1. A detachable lug assembly of infeed chain (1) for packaging machine, said detachable lug assembly comprising of a base lug (2) and a replaceable lug (3) formed as a single lug unit (4), said single lug unit (4) being provided with a lug hole (5) at a bottom portion for receiving a lug pin (6) attached to the infeed chain (1) of the packaging machine, and the single lug unit (4) is further provided with a spring plunger-ball mechanism (7) such that the ball (8) just protrudes into an inside diameter of the lug hole (5).

2. The detachable lug assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lug pin (6) is provided with a groove (9) of similar profile of ball (8) at the place where the ball of the spring plunger-ball mechanism (7) comes in contact with the same.

3. The detachable lug assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spring plunger-ball mechanism (7) is mounted on the single lug unit (4) at an angle 0 whose value varies from 0 to 75° in the clock wise or anti-clock wise direction. Dated this 27th day of April, 2004. OMANA RAMAKRISHNAN OF K & S PARTNERS AGENT FOR THE APPLICANTS 7

FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10)
DETACHABLE LUG ASSEMBLY OF INFEED CHAIN FOR PACKAGING
MACHINE1

The following specification (particularly) describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a detachable lug assembly of infeed chain for packaging machine.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART DESCRIPTION
The existing mechanism of detachable lug assembly is described below with reference to figures 1 (A) and 1 (B) which are enclosed herewith for ready reference.
The lugs are generally split into two parts; (1) Base lug (101) and (2) Replaceable lug (102).
The base lug (101) is mounted on the lug pin (103) as shown and then locked by circlips (104). The base lug (101) mounted with the lug pin (103) is then mounted on the infeed chain (105) at different pitch distances as per the requirement. The replaceable lugs (102) are finally fitted on the base lug (101) with the help of mounting screws (106).
The replaceable lugs (102) are designed in different shapes depending upon the size of the base lugs (101) and spacer (107) is provided (as explicitly shown in Fig. 1(B)).
The following are the major limitations and problems being faced in this mechanism.
1. The lug is designed in two parts and hence, mounting screws are required to fit the assembly.
2. It takes much time for mounting or dismounting the replaceable lug on base lug.
3. Special tools are required for tightening or removing the mounting screws of lug assembly.
OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The main object of the present invention is to provide a detachable lug assembly that obviates the aforesaid problems.
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STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a detachable lug assembly of infeed chain (1) for packaging machine, said detachable lug assembly comprising of a base lug (2) and a replaceable lug (3) formed as a single lug unit (4), said single lug unit (4) being provided with a lug hole (5) at a bottom portion for receiving a lug pin (6) attached to the infeed chain (1) of the packaging machine, and the single lug unit (4) is further provided with a spring plunger-ball mechanism (7) such that the ball (8) just protrudes into an inside diameter of the lug hole (5).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention provides a novel detachable lug assembly that can be mounted on to the infeed chain fit wherein the lug is designed such that it is not required to split the lug into two parts.
More particularly, the present invention provides a detachable lug assembly of infeed chain for packaging machine, said detachable lug assembly comprising of a base lug and a replaceable lug formed as a single lug unit, said single lug unit being provided with a lug hole at a bottom portion for receiving a lug pin attached to the infeed chain of the packaging machine, and the lug is further provided with a spring plunger-ball mechanism such that the ball just protrudes into an inside diameter of the lug hole.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the lug pin is provided with a groove of similar profile of ball at the place where the ball of the spring plunger-ball mechanism comes in contact with the same.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the spring plunger-ball mechanism is mounted on the lug at an angle 0 whose value varies from 0 to 75° in the clock wise or anti-clock wise direction.
The lug is designed such that the base lug and the replaceable lug are formed as a single unit and the lug is provided with a spring plunger with ball. The spring plunger is mounted in the lug and pre-set such that the ball just protrudes out from an inside diameter of lug hole meant to receive the lug pin. The spring plunger with ball
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is provided at any suitable location on the lug and is not restricted to the positions shown in Figure 2 accompanying the specification.
The lug pin is mounted on the infeed chain at different pitch distances as required and is used for connecting the lug to the infeed chain. The lug pin is designed such that it fits into the lug hole provided on the lug. Further, the lug pin is provided with a groove of similar profile of ball.
For mounting the lug onto the infeed chain, the lug pin is first mounted on the infeed chain. The lug assembly with the spring plunger with ball just protruding out from the inside diameter of lug hole is manually pushed gently over the lug pin and slided upto the groove location.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
In the drawings accompanying the specification,
Figure 1 represents the existing mechanism of detachable lug assembly.
Figure 2 represents the detachable lug assembly developed in accordance with the
teachings of the present invention.
WORKING OF NEW DESIGNED DETACHABLE LUG ASSEMBLY
The new design of the lug assembly works as follows. The new mechanism is designed in such a simple manner that it becomes very easy to fit the lug assembly on infeed chain (1).
Here the single lug unit (4) is designed such that it does not require to be split into two parts i.e. the base lug (2) and the replaceable lug (3). Instead, the single lug unit (4) is designed in a single piece and simultaneously the spring plunger ball mechanism (7) with a hah ?(8) and \ug pin (6) having groove (9) of similar profile of ball (8) are designed.
The female profile of the groove (9) of the lug pin (6) and male profile of ball (8) of spring plunger ball mechanism (7) are so designed that once the ball (8) gets engaged in the groove (9) it gives perfect and long lasting matching without getting disturbed any time.
4

