CA1263350A - Method of material distribution and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT
A method of material distribution for distributing free-flowing material is provided which consists of transporting the material in bulk from one location to another, siting a mobile bagging apparatus at the second location, unloading the transported material into the bagging apparatus, and bagging the material for use. In a preferred arrangement the mobile bagging apparatus has a receiving hopper for material, a weighing and bagging machine for metering the material into bags in predetermined quantities by weight, and a stitching machine for closing the bags. The material is suitably transported in bulk by transport ship.

Description

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METHOD OF MATERIAL DISTRIBUTION
AND APPARATUS
, This invention relates to an improved method of material distribution and to a bagging apparatus for bagging free-flowing material.
At present, when free-flowing materials such as fertiliser and grain are transported overseas, the mat-erial is first bagged into predetermined bag sizes and then transported. This has two main disadvantages:
(i) the bags are not completely complimentary in shape so that more space is occupied than if the material io were transported in bulk; and (ii) the bags are susceptible to damage and there-fore there are limits on loading so as to prevent the bags splitting.
~owever, with present distribution methods there are really no alternatives which will provide the material producers with the product guarantees they require. By bagging the material before distribution the producers have complete control over the product and any damage to the material will only be sustained through mishandling.
Thus, before distribution, the producers meter free-flowing material into bags, usually measured by volume, and then seal the bags by heat sealing and/or stitching ready for transportation.
In French Application No. 2062404 there is disclosed a bagging apparatus in which material is packaged in bags by weight. The bagging apparatus is mounted on wheels lZ63.~5~

so that it may be moved about at the bagging site.
However, such apparatus is not suitable for receiving and bagging free-flowing material in bulk at a remote location.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of material distribution which enables material to be transported in bulk and to provide improved apparatus.
According to the present invention there is provided a bagging plant for bagging free-flowing material, the plant comprising a bagging apparatus having weighing means and means for closing the bags, characterised in that the bagging apparatus is housed in at least one trans-portable module of standard container dimensions whereby the bagging plant is readily movable from one bagging site to another, and includes means for metering the free-flowing material to the weighing means in order to deliver a predetermined weight of free-flowing material into a bag.
Suitably the bagging apparatus comprises a plurality of interlocking modules. Alternatively, the bagging apparatus may comprise a single module adapted to receive free-flowing material for metering into the bags.
The invention also includes a method of material distribution for distributing free-flowing material com-prising the steps of providing the material in bulk at a first location, siting a bagging apparatus provided with ~.26~

weighing means at the first location, supplying the material to the bagging apparatus, and bagging the material ready for use, characterised by the steps of transporting the material in bulk from a second location to the first location, housing the bagging apparatus in at least one transportable module of standard container dimensions, metering the free-flowing material to the weighing means, determining the quantity of free-flowing material for a bag by weight, and delivering the weighed quantity of material into the bag.
~ referably, the method relates to overseas distribu-tion where the material is transported in bul~ in the hold of a transport vessel. Suitably, in such an arrange-ment, the bagging apparatus is a mobile bagging apparatus which is temporarily sited on the quay so that the material may be unloaded directly from the transport vessel into the bagging apparatus. In damp environments the bags may bep~ypropylene bags which are heat sealed and stitched. Otherwise the bags, which may include an innerplastics lining and outer canvas cover, are simply stitched.
~ he present invention has the particular advantage that, by housing the bagging apparatus in transportable modules of standard container dimensions the bagging units are readily transported by existing road, rail and sea methods.

