Method for making sterile suture packages

A method for making sterile suture packages, comprising:

• a. feeding an elongated web of foil along a frame assembly line, the foil having a thin polymer coating on its top surface;
• b. moving a frame section of the web into a cavity forming station having a die beneath the web;
• c. during a pause in the web's movement, forcing air under pressure at the top surface of the web to deform the web into a plurality of large recesses to define cavities in the web and to deform the web into a plurality of small recesses located along the edges of the web to define rib-like depressions arranged in sets, each set corresponding to and lying adjacent to a cavity, and forcing a plug into each of the cavities from above the web to further define the shape of the cavities;
• d. advancing the frame section to a suture packet loading station, and loading a suture packet into each cavity during a pause in the web's movement;
• e. advancing the frame section to a top foil loading station, and loading a sheet of top foil atop the frame section during a pause in the web's movement, the sheet of top foil having a polymer coating on its bottom surface;
• f. advancing the frame section to a sealing station and then, during a pause in the web's movement, exposing portions of the web and top foil partially around each cavity to heat and pressure to form a primary seal, leaving portions unsealed between each cavity and the adjacent corresponding set of rib-like depressions;
• g. advancing the frame section to a cutting station, and then, during a pause in the web's movement, cutting the web at the leading and trailing edges of the frame section to provide a separate frame;
• h. then, on a sterilization line, sterilizing the suture packets in the frame and then sealing portions of the frame at the outer periphery of each cavity to provide a complete peripheral heat seal around each cavity;
• and
• i. transporting the frame to a blanking station and separating a set of packages from the frame, each package having a single suture package contained therein in a sterile condition.