Method and apparatus for assembling a closure tab to a lid
AssigneeDart Container Corporation
InventorsRalph William MacKenzie, Tyler James DeLong, Ryan P. Gingras
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for assembling a first thermoformed workpiece, such as a tab closure, to a second thermoformed workpiece, such as a lid.
Claims81
An automated manufacturing line for making a composite article from first and second thermoformed workpieces by automatically assembling the first thermoformed workpiece to the second thermoformed workpiece, comprising:
- a thermoforming station for thermoforming the first and second thermoformed workpieces in a plastic sheet;
- a trim station for trimming at least the first thermoformed workpiece from the plastic sheet;
- and
- an assembly station for assembling the first thermoformed workpiece onto the second thermoformed workpiece to form the composite article.
An apparatus for automatically forming a composite article by assembling first and second workpieces thermoformed in a common plastic sheet comprising a plurality of the first and second work pieces, the assembly station comprising:
- a trimmer for trimming at least one of the first workpieces from the plastic sheet;
- and
- a carrier moveable between a first position, where the carrier picks up one of the first workpieces, and a second position, where the carrier assembles the first workpiece to one of the second workpieces in the plastic sheet.
A method for automatically assembling a first thermoformed workpiece to a second thermoformed workpiece from a plastic sheet comprising a plurality of the first thermoformed workpieces and a plurality of the second thermoformed workpieces to form a composite thermoformed article, comprising:
- trimming at least one of the first thermoformed workpieces from the plastic sheet to form at least one trimmed first thermoformed workpiece;
- immediately after trimming, carrying the trimmed first thermoformed workpiece to a corresponding second thermoformed workpiece;
- and
- assembling the trimmed first thermoformed workpiece to the corresponding second thermoformed workpiece to form a composite thermoformed article.
A method for automatically assembling a first thermoformed workpiece to a second thermoformed workpiece from a plastic sheet comprising a plurality of the first thermoformed workpieces and a plurality of the second thermoformed workpieces to form a composite thermoformed article, comprising:
- trimming at least one of the first thermoformed workpieces from the plastic sheet to form at least one trimmed first thermoformed workpiece;
- carrying the trimmed first thermoformed workpiece to a corresponding second thermoformed workpiece;
- and
- press-fitting the trimmed first thermoformed workpiece to the corresponding second thermoformed workpiece to form a composite thermoformed article.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.