BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Gravity-feed product delivery systems, commonly known as form-fill- seal systems, are used to pack coffee granules, laundry granules, and other free- flowing articles. Often these systems use a single chute in which the granules are fed from a hopper, through the single chute, and into a pouch. Some of these systems form the pouch around the chute from a roll of plastic film. The formed plastic pouch is filled with granules and then sealed. Other delivery systems use multiple, adjacent chutes to increase packing rate by delivering the articles from a specific chute while filling the other chutes in preparation for subsequent delivery. Other delivery systems place the main granule chute and flavor additive tubes inside a larger, outer chute to deliver the granules and the additives into a single pouch. This type of delivery system has an additional outer chute which increases construction cost and increases the amount of surface area needing to be cleaned and maintained. Other deliver systems utilize two coaxial tubes for delivering and later mixing of milk and air.

Also commonly known in the art is the method of delivering a scoop into a package adapted to contain both granules and a scoop. This method begins by placing the scoop into the bottom of the inverted package and then filling the package with the granules. Another known method of delivering a scoop into a package is accomplished by first filling the package with the granules and then placing the scoop on the top of the granules. Both of these methods for delivering a scoop result in the placement of the scoop against an interior wall of the package. When the scoop is placed against the interior wall of the formed plastic pouch, the pouch has a greater risk of being torn or punctured by the scoop. Simply half-way filling the pouch with the granules, placing the scoop inside the pouch, and then filling over the scoop does not reliably ensure proper placement of the scoop near the vertical and horizontal center of the pouch, which is desirable to reduce the risk of tearing and puncturing the pouch. In addition, this sequential method of delivery of granules and scoop decreases the rate of packing.

What has been missing is an apparatus and method for positioning and orienting an article near the center of a pouch containing granules which positions the article near the center and away from the interior walls of the pouch to reduce the risk of tearing and puncturing the pouch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus and method for positioning and orienting an article near the center of a pouch containing granules, comprises a granules chute, article guide assembly, and a gate mechanism. The granules chute is substantially upright. A baffle plate is placed inside of the granules chute to provide a vent for air to escape from the pouch during the filling of granules. The article guide assembly is substantially upright and located inside of the granules chute, and it is substantially coaxial with the granules chute. The article guide assembly has a bottom end and a top end, and it forms a chute for an article. The top end of the article guide assembly is adapted to receive the article. The bottom end of the article guide assembly is adapted to deliver the article into the pouch. The article guide assembly has slotted openings to allow granules to enter the article guide assembly and surround the article prior to the exiting of the article from the article guide assembly. Surrounding the article with granules stabilizes the orientation and position of the article within the pouch to reduce the risk of the pouch being torn or punctured by rough edges of the article. The gate mechanism controls the release of the article using a pre-determined time sequence in relation to delivery of the granules to the granules chute such that the article is positioned vertically near the center of the pouch as granules fill around the article.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS While the specification concludes with claims which particularly point out and distinctly claim the present invention, it is believed that the present invention will be better understood from the following description of preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify identical elements and wherein: FIG. 1 is a cross-sectioned schematic view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing an article guide assembly inside a granules chute, wherein one step of the process is shown with the scoop being held by a gate and granules being initially discharged into the granules chute; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectioned schematic view thereof, wherein another step of the process is shown with the scoop being released by the gate mechanism, additional granules being discharged, and pouch air being displaced through a vent; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectioned schematic view thereof, wherein still another step of the process is shown with the scoop coming to rest on top of the granules while still inside the article guide assembly, additional granules being discharged, and additional air being displaced through the vent; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectioned schematic view thereof, wherein yet another step of the process is shown with the scoop exiting the guide assembly while surrounded by granules, additional granules being discharged, and additional air being displaced through the vent; and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectioned schematic view thereof, showing an article guide assembly inside a granules chute, similar to FIG. 1, wherein the scoop is positioned inside the center of the formed pouch and oriented with the handle of the scoop aligned along the long axis of the pouch after the pouch is sealed and later separated from the web of flexible material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-5, there is shown a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which provides an apparatus and method for positioning and orienting an article near the center of a pouch containing granules. The apparatus is generally indicated as 10. The primary object of this invention provides a reduction in the risk of pouch 16 being torn or punctured by rough edges of article 14 by orienting and positioning article 14 near the center of pouch 16. Another object of this invention provides proper positioning of article 14 near the center of pouch 16 away from interior walls of pouch 16 and proper orientation of article 14 with its longest axis parallel to a longest axis of pouch 16 by guiding article 14 during its fall into pouch 16. Still another object of this invention provides stabilization of the orientation and position of article 14 within pouch 16 by surrounding article 14 with granules 18 while article 14 is still being guided.

