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AssigneeTetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A.
InventorsDavide Borghi, Behrooz Faskhoody, Bo Hellberg
Estimating the term…
A decoration correction method for a form-and-seal unit for producing sealed packages of a pourable food product from a tube of packaging material fed along a feed path, and having two pairs of jaws movable along the feed path and opened and closed so as to travel, cyclically and alternately with each other, along a form-and-seal portion along which the pairs of jaws are closed and travel integrally with the tube, and along a repositioning portion along which the pairs of jaws open and move with respect to the tube. To make a decoration correction, a nominal trajectory of the jaws is modified along the repositioning portion on the basis of a position error of the tube with respect to a nominal position. A first solution provides for correcting the travel of the jaws by selectively modifying the amplitude of the trajectory; and a second solution provides for correcting the phase of the jaw trajectory.
A decoration correction method for a form-and-seal unit for producing sealed packages of a pourable food product from a tube of packaging material fed along a feed path, the form-and-seal unit comprising two pairs of jaws movable along said feed path and opened and closed by respective actuating members so as to substantially travel, cyclically and alternately with each other, along a form-and-seal portion along which said pairs of jaws are closed and grip said tube, and along a repositioning portion along which said pairs of jaws open and move along a curved trajectory with respect to said tube, the method comprising the step of modifying, along said repositioning portion, a nominal trajectory of said jaws to a modified trajectory on the basis of an error signal related to a position error of said tube with respect to a nominal position.
A decoration correction method for a form-and-seal unit for producing sealed packages of a pourable food product from a tube of packaging material fed along a feed path, the form-and-seal unit comprising two pairs of jaws which are movable along the feed path and opened and closed by respective actuating members so as to substantially travel, cyclically and alternately with each other, along a form-and-seal portion along which the pairs of jaws are closed and grip the tube, and along a repositioning portion along which the pairs of jaws open and move along a curved trajectory with respect to the tube, the method comprising modifying, along the repositioning portion, a nominal trajectory of the jaws to a modified trajectory on the basis of an error signal related to a position error of the tube with respect to a nominal position, the modifying comprising a step of modifying the amplitude of the nominal trajectory by determining an amplitude correction required to eliminate the position error, and modifying the amplitude according to the amplitude correction.
A decoration correction system for a form-and-seal unit for producing sealed packages of a pourable food product from a tube of packaging material fed along a feed path, the form-and-seal unit comprising two pairs of jaws movable along said feed path and opened and closed by respective actuating members so as to substantially travel, cyclically and alternately with each other, along a form-and-seal portion along which said pairs of jaws are closed and grip said tube, and along a repositioning portion along which said pairs of jaws open and move along a curved trajectory with respect to said tube;
A decoration correction system for a form-and-seal unit for producing sealed packages of a pourable food product from a tube of packaging material fed along a feed path, the form-and-seal unit comprising two pairs of jaws movable along the feed path and opened and closed by respective actuating members so as to substantially travel, cyclically and alternately with each other, along a form-and-seal portion along which the pairs of jaws are closed and grip the tube, and movable along a repositioning portion along which the pairs of jaws open and move along a curved trajectory with respect to the tube;
A method of correcting a decoration for a form-and-seal unit for producing sealed packages from a tube of packaging material fed along a feed path, the form-and-seal unit comprising two pairs of jaws which are movable along the feed path and opened and closed by respective actuating members so as to substantially travel, cyclically and alternately with each other, along a first portion along which the pairs of jaws are closed and grip the tube, and along a second portion along which the pairs of jaws open and move along a curved trajectory with respect to the tube, the method comprising modifying, along the second portion, a trajectory of the jaws from a nominal trajectory to a modified trajectory on the basis of an error signal related to a position error of the tube with respect to a nominal position.
A decoration correction system for a form-and-seal unit for producing sealed packages from a tube of packaging material fed along a feed path, the form-and-seal unit comprising two pairs of jaws movable along the feed path and opened and closed by respective actuating members so as to substantially travel, cyclically and alternately with each other, along a first portion along which the pairs of jaws are closed and grip the tube, and along a second portion along which the pairs of jaws open and move along a curved trajectory with respect to the tube;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Devices, e.g. jaws, for applying pressure and heat, e.g. for subdividing filled tubes: counter-rotating devices
Supplying or feeding container-forming sheets or wrapping material: registering sheets, blanks, or webs
Machines, apparatus or devices for, or methods of, packaging articles or materials
Term ended 13 Jun 2022 (estimated)
The present invention relates to a decoration correction method and system for a form-and-seal unit of a machine for packaging pourable food products.
Machines for packaging pourable food products—such as fruit juice, wine, tomato sauce, pasteurized or long-storage (UHT) milk, etc.—are known, on which the packages are formed from a continuous tube of packaging material defined by a longitudinally sealed web.
To produce the packages, the tube of packaging material is filled continuously with the pourable food product, and is then fed to a form-and-(transverse) seal unit on which the tube is gripped between pairs of jaws and sealed transversely to form pillow packs.
Two preferred, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGS. 1 and 2 show side and front views respectively of a form-and-seal unit of a machine for packaging pourable food products and implementing a decoration correction system in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 3 shows schematically the result of the jaws movement control in the FIGS. 1 and 2 machine to correct the decoration according to the invention;
For a clearer understanding of the invention, a form-and-seal unit 1 in accordance with Application EP-A-0 959 007 will first be described.
Unit 1 provides for producing aseptic sealed packages of a pourable food product from a tube 2 of packaging material formed by longitudinally folding and sealing a web of heat-seal sheet material, and filled with the food product upstream from unit 1.
Unit 1 comprises a supporting structure 3 defining two vertical guides 4 along which run two forming assemblies 5, 5′.