Vacuum packmachine for french fries
First Claim
1. A machine for packaging elongated product strips, said machine comprising:
- a vertical free-fall column having open upper and lower ends, and at least one internal divider vane extending through said column to subdivide the column interior into a plurality of column passages each having a vertically open area with a relatively narrow width and a comparatively long length in a horizontal plane;
means for positioning an upwardly open product package in the form of a flexible bag at the lower end of said column, said product package having a cross sectional size and shape conforming generally with the cross sectional size and shape of said column;
means for supplying product strips to the upper end of said column for free-fall through said column passages and into the product package at said lower end of said column, whereby the product strips orient during free-fall through said column passages to fill the product package in a substantially aligned array;
means for drawing a substantial vacuum within the package subsequent to filling thereof with product strips, said vacuum drawing means including a vacuum source and at least one vacuum port formed through said divider vane for communicating said vacuum source with the package interior; and
means for closing and sealing the package to maintain the vacuum therein.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved packaging machine is provided for vacuum packing elongated products such as french fries into a succession of sealed bags. The packaging machine includes a weigh station for dropping pre-weighed product charges through a vertical column for product free-fall into a bag at a fill station, with the bag being formed from a sheet of film material drawn downwardly about the column. A divider vane subdivides the vertical column and the fill station into a pair of passages of elongated cross section, whereby the products falling through the column passages are substantially aligned as they fall into the bag. The bag is transferred from the fill station to a settling station, preferably by displacement of the divider vane and fill station. The settling station includes vibratory members to achieve substantial product settling. The bag film material may also be retracted a short stroke through a seal jaw assembly, resulting in stripping and squaring of an open end of the bag. A vacuum is drawn within the bag via vacuum ports formed in the divider vane. The seal jaw assembly then seals the top of the filled bag as well as the bottom of the next bag in succession, and severs the filled bag from the film material. An improved stream-out chute and distribution funnel are also disclosed for delivering the products from the weigh station to the vertical column with product distribution which is substantially uniform across the open area of the free-fall column passages.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1. A machine for packaging elongated product strips, said machine comprising:
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a vertical free-fall column having open upper and lower ends, and at least one internal divider vane extending through said column to subdivide the column interior into a plurality of column passages each having a vertically open area with a relatively narrow width and a comparatively long length in a horizontal plane; means for positioning an upwardly open product package in the form of a flexible bag at the lower end of said column, said product package having a cross sectional size and shape conforming generally with the cross sectional size and shape of said column; means for supplying product strips to the upper end of said column for free-fall through said column passages and into the product package at said lower end of said column, whereby the product strips orient during free-fall through said column passages to fill the product package in a substantially aligned array; means for drawing a substantial vacuum within the package subsequent to filling thereof with product strips, said vacuum drawing means including a vacuum source and at least one vacuum port formed through said divider vane for communicating said vacuum source with the package interior; and means for closing and sealing the package to maintain the vacuum therein. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A machine for packing elongated product strips, said machine comprising:
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a vertical free-fall column having open upper and lower ends, and at least one internal divider vane extending through said column to subdivide said column into a plurality of column passages of generally uniform and generally rectangular cross section each having a relatively narrow width and a comparatively long length in a horizontal plane, said column passages being oriented with the lengths thereof in generally parallel relation; means for supplying product strips to the upper end of said column in a plurality of strip charges of predetermined and substantially uniform amounts for free-fall of said strip charges respectively through said column passages; means for positioning a succession of upwardly open product packages in the form of flexible bags at the lower end of said column for filling thereof with said strip charges; each of said bags cooperating with the lower end of said column to define a bag fill station whereby the product strips free-fall through said column passage to fill the bag at said fill station; a settling station below said fill station; means for transferring each bag in succession from said fill station to said settling station, said settling station including means for substantially retaining the shape of the filled bag transferred thereto; vacuum means for drawing a vacuum within the bag at said settling station, said vacuum means including a vacuum source and at least one vacuum port formed through said divider vane for communicating said vacuum source with the bag interior; and seal means to close and seal the bag at said settling station while retaining the vacuum drawn therein. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A machine for packing elongated product strips, said machine comprising:
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a vertical free-fall column having open upper and lower ends, and at least one internal divider vane extending through said column to subdivide said column into a plurality of column passages of generally uniform and generally rectangular cross section each having a relatively narrow width and a comparatively long length in a horizontal plane, said column passages being oriented with the lengths thereof in generally parallel relation; and means for supplying product strips to the upper end of said column in a plurality of strip charges of predetermined and substantially uniform amounts for free-fall of said strip charges respectively through said column passages; means for supplying a succession of upwardly open flexible bags formed from an air impervious bag film material to a position generally at the lower end of said column for filling of each of said bags with the strip charges falling through said column; means for drawing a vacuum within each of said bags subsequent to filling thereof, said vacuum drawing means including a vacuum source coupled to the interior of each filled bag and at least one vacuum port formed in said divider vane; and means for sealing an upper end portion of each filled bag subsequent to drawing of the vacuum therein. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A machine for packing elongated product strips, said machine comprising:
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a vertical free-fall column having open upper and lower ends, and a central divider vane extending through said column to subdivide the interior thereof into a separated pair of column passages each having a generally rectangular cross sectional shape with a relatively narrow width dimension and a comparatively substantially longer length dimension in a horizontal plane, said column passages being oriented with their length dimensions generally in parallel relation; means for supplying an elongated bag-forming film material in wrapped relation about said column with generally overlapping side marginal edges; means for advancing the film material downwardly generally about said column; means for longitudinally seaming said film material generally at said side marginal edges to form said film material into a closed loop cross sectional shape; seal means for closing and sealing said film material at a position spaced a short distance below said column, thereby defining a partially formed and upwardly open bag disposed at said column lower end in open communication with said column passages, said partially formed bag and said column lower end cooperatively defining a bag fill station approximating the desired size and shape of a filled bag; and means for supplying product strip charges in predetermined amounts respectively to said column passages at the upper end of said column, whereby said product strip charges free-fall through said column passages and orient substantially during said free-fall to fill said partially formed bag at said fill station in substantially aligned array and with a bag size and shape generally conforming to the desired size and shape of a filled bag; a settling station disposed below said fill station; said film material advancing means being effective to advance the film material downwardly about said column to displace a filled partially formed bag downwardly from said fill station to said settling station, said settling station including means for substantially retaining the shape of the filled bag advanced thereto from said fill station; vacuum means for drawing a vacuum within the bag at said settling station, said vacuum means including a vacuum source and at least one vacuum port formed through said divider vane for communicating said vacuum source to the bag at said settling station to draw a vacuum therein; said seal means being effective to close and seal an upper end of a filled bag subsequent to downward transport thereof from said fill station to said settling station and drawing of the vacuum therein, and further to close and seal a lower end of a successive bag located at said fill station; said seal means further including cutter means for severing the film material to separate the upper end of a filled bag at said settling station from the lower end of a successive bag at said fill station. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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Specification