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
  • B65B7/00—Closing containers or receptacles after filling
  • B65B7/16—Closing semi-rigid or rigid containers or receptacles not deformed by, or not taking-up shape of, contents, e.g. boxes or cartons
  • B65B7/28—Closing semi-rigid or rigid containers or receptacles not deformed by, or not taking-up shape of, contents, e.g. boxes or cartons by applying separate preformed closures, e.g. lids, covers
  • B65B7/2842—Securing closures on containers
• • 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
  • B65B3/00—Packaging plastic material, semiliquids, liquids or mixed solids and liquids, in individual containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, or jars
  • B65B3/24—Topping-up containers or receptacles to ensure complete filling
• • 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
  • B65B31/00—Packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions; Adding propellants to aerosol containers
  • B65B31/02—Filling, closing, or filling and closing, containers or wrappers in chambers maintained under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure or containing a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas
  • B65B31/025—Filling, closing, or filling and closing, containers or wrappers in chambers maintained under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure or containing a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas specially adapted for rigid or semi-rigid containers
  • B65B31/028—Filling, closing, or filling and closing, containers or wrappers in chambers maintained under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure or containing a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas specially adapted for rigid or semi-rigid containers closed by a lid sealed to the upper rim of the container, e.g. tray-like container
• • 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
  • B65B2220/00—Specific aspects of the packaging operation
  • B65B2220/14—Adding more than one type of material or article to the same package

