1. An apparatus for packaging products, comprising:
a pair of opposed rollers forming a nip therebetween for receiving a pair of opposing upper and lower webs of flexible packaging material along with a product to be packaged disposed between the webs, facing surfaces of the webs having sealing material for sealing the webs together;
an infeed bed located upstream of the nip, the lower web being supported by the infeed bed such that a product to be packaged can be placed onto the lower web on the infeed bed;
a web drive system operable to advance the upper and lower webs through the apparatus such that the upper and lower webs, along with a product placed on the lower web, are advanced through the nip;
an infeed gate disposed between the infeed bed and the nip, the infeed gate being movable between a blocking position adjacent the lower web such that the infeed gate blocks passage of a product into the nip, and an unblocking position spaced from the lower web such that the infeed gate allows passage of a product into the nip;
an actuator operable to move the infeed gate between the blocking and unblocking positions; and
a controller connected to the web drive system and to the actuator, the controller being programmed to coordinate the advancing of the webs with the movement of the infeed gate such that the actuator is caused to move the infeed gate to the blocking position when the webs are stopped and is caused to move the infeed gate to the unblocking position before the webs are advanced.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the web drive system comprises the rollers and a motor, wherein the rollers are driven by the motor to advance the webs through the nip.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller is programmed to alternately advance the webs and bring the webs to a stop, and to cause the actuator to move the infeed gate to the blocking position when the webs are stopped and to move the infeed gate to the unblocking position before the webs are advanced.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the infeed gate is arranged such that in the blocking position the gate is in an inclined orientation such that products of different heights abutted against the gate are positioned at different positions in the longitudinal direction along which the products are advanced into the nip.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the infeed gate is structured and arranged such that as the gate is raised from the blocking position to the unblocking position the gate moves along an inclined path such that the gate moves downstream away from the product.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A paint brush holder, formed of one continuous part from spring material, for allowing a user to position and to hold a paint brush on the rim of a paint container, the paint brush holder comprising:
a paint brush receiving section for receiving and holding a paint brush, the paint brush receiving section has two arms in parallel planes which are spaced apart from each other, the arms being offset from each other and one arm being lower than other arm, and the paint brush receiving section acts on the inertia of the paint brush such that, in use, with a paint brush placed in the paint brush holder, the bristles of the paint brush are kept over the container so that any dripping from a paint brush received in the holder is directed into the container,
a container engaging section including a first member for biasing against the inside wall of the paint container and a second member for biasing against the outside of the paint container; the first member having a generally U-shaped profile which is narrower and longer than the profile of the second member whereby, in use, when the paint brush holder is attached to a paint container, the paint brush holder grips the container with the first member extending downwardly along the inside wall of the container paint container.
2. A paint brush holder as claimed in claim 1 wherein the container engaging section includes two container rim engaging parts for resting on the rim of the paint container.
3. A paint brush holder as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second member of the container engaging section has a lever section formed to allow the paint brush holder to be gripped by the user’s thumb and finger whereby when the first member is placed on the inside of the container and the lever section is held by a user’s thumb and finger and is pulled away from the container, the paint brush holder can be pushed downwards onto the container so as to locate the first member along the inside wall of the container and to locate the second member along the outside wall of the container such that when the lever portion is released, the paint brush holder grips said container.
4. A paint brush holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the paint brush receiving section of the paint brush holder includes four limbs for inhibiting lateral movement of a paint brush in the paint brush holder, thereby allowing the user to carry the container by a handle of the container.