RU2257314C2 - Method and device for filling and vacuum-sealing a pair of bags - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: packing equipment, particularly for packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions.

SUBSTANCE: method and device for filling and sealing a pair of containers 3, 3' made as envelopes or bags are disclosed. Containers 3, 3' may have side and/or bottom folds and are formed of flexible material. The containers are connected by central connection strip and central connection strip define opposite container mouths facing each other and adapted for filling containers with products so that continuous web 2 including a number of paired containers is formed. Method involves sealing containers under deep vacuum. To perform vacuum-sealing operation device is provided with station 30 located after filling station 25. Station 30 includes chamber 32 with closure 34, which may be opened under atmospheric pressure and which may be evacuated to create deep vacuum. Sealing jams with electric heaters are arranged inside the chamber 32 and adapted for sealing containers in the absence of air. The device comprises conveying station 10.

EFFECT: possibility of full container sealing process automation, increased ability to pack liquid, powder or particulate goods.

3 cl, 5 dwg

Description

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for fully automated filling and vacuum sealing of pairs of opposed containers such as an envelope or bag, which are supplied in the form of a continuous tape to the filling point.

In the field of packaging technology, primarily when it comes to consumer goods, flexible envelopes are widely used, which can be directly heat-sealed, or envelopes made of aluminum foil, which can be heat-sealed due to the presence of a thin coating of plastic material.

In both cases, the surface, which is intended to remain visible from the outside, is usually printed with inscriptions designed to identify the goods contained inside.

Of the various products entering the market in containers of this type, very many require aseptic envelopes or bags that must be sealed to improve the shelf life of the product stored in them.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and device for promoting and filling goods in liquid form, in the form of a powder, or in the form of separate pieces of pairs of containers of flexible material, open at the top and mirrored with their respective open parts to each other, interconnected by a connecting strip , as well as the implementation of hermetic sealing of the mouth of the containers so filled.

According to the invention, the stated technical problem is solved by modifying a simple and relatively convenient automatic device of the type already on the market, which introduced a device designed to be placed in a chamber that can be sealed, a limited number of containers pre-filled with products, followed by creating a vacuum in the specified chamber and heat sealing the mouth in the container in the chamber itself.

The tapes of the paired containers facing each other can be used in the filling and vacuum sealing method of the present invention, can consist of paired containers of any known type, for example bags or plain envelopes, envelopes with a corrugated bottom, envelopes with two side folds, or envelopes with side folds and simplified folds at the bottom, allowing you to set the container vertically without additional supports.

Preferred are envelopes with side folds, since they are more likely to automate when filling the opening of the valve of the upper mouth of the container.

Since the invention, in particular, is aimed at satisfying business requirements regarding even limited sizes of filling containers with products, the containers are supplied by firms specializing in the manufacture of bags in the form of a continuous tape of paired containers with upper mouths facing each other, wound in the form of a bobbin or folded accordion in packing boxes. This feature facilitates the organization of production by the user, since the latter should only deal with the final hermetic brewing to seal the container after filling. This allows you to reduce the labor costs of the final control in favor of a more practical operation. From the point of view of surface contamination, the closed bag is more reliable than the material on the reel.

Below the present invention is described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which also shows the location of the sequence of ordinary points of the device using the specified tape paired containers and designed to perform vacuum sealing of containers in accordance with the considered method.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a schematic three-dimensional top view of the device for feeding, filling and vacuum sealing of packages, embodying the method, which is the subject of the present invention;

figure 2 is a three-dimensional image on the side, only as an example, a pair of packages of the type with side folds interconnected by an intermediate connecting strip, which is part of a continuous tape of packets supplied to the device, schematically shown in figure 1, and for illustration purposes, the right packet has a loading mouth that is only partially elevated, while in the left packet the mouth is fully open;

FIG. 3 is a plan view, by way of example only, of a longitudinal segment of a strip of bags of the type shown in FIG. 2, in which the bags are sealed from the bottom so that folds are formed to hold the filled and sealed bag on the shelves showcases in an upright position;

4 and 5 are a plan view and as a three-dimensional image, and also as an example, a longitudinal segment of a strip of bags related to another type of bags, also provided with side and bottom folds, allowing to hold the filled and sealed bag on the shelves of the display case upright position.

In figure 1, the device as a whole is indicated by the position A, as in its main features of a known type.

In this case, the device receives a tape 2 of paired containers 3, 3 ’, made of flexible material and interconnected by an intermediate strip 20, folded accordion in packing box 5 as they were supplied by the container manufacturer.

The device is equipped with a support 6 in the form of a rod, gradually lowering down to the packaging box 5, where it approaches the center of the strip 20 remaining connected to the tape of the paired containers 3, 3 ′, folded in the box itself (see also FIGS. 2 and 3) . When advancing to the filling and sealing areas, containers 3, 3 ′, moved by the drive or transport unit, are placed on the sides of the support 6, which then, at position 8, expands sequentially until it turns into a track on the transport unit 10 transverse width as strip 20.

