Apparatus for packaging articles in deaerated condition
AssigneeIbaraki Seiki Machinery Company, Ltd.
InventorYasutaka Suga
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for packaging articles in deaerated condition. A belt-like film is tubulated to enclose a plurality of articles transported in a longitudinally aligned fashion. The articles and the film are transported together in integral relation while the air in the tubular film is evacuated by a pipe nozzle inserted in the film tube. The pipe nozzle is connected to a vacuum source via a connecting pipe. Usually, the interior of the tubular film is kept in a suitable negative pressure condition by suction through a tube bypassing a normally closed valve disposed on the connecting pipe. The valve is impulsively opened immediately before seal bars press the film from opposite sides so that the air in the film is instantly discharged.
Claims8
An apparatus for packaging articles in deaerated condition which includes an elongate pipe nozzle disposed along a path for transport of the articles to be packaged, means for tubulating a belt-like film moving in the same direction as the articles in such a way as to sequentially enclose the articles and the pipe nozzle, the pipe nozzle being connected to a source of vacuum via a connecting pipe, and seal bars for cross sealing the tubulated film cyclically by pressing the film from opposite sides and between adjacent articles at a location adjacent one end of the pipe nozzle while the air in the tubulated film is sucked by the pipe nozzle, said apparatus comprising:
- the connecting pipe, which connects the pipe nozzle to the vacuum source, having a cross-sectional passage area comparable to or larger than that of the pipe nozzle;
- a first on-off valve of the normally closed type provided midway on the connecting pipe;
- a bypass tube bypassing the first on-off valve and having a cross-sectional passage area smaller than that of the pipe nozzle;
- and
- control means for impulsively opening the on-off valve in cyclically timed relation to the cross sealing action of the seal bars but immediately prior to the film being pressed by the seal bars from opposite sides.
An apparatus for packaging articles in deaerated condition which includes an elongate pipe nozzle disposed along a path for transport of the articles to be packaged, means for tubulating a belt-like film moving in the same direction as the articles in such a way as to sequentially enclose the articles and the pipe nozzle, the pipe nozzle being connected to a source of vacuum via a connecting pipe, and seal bars for cross sealing the tubulated film cyclically by pressing the film from opposite sides and between adjacent articles at a location adjacent one end of the pipe nozzle while the air in the tubulated film is sucked by the pipe nozzle, said apparatus comprising:
- means for keeping the interior of the film in a negative pressure condition through sucking action of the pipe nozzle so as not to cause any greater friction than necessary between the pipe nozzle and the film, when the articles being packaged are transported in conjunction with the movement of the film;
- means for causing the pipe nozzle to produce an impulsive suction force in cyclically timed relation to cross sealing action of the seal bars on the film but immediately prior to the film being pressed by the seal bars from opposite sides, thereby enabling the air in the interior of the film to be momentarily discharged,
- said connecting pipe, which connects the pipe nozzles to the vacuum source, having a cross-sectional passage area comparable to or larger than that of the pipe nozzle;
- a first on-off valve of the normally closed type provided midway on the connecting pipe;
- a bypass tube bypassing the first on-off valve and having a cross-sectional passage area smaller than that of the pipe nozzle;
- and
- control means for impulsively opening the on-off valve in cyclically timed relation to the cross sealing action of the seal bars but immediately prior to the film being pressed by the seal bars from opposite sides.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.