Bagging, sealing, and labeling system and method

1. A load packaging system comprising:

a bag material feeder for pulling a length of bag material;

a mechanism for cutting and sealing the bag material to form a bag with a first sealed end;

a gripping device for opening the bag and guiding the open bag over a chute extending a longitudinal axis;

a load infeed table extending along the longitudinal axis;

and fixed relative to the infeed table;

a load pusher for pushing the load into the bag along the longitudinal axis;

a package sealer for sealing a second end of the bag after receipt of the load in the bag;

a labeling device for printing and applying one or more labels onto the load; and

a sensor to detect the presence and legibility of the label applied to the bag,

wherein the label is applied to the bag after the load is received in the bag.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the bag material is in the form of a continuous tube wound around a bag spool.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gripping device is a vacuum gripper that further pulls the bag over a chute, and wherein the load pusher is configured to push the load horizontally into the chute.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the vacuum gripper includes first and second vacuum bars, each of which includes suctions cups, and wherein the first and second vacuum bars are mounted on a support arm and are capable of being moved generally vertically towards and away from one another, and further wherein the support arm is capable of being moved horizontally forward and backward with respect to the chute.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a second load pusher at an outfeed end of the system for shifting stacked loads away from the outfeed end.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the infeed table and an outfeed table include powered rollers.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the load is a cotton bale weighing between about 450 and 550 pounds.

8. A method for packaging a load utilizing an automated load packaging system, the load packaging system defining a longitudinal axis, the method comprising:

pulling a length of bag material;

cutting and sealing the bag material to form a bag with a first sealed end;

opening a second open end of the bag and guiding the open bag over a chute extending along a longitudinal axis;

placing a load on an infeed table that extends along the longitudinal axis and pushing the load along the infeed table and along the longitudinal axis' and into the load positioning chute fixed relative to the infeed table;

pushing the load into the bag along the longitudinal axis;

after pushing the load into the bag, sealing the second open end of the bag to create a bagged load as the load moves along the longitudinal axis;

printing and applying one or more labels onto the bagged load; and

sensing the presence and legibility of the label applied to the bagged load.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the bag material is in the form of a continuous tube wound around a bag spool.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein step of opening the second open end is performed by a vacuum gripper that further pulls the bag over a chute.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the vacuum gripper includes first and second vacuum bars, each of which includes suctions cups, and wherein the first and second vacuum bars are mounted on a support arm and are capable of being moved generally vertically towards and away from one another, and further wherein the support arm is capable of being moved horizontally forward and backward with respect to the chute.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising shifting stacked loads away from an outfeed end of the automated load packaging system.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising placing the load on the infeed table, pushing the load along the infeed table into the bag, and conveying the load on an outfeed table with powered rollers until the load tips off of the outfeed table to a vertical rest position.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the load is a cotton bale weighing between about 450 and 550 pounds.