SYSTEM FOR FORMING PACKAGES FROM FILM MATERIAL
An apparatus for forming sealed pouches comprising: a rotatable base forming drum having an outer surface with a plurality of base tooling cavities in the outer surface; a base stock supply mechanism for feeding a base stock film of material along a base stock path, a portion of the base stock path extending along the outer surface of the base forming drum; a system for displacing the base stock film into the base tooling cavities to form a pocket of base stock film material within each base tooling cavity; a material feed mechanism for feeding at least one material into each pocket of the base stock film; a rotatable lid forming drum having an outer surface with a plurality of lid tooling cavities in the outer surface; a lid stock supply mechanism for feeding a lid stock film of material along a lid stock path, a portion of the lid stock path extending along the outer surface of the lid forming drum; a system for displacing the lid stock film into the lid tooling cavities to form a lid recess of lid stock film material within each lid tooling cavity; a material feed mechanism for feeding a material into each lid recess of the lid stock film; and mechanism bringing the base stock web and the lid stock web into contact under pressure. In one form, the material fed into the lid recesses is a hardenable material and cooling is used to cool the lid recesses.
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This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/238,494, filed Oct. 7, 2015, entitled “System for Forming Packages From Film Material,” and U.S. application for patent Ser. No. 15/004,409, filed Jan. 22, 2016 entitled System for Forming Packages from Film Material, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth.
TECHNICAL FIELDThis disclosure relates generally to a package forming system and, more particularly, to a system utilizing a rotary drum to thermoform pouches from a continuous web and a method of forming and filling the pouches.
BACKGROUNDMachines or systems are known for forming pouches or packages from two continuous webs in which a first or base stock film is thermoformed to define a pocket that may be filled to some extent with one or more products or materials and subsequently closed by a second or lid stock film.
To form the pouches, the base stock film is fed from a supply roll and heated to a temperature sufficient to allow thermoforming. The heated film is continuously wrapped or routed around a base forming drum or roller having a plurality of cavities along an outer surface thereof and a vacuum is applied within each cavity to pull a portion of the heated film into each cavity to form a plurality of base stock pockets as the film is fed and the drum rotated. After the base stock pockets are formed and as the base stock film is continuing to be fed and the drum rotated, each of the base stock pockets may be filled with one or more desired products or materials while the pocket is still positioned within its cavity on the drum.
As the base stock film is being fed from its supply roll, the lid stock film is fed from a supply roll towards the base forming drum and into contact with the base stock film to seal each base stock pocket after the pocket has been filled to a desired level. To do so, any combination of heat, pressure, and/or a solvent may be applied to either or both of the base stock film and the lid stock film before or as the two films are brought together to continuously seal each pocket and form each sealed pouch or package. The combined base stock and lid stock films are subsequently cut to separate the individual pouches. An example of a machine and a process for forming the pouches is described further in U.S. Pat. No. 3,218,776, which is incorporated herein by reference.
When forming pouches or packages that contain multiple materials that are to be separated (e.g., a powder and a liquid), the systems used to form the pouches may utilize three or more continuous webs. In one known system for forming pouches from three continuous webs, the base stock film is drawn from a supply roll and wrapped around or engages a heated roller and then around a base forming drum and drawn into cavities to form the pockets as described above. As the base stock film and base forming drum continue to be rotated, one or more desired first products or materials may be dispensed into the pockets formed within the cavities of the base forming drum.
As the pockets in the base stock film are being formed and filled, lid base stock film is drawn from a supply roll and wrapped around or engages a heated roller where the film is heated to a temperature sufficient to allow thermoforming. The heated lid base stock film is wrapped or routed around a lid forming drum or roller having a plurality of cavities along an outer surface thereof and a vacuum is applied within each cavity to pull a portion of the heated film into each cavity to define the pockets as the film is fed and the drum rotated. As the lid base stock film and lid forming drum continue to be rotated, one or more desired second products or materials may be dispensed into the pockets formed within the cavities of the lid forming drum.
As the pockets in the lid base stock film are being formed and filled, lid closing stock film is fed from a supply roll towards the lid base stock film to seal each pocket of the lid base stock after the pocket has been filled to a desired level. To do so, any combination of heat, pressure, and/or a solvent may be applied to either or both of the lid base stock film and the lid closing stock film before or as the two films are brought together to continuously seal each pocket and form a sealed lid sub-package or structure having products or materials sealed between the layers of film that form the lid sub-package.
The sealed lid sub-package is then routed towards the base stock forming drum and the base stock film. As described above, any combination of heat, pressure, and/or a solvent may be applied to either or both of the base stock film and the sealed lid sub-package before or as the two structures are brought together to continuously seal each base stock pocket with the lid sub-package and form a sealed pouch having multiple products or materials sealed therein. The combined base stock and lid sub-packages are then cut to separate the individual pouches.
In another known system, pouches may be formed from four continuous webs. In doing so, the system is similar to that described above that uses three continuous webs but includes an additional continuous web that is applied to seal the base stock pockets before securing together the base sub-packages and the lid sub-packages. More specifically, base stock pockets are formed and filled as described above. An additional sealing film is secured to the base stock film using a combination of heat, pressure and/or solvent to seal the base stock pockets and form base sub-packages. After the lid sub-packages are formed as described above, the base sub-packages and the lid sub-packages are secured together to form the sealed pouches having different products or materials sealed therein. In one embodiment, the base sub-packages and the lid sub-packages may be secured together using a combination of heat, pressure and/or solvent. In another embodiment, the base sub-packages and the lid sub-packages may be secured together using an adhesive. After securing together the base sub-packages and the lid sub-packages, the webs forming the pouches may be cut to separate the individual pouches.
SUMMARYAn apparatus for forming sealed pouches comprising: a rotatable base forming drum having an outer surface with a plurality of base tooling cavities in the outer surface; a base stock supply mechanism for feeding a base stock film of material along a base stock path, a portion of the base stock path extending along the outer surface of the base forming drum; a system for displacing the base stock film into the base tooling cavities to form a pocket of base stock film material within each base tooling cavity; a material feed mechanism for feeding at least one material into each pocket of the base stock film; a rotatable lid forming drum having an outer surface with a plurality of lid tooling cavities in the outer surface; a lid stock supply mechanism for feeding a lid stock film of material along a lid stock path, a portion of the lid stock path extending along the outer surface of the lid forming drum; a system for displacing the lid stock film into the lid tooling cavities to form a lid recess of lid stock web material within each lid tooling cavity; a material feed mechanism for feeding a material into each lid recess of the lid stock film; and mechanism bringing the base stock film and lid stock film into contact under pressure. In one form, the material fed into the lid recesses is a hardenable material and cooling is used to cool the lid recesses.
In some instances, such as when the pouches 100 are utilized for cleaning products, the film may be formed of a soluble material such as a water soluble film. In one example, the film may be formed of a polyvinyl alcohol material. Other materials are contemplated. Pocket 101 and recesses 111 may be filled with any desired products and/or materials. As depicted in
The base forming drum 21 includes a plurality of base tooling cavities 22 extending inwardly along the outer surface 23 of the drum. To increase the efficiency of the system 10, the base forming drum 21 may include a three-dimensional array of cavities 22 around the outer surface 23 so each manufacturing step operates relative to a plurality of horizontally aligned (into the page in
A vacuum system indicated generally at 35, including conduits 36, seen in
The heater system 25 is depicted as a rotatable base stock heater roller 26 positioned adjacent the base forming drum 21 and includes an internal heater to heat the base stock film 70 prior to it contacting the base forming drum and being drawn into cavity 22 to form the pocket 101. In one embodiment, the heater system 25 may be configured as a cartridge-type heater within the base stock heater roller 26 but other types of heaters, either internal or external to a roller, may be used if desired. For example, in another embodiment, a radiant-type heater external to a roller may be used.
A product feed mechanism 31 is positioned generally adjacent the upper section 24 of the base forming drum 21 to supply one or more products and/or materials into each pocket 101 as the pocket together with base stock film 70 move along with the upper surface of the rotatable drum 21. The product feed mechanism 31 may be fixed and the base forming drum 21 may be either intermittently stopped or rotated slowly as the material is fed into pockets 101. In other instances, the product feed mechanism 31 may include a drive mechanism (not shown) to permit the product feed mechanism to move with the pockets 101 as the pockets move during rotation of the base forming drum 21. The product feed mechanism 31 may be configured to feed any type, number or combination of products and/or materials including a solid, a powder, a liquid including paste or wax-type products, pills, tablets, or even other pouched products.