Definitions

• the present invention operates in the scope of packaging machines. More specifically, in the field of packaging dedicated to products which require a preservation in a vacuum or modified atmosphere or, more generally, for all those packages in which the presence of air within the sealed compartment is to be avoided.
• the packaging field is presently one of the most technologically advanced fields. Given the increasing request for packaged products of any type, in particular food, for the large-scale retail trade in supermarkets, the machines that seal the containers must work at very high speeds and with incredibly high efficiency.
• the object of the present invention relates to this particular type of package without film, both for products submersed in water or cream (olives, mozzarella, feta cheese, Russian salad, etc.) and for dry products (scamorza cheeses, aged cheese, sandwiches, desserts, fruit, etc.).
• the request to postpone the expiry date of the product provides for the packaging with vacuum or with the preservation in modified atmosphere.
• the invention sets out to overcome these limits with a special application for a completely automatic packaging line.
• the manufacturers of lid-placer machines which intend to package trays under vacuum without the use of the heat-sealed film, have provided machines which provide for the following conditions: the cap used must be semi-rigid and plastic, and have an edge which encloses the perimeter of the container and, at the internal side, be characterized by a height lowering so as to slightly“embed” within the tray.
• a first technique for vacuum packaging without the use of the plastic film provides for the previous filling of the container with water or with a mixture of water or another liquid up to the brim.
• a packaging lacking air should be obtained.
• the results of this technique have been decidedly disappointing, determining the swelling of the container tray (or its breakage due to the non-compressibility of water) which arranges the container with spontaneous opening of the lid due to the residual positive pressure within the container. This is disappointing also from the aesthetic standpoint since the container appears deformed after the lid application.
• a packaging machine is attained for sealing containers in a vacuum with or without modified atmosphere and in the absence of heat-sealed film, which effectively solves the abovementioned problems.
• the present invention allows the hermetic closure of trays without the heat- sealed plastic film, hence without the use of sealing materials and/or of sealing towers in which the plastic film is applied with heat.
• the environmental advantage should not be underestimated, due to elimination of the plastic film of the package.
• the present machine is able to reproduce, in an automated manner, the movements that a human operator would carry out for a correct closure of an airtight container, creating a vacuum at its interior.
• the machine described in detail hereinbelow is able to make a closure in modified atmosphere, this too without the heat-sealed plastic film: this is an opportunity entirely unexplored in the world of mechanics for packaging machines.
• the present machine makes use of known modules which attain the steps of:
• the operation of the invention can be verified on any packaging machine where a lid-placer group and a vacuum bell can be applied (heat-sealers of any type including thermoforming, rotary, etc.).
• the trays are subjected to filling the product (liquid or solid) and/or to a second filling of a liquid substance, such as water or a solution in brine, which fills the trays up to the brim before their closure.
• a liquid substance such as water or a solution in brine
• the trays used are common trays provided with an upper edge adapted to be engaged, in a hermetic manner, with the perimeter edge of a common lid having an upper surface recessed with respect to the height of the edge of the tray.
• This configuration of the tray-lid assembly is that more suitable for the preservation of the hermetic sealing condition of the seal.
• the trays cross a positioning station.
• the corresponding lid is engaged with the edge of the tray for only one side or for about 10-40% of its perimeter.
• This operation is executed by a common lid-applying damped plunger, connected to a suction cup suitable to retain the lid.
• the axis of the suction cup that retains the lid is not aligned with the edge of the tray, rather it is tilted so as to place only one part of the edge of the container in contact with the corresponding portion of the edge of the tray and more precisely the part that is situated in the advancing direction of the catenary in order to allow that it be autonomously maintained in position, blocked on the container.
• a cylindrical roller independent for each container, is adapted to compress the lid on the edge of the tray in a progressive manner, starting from the already-engaged flap up to reaching the opposite end of the container.
• Each roller is advantageously configured with at least three areas: a central area in which the diameter of the roller is greater, suitable to compress the lid at the recessed surface which can have a surface that is smooth, corrugated, convex or of any form suitable to apply a pressing pressure on the center of the lid; a pair of lateral areas, arranged at the ends of the cylinder which constitutes the roller, suitable to impart the compression force at the lid edge so as to obtain the coupling between the tray and the lid over the entire surface of the container.
• the pressure imparted by the roller on the lid is suitably calibrated in order to allow the exit of all the air present in the package, together with a part of the liquid, thus obtaining the vacuum effect.
• the rollers installed in the closing station can be variously configured with recesses or swelling or missing areas, in order to modulate the pressure to be applied to the various areas, preserving the integrity of the container.
• springs will be advantageously present that are suitable to damp the pressure of the roller on the lid.
• the hardness of the springs is advantageously adjustable by an operator in order to be adapted to different lid and container models.
• the container itself can be lifted from the alveolus of the catenary in which it is transported and be overturned.
• a stabilizing bar in the closing station which stops the possible overturning of the trays in the final moments of roller passage.
• the entire group with rollers (one for each track of parallel trays present on the machine) can be lifted from the surface and be deactivated in the operation thereof if the system must close trays without liquids, applying the vacuum in another version of the invention described hereinbelow.
• Another possible and preferable component of the machine is situated downstream of the closing station; this is a compression station.
• the perfect closure of the tray is advantageously ensured. It could in fact occur that one edge of the lid is not perfectly aligned with the underlying edge of the tray, generating an imperfect closure. This can occur in different situations. For example, if it is desired to use two different lids on the same container, or two lids for the same container, produced by two different producers which have minimum size differences that prevent the correct coupling thereof with the same diameter of the pressure roller, or it can occur that the plastic containers and the respective lids do not have a size regularity, or it can happen due to other reasons tied to the coupling precision.
• the compression station wishes to correct this situation, by imparting another pressure to the lid from the top downward, fixing possible areas where the coupling is not perfectly aligned after the passage under the pressure rollers.
• a plunger that governs a damped compression plate.
• said compression plate is provided or not provided with a plurality of independent damping springs, arranged depending on the shape of the container to be sealed.
• the trays are likewise sealed in the absence of the heat-sealed plastic film but, in place of the liquid preservation solution, a gas or gaseous mixture is advantageously used, adapted to constitute the so-called“modified atmosphere” adapted to extend the useful lifetime of the product and slow the natural deterioration thereof mainly due to the contact with oxygen.
