The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 31, 1990
Filed:
Apr. 28, 1988
Ray T Townsend, Des Moines, IA (US);
David W Smith, West Des Moines, IA (US);
Robert M Dykes, Urbandale, IA (US);
Townsend Engineering Company, Des Moines, IA (US);
Abstract
The encased product of the present invention comprises an elongated flexible casing cylindrically shaped substantially along its length and having opposite end closures. A product material fills the cavity formed by the flexible casing and maintains the casing in a cylindrical shape. The cylindrical casing is formed from an elongated strip of flexible material having opposite side edges, the strip being formed into a finished tubular casing with the side edges of the strip within each casing frictionally overlapping and engaging the side edges thereof. The product is formed by continuously applying an elongated flexible ribbon to the outer cylindrical surface of a stuffing tube at a canted angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tube and rotating the flexible ribbon at the point where it is applied to the stuffing tube so that it will wrap around the tube in a plurality of helical revolutions to form a cylindrical casing on the tube. The adjacent edges of the helical revolutions of the ribbon are frictionally overlapped to one another so as to form a cylindrical casing and product is forced through the tube from the rearward end to the discharge end and into the cylindrical casing. The stuffing tube may be a rotating stuffing tube or it may be a stationary stuffing tube. A ribbon feed device is provided for feeding a continuous strip of ribbon to the stuffing tube. Moisture is applied to the ribbon to enhance the cohesiveness of the overlapped side edges thereof.