Method and apparatus for the opening and filling of flexibly sided containers such as bags having at least one opening therein

Abstract

A method and apparatus for the opening and filling of flexibly sided containers such as bags having at least one opening therein. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.

1 . An apparatus for filling flexibly sided bags comprising:
 an arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided bags for gripping;   a first gripping arrangement configured to grip a first top edge portion of flexibly sided bags disposed by said arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided bags;   a second gripping arrangement configured to grip a second top edge portion substantially opposite a first top edge portion of flexibly sided bags disposed by said arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided bags;   at least one motor arrangement configured to move said first and said second gripping arrangements;   a filling apparatus configured to fill flexibly sided bags with filling materials;   said first and said second gripping arrangements being configured to open flexibly sided bags of different sizes a sufficient amount to minimize spillage of materials being filled into an open flexibly sided container;   said first and said second gripping arrangements being configured to dispose flexibly sided bags of different sizes with centers of openings positioned substantially under said filling apparatus;   said first and said second gripping arrangements being configured to move filled flexibly sided bags away from said filling apparatus; and   a controller configured to operably move said first and said second gripping arrangements such that said first and said second gripping arrangements move independently from or to one another a substantially equal distance such that the middle of bag openings of different size bags remain in substantially the same position under said filling apparatus upon a change of bag size.   
   
   
       2 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided bags according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 said first gripping arrangement comprises a first gripper removably mounted on a first conveying device with a mounting plate extending toward an operating side of said first conveying device;   said second gripping arrangement comprises a second gripper removably mounted on a second conveying device with a mounting plate extending toward said operating side of said second conveying device;   said filling apparatus being on said operating side of said first and said second conveying devices;   said first and said second conveying devices are each independently motor driven and are independently movable relative to one another;   said first and said second conveying devices each form an endless loop;   said first and said second conveying devices are arranged with one above the other; and   said first and said second conveying devices each comprise a linear path segment under said filling apparatus.   
   
   
       3 . An apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers having open tops and at least substantially closed sides and closed bottoms, said apparatus comprising:
 an arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided containers for gripping;   a first gripping arrangement configured to grip a first top edge portion of flexibly sided containers disposed by said arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided containers;   a second gripping arrangement configured to grip a second top edge portion opposite a first top edge portion of flexibly sided containers disposed by said arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided containers;   at least one motor arrangement configured to move said first and said second gripping arrangements;   said first and said second gripping arrangements being configured to open flexibly sided containers a sufficient amount to minimize spillage of materials being filled into an open flexibly sided container;   said first and said second gripping arrangements being configured to dispose flexibly sided containers under a filling apparatus;   said first and said second gripping arrangements being configured to move filled flexibly sided containers away from a filling apparatus; and   a controller configured to operatively move said first and said second gripping arrangements with said at least one motor arrangement.   
   
   
       4 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 3 , wherein:
 said first and said second gripping arrangements are configured to open and position centers of openings of flexibly sided containers of different sizes substantially under a filling apparatus; and   said controller being configured to operably move said first and said second gripping arrangements with respect to one another to position centers of openings of flexibly sided containers of different sizes substantially under a filling apparatus to minimize spillage of materials being filled into an open flexibly sided container.   
   
   
       5 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 3 , wherein:
 said first gripping arrangement comprises a first gripper mounted on a first conveying device and extending toward an operating side of said first conveying device; and   said second gripping arrangement comprises a second gripper mounted on a second conveying device and extending toward said operating side of said second conveying device.   
   
   
       6 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 5 , wherein:
 said first gripping arrangement is removably mounted on said first conveying device; and   said second gripping arrangement is removably mounted on said second conveying device.   
   
   
       7 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 6 , wherein said at least one motor arrangement configured to move said first and said second gripping arrangements comprises a first and a second motor arrangement, said first motor arrangement being configured to independently move said first conveying device, and said second motor arrangement being configured to independently move said second conveying device. 
   
   
       8 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 7 , wherein said first and said second conveying devices each form an endless loop and said apparatus comprises at least one device configured to open and close said first and said second gripping arrangements. 
   
   
       9 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 8 , wherein said first and said second conveying devices are arranged with one above the other. 
   
   
       10 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 9 , wherein said first and said second conveying devices each comprise a linear path segment in at least the position where flexibly sided containers are filled. 
   
