Machine for forming, filling, and sealing containers

Claim 2

A machine for automatically and sequentially forming, filling, and sealing tubular container blanks coated with a thermoplastic material and having top and bottom foldable closure panels comprising: a. a support base; b. a turret wheel mounted to the support base for rotation about a vertical axis; c. a plurality of container holders mounted to said turret in spaced relationship, each of said holders receiving and gripping the external vertical sides of a container blank to hold the container blank in an open and upright position; d. means defining a plurality of machine stations spaced about the axis of rotation of the turret wheel, said machine station means including; i. bottom heat sealing means for heat sealing the bottom closure panels of the container blanks; ii. filling means for filling the bottom sealed container blanks; and iii. top heat sealing means for heat sealing the top closure panels of the filled container blanks; and e. machine cycling means for rotating and indexing the turret wheel and the attached holders in a timed, sequential manner with each of the machine station means and for actuating and controlling the machine station means to form, fill, and seal the container blanks in sequence.

Claim 3

The machine of claim 1, in which the bottom heat sealing means includes: a. heater means for heating the container bottom closure panels at a bottom heating station; and b. bottom forming means actuated and controlled by the machine cycling means for breaking, folding, and sealing the heated bottom closure panels at a subsequent bottom forming station.

Claim 4

The machine of claim 2, in which the bottom closure panels comprise a pair of opposed bottom gusset panels and a pair of opposed bottom flaps interconnected with said gusset panels and in which the bottom forming means at the bottom forming station operates on unbroken bottom closure panels and includes: a. a vertically reciprocating mandrel mounted to the support base for vertical reciprocation between a raised and lowered position; b. means for reciprocating the mandrel to insert the mandrel through the top of an opened container blank held by a container holder in an upright position at the bottom forming station and to bring the mandrel down to its lowermost position within the container blank; c. a pair of fingers cooperating with the mandrel at its lowermost position and acting on one of the pairs of panels to break inwardly the fold lines of both pairs of bottom closure panels; d. a pair of roller bars acting on the pair of broken bottom flaps to fold inwardly and upwardly both pairs of bottom closure panels; and e. a vertically reciprocating press plate to press said pairs of folded closure panels together against the mandrel while at its lowermost position and to seal them in place.

Claim 5

The machine of claim 3, wherein said fingers and bars operate as an incident to reciprocation of the press plate.

Claim 6

The machine of claim 4, wherein the press plate is mounted to the top of a press head and the fingers are pivotally mounted with respect to the support base and are operably connected to the press head by cam means for rocking the fingers back and forth as the press head reciprocates and the roller bars are pivotally mounted to the press head and are operatively connected to the support base by cam means for moving the bars in and out as the press head reciprocates.

Claim 7

The machine of claim 5, wherein one of the pairs of opposed bottom flaps tucks in under the other bottom flap and the roller bar cam means pivots the roller bar associated with said tuck-in flap in advance of the roller bar associated with the other flap.

Claim 8

The machine of claim 3, including means for locking the mandrel at its lowermost position within the container blank.

Claim 9

The machine of claim 1, in which the top heat sealing meanS includes: a. heater means for heating the top closure container panels at a top heating station; and b. top forming means actuated and controlled by the machine cycling means for closing and sealing the top closure panels at a subsequent top forming station.

Claim 10

The machine of claim 8, including means for prebreaking the top closure panels at a top closure panel breaking station prior to said top forming station and in which the top closure panels comprise a pair of opposed gusset panels and a pair of opposed roof closure panels interconnected with said gusset panels, said roof closure panels having sealing flaps to form a gabled top for the container, and in which the top forming means comprises: a. a top closing head mounted to the support base for vertical reciprocation between a raised and lowered position; b. a pair of spaced closing guides mounted to the head, each of said guides having a slanted face adjacent one another to form a downwardly directed V-shaped opening therebetween; c. means for reciprocating the head to its lowermost position to lower the guides'' faces onto the roof panels of a container blank held by a container holder at the top forming station and to bring the roof panels and their sealing flaps together to form a gabled closure top; d. a pair of sealer jaws pivotally mounted to the head above said guides and located adjacent the sealing flaps when the head is in its lowermost position; and e. means for pivoting the jaws into and away from the sealing flaps to seal the container blanks closed.

Claim 11

The machine of claim 9, in which the top closure panel breaking means comprises: a. a vertically reciprocating anvil for insertion into the top of an opened container blank held by a container holder at the top breaking station; b. a top breaking head mounted to the support base; and c. a pair of breaking fingers pivotally mounted to the top breaking head and acting against one of the pairs of panels in cooperation with the anvil to break the fold lines of both pairs of top closure panels.

