Apparatus for making capsules and relative method for making capsules

An apparatus for making capsules, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiving station for receiving capsule bodies each having a bottom and side walls defining, in combination, a filling cavity provided with an opening opposite the bottom and a flange surrounding said opening;
• a forming station for making sealing rings, the forming station comprising a feeding device for feeding a sheet unwound from a reel;
• a coupling station for coupling said sealing rings with respective capsule bodies, the coupling station being configured to couple each sealing ring to a respective flange of a respective one of the capsule bodies;
• a welding station configured to weld said sealing rings to respective ones of said capsule bodies;
• a plurality of groups of receiving seats for receiving said capsule bodies and a handling device for handling of said groups of receiving seats, the handling device including a conveyor configured to allow handling of the capsule bodies between the receiving station, the coupling station, and the welding station;
• an etching device configured to etch the sheet forming pre-cutting lines along edges of said sealing rings, so that central portions of the sealing rings are detached from the etched sheet, while the sealing rings remain anchored to the sheet by means of anchor points spaced by the pre-cutting lines;
• and
• a plurality of detaching elements configured to detach from the sheet the sealing rings and bring the sealing rings into contact with the flanges of the capsule bodies at the coupling station, the etching device operating at an etching station remote and separate from the coupling station.