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The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bagging plant comprising a plurality of a first embodiment of bagging unit in use in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective view from above of a bagging unit shown in figure 1 and showing its separate power pack module;
Figure 3 is a sectional, partially diagrammatic, end elevation of a bagging unit (without the separate power pack module)on 3-3 in figure 4.
Figure 3A is a detailed drawing of the weighing and bagging machine shown in figure 3;
Figure 4 is a sectional side elevation of the bagging unit shown in figure 3 on 4-4 in figure 3;
Figure 5 is a diagrammatic plan view on 5-5 in figure 6 showing an alternative bagging unit;
Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view on arrow A in figure 5; and Figure 7 illustrates an example of a heat sealing machine that may be used with the bagging unit of the present invention.
In figure 1 of the drawings a mobile bagging plant 1, for bagging free-flowing material such as fertilisers, is shown located on a port quay 20 The bagging plant 1 illustrated comprises three bagging units 3 each of which 12~

are positioned for receiving free~flowing material from a docked transport vessel 4.
The material is moved from the docked vessel 4 to the bagging plant 1 by means of a mechanical grab 5 having two scoops 6 pivoted at 7 and arranged so that they may be opened and closed by means of mechanical levers as desired. The scoops 6 have covered tops so as to deter spillage - the grab may be known construction and therefore, further details are not provided.
A bagging unit 3 of the first embodiment (see figures

2, 3, 3A and 4) comprises four transportable modules 8 of standard transportable container dimensions and a power pack module 66. The four modules 8 are strengthened along their edges for transport and may be locked together in the arrangement shown; namely two upper modules and two lower modules, by suitable fastening means (not shown).
The upper modules 8 have an open top 9 which is covered by grating 10 and includes a plurality of roof bow members 11, The roof bow members 11 provide support for a removable tarpaulin or like material roof covering 12 (figure 2). The inside of the upper modules 8 include a sloping partition 13 defining a hopper inclined downwardly towards a substantially centrally disposed outlet 14.
The lower modules 8 of the bagging unit 3 each have an openable pair of end doors 15 and an access door 16 formed in the side wall. The lower modules 8 each retain a bagging &nd weighing machine 17 which is positioned ~2~ 9 below the outlet 14 from the respective upper module.
The bagging and weighing machine 17 is shown in detail in figures 3, 3A and 4 and comprises a standard weighing unit 18 of known construction mounted on a wall 5 of one of the lower modules 8 and a weighing hopper 19.
The machine has been modified to provide a unique design to ensure accuracy whilst avoiding spillage and jamming and those features which depart from conventional design have been shown in detail whereas the known features, 10 which form no part of the present invention, have been omitted for clarity.
The standard weighing unit 18 includes a graduated scale 20 and a weighing support frame 21 on which the weighing hopper 19 is carried. The weighing hopper 19 15 is positioned below the outlet 14 but is free to move downwardly relative thereto on filling. It comprises an upper inlet 22, a transparent polycarbonate side wall 23, and a bottom wall 24 tapering towards a lower outlet 25.
The outlet 14 is normally closed by a valve means 26 20 including, shown diagrammatically, a first valve 27 to control free flow of material and a second valve 28 co-operating with a restricted opening defined by the first valve 27 for trickle flow for final weight adjustment.
The lower outlet 25 consists of two flap valves 29 which 25 close against a central member 30 and which are pivoted to the weighing hopper 19 beneath a depending extension 31 of the bottom wall 24. The position OI the pivot points protects them against becoMing jammed in use. The move-ment of the valves 27, 28 and 29 is effected by respective double-acting, hydraulic cylinders 32; only those for flap valves 29 being shown.
Suspended below the valved lower outlet 25 is a filling shute 33 having bag support clamps 34 pivotally mounted thereto as shown which are movable by means of double-acting hydraulic cylinders 35. The filling shute 33 is supported by means of a frame 36 extending down-wardly from about the outlet 14 and which surrounds the weighing hopper 19.
Reverting to the weighing unit 18 it will be seen that this is provided with three controlling limit switches 37, 38 and 39 (figure 4). Switch 39 is at zero 15 and is efi`ective to ensure: closure of the flap valves 29 as shown to left in figure 3A and release of the bag clamps 34 is also as shown to the left in figure 3A. In this position the weighing machine may only be operated by a user clamping a bag on the filling shute 33 and actua-tion of a safety operation switch (not shown). This willthen cause valves ~7 and 28 to open so that material flows through outlet 14 into the weighing hopper l9 until the weight reaches limit switch 37. This switch causes closure of the valve 27 to reduce material flow as it approaches 25 the desires weight. When switch 38 is tripped the valve 28 is closed stopping material flow completely and providing an accurate measured load whereupon the flap valves 29 are 121~3~S~

