Apparatus and method for producing a container for food and the like
OwnerJoel A. Hamiltoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
There is shown apparatus and method for producing a container preferably made or constructed of heat sealable material. Shaping of the container is by forming and not heat stretching or other distortion. In the depicted examples of the container the travelling strip is formed with a midwidth transverse cut leaving on and at each edge a carrier strip. The formed container is preferably filled with a product and then a cover to retain the product is brought to this container and heat sealed in place by the apparatus. After this filling and sealing, the package is further severed at the prior transverse cut to make separate packages.
Claims21
Apparatus for the in-line production of a package for a product which may be granular, solid, semisolid, liquid and/or combinations thereof, said produced package including a lower member of material being capable of retaining its shape once it has been formed and a cover member, said members having facing surfaces adapted for sealing one to the other, said apparatus including:
- (a) means for feeding and supporting a lower member of determined width and of a long length of sheet material;
- (b) means for forming a plurality of substantially transverse cuts in said lower member and at substantially equal and regular intervals, these cuts being less than the width of the lower member thereby leaving side carrier portions on the lower member;
- (c) means for forming a trough in said lower member, said trough having substantially the same surface width in the lower member as the length of said transverse cuts;
- (d) die shaping means for forming an end stop on each side of each transverse cut and with these end stops and the trough providing a product receiving pocket, said end stops being formed in the lower member absent heat and stretching of said member so that the integrity of all wall portions of the pocket remain substantially unchanged in their travel through the apparatus;
- (e) means to feed a desired quantity of product to and into the formed pocket of the lower carrier;
- (f) means for attaching a cover member to the rim portions around the pocket to retain the product in the pocket, and
- (g) means for severing the sealed pockets into separate packages.
A method for forming a package for a product which may be granular, solid, semisolid, liquid and/or a combination thereof, said package including a lower member and a cover member of material being capable of retaining its shape once it has been formed, said members having facing surfaces adapted for sealing one to the other, the steps of forming said packages including:
- (a) providing and advancing a lower member of determined width and of a long length of sheet material adapted to form a series of receiving pockets;
- (b) forming a series of substantially identical transverse cuts in said lower member and at substantially equal and regular intervals, these cuts less than the width of the lower member thereby leaving side carrier portions in the lower member;
- (c) troughing said lower member, said trough extending substantially the same surface width in the lower member as the transverse cut;
- (d) forming an end stop at and on each side of each transverse cut and with these stops and trough providing a product receiving pocket, said end stops being formed in the lower member absent heat and stretching of said member so that the integrity of all wall portions of the pocket remain substantially unchanged in their travel through the forming steps;
- (e) delivering a desired quantity of product to and into the formed pocket of the lower carrier;
- (f) attaching a cover to the rim portion around the pocket to retain the product in said pocket, and
- (g) subsequently severing the sealed pockets into separate packages.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.