GB1069705A - Packaging material register control - Google Patents

Abstract

1,069,705. Packaging machines. NATIONAL DAIRY PRODUCTS CORPORATION. Feb. 22, 1966, No. 7628/66. Heading B8C. A packaging apparatus comprises means for sealing a covering sheet with a series of integral surface markings to an interconnected series of cups filled with material such as food product and means for detecting and compensating for the registry of the surface markings with each of the cups. As described, a continuous strip of thermoplastic material (21), (Fig. 1, not shown), is fed into a forming station (39), where the strip is first heated between vertically reciprocal heated members (96) and (98), (Fig. 6, not shown), and then formed, between vertically reciprocal blowpipe (115) and mould (117), into pairs of side-by-side cups (23). A raised rim (30), (Fig. 3, not shown), surrounds the mouth of each cup (23), thereby forming a groove (31) between successive adjacent cups. The formed cups are next moved to a blanking mechanism (145), (Fig. 12, not shown) which punches out a portion (147), (Fig. 2, not shown), between the side-by-side cups to facilitate subsequent opening of the sealed package. The cups are subsequently filled with jam or jelly etc. at a feeding station (43), (Fig. 1, not shown), whereupon the filled cups are covered with a covering sheet (33) fed from a roll (Fig. 8, not shown) and heat sealed, by vertically reciprocal sealing (189) and cooling units (191), at the raised rims (30) of the cups. The cover sheet (33) has surface markings (35), (Fig. 2, not shown) and equally spaced indicator marks (167), one of which is in alignment with a photoelectric cell (207), (Fig. 8, not shown), when the surface marking (35) is in registry with one of the cups to be sealed. When the photoelectric cell (207) detects the misalignment of the indicator mark (167), a relay is closed to actuate the downward movement of a plate (177), attached to the sealing unit (189). The plate (177) engages the cover sheet (33) tucking it into the groove (31) thereby advancing the cover sheet by a small increment, this operation being repeated during successive sealing operations until the indicator mark (167) is once more in alignment with the photo-electric cell (207). The filled and sealed cups are finally moved to a trimming and severing station (47), which removes the excess portions of the border flange (Fig. 1, not shown) and separates the two side-by-side packages from one another by knife means (283). SeVeral strips instead of a single strip of material may be formed into the parallel rows of cups.