EP0592096A1 - Bagging Control Apparatus and Method - Google Patents
Bagging Control Apparatus and Method Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0592096A1 EP0592096A1 EP93306801A EP93306801A EP0592096A1 EP 0592096 A1 EP0592096 A1 EP 0592096A1 EP 93306801 A EP93306801 A EP 93306801A EP 93306801 A EP93306801 A EP 93306801A EP 0592096 A1 EP0592096 A1 EP 0592096A1
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- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- web
- bag
- bagging
- bags
- drive
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B51/00—Devices for, or methods of, sealing or securing package folds or closures; Devices for gathering or twisting wrappers, or necks of bags
- B65B51/10—Applying or generating heat or pressure or combinations thereof
- B65B51/26—Devices specially adapted for producing transverse or longitudinal seams in webs or tubes
- B65B51/30—Devices, e.g. jaws, for applying pressure and heat, e.g. for subdividing filled tubes
- B65B51/303—Devices, e.g. jaws, for applying pressure and heat, e.g. for subdividing filled tubes reciprocating along only one axis
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B43/00—Forming, feeding, opening or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
- B65B43/12—Feeding flexible bags or carton blanks in flat or collapsed state; Feeding flat bags connected to form a series or chain
- B65B43/123—Feeding flat bags connected to form a series or chain
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B57/00—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices
- B65B57/02—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of binding or wrapping material, containers, or packages
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B57/00—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices
- B65B57/02—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of binding or wrapping material, containers, or packages
- B65B57/04—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of binding or wrapping material, containers, or packages and operating to control, or to stop, the feed of such material, containers, or packages
Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates generally to packaging systems and in particular to a method and apparatus for forming packages by sequentially loading and separating bags from a chain or web of bags.
- Various methods and apparatus for packaging articles in plastic bags are available today or have been suggested in the past. In one packaging method, the bags form part of a continuous plastic web, each bag being connected to a contiguous bag along a line of weakness. Typically, the bags define an opening on one face through which the bag is loaded.
- In early bagging machines, an operator manually loaded the product into the bag and the bag was pulled downwardly to position the next bag at the loading station. The loaded bag was then manually severed from the web.
- Machines and methods for automatically loading a chain of interconnected plastic bags have been developed or have been suggested by the prior art. In general, these machines include a mechanism for expanding the mouth of the bag and maintaining it in the expanded consition during a loading operation; and, a mechanism for severing the loaded bag from the chain. After the loaded bag is severed, the packaging sequence begins again with the next bag.
- The individual bags are usually joined to the chain or web by a line of weakness generally formed by a plurality of perforations. After the bag is loaded, it is severed from the web along the perforations. Various mechanisms for automatically severing the loaded bag from the web have been developed or suggested. In one known method, the separation along the perforations is initiated by a projection that begins the tearing action near the centre of the line of weakness. Severance of the bag then commences at the centre of the line of weakness and proceeds outwardly toward the marginal edges. An example of such a mechanism in U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,196, which is owned by the present applicant.
- An alternative method for severing a loaded bag from a web is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,153 which is also owned by the present applicant. In the method and apparatus shown in this patent, a transversely movable product carrier enters an opened bag, positioned horizontally, and simultaneously loads the bag and severs it from the web. Severance is achieved by overdriving the product carrier so that it engages the bottom of the loaded bag and drives it away from the web while the remainder of the web is held stationary, thus tearing the loaded bag from the web. In the disclosed apparatus, the perforation breakage commences near the marginal edges of the web and advances inwardly from the marginal edges toward the centre. Because the perforations are broken serially, the force needed to sever the container is less than that required if the perforations were broken simultaneously.
- In U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,318 (also owned by the applicant), a packaging method and apparatus is disclosed which illustrates another apparatus for severing a loaded bag along the line of weakness. In this apparatus, the tearing action is produced by a pivoting mechanism which engages a loaded bag and pivots the bag about an axis located near one marginal edge while the web is held stationary. The tearing action then commences at a remote marginal portion and advances towards the edge of the bag that is located at or near the pivot axis.
- A method and apparatus for simultaneously filling two adjacent bags have also been suggested in the past. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,846, owned by the present applicant, illustrates detachable, interconnected container strips and a method of making these strips. The strips are connected in a side-by-side relationship in order to define adjacent bags. In this patent, however, the adjacent bags are attached and cannot move idependently of each other prior to filling. After filling, the attached side-by-side bags are separated.
- A machine describes in U.S. Patent 4,899,520 entitled "Packaging Apparatus and Method" also includes an ability to use two chains of interconnected bags while packaging. After bags are loaded, they are sealed with a heater bar which melts adjacent plastic plys to fuse them together. During the sealing operation, the weight of the bag's contents and bag separation forces are isolated from the region of the seal by spring biased grippers that are moved into engagement with a bag by clamping sub-assembly that also brings the bag into contact with the sealer bar.
- Reissue patent RE 32,963 to Lerner et al. discloses a packaging machine for loading a chain of interconnected bags. A gripper assembly clamps the bag to be loaded to a funnel mechanism. An incremental reversing mechanism retracts the web of bags after the endmost bag is located to sever the bag from the web along a line of weakness.
- It is an object of this invention to obviate and/or mitigate the disadvantages of the prior art.
- According to one aspect of the invention there is provided packaging apparatus including structure establishing a path of travel for a web of interconnected bags connected along transverse lines of weakness from a supply to a bagging station and a nip roll assembly including a drive roller and an idle roller in frictional engagement for selectively advancing said web along the path of travel to the bagging station; the apparatus characterised by:
- (a) drive means including a motor operatively connected to the drive roller of the nip roll assembly for advancing the web to the bagging station; and
- (b) a control means for selectively actuating said motor to advance the web through the nip roll assembly and maintain a controlled tension between the supply and the nip roll assembly as the web of interconnected bags are fed to the bagging station.
