Machine for filling containers with granular products

Claim 2

In a machine for filling containers with granular material of the type that includes means for conveying containers in a linear path, a drum surrounding a portion of the conveying means with the druM axis extending generally in the direction of the linear path, means supporting the drum for rotation about its axis, means for rotating the drum on its support means, means for delivering to the interior of the drum material to be placed in the containers, means spaced circumferentially around the inside of the drum for raising portions of the material in the drum to a preselected discharge point above the line of containers, means for discharging the material from the raising means at the discharge point, and means for directing the material discharged from the raising means to the containers as they are conveyed in the linear path, the improvement wherein the means spaced circumferentially around the inside of the drum for raising portions of the material in the drum to a discharge point above the line of containers comprises: a plurality of elongated troughs extending parallel to the drum axis in spaced relation around the drum adjacent to the inner surface of the drum, means for mounting each of the troughs at each end of the trough for pivoting about an axis parallel to the drum axis between a first position wherein the trough opening faces forward in relation to the direction of drum rotation and a second position wherein the trough opening faces backward in relation to the direction of drum rotation, and means for rotating each of the troughs about its pivot axis from the first position in a predetermined direction to the second position as the trough passes the discharge point.

Claim 3

The machine of claim 1 wherein the axis about which each trough is pivoted is laterally displaced from the plane of symmetry of the trough, with the major portion of the trough lying outboard of the pivot axis in the first position and inboard of the pivot axis in the second position.

Claim 4

The machine of claim 1 wherein the means for mounting each trough for pivoting between a first position and a second position comprises: a pair of stub shafts, one shaft fastened at one end of the trough and the other shaft fastened coaxially with the first shaft at the other end of the trough, a pair of bearings mounted on the drum for rotatably supporting the trough on the pair of stub shafts, a lever arm connected at one end to one of the stub shafts; a first stop means mounted on the drum for preventing the trough from rotating past the first position in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction, and a second stop means mounted on the drum for preventing the trough from rotating past the second position in the predetermined direction.

Claim 5

The machine of claim 3 wherein the means for pivoting each of the troughs from the first position to the second position as the trough passes the discharge point comprises: a cam follower mounted on the other end of the lever arm, the lever arm extending from the stub shaft in a direction inboard and aft, with respect to the direction of drum rotation, of a line between the drum axis and pivot axis when the trough is in the first position, and a stationary cam member mounted at the discharge point, the cam member having a surface for contacting the cam follower, the surface extending from a point inboard of the arcuate path described by the cam follower when the trough is in the first position in a direction for guiding the cam follower outboard to a point where the trough will rotate by gravity to the second position.

Claim 6

The machine of claim 4 further comprising: an additional stationary cam member mounted on the upward-moving side of the drum between a point at the level of material in the bottom of the drum and the discharge point, the additional cam member having a surface for contacting the cam follower, the surface extending from a point inboard of the arcuate path described by the cam follower when the trough is in the first position to terminate at a point intermediate said arcuate path and the arcuate path described by the cam follower when the trough is in the second position for guIding the cam follower outboard to tilt the trough partially toward the second position and then to allow the trough to fall back to its first position so as to shake excess material from the trough after the trough emerges from the material in the bottom of the drum.

Claim 7

The machine of claim 4 further comprising: cam track means extending in an arcuate path from a first angular location with respect to the drum rotation after the discharge point to a second angular location before the discharge point for returning and holding the lever arm against the first stop means during that portion of the drum rotation.

