder 17. The lateral length 31 of the outer periphery is fixed to the end 15. The sheet-like bag material 32 is fixed to the former surface 18. To aid in delivery, a rope is provided adjacent to but spaced from the lateral portion 26. Therefore, the former shoulder 17 is supported by the arm 14. It is held.

[0032] A coupling device 29 is provided on one or both of the arms 15, and the coupling device 29 allows gas to be Since the member 12 has a tubular structure, the gas can be supplied to the inside of the member 12. The gas can be supplied to the portion 25, and the gas can be taken out for supply to the interior of the tubular bag material. From the attachment portion 25, a backing member 30 (extending from the tubular portion 24) is provided. For example, member 26 may be tubular for supplying gas to the interior of product delivery chute 21. can.

[0033] The tubular portion 24 is configured to provide access to the film when the film is initially delivered to the tubular portion 24. It has a recess 33 for receiving.

[0034] The product delivery chute 21 includes a body 40 that surrounds a generally upright central longitudinal axis 19. 40 is preferably formed from sheet metal and has an inner surface 41 that surrounds the central longitudinal axis 19. Preferably, the body 40 is circular, converging downward from the upper edge 42 to the lower edge 43. The body 40 has a frustum shape. Therefore, the cross section of the body 40 is circular. The lower edge 43 is However, it should be understood that the bag material 32 passes over the raised portion 35. to leave a gap through which the wire can pass to be placed inside the tubular portion 24 after , the lower edge 43 terminates above the former opening 20 .

[0035] As mentioned above, the body 40 is preferably frustoconical in shape. The sides 41 converge downwardly to a lower edge 43 relative to the central longitudinal axis 19 .

[0036] Attached to or integrally formed with the body 41 are a plurality of protrusions 4 4. The protrusions 44 are most preferably ridges 45.

[0037] The protrusions 44 are disposed at angularly spaced positions about the central longitudinal axis 19 and preferably , have their longitudinal extensions generally parallel to the central longitudinal axis 19 .

[0038] Most preferably, the protrusions 44 are ridges 45 as described above, in which case the ridges 45 has a longitudinal extension generally parallel to the central longitudinal axis 19, but has a radial extension generally perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis 19. The axial direction of the slits 19 is also radially inwardly extending relative to the central longitudinal axis 19. Most preferably, the ridges 45 extend in any angular direction about the central longitudinal axis 19. does not have either.

[0039] The preferred embodiment described above reduces angular movement of the product batch about the central longitudinal axis 19. This has the advantage that the product batches are rotated about the central longitudinal axis 19. This is achieved by engaging the protrusion 45 which prevents movement in any direction. By preventing the batch from moving, the elongation of the batch is reduced, while the rotational energy The batch speed increases because less energy is lost in the process.

Claims

1. 1. A former assembly comprising: a frame secured relative to a packaging machine positioned below the former assembly so that the former assembly can deliver tubular bag material to the packaging machine; a former shoulder attached to the frame, the former shoulder including a former surface converging upwardly along a central longitudinal axis to a former opening through which the tubular bag material passes to receive the strip bag material and reform the strip bag material into the tubular bag material; a product delivery chute for receiving a desired amount of product to be placed into each bag formed from the tubular bag material from a weigher disposed above the former assembly, the product delivery chute including an elongated frusto-conical cylindrical body converging downwardly along the central longitudinal axis from an upper edge to a lower edge adjacent the former opening for delivering the product into the interior of the tubular bag material; Including, the tubular body includes a plurality of protrusions connected to an inner chute surface of the tubular body and extending from the inner chute surface toward the central longitudinal axis; Each projection extends along the inner chute surface from the upper edge to the lower edge; The former assembly, wherein the plurality of protrusions are configured to inhibit angular movement of the product about the central longitudinal axis as the product falls through the product delivery chute.

2. The former assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of protrusions are disposed at angularly spaced positions about the central longitudinal axis.

3. 3. The former assembly of claim 1, wherein each protrusion has a length along the inner chute surface and a height perpendicular to the inner chute surface, the length being greater than the height.

4. 4. The former assembly of claim 1, wherein the inner chute surface is circular in cross section.

5. 5. The former assembly of claim 1, wherein each projection does not extend angularly about the central longitudinal axis.

6. 6. The former assembly of claim 1, wherein the height of each protrusion gradually decreases toward the lower edge in the lower portion of the product delivery chute.

7. The former assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of protrusions is five protrusions.

8. 8. The former assembly of claim 1, wherein edges of the plurality of protrusions are spaced apart from one another so that the interior space of the product delivery chute is not divided into separate portions.

Images