- A bagging machine constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes a structure establishing a path of travel for a web of interconnected bags connected along transverse lines of weakness from a supply roll to a bagging station. A nip roll assembly may include first and second rollers for selectively advancing the web from the supply roll to the bagging station. A drive motor may be operatively connected to one roller of the nip roll assembly. A control may selectively actuate the motor in order to advance the web through the nip roll assembly at a controlled rate to maintain a controlled tension in the web between the supply roll and the nip roll assembly.
- In the preferred embodiment, the control includes a microprocessor controller which activates two stepper motors for advancing the web. One stepper motor moves the web in the vicinity of the bagging station in increments to allow a led bag to be positioned at the bagging station while an operator loads and seals the bag. Tear off of this lead bag is accomplished by reverse activating the stepper motor to sever the lead bag which is clamped by a seal mechanism.
- The second stepper motor unwinds the plastic web from a supply. Most typically, the supply is a roll of material mounted for rotation to the bagging machine. As the first stepper motor incrementally advances the web to the seal while the first stepper motor is reverse-activated to sever the leadmost bag from the chain of interconnected bags.
- In a most typical operation, an operator actuated a foot pedal switch to seal a leadmost bag at the bagging station. A pressure bar automatically swings towards the seal bar to seal the bag. If, during movement of the pressure bar, an obstruction is sensed by an optical sensor, the controller stops the seal motion and returns to an idle state until the obstruction is cleared.
- According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of advancing a web through a packaging machine that establishes a path of travel for a web from a supply station to a loading station, said web defining a longitudinal chain of interconnected, bag-like containers, contiguous containers being interconnected with each other along a transverse line of weakness characterised by the steps;
- (a) actuating a first drive means that engages the web to move a lead bag to a loading station; and
- (b) actuating a second drive means for selectively actuating a nip roller assembly to selectively remove the web from a supply at a rate to control tension in the web between the first and second drive means.
- One advantage of the embodiments to be described is the coordination of bag movement to maintain tension in the bag web regardless of the particular configuration of the bagging machine. This arrangement accomodates imprinters or other devices intermediate the web supply and the bagging head. Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become better understood from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment which is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
- One embodiment of the present invention will now be describe in more detail, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a bagging machine constructed in accordance with the invention;
- Figure 2 is a front elevation view of the bagging machine depicted in Figure 1;
- Figure 3 is a plan view of a dancer assembly for routing a web of bags away from a supply roll mounted to a base of the Figure 1 bagging machine;
- Figure 4 is a side elevation view of the dancer assembly;
- Figure 4A is a side elevation view of the dancer assembly in a raised position;
- Figure 5 is a front elevation view of the Figure 3 dancer assembly;
- Figure 6 is a block diagram of control electronics of the Figure 1 bagging machine;
- Figure 7 is a schematic of a control microprocessor for monitoring and controlling bagging operations of the Figure 1 bagging machine;
- Figures 8A and 8B illustrate a communications interface that allows the control microprocessor of Figure 2 to communicate with multiple other bagging machines;
- Figure 9 is a power supply and voltage monitoring circuit;
- Figures 10A-10C are schematics of a stepper motor interface;
- Figure 11 is a schematic of a keyboard and display interface that allows the control microprocessor to display information and respond to user entered inputs;
- Figure 12 is a solenoid and supply roll unwind control interface;
- Figure 13 is a schematic of a circuit that sends signals to the Figure 12 interface corresponding to the dancer roll assembly orientation;
- Figure 14 is a schematic of an anti-jam circuit for monitoring sealer performance;
- Figure 15 is a schematic of a circuit for energizing a heating element within a seal bar to control the temperature of the seal bar as bags are sealed;
- Figure 16 is a state transition diagram for the control microprocessor depicted in Figure 7;
- Figure 17 is a schematic of a bagging system interconnected by a serial communications network; and
- Figure 18 is a schematic of a network control for a single bagging machine.
- Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a
packaging apparatus 10 constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. The illustrated apparatus can be referred to as a "bagging machine" and is constructed to load bags that are interconnected to form a chain of such bags. The bags are preferably joined together along a line of weakness so that the bags can be separated from each other at a baggingstation 12 where each bag is loaded with a product before it is closed, sealed and separated from the chain. - The bagging
machine 10 includes asupport frame 14 sitting atop amovable base 16. Thebase 16 is supported byrollers 18 which allow the baggingmachine 10 to be moved about an office or plant. A bagginghead 20 sits atop thesupport frame 14 and includes a housing or cover that encloses a bag-handling unit for feeding aweb 21 of bags through the bagging machine from a supply roll 22 (Fig. 3) rotatably supported by themovable base 16. In the illustrated embodiment of the baggingmachine 10, thesupply roll 22 is supported by arotatable spool 24 mounted tobearings 23 supported by thebase 16. In an alternate use of the bagging machine, the web of bags are fed from a box having interconnected bags piled in zig-zag fashion, one layer upon another. - The bag-
loading head 20 advances a lead bag to a bagging station where the bag is loaded, sealed and separated. The baggingmachine 10 can be used in a manual feed mode where an operator loads individual bags with product. Alternately, the baggingmachine 10 can be used in conjunction with a separate feed device for automated loading of the bags. The separate feed device is not shown in the drawings. - The bagging
