Systems and methods for sealing a container

An apparatus for securing a film to a container, the apparatus comprising:

• a body portion to house a roll of film, the body portion comprises:
• a support roller configured to support the roll of film thereon, wherein the support roller comprises:
• a spindle configured to rotate about an axis, wherein the spindle comprises a contact portion that is configured to contact an outer circumferential surface of the roll of film;
• an edge shuttle configured to translate along the axis between a first position and a second position, wherein the edge shuttle defines an engagement feature configured to interact with an edge of the roll of film;
• and
• a biasing element configured to bias the edge shuttle along the axis toward a center of the support roller;
• a drive roller;
• a pinch roller, wherein the drive roller and the pinch roller define a nip that is configured to receive the film from the roll of film therethrough;
• a motor configured to, when operated, drive the drive roller to cause translation of the film along a film path toward a loading zone;
• a sealing portion comprising:
• a sealing volume for receiving a top portion of the container;
• one or more energy emitting elements;
• a sensor configured to sense when the top portion of the container is at least partially positioned within the sealing volume;
• and
• the loading zone sized to receive a portion of the film from the body portion and position the portion of the film for insertion into the sealing volume with the top portion of the container;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• receive sensor input from the sensor indicating that the top portion of the container is at least partially positioned within the sealing volume;
• and
• cause, in response thereto, activation of the one or more energy emitting elements to secure the portion of the film to the top portion of the container.

An apparatus for securing a film to a container, the apparatus comprising:

• a body portion to house a roll of film, wherein the roll of film comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, wherein the RFID tag includes supply data comprising a remaining amount of supply of the roll of film;
• a drive roller;
• a pinch roller, wherein the drive roller and the pinch roller define a nip that is configured to receive the film from the roll of film therethrough;
• a motor configured to, when operated, drive the drive roller to cause translation of the film along a film path toward a loading zone;
• an RFID read/write system configured to read the supply data from the RFID tag when the roll of film is housed in the body portion;
• a sealing portion comprising:
• a sealing volume for receiving a top portion of the container;
• one or more energy emitting elements;
• a sensor configured to sense when the top portion of the container is at least partially positioned within the sealing volume;
• and
• the loading zone sized to receive a portion of the film from the body portion and position the portion of the film for insertion into the sealing volume with the top portion of the container;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• operate the motor to cause advancement of the portion of the film into the loading zone;
• determine an updated remaining amount of supply on the roll of film;
• and
• cause the RFID read/write system to update the supply data on the RFID tag of the roll of film with the updated remaining amount of supply on the roll of film.

An apparatus for securing a film to a container, the apparatus comprising:

• a body portion to house a roll of film;
• a drive roller;
• a pinch roller, wherein the drive roller and the pinch roller define a nip that is configured to receive the film from the roll of film therethrough;
• a motor configured to, when operated, drive the drive roller to cause translation of the film along a film path toward a loading zone;
• a sealing portion comprising:
• a sealing volume for receiving a top portion of the container;
• an aperture;
• one or more energy emitting elements;
• and
• the loading zone sized to receive a portion of the film from the body portion and position the portion of the film for insertion into the sealing volume with the top portion of the container;
• a container presence sensor positioned within or below the aperture of the sealing volume and configured to sense presence of the container;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• receive sensor input from the container presence sensor indicating the presence of the container proximate the aperture;
• and
• cause, in response thereto, at least one of cessation or prevention of operation of the motor to prevent further advancement of the film into the loading zone while the container is proximate the aperture.