Apparatus 10 comprises a granules chute 20, an article guide assembly 30, and a gate mechanism 40 for controlling the release of article 14. Granules chute 20 is commonly known in the art as part of a typical form-fill-seal machine.

Granules chute 20 is rectangular and positioned substantially upright with openings at its top and bottom ends. In an alternative design, Granules chute 20 is cylindrical or any other known workable shape for form-fill-seal machines.

The opening at the top of granules chute 20 is divided into two portions by baffle plate 42. One portion is an entrance opening for filling granules 18 into granules chute 20. The other portion is a vent for displaced air 46. Displaced air 46 results from the filling of granules 18 in pouch 16. Granules 18 are fed from a hopper (not shown) into the entrance opening at the top end of granules chute 20. Article guide assembly 30 is substantially upright and located inside of granules chute 20. Article guide assembly 30 is substantially coaxial with granules chute 20. Article guide assembly 30 has a bottom end and a top end.

Article guide assembly 30 forms a chute for dropping of article 14. The top end of article guide assembly 30 is adapted to receive article 14. The bottom end of article guide assembly 30 is adapted to deliver article 14 into pouch 16.

Prior to the feeding of granules 18 into granules chute 20, pouch 16 must be formed around the perimeter and bottom end of granules chute 20 from a web of flexible material such as a plastic film 48 supplied by a roll (not shown).

The web of flexible material may also be paper and or a laminate or composite of paper and plastic film. The forming of plastic film 48 is performed by the use of folding board 49. The process of forming plastic film 48 around granules chute 20 is commonly known in the art. Once plastic film 48 is formed around the bottom end of granules chute 20, plastic film 48 is sealed by using sealers 50 resulting in the formation of a bottom end of pouch 16. Various types of sealers 50 may be used, such as hot bar sealers and ultrasonic sealers.

Prior to feeding granules 18 into granules chute 20, article 14 must be staged into the top end of article guide assembly 30. The staging of article 14 is performed by first closing gate mechanism 40 so that it obstructs the falling of article 14 within article guide assembly 30. Next, article 14 is placed into the top opening of article guide assembly 30 by use of a conveyor system (not shown).

Article 14 falls inside of article guide assembly 30 until it reaches gate mechanism 40 where it is then obstructed from further falling, as shown in FIG.

1.

Granules 18 are then fed from a hopper (not shown) into the entrance opening at the top end of granules chute 20. Granules 18 fall within granules chute 20 towards pouch 16 once the bottom of pouch 16 has been sealed closed.

Some of the falling granules 18 enter slotted openings 52 which are formed in article guide assembly 30. Slotted openings 52 allow granules 18 8 to enter article guide assembly 30 and later surround article 14 prior to the exiting of article 14 from article guide assembly 30. Surrounding article 14 with granules 18 stabilizes the orientation and position of article 14 within pouch 16 which will reduce the risk of pouch 16 being torn or punctured by rough edges of article 14.

