SYSTEMS WITH WHEEL SADDLES THAT CAN COOPERATE WITH WHEELS OF ENCODERS AND RELATED DEVICES AND METHODS
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for controlling a packaging apparatus, comprising:
- automatically pulling casing between a measuring wheel of a rotary encoder and a depression of a cooperating wheel saddle having an inwardly curved shape with a radius of curvature; and
automatically measuring a length of casing pulled between the measuring wheel and the depression of the cooperating wheel saddle based on an output from the rotary encoder.
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Abstract
Methods, computer program products and apparatus for producing encased products use a rotary encoder with a measuring wheel, the measuring wheel residing against a depression of a wheel saddle that has a shape that curves inward with a radius of curvature that corresponds to an outer perimeter radius of a cooperating measuring wheel.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for controlling a packaging apparatus, comprising:
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automatically pulling casing between a measuring wheel of a rotary encoder and a depression of a cooperating wheel saddle having an inwardly curved shape with a radius of curvature; and automatically measuring a length of casing pulled between the measuring wheel and the depression of the cooperating wheel saddle based on an output from the rotary encoder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for packaging products using tubular casings formed from flat roll stock for encasing products therein, comprising:
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a frame; a horn releasably secured to the frame; a wheel saddle with at least one depression on the horn; a forming collar residing about the horn, the forming collar configured to cooperate with a roll of flat casing material to force the flat casing material to take on a shape with long edge portions of the casing material residing proximate each other; a seal assembly held a longitudinal distance in front of the forming collar in cooperating alignment with the horn; a film drive system residing proximate the seal assembly in communication with the horn; a controller in communication with the film drive system; and at least one rotary encoder with a measuring wheel residing against the depression of the wheel saddle in communication with the controller, wherein the controller is configured to adjust a speed of the film drive system to increase or decrease the film-drive speed based on data from the rotary encoder. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A wheel saddle for a packaging system, comprising:
a tubular body with longitudinally opposing ends and at least one depression having an inward curved shape with a radius of curvature that is between about 1-2 inches measured from a center drawn in space that is radially outward from the tubular body. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A computer program product for operating a packaging apparatus that can accommodate different casing materials and different horn diameters to provide encased elongate products, the computer program product comprising:
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a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising; computer readable program code configured to provide a plurality of different predetermined operational modes for an apparatus that releaseably mounts different diameter horns and respective different size forming collars to supply different sized tubular casings from flat roll stock; computer readable program code configured to monitor or detect a signal from a rotary encoder having a measuring wheel that resides in a depression of a wheel saddle on a product horn residing upstream of a film drive assembly having at least one servomotor that powers the film drive assembly; and computer readable program code configured to direct at least one servomotor to increase or decrease film speed relative to an immediately prior film speed based at least in part on the signal from the rotary encoder.
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Specification