GB2068327A

GB2068327A - Apparatus for packaging material with the exclusion of air

Info

Publication number: GB2068327A
Application number: GB8102260A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Current assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Priority date: 1980-01-29
Filing date: 1981-01-26
Publication date: 1981-08-12
Also published as: IT8119234A0; JPS56113506A; DE3003034A1; IT1135104B

Abstract

In an apparatus for packaging solid and liquid materials together in dish-like containers (12) closed by a cover foil (15), the containers (12) which are interconnected, are moved through a station (22) whereat solid material is placed therein and which being moved in a descending direction are filled with liquid from a tube (25) and have the cover foil (15) sealed thereto by sealing jaws (32-35). The apparatus effects filling and closing of the containers with the exclusion of air therefrom. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for packaging material with the exclusion of air State of the art The invention originates from a packaging apparatus according to the preamble to the main claim. With one apparatus of this kind, known for example from German OS 22 1 8 658, after the filling of the solid and liquid material components, the cover foil is then sealed to the successive containers leaving a duct between the containers and finally before sealing of the duct the respective container is placed under pressure so that the enclosed air is forced into the following container. In order to facilitate the out-flow of air, the respective container is also brought into a position inclined with respect to the horizontal in which the duct is located at the highest point.

Advantages of the invention As opposed to this, the packaging apparatus in accordance with the invention comprising the characterising features of the main claim has the advantage that it is more simply constructed due to the omission of the displacement device.

Drawing Two embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawing and are described in detail in the following specification. Fig. 1 shows a packaging apparatus diagrammatically in front view, Fig. 2 is a portion of the apparatus according to Fig. 1 in side view, Fig. 3 is a second embodiment of a packaging apparatus simplified in side view and Fig. 4 is the sealing surface of a sealing head of the apparatus according to Fig. 3 to a larger scale.

Description of the embodiments A foil strip 10 of thermoplastic plastics material or of a composite material is drawn step by step from a supply roller 11 and is advanced through successive stations first of all in a horizontal plane and then in a vertical plane. A conveyor known per se (not shown) provided with conveyor chains and flights which hold and guide the foil strip 10 by its edges, preferably serves for that purpose. First of all, the foil strip 10 arrives at a station comprising a heating device 20 which heats it up to deformation temperature. At the next station, the previously heated region of the foil strip 10 is moulded to form trays by a deep drawing device 21 so that a chain 13 of interconnected dish-like containers 1 2 with a rim flange is formed.Preferably, a plurality, for example three, of containers 1 2 are formed adjacent one another transversely of the direction of the strip.

After a check of the correct shape of the containers 1 2 portions of material 1 4 are inserted into the containers 1 2 at a subsequent station by a filling device 22 and a cover foil 1 5 is then applied to the containers from a supply roll 1 6.

The conveyor chain 1 3 guided in an horizontal plane, especially for filling the material portions 1 4 into the containers 12, is then deflected downwards into a vertical delivery plane with which are associated a liquid filling device 25, a longitudinal sealing device 26, a transverse sealing device 27 and a severing device 28. The filling device 25 has a flat filling tube 30 engaging horizontally between the containers 1 2 and the cover foil 1 5 and comprising a downwardly directed filling nozzle 31 for each row of containers.Pairs of sealing jaws 32, 33 of the longitudinal sealing device 26 extend adjacent to the filling nozzles 31 and which, when the container chain 1 3 is stationary, connect the cover foil 1 5 to the container flange portions by longitudinal seams 1 7 which extend in the longitudinal direction of the container chain 1 3. Liquid material components are continually filled by the filling device 25 into the containers 1 2 sealed laterally by the longitudinal seams 1 7 up to a constantly maintained level 1 8. A pair of sealing jaws 34, 35 of the transverse sealing device 27 extend beneath the longitudinal sealing device 26 transversely of the container chain 1 3 and likewise connect the cover foil 15, when the container chain 1 3 is stationary, to the container flange portions by a transverse seam 1 9 which extends transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the container chain 1 3. The containers 1 2 filled and sealed in this manner are separated by the severing device 28 from the container chain 1 3 in the centre of the transverse seams 1 9 and are finally isolated longitudinally.

With the above-described embodiment, the filling device 22 for the solid material components is arranged on a length of container conveyor which lies in a horizontal plane and the filling device 25 for the liquid material components and the closing device 26, 27 is arranged on a length of container conveyor which lies in a vertical plane. It is also possible, within the scope of the invention, as the embodiment according to Fig. 3 shows, to associate the liquid filling device 25 and the closing device with an inclined or sloping length of conveyor for the containers. A greater degree of filling of the packages is also possible with this embodiment. In this case, the closing device preferably has a sealing head 40 and a counter tool 41 which are reciprocable with respect to the containers 1 2 and the cover foil 1 5 lying inclined just in the region of the liquid filling device 25. Shortly in front of the sealing head 40, the cover foil 1 5 is guided onto the containers 1 2 by a fixed deflecting edge 42. The sealing head 40 has two sealing ribs 43, 44 one 43 of which is in the shape of a U with long limbs and the other is in the shape of an inverted U with short limbs so that during a sealing operation the cover foil 15 5 is welded simultaneously to the lower portion of a container 1 2 to be filled and to the upper portion of a container already filled during the previous cycle.

Claims

1. Apparatus for packaging material containing solid and liquid components with the exclusion of air in dish-like containers closed by a cover foil in which the solid and the liquid material components are filled into the containers joined together to form a chain separately at different stations of a conveyor device, characterised in that, at least in the region of the filling device for the liquid components, the conveyor device for the containers has a descending length of conveyor.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterised in that the conveyor device has a straight length of conveyor sloping downwards in the conveying direction with which are associated the filling device for the solid material components and the filling device for the liquid material components.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterised in that the conveyor device has a horizontal length of conveyor which is associated with the filling device for solid material components and has a vertical length of conveyor which is associated with the filling device for liquid material components.

4. Packaging apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 or Figs. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.