Automatic bag loader

Claim 1

A bagging system for bagging a stack of a compressible material into a plastic bag, wherein a material supply source supplies each stack of compressible material systematically and in consecutive order to said bagging system, wherein said stack of compressible material comprises a plurality of sheets of compressible material that are folded in half and stacked with the folded edges oriented in the same direction, said system comprising: (a) an input station for receiving each stack of compressible material with the folded edge of each sheet oriented in a first direction, in line with the direction of travel of the stack from said supply source to said input station; (b) a transfer station spaced from said input station for receiving each stack of compressible material with the folded edge of each sheet oriented in a second direction, 180° from the first direction; (c) orienting means disposed between said input station and transfer station for moving each stack from said input station to said transfer station in a manner causing said stack to be compressed gradually from a free-standing height to a chosen compressed height while causing the folded edge of each sheet in said stack to be oriented in said second direction; (d) a bag loading station spaced from said transfer station for bagging each stack of compressed material; (e) a bucket conveyor means disposed between said transfer station and said bag loading station for transferring in consecutive order each compressed stack from said transfer station to said bag loading station; (f) means for loading each stack of said compressed material into a bucket of said bucket conveyor. (g) bag supply means for providing a continuous supply of vertically suspended bags; (h) means for partially opening each vertically suspended bag supplied by said bag supply means, said means for partially opening each vertically suspended bag comprising (1) separating means for separating a first edge of each bag from a second edge at a lip of said bag, and (2) a retaining means for grasping and holding the first edge separated from the second edge; (i) means for fully opening said bag to form a box-shaped bag having a tension stressed surface and positioning said fully opened box-shaped bag at said bag loading station in a manner to receive said compressed stack of folded material; (j) bag loading means for transferring each stack of compressed material into the fully opened bags with the folded edge of each sheet of compressed material located at the opened end of said bag including (1) means for transferring each compressed stack of material in consecutive order from each bucket of said bucket conveyor into each opened bag supplied by the fully opened bag positioning means to form a package and simultaneously separating the package from the fully opened bag positioning means, (2) means for transferring the separated package to a twist-tie station, and (3) means for twist-tying the open end of the package at the twist-tie station.