Package Machinery Co. Inc.

Other

Charles J Simmons

A package making machine of the vertical form, fill and seal type has an improved electrical control system operable on demand irrespective of the intervals of time between a train of cycle start signals and operable independently of the mechanical power source for the machine and/or its associated product feeder. The machine has a tube feeder operable during a portion of each bag making cycle and an end sealer operable during another portion of each cycle. Side sealing is accomplished during feeding by a hot belt sealer and secondary operations include a jammed product dislodging plunger, an air blast, a code dater, and a bag cut-off knife. All of the foregoing are operable by the control system in timed relationship and the system is also capable of controlling a product dump device in the product feeder. The tube feeder is controlled by an adjustable timer or by a photoregistration circuit which reads marks printed along the length of the web from which the package tube is made. When photoregistration feeding is used, the feed timer operates as an override to shut down the system on failure of one or more registration marks. The end sealer is controlled by an adjustable timer as are all secondary operations. A timed overheat device is operable to remove the hot belt sealer from the tube. Independent adjustment of all operations in their timed relationship and duration of operation is possible as well as adjustment of overall cycle time.

Control system for package making machine

A package making machine of the vertical form, fill and seal variety has an electrical control system allowing the length of the package or bag made during each machine cycle to be controlled easily by manual adjustment of a control knob. In particular, the folded web tube from which packages are made is moved through the machine by a tube feeder driven during only a portion of each bag making cycle, the length of time during which the tube feeder is operated during each such cycle being varied to vary the package length. In addition to this control of package length via control of the tube feed time per bag making cycle, the electrical control circuitry may also include circuitry for controlling the package length in response to photoelectric detection of registration marks printed at regularly spaced points along the length of the web from which the tube is made. When the photoelectric package length control is used, the circuitry for controlling package length via control of tube feed time per bag making cycle may be used as a redundant or backup means for limiting the package length. That is, the latter circuitry may be set to produce a package only slightly longer than that produced by the photoelectric bag length control, with the result that if a given bag is not terminated by detection of a registration mark by the photoelectric circuit, it will subsequently be terminated, without the resulting package having excessive overlength, by the tube feed time per bag making cycle control circuit. The control system also includes a means for introducing, if desired, in each machine cycle a delay of readily adjustable duration between the deenergization of the sealers and the start of tube feed to assure the sealers are released from the tube when tube feed is initiated. In any event, the sealing function is initiated immediately upon the completion of the tube feeding function so that the remaining portion of the bag making cycle is devoted to the sealing function, and the tube feeding and sealing functions are so interlocked that changes may be made in machine speed and length of tube feed per bag making cycle without disturbing the proper sequencing of the tube feeding and sealing functions.

A rudder-like device to add manuverability to toboggans and toboggan-like vehicles. The device incorporates a housing into which the rudder can be withdrawn for safety purposes. The housing also acts as a means of guiding the rudder and relieving the torque thereon due to the force of the snow.

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East Longmeadow, MA, United States of America

Charles J Simmons