The second section 40 includes a rotatable lid forming drum 41, a heater system 45, a supply roll of continuous web material that forms the lid stock film 75, a lid stock product feed mechanism 51, and a lid stock wetting system 60. The lid forming drum 41 includes a plurality of lid tooling cavities 42 extending inwardly along the outer surface 43 of the lid forming drum. As with the cavities 22 of base forming drum 21, the cavities 42 of lid forming drum 41 may be configured as a three-dimensional array upon the outer surface 43 of the lid forming drum.
A vacuum system generally similar to the vacuum system 35 of the base forming drum 21 indicated generally at 65 is operatively connected to each of the cavities 42 of the lid forming drum to create a vacuum within each cavity to draw a portion of the lid stock film 75 into the cavities 42 to form one or more lid recesses 110. Conduits 66 of the vacuum system 65 are depicted schematically in
The heater system 45 is depicted in
A lid stock product feed mechanism 51 is positioned generally adjacent the upper section 44 of the lid forming drum 41 to supply one or more products or materials into each lid recess 111 as the recesses together with lid stock film 75 move along with the upper surface of the rotatable drum 41. As depicted, the lid stock product feed mechanism 51 is fixed but it may include a drive mechanism (not shown) to permit the lid stock product feed mechanism to move with the lid recesses 111 as the recesses move along with the lid forming drum 41. It is contemplated that the lid stock product feed mechanism 51 may be configured as a hardenable material feed mechanism to feed any type of product or material in the form of a hardenable material such as a liquid, a paste or a wax-like material that hardens or solidifies after delivery. However, it may also be configured to deliver other materials such as solid objects, or the like that need not change phase.
Lid stock wetting system 60 is positioned adjacent the lid forming drum 41 at a position after (i.e., downstream from) the lid stock product feed mechanism 51 and before the lid stock film 75 seals the base stock film 70 at the base forming drum 21. The lid stock wetting system 60 may apply a solvent to the lid stock film 75 to increase its tackiness to assist in adhering the lid stock film 75 to the base stock film 70. To do so, the solvent may be provided through a wetting system or reservoir 62 to a wetting roller 61 that engages the lid stock film 75. In an embodiment in which the base stock film 70 and lid stock film 75 are formed of a polyvinyl alcohol material, the solvent for the lid stock wetting system 60 may be water.
In an alternate embodiment depicted in
As seen in
Returning to the embodiment illustrated in
A slitting knife 15 may be positioned after or downstream from the location at which the base stock film 70 and the lid stock film 75 are secured together to slit the combined films in a circumferential direction along the outer surface of base forming drum 21 to create a plurality of circumferential strips that each include a plurality of pouches 100. A rotary knife 16 may be positioned after or downstream from the slitting knife 15 to cut the combined films laterally relative to the direction of rotation of the base forming drum 21 to cut the combined films into the individual pouches 100. The individual pouches 100 are discharged onto a conveyor 17 for subsequent processing.
Optionally, when a hardenable material is delivered to the lid recesses, a cooling system indicated generally at 55 may be associated with the lid forming drum 41 to cool portions of the drum or a portion of a product or material in the lid recesses 111 formed in the lid stock film 75 within the drum cavities. In one embodiment depicted in
Referring to
In instances where cooling is employed, if desired, the outer surface 43 of lid forming drum 41 may include an insulative material 47 thereon as depicted in
The insulative material 47 operates to insulate the lid stock film 75 from the lid forming drum 41 except within the cavities 42. More specifically, as the heated lid stock film 75 meets the lid forming drum 41, it contacts the insulative material 47 along the outer surface 43 of the lid forming drum rather than contacting the outer surface itself. Upon applying a vacuum through conduits 66 of vacuum system 65, the heated lid stock film 75 is drawn into the cavities 42. Once the lid stock film 75 contacts the cooled cavities 42, the portions of the film that are drawn into the cavities 42 to define the lid recesses are cooled. The portions of the lid stock film 75 that form flanges 112 contact the insulative material 47 outside of the cavities 42 and are not cooled by the cooling system 55 due to the insulative properties of the insulative material 47. This aids in adhering the films 70 and 75 together to form pouches 100.
If desired, in some instances, an insulative material (not shown) may be applied to the outer surface 23 of the base forming drum 21. The insulative material may be similar or identical to insulative material 47 described above that may be applied to the lid forming drum 41.
