Apparatus for cutting and/or welding flexible packaging
OwnerBrian Andrew Kendallinventor
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Abstract
This invention involves a method and apparatus for welding and/or cutting flexible packaging material (1) using lasers. The invention is specifically directed towards the use of lasers for cutting and/or welding plastics material (1) in motion, such as in association with high speed packaging machinery. The method and apparatus of the invention enables the cutting and/or welding of adjacent webs of plastics material (1) by scanning one or more processing laser beams (4), or sub-beams (5, 6) of the or each processing laser beam (4), across said moving layers (1) at a rate controlled in relation to the rate of motion of the layers (1) of substrate. The method and apparatus may produce straight or shaped cuts and/or welds.
Claims25
A method of cutting and/or welding flexible packaging material in motion, said method comprising:
- feeding a substrate comprising two or more layers of flexible packaging material through an operational site,
- contacting adjacent layers of the material at said operational site,
- focusing one or more processing laser beams on said substrate at said operational site,
- scanning the or each processing laser beam on said moving substrate, by scanning means, to produce one or more cuts and/or welds in said substrate, and
- controlling the relationship between the rate of scanning and the rate of motion of the substrate to produce the one or more required cuts and/or welds.
Welding/cutting apparatus adapted for cutting and/or welding flexible packaging material in motion, said apparatus comprising:
- feeding means adapted to feed a substrate comprising two or more layers of flexible packaging material through an operational site,
- contacting means adapted to produce intimate contact between adjacent layers of the substrate at the operational site,
- one or more lasers adapted to produce one or more processing laser beams,
- focusing means adapted to focus one or more processing laser beams on said substrate at the operational site,
- scanning means adapted to scan the one or more processing laser beam on the moving substrate to produce one or more cuts and/or welds in the substrate, and
- control means adapted to control the relationship between the rate of scanning and the rate of motion of the substrate to produce one or more required cuts and/or welds.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.