machine 10 includes twostepper motors drive rollers drive belts 37, 39 (Figs. 1 and 4). Actuation of theroller 34 unrolls theweb 21 from the supply roll and actuation of theroller 36 advances a lead bag through the bagginghead 20 to the baggingstation 12. As seen most clearly in Figure 4, as theweb 21 of interconnected bags is dispensed from thesupply roll 22, it is threaded over anidle roll 38 and through a nip defined by anip roll 40 and thedrive roll 34. - The
web 21 is then laid over a plurality ofstationary rollers 41 and tensioned by a number of dancer rolls 42 supported by a pivotingdancer roll assembly 44. The twostepper motors first stepper motor 30 is adjusted to maintain an average dispensing of bags from thesupply roll 22 as thesecond stepper motor 32 incrementally advances bags through the bagginghead 20, brings the leadmost bag to the baggingstation 12, and waits while the loading, sealing and separating steps are performed. It is one goal of the invention to achieve stepper motor actuation which allows thefirst stepper motor 30 to maintain the average speed and tension within theweb 21 as thestepper motor 32 incrementally advances bags to the bagging station. - The bagging
head 20 includes a plurality of guide rolls (not shown) which define a web path for the web after it is dispensed from thesupply roll 22 and fed through the dancer rollsassembly 44. Additional details regarding the operation and functioning of the bagginghead 20 may be obtained from reference to U.S. Patent No. 4,889,520 to Lerner et al. which issued February 13, 1990 and is assigned to the present assignee. The subject matter of the '520 patent is incorporated herein by reference. - Turning to Figures 4A and 5, the
dancer roll assembly 44 is pivotally mounted to aside wall 50 of ahousing 52 connected to thebase 16. Theassembly 44 can be rotated by the operator away from the position as shown in Figure 3 to a raised position (Fig. 4A). The operator can then feed theweb 21 from thesupply roll 22, reeve it over thedrive roll 34, and then lay the web over the stationary rolls 41. When the operator allows thedancer roll assembly 44 to close the dancer rolls 42 engage the web, pushing the web down through gaps between the stationary rolls 41. As seen in phantom in Figure 4, the chain or web weaves back and forth over alternate stationary 41 and dancer rolls 42. Theweb 21 loops around an endmost dancer roll and, as seen in Figure 1, is pulled up to the bagginghead 20. When the pivotingdancer roll assembly 44 is closed by the operator, thenip roll 40 engages theweb 21 to form the drive nip for advancing the web from thesupply roll 22. - The
stepper motor 32 advances theweb 21 through the bagging head. As themotor 32 is actuated, thedancer roll assembly 44 is lifted by the tension in the web and pivots about theaxis 49. The web tension diminishes and the dancer roll assembly falls as thedrive roll 34 dispenses theweb 21 from thesupply roll 22. - The bagging
machine 10 has avisual display 70 and keyboard input 72 (Fig. 2) that allow the user to program and monitor the status of the bagging machine's operation. A seal temperature is displayed and various options such as instantaneous number of bags per minute and the average bags per minute in a given day can be displayed. Pre-programmed bagging routines are also entered into thekeyboard input 72 so that, depending on the job being run, the user can enter parameters so that the speed and incremental length of movement per bag for that job can be automatically achieved without further user control. - A
potentiometer 80 mounted to thehousing 52 monitors an orientation of thedancer roll assembly 44 as the web is dispensed from theroll 22. Thispotentiometer 80 adjusts the speed of thestepper motor 30 to match the average speed of the drive nip on the bagginghead 20. This arrangement allows various intervening devices such as an imprinter for printing the bags to be attached to the baggingmachine 10 between thedancer roll assembly 44 and the bagginghead 20. So long as the speed of thestepper motor 30 can be controlled, the load on theweb 21 is controlled and inadvertent tearing of the chain avoided. The setting on thepotentiometer 80 tracks the orientation of thedancer roll assembly 44. Theassembly 44 carries agear section 82 that engages agear 84 that rotates the potentiometer shaft. - A
shaft 86 that supports thenip roll 40 moves as thedancer roll assembly 44 is pivoted out of the way. As theassembly 44 is pivoted up to load a chain of bags, theshaft 86 slides through aslot 88 in a side wall of theassembly 44 and reaches a position of equilibrium (Fig. 4A) where the shaft and slot keep the dancer roll assembly in a raised position. This equilibrium position is overcome by grasping the dancer assembly and pushing toward the closed position (Fig. 4). - As seen in Figures 3 and 4, the
nip roll 40 is biased into engagement with thedrive roll 34 bysprings shaft 86 and bias theroll 40 toward thedrive roll 34. As thedancer roll assembly 44 is tilted up, thesprings web 21 to be slipped through a widened nip or gap between thedrive roller 34 and niproll 40. - In certain applications, a
counterweight 94 is attached to theassembly 44. The counterweight is used principally with heavyweight web material. Thecounterweight 94 is secured to thedancer roll assembly 44 by ahandle 96 having a threaded shaft which extends through thecounterweight 94 and engages aslot 99 in the dancer roll assembly. - Control circuitry (Figs. 6-15) for the bagging
machine 10 is contained in a shielded module which can be separated from the bagginghead 20 as a unit for diagnosing the control circuitry. There are expansion slots on a mother board 100 (Fig. 6) for future expansion. Four of these slots currently contain daughter cards 102-105 (Fig. 6). The design allows the cards to fit any of the available expansion slots that define a 48 pin address, data and I/O buss 108. - One feature of the control circuitry is the use of a communications port on the bagging machines to interconnect multiple bagging machines to each other. This allows a master control to perform set up and control operations from a central computer. The control circuitry of each bagging
machine 10 includes twomicroprocessors system mother board 100. A control microprocessor 110 (Motorola Part No. 68HC11) is depicted at the upper left portion of Figure 7. Themicroprocessor 110 can access temporary data stored in aram module 120 of 8K by 8 bits. The microprocessor accesses a control or operating system program stored in aflash PROM circuit 122 having 32 kilobytes of memory. The PROMflash PROM circuit 122 is coupled to a programmable array logic circuit 124 which decodes memory signals on an address portion of thebuss 108 and activates chip select (CE) and read and write enable signals (WE, OE) on theflash ROM circuit 122. - A
