Auxiliary air-evacuating apparatus for continuous skin-packaging machine

Claim 2

In combination, a continuous skin-packaging machine having a linearly moving conveyor arranged to carry articles carded on a porous substrate to be continuously encased in a thin thermoplastic film by laminating heat-softened film to the substrate over the articles at a vacuum-forming station, the station having a vacuum platen and means for drawing a vacuum through the platen when said substrate is positioned thereon, an auxiliary air-evacuating apparatus located upstream of said vacuum-forming station considering the direction of travel of packaging materials through the machine, said apparatus including: a. an evacuation chamber having a floor provided by said conveyor, a pair of sidewalls and an otherwIse open end opposite the conveyor, said film being transported along the open end and the substrate being transported through the chamber on the conveyor along a horizontal plane of movement: b. said chamber extending above the conveyor and having an exit end connecting with the entrance to said vacuum-forming station; and c. auxiliary means connected to said chamber for evacuating air from said chamber during such movement of the film and substrate so that the quantity of air in the chamber below the film is reduced prior to introducing the packaging materials to said vacuum-forming station from the chamber.

Claim 3

The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein the upper end of the chamber is effectively closed by the film during operation of said auxiliary air-evacuating means.

Claim 4

The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein the exit end of the chamber is at the point where film and substrate converge.

Claim 5

The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said chamber has an entry end upstream of the exit end, considering the direction of movement of the substrate, said entry end comprising a curtain wall disposed thereacross.

Claim 6

The combination as claimed in claim 4 wherein the chamber is wedge-shaped and has two vertically disposed triangular-shaped sidewalls.

Claim 7

The combination as claimed in claim 5 wherein the auxiliary air-evacuating means is operatively connected to the chamber at a point in a sidewall thereof proximate the exit end of the chamber.

Claim 8

The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein the air-evacuating evacuating means is operatively connected to the chamber at a point above the conveyor.

Claim 9

The combination as claimed in claim 4 in which said curtain has a separable lower end for passage of carded articles therethrough.

Claim 10

An improved packaging machine for producing skin packages in a continuous sequence of operation including a. a linearly movable conveyor for transporting package substrate material carrying articles thereon in a direction toward a vacuum-forming station, said conveyor having an entrance end and an exit end, b. a vacuum-forming station in line with said conveyor and spaced from said exit end, said vacuum-forming station having a linearly movable vacuum bed substantially flush with the level of said conveyor and in parallel registry with the direction of movement of the conveyor, c. a thermoplastic film-transporting means supported above the conveyor at an acute angle relative to the plane of said conveyor, said film-transporting means having a film infeed end and a film discharge end, said film discharge end being closer to the conveyor than said infeed end and in close proximity to the exit end of the conveyor, d. a heater assembly supported above the film-transporting means for elevating the temperature of film traversing below the heater assembly to its vacuum-forming temperature, e. means for feeding a continuous web of said film into the infeed end of said film-transporting means, f. said conveyor constructed and arranged to discharge said package substrate material to said vacuum bed synchronized with the discharge of heated film from the discharge end of said film-transporting means, g. said vacuum bed being under a vacuum-drawing condition to continuously draw the heated film down over the articles and adhere same to the substrate material as said substrate material is moved linearly on said vacuum bed, wherein the improvement comprises, an auxiliary air-evacuating apparatus, having; h. an evacuation chamber, through which the film and substrate pass, disposed between the conveyor and film-transporting means, said chamber having an exit end upstream of said vacuum-forming station, j. means for evacuating the chamber operatively connected thereto, so that the quantity of air in the chamber between the film and substrate is reduced, k. thereby reducing the quantity of air to be removed, from between the film and substrate, at the Vacuum-forming station.

Claim 11

An improved packaging machine for producing skin packages in a continuous sequence of operation including a. a linearly movable conveyor for transporting package substrate material carrying articles thereon in a direction toward a vacuum-forming station, said conveyor having an entrance end and an exit end, b. a vacuum-forming station in line with said conveyor and spaced from said exit end, said vacuum-forming station having a linearly movable vacuum bed substantially flush with the level of said conveyor and in parallel registry with the direction of movement of the conveyor, c. a thermoplastic film-transporting means supported above the conveyor at an acute angle relative to the plane of said conveyor, said film-transporting means having a film infeed end and a film discharge end, said film discharge end being closer to the conveyor than said infeed end and in close proximity to the exit end of the conveyor, d. a heater assembly supported above the film-transporting means for elevating the temperature of film traversing below the heater assembly to its vacuum-forming temperature, e. means for feeding a continuous web of said film into the infeed end of said film-transporting means, f. said conveyor constructed and arranged to discharge said package substrate material to said vacuum bed synchronized with the discharge of heated film from the discharge end of said film-transporting means, g. said vacuum bed being under a vacuum-drawing condition to continuously draw the heated film down over the articles and adhere same to the substrate material as said substrate material is moved linearly on said vacuum bed, wherein the improvement comprises, an auxiliary air-evacuating apparatus, having; h. an evacuation chamber, through which the film and substrate pass, disposed between the conveyor and film-transporting means, said chamber having an exit end upstream of said vacuum-forming station, j. means for evacuating the chamber operatively connected thereto, so that the quantity of air in the chamber between the film and substrate is reduced, k. thereby reducing the quantity of air to be removed, from between the film and substrate, at the Vacuum-forming station.

Claim 12

An apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said chamber has an entry end upstream, with respect to the direction of movement of the substrate, of the exit end, said entry end comprising a curtain wall disposed thereacross.

Claim 13

An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 in which said curtain has a separable lower end for passage of carded articles therethrough.