Blister packaging system and method
AssigneeSencorp Systems, Inc.
InventorAnthony Giovannone
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A blister packaging system and method which includes a preheat station, a cold seal press station, and a trimming station to provide a blister-type cold seal bonded blister package. The method comprises feeding the adjacent sheets of thermoplastic material to a preheat station and preheating selected sections, usually edge areas, of the plastic material for very short periods of time to a tacky or melt temperature, thereafter cold pressing the preheated sections under pressure at a temperature of less than 60.degree. F. to cold bond seal the preheated sections, and thereafter optionally to trim the cold bonded thermoplastic sheet material to a finished size and recovering a blister, cold-bonded package.
Claims21
A method of sealing a blister package, which method comprises:
- a) feeding from a feed station to a preheat seal station two thermoplastic sheet materials to be sealed together to form an article-containing blister package with overlapping, contacting top and bottom surfaces;
- b) preheating at the preheat seal station with heated press platens the top and bottom surfaces of the thermoplastic sheet materials to be joined to a temperature sufficient to melt to a tacky state the top and bottom surfaces while pressing the heated surfaces together during the preheating period to form a preheated blister package;
- c) transferring the preheated blister package to a cold seal station;
- d) rapidly cooling with chilled press platens at the cold seal station the preheated sheet material package to a temperature of less than about 60.degree. F. for a period of time while pressing the joined preheated sheet materials of the blister package together under pressure to form a strong cold-seal bond between the joined surfaces;
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- e) optionally trimming at a trim press station the cold-bonded, joined, plastic sheet material of the blister package to form a trimmed, bonded blister package product.
A blister packaging system which comprises:
- a) a feed station means to form a blister package containing an article, the blister package composed of a thermoplastic blister material and a thermoplastic sheet material with adjacent contacting surface portions;
- b) a preheat press station means comprising upper and lower platens with upper and lower working tools to preheat selected contacting areas of the thermoplastic sheet materials to a tacky, molten state;
- c) a cold seal press station means comprising upper and lower platens with upper and lower sealing tools to chill rapidly to a temperature of less than about 60.degree. F. the preheated areas of the thermoplastic materials under pressure to cold seal and bond the selected areas together;
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- e) a trim station means to trim the cold-sealed, bonded blister package to a finished blister package product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.