Apparatus and methods of sealing pouches
AssigneeArthrex, Inc.
InventorsRonald Fowler, Stephen Seipel, David Altomare, Teresa Oberbreckling
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Assemblies, apparatus, and methods for heat sealing and monitoring are disclosed. A dual heat-sealing system includes a heat seal bar assembly with process monitor that allows to quickly change out heat bands and ensure that the effective length of the heat band matches the width of the seal (of the material being sealed), providing consistent and superior seal quality. A heat seal bar assembly includes multiple heat bars sized to easily match the size of the pouch being sealed. The heat bars are removable and replaceable. The heat bars are provided with at least one memory chip. The memory chip allows for storage and retrieval of information regarding the replaceable heat bar.
Claims7
A heat-sealing assembly, comprising:
- a heat-sealing apparatus;
- a plurality of heat bars mounted onto the heat-sealing apparatus and configured to be removably attached to and detached from the heat-sealing apparatus and to be used interchangeably to match and accommodate different sizes of pouches being sealed, wherein each of the plurality of the heat bars has a mount to allow attachment and detachment from the heat-sealing apparatus and to keep the plurality of heat bars parallel, and wherein each of the plurality of the heat bars is a replaceable heat bar and has at least one integrated memory chip to allow bar identification and for storing and retrieving heat bar information regarding size and age of the replaceable heat bar and number of cycles experienced by the replaceable heat bar, and wherein each of the plurality of heat bars is selected to match at least one of length, identification number, or label number of one of the pouches being sealed, and wherein the plurality of heat bars is adapted to match the size of the one of the pouches being sealed;
- and
- a monitoring system integrated with the heat-sealing apparatus,
- wherein the monitoring system includes a processing unit configured to verify calibration of the plurality of heat bars, and wherein the plurality of heat bars is used interchangeably and adapted to retrofit the heat-sealing apparatus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.