latch circuit 126 coupled to themicroprocessor 110 allows the data pins D0-D7 and the lowest eight bits of the address buss A0-A7 to be time multiplexed. A programmedarray logic circuit 128 coupled to address pins A9-A15 allows themicroprocessor 110 to access binary I/O buss signals I/O-0 through I/O-6 by means of memory addressable reads. All forty-eight data, address and I/O pins of thebuss 108 are defined below in Table 1.TABLE 1 Row A Row B Row C 1A - 1A 1B - ANLG1 1C - D0 2A - BOOTSEL 2B - ANLG2 2C - D1 3A - IRQ 3B - ANLG3 3C - D2 4A - RESET 4B - ANLG4 4C - D3 5A - E 5B - OUT1 5C - D4 6A - R/W 6B - OUT2 6C - D5 7A - AS 7B - IN1 7C - D6 8A - PS-EN 8B - IN2 8C - D7 9A - LGND¹ 9B - A8 9C - I/O1 10A - ACCUM1 10B - A9 10C - I/O2 11A - ACCUM2 11B - A10 11C - I/O3 12A - 12A 12B - A11 12C - I/O4 13A - 13A 13B - A12 13C - I/O5 14A - 14A 14B - A13 14C - I/O6 15A - +24V 15B - A14 15C - 15C 16A - ¹ 16B - A15 16C - +5V - A power supply circuit 130 (Fig. 9) is connected to a transformer 131 (Fig. 6) that converts line voltage of 110 volts to an alternating current signal of 17 volts. This 17 volt AC signal is coupled through a
fuse 132 to a rectifier andfilter circuit 134 which produces an input to a 5volt regulator 136 for providing 5 volts DC for the control circuitry. The output from the rectifier andfilter circuit 134 also provides a 24 volt signal to a 12volt regulator 138 for providing a 12 volt signal. The 12 volt signal is passed through avoltage divider 140 and coupled to acomparator 142 which compares the divided voltage with a 5 volt output from thevoltage regulator 136. In the event of a failure of a short circuit of the 5-volt regulator 136, an output 144 from the comparator deactivates the 5-volt regulator 136 and shuts down the bagging machine. - Immediately to the right (Fig. 9) of the
comparator 142 for sensing DC voltage failure is acircuit 150 for indicating no oscillator is being generated in thecontrol microprocessor 110. The microprocessor periodically determines whether or not it is receiving an oscillator signal and if it is not, it pulls areset input 152 low causing alight emitting diode 154 to be activated. - A communications microprocessor 112 (Fig. 8B) implements communications between multiple bagging machines or between multiple bagging machines and a control computer. A second communications processor 160 (Fig. 8A) is a local area network processor commercially available from Intel (Part No. D82588) for achieving serial communications. The local
area network processor 160 is coupled to adriver circuit 162 which in turn is coupled to atransformer 164 for providing isolation between thiscircuit 160 and other serially interface circuits on other bagging machines. Atransformer output 166 is coupled to a standard RJ11 jack 168 (Fig. 6) for connecting themother board 100 to a network bus. - In addition to the above serial communications capability, the system implements an
RS 232serial communications interface 170 which is also controlled by themain communications microprocessor 112. Thisinterface 170 is also on themother board 100. This circuit has a programmedlogic array 172 andRS 232integrated circuit 174 coupled to aseparate DB25 connector 176. - A multi-function daughter board 103 (Fig. 6) engages a bus slot on the
mother board 100 and includes a parallel interface circuit 210 (Fig. 11) for providing standard input and output interfacing to thekeyboard 72 and displays 70. Pins PA0-PA7 and PC4-PC7 on thecircuit 210 interface with akeyboard 72 input and pins PB0-PB7 and PC0-PC3 interface with thedisplay 70. Pins AD0-AD7 of this circuit are coupled to the eight data bits D0-D7 of thesystem buss 108 and allow data to be written to and received from the keyboard and display. Thecircuit 210 is commercially available from Motorola as Part No. MC 146823. An 8-bitaddressable latch 212 defines an I/O port 214. Thelatch 212 is a commercially available circuit from Motorola under Part No. 74HC259. - A seal control circuit 220 (Fig. 15) is also mounted to the
multi-function board 103. Thecircuit 220 controls a seal step and is similar to the circuit disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,901,506 which issued on February 20, 1990 to Weyandt and is incorporated herein by reference. Aninput 222 to thecircuit 220 is a voltage from thetransformer 131. A signal at aninput 224 is a signal related to sensed current through aheater wire 225a in a heater bar 225 (Fig.6). The voltage at thetransformer input 222 is coupled to a peak and holdcircuit 226 which generates an output voltage that is stored on acapacitor 228 representing the peak voltage from the transformer. This voltage is discharged by themicroprocessor 110 sixty times per second by activating aDISCHARGE control output 230 from a programmed array logic circuit 231 (Part No. AMD PALCE16V8) on themulti-function board 103. Thedischarge signal 230 turns on atransistor 232 which drains stored charge from thecapacitor 228. - The peak signal passes through a
buffer 234 to avoltage divider 236 having anoutput 238 coupled to acomparator amplifier 240. A non-inverting input to thecomparator 240 is therefore a signal related to the voltage at the transformer. A signal at the invertinginput 242 to thecomparator 240 is a signal related to the sensed current. The sensedcurrent input 224 passes through a peak and holdcircuit 244 through abuffer amplifier 246 to the inverting input of thecomparator 240. Anoutput 250 from thecomparator 240 provides an indication to themicroprocessor 110 that the sealer bar has reached its cut-off temperature. Theoutput 250 is coupled as an I/O input (I/O 6) to thelatch circuit 212 connected to thebuss 108. The hot signal is I/O pin 6 on the circuit 212 (Fig 11). By monitoring this I/O signal, themicroprocessor 110 knows when to de-activate theheater wire 225 by turning on an SCR represented by aswitch 252 in Figure 6. - A
circuit 270 depicted in Figure 14 senses movement of a sealer orpressure bar 254 that engages theheater bar 225 to clamp and seal an endmost bag of theweb 21. Aninput 272 from a photodiode 280 (Fig. 6) generates a signal when a light emitting diode signal traverses anoptical path 282 originating from alight transmitter 284 mounted to the bagginghead 20 near the heater bar. The size of theinput 272 to anoperational amplifier 276 varies with the amount of light sensed by thephotodiode 280. An output from theamplifier 276 is a pulse whose width is proportional to the amplitude from thephotodiode 280 and whose frequency is approximately 250 hertz. This pulse width is monitored at the DETECT input to the latch circuit 212 (I/O pin 5) and used to warn the user that the optical system should be cleaned. - An absence of a DETECT pulse indicates an obstruction in the light path. If this occurs when the sealer bar is moving toward its seal position against the heater bar, a problem condition is indicated and the