released to fill the bag clamped below.
In addition to the bagging and weighing machine 17 the lower modules 8 also each include a slatted endless conveyor 40 disposed beneath the machine and provided with lateral guides 41 so that, when filled, a bag 42 may be passed to a stitching station 43. The stitching station 43 includes a proprietory stitcher, suitably a DOBOY (~egistered Trade Mark), which is activated auto-matically as each bag is fed into the machine. If desired, for example in damp enviroments a heat sealing station may be provided between the bagging station and the stitching station.
A preferred heat sealer illustrated by way of example in figure ~ is a proprietory heat sealer marketed by The Thames Packaging Equipment Company under the trade mark SAXON. The sealer 44 receives the mouth of the bag 42 as it passes along conveyor 40 sealing the mouth of the bag by the application of heat. The heat sealer 44 suitably may be height adjustable on a vertical pillar 45 by means of turn wheel 46.
Although a SAXON heat sealer and a DOBOY stitcher have been shown as an example it will be understood that any form of suitably heat sealing and stitching assembly may be used.
Outside of the modules 8 it will be seen that ~263~

the endless conveyors 40 feed the bags 42 to respective conveyor elevators 54. The elevators 54 have a first section 55 recei~Ting bags 42 from the conveyors 40 and a second section 56 feeding the bags onto the transit vehicle 5 57. The first section 55 is preferably a plain conveyor although a slatted conveyor is illustrated in figures 1 and 2: ~he second section 56 may be slatted or plain. In order to provide continuity of the process the second section 56 is angularly adjustable about two perpendicular axes so that it mav vary its upwardly inclined attitude and slew from side to side, for example during the transition from loading one vehicle to loading another.
It will be seen fro~ the above that each bagging unit includes constituent parts in duplicate. The reason for this 15 is that the modules ` 8 are narrow in width and therefore, if two modules were not locked together, there would ~e a danger of free-flowing material spilling over the sides of a single module during supply of material to the bagging unit. Moreover there are preferably three units as sho~ in figure 1 to provide for fast bagging.
In figures 5 and 6 an alternative embodiment is illustrated diagrammatically. In this second embodiment the bagging plant 60 comprises a single module 61 having parallel bagging runs 62 along each side. Each run consists ~ 2~
_ 10 --of a weighing and bagging station 63 and a stitch station 64 with a sealing station therebetween if desired. The detail of the weighing and bagging machine and the stitching machine may be as shown and described in respect of the first 5 embodiment. In addition the single module includes side access doors 65 for each run 62 and a power pack module 66 accessible by means of openable end doors 67. So that the bagging runs 62 may be operated independently of one another each run extends to an individual openable end door 68.
As explained above, with a single module width, there is a danger of material spilling over the sides. In this second embodiment the material hopper is provided by side walls 69 which are hinged to the top of the module 61 and are movable to a position indicated by dotted lines 70 by means 15 of hydraulic cylinders (not shown). In order to close the gaps between adjacent side walls 69 each side wall is provided with a hinged flap which overlaps the adjacent side wall and is held against the said side wall by the pressure of the material within the hopper. The grating of the first embodi-ao ment suitably is replaced by a nylon mesh indicated by dotted line 17 and a tarpaulin may be provided if desired.

