JPWO2021018913A5

JPWO2021018913A5 -

Info

Publication number: JPWO2021018913A5
Application number: JP2022506478A
Authority: JP
Publication date: 2023-07-13

Claims

A sealing station (E) for sealing walls (101, 102) made of heat-sealable film material onto one another wall (101, 102) of heat-sealable material. is configured to seal and produce a sealed seam,
The sealing station is
- an impulse sealing device ( 200) comprising a first jaw (210) and a second jaw ( 220);
- an actuator device (201) configured to move said first and second jaws relative to each other between an open position and a clamped position;
- a cooling device configured to cool at least one of said first and second jaws;
The first jaw has a first front surface adapted to contact an elongated seam area of a respective first wall made of a heat-sealable material. is configured to
The second jaw has a second front surface adapted to contact an elongated seam area of a respective second wall made of a heat-sealable material. is configured to
At least said first jaw includes at least one elongated impulse-heatable member on said respective forward surface thereof, said impulse-heatable members extending along said respective forward surface. wherein said impulse heatable member is covered by a heat resistant non-stick coating;
The sealing station is configured to perform an impulse sealing cycle, the actuator device is configured to bring the first and second jaws to the clamping position, the first and The seam area of the second wall is adapted to be clamped together by the first and second jaws, and the sealing station temporarily clamps the respective impulse heatable members in the clamping position. to generate a thermal impulse emitted by each impulse heatable member, said thermal impulse being applied to said first and second walls of said sealing the seam area to each other, at least one of said first and second jaws being cooled by said cooling device after termination of excitation of said impulse heatable member, and said actuator device being adapted for said impulse heating. configured to move the first and second jaws to the open position after the possible member has cooled;
each impulse heatable member is a susceptor element (212, 222) comprising an electrically conductive material, said susceptor element having a rear side facing away from said respective front surface;
At least one of the first and second jaws includes an inductor (211, 22) extending along the respective front surface, the inductor extending along the susceptor element. said inductor comprising an elongated inductor section (211a, 211b, 221a, 221b) at said rear side of each at least one susceptor element;
said sealing station comprising a high frequency current source (250) , said high frequency current source being connected to said inductor;
The sealing station is configured such that, in the impulse sealing cycle, the current source is activated to temporarily feed a high frequency current to the inductor, thereby generating a high frequency electromagnetic field by the inductor. said high-frequency electromagnetic field inducing eddy currents in said susceptor elements and generating thermal impulses emitted by said susceptor elements, said thermal impulses sealing said seam regions of said walls together. ,
The sealing station , wherein said inductor of the jaws comprises a plurality of elongated inductor sections (211a, 211b, 221a, 221b) parallel to each other.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one said elongated inductor section is a solid cross-section metal inductor section having a constant cross-section along said forward surface of each said jaw along its length. Sealing station as described.

The elongated inductor section has a shape corresponding to the forward surface of the jaw when viewed from above the jaws to maintain a uniform distance between the susceptor element and the elongated inductor section. 3. The sealing station according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

The jaw inductor includes a plurality of elongated inductor sections, said plurality of elongated inductor sections being parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other by slits (211c, 221c). , a sealing station according to any one of claims 1-3 .

5. The sealing station of claim 4 , wherein the slits between adjacent inductor sections have a height or width of between 0.01 mm and 5 mm.

The susceptor element extends over the slits between parallel elongated inductor sections when viewed in a forward view of the jaws, and each of the parallel inductor sections in the view. 6. A sealing station according to claim 4 or 5 , overlapping with the .

Said susceptor element is embodied as a strip, said strip extending over said slit between parallel elongated inductor sections, said parallel inductor sections in said view. 7. A sealing station according to any one of claims 4 to 6 , overlapping each other.

The jaw inductor is embodied in a pair of adjacent parallel inductor sections disposed on the rearward sides of the susceptor element such that current flows in opposite directions through the inductor sections. 8. A sealing station according to any one of claims 1 to 7 .

