BAGS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a station system assembled for the manufacture of printed or non-printed 3D bags by forming gussets. STATE OF THE ART

Shopping bags made of fabric and/or plastic of different size and variety are used to carry items purchased from groceries, shops, etc. during shopping. A type of such bags with designs varying by content, a gusseted bag has an expandable structure, when deployed, by means of gussets formed with folds on the bottom and sides. In general, these gussets are formed by joining sides through garment stitching or welding on a machine, followed by final folding on another machine. That is, the bag forming process requires multiple steps performed on several machines. This leads to a slowdown in production as the bags being manufactured are conveyed between several machines. Moreover, the process of printing on bags manufactured by different methods is conducted on a different machine before and after manufacturing. In the patent document filed by the Applicant under application no TR20 19/07182, titled “MACHINE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING AN ULTRASONIC-WELDED 3D SHOPPING BAG WITH BUILT-IN SIDE GUSSETS AND BOTTOM”, the invention is described as “a bag manufacturing system with ultrasonic welding for manufacturing gusseted bags or sacks from polypropylene (PP) or any other woven or nonwoven, technical or non-technical fabric workable by ultrasonic welding (joining), the system comprising an input unit, a take-up driver, a forming unit, an end-to- end jointing unit, a length cutting unit, a gusset forming unit to form side gussets and bottom gussets on the resulting bag, a gusset folding station to provide infolding of the bag from the side and bottom gusset surfaces, and an ironing and stacking station to ensure a compact bag”.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for manufacturing gusseted bags, developed in order to eliminate the aforementioned disadvantages and introduce new advantages in the field.

It is an object of the invention to form a machinery comprising an automatic feed station configured to keep the bag joints inside, a flap welding station, a flap cutting station, a inverting station, a gusseting station, a printing station and an output station. Thus, a continuous and autonomous manufacturing flow can be provided.

Another object of the invention is to provide that bags at the feed station are automatically gripped by robotic grippers and conveyed to molds on the rotary plate, bags are deployed by upward and downward advancement of mold wings, and flaps are formed through 3D processing of the bags by the horizontal movement of arms followed by rotary welding at the flap welding station by means of ultrasonic welding electrodes. Once the rotary plate is returned to the flap cutting station after the process at this station is complete, the bag is conveyed to the flap cutting station where cutting arms are used to trim the lower flaps. After this cutting procedure, the turntable is rotated again to convey the bag to the inverting station.

In the present invention, the bag is aligned with another mold corresponding to the one already linked to the bag, and the bag is inverted while being placed into that mold. Next, the bag rotating with the mold coupled to a turntable is passed to the gusseting station. The bag is deployed with upward and downward movement of mold wings, wherein the bag is pressed by vertical and horizontal movement of the arms to provide folding. Then, optionally, the item is conveyed to the screen printing station to print any number of colors. In this process, the bag passes through each station assigned to each color for screen printing and then dried. Further, touch and/or snap fasteners, eyelets, handles, etc. may optionally be attached to the bag before it is conveyed to the output conveyor. In the output conveyor, an ironing effect is created by means of local rollers with or without heating from the heating unit disposed at the inner section of the belts.

Another object of the invention is to provide the integration of the system to involve various stations such that prints, touch and/or snap fasteners, eyelets, labels, etc. may be attached to the bag at the downstream of the inverting station before gusseting. Without adversely affecting the object of the invention, inter-station sequences and additions may vary. Another object of the invention is to provide for the attachment of touch and/or snap fasteners, eyelets, labels, etc. to the bag.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the flexibility of adding/removing a printing unit to/from the system to manufacture printed and non-printed bags.

Another object of the invention is to create a fully-automatic and automatically-controlled integrated production line.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention briefly summarized above and discussed in more detail below can be understood by reference to the exemplary embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that the appended drawings only illustrate typical embodiments of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting its scope, as the invention may therefore allow for other equally effective implementations .

Fig. 1 is a top view of the integrated station system.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the integrated station system.

Fig. 3 is an overview of the feed station.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the bag holding molds. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the flap welding station.

Fig. 6 is an overview of ultrasonic welds in the flap welding station. Fig. 7 is an overview of the gusseting station. Fig. 8 is an overview of the inverting station.

Fig. 9 is an overview of the inverting molds.

Fig. 10 is an overview of the flap cutting station.

Fig. 11 is an overview of the flap cutting shears.

In order to facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used where possible to identify identical elements in the figures. The figures are not to scale and can be simplified for clarity. It is contemplated that the elements and features of an embodiment can usefully be incorporated into other embodiments without the need to further description.

Detailed Description of Drawings

Items represented by the reference numerals in drawings are as follows:

1- Feed station la- Feed area lb- Holders

2- Flap welding station 2a- Welding port

2b- Welding cylinder 2c- Upper jaw 2d- Lower jaw

3- Flap cutting station 3 a- Cutting port

3b- Cutting cylinder 3c- Upper cutting jaw 3d- Lower cutting jaw 4- Inverting station

5- Mold

5 a- Lower arm 5b- Upper arm 5c - Adjustable lathe 5d- Vacuum holder

6- Gusset turntable

7- Gusseting station 7a- Gusset plate 7b- Side wing

7c- Side wing pneumatic cylinder 7d- Lower wing

7e - Lower wing pneumatic cylinder

8- Printing station

9- Output station

10- Turntable

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this detailed description, preferred alternatives of the integrated production line embodiment of the invention are described only for better understanding without any limiting effect.

