A process and equipment for manufacturing a reinforced sachet
AssigneeSociete des Produits Nestle S.A.
InventorsSTEPHANE PELLEGRINI, CHARLES GALANTINE, JOSE MORRAL ROCA
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a process for manufacturing a flexible package suitable for containing a food or beverage ingredient and suitable for use with a food or beverage preparation machine, wherein said process comprises punching a flexible flat blank sheet between a plunger and a cavity that are movable relative to one another. According to the invention, the plunger has a concave end side and convex lateral sides, and the profile curvature of its end side is identical to the profile curvature of each of its lateral sides.
Claims15
A process for manufacturing a flexible package suitable for containing a food or beverage ingredient and suitable for use with a food or beverage preparation machine, wherein said process comprising:
- (i) providing a primary flat blank sheet made of flexible material, said blank sheet having an elongated shape with two flaps extending symmetrically around a transversal axis,
- (ii) placing the primary flat blank sheet in a forming station such that its centre is located between a plunger and a cavity that are movable relative to one another and have complementary shapes, said plunger having a concave lower end side and convex lateral sides, and the profile curvature of its lower end side being identical to the profile curvature of each of its lateral sides,
- (iii) deforming the primary flat blank sheet by moving the plunger and the cavity towards one another, so that said blank is folded around its transversal axis to lift the flaps and form an unsealed U-shaped package having side walls that form a flatten package body and a bottom portion, said bottom portion being a cup-shaped hollow volume having the shape of said plunger, and
- (iv) sealing the lateral edges of said U-shaped package.
A machine for manufacturing a package, said machine comprising:
- a flexible flat blank sheet feeder,
- a forming set comprising a plunger and a cavity that are movable relative to one another and have complementary shapes, said plunger having a concave lower end side and convex lateral sides, and the profile curvature of its lower end side being identical to the profile curvature of each of its lateral sides,
- an actuator for moving the plunger and the cavity towards one another to deform said blank by folding, around its transversal axis, to form an unsealed U-shaped package having side walls that form a flatten package body and a bottom portion having a rigid flat surface, said bottom portion being a hollow volume having the shape of said plunger,
- a set of sealing jaws adapted to seal the lateral edges and the cup-shaped bottom portion of said U-shaped package.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.