microprocessor 110 shuts down the bagging operation. Once the seal bar and heater bar engage a seal portion of the endmost bag, they clamp this bag. Aproximity switch 290 closes just as the pressure bar engages the bag to indicate the control microprocessor should stop looking for an obstruction. - An I/
O circuit 300 on an I/O daughter board 104 includes (Fig. 12) a secondparallel interface circuit 310 that includes a number of solenoid driver circuits controlled by address selectable I/O pins PB0-PB7. A high output from these pins activates an integrated circuit (not shown) having an FET (Siemens BTS412A) and causes the output to be active. Four of the pins PB0-PB3 are controlled to actuate solenoids 312-315 (Fig. 6) on the bagging machine. Thecircuit 310 is coupled to themother board buss 108 so that the control microprocessor can present an appropriate signal to the I/O circuit 300 which will in turn cause the appropriate solenoid to be activated. - A
circuit 320 depicted in Figure 13 shows thepotentiometer 80 used to monitor thedancer roll assembly 44. As thepotentiometer 80 input various, a signal at the non-inverting input to anoperational amplifier 322 also changes. This operational amplifier acts as a buffer to create an output which is coupled to pin 1B (Table 1) of thebus 108. Pin 1B (ANLG1) presents an analog signal representing the orientation of thedancer assembly 44 directly as an input to the microprocessor 110 (Fig. 7). - The
stepper motor 30 is also controlled by the outputs from four pins (PA4-PA7) on theparallel interface circuit 310. These pins are coupled to power transistors which drive the stepper motor. By controlling these pins, themicroprocessor 110 can instruct themotor 32 to speed up, slow down, maintain speed or stop. - A stepper motor drive circuit 330 for the motor 32 (Figs. 10A, 10B, 10C) is carried by a plug in
daughter board 102 that engages themother board 100. When thestepper motor 32 is activated, 4 speed control signal bits S1-S4 (Fig. 10B) are presented to the stepper motor at an 8 bitaddressable latch circuit 331. An on-off signal is presented as anoutput 332 from thislatch circuit 331 and tied to an invertor circuit 333 (Fig. 10A) so that pulling the latch output low turns on thestepper motor 32. When the stepper motor is activated, it is controlled by avoltage control oscillator 334 having an external RC timeconstant circuit 336 for dictating the oscillation frequency. Fourresistors 338a-338d which form the R portion of the RC network are coupled to thelatch 331 so that by adjusting the output of the latch, the frequency of the voltage control oscillator and in turn the frequency of stepper motor actuation are controlled. When the turn onoutput 332 is pulled low, anRC network 340 coupled to the output of the invertor amplifier causes the stepper motor to come up to a maximum speed with an RC time constant. In a similar fashion when the turn on signal from the latch is removed, the stepper motor ramps down with an RC time constant. - A speed output is generated by the
voltage control oscillator 334 and presented as a clock input to acontroller 350 through twoinvertor circuits 340, 342 (Figs. 10A, 10B). Thecircuit 350 can be operated by either the output from thevoltage control oscillator 334 or from an external circuit whose clock signal is presented as ainput 344 to theinvertor 342. Where two bagging machines are operated in tandem, one oscillator can control both machines by means of an output from the oscillator which is coupled to anexternal input 344 to the secondbagging machine invertor 342. - The
stepper motor 32 includes a number of stepper motor windings which are activated with pulses to cause the motor to step sequentially at a controlled rate. Thecontroller 350 for stepper motor activation is shown in Figure 10C. Thestepper motor 32 is initially given a hard pulse (high voltage) for a short duration until the current in the motor coils reaches a predetermined value. Energization of the coils continues with a substantially lower voltage for a coil pulse and then is removed. To provide the initial high-voltage pulse, a 50-volt input 352 is coupled to the motor windings through two switchingtransistors control transistor controller 350. After the initial hard pulse supplied by thetransistors additional switching transistors controller 350. - As the high magnitude pulse is applied to a motor winding, the current through the winding is monitored and when the current reaches a specified value, the
controller 350 removes the high pulse energization and reduces the energization to a lower value of five volts. To monitor winding current, two smallcurrent monitoring resistors comparator amplifiers controller 350. When current through the motor winding reaches a specified value, an associated comparator amplifier changes state informing thecontroller 350 that the current has reached the specified value and that an associated high-voltage transistor comparators voltage divider circuit 374 shown in Figure 10C. - As seen in Figure 10C, the
controller 350 includes adirection input 380 coupled to a direction output pin Q0 of thelatch 331 in Figure 10B. This instructs thecontroller 350 to activate the stepper motor in either direction and is set by themicroprocessor 110 by writing to thelatch 331. Finally, thecontroller 350 receives a clock input originating from the voltage controlled oscillator shown in Figure 10A. This clock input directs the speed at which the stepper motor is activated. - The
preferred controller 350 is commercially available from Anaheim Automation of Anaheim, California 92801. The controller is commercially available under Part No. AA8420, and is described in a data sheet published by Anaheim Automation in April, 1986. This data sheet is incorporated herein by reference. - Returning to Figure 10B, the
stepper motor board 102 interfaces with the control/data/address buss 108 and is address selectable by adjusting the setting of a dip switch on thestepper motor board 102. Thedip switch 382 is depicted in the lower right-hand portion of Figure 10B and is coupled to the latch enable (LE) input of thelatch 331. - The state diagram depicted in Figure 16 shows state transitions for one task the
microprocessor 110 performs while monitoring and controlling the baggingmachine 10. The task depicted in Figure 16 has a high priority so that the multi-tasking operating system that themicroprocessor 110 executes branches to this task from the background task as needed. - The
microprocessor 110 begins a seal, sever and load cycle at anidle state 400 and awaits a condition which causes it to leave the idle state. A most typical situation is in which the operator actuates a foot pedal indicating a loaded bag can be sealed and a next subsequent bag is to be moved into position for loading. - While in the
