Method and apparatus for thermoforming films
AssigneeThe Procter & Gamble Company
InventorsGiacomo Di Lauretis, Mario Rosario Di Donna
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Pouches which can then be filled and sealed are made by thermoforming a film (29) into moulds (23) in a conveyor (8, 10, 11, 21) while holding the side edges (45) of the film to the side margins (46) of the conveyor by under-pressure applied to the underside of the film through a plurality of holding orifices (44) which extend up through the conveyor and into each side margin (46).
Claims13
A method of manufacturing filled and sealed pouches using an apparatus comprising
- a conveyor support (1, 2, 17) and a conveyor (8, 10, 11, 21) which travels over the support and which
- has an upper surface which comprises a longitudinal side margin (46) along each side and a plurality of
- moulds (23) between the side margins, means (1, 14 and 24) for thermoforming a film into the mould to
- form pouches and means for filling and sealing the pouches, wherein the method comprises applying
- thermoformable film (29) on to the upper surface of the conveyor (8, 10, 11, 21), forming the pouches by
- thermoforming the film (29) into the moulds (23) while holding each side edge (45) of the film (29) to a
- side margin (46) of the conveyor to resist inward movement of the side edges (45), and
- filling and sealing the pouches and then discharging the pouches from the conveyor,
- wherein the holding of the side edges (45) of the film to the side margins (46) of the
- conveyor is by under-pressure applied to the underside of the film (29) through a plurality of holding
- orifices (44) which extend up through the conveyor and into each side margin (46) and which create
- friction forces which are sufficiently large to resist inward movement of the side edges (45) of the film
- during the thermoforming.
Apparatus for manufacturing filled and sealed pouches comprising a conveyor support (1, 2, 17) and a conveyor (8, 10, 11, 21) which travels over the support and which has an upper surface which comprises a longitudinal side margin (46) along each side and a plurality of moulds (23) between the side margins, means (1, 14 and 24) for thermoforming a film into the moulds to form pouches, means for filling the pouches, and means for sealing the pouches and means for holding each side edge (45) of the film (29) to a side margin (46) of the conveyor to resist inward movement of the side edges (45), wherein the means for holding each side edge (45) of the film (29) to a side margin (46) of the conveyor comprises a plurality of holding orifices (44) which extend up through the conveyor and into each side margin (46) and means for applying under-pressure to the underside of the film through the holding orifices and thereby creating friction forces which are sufficiently large to resist inward movement of the side edges (45) of the film (29) during thermoforming of the film into the moulds.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.