Apparatus and method for automatically closing containers
AssigneeI.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.P.A.
InventorsClaudio TREBBI, Alessandro FARNE, Gianluca ZAULI, Daniele RICCIARDI, Filippo MEARINI, Sergio MANERA, Annalisa MALFATTO
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for automatically closing one or more containers includes a base plate and one or more transport members having their own respective magnetic elements. Each configured transport members supports a container or possibly a crimping device, and moves in a coordinated manner with respect to the base plate through the energization of suitable electric elements.
Claims15
Apparatus for automatically closing a container with a closing unit, said apparatus comprising a base plate having a driving surface, a first transport member onto which said container is placed, wherein said first transport member is positionable and movable on the driving surface by means of a magnetic coupling between a rotor magnetic field generated by magnetic means of the first transport member and stator magnetic fields generated by electric means belonging to said base plate, so that a selective energization of said electric means allows a movement of the first transport member relative to the driving surface, and a crimping device configured to crimp a crimp cap of said closing unit, wherein at least one between said crimping device and said first transport member is configured to be selectively
- moved closer to each other to bring the crimp cap of said closing unit coupled with said container placed on said first transport member, until a crimping element of said crimping device contacts the crimp cap,
- and
- rotated to allow the crimping device to crimp the crimp cap all around an annular shoulder of the container.
Method for automatically closing a container with a closing unit, using an apparatus having a base plate having a driving surface, a first transport member onto which said container is placed, wherein said first transport member is positionable and movable on the driving surface by means of a magnetic coupling between a rotor magnetic field generated by magnetic means of the first transport member and stator magnetic fields generated by electric means belonging to the base plate, so that a selective energization of said electric means allows a movement of the first transport member relative to the driving surface, and a crimping device configured to crimp a crimp cap of said closing unit, wherein at least one between said crimping device and said first transport member is configured to be selectively
- moved closer to each other to bring the crimp cap of said closing unit coupled with said container placed on said first transport member, until a crimping element of said crimping device contacts the crimp cap,
- and
- rotated to allow the crimping device to crimp the crimp cap all around an annular shoulder of the container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.