Claim 8

In a machine for filling containers of the type that includes means for conveying containers in a linear path, a drum surrounding a portion of the conveying means with the drum axis extending generally in the direction of the linear path, means supporting the drum for rotation about its axis, means for rotating the drum on its support means, means for delivering to the interior of the drum material to be placed in the containers, means spaced circumferentially around the inside of the drum for raising portions of the material in the drum to a preselected discharge point above the line of containers, means for discharging the material from the raising means at the discharge point, and means for directing the material discharged from the raising means to the containers as they are conveyed in the linear path, the improvement for filling the containers with granular material with minimal losses wherein the drum surrounding a portion of the conveying means with the drum axis extending generally in the direction of the linear path comprises: a pair of annular members concentric with the drum axis and spaced apart to include between them the means for raising portions of the material to a discharge point and the means for directing the material discharged from the raising means to the containers, a flexible rectangular cover of imperforate sheet material wrapped around the circumference of each annular member to form the shell of the drum, releasable means for drawing the cover tightly into frictional engagement with the circumference of each annular member, means for sealing the circular line of contact between the cover and each of the annular members, means for sealing the drum along the opposed longitudinal edges of the cover; and the machine further comprises: a first stationary barrier located at the entrance end of the drum and having an inlet opening that provides sufficient clearance for the entering containers without loss of significant amounts of granular material from the interior of the drum. a second stationary barrier located at the exit end of the drum and having an outlet opening that provides sufficient clearance for the filled containers leaving the drum without loss of significant amounts of material from the interior of the drum. first resilient seal means between the first stationary barrier and the entrance end of the drum for preventing escape of significant amounts of material between the rotating drum and the first stationary barrier, and second resilient seal means between the second stationary barrier and the exit end of the drum for preventing escape of significant amounts of material between the rotating drum and the second stationary barrier.

Claim 9

In a machine for filling containers of the type that includes means for conveying containers in a linear path, a drum surrounding a portion of the conveying means with the drum axis extending generally in the direction of the linear path, means supporting the drum for rotation about its axis, means for rotating the drum on its support means, means for delivering to the interior of the drum material to be placed in the containers, means spaced circumferentially around the inside of the drum for raising portions of the material in the drum to a preselected discharge point above the line of containers, means for discharging the material from the raising means at the discharge point, and means for directing the material discharged from the raising means to the containers as they are conveyed in the linear path, the improvement for filling the containers with granular material with minimal losses wherein the drum surrounding a portion of the conveying means with the drum axis extending generally in the direction of the linear path comprises: a pair of annular members concentric with the drum axis and spaced apart to include between them the means for raising portions of the material to a discharge point and the means for directing the material discharged from the raising means to the containers, a flexible rectangular cover of imperforate sheet material wrapped around the circumference of each annular member to form the shell of the drum, releasable means for drawing the cover tightly into frictional engagement with the circumference of each annular member, means for sealing the circular line of contact between the cover and each of the annular members, means for sealing the drum along the opposed longitudinal edges of the cover; and the machine further comprises: a first stationary barrier located at the entrance end of the drum and having an inlet opening that provides sufficient clearance for the entering containers without loss of significant amounts of granular material from the interior of the drum. a second stationary barrier located at the exit end of the drum and having an outlet opening that provides sufficient clearance for the filled containers leaving the drum without loss of significant amounts of material from the interior of the drum. first resilient seal means between the first stationary barrier and the entrance end of the drum for preventing escape of significant amounts of material between the rotating drum and the first stationary barrier, and second resilient seal means between the second stationary barrier and the exit end of the drum for preventing escape of significant amounts of material between the rotating drum and the second stationary barrier.

Claim 10

The machine of claim 7 wherein the means for sealing the drum along the opposed longitudinal edges of the cover comprises: an elongated backing member fastened at one end to one of the annular members and at the other end to the other annular member, the backing member having an outer surface lying substantially on the cylinder defined by the outer circumferences of the annular members, the width of the surface being sufficient to underlie the opposed edges of the cover, and means for sealing between the outer surface of the backing member and each opposed edge of the cover.

Claim 11

The machine of claim 8 wherein the releasable means for drawing the cover tightly into frictional engagement with the circumference of each annular member comprises: means for mounting at least one stud, threaded at both ends, in a position spaced from the outside surface of the backing member and perpendicular to the axis of the drum, a first flange means attached to the outside of the cover adjacent to one of the opposed longitudinal edges at the axial location of the stud, a second flange means attached to the outside of the cover adjacent to the other of the opposed longitudinal edges at said axial location, a first camming nut threadedly mounted on one end of the stud for engagement with the first flange means, and a second camming nut threadedly mounted on the other end of the stud for engagement with the second flange means, the engagement of the first and second camming nuts with the respective first and second flange means drawing the cover into tight frictional engagement with the circumference of each annular member as the camming nuts are turned in a direction to further engage them on the stud.

