Claims
- 1. A sealing apparatus comprising:a fixed frame structure including a base and an actuator support extending upward from said base; a container support including a container receiver; an upper heater platen suspended from said actuator support above said container support, said upper heater platen being vertically shiftable to press a container and lid on said container support and being pivotable relative to said actuator support so as to slightly rock and thereby uniformly engage a peripheral region of the container and lid on said container support; and an air actuated actuator positioned above said platen to cause said platen to apply equal force against said container support over the platen area wherein said actuator includes an upper plate, a lower plate securely coupled to said upper heater platen, and a flexible baffle that flexibly suspends said lower plate from said upper plate and that together with said plates defines an air chamber for said air actuator.
- 2. A sealing apparatus comprising:a base frame; a container support including a container receiver, said container support being slidably disposed on said base frame so as to be horizontally movable between a sealing position and a non-sealing position; an upper heater platen suspended above said container support at the sealing position; and actuator mounted above said upper heater platen and actuable to force said upper heater platen downwardly onto a container and lid on said container support to seal the lid onto the container on said support, said actuator including a coupling mechanism for pivotally coupling said actuator to said upper heater platen such that said platen is multi-axially pivotable with respect to a substantially horizontal plane and relative to said actuator.
- 3. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said coupling mechanism includes a push rod, said push rod being multi-axially, pivotally coupled to said upper heater platen.
- 4. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said coupling mechanism further includes an upper plate, a lower plate securely coupled to said upper heater platen, and means for flexibly suspending said lower plate from said upper plate.
- 5. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said actuator further includes a plurality of springs disposed between said upper and lower plates.
- 6. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said means for flexibly suspending said lower plate includes a pair of guide members loosely and slidably disposed in through respective apertures in one of said plates.
- 7. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said guide members each include a head at an end thereof for limiting separation distance between said plates.
- 8. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said actuator further includes a plurality of springs disposed between said upper and lower plates.
- 9. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said actuator is manually actuated.
- 10. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein said manual actuator includes an elongated handle.
- 11. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein said base frame includes a base, vertical supports extending upward from said base, and a horizontal beam supported on said vertical supports, said elongated handle is pivotally coupled to said horizontal beam, and wherein said push rod slidably extends through an aperture in said horizontal beam.
- 12. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said base frame includes a base, vertical supports extending upward from said base, and a horizontal beam supported on said vertical supports, said actuator is pivotally coupled to said horizontal, and wherein said coupling mechanism includes a push rod that vertically slides through an aperture in said horizontal beam to force said upper heater platen downward when said actuator is actuated by pivoting relative to said horizontal beam.
- 13. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said container support is automatically shifted between a loading position and the sealing position located below the platen.
- 14. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein said container support is shifted by a pneumatic cylinder.
- 15. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 14, and further including an air logic circuit, and wherein said actuator and said pneumatic cylinder are both controlled by said air logic circuit.
- 16. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein a first stop limits shifting of said container support in a first direction.
- 17. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 16, wherein a second stop limits shifting of said container support in a second direction.
- 18. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said container support is horizontally shiftable between a load/unload position and a sealing position below said platen.
- 19. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 2 and further including two rods pivotally attached to said upper heater platen and extending vertically upward and passing through respective apertures in said actuator support.
- 20. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 19 and further including a biasing mechanism for biasing said upper heater platen toward said actuator support and away from said container support.
- 21. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein said two rods each include a washer on an upper end and said biasing mechanism includes two biasing springs extending around said rods between a bottom surface of said washers and an upper surface of said actuator support so as to compress when said actuator is activated.
- 22. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 2 and further including a biasing mechanism for biasing said upper heater platen toward said actuator support and away from said container support.
- 23. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said actuator includes an air actuated actuator and further including a cam switch positioned to be actuated by said container support when moved to the sealing position, for controlled activation of said actuator.
- 24. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said actuator includes an upper plate, a lower plate securely coupled to said upper heater platen, and means for flexibly suspending said lower plate from said upper plate.
- 25. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 24, wherein said actuator further includes a plurality of springs disposed between said upper and lower plates.
- 26. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 24, wherein said means for flexibly suspending said lower plate includes a pair of guide members loosely and slidably disposed in through respective apertures in one of said plates.
- 27. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 26, wherein said guide members each include a head at an end thereof for limiting separation distance between said plates.
- 28. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 27, wherein said actuator further includes a plurality of springs disposed between said upper and lower plates.
- 29. The sealing apparatus as defined in claim 28, wherein said actuator is manually actuated and includes a handle pivotally coupled to said upper plate and said actuator support.
- 30. The sealing apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein said container support is manually shifted between a load/unload position and a sealing position below the platen.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/389,202 filed on Sep. 2, 1999 now abandoned, entitled DRAWER ACTION TRAY SEALING MACHINE, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/103,859 filed on Jun. 24, 1998, entitled DRAWER ACTION TRAY SEALING MACHINE, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,887, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/629,269 filed on Apr. 8, 1996, entitled DRAWER ACTION TRAY SEALING MACHINE, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,858. Priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 is claimed to the filing dates of the '202, '859 and '269 applications and the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
US Referenced Citations (36)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Drake Packaging Machinery brochure on Interchangeable Pocket Trayveyor—publication date 1980 or prior. |
Drake Packaging Machinery Instruction and Repair Parts Manual—publication in 1975 or prior. |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/629269 |
Apr 1996 |
US |
Child |
09/103859 |
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US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/389202 |
Sep 1999 |
US |
Child |
09/599827 |
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US |
Parent |
09/103859 |
Jun 1998 |
US |
Child |
09/389202 |
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US |