VACUUM SEALING APPLIANCE
A vacuum sealing appliance 1 for sealing food product or other articles in a flexible container, the appliance comprises a housing containing a roll of container material 19, an electric motor and associated drive system for causing the container material to automatically advance out of the housing at a predetermined length, a heat element 89 for creating seals on the container material, a vacuum chamber 39 for creating vacuum pressure within a section of container material, and a cutting mechanism 26 for cutting off the container material to create a sealed container containing the food product.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to electric appliances and, more particularly, to food preservation appliances of the type having a vacuum pressure sealing means for introducing vacuum pressure into a flexible container holding food product, and subsequently causing the container to be sealed.
Description of Related ArtVarious designs exist for vacuum sealing appliances that introduce vacuum pressure into a flexible container holding food product, and subsequently causing the container to be sealed. Such known designs require either predetermined sizes of containers for automatic function, or a manual mode carried out by the user for custom sizes.
It is undesirable to always use a predetermined size container for various reasons including waste of material. It is undesirable to operate such appliances manually due to inconvenience and potential for error by the user.
OBJECT OF THE PRESENT INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum sealing appliance having a variety of available pre-set sizes for automatic operation, as well as custom size mode.
These and other objects are achieved by the present invention disclosed herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the present invention, a vacuum sealing appliance for sealing food product or other articles in a flexible container, the appliance comprises a housing containing a roll of container material, an electric motor and associated drive system for causing the container material to advance out of the housing, a heat element for creating seals on the container material, a vacuum chamber for creating vacuum pressure within a section of container material, and a cutting mechanism for cutting off the container material to create a sealed container containing the food product.
Referring to the Drawing Figures, an appliance 1 according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing 2 having a frame portion 3 and a lid 4. A plurality of foot supports 9 are on the bottom surface of the fame portion 3 to facilitate resting the appliance 1 on a flat surface. A pair of protruding members 10, 11 extend from the rear side of the housing 2 for wrapping the electrical cord (not shown) of the type generally known to those skilled in the art for conveniently storing the cord when not in use. A release button 12 is on one side of the housing 2 which, when depressed by the user, will unlock an internal locking mechanism that retains the lid 4 in a closed position during operation. The lid 4 is pivotally attached to the frame portion 3 via pair of hinges 20. A hose port 13 is located on the front of the housing 2. A control panel 5 is positioned on the lid 4 and has a plurality of lights 6, an LCD 7, and a plurality of buttons 8. The lights and LCD display information relating to the operation of the appliance. The various buttons are used to input information regarding specific functions related to operation of the appliance, as explained below.
On the front of the housing frame portion 3 is a beveled edge 15 which forms a ramp for feeding container material into the appliance 1. The edge 16 of the lid 4 aligns with but does not touch the beveled edge 15 in order to leave a gap 17 between the two to provide space of feeding the container material into the appliance 1.
Referring to
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As shown in
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Operation of the appliance 1 will now be described with particular reference to
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Referring to
At this point, a user can insert food product or another object to be sealed in the container material. The user manually holds together the two layers of material at the un-sealed end 93 and inserts the unsealed end 93 into the appliance 1, and then the vacuum frame 37 and silicone bar 40 are closed again as shown in
During insertion the infra red sensors 41, 42, 43 detect the presence of the opaque markings 94 printed along the edges of the container material as shown in
As the container material markings 94 advance past the sensors 41, 42, 43, signals generated are processed by the controller and the controller initiates the vacuum pressure function. As part of this function, the vacuum frame 37 lowers over the chamber 45. Since the edge of the container material has been stopped by the stoppers 34, the edge remains in the chamber 45 which is now subjected to vacuum pressure. After suction is applied until there is minimal air left within the container material, the heat sealing bar 89 is activated and causes opposing surfaces of the container material to fuse together forming a sealed edge.
While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed herein, it is understood that various modification can be made without departing from the scope of the presently claimed invention.
Claims
1. An electric appliance for forming a vacuum-sealed container from a roll of flexible material around an object, said appliance comprising
- a housing adapted to receive a roll of flexible, two-ply material that is formed from two layers that are joined at their longitudinal side edges to form a continuous roll of material having an opening at each end in a flattened, tube shape;
- a driven roller for advancing said material from said roll by frictionally engaging part of said roll of material;
- a control circuit for controlling operations of said appliance and for automatically controlling operation of said driven roller so that said material is advanced from said roll in a predetermined length;
- a heating bar for applying heat to a section of said material perpendicular to its longitudinal side edges in order to seal together the two layers to form a first sealed edge;
- a cutting mechanism for cutting said material along said first sealed edge so that a container section of material is separated from said roll; and
- a vacuum pump for applying vacuum pressure to an opened edge of said container section of material.
2. An appliance according to claim 1, further comprising
- at least one sensor arranged to detect the presence and location of an edge of container material inserted into said appliance and adapted to generate a signal and transmit it to said control circuit.
3. A method of forming a vacuum-sealed container from a roll of flexible material around an object, said method comprising
- providing an appliance having a housing adapted to receive a roll of flexible, two-ply material that is formed from two layers that are joined at their longitudinal side edges to form a continuous roll of material having an opening at each end in a flattened, tube shape, said appliance having a control circuit for controlling operations of said appliance;
- activating an electrical switch on said appliance causing a driven roller to automatically advance said material from said roll by frictionally engaging part of said roll of material to a predetermined length;
- applying heat to a section of said material perpendicular to its longitudinal side edges in order to seal together the two layers to form a first sealed edge;
- cutting said material along said first sealed edge so that a container section of material is separated from said roll;
- removing said container section from said appliance;
- placing an object into said container section through an opened edge of said container section;
- inserting said opened edge of said container section into said appliance;
- applying vacuum pressure to said opened edge of said container section of material;
- applying heat to said container section at its opened edge in order to form a second sealed edge;
- cutting said container section along its second sealed edge; and
- removing said container section from said appliance.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 25, 2009
Publication Date: Apr 22, 2010
Inventors: JOSEPH W. ZAKOWSKI (New Canaan, CT), Roger H. Redin (Stamford, CT), Mary C. Olsen (New Canaan, CT), Caitlin D. Noonan (Monroe, NY), Vincent J. Cefalu (Sea Cliff, NY)
Application Number: 12/567,375
International Classification: B65B 31/00 (20060101);