In use, in either embodiment, a contact is obtained and

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then, rather than shipping material already bagged, the material is loaded in bulk into a bulk transport vessel for transportation to the nearest, or most convenient port, for the required destination. The advantage of 5 bulk transit is that much more material can be handled since, with material that has already been bagged, more space is occupied and there are restrictions on loading in order to prevent bag breakagé. At the same time a mobile bagging plant in accordance with the invention is transported lOto the port in question for assembly on the quay just prior to the arrival of the transportation vessel. The bulk material is then unloaded from the vessel by means of one or more grabs 5 which deposit the free-flowing m~terial into the receiving hoppers of the bagging~units: in the first 15embodiment the grab may be provided in the power pack module 66. The material flows from the receiving hopper, through respective valve controlled outlets 14, to the bagging and weighing machines 17. Once the weighing hopper is full, the valved outlet 14 is closed, the flap valves 29 opened 20 to fill the bag, the full bag passed for stitching and heat sealing if necessary and then a new bag suspended for filling.
The full bags are then loaded onto waiting vehicles for transportation to their final destination at a rate of about ~ Z~ 3 six bags per minute; approximately the same rate as it would take to unload ready bagged material.
If the weather turns bad during unloading the hatches on the transportation vessel would be closed and tarpaulins 5 placed over the material loading hopper. Bagging is then continued until the supply of free-flowing material retained in the hopper is exhausted. The bagging units of the present invention are provided with their own generators so that the units are totally self-sufficient these may either be separate 10 units or part of the same unit.
Once unloading and bagging of the material has been completed the mobile bagging units are moved from the quay, in the case of the first embodiment disassembled and, if necessary, moved to another port where they are required. The 15 standard container size of the modules of the bagging units means ~hat the bagging units are readily transported by existing road, rail and sea methods.

Claims (19)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property of privilege is claimed, are defined as follows:

1. A bagging plant (1;60) for bagging free-flowing material, the plant comprising a bagging apparatus having weighing means (17;63) and means (43;64) for closing the bags, characterised in that the bagging apparatus is housed in at least one transportable module (8;61) of standard container dimensions whereby the bagging plant is readily movable from one bagging site to another and includes means (26) for metering the free-flowing mater-ial to the weighing means (17;63) in order to deliver a predetermined weight of free-flowing material into a bag.

2. A bagging plant according to claim 1 characterised in that the plant comprises a plurality of interlocking modules (8) each module (8) being of standard transportable container dimensions.

3. A bagging plant according to claim 1 character-ised by weighing means (17;63) comprising a weighing hopper (19), means (26) for metering the free-flowing material to the weighing hopper (19) comprising first valve means (26) for the control of flow of material into said weighing hopper (19), second valve means (25) for the control of the delivery of a weighed quantity of material into a bag, and bag retention means (34).

4. A bagging plant according to claim 3 characterised in that the first valve means (26) comprises, a first valve (27) for controlling free flow of material into the weighing hopper (19), and a second valve (28) for restricting the free flow to a trickle flow as the weighing hopper (19) approaches the desired weight.

5, A bagging plant according to claim 3 or 4 character-ised in that the second valve means (25) comprises at least one pivotal valve (29), the pivotal point of which is protected against contamination by said material thereby protecting against jamming.

6. A bagging plant according to any of claim 1 to 5 characterised in that the means for closing the filled bags is a stitching machine (43;64).

7. A bagging plant according to claim 2 characterised in that the plant comprises two lower and two upper interlocked modules (8), the two upper modules (8) defining a receiving hopper.

8. A bagging plant according to claim 1 characterised in that a single module (61) is adapted to receive and retain free-flowing material by means of a plurality of flaps (69) hingedly connected to the top of the module (61) which may be extended so as to define a receiving hopper for material for subsequent delivery to the metering means.

9. A bagging plant according to claim 7 or 8 characterized in that the plant comprises two parallel bagging runs with respective conveyors (40;62) extending between a weighing and bagging station (17;63) and a stitching station (43;54).

10. A bagging plant according to claim 1 including means for defining a receiving hopper (13;69) for receipt of the free-flowing material, two parallel bagging runs each including metering and weighing means (26;17;63) arranged to receive a controlled quantity of material from the hopper, stitching means (43;64) for closing the filled bags, and a conveyor (40;62) for moving the filled bags from the metering and the weighing means (26;17;63) to the stitching means (43;64) the metering means (26) comprising a valved outlet (26) between the receiving hopper and the weighing means (17;63).

