Heat-seal failure prevention method and article
AssigneeKortec, Inc.
InventorPaul M. Swenson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A co-injected molded multi-layer article has inner and outer layers, an interior layer contained within the inner and outer layers and a surface portion to which a closure or other component may be heat-sealed. The article is molded by co-injecting the inner, outer and interior layer materials into a mold cavity of a mold. The interior layer material is caused to flow along a steam line offset from the zero velocity gradient of the combined material flow and biased toward a material flow for forming an outer wall of the multi-layer article. The resultant molded multi-layer article contains an interior layer located in a heat sealable region that avoids a breach or failure during a heat seal operation to seal an opening of the molded article.
Claims20
A multi-layer co-injection molded article comprising:
- an inner layer including a first polymeric material;
- an exterior layer including the first polymeric material;
- and
- an interior layer including a second polymeric material, the interior layer extending between the inner and outer layers to provide and maintain barrier or scavenger coverage in a heat sealable zone of the multi-layer molded article.
A co-injection molding apparatus comprising a mold defining a mold cavity, the molding apparatus comprising:
- a nozzle assembly configured to inject a first polymeric material into a mold cavity configured to form an interior layer of a resulting multi-layer article and inject a second polymeric material into the mold cavity to form an inner and outer layer of the resulting multi-layer article;
- and
- a processor programmed to execute instructions to position a flow of the first polymeric material in a heat sealable zone of the resulting multi-layered article to avoid a failure in the resulting multi-layer article when the heat sealable zone melts during a heat sealing operation.
A method of molding a multi-layer article, comprising:
- injecting a first polymeric material into a mold cavity configured to form a resulting multi-layer article;
- injecting a second polymeric material into the mold cavity to form an inner and outer layer of the resulting multi-layer article;
- and
- positioning the first polymeric material in a heat sealable zone of the resulting multi-layer article to maintain integrity of a heat seal of the resulting multi-layer article during a heat sealing operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.