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Process and machine for automatically packing individual drinking straws, or similarly shaped articles, in weldable films

  • US 4,466,229 A
  • Filed: 11/18/1981
  • Issued: 08/21/1984
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/27/1980
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A device for packing a plurality of elongate articles of uniform shape between two films of packaging material such that the distance between adjacent articles when packaged is constant and the two films between said adjacent articles are laminated together comprising in combination:

  • a storage hopper containing a plurality of the articles to be packaged,means for dispensing the articles from said hopper in an array such that the articles are linearly aligned in a series,means for feeding the articles one at a time from the series for packaging,a packaging means including the two films which receive each article at a site of tangency of the two films,whereby downstream from said receiving site the two films are laminated together and an accomodation pocket will have been provided for each article equispaced from adjacent fed articles, the films laminated providing equispaced intervals for subsequent severing;

    wherein said storage hopper comprises an open top receptacle having a bottom wall formed as an inclined plane;

    wherein said means for dispensing the articles from said hopper include a platform disposed within the hopper provided with means for oscillating said platform, said platform spaced from and parallel with said inclined bottom wall and said oscillating means moves said platform in an oscillatory motion parallel to said inclined bottom wall;

    wherein said platform includes a raised front edge which encourages the articles to accumulate at a lowermost portion of the hopper;

    wherein said hopper and said means for dispensing the articles include a wall under which the articles pass, said wall provided with a hinge at its topmost portion and a connecting rod extending from said wall to a means for oscillating said wall in an arcuate manner about said hinge so as to encourage one article to be dispensed at a time;

    wherein said means for dispensing further includes at least one longitudinal arm overlying the articles having been dispensed from said hopper, said articles disposed on a continuation of said bottom wall defining a chute, said longitudinal arm constraining the articles to remain in an array linearly aligned in a series; and

    wherein said feeding means includes a stopping rod disposed adjacent a lowermost edge of said inclined plane, a hinge transversely disposed along a top edge of said stopping rod and means pivoting said stopping rod in an arcuate fashion about said hinge to thereby provide a passageway for the articles.

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