Bag making and packaging machine equipped with a stocker apparatus

Abstract

A bag-making and packaging machine equipped with a stocker apparatus which receives spout-equipped bags that are successively fed out from a bag-making apparatus, stacks a predetermined number of bags, and supplies the stacked groups of bags to a packaging apparatus. The stocker apparatus has stocking sections made of rails that are capable of stocking bags in groups, and such stocking sections as a whole can be raised and lowered simultaneously. When the operation of the packaging apparatus is temporarily stopped, groups of bags are successively stocked in the stocking sections of the stocker apparatus; as a result, the operation of the bag-making apparatus can be continued.

1 . A bag-making and packaging machine equipped with a stocker apparatus wherein said bag-making and packaging machine comprises: 
 a bag-making apparatus that manufactures bags equipped with spouts and feeds said bags out in a single row along a pair of upstream side guide rails with which flanges of said spouts are engaged,    a packaging apparatus that receives a supply of said bags equipped with spouts via a pair of downstream side guide rails with which said flanges of said spouts are engaged and performs, while causing said bags equipped with spouts to move, a packaging operation that include filling said bags with contents and capping, and    a stocker apparatus interposed between said upstream side guide rails and downstream side guide rails, said stocker apparatus receiving said bags equipped with spouts from said upstream side guide rails and feeding said bags out to said downstream side guide rails, and wherein    said stocker apparatus is comprised of: 
 a plurality of pairs of relay rails which are disposed side by side at equal intervals and with which said flanges of said spouts are engaged so that a predetermined number of said bags equipped with spouts are as stocked, and  
 a moving means that moves said relay rails in a lateral direction simultaneously; and  
 a positional relationship of each of said plurality of pairs of relay rails, said upstream side guide rails and said downstream side guide rails is set so that when one of said plurality of pairs of relay rails is in a position to be connected to said upstream side guide rails, said one of said plurality of pairs of relay rails is in a position to be connected to said downstream side guide rails also, and  
 said relay rails are successively stocked with said bags equipped with spouts when an operation of said packaging apparatus is temporarily stopped, thus allowing an operation of said bag-making apparatus to be continued.  
   
     
     
         2 . A bag-making and packaging machine equipped with a stocker apparatus wherein said bag-making and packaging machine comprises: 
 a bag-making apparatus that manufactures bags which are equipped with spouts and feeds said bags out in a single row along a pair of upstream side guide rails with which flanges of said spouts are engaged,    two packaging apparatuses each of which receiving a supply of said bags via two pairs of downstream-side guide rails with which said flanges of said spouts are engaged and performing, while causing said bags to move, a packaging operation that includes filling said bags with contents and capping, and    a stocker apparatus interposed between said upstream side guide rails and said downstream side guide rails, said stocker apparatus receiving said bags from said upstream side guide rails, stocking a predetermined number of said bags, and alternately feeding out groups of said bags stocked to said respective downstream side guide rails; and wherein    said stocker apparatus comprises: 
 three or more pairs of relay rails which are disposed side by side at equal intervals and respectively stock said bags with said flanges of said spouts being engaged therewith, and  
 a moving means which moves said relay rails in a lateral direction simultaneously; and  
   a positional relationship of said relay rails, upstream side guide rails and downstream side guide rails is set so that when one of said three or more pairs of relay rails is in a position to be connected to said upstream side guide rails, one or two of said three or more pairs of relay rails adjacent to said three or more pairs of relay rails are in positions that are connected to one or two pairs of said downstream side guide rails, and    when an operation of at least one of said two packaging apparatuses is temporarily stopped, said three or more pairs of relay rails are successively stocked with said bags, and feeding out of said bags to one of said two pairs of downstream side guide rails that correspond to a stopped packaging apparatus is stopped, thus allowing an operation of said bag-making apparatus to be continued.