• the trays filled with the product are partially engaged with one edge of the lid, which will seal them.
• This step is executed by a positioning device tilted like that described in the preceding version of the invention.
• the tray-lid assembly in which the lid is still partially lifted, is then introduced into an airtight closing bell.
• the air is first suctioned by means of a common vacuum pump.
• the gas for the packaging in“modified atmosphere” can be introduced, if the client requests it.
• a compression plate After having attained the vacuum or the atmosphere with which it is desired to close the package, a compression plate will conclude the closure of the lid on the edge of the tray. Said compression plate simply imparts a pressure in vertical direction on the lid already partially engaged with the edge of the tray.
• a compression station can be arranged like that described above, applicable to the first variant of the machine.
• the upper surface of the lid is recessed facilitates the fact that the closure is hermetic up to the first opening by the final user.
• FIGURE 1 shows the type of container affected by the present invention, i.e. a tray 10 with a lid 15 with upper surface 17 that is recessed with respect to the edge 11 of the tray 10.
• FIGURE 2 schematically illustrates the machine of the present invention according to a first embodiment during its working steps for closing the containers.
• FIGURE 3 shows in detail the steps of moving a roller 510 on the lid 15 of a container in order to be able to seal it under vacuum.
• FIGURE 4 schematically shows the machine of the present invention according to a second embodiment with the addition of a closing bell 600.
• FIGURE 5 shows the preferred embodiment of the machine, object of the present invention, which incorporates all of the items described for the previous two versions.
• This is a module suitable to unstack and distribute a plurality of trays 10 in corresponding alveoli of a conveyor catenary or of a common sliding surface in common packaging machines with pushing rods; a first module for filling each tray 10 with a predetermined amount of the product to be preserved; a possible second module for filling the vacant volume of the trays 10 with a quantity of water or other fluid solution such to fill each tray 10 up to the brim or up to the upper edge 11.
• a positioning station 400 Independent of the filling of the tray 10, according to the present invention this will be subjected to a positioning station 400, visible in numerous figures. This is suitable to stably constrain a portion of a lid 15 with the corresponding portion of an underlying tray 10. This operation is carried out by a positioning device 450 constituted by a plunger 420, damped or not damped by means of suitable springs, and a suction cup 410 suitable to be stably and reversibly engaged with the upper surface of said lid 15.
• the particular characteristic of the positioning station 400 lies in the fact that the suction cup and the component that sustains it 410 is tilted with respect to the horizontal plane in a manner so as to have the lid 15 with a tilt with respect to the upper edge 11 of the corresponding tray 10 comprised between 1° and 45°. More in detail an engagement will be sought that extends for about 10-40% of the perimeter of the edge 11 of the tray 10.
• the suction cup 410 is lifted and engaged with a lid 15.
• the suction cup 410 lowering by means of said plunger 420, compresses a portion of the edge 16 of said lid 15 on the corresponding edge portion 11 of the tray 10, determining the stable engagement of the two portions.
• the machine Upon executing this pre-engagement between tray 10 and lid 15, the machine will act depending on the type of filling of the container 10-15. If this is full of liquid or cream and it is intended to be closed in a vacuum, the machine will actuate a closing station 500.
• the machine will avoid passing below the closing station 500 in order to direct the container 10-15 directly to a closing bell 600.
• the closing station 500 is suitable to complete the engagement between said lids 15 and said trays 10 by means of a plurality of cylindrical rollers 510 (one roller for each row of trays present on the machine), adapted to press said lids 15 downward in a progressive and gradual manner.
• the exerted pressure is determined and adjustable due to common adjustable damping springs 520.
• the movement that determines the closure under vacuum is illustrated in detail in Figure 3 and starts from the end already constrained between lid 15 and tray 10 in the preceding positioning station 400, up to reaching the opposite end.
• each cylindrical roller 510 compri ses at least one central portion 515 with greater diameter and a pair of smaller lateral portions 518 that are placed in proximity to the bases of the cylinder which constitutes the roller 510 itself.
• the central portion 515 being more projected, compresses the lid 15 at the recessed upper surface 17.
• the lateral portions 518 having small diameter, contact the perimeter edge 16 of the lid 15, determining stable and hermetic coupling.
• the closing station 500 in its preferred version, also comprises a stabilizing bar 530 which, in the aforesaid case, stops the overturning movement of the just-sealed container 10-15.
• Said stabilizing bar can be fixed, adjustable and of any shape depending on the container model.
• compression means 800 Downstream of the closing station 500, compression means 800 are present which are suitable to guarantee the correctness of the coupling between each tray 10 and the corresponding lid 15 and hence the hermetic sealing.
• These compression means 800 comprise a compression plate 810 connected to a plunger 830 which moves it in the vertical direction in order to push the lid 15 of each tray 10 downward with a predetermined force, correcting possible defects that may have occurred in the closing station 500.
• each compression plate 810 is provided with a plurality of mutually independent damping springs 820-821 suitable to impart a modulated compression force as a function of the positioning of the edge 16 of the lid 15 on the edge 11 of the corresponding tray 10.
• the compression means 800 are integrated in a closing bell 600, which, however, in the case of containers 10-15 subjected to the closing station 500 does not enter into operation.
• the present machine is, in fact, provided with means for activating and deactivating said closing station 500 and said closing bell 600 so as to alternately subject the containers 10-15 to one or the other depending on the desired packaging type.
• the closing station 500 In the second case under examination, i.e. that in which it is desired to seal the containers 10- 15 under dry conditions, without having them previously filled with liquid or cream and without the use of the heat-sealed plastic wrap, the closing station 500 will be deactivated, activating the closing bell 600 in its place.
• the containers 10-15 will arrive partially closed by the positioning station 400, which always maintains the same operation.
• the closing bell 600 is airtight, connected to a common vacuum pump 610 and/or to a common gas introduction system 620 for the introduction of the modified atmosphere in the containers 10-15.
• a common vacuum pump 610 When the closing bell 600 receives the containers (Fig. 4(a)), it is closed (Fig. 4(b)) and the aforesaid pumps 610-620 first create the vacuum and then, if required, fill the internal space of the closing bell 600 with the desired gas.
• the system can al so close the container with vacuum if the gas introduction function is deactivated. Only at this point can the above- described compression means 800 come into operation, which will close the container 10-15.
• air At the end of the closure, air will be re-introduced within the closing bell 600 which will open and will allow the sealed containers 10-15 to move away in order to receive new ones.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Vacuum Packaging (AREA)
• Closing Of Containers (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=67107997

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (2)

Citations (4)

• 2019
  • 2019-03-25 IT IT102019000004283A patent/IT201900004283A1/it unknown
• 2020
  • 2020-03-20 WO PCT/IB2020/052607 patent/WO2020194153A1/en unknown
  • 2020-03-20 EP EP20719494.5A patent/EP3947163A1/de active Pending

Patent Citations (4)

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