Amplas, Inc.

Giles R Blaser

Peter J Claybaker

Donald J Pansier

Michael J Smith

Troy D Konitzer

Robert Dematteis

Shaughn V Hanley

Thomas D Driscoll

Thomas G Vanden Langenberg

Michael P Ireton

William J Greely

A cross sealer for a plastic bag making machine includes a frame with an upper moveable seal bar unit and an opposed lower stationary seal bar unit. The movable unit is a lightweight construction seal beam. A rotating shaft spans the cross sealer and is connected by a plurality of eccentric linkages to the seal beam. The linkages moves a seal bar into sealing engagement across the width of the web to the seal bar unit constructed with a support beam and a seal bar connected to the beam. The seal bar unit is mounted as a substantially stationary unit during sealing and is supported by a plurality of air cylinder units for positioning from standby to an operating position. Each air cylinder unit includes an adjustable stop unit secured to the back of the cylinder unit and connected to the cylinder piston for adjusting the movement of the piston and thereby the operative sealing position of the stationary seal bar unit. Some air cylinder units are connected to the seal bar unit for positively moving the same and others additionally includes pad abutting the seal bar units for supporting the same between the two positions.

Sealer apparatus for plastic film processing including an adjustably mounted seal bar, particularly for bag making machines

A cross sealer for a bag making machine includes a frame with an upper seal bar unit and a lower seal bar unit in aligned opposed relation. One is movable seal bar unit which includes a rigid support beam of a lightweight construction and a light weight seal bar connected to the beam by a plurality of adjustable stud units for adjusting the position of the seal bar. A rotating shaft spans the cross sealer and is connected by a plurality of eccentric linkages to the beam between side plates of the frame. The linkages support the beam and seal bar and transfers the sealing force onto the beam and bar for moving the bar into sealing engagement across the width of the web. The opposed seal bar unit is similarly constructed with a beam and a seal bar with the units interconnected by adjustable stud connectors. The second seal bar unit is mounted as a substantially stationary unit and includes a plurality of substantially fixed connectors supporting of the fixed beam along a plurality of locations to form a relatively rigid beam support. Alternate fixed beam supports include air cylinders to provide a cushion support for the seal unit. The connecting studs in the opposed seal units are offset to allow the respective beams to deflect and conform more fully to each other and to form an effective smooth and constant seal across the web. The eccentric shaft is shown driven by a servo motor and alternatively by a fluid cylinder and linkage drive unit. The drive system includes a controlled drive and linkage to provide for various seal dwell periods and configurations.

Sealer apparatus for forming a cross seal in plastic film processing and particularly for bag making machines

A flat plastic bag is formed from a side gusseted tubular web. The bag is formed with an open end and a opposite spaced end seal. Hinge crease patterns are formed in each of the gusseted portions at the bottom end of the bag. The pattern includes a two ridge upper leg and a three ridge bottom leg which are formed by a cold sealing process. A bag making machine includes a web supply which is passed through a web feed supply section to form the gusseted web. The gusseted web is sent through a forming section. The segment is first formed with the patterns of two bags in immediately adjacent relationship and located to the opposite sides of a common line defining the end of the adjacent bags. The web is formed into two bag segments with the creases located at each of the segment ends. The web is passed through a unit creating the seal and simultaneously severing the upstream segment. The segments are stacked on a table with each stack sequentially transferred to a punch unit which severs the center portion of the segment to define open bag ends adjacent each other with interconnections to maintain the stack relationship between the separated bags. The formed stack is passed through a separation unit which removes the cut portions thereby separating the bags for transport to a conveyor. The bag may be formed with ventilation openings at the punch unit. The crease pattern with the bottom portion includes a plurality of creases to ensure the proper location of at least one crease within the gusseted portion to ensure easy opening of the plastic bag.

Apparatus for manufacture of a plastic bag with standup bottom wall

A bag forming machine includes draw rolls for drawing a folded plastic web to and through a cut and seal unit for forming of successive bags. A wicketer receives the individual bags and rotates to carry successive bags to an opposite discharge end and depositing of the bags onto a pin stacker. A wicket conveyor includes an endless chain with an input sprocket adjacent the discharge end of the wicketer and a discharge sprocket located in spaced alignment to a discharge end of the conveyor. A plurality of pin stackers are secured in equi-spaced relation to the chain. A high response AC servo motor located at the input end of the conveyor is connected via a chain to the input sprocket. An independent servo controller is connected to energize the AC servo motor. A multi-axis servo controller is connected to servo drives for operating servo motors connected to the draw roll, the cut and seal unit, and the wicketer. The independent high response motor and dedicated servo controller can replace the independent motor drive systems of conveyors in existing bag lines. The conveyor is a compact unit for forming compact lines which can be formed in a plurality of side-by-side lines. The web supply is L-shaped with a vertical V-folder and formed as a compact unit which in combination with the conveyor permits forming adjacent bag lines with a reduced footprint.