Claim 12

The machine of claim 7 wherein the drum further comprises: a pair of frusto-conical sections, one section attached at its larger diameter to the inner diameter of one of the annular members and the other section attached at its larger diameter to the inner diameter of the other annular member, the two frusto-conical sections being coaxial with and extending outwardly from the respective annular members, whereby any of the granular material that may fall into the conical sections during the filling operation will be returned by the downward slope at the bottom of each section to the portion of the drum between the pair of annular members.

Claim 13

In a machine for filling containers of the type that includes means for conveying containers in a linear path, a drum surrounding a portion of the conveying means with the drum axis extending generally in the direction of the linear path, means supporting the drum for rotation about its axis, means for rotating the drum on its support means, means for delivering to the interior of the drum material to be placed in the containers, means spaced circumferentially around the inside of the drum for raising portions of the material in the drum to a preselected discharge point above the line of containers, means for discharging the material from the raising means at the discharge point, and means for directing the material discharged from the raising means to the containers as they are conveyed in the linear path, the improvement for filling containers with granular material with minimium losses wherein the drum surrounding a portion of the conveying means with the drum axis extending generally in the direction of the linear path comprises: a pair of annular members concentric with the drum axis and spaced apart to include between them the means for raising portions of the material to a discharge point and the means for directing the material discharged from the raising means to the containers, a flexible rectangular cover of imperforate sheet material wrapped around the circumference of each annular member to form the shell of the drum, releasable means for drawing the cover tightly into frictional engagement with the circumference of each annular member, means for sealing the circular line of contact between the cover and each of the annular members, means for sealing the drum along the opposed longitudinal edges of the cover; and the machine further comprises: a first stationary end plate located at the entrance end of the drum, the end plate having an inlet opening that provides just sufficient clearance to permit entry of the containers into the drum; a second stationary end plate located at the exit end of the drum, the second end plate having an outlet opening that provides just sufficient clearance to permit exit of the containers from the drum; an exhaust duct communicating With the interior of the drum and adapted to be connected to an exhaust system for creating a negative pressure inside the drum with respect to the surrounding atmosphere for preventing escape of any of the granular material through the inlet and outlet openings of the respective first and second end plates and between the first and second end plates and the ends of the drum during the container filling operation.

Claim 14

In a machine for filling containers of the type that includes means for conveying containers in a linear path, a drum surrounding a portion of the conveying means with the drum axis extending generally in the direction of the linear path, means supporting the drum for rotation about its axis, means for rotating the drum on its support means, means for delivering to the interior of the drum material to be placed in the containers, means spaced circumferentially around the inside of the drum for raising portions of the material in the drum to a preselected discharge point above the line of containers, means for discharging the material from the raising means at the discharge point, and means for directing the material discharged from the raising means to the containers as they are conveyed in the linear path, the improvement for filling containers with granular material with minimium losses wherein the drum surrounding a portion of the conveying means with the drum axis extending generally in the direction of the linear path comprises: a pair of annular members concentric with the drum axis and spaced apart to include between them the means for raising portions of the material to a discharge point and the means for directing the material discharged from the raising means to the containers, a flexible rectangular cover of imperforate sheet material wrapped around the circumference of each annular member to form the shell of the drum, releasable means for drawing the cover tightly into frictional engagement with the circumference of each annular member, means for sealing the circular line of contact between the cover and each of the annular members, means for sealing the drum along the opposed longitudinal edges of the cover; and the machine further comprises: a first stationary end plate located at the entrance end of the drum, the end plate having an inlet opening that provides just sufficient clearance to permit entry of the containers into the drum; a second stationary end plate located at the exit end of the drum, the second end plate having an outlet opening that provides just sufficient clearance to permit exit of the containers from the drum; an exhaust duct communicating With the interior of the drum and adapted to be connected to an exhaust system for creating a negative pressure inside the drum with respect to the surrounding atmosphere for preventing escape of any of the granular material through the inlet and outlet openings of the respective first and second end plates and between the first and second end plates and the ends of the drum during the container filling operation.