Aseptic filling machine for food

Claim 1

An aseptic filling machine for filling and sealing containers with food under aseptic conditions, comprising: a clean air chamber; a top film supply roll; first transport means for transporting a top film from the supply roll along a first path through the clean air chamber; a bottom film supply roll; second transport means for transporting a bottom film from the bottom film supply roll along a second path through the clean air chamber; first and second deionization means located in said first and second paths, respectively, for deionizing said films; first and second cleaning stations located in said first and second paths, respectively, for cleaning said top and bottom films; forming means in the second path for forming the second film into a series of containers having open tops; filling means for filling said containers with material; sealing means for sealing said top film against the open tops of said filled containers; first and second UV-C radiators located in said clean air chamber for irradiating the top and bottom films, respectively; and third transport means for transporting said second UV-C radiator to advance parallel to and in synchronization with said bottom film along said second path for a predetermined distance and to retract the second UV-C radiator back to a start position so that a portion of the film is irradiated a first time as the UV-C radiator retracts and said portion is irradiated a second time as the film and the UV-C radiator advance together.

Claim 11

A method of packing goods under aseptic conditions, comprising the steps of: moving top and bottom films from supply rolls along a predetermined path into a clean air chamber; passing each film through a deionization station; passing each film through a cleaning station for removing debris from the film; forming the bottom film into a series of cup-shaped containers; passing the bottom film through an irradiation station in which a radiator head moves in synchronization with the film from a start position along said predetermined path and then reverses direction to return to the start position so that a portion of the film is irradiated a first time as the radiator head reverses direction and said portion is irradiated a second time as the film and the radiator head move together; filling the formed containers in the bottom film with material; passing the filled containers to a sealing station; transporting the top film to the sealing station above the filled containers; irradiating the top film; and sealing the top film to the filled containers.

Claim 12

A method of packing goods under aseptic conditions, comprising the steps of: moving top and bottom films from supply rolls along a predetermined path into a clean air chamber; passing each film through a deionization station; passing each film through a cleaning station for removing debris from the film; forming the bottom film into a series of cup-shaped containers; passing the bottom film through an irradiation station in which a radiator head moves in synchronization with the film from a start position along said predetermined path and then reverses direction to return to the start position so that a portion of the film is irradiated a first time as the radiator head reverses direction and said portion is irradiated a second time as the film and the radiator head move together; filling the formed containers in the bottom film with material; passing the filled containers to a sealing station; transporting the top film to the sealing station above the filled containers; irradiating the top film; and sealing the top film to the filled containers.