The mechanism of mounting the new designed lug assembly is as follows.
The lug pins (6) are mounted on infeed chain (1) at different pitch distances as required. The spring plunger ball mechanism (7) is mounted in the single lug unit (4) and pre-set such that it's ball (8) just protrudes out from inside diameter of lug hole (5) meant to receive the lug pin (6).
The single lug unit (4) with preset spring plunger ball mechanism (7) is manually pushed gently over the lug pin (6) and slided upto the groove location (9).
The ball (8) of spring plunger ball mechanism (7) gets engaged in the groove (9) of the lug pin (6).
The male profile of ball (8) and female profile of groove (9) are designed very precisely to give the right fitting.
Once the spring plunger ball mechanism (7) gets engaged in the groove (9) of lug pin (6), as a precautionary measure, loctite is applied on screw threads to prevent it getting disturbed due to vibrations arising during operational process (which is not shown explicitly in figure 2).
The single lug unit (4) can be taken out by manually pulling outward from the lug pin (6). While the single lug unit (4) is pulled outward, the ball (8) of the spring plunger ball mechanism (7) gets disengaged from the groove (9) of lug pin (6) and the single lug unit (4) very easily comes out.
The new developed mechanism is shown in Figure 2 which is enclosed herewith for
reference.
ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The following advantages are provided by the newly developed mechanism of detachable lug assembly.
(a) Very simple mechanism.
(b) Lug is not split in two parts. Instead, it is made of a single piece.
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We Claim:

1. A detachable lug assembly of infeed chain (1) for packaging machine, said detachable lug assembly comprising of a base lug (2) and a replaceable lug (3) formed as a single lug unit (4), said single lug unit (4) being provided with a lug hole (5) at a bottom portion for receiving a lug pin (6) attached to the infeed chain (1) of the packaging machine, and the single lug unit (4) is further provided with a spring plunger-ball mechanism (7) such that the ball (8) just protrudes into an inside diameter of the lug hole (5).
2. The detachable lug assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lug pin (6) is provided with a groove (9) of similar profile of ball (8) at the place where the ball of the spring plunger-ball mechanism (7) comes in contact with the same.
3. The detachable lug assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spring plunger-ball mechanism (7) is mounted on the single lug unit (4) at an angle 0 whose value varies from 0 to 75° in the clock wise or anti-clock wise direction.

Dated this 27th day of April, 2004.
OMANA RAMAKRISHNAN
OF K & S PARTNERS
AGENT FOR THE APPLICANTS
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