Claim 12

The machine of claim 10, including means for pivoting the top closing head and the top breaking head between two operating positions 90* out of phase with each other.

Claim 13

The machine of claim 1, in which the turret wheel has a plurality of radial arms and a container holder is mounted to the end of each of said arms, and the machine has a corresponding number of machine stations for carrying out the forming, filling, and sealing operations, said machine cycling means rotating the turret wheel and sequentially indexing each of said container holders with each of said machine stations in a repeating cycle.

Claim 14

The machine of claim 12, in which the turret wheel has eight radial arms and the machine has eight successive machine stations, a first station for loading a container blank into a container holder, a second station for heating the bottom closure panels, a third station for breaking, folding, and sealing the bottom closure panels, a fourth station for breaking the top closure panels, a fifth station for filling the bottom sealed container, a sixth station for heating the top closure panels, a seventh station for closing and sealing the top closure panels, and an eight station for discharging the sealed and filled container from the container holder.

Claim 15

The machine of claim 13, including a guide rail for supporting the bottom of the container blank from before the top breaking station to beyond the top closing and sealing station.

Claim 16

The machine of claim 13, including aligning means at the first station for aligning the container blank vertically in the container holder.

Claim 17

In a machine for forming, filling, and sealing a container blank coated with a thermoplastic material and having opposed top foldable roof closure panels with sealing flaps adapted to form a gabled top to the container, a top forming unit for closing and sealing prebroken and heated roof closurE panels of a container blank held in an upright position comprising: a. a pair of spaced closing guides, each having a slanted face adjacent one another to form a V-shaped opening therebetween; b. means for bringing the faces of the guides down onto the opposed roof closure panels to bring the roof panels and their sealing flaps together to form a gabled top closure; c. a pair of opposed sealer jaws mounted above said guides and located adjacent opposite sides of the sealing flaps when they are together; and d. means for moving the jaws against the sealing flaps to seal the container blank closed.

Claim 18

In a machine for forming, filling, and sealing a container blank coated with a thermoplastic material and having opposed top foldable roof closure panels with sealing flaps adapted to form a gabled top to the container, a top forming unit for closing and sealing prebroken and heated roof closurE panels of a container blank held in an upright position comprising: a. a pair of spaced closing guides, each having a slanted face adjacent one another to form a V-shaped opening therebetween; b. means for bringing the faces of the guides down onto the opposed roof closure panels to bring the roof panels and their sealing flaps together to form a gabled top closure; c. a pair of opposed sealer jaws mounted above said guides and located adjacent opposite sides of the sealing flaps when they are together; and d. means for moving the jaws against the sealing flaps to seal the container blank closed.

Claim 19

In a machine for forming, filling, and sealing a container blank coated with a thermoplastic material and having a pair of opposed bottom foldable gusset closure panels and a pair of opposed bottom closure flap panels interconnected with the gusset panels, a bottom forming unit for breaking, folding, and sealing the bottom closure panels of a container blank held in an open and upright position comprising: a. a vertically reciprocating mandrel having lower bending edges; b. means for reciprocating the mandrel to insert the mandrel downwardly into the open container blank and to bring the bending edges of the mandrel adjacent the fold lines of the bottom closure panels; c. a pair of fingers cooperating with the mandrel and acting one one of the pairs of panels to break inwardly the fold lines of both pairs of bottom closure panels; d. a pair of roller bars acting on the pair of broken bottom closure flap panels to fold inwardly and upwardly both pairs of bottom closure panels; and e. a vertically reciprocating press plate to press the pairs of folded closure panels together against the mandrel and to seal them in place.

Claim 20

In a machine for forming, filling, and sealing a container blank coated with a thermoplastic material and having a pair of opposed bottom foldable gusset closure panels and a pair of opposed bottom closure flap panels interconnected with the gusset panels, a bottom forming unit for breaking, folding, and sealing the bottom closure panels of a container blank held in an open and upright position comprising: a. a vertically reciprocating mandrel having lower bending edges; b. means for reciprocating the mandrel to insert the mandrel downwardly into the open container blank and to bring the bending edges of the mandrel adjacent the fold lines of the bottom closure panels; c. a pair of fingers cooperating with the mandrel and acting one one of the pairs of panels to break inwardly the fold lines of both pairs of bottom closure panels; d. a pair of roller bars acting on the pair of broken bottom closure flap panels to fold inwardly and upwardly both pairs of bottom closure panels; and e. a vertically reciprocating press plate to press the pairs of folded closure panels together against the mandrel and to seal them in place.