Apparatus and methods for wrapping food products
OwnerSolon Filho Rodrigues, Jose Antonio Azevedo Gomesinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus and methods are provided for forming a sealed package about a food product, such as a confectionary including a bonbon. A sheet of film having a pre-applied adhesive is wrapped around the food product. The adhesive is positioned on the film so that a fin seal is formed between leading and trailing edge portions of the film in the course of forming a tube about the food product. Adhesive is also positioned on the film so that during the twisting of the open ends of the tube to enclose the food product a seal is formed at each end.
Claims19
A method of wrapping a food product, the method comprising:
- positioning a sheet of film over the food product, the film having leading and trailing edge portions;
- lifting the food product and the film;
- folding the leading and trailing edge portions of the film about the food product using a leading folding bar and a trailing folding bar during the step of lifting the food product and the film;
- and
- moving a sealing bar against the leading folding bar to seal the leading and trailing edge portions of the film about the food product, wherein the step of moving the sealing bar against the leading folding bar includes biasing the sealing bar relative to a support for the sealing bar to accommodate variations in the size and orientation of the food product during sealing of the leading and trailing edge portions of the film about the food product.
An apparatus for wrapping a food product, the apparatus comprising:
- a retractable lift for contacting a bottom of the food product and lifting the food product from a first position to a second position;
- a pair of lateral supports for supporting a sheet of film above the food product in the first position and having a gap between the supports for the food product to pass through;
- an upstream folding member and a downstream folding member positioned to fold leading and trailing portions of the film about the food product when the food product is lifted from the first position to the second position;
- a pair of grippers for contacting sides of the food product with the film thereabout to support the food product in the second position when the lift is retracted;
- and
- a sealing bar movable against the downstream folding member and beneath the food product in the second position for sealing the leading and trailing portions of the film together to form a tube about the food product, the sealing bar being biased relative to a support for the sealing bar to accommodate variations in the size and orientation of the food product during sealing of the leading and trailing edge portions of the film about the food product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.