Apparatus for assembling a closure tab to a lid
AssigneeDart Container Corporation
InventorsRalph William MacKenzie, Tyler James DeLong, Ryan P. Gingras
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for assembling a first thermoformed workpiece, such as a tab closure, to a second thermoformed workpiece, such as a lid.
Claims33
An apparatus for automatically forming a composite article by assembling first and second workpieces thermoformed in a common plastic sheet comprising a plurality of the first and second workpieces, the apparatus comprising:
- a trimmer for individually trimming at least one of the first workpieces from the plastic sheet, wherein the plastic sheet comprises alternating one of rows and columns of the first workpieces and the second workpieces;
- and
- a carrier moveable between a first position, where the carrier picks up one of the trimmed first workpieces, and a second position, where the carrier assembles the trimmed first workpiece to one of the second workpieces in the plastic sheet.
An apparatus for automatically forming a composite article by assembling first and second workpieces thermoformed in a common plastic sheet comprising a plurality of the first and second workpieces, the apparatus comprising:
- a trimmer comprising a first punch and die set for trimming at least one of the first workpieces from the plastic sheet;
- and
- a carrier moveable between a first position, where the carrier picks up one of the trimmed first workpieces, and a second position, where the carrier assembles the trimmed first workpiece to one of the second workpieces in the plastic sheet by a press-fit coupling, wherein the carrier is movable directly between the first and second positions eliminating the need to temporarily store the trimmed first workpiece prior to assembly to the one of the second workpieces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.