Apparatus and method for processing cups
AssigneeSacmi Cooperativa Meccanici Imola Societa' Cooperativa
InventorsFabrizio Pucci, Fiorenzo Parrinello
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Abstract
An apparatus (1) for processing plastic cups (2), adapted to be filled with coffee or other products, whether solid or liquid, and to be closed with respective lids to form corresponding capsules, comprises: a plurality of pockets (50) for housing the cups (2); an infeed station (4) for receiving the cups (2) and placing them in respective pockets (50) of the plurality of pockets (50); at least one tool (31) for applying a process to a rear face (23B) of an annular flange (23) of a cup (2) housed a respective pocket (50), to form a sealing profile (230); an outfeed station (6) configured to release the cups (2) with the sealing profile (230) formed on them.
Claims19
A line for making capsules intended to contain a product, comprising:
- a forming machine configured to form plastic cups, wherein each cup includes
- a containment body, which extends between a bottom wall and an upper edge,
- an annular flange connected to the upper edge and having a rear face, directed towards the containment body, and a front face, opposite to the rear face and adapted to receive a lid to form the capsule;
- and
- an apparatus for processing the cups, the apparatus comprising:
- at least one pocket, configured to house a corresponding cup;
- at least one tool configured to apply a process to at least the rear face or the front face of the annular flange of the cup inside the at least one pocket, so as to form a sealing profile;
- a filling machine configured to fill the cups with coffee or other solid or liquid products;
- and
- an applicator machine, configured to apply a lid to the front face of each cup to form a respective capsule.
A method for making capsules intended to contain a product, comprising the following steps:
- forming plastic cups, wherein each cup includes
- a containment body, which extends between a bottom wall and an upper edge,
- an annular flange connected to the upper edge and having a rear face, directed towards the containment body, and a front face, opposite to the rear face;
- and
- processing the plastic cups adapted to be filled with coffee or other products, whether solid or liquid, and to be closed with respective lids to form corresponding capsules,
- filing the cups with coffee or other solid or liquid products;
- applying a lid to the front face of each cup to form a respective capsule,
- wherein the processing step comprises the following steps:
- receiving the cups and placing each cup in a pocket of the apparatus;
- applying a process to at least the rear face or the front face of the annular flange of the cup inside the pocket, so as to form a sealing profile by means of at least one tool of the apparatus;
- and
- releasing the cups with the sealing profile formed on them.
An apparatus for processing cups, wherein each cup includes
- a containment body, which extends between a bottom wall and an upper edge,
- an annular flange connected to the upper edge and having a rear face, directed towards the containment body, and a front face, adapted to receive a lid to form a capsule;
- the apparatus comprising:
- at least one pocket, configured to house a corresponding cup;
- and
- at least one tool configured to apply a process to at least the rear face or the front face of the annular flange of the cup inside the at least one pocket, so as to form a sealing profile;
- wherein the at least one tool includes a plurality of processing elements;
- wherein the apparatus comprises a control unit programmed to selectively switch on a part of the plurality of processing elements as a function of the selected type of sealing profile;
- and
- wherein the processing elements include laser emitters distributed on a surface to form an array of laser emitters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.