Patents Assigned to Serac
  • Patent number: 5542233
    Abstract: It comprises a transport member on which the receptacles have a displacement direction corresponding to their long sides, at least one rotary packaging platform, and a rotary transfer member for transferring the receptacles from the transport member to the packaging platform, and a swivelling member disposed between the transport member and the transfer member to position the receptacles on the transfer member with their long sides extending in substantially radial manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 6, 1996
    Assignee: SERAC
    Inventor: Andre Graffin
  • Patent number: 5450877
    Abstract: The valve includes a tubular body made of a non-magnetic material, a seat carried by the tubular body, a closure member disposed inside the tubular body and facing the seat, the closure member including a valve member connected to a drive ring made of a magnetic material extending substantially coaxially with the tubular body and facing a magnetic field generator disposed outside the tubular body and associated with a control member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 1994
    Date of Patent: September 19, 1995
    Assignee: Serac
    Inventor: Andre Graffin
  • Patent number: 5408805
    Abstract: The method applies to a receptacle-closing carousel that includes a rotary platform fitted with receptacle holding members and associated with a receptacle insertion member and with a receptacle extraction member. The method consists in cantilevering out a length of heat-sealable strip in the receptacle insertion direction over a sector of the platform that extends between the receptacle extraction member and the receptacle insertion member, relative to the direction of rotation of the platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 25, 1995
    Assignee: Serac France
    Inventor: Andre Graffin
  • Patent number: 5363629
    Abstract: The closure device includes a roll of heat-fusible strip material, an end-of-strip support member, a receptacle placing member for placing successive receptacles at a receptacle closure location facing the end-of-strip support member, a weld head disposed above a placed receptacle, a grasping member disposed facing the end-of-strip support member, and a drive member disposed relative to the receptacle closure location on a side opposite to the end-of-strip support member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 15, 1994
    Assignee: Serac France
    Inventor: Andre Graffin
  • Patent number: 5292236
    Abstract: The pump comprises a cylinder delimiting a pumping chamber in which a piston is mounted to slide between an admission orifice and a delivery orifice, the piston including a pumping orifice which is associated with a closure member mounted to pivot about an axis adjacent to the pumping orifice and including a closure face that is substantially plane and that faces the piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 8, 1994
    Assignee: Serac France
    Inventor: Andre Graffin
  • Patent number: 5148841
    Abstract: Filling apparatus for filling receptacles, the apparatus comprising a feed member connected to at least one filling spout via a flow control member connected to an output of a weight processing unit having an input connected to a weighing member in order to deliver opening or closing signals to the flow control member as a function of a weight measured by the weighing member, the apparatus further including a time measuring member associated with the weight processing unit for enabling the processing unit to calculate the flow rate of substance through the flow control member and to compare the calculated flow rate with a flow rate reference value, and to adjust the flow rate of the substance as a function of the result of the comparison.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 22, 1992
    Assignee: Serac Group
    Inventor: Andre Graffin
  • Patent number: 4773289
    Abstract: A screwing spindle (1) is mounted on a frame so as to be capable of rotating about its own axis, and also to be capable of up and down movement along its axis. The spindle is rotated by a drive gear (26) via an intermediate gear (24) which is mounted on a shaft (31) which is in turn mounted on a moving support (33) which is resiliently urged towards a rest position by return means (39). The wrench device also includes detector means (45) for detecting movement of said moving support (33). When a desired torque has been reached, the moving support (33) is driven away from its rest position by said drive gear (26), and said movement is detected by said detector means (45), which are arranged to then release the jaws of the spindle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 1986
    Date of Patent: September 27, 1988
    Assignee: S. A. Serac
    Inventor: Jean-Jacques Graffin
  • Patent number: 4662038
    Abstract: A clip for retaining thin plastics film material (6) in tension formed of a pair of elongate channel members (2,4) removably assembled together in inverted relationship. The film material passes through the fixing between opposed cooperating complementary sinuous surfaces (8,3;9,12) of the flanks of the channel members and in so doing passes over surface portions of the fixing at the entrance to the cooperating surfaces of each flank pair, which are exposed to direct radiation. To avoid degradation of the plastics at these surface portions, means (30,32) are provided on one of the channel members to cover or shield these surface portions from such direct radiation. The covering or shielding (30,32) may be integrally formed with one of the channel members of removably afixed thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1985
    Date of Patent: May 5, 1987
    Assignee: Serac Limited
    Inventor: David P. Walker
  • Patent number: 4579156
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a device permitting the cleaning of at least one filling head (3) containing a movable nonreturn valve (13) adapted to be held in the open position by a control rod (19) carried by a grid carrier sleeve (15), a fixed collector member (4) being disposed around each filling head, each collector member having an opening disposed plumb with the filling head and adapted to receive a closure member (9) having an annular collar (30) adapted to bear against the bottom part of the movable sleeve (15) in order to effect the opening of the valve, while an annular member (26) provides a seal against the inside wall (27) of the collector member (4). The device has application in particular to a turntable for filling by weight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 1984
    Date of Patent: April 1, 1986
    Assignee: SERAC S.A.
    Inventor: Jean-Jacques Graffin
  • Patent number: 4574853
    Abstract: In a preferred embodiment the jet divider device according to the invention comprises a series of frustoconical walls (2) having at the top a collar (3) projecting radially outwards, three radial arms (4) extending inwards and effecting the spacing of the members when a plurality of members of decreasing diameter are nested.The assembly is disposed in a grid-carrier sleeve of a filling head and produces a radial component of the flow. During the flowing of a pulpy product, the elements of the pulp which would tend to straddle the top edges of the different members are thus subjected to a radial force and entrained by the liquid to be packed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1984
    Date of Patent: March 11, 1986
    Assignee: Serac S.A.
    Inventor: A. Jean-Jacques Graffin
  • Patent number: 4297161
    Abstract: An apparatus for heat sealing composite lids, made of a laminate of a light ductile alloy coated with a layer of thermoweldable plastic material, on glass containers. The apparatus applies, under pressure, a flexible membrane onto said lid while disposed in position on the mouth of a glass container. The membrane is a simple sheet stretchingly supported by its outer periphery on a movably and hingedly supporting frame. The side of said membrane opposite said lid is subjected to a controlled heat flow, thus sealing the lid to the container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 1980
    Date of Patent: October 27, 1981
    Assignee: Serac
    Inventor: Andre J. Graffin
  • Patent number: 4230195
    Abstract: The method comprises the steps of sequentially taking containers filled in a multi-station filling machine, of weighing each of said taken containers, of comparing said weighing to a preset value for the filling devices of the filling machine and of establishing a correlation between each taken and weighed filled container and the corresponding filling station of the filling machine. In a filling machine comprising a rotation filling apparatus having n filling stations, the control device comprises at least a rotating transfer apparatus arranged in series with the rotating filling apparatus with interposition of at least an intermediary transfer wheel. The rotating transfer apparatus comprises n.sub.1 stations among which n.sub.1 -1 passive stations and a control weighing station provided with a balance, numbers n and n.sub.1 being incommensurable numbers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1978
    Date of Patent: October 28, 1980
    Assignee: Serac S.A.
    Inventor: Jean-Jacques Graffin