9. Any of claims 1-8 , wherein the at least one elongated inductor section has a thickness of between 1.0mm and 4.0mm when viewed perpendicular to the front surface of the jaws. A sealing station according to claim 1.

10. Any one of claims 1 to 9 , wherein at least one cooling fluid duct (214) extends along said at least one inductor section extending along said rear side of said susceptor element. sealing station as described above.

11. Sealing station according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the susceptor element is made from a metallic material .

The susceptor element is embodied as a strip having opposite front and rear major surfaces, the opposite front and rear major surfaces defining a thickness of the strip therebetween. 12. Sealing station according to any one of clauses 1-11 .

13. Sealing station according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the susceptor element has a thickness of between 0.01 mm and 5 mm.

The jaws are embodied as a single continuous strip having a height or width of the strip of between 3 mm and 40 mm and a thickness of between 0.08 mm and 0.8 mm. 14. A sealing station as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, provided with a susceptor element.

The jaws are provided with an elastic backing layer (228) behind the susceptor element, thereby enabling the jaw front face to accommodate local variations in the number of film material walls. , a sealing station according to any one of claims 1 to 14 .

16. The sealing station according to any one of claims 1 to 15 , wherein the spacing between the rear face of the susceptor element and neighboring inductor sections is a minimum of 0.025mm.

17. A sealing station according to any preceding claim, wherein the distance between the front surface of the jaws and the susceptor element is a minimum of 0.025mm.

18. A sealing station as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the front surface of the jaws is smooth in the area of contact with the walls of the film material.

19. The sealing station of any preceding claim , wherein the jaws are configured such that the entire unbonded edge area is sealed in one cycle by movement of the jaws.

2. The sealing device is configured to provide a heat impulse through the susceptor element of between at least 150° C. and at most 500 ° C. measured above the susceptor element. 20. A sealing station according to any one of paragraphs 19 to 19 .

21. The sealing station of any preceding claim, wherein the heat impulse duration is between 10ms and 1000ms.

The cycle includes a clamp cooling phase immediately following the heat impulse, during the clamp cooling phase, the jaws being maintained in a clamp position, the clamp cooling phase lasting from 200 milliseconds to 800 milliseconds. 22. A sealing station according to any preceding claim, capable of having a duration of between seconds.

The sealing device is configured to create a bottom gusset seal within the W-shaped bottom gusset pouch, the sealing device being coupled to a first pouch wall made from a heat-sealable film material. Establishing a seal between the immediately inner first gusset portion and an opposing second pouch wall made of a heat sealable film material and the immediately inner second gusset portion 23. The first and second gusset portions are interconnected via an inner fold line, and are embodied to establish a seal between a Sealing station as described.

The susceptor element is a plate-shaped susceptor element defining the forward surface of each of the jaws and having a width substantially corresponding to the width of the bottom gusset pouch. 24. The sealing station of claim 23 , wherein said inductor has a width greater than said width of said bottom gusset pouch.

Said susceptor element, in front view onto its front surface, has an upper edge, said upper edge having a concave shape with a lowest central portion between said side edges. 25. A sealing station according to claim 23 or 24 , defining :

A production machine for the production of folding pouches, said pouches each having walls made of a heat-sealable film material, said production machine comprising a sealing station, said sealing station is configured to heat seal the walls onto each other to produce a sealed seam of the pouch, the sealing station being embodied according to one or more of claims 1 to 25 . A production machine.

The sealing station is configured to establish a side or vertical seal of the pouch , the sealing seam being a triple point where the top of the gusseted portion abuts the side of the pouch . 27. A production machine according to claim 26 , extending across the .

2. A method of producing a sealed seam by heat sealing a wall made of a heat-sealable film material over another wall of one of the heat-sealable materials, comprising: A method wherein a sealing station embodied according to one or more of 25 is used.

Use of a production machine according to claim 26 or 27 for the production of folding pouches.