Bag making apparatus and method for making plastic bags including a

A bag machine includes a hole forming apparatus with a pair of adjustably mounted hole punches and a wicketing apparatus including a pair of wicket pins. Both the punches and pins are separately adjustably mounted on a slide mechanism for establishing corresponding location in spacing of the punched holes in the receiving wicket pins. Each slide mechanism or assembly includes fixed elongated track having equi-spaced locking elements in the form of spaced recesses in the base of the track. The recesses are equi-spaced. A separate slide element is provided for each of the paired devices for adjustably mounting of the device on the related track. Each slide includes a spring loaded detent plunger aligned with the series of locking recesses. The punch slides are located in alignment with the recesses on the punched track and the plunger released to lock the punches in predetermined hole spacing. The wicket pins are correspondingly adjusted to locate the wicketing pins of each stack unit with corresponding hole-to-hole spacing. In each slide assembly, a single pair of simple detent units control the proper spacing of the punches and the pins.

Bag forming machine having adjustable support structure for paired work

A sideweld bag making has a reciprocating seal bar and a roller. Drive rolls upstream of the seal bar moves a web in steps over the roller and seal bar seals and severs the web to form bags. A cooling plate between the drive rolls and sealing bar includes a web strip and control air stream tube directs a special stream to engage the raising seal bar to strip the severed web therefrom and to engage the leading web edge as it moves through the seal bar unit. The stream source has closely spaced openings to form the stream; the width and character of which is controllable for selective web engagement. A second air tube is located beneath the web and directs the air stream over the sealing roller to further release the web during the movement of the web.

Plastic film stripper apparatus and method for heated sealing apparatus

A web drive cyclically moves a web a fixed distance. First and second spaced draw roll units include separate servo motors. Separate programmed controllers are connected to energize the servo drives with a time motion profile including acceleration and deceleration periods to move the web in a fixed time period. The one programmed controller generates the profile program each cycle during the execution of program to move the web the next cycle. The generated program is down-loaded to the second controller to duplicate energization of the second servo motor. A dancer unit between the drive rolls maintains the tension with a change in web length and includes a movable roll unit. A potentiometer sensor is coupled to the roll unit and establishes an output signal voltage proportional to the direction of the web change and to the length thereof. The second controller includes a drive modifying program connected to the sensor and responsive to the signal voltage to change the second drive profile for the second servo motor for the next succeeding web feed and compensates for the change in web length and move the web in accordance with the modified drive profile. The potentiometer sensor is disabled during a continuous or jog run and serves to hold the web tension.

Dual drive web feed apparatus and method

A bag machine includes a programmed logic controller intermittently actuating a web feed draw roll motor for controlled web feed during the inoperative period of a cycled seal bar. The controller has separate inputs for the seal bar periods and a web length and establishes a control program of a preferred motion profile, with acceleration and deceleration of the fixed rolls to match the bag length to the available time using the total time available, with acceleration to a maximum and deceleration to reference, with or without a constant speed period. The bag length and time is monitored each machine cycle to calculate the next motion profile and permit changes in the bag length without machine shut-down. A programmed registered mode of control responds to a web mark spacing relative to the seal bar. In the registered mode, a photoscanner detects the mark during a constant speed web feed period prior to the end of the available time and actuates the web feed accordingly. If actual draw roll motion differs from the programmed motion profile, a fault signal may shut-down the machine. Manual control and inputs are provided for setup and for manual machine operations. The controller may vary the length of every other bag slightly to spaced hot seams from each other and permits stacking of the bags. A programmed reverse drive withdraws the web slightly from the seal bar to prevent sticking of the web to the seal bar.

Intermittent web feed apparatus

A bag forming apparatus passes a hemmed web through a rotating edge notcher and related units to form a taped hem in the web which is passed through an intermittently operated bag making machine. A web supply unit includes a web take-up unit to maintain a constant tension in the continuously moving web to the bag making machine. The web notches are phased with the bag making machine to locate the notches centrally of each bag. During starting and stopping, the web take-up unit changes the web length moving through the notching unit at normal full web speed operation and the web length variations are minimal. A programmable notch controller actuates a stepper motor to rotate the notcher. The controller responds to a control signal to form a notch. A programmable switch is coupled to the bag making machine to generate a first control signal for each bag cycle and is phased with the full web speed to locate the notch centrally of the bag. A web driven encoder is coupled to the web upstream of the notcher and generates a pulse train connected to a counter for generating a second control signal for each web length corresponding to the length between notches.

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Green Bay, WI, United States of America

Giles R Blaser