In the present invention, an integrated production line as illustrated in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 is formed by combining the feed station (1) shown in Fig. 3, flap welding station (2) shown in Fig. 5, flap cutting station (3) shown in Fig. 10, inverting station (4) shown in Fig. 8, gusseting station (7) shown in Fig. 7, printing station (8), an additional station to attach touch and/or snap fasteners, eyelets, etc., and the output station (9). In the present invention, the bag may be processed in the printing station (8) and also in an additional station to attach touch and/or snap fasteners, eyelets, etc. at the downstream of the inverting (4) station before gusseting at the gusseting station (7).

As illustrated in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the process is performed in the following sequence: pre-made bags are supplied from the feed station (1) to molds (5), conveyed to the flap welding station (2) in molds (5) attached to the turntable (10) where flaps are jointed by ultrasonic welding, the turntable (10) is rotated and conveyed to the flap cutting station (3) to trim the flaps, the gusset turntable (10) is again rotated and conveyed to the inverting station (4) where the bag is inverted while it is transferred to another mold (5) attached to the gusset turntable (6), the bag is conveyed to the gusset station (7) by rotation of the gusset turntable (6) to form the gussets, the bag is conveyed to the optionally incorporated printing station (8) by rotation of the gusset turntable (6) to apply prints of desired size and color to the bag, and the bag is conveyed to the output station (9) where it is processed by the conveyor belt (9a) and the roller (9b) to finalize the process.

In the present invention, as shown in Fig. 3, bags in the feed area (la) within the feed station (1) are gripped by robotic holders (lb) and mounted in molds (5) attached to the turntable (10) as shown in Fig. 4. These molds (5) penetrate into the bag with lower arms (5 a) and upper arms (5b) moving laterally and vertically after engaging the bags for adjustment, and then expand to deploy the bag. Vacuum holders (5d) on the adjustable lath (5c) hold the bag. Lower and upper arms (5a, 5b) are actuated by pneumatic cylinders. The bag so fixed on the mold (5) is conveyed to the flap welding station (2) by rotation of the turntable (10) to which the mold (5) is attached.

Welding ports (2a) (shown in Fig. 6) disposed in the flap welding station (2) shown in Fig. 5 are used to weld the triangular flaps formed on the lower comers of the bag. Bags received in molds (5) are conveyed to the welding area by lateral movement of the plates to which the welding ports (2a) are attached, and further lower jaw (2d) is engaged to the upper jaw (2c) to target the weld area by means of the pneumatic welding cylinders (2b). Hence, welding ports (2a) perform jointing by ultrasonic welding. If desired, flap trimming, the typical procedure of the flap cutting station (3), may optionally be carried out at the flap welding station (2). However, for a more reliable and efficient production system, such cutting procedure is performed at the flap cutting station (3).

Bags with their flaps welded at the welding station (2) are then conveyed to the flap cutting station (3) shown in Fig. 10 again by movement of the turntable (10). The cutting ports (3a) (shown in Fig. 11) disposed in the flap cutting station (3) shown in Fig. 10 are used to trim the flaps from the ultrasonic welding joints at lower comers of the bag. Bags in molds (5) are conveyed to the cutting area by lateral movement of the plates to which the cutting ports (3a) are attached, and further the lower cutting jaw (3d) is engaged to the upper cutting jaw (3c) to target the cutting area by means of the pneumatic cutting cylinders (3b). Thus, cutting ports (3a) perform the cutting procedure. Moreover, the cutting procedure may be performed by shearing as well as thermal, ultrasonic and other similar methods.

In the present invention, as shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, bags with their flaps trimmed are conveyed to the inverting station (4) by movement of the turntable (10). At this station, the bag is aligned with another mold (5) corresponding to the mold (5) already linked to the bag and further attached to the gusset turntable (6). As the bag is transferred from one mold (5) to the other, it is inverted and again gripped by vacuum holders (5d). Thus, the bag is transferred to the gusset turntable as inverted. By rotation of the gusset turntable (6), the mold

(5) linked to the bag is conveyed to the gusseting station (7).

In the present invention, as shown in Fig. 7, the upper and lower arms (5a, 5b) of the mold close at a specific vertical spacing on the gusset turntable (7a) at the gusseting station (7), and the side wings (7b) and the lower wing (7d) perform the bag gusseting operation by movement of the side wing pneumatic cylinder (7c) and the lower wing pneumatic cylinder (7e) respectively. Side flaps (7b) and the lower flap (7d) fold the gussets on the sides and on the bottom respectively. Bags gusseted at the gusseting station (7) are then conveyed to the printing station (8), optionally expandable or reducible, by rotation of the mold (5) actuated by the rotation of the coupled gusset turntable

(6). In the printing station (8), bag is printed by silk screen printing, eyelet attachment, pad printing and other similar printing methods. Printing operations herein may be configured to involve single or multiple colors. In case of printing in multiple colors, heat- or UV- drying may be applied to dry the print during the movement of the mold between the printing units. Moreover, a plate may come in and off the mold (5) to ensure a smooth surface with respect to the print area.

In the present invention, the mold (5) arrives at the output station (9) by rotation of the gusset turntable (6), and then bags are conveyed to the conveyor belt (9a) through the rollers (9b). The bag is heated with the heat provided by the heating unit built in the conveyor belt (9a), hence bags are ironed also with the contribution of the rollers (9b).

In the integrated station system of the invention, all stations can automatically be controlled by a PLC and/or PC -based controller. The turntable (10) and the gusset turntable (6) can be actuated hydraulically and/or pneumatically.

In another station which may be added to the integrated system of the invention, printing, attachment and other similar procedures may sequentially or independently be performed to attach eyelets, handles, touch and/or snap fasteners, etc. to the bag.

The turntables (6, 10) according to the invention can be configured in pentagonal, hexagonal or any other form, and number of the molds mounted thereon can be set based on the number of stations.