US3745739A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus and method for skin packaging articles
Assignee: AMPAK Inc A CORP OF DE
•
Filing: 1971-03-24
•
Granted: 1973-07-17
•
Expires: 1991-03-24
Abstract
Abstract A system for skin packaging articles including a loading zone for positioning articles to be packaged upon a substrate, a thermoplastic film heating and vacuum operated skin packaging zone for covering the articles with film laminated to the substrate and a slitting zone for separating and trimming the individual skin packaged articles. The articles are passed to the successive zones. The loading zone may be adapted for conveyorized instead of hand loading. In some cases, where only transverse cutting of the film web is necessary, it may be desirable to eliminate the slitting zone and remove the skin packaged article or articles directly from the packaging zone. A conveniently located operating panel contains controls for effecting automatic, semi-automatic or manual operation of the entire system or any portions thereof in any manner desired. More specific novel features of the invention comprise the provision of heat shield plates pivotally mounted for positioning above the heating elements to serve as reflectors to direct heat uniformly downwardly upon the film to be softened and deformed in the skin packaging zone and, alternatively, for positioning beneath the heating elements to shield the deformed film from further heating as desired during the vacuum skin packaging operation. Another specific feature comprises the novel arrangement of discs or other cutting means in the slitting zone to maintain an uncut border at opposed ends of the substrate board and laminated film so that the longitudinally slit strips of skin packaged articles within the border may be handled as a unit for separating into individual packages by a terminal transverse slitting operation. The invention visualizes the heating and packaging zone as a nucleus of the system around which selected article loading, removal and other devices may be associated to suit the requirements of specific article skin packaging operations.
Inventors
- 👤 B Madsen
- 👤 E Pozsony
- 👤 E Collin
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 22:42
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65B; B65B11/00; B65B11/50; B65B11/52
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
156 words
Apparatus for skin packaging articles between a substrate and thermoplastic film which comprises: support means for the substrate and articles carried thereon, heating means for deforming a length of thermoplastic film, said heating means movable to a first position above said thermoplastic film during said film deforming operation and to a second position above said thermoplastic film during said skin packaging operation, means for moving said substrate beneath said length of film so that the substrate and articles carried thereon are in skin packaging position, means for relatively moving the heated length of film and the substrate in engagement for skin packaging the articles between the film and the substrate, heat control means carried by said heating means movable in one position to reflect heat to the film during the film deforming operation and in another position to shield the film from heat during the skin packaging operation, and means for removing the skin packaged articles.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
156 words
Apparatus for skin packaging articles between a substrate and thermoplastic film which comprises: support means for the substrate and articles carried thereon, heating means for deforming a length of thermoplastic film, said heating means movable to a first position above said thermoplastic film during said film deforming operation and to a second position above said thermoplastic film during said skin packaging operation, means for moving said substrate beneath said length of film so that the substrate and articles carried thereon are in skin packaging position, means for relatively moving the heated length of film and the substrate in engagement for skin packaging the articles between the film and the substrate, heat control means carried by said heating means movable in one position to reflect heat to the film during the film deforming operation and in another position to shield the film from heat during the skin packaging operation, and means for removing the skin packaged articles.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the heat control means comprises pivotally supported plate means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the heating meaNs includes a plurality of spaced resistance units and the pivotally supported plate means comprises a plurality of spaced plate members one for each of said resistance units.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 1 additionally including means for separating the skin packaged articles.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
93 words
The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the means for separating the skin packaged articles comprises: first slitter means for longitudinally cutting the substrate and skin packaged articles in lengthwise strip portions, means for operating said first slitter means so as to leave an uncut border at the opposed forward and trailing ends of the substrate to maintain alignment of said strip portions, means for transversely servering said length of film at the trailing end of said substrate, and second slitter means for transversely cutting said strip portions to separate the skin packaged articles.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
12 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the slitter means comprise rotating discs.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the discs of the first slitter means are elevated above the substrate to form the uncut border.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
126 words
Film heating and article skin packaging apparatus which comprises: heating means for heat deforming thermoplastic film, said heating means movable to a first position above said thermoplastic film during said film deforming operation and to a second position above said thermoplastic film during said skin packaging operation, means for supporting a substrate and articles to be skin packaged beneath the heat deformed film, means for relatively moving the heat deformed film and the substrate in engagement for skin packaging the articles between the film and the substrate, and heat control means carried by said heating means movable in one position to reflect heat to the film during the film deforming operation and in another position to shield the film from heat during the skin packaging operation.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
126 words
Film heating and article skin packaging apparatus which comprises: heating means for heat deforming thermoplastic film, said heating means movable to a first position above said thermoplastic film during said film deforming operation and to a second position above said thermoplastic film during said skin packaging operation, means for supporting a substrate and articles to be skin packaged beneath the heat deformed film, means for relatively moving the heat deformed film and the substrate in engagement for skin packaging the articles between the film and the substrate, and heat control means carried by said heating means movable in one position to reflect heat to the film during the film deforming operation and in another position to shield the film from heat during the skin packaging operation.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the heat control means comprises pivotally supported plate means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the heating means includes a plurality of spaced resistance units and the pivotally supported plate means comprises a plurality of spaced plate members one for each of said resistance units.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
