Patent Grant
7669386
This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. ยง119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 096135705 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Sep. 26, 2007, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for filling an air enclosure with air, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for filling a continuous air filling type air enclosure with air.
Generally, when an article is packed material is always stuffed between the article and the container, typically a soft material such as foam or Styrofoam to provide the article with protective cushioning. However, foam and Styrofoam cause environmental protection problems. As environmental consciousness is currently rising Styrofoam is not a suitable cushioning material.
To solve the problem mentioned above, an air packing bag made by hot-sealing two sheets of thin plastic film is made. This provides cushioning protection for a packed article while it is being shaken. Air bag packing largely constitutes a plurality of air cylinders independent of one another, where each air cylinder has its own independent air inlet. Inflation must be carried out on the air inlet of each air cylinder, so that the air filling process consumes much time.
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The present invention is proposed to improve the process of filling an air packing bag with air, allowing the air to be filled with air continuously to save filling time and decreasing filling cost of the air packing bag.
An apparatus for filling a continuous air filling type air enclosure with air according to the present invention is used to fill an air cylinder film sheet with air. The air cylinder film sheet comprises two outer films, a plurality of air cylinders and a plurality of air inlets. The plurality of air cylinders are formed by adhering the two outer films to each other by means of hot sealing, and the plurality of air inlets are positioned on one end of the plurality of air cylinders. Each air inlet corresponds to an air cylinder. The air filling apparatus comprises:
The present invention also proposes a method for filling a continuous air filling type air enclosure with air, comprising the following steps:
The present invention integrates the manufacturing flow of the air filling passageway and the manufacturing flow of the air filling of the air cylinders to allow the two outer films to be adhered to each other by means of hot sealing, forming the plurality of air cylinders. The first hot sealing seat is then directly used to adhere the two outer films to each other by means of hot sealing to form the air filling passageway and in the meantime the air filling process can continue with the plurality of air cylinders. This not only saves air filling time, but also improves air filling efficiency of the air enclosure can be elevated and reduces labor cost filling the air enclosure.
The present invention can be more fully understood by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:
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An apparatus for filling a continuous air filling type air enclosure comprises an air cylinder film sheet 2, an air filling module 7, a clamping apparatus 73 and a working platform 6.
Two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b are stacked together vertically.
Hot sealing is carried out along hot sealing lines 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d so as to adhere the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to each other to form a plurality of air storable air cylinders 20 and a plurality of air inlets 2e on one end of the plurality of air cylinders 20, where each air inlet 2e corresponds to each air cylinder 20.
Working platform 6 is used for mounting air cylinder film sheet 2 to carry out the hot sealing process. A first hot sealing seat 61 and a second hot sealing seat 62 are mounted on working platform 6. The first hot sealing seat carries out hot sealing along hot sealing lines 3d and 3e so as to adhere the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to each other and form an air filling passageway 5 at one side of the plurality of air cylinders 20, where air filling passageway 5 is connected with air cylinders 20 through air inlets 2e. Furthermore, the second hot sealing carries out hot sealing along hot sealing line 3f so as to adhere the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to each other to seal air filling passageway 5.
Air filling module 7 comprises air filling head 71 provided with inclined guide face 711 used for guiding the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to pull apart outward to open air filling passageway 5, allowing air filling head 71 to penetrate into air filling passageway 5 in order to fill air filling passageway 5. In addition, air filling module 7 further comprises compressor 72 used for supplying the air needed for the air filling process.
Clamping apparatus 73 is provided with upper and lower parts respectively disposed at upper and lower sides of air filling head 71, used for pressing the two sheets of outer films 2a and 2b tightly to allow the plurality of air filling head 71 to be positioned in air filling passageway 5, formed by the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to close air filling passageway 5 and prevent air escaping.
An apparatus for filling a continuous air filling type air enclosure with air disclosed by the present invention may further comprise furling wheel 81 and conveying rollers 82, where furling wheel 81 is used for rolling up the air cylinder film sheet 2 when not filled with air, not expanded and not hot-sealed to form air filling passageway 5, and conveying rollers 82 are used to convey air cylinder film sheet 2 rolled up on furling wheel 81 to working platform 6 for processing.
In addition, the present invention further comprises sensor 91 and vibrator 92, in which the sensor is disposed on working platform 6 and used for detecting the displacement volume of air cylinder film sheet 2, and vibrator 92 is mounted on working platform 6 and used for patting the plurality of air cylinders 20, enabling each air cylinder 20 to be filled with air uniformly.
When the air filling process is carried out, inclined guide face 711 of air filling head 71 first guides the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b so that they pull apart outwards, allowing air filling head 71 to move to a place between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b, and the first hot sealing seat 61 is then used to hot-seal the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b along the hot sealing lines 3d and 3e so as to form air filling passageway 5 at one side of the plurality of air cylinders 20. After air filling passageway 5 is formed, the second hot sealing seat 62 and the clamping apparatus 73 are lowered down simultaneously, and the clamping apparatus 73 is used to press the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b tightly to allow the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to be attached tightly onto a surface of air filling head 71. Thereafter, air in compressor 72 is filled into air filling passageway 5, and air in air filling passageway 5 opens sequentially each air inlet 2e connected with air filling passageway 5 and is filled into air cylinders 20 to cause them to be filled with air and expanded via the air passageways 14.
After the air filling is completed, air filling head 71 is moved rearward to withdraw from air filling passageway 5 and in the meantime, the second hot sealing seat 62 is lowered down to carry out hot sealing along hot sealing line 3f so as to adhere the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to each other to seal air filling passageway 5 to prevent the air in the air cylinders from leaking.
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In this embodiment, the clamping apparatus 73 may further be disposed with an air inflation shaft 731. When air is filled into air inflation shaft 731 to cause it to be filled with air and expanded, the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b are pressed tightly to cause the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to be attached tightly onto the surface of air filling head 71. After air cylinder 20 is filled with air and expanded, the air in air inflation shaft 731 can be drained out to loose the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to allow the two sheets of outer film to be loosened from the surface of air filling head 71.
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An apparatus for filling a continuous air filling type air enclosure with air comprises air cylinder film sheet 2, air filling module 7, clamping apparatus 73 and working platform 6.
Air cylinder film sheet 2 comprises two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b, two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b, a plurality of air cylinders 20 and a plurality of air inlets 2e.
The two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b are stacked together vertically.
The two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b are laid between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b, and the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b are placed slightly below the inside top of the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b. In addition, heat resistant material 1c is spread between the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b as an air passable passageway.
Hot sealing is carried out along hot lines 3a, 3b and 3c so as to adhere the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to each other as well as the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b to each other, to form the plurality of air storable air cylinders 20 between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b. Furthermore, hot sealing is used to generate hot sealing points 2c so as to adhere outer film 2a and inner film 1a to each other as well as outer film 2b and inner film 1b to each other. After heat resistant material 1c is spread between the two sheets of inner films 1a and 1b, they are not adhered to each other even by hot sealing to form a plurality of air inlets 2e between the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b, and each air inlet 2e is connected to each air cylinder 20.
According to the air cylinder film sheet 2 disclosed by the present invention, each air inlet 2e is connected to air passageway 14, in which air passageway 14 is formed between the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b by adhering the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b to each other by means of hot sealing, after heat resistant material 1c is spread between the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b.
Heat resistant material 1c is spread sequentially at intervals between the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b, for example, by means of heat resistant resin or ink printing. The two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b are still not adhered to each other to form air inlets 2e and air passageways 14.
Air filling module 7 comprises air filling head 71 provided with inclined guide face 711 used for separating the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b, allowing air filling head 71 to penetrate air filling passageway 5 in order to fill the passageway with air. In addition, air filling passageway 7 further comprises compressor 72, used to provide the air needed for the air filling process.
Clamping apparatus 73 provided with upper and lower parts respectively mounted at upper and lower sides of air filling head 71, and used for pressing the two sheets of outer films 2a and 2b to each other tightly to allow the plurality of air filling heads 71 to be positioned in air filling passageway 5, formed by the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b, ensuring air filling passageway 5 does not leak.
An apparatus for filling a continuous air filling type air enclosure with air disclosed by the present invention may further comprise furling wheel 81 and conveying rollers 82, where furling wheel 81 is used for rolling up air cylinder film sheet 2 when not filled with air, not expanded and not hot-sealed to form air filling passageway 5, and conveying rollers 82 are used to convey air cylinder film sheet 2 rolled up on furling wheel 81 to working platform 6 for processing.
In addition, the present invention further comprises sensor 91 and vibrator 92, where the sensor is mounted on working platform 6 and used for detecting the displacement volume of air cylinder film sheet 2, and vibrator 92 is mounted on working platform 6 and used for patting the plurality of air cylinders 20 to enable each air cylinder 20 to be filled uniformly with air.
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When the air filling is carried out, inclined guide face 711 of air filling head 71 first separates the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to allow air filling head 71 to move to a place between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b. The first hot sealing seat 61 is then used to hot-seal the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b along hot sealing lines 3d and 3e, so as to form air filling passageway 5 at one side of the plurality of air cylinders 20. After air filling passageway 5 is formed, clamping apparatus 73 is lowered to press the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b tightly, attaching the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b firmly to the surface of air filling head 71. Thereafter, air in compressor 72 is then pumped into air filling passageway 5 to cause the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to separate, whilst the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b are forced apart through hot sealing points 2c so as to open each air inlet 2e connected by air filling passageway 5 to enable the air in air filling passageway 5 to be filled into air cylinder 20 to cause it to be filled with air and expanded via the air passageway 14.
After air cylinders 20 are filled with air and expanded, the internal air pressure of each air cylinder 20 compresses the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b in order to attach it firmly to the outer film 2a or 2b, covering air passageway 14 and shielding each air cylinder 20 to prevent the air in air cylinder 20 leaking. This way, if there is damage to any air cylinder 20, the structure disclosed by the present invention can prevent air in other air cylinders 20 from being leaked out, and maintain the bag's shock absorbing effect.
In the description mentioned above, after air cylinder 20 is filled with air and expanded, the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b may be compressed by the air in air cylinder 20 to cover air passageway 14, instead of attached to the side of the outer film 2a or 2b to shield each air cylinder 20, in order to prevent the air in air cylinder 20 from leaking.
After parts of air cylinders 20 of the air cylinder film sheet 2 are filled with air and expanded, air cylinder film sheet 2 starts to move, causing the air-filled and expanded air cylinders 20 to separate from working platform 6, and causing the empty and unexpanded air cylinders to enter working platform 6. Meanwhile, sensor 91 is used to detect the displacement volume of air cylinder film sheet 2 to ensure the displacement volume of detected air cylinder film sheet 2 is neither too great nor so little as to be unable to carry out continuously the air filling process of empty and unexpanded air cylinders 20. This reduces air filling time by maintaining continuous air pressure, and reduces the time consumed by the entire process, lowering the production cost of the air enclosure.
A structure disclosed by the present invention further comprises cutting seat 63 disposed on one side of working platform 6 (see
The description mentioned above is to be understood as explaining that air filling head 71 is first moved to a place between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b, and then the first hot sealing seat 61 is then used to hot-seal the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to form air filling passageway 5. However, it may also be that the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b are first adhered to each other through the first hot sealing seat 61 to form air filling passageway 5 and air filling head 71 is then moved into air filling passageway 5. The air enclosure manufacturing process disclosed by the present invention is therefore not limited to this description.
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If air cylinder film sheet 2 is not hot-sealed along hot sealing liner 3a, the first hot sealing seat 61 can be made U-shaped and hot sealing is carried out along the hot sealing lines 3a, 3d and 3e so as to hot-seal the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to form air filling passageway 5 at one side of the plurality of air cylinders.
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In this embodiment the filling apparatus further comprises cutting knife 712 positioned at one side of air filling head 71, and the direction used by cutting knife 712 to cut the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b is opposite to the direction for air filling head 71 to fill air filling passageway 5; this is also means that the direction used b cutting knife 712 to cut the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b is opposite to the direction of in which air cylinder film sheet 2 is conveyed, and the direction for air filling head 71 to fill the air passageway 5 is the same as the direction in which air cylinder film sheet 2 is conveyed. If air cylinder film sheet 2 is hot-sealed along hot sealing line 3d in advance, the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b are first separated by cutting along the hot sealing line 3d through the cutting knife 712 while being filled with air, to allow air filling head 71 to be moved between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b. Next, clamping apparatus 73 is used to compress the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b tightly, enabling the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to be attached firmly to the surface of air filling head 71 in order to carry out the air filling process.
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An air filling apparatus disclosed by the present invention further comprises at least one hot pressing node 20a and at least one circular loop portion 20b positioned on air cylinders 20, in which hot pressing node 20a is formed by adhering the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to each other by means of hot sealing, and each circular loop portion 20b is wrapped around each pressing node 20a. In addition, circular loop portions 20b placed on the two adjacent air cylinders 20 are interlaced and not connected to each other, but each circular loop portion 20b of the identical air cylinder 20 is connected with each other. Therefore, each circular loop portion 20a placed on air cylinder 20 is filled with air and expanded with air cylinder 20 when air cylinder 20 is filled with air and expanded. When the air-filled and expanded air cylinders 20 are bent (air cylinders 20 may also first bent prior to the air filling process being carried out), article 100 may be placed under hot pressing nodes 20a. Article 100 is then wrapped by the circular loop portions 20b; it not only prevents article 100 from being shaken inside air enclosure 1, but also strengthens the cushioning protection of article 100.
A method for filling a continuous air filling type air enclosure with air, comprising the follow steps:
Step 1: supplying air cylinder film sheet 2.
Two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b are first stacked together to cause two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b to be laid in between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b. The two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b are then adhered to each other by means of hot sealing to form air cylinder film sheet 2, in which a plurality of air cylinders 20 are formed between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b, a plurality of air inlets 2e are formed on one end of the plurality of air cylinders 20, and each air inlet 2e corresponds to each air cylinder 20.
When the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b are adhered to each other by means of hot sealing, the two sheets of inner films 1a and 1b are simultaneously adhered to each other and form the pair of air inlets 2e by means of hot sealing to avoid the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b adhering to other films
Hot sealing is carried out along hot sealing lines 3a, 3b and 3c so as to adhere the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to each other and the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b to each other to form the plurality of air storable air cylinders 20 between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b. Furthermore, after heat resistant material 1c is spread between the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b, the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b are not adhered to each other by hot sealing, so the pair of air inlets 2e is formed between the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b.
In addition, each air inlet 2e is connected to air passageway 14, where the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b are adhered to each other by means of hot sealing to form between the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b after the heat resistant material 1c is spread between the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b.
Step 2: moving the air cylinder film sheet 2 to working platform 6.
After the manufacture of air cylinder film sheet 2 is complete, it is first rolled up on furling wheel 81, and air cylinder film sheet 2 rolled up on furling wheel 81 is conveyed to working platform 6 through conveying rollers 82.
Step 3: moving air filling head 71 between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b.
After the air cylinder film sheet 2 is conveyed to working platform 6, inclined guide face 711 of air filling head 71 may first guide the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to pull apart outward to enable air filling head 71 to be placed between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b.
In addition, if hot sealing is carried out on the air cylinder film sheet 2 along the hot sealing line 9d in advance, the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b are caused to separate by cutting along the hot sealing line 2d first with cutting knife 712 to allow air filling head 71 to be placed between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b.
Step 4: adhering the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b by means of hot sealing to form air filling passageway 5 at one side of air cylinders 20, air filling passageway 5 being connected with air cylinders 20 through air inlets 2e.
Hot sealing is carried out along hot sealing lines 3d and 3e by the first hot sealing seat 61 so as to adhere the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b by means of hot sealing to form air filling passageway 5 at one side of the plurality of air cylinders 20.
If hot sealing is not carried out on air cylinder film sheet 2 along the hot sealing line 2a in advance in Step 2, the first hot sealing seat 61 may also be used to carry out hot sealing along hot sealing line 3a.
According to the description mentioned above, the first hot sealing seat 612 is first used to hot-seal the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to form air filling passageway 5 and air filling head 71 is then moved into air filling passageway 5. However, air filling head 71 may also be first placed between the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b and the first hot sealing seat 61 then used to hot-seal the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to form air filling passageway 5.
Step 5: providing a clamping apparatus 73 to press the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b tightly to attach onto air filling head 71.
Step 6: filling air cylinder 20 with air continuously via air inlet 2e.
Air filling head 71 is used to fill air filling passageway 5 with air in a compressor 72, the air in air filling passageway 5 opens each air inlet 2e connected with air filling passageway 5 in sequence and is pumped into air cylinder 20 causing it to be filled with air and expanded via air passageway 14.
If two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b are placed on air cylinder film sheet 2, the air in air cylinder 20 compresses the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b to cover the air inlet 2e to shield air cylinder 20. If the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b are not placed on air cylinder film sheet 2, a second hot sealing seat 62 may be used to carry out hot sealing along hot sealing line 3f so as to adhere the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to each other to shield air filling passageway 5.
In addition, vibrator 92 may also be used to pat the plurality of air cylinders 20 when the air filling is being carried out to enable each air cylinder 20 to be filled uniformly with air.
Step 7: moving the air-filled air cylinders 20 to leave working platform 6.
When the air-filled and expanded air cylinder 20 leaves working platform 6, sensor 91 is used to detect the displacement volume of air cylinder film sheet 2 simultaneously so as to ensure the displacement volume of detected air cylinder film sheet 2 is neither too great nor so little as to be unable to carry out continuously the air filling process, and cutting seat 63 may be used to carry out cutting between air cylinders 20 to enable the air-filled and expanded air cylinders 20 to be used independently.
Furthermore, a method disclosed by the present invention may further comprise moving air-unfilled air cylinders 20 onto working platform 6, and the first hot sealing seat 61 is then used to hot-seal the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to form air filling passageway 5 to enable filling head 71 to be positioned in air filling passageway 5.
In addition, a method disclosed by the present invention may comprise hot-sealing the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to form hot pressing nodes 20a on air cylinders 20 and circular loop portion 20b outside each hot pressing node 20a; each circular loop portion 20b is wrapped around each hot pressing node 20a. When air cylinders 20 are filled with air and expanded, article 100 is lodged in hot pressing nodes 20a and wrapped by hot pressing nodes 20b. In addition, each circular loop portion 20b on air cylinder 20 is connected with another. Therefore, when air cylinder 20 is filled with air and expanded, each circular loop portion 20b placed thereon is filled with air and expanded with air cylinder 20.
No matter if air cylinder film sheet 2 is positioned with two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b or not, the air filling apparatus disclosed by the present invention can carry out the air filling process, and in the event that air cylinder film sheet 2 is not positioned with air filling passageway 5, air filling passageway 5 may be fabricated on the air cylinder film sheet 2 to allow the plurality of air cylinders 20 to be filled with air continuously so as to reduce air filling time, overcoming the problem of filling each air cylinder (as is the case with conventional air packing bags), and decreasing the labor cost consumed during the air filling process. In addition, the present invention allows the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b to be attached to the surface of air filling head 71 tightly while carrying out the air filling process so as to prevent air from leaking, thus increasing the air filling efficiency. Moreover, hot sealing temperatures of the first hot sealing seat 61 and the second hot sealing seat 62 of the present invention may all be adjusted so that they can be used on different materials of the two sheets of outer film 2a and 2b as well as the two sheets of inner film 1a and 1b. Furthermore, the apparatus disclosed by the present invention may effectively fill air cylinders 20 with air, and prevents the air leaking; this not only allows the air enclosure to sustain greater shock but also prevents the whole air packing bag from leaking when one air cylinder is damaged.
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those proficient in the relevant fields. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
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|---|---|---|---|
| 96135705 A | Sep 2007 | TW | national |
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