EP0340360A1 - Herstellungs-, Befüllungs-, und Versiegelungsapparat - Google Patents

Herstellungs-, Befüllungs-, und Versiegelungsapparat Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0340360A1
EP0340360A1 EP88308437A EP88308437A EP0340360A1 EP 0340360 A1 EP0340360 A1 EP 0340360A1 EP 88308437 A EP88308437 A EP 88308437A EP 88308437 A EP88308437 A EP 88308437A EP 0340360 A1 EP0340360 A1 EP 0340360A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
web
drive
drive roller
sprocket
receptacles
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.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP88308437A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Francis P. Ventura
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
T W Kutter Inc
Original Assignee
T W Kutter Inc
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by T W Kutter Inc filed Critical T W Kutter Inc
Publication of EP0340360A1 publication Critical patent/EP0340360A1/de
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • 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
    • B65B9/00—Enclosing successive articles, or quantities of material, e.g. liquids or semiliquids, in flat, folded, or tubular webs of flexible sheet material; Subdividing filled flexible tubes to form packages
    • B65B9/02—Enclosing successive articles, or quantities of material between opposed webs
    • B65B9/04—Enclosing successive articles, or quantities of material between opposed webs one or both webs being formed with pockets for the reception of the articles, or of the quantities of material

Definitions

  • the invention relates to forming, filling, and sealing plastic packaging.
  • a bottom web of plastic is advanced through a vacuum thermoformer (where the plastic web is formed to provide receptacles for receiving articles), a filling station (where articles are placed in the formed receptacles), a sealing station (where a top web made of plastic, paper, or other sheet material is placed over the filled receptacles and sealed to portions of the bottom web around the receptacles to provide covers), and a cutter (where the sealed top and bottom webs are cut at portions between receptacles into separate packages).
  • the bottom web of plastic is driven through the thermoformer, filling station, and sealing station via continuous loop drive chains underneath the two side edges of the web.
  • the top web is pulled by virtue of being sealed to the bottom web at the sealing station.
  • the movement of the bottom and top webs typically is intermittent (often referred to as indexed), as the thermoform and fill operations are performed when the web is stationary.
  • indexed index
  • both webs are of course accelerated and decelerated.
  • the upper web passes from its supply roll around a weighted dancer, which assists in smoothing out stresses in the upper web.
  • the dancer is lifted as the web is first drawn, and a brake mechanism prevents rotation of the supply roll except when the dancer has been raised to a particular position.
  • the speed of the webs during indexing may have to be limited to avoid damage to the seal.
  • weld seals are strong, are formed quickly, and can permit relatively fast pulling of the upper web.
  • Seals for removable covers are weaker and may be destroyed if the lower web is moved too fast. Seals that take a long time to form and seals involving cover webs made of certain (e.g., fragile) materials may also be destroyed if they are moved too fast.
  • the invention features improving form and fill packaging apparatus in which a first web of plastic is advanced through a thermoformer at which receptacles are formed in the first web, a filling station at which the receptacles are filled with articles, and a sealing station at which the receptacles are covered by a second web that is sealed to the first web at portions surrounding the receptacles.
  • the improvement involves providing a feed mechanism for positively feeding the second web to the first web at the sealing station synchronously with advancing of the first web. This provides less stress on the seal between the two webs at the sealing station during advancement, promoting seal integrity and permitting higher speeds for weak seals (and thus higher throughput of the packaging apparatus) without deterioration of the seals.
  • the feed mechanism includes a drive roller located in close proximity to the sealing station; the drive roller is driven by the drive mechanism (e.g., drive chain) for the first web; there is an idle roller that engages the second web with the drive roller; the drive roller is pushed into position against the idle roller during advancement of the webs; the drive roller has drive portions that have a larger diameter than adjacent portions; the drive portions are resilient disks that provide good grip; the drive roller overdrives the second web slightly with respect to the first web to guarantee that the second web is not underdriven; there are a weighted dancer and idle rollers around which the second web travels between a supply roll and the drive roller; and the feed mechanism includes a sprocket that is driven by the first web drive chain, and further sprockets and gears that are mounted on a pivotal lever arm.
  • the drive mechanism e.g., drive chain
  • Form and fill packaging apparatus 10 includes vacuum thermoformer 12, which forms first web of plastic 14 advanced from supply roll 15 through it so as to provide formed receptacles 16 for receiving articles to be packaged at downstream filling station 19.
  • Sealing station 20 provides a cover over filled receptacles 16, and cutter 22 cuts the formed, filled, and sealed web into individual packaged products 24.
  • sealing station 20 includes supply roll 26 of second upper web 28, which is sealed over the tops of the filled, formed receptacles 16 to provide covers for them.
  • Web 28 passes from roller 26 around weighted dancer 30 (which is pivotal about its upper end) and idle rollers 32, 34 before passing to positive feeding mechanism 36, which is used to feed web 28 to web 14 synchronously with advancing of web 14.
  • Feed mechanism 36 includes idle roller 38 and drive roller 40 mounted on lever arms 42 (only one of which is shown in the figures).
  • Drive roll 40 includes drive shaft 44 and rubber drive disks 46, which grip web 28 between them and idle roller 38 when engaged.
  • Drive shaft 44 has gear 48 that mates with gear 50, which is in turn driven by sprocket 52. Both gear 50 and sprocket 52 are rotatably mounted by a common shaft on lever arm 42.
  • Web 14 is driven by continuous loop drive chains 54, one on each side of web 14, which carry spring-loaded mushroom clips 56 to engage the edges of web 14.
  • lever arm 42 is mounted for pivoting about shaft 58, which is mounted on a bracket 60, only two small portions of which are shown on Fig. 3.
  • Solenoid 62 is mounted on a lower part of bracket 60 and includes plunger 64, which contacts lower block 66 of lever arm 42 and is operable to move lever arm 42 counterclockwise.
  • Spring 68 is mounted in recess 70 of block 72 of lever arm 42 and pushes against an upper portion of frame 60 so as to bias lever arm 42 clockwise.
  • Chain 74 engages upper sprocket 52 and lower sprocket 76, which is mounted for rotation on lever arm 42 with large sprocket 78 that has teeth 80 engaging drive chain 54 for web 14.
  • Sprockets 76, 78 are mounted by bearing and shaft component 82 supported on lever arm 42.
  • Fig. 3 only a small number of teeth 80 of sprocket 78 are shown.
  • mushroom clips 56 include spring-loaded cap members that engage the edge of web 14 between them and facing horizontal members.
  • thermoformer 12 In operation, web 14 from supply roll 15 is formed at thermoformer 12 to provide formed receptacles 16. At filling station 19, articles (not shown) are placed into formed receptacles 16 via a loading mechanism (not shown). The filling of receptacles 16 at filling station 19 and the thermoforming at thermoformer 12 occur on portions of web 14 when the web is stationary between indexing steps during which new portions of the web are moved into the respective stations.
  • the formed and filled receptacles 16 are covered with upper web 28.
  • Upper web 28 is positively fed by feed mechanism 36 synchronously with the driving of web 14. Referring to Fig. 3, as drive chain 54 for lower web 14 moves, it engages teeth 80 of sprocket 78 and causes sprocket 78 to rotate. This in turn causes the adjacent smaller sprocket 76 to rotate and to advance chain 74, in turn causing rotation of upper sprocket 52, gear 50, and gear 48 on drive shaft 44. Feed mechanism 36 is engaged when chain 54 is moving by solenoid 62, which pushes lever arm 42 counterclockwise as shown in Fig. 3, in turn pushing shaft 44 and drive disks 46 up against web 28, which is supported on idle roller 38.
  • Web 28 is thus fed as drive shaft 44 is rotated.
  • the ratios of the gears and sprockets are such that upper web 28 is designed to be overfed slightly (about 1%) with respect to lower web 14 to guarantee that web 28 is not underfed with respect to web 14; owing to tolerances, an exact matching of the feeding of the two webs is unlikely, and small overfeeding of the upper web is much more easily accommodated than small underfeeding.
  • Dancer 30 and idle rolls 32, 34 provide a slight amount of tension during feeding in order to properly align the positioning of web 28. After the indexing operation, plunger 64 is retracted, and lever 42 is biased clockwise by spring 68 to disengage rollers 46 from web 28; this permits the tension in web 28 to be adjusted
  • apparatus 10 can be operated at higher speeds than would be permitted otherwise without a deterioration in seal strength for removable cover seals and other weak seals, e.g., seals that take a long time to form and seals involving fragile cover webs.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Containers And Plastic Fillers For Packaging (AREA)
EP88308437A 1988-05-02 1988-09-13 Herstellungs-, Befüllungs-, und Versiegelungsapparat Withdrawn EP0340360A1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US18902588A 1988-05-02 1988-05-02
US189025 2002-07-01

