Apparatus and method to produce closing systems for containers
AssigneeI.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.P.A.
InventorsMatteo Bignami, Pierluigi Castellari
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Abstract
An apparatus (10) and a method are described for producing a closing system (100) for containers comprising an anti-tampering strip (101) configured to be attached to an opening of a container, and a re-closable closing body (102), configured to hermetically close said containers. The apparatus (10) comprises a welding and deformation station (11) in which it is provided to weld a barrier element (108) to the re-closable closing body (102) and to fold a flexible annular portion (109) of the anti-tampering strip (101) back toward the inside of the closing system (100) while the latter is stationary in a same predetermined position in the welding and deformation station (11).
Claims16
Apparatus for producing a closing system for containers comprising an anti-tampering strip and a re-closable closing body, said apparatus comprises:
- a forming station configured to form barrier elements starting from a sheet, wherein the barrier elements are laminar, with a shape and sizes correlated to those of said closing body;
- a transport system comprising at least one gripping unit configured to hold said closing system and to move along a feed path, which extends between an inlet station and an outlet station;
- a welding and deformation station disposed along said feed path between the inlet station and the outlet station;
- a manipulation member configured to pick up said barrier element in said forming station and take it in said welding and deformation station and subsequently attach said barrier element to the closing body;
- a deformation member configured to be drivable between an inactive position, distant from the closing system, and a work position in which it presses into contact onto a flexible annular portion of said anti-tampering strip in order to fold it back inside said closing system wherein said deformation member is shaped as an annular deformation element disposed around said manipulation member, wherein said deformation member and said manipulation member develop coaxially with respect to each other around a common longitudinal axis, and are mobile with respect to each other in a direction parallel to said longitudinal axis;
- and
- a control unit connected to said manipulation member and to said deformation member and programmed to command at least the functioning of said manipulation member and of said deformation member in a coordinated manner, so that they respectively attach said barrier element onto said closing body and exert a pressure on said flexible annular portion in said welding and deformation station while said gripping unit is stationary in a same predetermined position holding said closing system.
Method to produce a closing system for containers comprising an anti-tampering strip and a re-closable closing body, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
- forming, in a forming station, starting from a sheet, a barrier element with a shape and sizes correlated to those of said closing body;
- transporting a plurality of said closing systems along a feed path, which extends between an inlet station and an outlet station;
- picking up a barrier element from the forming station by means of a manipulation member,
- taking the barrier element picked up in said forming station toward a welding and deformation station disposed along said feed path between the inlet station and the outlet station;
- welding said barrier element to said re-closable closing body in said welding and deformation station, by means of said manipulation member, wherein said welding step provides to attach said barrier element to an internal wall of the closing body in a stable manner,
- shaping at least one flexible annular portion of said anti-tampering strip in said welding and deformation station by means of a deformation member shaped as an annular deformation element and disposed around said manipulation member, so as to fold said flexible annular portion back inside said closing system],
- wherein it is provided that said manipulation and deformation members develop coaxially with respect to each other around a common longitudinal axis, and are mobile with respect to each other in a direction parallel to said longitudinal axis for respectively attaching said barrier element onto said closing body and exerting a pressure on said flexible annular portion while said closing system is stationary in a same predetermined position in said welding and deformation station.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.