Bag Closing Apparatus and Method

Abstract

A bag closing apparatus is provided having a frame, a closure strip guide, a clip separator, and a bag feed conveyor. The frame is configured to carry a strip of closures. The closure strip guide is configured to guide a strip of closures. The clip separator is configured to sever a terminal closure on a strip of closures exiting the strip guide. The bag feed conveyor has a pair of laterally spaced-apart drive wheels and a complementary pair of laterally spaced-apart follower wheels urged into engagement for coaction with the drive wheels to deliver a bag neck into the terminal closure. The drive wheels and the follower wheels each comprise a circumferential outer periphery having a friction-reducing surface having a static dry coefficient of friction of at most 0.2. A method is also provided.

1 . A bag closing apparatus, comprising:
 a frame configured to carry a strip of closures;   a closure strip guide configured to guide a strip of closures;   a clip separator configured to sever a terminal closure on a strip of closures exiting the strip guide; and   a bag feed conveyor having a pair of laterally spaced-apart drive wheels and a complementary pair of laterally spaced-apart follower wheels urged into engagement for coaction with the drive wheels to deliver a bag neck into the terminal closure, the drive wheels each comprising a circumferential outer periphery having a friction-reducing surface having a static dry coefficient of friction of at most 0.2, and the follower wheels each having a circumferential outer periphery having a friction-reducing surface having a static dry coefficient of friction of at most 0.2.   
     
     
         2 . The bag closing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the circumferential outer periphery of each follower wheel comprises a semi-circular cross-sectional groove, and further comprising an O-ring of friction-reducing material. 
     
     
         3 . The bag closing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the circumferential outer periphery of each drive wheel comprises a semi-circular cross-sectional groove sized to mate in complementary relation with the O-ring. 
     
     
         4 . The bag closing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the circumferential outer periphery of the drive wheels and the follower wheels comprise a friction-reducing layer deposited on the outer periphery of the drive wheels and the follower wheels. 
     
     
         5 . The bag closing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the friction reducing surface has a coefficient of friction less than a bag being delivered between the pairs of drive wheels and the follower wheels. 
     
     
         6 . The bag closing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the friction reducing surface has a dry contact static coefficient of friction less than or equal to 0.1. 
     
     
         7 . The bag closing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the friction reducing surface is a resilient material shaped into an O-ring retained on an outer periphery of each of the follower wheels. 
     
     
         8 . The bag closing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the O-ring comprises a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) O-ring seated in a circumferential outer peripheral groove in each of the pair of follower wheels. 
     
     
         9 . The bag closing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the friction reducing surface is a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating applied to an anodized circumferential outer surface of the drive wheels. 
     
     
         10 . A bag feed conveyor for a bag closing apparatus, comprising:
 a pair of laterally spaced-apart drive wheels each comprising a circumferential outer periphery having a friction-reducing surface having a static dry coefficient of friction of at most 0.2; and   a complementary pair of laterally spaced-apart follower wheels urged into engagement for coaction with the drive wheels to deliver a bag neck into the terminal closure each having a circumferential outer periphery having a friction-reducing surface having a static dry coefficient of friction of at most 0.2.   
     
     
         11 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 10 , wherein each of the follower wheels comprises a circumferential outer periphery having an asymmetric semi-circular cross-sectional groove, and further comprising an O-ring of friction-reducing material carried in the groove. 
     
     
         12 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 11 , wherein the O-ring comprises polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). 
     
     
         13 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 12 , wherein each of the drive wheels have an outer peripheral portion comprising a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating. 
     
     
         14 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 13 , wherein each of the drive wheels comprises an anodized outer peripheral surface and the PTFE is deposited at least over the anodized outer peripheral surface. 
     
     
         15 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 1 , wherein the friction reducing surface on the drive wheels and the follower wheels has a static dry coefficient of friction against steel of at most 0.1. 
     
     
         16 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 1 , wherein the friction reducing surface on the drive wheels and the follower wheels has a static dry coefficient of friction against steel of at most 0.05. 
     
     
         17 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 14 , wherein the anodized outer peripheral surface is porous and the PTFE is deposited within the porous surface. 
     
     
         22 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 10 , wherein pair of drive wheels are substantially parallel to one another and the pair of follower wheels are substantially parallel to one another. 
     
     
         23 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 10 , wherein the pair of drive wheels and the pair of follower wheels are each provided on a common axis. 
     
     
         24 . The bag feed conveyor of  claim 23 , wherein the common axis for the pair of drive wheels is substantially parallel to the common axis for the pair of follower wheels.