11. A bagging plant for bagging free-flowing material, the plant comprising a receiving hopper, and a bagging apparatus having weighing means (17), means (26) for metering the free-flowing material from the receiving hopper to the weighing means (17) in order to deliver a predetermined weight of free-flowing material into a bag, and means (43) for closing the bags characterized in that the bagging apparatus is housed in first transportable module (8) of standard container dimensions, and the receiving hopper is formed in a second transportable module (8) of standard container dimensions, in use the second transportable module (8) interlocking with, and being positioned above, the first transportable module (8).

12. A mobile bagging plant for bagging free-flowing material in bags, comprising:
a first transportable module of standard shipping container dimensions and being readily movable from a first site to a second site, said first module being compatible with other like standardized containers so that said first module is stackable on and among said other like containers;
a second transportable module of standard shipping container dimensions and being readily movable from a first site to a second site, said second module being compatible with other like standardized containers so that said second module is stackable on and among said other like containers;
a receiving hopper formed in said second module, said second module being interlockable with and positionable above said first module; and a bagging apparatus housed in said first module, said bagging apparatus including an inlet means for receiving the material from the receiving hopper and closable by a first valve means, weighing means includling a receptacle having an inlet and an outlet, and means for measuring the weight of the material within the receptacle, said inlet of said receptacle being positioned to receive material from said inlet means, second valve means for closing said outlet, bag retention means for positioning bags under said outlet of said receptacle when said second valve means is opened and for removing the bags after the bags have been filled, control means for closing said first valve means and then opening said second valve means when the weight of the material in said receptacle reaches a predetermined weight such that predetermined weights of material are fed into the bags from said receptacle, and closure means for closing the bags after filling.

13. A bagging plant according to claim 12 wherein the receiving hopper comprises a plurality of flaps hingedly extendable to define the receiving hopper for material for subsequent delivery to said inlet means.

14. A bagging plant for bagging free-flowing material, the plant comprising a receiving hopper, and a bagging apparatus having weighing means (17), means (26) for metering the free-flowing material from the receiving hopper to the weighing means (17) in order to deliver a predetermined weight of free-flowing material into a bag, and means (43) for closing the bags characterized in that the bagging apparatus is housed in at least one transportable module (8) of standard container dimensions, whereby the bagging plant is movable from one bagging site to another and the receiving hopper is in use, positioned above the bagging apparatus and is sufficiently large to receive bulk delivery so that free-flowing material may be unloaded in bulk directly into the receiving hopper.

15. A method of material distribution for distributing free-flowing material comprising the steps of providing the material in bulk at a first location, siting a bagging apparatus provided with weighing means (17;63) at the first location, supplying the material to the bagging apparatus, and bagging the material ready for use characterized by the steps of transporting the material in bulk from a second location to the first location, housing the bagging apparatus in at least one transportable module (8;61) of standard container dimensions, metering the free-flowing material to the weighing means, determining the quantity of free-flowing material for a bag by weight, and delivering the weighed quantity of material into the bag.

16. A method according to claim 15 characterized in that the material is transported in bulk in the hold of a transport ship and the bagging apparatus is temporarily sited on a port quay.

17. Method according to claim 15 characterized in that the bags are closed by stitching at a stitching station (43;64) spaced from a bagging station at which material is metered into bags.

18. A method of distributing free-flowing material, comprising the steps of :

transporting free-flowing material in bulk, a bagging apparatus with weighing means and housed in a first transportable module of standard shipping container dimensions, and a receiving hopper formed in a second transportable module of standard shipping container dimensions, from a second location to a first location, said modules being compatible with other like standardized containers so that said modules are stackable on and among said other like containers; siting said bagging apparatus at said first location; locating the second transportable module above first module;

supplying the material to the receiving hopper; metering the material from the receiving hopper to the bagging apparatus;

weighing the material into batches of predetermined weight in said receptacle;

Positioning bags to receive the batches from said receptacle;
and delivering the batches of material into the bag.

19. A method according to claim 18 wherein the bags are closed by stitching at a stitching station spaced from a bagging station at which material is metered into bags.