idle state 400, if the pressure bar is sensed against the plastic web, a malfunction has occurred and the microprocessor shuts down the heater of the pressure bar at astep 402. Subsequent to shutting down the heater, the microprocessor remains in a state of inactivity until the pressure bar is again sensed away from the seal position. When this occurs, the microprocessor returns to theidle state 400. - Sensing of the pressure bar position is accomplished with the
proximity switch 290 that closes when the pressure bar contacts the heater. The signal at the PC7 input to the I/O board 104 corresponds to the proximity switch state. - If the
microprocessor 110 is in the idle state when the foot switch is actuated, themicroprocessor 110 initiates a sealingmotion step 404. If thecircuit 270 senses an obstruction is in the way of the pressure bar as the pressure bar movement is initiated by thesolenoid 312, themicroprocessor 110 again enters the idle state in response to the obstruction. Thesolenoid 312 is de-actuated and the pressure bar is retracted to a spaced position by an air cylinder. - Assuming no obstruction is sensed and the seal motion is initiated, a delay is instituted (∼200 millisec) during which the sealing motion is assumed to take place, i.e., the pressure bar clamps the bag in place and sealing of an endmost bag begins. If the
proximity switch 290 does not close, theIDLE state 400 is again entered and the pressure bar retracted. - After an appropriate delay to assume the bag is clamped, reverse actuation of the
stepper motor 32 tears off the endmost bag from the chain of interconnected bags. Thisreverse motion step 406 is accomplished by reverse energizing the stepper motor 32 a fixed number of steps. The microprocessor then enters astate 408 in which sealing of the endmost bag occurs. The actual time for the seal is adjustable by the user by keyboard entered controls and varies between typical ranges of .1 and one second. - At a
step 409, themicroprocessor 110 de-energizes thesolenoid 312 causing the pressure bar to move away from the web and waits for approximately two milliseconds to allow the air cylinder to move the pressure bar out of the way. The microprocessor then actuates 410 thestepper motor 32 causing the web to move ahead at a constant speed for an undesignated time period. Before actuating thestepper motor 32, the controller monitors the position of the pressure bar and if the pressure bar is against the seal bar shuts down 402 the heater and returns to the idle state until the pressure bar again moves out of contact with the seal bar. - If no perforation is sensed by a perforation detector 390 (Fig. 6) within one second, the forward actuation of the
stepper motor 32 is suspended and the microprocessor goes to itsidle state 400. If the perforations are detected by the sensor, the microprocessor enters astate 412 in which it begins counting stepper motor pulses. Assuming a perforation is sensed, the microprocessor counts a specified number of counts based upon the dimensions of the bag and actuates asolenoid 313 for blowing air into the next bag, causing the bag to open. - The
bag opening step 414 is followed by apace delay step 420. The pace delay is a built-in delay instituted in a so-called auto mode of operation. In this mode of operation, the microprocessor cycles through the various stages repetitively, allowing the worker or user to sequentially fill and move bags away from the load station. In the manual mode of operation, the pedal switch must be user actuated to proceed from theidle stage 400 to theseal motion stage 404. Thus, the microprocessor only implements thepace delay step 420 when in auto mode. After the pace delay, themicroprocessor 110 enters theidle state 400. As noted above, the idle state is exited upon actuation of the foot pedal switch or, in auto mode, after a predetermined time period. - When the microprocessor is in the
idle state 400, it has time to sense the setting of thepotentiometer 80. In response to sensing the potentiometer, themicroprocessor 110 writes to the I/O board parallel interface indicating whether themotor 32 is to speed up, slow down, maintain or stop. As the dancer roll assembly is raised by tension in the web, the web should be unwound faster so thecontrol microprocessor 110 speeds up themotor 30. As this causes the dancer assembly to drop, themotor 30 is slowed.Representative stepper motors - As noted above, the
microprocessor 110 executes a priority based multitasking system. The task of Figure 16 has a high priority. When not executing this task, themicroprocessor 110 executes lower priority tasks that include monitoring the keyboard interface and updating the bagging machine display. - Figures 17 and 18 illustrate a
bagging machine system 450 havingmultiple bagging machines 454 controlled by acentral computer 452. Serial interconnections between thecomputer 452 and themultiple bagging machine 454 take place throughmodems 460 which transmit control signals to and from thecomputer 452. Eachmodem 460 is connected to a serial communication line 462routed through an office or factory. Two additionallocal area networks network 463 interconnects threebagging machines 454 via the network connector 168 (Figure 6) of each of those bagging machines. Thenetwork 464 interconnects two bagging machines by the same network connector. - The
computer 452 could be a main frame, mini or personal computer programmed to send and receive information to and from the bagging system. Thiscomputer 452 could be used, for example, to automatically program sequences of bagging steps for certain sized bags. This would allow a supervisor to program the computer for particular sequences for each of thebagging machines 454. These would be downloaded to thebagging machine controllers 110 via theRS 232port 176 attached to amodem 460. - Figure 18 illustrates one
bagging machine 454 and bagging peripherals coupled together by thenetwork 464. The network connection to the bagging system is coupled to counters and/or imprinters, as well as a conveyor system for bringing materials to be bagged to the bagger. The bagger receives control information via theRS 232 port and utilizing the network controller, sends and receives control signals to other systems on the network. Twocounters bag imprinter 474 are shown in Figure 18. Additionally, theconveyor system 480 is shown tied to the network and thus, the bagger. This allows various control signals to pass back and forth between the counter, bagger andcontrol computer 452. Although not shown in Figure 8, it is appreciated that multiple baggers could be coupled to thenetwork 464. - While the present invention has been described with a degree of particularity, it is the intent that the invention include all modifications falling within the spirit or scope of the appended claims.
- Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.
Claims (14)
- Packaging apparatus including structure establishing a path of travel for a web of interconnected bags connected along transverse lines of weakness from a supply to a bagging station and a nip roll assembly including a drive roller and an idle roller in frictional engagement for selectively advancing said web along the path of travel to the bagging station; the apparatus characterised by:(a) drive means including a motor operatively connected to the drive roller of the nip roll assembly for advancing the web to the bagging station; and(b) a control means for selectively actuating said motor to advance the web through the nip roll assembly and maintain a controlled tension between the supply and the nip roll assembly as the web of interconnected bags are fed to the bagging station.
- Packaging apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterised by a second nip roll assembly having drive and idle rollers and wherein the drive means comprises first and second motors where the first motor advances the web to the bagging station and the second motor pulls the web from the supply.
- Packaging apparatus as claim in Claim 1 or 2, characterised by communications means having a communications interface for receipt of speed control signals sent to the communications means from an external source and means to convert the speed control signals into motor energisation signals for controlling the speed of said motor.
- Packaging apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said drive means is characterised by a stepper drive motor having an output shaft coupled to a drive roll.
- Packaging apparatus as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said drive means is characterised by means of reverse-step said stepper motor in order to sever a loaded bag from the end of the web and further characterised by means to hold the loaded bag at the bagging station as the stepper motor is retracting the web.
- Packaging apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim characterised by sealing apparatus for closing a baglike container having two overlapping sidewalls, said sealing apparatus comprising:(a) a heat sealing unit including a heating element and a resiliently biased sealer bar;(b) a pressure bar, reciprocally mounted for movement towards and away from said sealer bar, said pressure bar operative to exert a slamping force to sidewalls of a bag held between said sealer bar and said pressure bar;(c) monitoring means for monitoring a relative position of said sealer bar and said pressure bar, said monitoring means operative to cause said pressure bar to retract to a spaced position upon sensing movement in said sealer bar before said pressure bar has moved to a predetermined position with respect to said sealer bar; and,(d) means for controlling a temperature of the heating element.
- Packaging apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised by said control means including means for changing the length of web removed from the supply for each bag after a predetermined number of bags in a bag sequence are loaded.
- Packaging apparatus as claimed in Claim 7, charactersed by the control means including means for counting bags that are loaded and further characterised by means for displaying statistics of bags loaded per time period.
- Packaging apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim characterised by:(a) a plurality of bagging machines, each having structure for routing a chain of bags from a supply roll to a bagging station where the bags are loaded, sealed and separated;(b) a communications interface for each bagging machine for routing control and/or monitoring signals between bagging machines; and(c) at least one programmable controller for sending and receiving control and/or monitoring signals between the plurality of bagging machines via the communication interfaces of a plurality of bagging machines.
- A method of advancing a web through a packaging machine that establishes a path of travel for a web from a supply station to a loading station, said web defining a longitudinal chain of interconnected, bag-like containers, contiguous containers being interconnected with each other along a transverse line of weakness characterised by the steps;(a) actuating a first drive means that engages the web to move a lead bag to a loading station; and(b) actuating a second drive means for selectively actuating a nip roller assembly to selectively remove the web from a supply at a rate to control tension in the web between the first and second drive means.
- A method as claimed in Claim 10, characterised by the step of feeding the web through a dancer roll assembly that pivots about a pivot axis as the first drive moves the lead bag to the loading station and further characterised by the steo of controlling actuation of the second drive means by monitoring the orientation of the dancer roll assembly and causing the second drive to speed up, slow down, or maintain a rate at which the web is removed from the supply.
- A method as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the step of actuating the first drive means is characterised by the substep of sending the line of weakness between the lead bag and a next subsequent bag, and causing the first drive means to move the lead bag a distance based upon the length of the bag to a load position.
- A method of operation for a packaging machine of Claim 10, characterised by the step of:(a) loading a product into a positioned bag positioned at said load station; and(b) bringing into contact a resiliently biased sealer bar and a pressure bar with a portion of said positioned bag there between to seal the bag.
- A method of operating a packaging machine of Claim 10, characterised by the step of:(a) receiving speed control signals from an external source sent to communications means having a communications interface;(b) controlling said drive means with control means including means to actuate said drive means at a controlled rate; and(c) actuating said drive means for selectively actuating said nip roll assembly to selectively advance said longitudinal chain.