207 words
The method of skin packaging articles between a substrate and a thermoplastic film which comprises: providing a load comprising a substrate and rows of articles supported thereon in a loading zone, providing a film heating and skin packaging zone and maintaining a length of film therein, passing said load to said heating and packaging zone beneath said length of film, heating said length of film to deform the same by means of a plurality of spaced resistance units each having a reflector shield for instantaneously controlling the direction of heat radiated from said resistance units, relatively moving said load and said length of heated deformed film in contact for covering the articles with the film and laminating the film surrounding the articles to the substrate, and controlling said heating step by alternatively lowering said resistance units and said shields to a position substantially adjacent said film and facing said reflecting shields toward the film during the film deforming operation to direct heat from said resistance units uniformly over said film and withdrawing heat uniformly from said film by raising said resistance units and said shields to a position directly above said film facing said reflecting shields away from the film during the film and substrate laminating operation.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
207 words
The method of skin packaging articles between a substrate and a thermoplastic film which comprises: providing a load comprising a substrate and rows of articles supported thereon in a loading zone, providing a film heating and skin packaging zone and maintaining a length of film therein, passing said load to said heating and packaging zone beneath said length of film, heating said length of film to deform the same by means of a plurality of spaced resistance units each having a reflector shield for instantaneously controlling the direction of heat radiated from said resistance units, relatively moving said load and said length of heated deformed film in contact for covering the articles with the film and laminating the film surrounding the articles to the substrate, and controlling said heating step by alternatively lowering said resistance units and said shields to a position substantially adjacent said film and facing said reflecting shields toward the film during the film deforming operation to direct heat from said resistance units uniformly over said film and withdrawing heat uniformly from said film by raising said resistance units and said shields to a position directly above said film facing said reflecting shields away from the film during the film and substrate laminating operation.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 11 additionally including the step of longitudinally and transversely slitting the laminate in a slitting zone to separate the individual skin packaged articles.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
220 words
The method of skin packaging articles between a substrate and a thermoplastic film which comprises: providing a load comprising a substrate and rows of articles supported thereon in a loading zone, Providing a film heating and skin packaging zone and maintaining a length of film therein, passing said load to said heating and packaging zone beneath said length of film, heating said length of film to deform the same, relatively moving said load and said length of heated deformed film in contact for covering the articles with the film and laminating the film surrounding the articles to the substrate, controlling the heating step by alternatively directing heat toward the film during the film deforming operation and directing heat away from the film during the film and substrate laminating operation, providing a slitting zone, passing the substrate film laminate and rows of skin packaged articles to said slitting zone, transversely cutting said length of film adjacent to juncture with the trailing end of said substrate, longitudinally slitting the substrate laminate between rows of skin packaged articles to form lengthwise strips while maintaining an uncut border at the opposed forward and trailing ends of the substrate to insure continual alignment of said lengthwise strips, and transversely slitting said strips between rows of skin packaged articles to separate the individual skin packaged articles.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
220 words
The method of skin packaging articles between a substrate and a thermoplastic film which comprises: providing a load comprising a substrate and rows of articles supported thereon in a loading zone, Providing a film heating and skin packaging zone and maintaining a length of film therein, passing said load to said heating and packaging zone beneath said length of film, heating said length of film to deform the same, relatively moving said load and said length of heated deformed film in contact for covering the articles with the film and laminating the film surrounding the articles to the substrate, controlling the heating step by alternatively directing heat toward the film during the film deforming operation and directing heat away from the film during the film and substrate laminating operation, providing a slitting zone, passing the substrate film laminate and rows of skin packaged articles to said slitting zone, transversely cutting said length of film adjacent to juncture with the trailing end of said substrate, longitudinally slitting the substrate laminate between rows of skin packaged articles to form lengthwise strips while maintaining an uncut border at the opposed forward and trailing ends of the substrate to insure continual alignment of said lengthwise strips, and transversely slitting said strips between rows of skin packaged articles to separate the individual skin packaged articles.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 13 wherein the slitting zone is provided with first and second pluralities of rotating discs for performing the longitudinal and transverse slitting steps, respectively.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 14 wherein selected discs of the first plurality of rotating discs are elevated above the substrate to form the uncut border.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 7 additionally including means for automatically operating the aforesaid means and a common control station for effecting such operation.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 14 additionally including automatically operating the method from a common control station.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-07-16 | 1977-01-15 | 1977-07-17 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-07-16 | 1981-01-15 | 1981-07-17 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-07-16 | 1985-01-15 | 1985-07-17 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |