Patent Application
20230356476
The present invention relates to a pressure element for a sealing device configured to seal a tube of packaging material adapted to be filled with pourable product, in particular a sealing device of a packaging assembly configured to fill, form, seal, separate and fold packages containing the pourable product starting from the above-mentioned tube of packaging material.
The present invention also relates to a sealing device configured to seal a tube of packaging material adapted to be filled with pourable product and comprising a pressure element adapted to cooperate in contact with the tube during sealing thereof, in particular a sealing device of a packaging assembly configured to fill, form, seal, separate and fold packages containing the pourable product starting from the above-mentioned tube of packaging material.
As it is generally known, many pourable food products, such as fruit juice, UHT (ultra-high temperature-treated) milk, wine, tomato sauce, etc., are sold in packages made of sterilized packaging material.
A typical example is the parallelepiped-shaped package for pourable food products known as Tetra Brik Aseptic (registered trademark), which is made by folding and sealing a laminated web of packaging material. The packaging material has a multilayer structure comprising a base layer, e.g. made of paper, covered on both sides with layers of heat-seal plastic material, e.g. polyethylene.
In the case of aseptic packages for long-storage products, such as UHT milk, the packaging material also comprises a layer of oxygen-barrier material, e.g. an aluminum foil, which is superimposed on a layer of heat-seal plastic material, and is in turn covered with another layer of heat-seal plastic material forming the inner face of the package eventually contacting the food product.
Such packages are usually produced in fully automatic packaging assemblies, in which a continuous tube is formed from a web of packaging material initially wound in a reel and fed to such packaging assembly. The web of packaging material is sterilized in the packaging assembly, e.g. by applying a chemical sterilizing agent, such as hydrogen peroxide solution, which, once sterilization is completed, is removed from the surfaces of the packaging material, e.g. evaporated by heating. The web so sterilized is then maintained in a closed, sterile environment, and is folded and sealed longitudinally to form the tube.
The tube is fed continuously along a first direction, normally a straight vertical direction, is filled with the sterilized food product from above and is formed, sealed and subsequently cut along equally spaced transversal cross sections extending along a second direction, normally a direction orthogonal to the first direction. Pillow packs are obtained thereby, which have a longitudinal sealing band, a top transversal sealing band and a bottom transversal sealing band. The pillow packs are then cut and separated from one another and directed to a folding device of the packaging assembly for the final folding thereof.
In order to perform the forming and sealing operations, the known packaging assemblies comprise a forming device configured to form the tube and a sealing device configured to seal the tube at equally spaced cross-sections orthogonal to the tube advancement direction.
The forming device comprises at least one pair of forming members, typically in the form of shells, arranged at opposite lateral sides of the tube of packaging material, facing one another and cyclically surrounding, in use, successive portions of the tube to sequentially form a predetermined external shape onto these portions.
The sealing device is conveniently arranged downstream of the forming device and comprises at least one pair of sealing members, typically in the form of jaws, arranged at opposite lateral sides of the tube of packaging material facing one another and cyclically gripping between them, in use, successive equally spaced transversal cross-sections of the tube to sequentially seal the tube at these transversal cross-sections, thereby forming the pillow packs.
In detail, the sealing device comprises a sealing member carrying heating means and a countersealing member defining a countersurface for the heating means to abut against.
In greater detail, each tube portion gripped between the jaws is heat sealed by the heating means, which locally melt, in use, the heat-sealable plastic material in the gripped region.
Packaging material in which the layer of barrier material is defined by a sheet of electrically conductive material, e.g. a sheet of aluminum, is normally heat sealed by a well-known induction heat-seal process, in which, when the tube is gripped between the sealing member and the countersealing member, electric current is induced in the sheet of aluminum to heat the sheet of aluminum locally and so locally melt the heat-sealable plastic material.
More specifically, in induction heat sealing, the heating means substantially comprise an inductor, which is carried by the sealing member, is supplied by a high-frequency current generator, and is substantially defined by a coil comprising one or more inducting bars made of electrically conductive material, extending parallel to the second direction, and which interact with and induce an electric current in the packaging material to heat the packaging material to the required heat-seal temperature.
In a known embodiment, the inductor includes, frontally, two straight, elongated active surfaces extending parallel to the second direction and on opposite sides of an intermediate plane perpendicular to the first direction, i.e. parallel to the second direction.
In particular, the active surfaces are located in respective front contact surfaces of the sealing member, extending on opposite sides of a central recess and facing, in use, the tube of packaging material and, through the tube, the countersurface of the countersealing member.
The countersealing member comprises two pressure elements, in particular two pressure pads made of elastomeric material, extending on opposite sides of and parallel to the intermediate plane, and having respective front contact surfaces defining the above-mentioned countersurface.
In detail, the elastomeric pressure pads cooperate with the respective front contact surfaces of the sealing member, and therefore with the respective active surfaces of the inductor, to heat seal the tube along respective portions of the tube defining transversal sealing bands.
Once the heat-seal operation is completed, a cutting member carried by one of the two jaws, normally the countersealing member, is activated, thereby interacting with the tube of packaging material to cut the tube along the respective previously created sealing band, and so separating (cutting) a pillow pack off the bottom end of the tube of packaging material. Typically, the cutting member is extracted from a slot arranged between the two pressure pads to engage the central recess of the sealing member.
Once the cutting operation is complete, the sealing member and the countersealing member are moved away from one another to be ready to grip another portion of the tube.
It is known in the field the use of pressure pads having flat front contact surface and the use of pressure pads having curved front contact surface. This latter configuration is particularly used when packaging food pourable product containing small solid particles, as described in EP-A-2917021 from the same Applicant.
In this last case, the pressure pads have convex front contact surfaces, which are arranged symmetrically with respect to the intermediate plane, i.e. with respect to the slot housing the cutting member.
Even though the known pressure pads and countersealing members work satisfyingly well, a need is felt in the industry to further improve such pressure pads and countersealing members, in particular so as to ensure an effective sealing of the packaging material.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a pressure element for a sealing device which is designed to meet the above-mentioned need in a straightforward and low-cost manner.
This object is achieved by a pressure element as claimed in claim 1.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a countersealing member which is designed to meet the above-mentioned need in a straightforward and low-cost manner.
This object is achieved by a countersealing member as claimed in claim 8.
A non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
With reference to
In detail, packaging assembly 1 is configured to continuously produce packages 3 from sheet 4 of packaging material, which is unwound off a reel 5 and fed along a forming path.
The packaging material has a multilayer structure (not shown), and comprises a layer of fibrous material, e.g. paper, covered on both sides with respective layers of heat-seal plastic material, e.g. polyethylene.
In the case of aseptic packages 3 for long-storage products, such as UHT milk, the packaging material also comprises a layer of gas-and-light barrier material, e.g. aluminum foil or ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) film, which is superimposed on a layer of heat-seal plastic material, and is in turn covered with another layer of heat-seal plastic material, the latter forming the inner face of the package 3 eventually contacting the pourable product.
After being unwound off reel 5 and before being formed into tube 2, sheet 4 of packaging material is sterilized, e.g. by applying a chemical sterilizing agent, such as hydrogen peroxide solution, which, once sterilization is completed, is removed from the surfaces of the packaging material, e.g. evaporated by heating.
Packaging assembly 1 is configured to perform, sequentially, the following operations:
Tube 2 is fed continuously along a first direction, in particular a straight vertical direction and is filled, once longitudinally sealed, with the sterilized pourable product.
In order to perform the forming operation, packaging assembly 1 comprises a known forming device (not shown) including at least one pair of forming elements, for example shell-like members, arranged at opposite lateral sides of tube 2 facing one another and cyclically surrounding, in use, successive portions of tube 2 to sequentially impart (give) a predetermined external shape to the portions.
To perform the sealing operation, packaging assembly 1 comprises a sealing device 7 of the type shown in
In detail, sealing device 7 is conveniently arranged operationally downstream of the forming device and comprises at least one pair of sealing arrangements 100 in the form of opposing jaws arranged at opposite lateral sides of tube 2 facing one another and cyclically gripping, in use and between them, successive equally-spaced cross sections of tube 2 to sequentially seal tube 2 at these cross sections, thereby obtaining the sealed pillow packs 3a.
In greater detail, sealing device 7 (in particular sealing arrangements 100) comprises: a sealing member 8 carrying at least one sealing element 11, in particular two sealing elements 11, and a countersealing member 10 defining a countersurface for the sealing elements 11, the sealing member 8 and the countersealing member 10 facing one another with interposition of tube 2 therebetween.
According to this non-limiting preferred embodiment, the layer of barrier material of the packaging material is defined by a sheet of electrically conductive material, e.g. a sheet of aluminum. Hence, the packaging material is heat sealed by a known induction heat-seal process, in which, when tube 2 is gripped between the sealing member 8 and the countersealing member 10, electric current is induced in the sheet of aluminum to heat the sheet of aluminum locally and so locally melt the heat-sealable plastic material.
To this end, as visible in
In one preferred embodiment, inductors 101 are defined by coils made of electrically conductive material.
Each inductor 101 is supplied, in use, by a high-frequency current generator (not shown) and is substantially defined by one or more inducting bars made of electrically conductive material, extending parallel to a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (i.e. to the feeding direction of tube 2), and which interact with and induce an electric current in the electrically conductive material of tube 2 to heat the electrically conductive material to the required heat-seal temperature.
More precisely, each inductor 101 defines an active surface extending parallel to the second direction and along the front surface 8a of sealing member 8.
In the example shown, inductors 101 are located, along the front surface 8a, on opposite sides of a central recess 12 configured to receive a cutting element 14 in a manner better described in the following.
Countersealing member 10 comprises at least one, in particular two pressure elements, more in particular two pressure pads 13 made of elastomeric material and carried at a front surface 10a of countersealing member 10 facing the front surface 8a of sealing member 8.
In particular, each pressure pad 13 has an elongated shape parallel to the second direction, so as to face a corresponding inductor 101 of the sealing member 8.
Accordingly, each pressure pad 13 is configured to interact with a respective inductor 101 facing the pressure pad 13 to press tube 2 therebetween and heat seal tube 2 along the above-mentioned cross sections.
In other words, sealing member 8 and countersealing member 10 are movable towards and away from one another so that inductors 101 press onto pressure pads 13 with the interposition of tube 2, in order to seal tube 2 at the above-mentioned cross sections.
As visible in
In greater detail, once the heat-seal operation is completed, cutting element 14 is extracted from its slot and moved along a third direction orthogonal to the first direction and to the second direction towards sealing member 8, so as to cut the sealed cross section of tube 2 and engage recess 12.
Accordingly, one sealed pillow pack 3a containing the pourable product is separated off the bottom end of tube 2.
Once the cutting operation is complete, sealing member 8 and countersealing member 10 are moved away from one another to be ready to grip another portion of tube 2.
As visible in
According to an aspect of the present invention, each pressure pad 13 comprises at least one engagement element 102 configured to cooperate with a complementary engagement element 103 carried by countersealing member 10 to guide the pressure pad 13 according to a predetermined orientation during fitting of such pressure pad 13 to countersealing member 10, in particular into the relative groove 16 of countersealing member 10.
In particular, countersealing member 10 further comprises a guide element 20 having a guide wall 19 defining complementary engagement element 103.
According to the non-limiting embodiment shown, each pressure pad 13 has a shaped portion 18, distinct from the fitting portion 15 and from the contact portion 17, defining the relative engagement element 102 and configured to cooperate in contact with guide wall 19 at least during fitting of the relative pressure pad 13 to the countersealing member 10.
More specifically, each shaped portion 18 is configured to engage the respective guide wall 19 to define a geometric constraint for fitting the relative pressure pad 13 carrying such shaped portion 18 to countersealing member 10 according to the aforementioned predetermined orientation, while preventing the fitting thereof according to any other orientation different from the predetermined orientation.
In the example shown, each shaped portion 18 has an inclined surface 18a which is inclined with respect to a plane orthogonal to the second direction and is configured to cooperate in contact with guide wall 19. Such guide wall 19 is correspondingly inclined to guide the relative pressure pad 13 according to the predetermined orientation during fitting of the pressure pad 13 to countersealing member 10.
Conveniently, each inclined surface 18a and the portion of guide wall 19 which each inclined surface 18a is configured to cooperate with have the same inclination relative to the aforementioned plane, i.e. they are parallel to one another.
As shown in
Accordingly, guide wall 19 is arranged at a lateral side of the relative pressure pad 13 adjacent to the free end defined by the respective inclined surface 18a, so that each inclined surface 18a is parallel to the portion of guide wall 19 with which it is configured to cooperate.
As visible in
Accordingly, guide wall 19 comprises:
In practice, first inclined wall 21 is parallel to the inclined surface 18a of the one pressure pad 13 and second inclined wall 22 is parallel to the inclined surface 18a of the other pressure pad 13, so that each pressure pad 13 can only be fitted to countersealing member 10 according to its predetermined orientation only.
This configuration is particularly advantageous in the case in which the two pressure pad 13 have respective contact portions 17 that are for example curve, convex and arranged symmetrically with respect to the slot of the cutting element 14, as shown in
In this last case, an erroneous fitting of one pressure pad 13, for example an upside-down fitting of one or both of the pressure pads 13, could result in a non-nominal positioning of its contact portion 17. This could cause a defective sealing which could potentially lead to unwanted leakages or to compromising the aseptic properties of packages 3.
As visible in
This configuration further simplifies the correct fitting of pressure pads 13 to countersealing member 10, since the operator can easily verify if inclined surfaces 18a of pressure pads 13 are correctly cooperating with the respective portion 21, 22 of guide wall 19, so that each pressure pad 13 is being installed with its predetermined orientation.
According to the non-limiting preferred embodiment shown, each pressure pad 13 comprises a pair of inclined surfaces 18a arranged at respective opposite free ends of the pressure pad 13 itself, located at opposite sides thereof.
In detail, the two inclined surfaces 18a of each pressure pad 13 define two opposite lateral sides of the one pressure pad 13 having different inclinations, in particular equal and opposite inclinations, with respect to the above-mentioned plane orthogonal to the second direction.
In greater detail, the two inclined surfaces 18a of each pressure pad 13 are converging towards the other pressure pad 13, when the pressure pads 13 are mounted on countersealing member 10.
In practice, pressure pads 13 have a profile, relative to a plane parallel to the second direction, defining the shape of an isosceles trapezoid with the minor bases facing one another.
Alternatively, the two inclined surfaces 18a of the one pressure pad 13 are diverging towards the other pressure pad 13.
In this case, pressure pads 13 have a profile, relative to a plane parallel to the second direction, defining the shape of an isosceles trapezoid with the major bases facing one another.
Accordingly, countersealing member 10 has two guide elements 20 arranged at respective lateral sides of pressure pads 13 and each carrying a respective guide wall 19 having a first inclined wall 21 and a second inclined wall 22, to guide each pressure pad 13 at both (lateral) sides thereof according to their respective predetermined orientation during fitting of the pressure pad 13 into the respective groove 16 of countersealing member 10.
During fitting of the pressure pads 13 into grooves 16 of countersealing member 10, engagement elements 102, i.e. shaped portions 18, i.e. inclined surfaces 18a, cooperate with the respective complementary engagement elements 103 carried by guide elements 20, i.e. cooperate in contact with the respective first wall 21 and second wall 22 of guide walls 19.
The advantages of pressure pad 13 and countersealing member 10 according to the present invention will be clear from the foregoing description.
In particular, the fact that each pressure pad 13 has an engagement element 102, i.e. at least one inclined surface 18a, configured to cooperate with a complementary engagement element 103, i.e. the guide wall 19, carried by countersealing member 10, ensures that each pressure pad 13 is fitted properly to countersealing member 10 and according to its predetermined orientation only, thereby reducing or even virtually cancelling out the chances of an erroneous fitting by an operator. In this way, a correct and effective sealing of the packaging material can be ensured.
Clearly, changes may be made to countersealing member 10 and pressure pad 13 as described herein without, however, departing from the scope of protection as defined in the accompanying claims.
In particular, for each pressure pad 13, engagement element 18 may be defined by a shaped portion matching a correspondingly shaped groove carried by countersealing member 10. For example, engagement element 18 may be defined by a hook-shaped protrusion configured to engage a correspondingly hook-shaped groove carried by countersealing member 10, e.g. obtained in guide element 20.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20201951.9 | Oct 2020 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2021/076653 | 9/28/2021 | WO |