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0340360A1 true EP0340360A1 (de) 1989-11-08

Family

ID=22695595

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP88308437A Withdrawn EP0340360A1 (de) 1988-05-02 1988-09-13 Herstellungs-, Befüllungs-, und Versiegelungsapparat

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0340360A1 (de)
CA (1) CA1299087C (de)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3318520A1 (de) * 2016-11-04 2018-05-09 CP Packaging, Inc. Bahnmaterialvorschubanordnung mit einem eingangsantriebssystem in einer verpackungsmaschine

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3374602A (en) * 1965-08-18 1968-03-26 Mahaffy & Harder Eng Co Indicia registration method and apparatus
US3555768A (en) * 1968-02-26 1971-01-19 Continental Can Co Method and apparatus for handling and registering webs for forming packages
US4120984A (en) * 1976-10-27 1978-10-17 The Pillsbury Company Process for preparing food in the package

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3374602A (en) * 1965-08-18 1968-03-26 Mahaffy & Harder Eng Co Indicia registration method and apparatus
US3555768A (en) * 1968-02-26 1971-01-19 Continental Can Co Method and apparatus for handling and registering webs for forming packages
US4120984A (en) * 1976-10-27 1978-10-17 The Pillsbury Company Process for preparing food in the package

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3318520A1 (de) * 2016-11-04 2018-05-09 CP Packaging, Inc. Bahnmaterialvorschubanordnung mit einem eingangsantriebssystem in einer verpackungsmaschine
US10526157B2 (en) 2016-11-04 2020-01-07 Cp Packaging, Inc. Web material advancement arrangement with an entry drive system in a packaging machine

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CA1299087C (en) 1992-04-21

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