Turning again to
As the pockets 101 in the base stock film 70 are being formed and filled, the lid stock film 75 is fed from supply roll 50 and passes around a portion of rotatable lid stock heater roller 46 and is heated to a temperature sufficient to allow thermoforming. As with the example described above with respect to the base stock film 70, the lid stock film 75 may be heated to a temperature of approximately 160° F. though other temperatures may be used. The heated lid stock film 75 is routed around the lid forming drum 41 and a vacuum applied to each cavity 42 pulls a portion of the heated lid stock film 75 into each cavity to form the lid recesses 111 of the pouches 100.
As the lid forming drum 41 and the lid stock film 75 are rotated, the lid stock product feed mechanism 51 operates to deliver material to each lid stock recess 111 to a desired level. The material may be a hardenable material such as a wax- or paste-like detergent in the form of a heated liquid or other suitable material. The cooling system 55, if employed, is operative to cool the hardenable material within the lid stock recesses 111 sufficiently so that the lid stock film 75 may be further processed without movement of the liquid material within the recesses.
In the example in which the cooling system 55 is internally located within the lid forming drum 41, the lid cooling system is operative to cool the heated lid stock film 75 and the material within the recesses 111 as desired. In the example in which the cooling system 55 is located externally from the lid forming drum 41, the cooling system may direct air or another gas towards the material within the lid recesses 111 to provide cooling. In one example, the liquid material may be sufficiently cooled if a somewhat solidified layer or surface film has been formed about its outer surface such that it adheres to itself to form a unitary element around the liquid interior. It does not flow out of the lid recesses as the lid stock film rotates around the lid forming drum 41. In addition, such as when a solid material is delivered to the recesses 111, it may be desirable for the material within the recesses 111 to be sufficiently cool so that it does not react with the material within the pocket 101 as the base stock film 70 and the lid stock film 75 are brought together during the sealing process described. Depending on the material delivered to the lid recesses 111 or the properties of that material, it may not be necessary to include cooling of the lid stock drum 41 or the lid stock film 75 in the process of completing filled pouches 100.
After the lid recesses 111 in the lid stock film 75 have been filled, the lid stock film may be wetted by the lid stock wetting system 60. In doing so, water or another solvent may be applied to the lid stock film 75 so that the film becomes sufficiently tacky to assist in securing the lid stock film 75 to the base stock film 70 along the portions defining flanges 103 and 112.
The base forming drum 21 and the lid forming drum 41 are positioned in close proximity to apply pressure and force the base stock film 70 and the lid stock film 75 into contact with sufficient pressure to cause the two films to bond together at flanges 103 and 112 to seal the pockets 101 and form the pouches 100. The combined base stock film 70 and lid stock film 75 continues to travel around the base forming drum 21 until reaching the slitting knife 15 and the rotary knife 16 which cut the combined films into the individual pouches 100. The individual pouches 100 may then be discharged along conveyor 17 for further processing.
Although the lid 110 is depicted with two distinct lid recesses 111 that include material therein, the lid may include any number of recesses with material therein including one or more.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing description provides examples of the disclosed system and technique. However, it is contemplated that other implementations of the disclosure may differ in detail from the foregoing examples. All references to the disclosure or examples thereof are intended to reference the particular example being discussed at that point and are not intended to imply any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure more generally. All language of distinction and disparagement with respect to certain features is intended to indicate a lack of preference for those features, but not to exclude such from the scope of the disclosure entirely unless otherwise indicated.
Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
Accordingly, this disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
Claims
1. An apparatus for forming sealed pouches comprising:
- a rotatable base forming drum having an outer surface with a plurality of base tooling cavities in the outer surface;
- a base stock supply mechanism for feeding a base stock film along a base stock path, a portion of the base stock path extending along the outer surface of the base forming drum;
- a system for displacing the base stock film into the base tooling cavities to form a pocket of base stock film within each base tooling cavity;
- a material feed mechanism for feeding at least one material into each said pocket of said base stock film;
- a rotatable lid forming drum having an outer surface with a plurality of lid tooling cavities in the outer surface;
- a lid stock supply mechanism for feeding a lid stock film along a lid stock path, a portion of the lid stock path extending along the outer surface of the lid forming drum;
- a system for displacing the lid stock film into the lid tooling cavities to form a lid recess of lid stock film within each lid tooling cavity;
- a material feed mechanism for feeding a material into each said lid recess of said lid stock film; and
- mechanism bringing said base stock film and said lid stock film into contact under pressure.
2. An apparatus for forming sealed pouches as claimed in claim 1, wherein said material feed mechanism for feeding material into each said lid recesses is a hardenable material feed mechanism for feeding hardenable material.