At a pre-determined time, gate mechanism 40 is opened to allow article 14 to fall within article guide assembly 30. Article 14 comes to rest on top of the resting granules 18. By releasing article 14 at a pre-determined time, article 14 is positioned vertically near the center of the pouch as granules 18 fill around the article, as shown in FIG. 2.

Additional granules 18 are fed into the top end of granules chute 20 and surround article 14. Gate mechanism 40 is returned to a closed position in order to obstruct the next article 56 to be staged for the next pouch, as shown in FIG. 3.

As the remaining amount of granules 18 surround article 14, article 14 exits the article guide assembly 30 where it becomes stabilized by the surrounding granules 18 near the center of pouch 16. The weight of granules 18 and article 14 causes pouch 16 to fall away from granules chute 20 and article guide assembly 30, as shown in FIG. 4.

Once the top end of pouch 16 falls below sealers 50, sealers 50 seal the top end of pouch 16. The resulting package 54 contains granules 18 with article 14 positioned near the center of pouch 16. Article 14 is oriented with its longest axis substantially parallel to a longest axis of pouch 16 in order to reduce the risk of pouch 16 being torn or punctured by rough edges of article 14.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, article 14 is a plastic scoop and granules 18 are laundry granules. The scoop has a handle and a cup portion.

The cup portion is about 5.5 centimeters deep, the scoop is about 11.7 centimeters tall including its handle and about 6.2 centimeters wide. The edges of the scoop are sharp enough to cause punctures in pouch 16 when in contact therewith. The laundry granules'particle size ranges from about 5 microns to about 500 microns. The plastic film of pouch 16 is preferably made from a linear low density/high density polyethylene laminate and its thickness is about 4.25 mil to 5.50 mil. Preferably, the resulting package holds either 4 liters, 8 liters, or 12 liters of laundry granules. The 4 liter package is about 14.5 centimeters tall, 18.5 centimeters wide, and 14.5 centimeters deep The 8 liter package is about 19.0 centimeters tall, 15.3 centimeters wide, and 15.2 centimeters deep. The 12 liter package is about 34.0 centimeters tall, 21.5 centimeters wide, and 14.5 centimeters deep.

The preferred material of construction for granules chute 20 and article guide assembly 30 is stainless steel. Granules chute 20 is about 100 centimeters tall, 12 centimeters wide, and 18 centimeters deep. Article guide assembly 30 is about 70.5 centimeters tall, 9.0 centimeters wide, and 6.5 centimeters deep. The length and width of article guide assembly 30 is important because they define a chute of a particular size that properly surrounds and guides the scoop during its fall thereby establishing its position and orientation in pouch 16. The bottom of article guide assembly 30 is about 4.2 centimeters above the bottom of granules chute 20. This dimension determines the point at which the scoop is no longer held by article guide assembly 30 and requires that the scoop be securely surrounded by granules in order to maintain its orientation and position. Slotted openings 52 are about 36.8 centimeters tall, 2.5 centimeters wide, and are located about 3.2 centimeters from the bottom of article guide assembly 30. These dimensions determine the amount of granules 18 that can enter article guide assembly 30 in order to sufficiently surround and stabilize the scoop. In an alternative design, article guide assembly 30 is constructed from stainless steel rods rather than walls with slotted openings 52.

Gate mechanism 40 is located about 28.7 centimeters from the bottom of article guide assembly 30. The pre-determined time from the release of granules 18 into granules chute 20 to the dropping of the scoop from gate mechanism 40 is 0.15 second for the 4 liter package. The pre-determined time from the release of granules 18 into granules chute 20 to the dropping of the scoop from gate mechanism 40 is 0.45 second for the 8 liter package. The pre-determined time from the release of granules 18 into granules chute 20 to the dropping of the scoop from gate mechanism 40 is 0.85 second for the 12 liter resulting package.

The height of gate mechanism 40 in conjunction with the pre-determined release time is critical because it determines the vertical position of the scoop within pouch 16.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications that are within the scope of the invention.