Applications Claiming Priority (6)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US07/936,925 US5341625A (en) | 1992-08-27 | 1992-08-27 | Bagging control apparatus and method |
US936925 | 1992-08-27 | ||
US07/954,378 US5394676A (en) | 1992-09-30 | 1992-09-30 | Packaging machine and method |
US07/954,305 US5289671A (en) | 1992-09-30 | 1992-09-30 | Packaging machine and method |
US954378 | 1992-09-30 | ||
US954305 | 1997-10-20 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0592096A1 true EP0592096A1 (en) | 1994-04-13 |
EP0592096B1 EP0592096B1 (en) | 1997-03-05 |
Family
ID=27420683
Family Applications (4)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP19930306801 Expired - Lifetime EP0592096B1 (en) | 1992-08-27 | 1993-08-26 | Bagging Control Apparatus and Method |
EP19930306802 Expired - Lifetime EP0586201B1 (en) | 1992-08-27 | 1993-08-26 | Packaging machine |
EP96202561A Expired - Lifetime EP0754627B1 (en) | 1992-08-27 | 1993-08-26 | Method and apparatus for providing tension control of a web of bags in a packaging machine |
EP19930306800 Expired - Lifetime EP0588520B1 (en) | 1992-08-27 | 1993-08-26 | Packaging sealing mechanism and method |
Family Applications After (3)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP19930306802 Expired - Lifetime EP0586201B1 (en) | 1992-08-27 | 1993-08-26 | Packaging machine |
EP96202561A Expired - Lifetime EP0754627B1 (en) | 1992-08-27 | 1993-08-26 | Method and apparatus for providing tension control of a web of bags in a packaging machine |
EP19930306800 Expired - Lifetime EP0588520B1 (en) | 1992-08-27 | 1993-08-26 | Packaging sealing mechanism and method |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (4) | EP0592096B1 (en) |
DE (4) | DE69314273T2 (en) |
ES (2) | ES2108830T3 (en) |
Families Citing this family (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE19920479B4 (en) * | 1999-05-04 | 2005-03-31 | Windmöller & Hölscher Kg | Machine for processing and / or manufacturing objects |
TW466203B (en) * | 1999-07-07 | 2001-12-01 | Tetra Laval Holdings & Amp Fin | Filling machine |
CN113501172A (en) * | 2021-08-03 | 2021-10-15 | 浙江康凌机械制造有限公司 | Express delivery is a roll of bag intelligence envelope and is pasted single baling press even |
CN115231061B (en) * | 2022-07-04 | 2023-09-15 | 无锡市尚来科技有限公司 | Horizontal plastic bag packing machine |
CN115871998A (en) * | 2023-01-06 | 2023-03-31 | 佛山森洋自动化包装设备有限公司 | System bag packaging all-in-one |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE2004001A1 (en) * | 1970-01-29 | 1971-09-02 | Cloud Machine Corp | Method and device for the continuous production of a number of filled packages |
US4347950A (en) * | 1979-09-17 | 1982-09-07 | Taiyo Shokai Co., Ltd. | Packing machine with apparatus for automatically stopping bag material transfer rollers |
FR2558704A1 (en) * | 1984-01-27 | 1985-08-02 | Manguelin Henri | Installation for dispensing bags made from flexible plastic, particularly bags with lateral handles, stored on a roll, in particular for hypermarkets |
US4899520A (en) * | 1988-03-29 | 1990-02-13 | Automated Packaging Systems, Inc. | Packaging apparatus and method |
Family Cites Families (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4546596A (en) * | 1984-05-08 | 1985-10-15 | Hayssen Manufacturing Company | Method of and apparatus for forming, filling and sealing packages |
ATE51370T1 (en) * | 1985-01-04 | 1990-04-15 | Automated Packaging Syst Inc | PACKING ARRANGEMENT AND PROCEDURE. |
FR2583712B1 (en) * | 1985-06-21 | 1987-09-04 | Vannier Pierre | IMPROVEMENT FOR THE DISPENSING DEVICE FOR INDIVIDUAL PACKAGING BAGS |
US4768327A (en) * | 1987-06-22 | 1988-09-06 | Package Machinery Company | Packaging machine with variable sealing jaw displacement apparatus |
FR2638420B1 (en) * | 1988-11-02 | 1991-05-24 | Jaquier Claude | MACHINE FOR PACKING PORTIONS OF PRODUCTS IN A FILM, IN PARTICULAR IN A TRANSPARENT RETRACTABLE FILM |
-
1993
- 1993-08-26 DE DE1993614273 patent/DE69314273T2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1993-08-26 DE DE69308451T patent/DE69308451D1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1993-08-26 ES ES93306802T patent/ES2108830T3/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1993-08-26 EP EP19930306801 patent/EP0592096B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1993-08-26 ES ES96202561T patent/ES2135841T3/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1993-08-26 EP EP19930306802 patent/EP0586201B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1993-08-26 EP EP96202561A patent/EP0754627B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1993-08-26 DE DE1993603561 patent/DE69303561T2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1993-08-26 DE DE1993625399 patent/DE69325399T2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1993-08-26 EP EP19930306800 patent/EP0588520B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE2004001A1 (en) * | 1970-01-29 | 1971-09-02 | Cloud Machine Corp | Method and device for the continuous production of a number of filled packages |
US4347950A (en) * | 1979-09-17 | 1982-09-07 | Taiyo Shokai Co., Ltd. | Packing machine with apparatus for automatically stopping bag material transfer rollers |
FR2558704A1 (en) * | 1984-01-27 | 1985-08-02 | Manguelin Henri | Installation for dispensing bags made from flexible plastic, particularly bags with lateral handles, stored on a roll, in particular for hypermarkets |
US4899520A (en) * | 1988-03-29 | 1990-02-13 | Automated Packaging Systems, Inc. | Packaging apparatus and method |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
DE69314273D1 (en) | 1997-11-06 |
EP0592096B1 (en) | 1997-03-05 |
EP0754627A1 (en) | 1997-01-22 |
EP0586201B1 (en) | 1997-10-01 |
DE69325399T2 (en) | 1999-12-16 |
EP0588520B1 (en) | 1996-07-10 |
EP0586201A1 (en) | 1994-03-09 |
EP0588520A1 (en) | 1994-03-23 |
DE69303561D1 (en) | 1996-08-14 |
DE69314273T2 (en) | 1998-03-12 |
DE69325399D1 (en) | 1999-07-22 |
ES2108830T3 (en) | 1998-01-01 |
DE69308451D1 (en) | 1997-04-10 |
ES2135841T3 (en) | 1999-11-01 |
EP0754627B1 (en) | 1999-06-16 |
DE69303561T2 (en) | 1996-10-31 |
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