   
       11 . An apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers having open tops and at least substantially closed sides and closed bottoms, said apparatus comprising:
 an arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided containers for gripping;   a first gripping arrangement configured to grip a first portion of flexibly sided containers disposed by said arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided containers;   a second gripping arrangement configured to grip a second portion opposite a first portion of flexibly sided containers disposed by said arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided containers;   at least one motor arrangement configured to move said first and said second gripping arrangements;   said first and said second gripping arrangements being configured to open flexibly sided containers of different sizes a sufficient amount to minimize spillage of materials being filled into an open flexibly sided container;   said first and said second gripping arrangements being configured to dispose a center of an opening of flexibly sided containers of different sizes substantially under a filling apparatus;   said first and said second gripping arrangements being configured to move filled flexibly sided containers away from a filling apparatus;   a controller configured to operably move said first and said second gripping arrangements with said at least one motor arrangement with respect to one another to dispose a center of an opening of flexibly sided containers of different sizes substantially under a filling apparatus to minimize spillage of materials being filled into an open flexibly sided container.   
   
   
       12 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 11 , wherein:
 said first gripping arrangement being disposable and configured to grip a first top edge portion of flexibly sided containers disposed by said arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided containers; and   said second gripping arrangement being disposable and configured to grip a second top edge portion opposite a first top edge portion of flexibly sided containers disposed by said arrangement configured to open and dispose flexibly sided containers.   
   
   
       13 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 12 , wherein:
 said first gripping arrangement comprises a first gripper mounted on a first conveying device and extending toward an operating side of said first conveying device; and   said second gripping arrangement comprises a second gripper mounted on a second conveying device and extending toward said operating side of said second conveying device.   
   
   
       14 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 13 , wherein:
 said first gripping arrangement is removably mounted on said first conveying device; and   said second gripping arrangement is removably mounted on said second conveying device.   
   
   
       15 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 14 , wherein said at least one motor arrangement configured to move said first and said second gripping arrangements comprises a first and a second motor arrangement, said first motor arrangement being configured to independently move said first conveying device, and said second motor arrangement being configured to independently move said second conveying device and move said first and said second gripping arrangements a substantially equal amount to or from one another to thus position a center of an open container under a filling apparatus. 
   
   
       16 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 15 , wherein said first and said second conveying devices each form an endless loop and said apparatus comprises at least one device configured to open and close said first and said second gripping arrangements. 
   
   
       17 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 16 , wherein said first and said second conveying devices are arranged with one above the other. 
   
   
       18 . The apparatus for filling flexibly sided containers of  claim 17 , wherein said first and said second conveying devices each comprise a linear path segment in at least the position where flexibly sided containers are filled. 
   
   
       19 . The apparatus according to  claim 11  for the treatment of flexibly, tubular structures, in particular bags ( 1 ), with at least one gripper pair ( 3 ,  4 ) that holds the structure and that has at least one leading gripper ( 3 ) and one trailing gripper ( 4 ), whereby
 the leading gripper ( 3 ) and the trailing gripper ( 4 ) are mounted on separate guide trains ( 5 ,  6 ) that can be moved relative to one another, further whereby   the two guide trains ( 5 ,  6 ) are each motor-driven independently of one another, and whereby   the guide trains ( 5 ,  6 ) can be displaced relative to one another by a motor to vary a distance (A) between the grippers ( 3 ,  4 ) and/or a distance (B) between the gripper pairs ( 3 ,  4 )   
     characterized in that
 with the help of a controller ( 9 ), the respective leading gripper ( 3 ) is shifted by a certain amount (C) in the direction of transport (R) and the respective trailing gripper ( 4 ) is shifted by the same amount (C) opposite the direction of transport (R), so that 
 the middle (M) of the bag remains in the same position even in the event of a bag change. 
 
   
   
       20 . The apparatus according to  claim 19 , wherein:
 the two guide trains are each in the form of an endless loop;   the two guide trains are arranged in part one above the other when viewed from the side;   the two guide trains each have one or more conveying devices, such as belts, chains, etc., to which the leading grippers or trailing grippers are mounted separately and independently;   a path of motion defined by the two guide trains is linear at least over a segment T of defined length L;   the grippers are non-permanently mounted on the guide trains;   the two grippers each extend from mounting plates which themselves are mounted on the guide trains; and   the two grippers are arranged on a common processing side relative to the path of motion defined by the guide trains.