Importance

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Abstract

A bag placer apparatus for placing a valve bag upon a filler spout through which the bag is to be filled with a flowable material. The apparatus comprises three principal components, namely, a magazine for stacking the bags, a registration and indexing apparatus for removing one bag at a time from the stack and aligning the bag with the valve portion thereof in a precise location, and a picker-spouter apparatus which picks up the aligned bag, opens the valve and places it upon a filler spout. The picker-spouter apparatus includes an advantageous combination of clamp mechanism, suction cups, a push rod, and a second clamp mechanism which employs a pair of leaf-springs which selectively grasp and align the vertical edge of each bag below the valve thereof to further ensure proper bag alignment and valve opening. A novel bag printer assembly is provided to permit the user to automatically print a selected code, indicia or other writing on each bag and especially on the bottom of each bag as it is being handled by the bag placer. This printer assembly is structurally integrated into the registration and indexing apparatus and electrically and pneumatically integrated into the overall system whereby printing on each bag is automatically accomplished.

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First Claim