The transport unit 10 preferably consists of an upper roller 11 provided with protruding linear elements, opposite which there are corresponding recesses in the pressure roller located below, which allows the material of the connecting strip 20 to be pulled as shown at 14 in FIGS. 2 and 3, thereby ensuring a positive and regular forward movement of 3-3 ′ containers. The containers reach the filling points 25 with valves on the corresponding mouths already folded earlier by the action of the opening elements at the breeding point 24 of a known type.

According to the present invention, between the filling point 25 and the final section 40, intended for receiving the strip 20 and collecting filled and sealed containers separated from each other, an additional point is provided, this point, indicated by 30 in figure 1, completes the task of this device according to the intended purpose.

Additional item 30, shown only schematically, consists of a chamber 32, which can be opened and re-closed by a sealed cover 34 and in which the creation of vacuum conditions is possible.

The chamber 30 has a relatively limited capacity, for example, at best, from one to four pairs of containers, depending on their transverse dimensions, in order to limit the creation of vacuum conditions to conveniently reduced time periods, and inside it one or more pairs of thermoelectric clamps designed for heat sealing filled pairs of containers, inside of which, as required, the products remain protected in conditions of very limited presence of air. After vacuum sealing of the upper mouth of the containers is completed, the lid 34 is removed and a forceps-like device removes the sealed envelopes from the chamber and places the other newly filled envelopes there. Pairs of already sealed envelopes reach end point 40, where the connecting strip 20 can be taken, and individual or paired envelopes fall into the appropriate packaging boxes for shipment.

As already mentioned, the containers intended for use in this device can be of various types, including those related to containers with side folds shown in FIG. 2 or to vertical independent containers shown in FIG. 3 or in FIG. 4.

To obtain the type of envelope shown in FIG. 3, the lateral ends of the tape can be compressed with heated clamps in order to make all heat-sealable faces on the bottom of each container and thus form two inclined welds 23, 23 ′ that start from weld 22 at the bottom of the finished bag, they are connected to the side seams 21, 21 ′ of this bag, forming folds replacing the known folds of a curved shape.

To obtain a package of the type shown in Fig. 4, there is a weld seam 22 on all four sides of the bottom, extending along the entire perimeter of the bottom and along the bottom edge of the four welds 21 of the vertical walls, so that the supporting surface of the bottom essentially corresponds to the entire surface of the bottom.

Claims (3)

1. The method of filling and sealing pairs of containers in the form of envelopes or bags, both having side and / or bottom folds, and not having them, made of flexible material, interconnected by a central connecting strip and representing their facing each other on the specified central strip friend and opposite mouths intended for filling containers with products, forming a continuous tape of paired containers, and the method includes the following operations: a) supplying to the filling and sealing device pairs of such containers interconnected in the form of a continuous tape, which is unwound from the bobbin on which this tape is wound, or taken from the packaging box in which the tape is folded with an accordion; b) hanging the tape of the paired containers on a horizontal rod-shaped support for further advancement; c) breeding the upper mouths of the pairs of continuous belt containers; d) filling each pair of containers in the filling area while promoting said containers under the respective filling devices in liquid or granular form or in the form of separate pieces; e) heat sealing of the mouths of pairs of filled containers; f) separating the sealed containers from each other; and g) collection of individual containers in packaging materials, characterized in that the operation e), which consists in sealing pairs of containers, is performed in a chamber that is opened to receive several pairs of containers, after which the chamber is hermetically closed, a vacuum or deep vacuum is created in it, and the mouth of the containers is heat-sealed. 2. A device for filling and sealing pairs of containers (3, 3 ') in the form of envelopes or bags, both having side and / or bottom folds, and not having them, made of flexible material, interconnected by a central connecting strip and presenting on the indicated the central strip of their mouths facing each other and opposite to each other, designed to fill the containers with products, forming a continuous tape (2) of paired containers, suitable for implementing the method according to claim 1, and the device contains a feeding device for feeding pairs of containers, such as a bobbin or accumulator (5) of pairs of folded containers with an accordion, from which a tape (2) of paired containers (3.3 ') is unwound or removed; a support (6) for feeding a tape (2) of paired containers, the free end of which is placed in the center of the central strip (20) to connect a pair of containers (3, 3 '), for placing the specified paired containers on both sides of the supply support, suspended vertically by their respective mouths facing up; a drive or a transport unit (10) intended for guiding the belt (2) of the paired containers in the direction of the point (24) for breeding the mouths of the containers (3, 3 ') and to the next filling point (25); paragraph (40) for separating containers on top of welds and removing waste together with a connecting strip (20), characterized in that after the filling item (25), the item (30) is introduced, consisting of a chamber (32) with a cover (34) for sealing, which can be opened at atmospheric pressure and in which a vacuum or deep vacuum can be created, and inside this chamber (32) are placed electrically heated clamps designed to seal containers in the absence of air. 3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that the transport unit (10) preferably consists of an upper roller (11) having protruding linear elements, opposite which there are corresponding recesses in the pressure roller located below, which allows you to drag the material of the connecting strip (20 ) for positive and regular forward movement of 3-3 'containers.

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