3. An apparatus for forming sealed pouches as claimed in claim 2, further comprising,
- a cooling system associated with the lid forming drum to provide cooling along a length of the lid stock path to assist in cooling the hardenable material fed by the hardenable material feed mechanism.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the cooling system includes cooling conduits within the lid forming drum which provides cooling to the lid tooling cavities.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the cooling system includes cooling conduits to direct a gas towards the lid tooling cavities of the lid forming drum.
6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the cooling conduits are positioned downstream of the hardenable material feed mechanism.
7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the base stock path and the lid stock path intersect at a location at which the base forming drum and the lid forming drum are adjacent each other and said mechanism bringing said lid stock film and base stock film into contact under pressure forms said sealed pouches.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein one of said base forming drum and lid forming drum is resiliently mounted for applying pressure against the other drum.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the system for displacing said base stock film and said lid stock film includes a vacuum system for generating a vacuum within the base drum cavities to draw the base stock film into the base tooling cavities to form a pocket within each base tooling cavity, and a vacuum system for generating a vacuum within the lid tooling cavities to draw the lid stock film into the lid tooling cavities to form a lid recess within each lid tooling cavity.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, including a base stock heater to heat said base stock film and a lid stock heater to heat said lid stock film.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, including a lid stock wetting system to apply a solvent to the lid stock film before bringing said films into contact under pressure.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the base stock path and the lid stock path intersect at a location at which the base forming drum and the lid forming drum are adjacent each other and said mechanism bringing said lid stock film and said base stock film into contact under pressure forms said sealed pouches.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said apparatus includes cutting mechanism to cut said films to form individual pouches after bringing said films into contact under pressure.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein one of said base forming drum and lid forming drum is resiliently mounted for applying pressure against the other of said base forming drum and lid forming drum.
15. A method of forming sealed product pouches employing an apparatus having:
- a rotatable base forming drum having an outer surface with a plurality of base tooling cavities in the outer surface;
- a base stock supply mechanism for feeding a base stock film along a base stock path, a portion of the base stock path extending along the outer surface of the base forming drum;
- a system for displacing the base stock film into the base tooling cavities to form a pocket of base stock film within each base tooling cavity;
- a material feed mechanism for feeding at least one material into each said pocket of said base stock film;
- a rotatable lid forming drum having an outer surface with a plurality of lid tooling cavities in the outer surface;
- a lid stock supply mechanism for feeding a lid stock film of along a lid stock path, a portion of the lid stock path extending along the outer surface of the lid forming drum;
- a system for displacing the lid stock film into the lid tooling cavities to form a lid recess of lid stock film within each lid tooling cavity;
- a material feed mechanism for feeding a material into each said lid recess of said lid stock film; and
- mechanism for bringing said base stock film and said lid stock film into contact under pressure;
- said method comprising:
- passing said base stock film over said base forming drum and forming said pockets therein filling said pockets with material using said material feed mechanism associated with said base stock pockets;
- passing said lid stock film over said lid forming drum and forming said lid recesses therein;
- filling said lid recesses with material using said material feed mechanism associated with said lid recesses;
- bringing said base stock film and lid stock film into contact under pressure.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the base stock path and the lid stock path intersect at a location at which the base forming drum and the lid forming drum are adjacent each other and said mechanism bringing said lid stock film and base stock film into contact under pressure forms said sealed pouches.
17. The method of claim 16 in which the apparatus includes a base stock heater to heat said base stock film and a lid stock heater to heat said lid stock web, the method further comprising heating said base stock film and lid stock film.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein said material feed mechanism for feeding material into each said lid recesses is a hardenable material feed mechanism for feeding hardenable material, the method further comprising feeding a hardenable material into said lid recesses.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein a cooling system associated with the lid forming drum to provide cooling along a length of the lid stock path to the steps further comprising providing cooling along the length of the lid stock path.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein said apparatus includes cutting mechanism to cut said films to form individual pouches, the steps further comprising cutting said films to form individual pouches.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 1, 2016
Publication Date: Apr 13, 2017
Applicant: Cloud Packaging Solutions, LLC (Des Plaines, IL)
Inventors: Alex Waterman (Mount Prospect, IL), Anthony Crivolio (Elk Grove Village, IL), Donn D. Hartman (Hawthorne Woods, IL)
Application Number: 15/225,410