Bag-making apparatus and process for making ported bags
First Claim
1. An apparatus for manufacturing plastic bags from a continuous film sheet and having at least one tubular port on each bag, said apparatus comprisinga. a first conveyor having means for retaining the film sheet to prevent changes in lateral movement while progressing the sheet in a longitudinal direction, said first conveyor being actuatable to move a constant length with fixed pauses between each movement.b. a first press means adjacent the first conveyor for engaging the film sheet with the sheet retaining means during the fixed pauses,c. a second conveyor having means for retaining a multiplicity of ports, each port having a tubular portion and a flange portion, the port retaining means adapted to engage the tubular portions of the ports, said second conveyor being actuatable to synchronize with and have the same movement and fixed pauses as that of said first conveyor,d. a second press means associated with said first and second conveyors when the sheet becomes positioned between them, the second press means being actuatable during said fixed pauses to bring portions of the surface at a fold line of the sheet into contact with the flanges of the ports, the second press means further having means for sealing said portions of the sheet to the flanges during the fixed pauses,e. a third press means, downstream from the second press means and below said second conveyor, having means for removing wrinkles from two plies of draped film sheet during the fixed pauses of said second conveyor, said two plies being formed by the removal of the sheet from the sheet retaining means of said first conveyor so that the sheet is supported by the ports which are held by the port retaining means of said second conveyor, andf. a fourth press means, downstream of the third press means and below said second conveyor, and actuatable during the fixed pauses of said second conveyor to bring portions of the two plies of the sheet into contact with each other, said fourth press means further having means for sealing said portions of the two plies together during the fixed pauses of said second conveyor to form closed connected bags.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A process and apparatus adapted to automate the conversion of a continuous sheet of flexible plastic film into ported bags. The apparatus includes means for maintaining the film sheet in proper alignment during the various processing steps and functions in a manner which reduces environmental particulate contamination of the bags to a minimum.
24 Citations
13 Claims
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1. An apparatus for manufacturing plastic bags from a continuous film sheet and having at least one tubular port on each bag, said apparatus comprising
a. a first conveyor having means for retaining the film sheet to prevent changes in lateral movement while progressing the sheet in a longitudinal direction, said first conveyor being actuatable to move a constant length with fixed pauses between each movement. b. a first press means adjacent the first conveyor for engaging the film sheet with the sheet retaining means during the fixed pauses, c. a second conveyor having means for retaining a multiplicity of ports, each port having a tubular portion and a flange portion, the port retaining means adapted to engage the tubular portions of the ports, said second conveyor being actuatable to synchronize with and have the same movement and fixed pauses as that of said first conveyor, d. a second press means associated with said first and second conveyors when the sheet becomes positioned between them, the second press means being actuatable during said fixed pauses to bring portions of the surface at a fold line of the sheet into contact with the flanges of the ports, the second press means further having means for sealing said portions of the sheet to the flanges during the fixed pauses, e. a third press means, downstream from the second press means and below said second conveyor, having means for removing wrinkles from two plies of draped film sheet during the fixed pauses of said second conveyor, said two plies being formed by the removal of the sheet from the sheet retaining means of said first conveyor so that the sheet is supported by the ports which are held by the port retaining means of said second conveyor, and f. a fourth press means, downstream of the third press means and below said second conveyor, and actuatable during the fixed pauses of said second conveyor to bring portions of the two plies of the sheet into contact with each other, said fourth press means further having means for sealing said portions of the two plies together during the fixed pauses of said second conveyor to form closed connected bags.
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13. In a process for fabricating flexible plastic bags from a continuous sheet of film, each bag having at least one port sealed thereto, the improvement comprising sequentiallypressing the film onto a film retaining conveyor,actuating the conveyor to cause the film to progress to a port sealing unit,aligning a series of flanged tubular ports above a fold line of the film at the port sealing unit, said ports being retained by port retaining means whereby the flanges of the ports are in close proximity to the film,actuating the port sealing unit to cause the film to contact and seal to the flanges of the ports,removing the film from the film retaining conveyor and allowing the film to drape vertically into two plies and be suspended by the sealed ports which are retained by the port retaining means,actuating the port retaining means to positon the draped film between film smoothing means and two bag sealing plates,actuating the film smoothing means and subsequently actuating the bag sealing plates to smooth the two plies and seal portions of the two plies together to form connected bags,actuating the port retainer means to move the connected bags and position them between cutting plates, andactuating the cutting plates to cause at least a portion of the film between the connected bags to be severed.
Specification