Heat shrink packaging system
OwnerMark W. Holdermaninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present apparatus and system relate to a shrink wrap packaging system. The system includes an oven that is a cavity with heating elements positioned inside. A cooling bar traverses the oven. Dies on a conveyor hold packages with shrink wrap sleeves fitted thereon and move the packages through the oven. The cooling bar thermally affects the shrink wrap sleeves such that the sleeves do not immediately begin to shrink as they enter the oven. Rather the cooling bar protects the upper portion of the sleeve such that the entirety of the sleeve shrinks in a more uniform manner as the packages traverse the oven.
Claims13
A packaging system comprising:
- a conveyor;
- a plurality of dies positioned along the conveyor, each die configured to accommodate a package;
- an oven comprising a cavity with an entrance, and exit, and a heat source disposed within the cavity;
- a cooling bar that is positioned above the conveyor and having a length that is in line with a direction of travel of the conveyor such that the cooling bar traverses at least a portion of the cavity;
- wherein the cooling bar has a first end and a second end separated by the length where the second end is arranged closer to the exit of the oven than the first end;
- and
- wherein the cooling bar has a width perpendicular to the length and the width is shorter than the length.
A packaging system comprising:
- a conveyor, a cavity containing heating elements, a cooling bar traversing a length of the cavity and positioned above the conveyor;
- a die positioned on the conveyor and adapted to hold a package fitted with a shrink-wrap sleeve;
- wherein, the conveyor operates to move the die past the cavity such that the heating elements heat at least a portion of a package and shrink-wrap sleeve;
- and
- wherein the die positions the shrink-wrap sleeve proximally to the cooling bar such that the uppermost portion of the sleeve is thermally affected by the cooling bar as the package traverses the cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.