Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B31/00—Packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions; Adding propellants to aerosol containers
  • B65B31/02—Filling, closing, or filling and closing, containers or wrappers in chambers maintained under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure or containing a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas
  • B65B31/025—Filling, closing, or filling and closing, containers or wrappers in chambers maintained under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure or containing a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas specially adapted for rigid or semi-rigid containers
  • B65B31/028—Filling, closing, or filling and closing, containers or wrappers in chambers maintained under vacuum or superatmospheric pressure or containing a special atmosphere, e.g. of inert gas specially adapted for rigid or semi-rigid containers closed by a lid sealed to the upper rim of the container, e.g. tray-like container
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B7/00—Closing containers or receptacles after filling
  • B65B7/16—Closing semi-rigid or rigid containers or receptacles not deformed by, or not taking-up shape of, contents, e.g. boxes or cartons
  • B65B7/162—Closing semi-rigid or rigid containers or receptacles not deformed by, or not taking-up shape of, contents, e.g. boxes or cartons by feeding web material to securing means
  • B65B7/164—Securing by heat-sealing

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method for packaging a product in a tray and a packaging machine for carrying out such a method.
• a stretchable, mostly transparent film is wrapped around the bowl to fix the contents and to protect them from external influences. Since the contents are not hermetically sealed, atmospheric oxygen can adversely affect perishable products.
• the packs are visually very attractive, especially when foods such as meat products protrude from the edge of the bowl and appear very plastic with the transparent cover.
• Atmos packs In vacuum or so-called Atmos packs, the effect of atmospheric oxygen is reduced by hermetic sealing prevents perishable food.
• an impermeable film is sealed onto the shell as a cover, from which the air is first extracted by evacuation and possibly replaced by inert gas.
• a method for producing such a package is known from US Pat. No. 6,408,598. It is proposed to deform a cover film that has been heated in a heated trough over the product. There is a risk of wrinkles forming in the edge area which cause leakages in the sealing zone. Another disadvantage is the heating of the cover film before or during the deformation, since shrinkable films lose their shrinking properties at higher temperatures.
• EP-A-1 038 773 a packaging machine with a schematically indicated sealing station and a device for feeding trays to be sealed with an upper film into the sealing station or out of it is known.
• sealing stations are designed as evacuation and sealing stations.
• the object of the invention is to avoid the disadvantages described above in a method for packaging or a packaging machine and to create a method and a device with which the production of a package with a tray and one over the edge of the tray product protruding above is reliably possible.
• the product packs created in this way are supposed to be both tight and, from the outside, allow an advantageous presentation.
• Figure 1 shows the example of a pack with protruding product.
• FIG. 2 shows a shell carrier with an inserted shell and projecting product in cross section
• FIG. 3 shows the pan support shown in FIG. 2 in an open evacuation and sealing station
• FIG. 4 shows the evacuation and sealing station shown in FIG. 3 in the closed state
• FIG. 6 shows the device shown in FIG. 5 with the shell raised;
• FIG. 7A shows the evacuation and sealing station shown in FIG. 6 with evacuation of the interior of the package and optionally gas flushing;
• FIG. 7B is a partial enlargement from FIG. 7A;
• 11 shows the opened evacuation and sealing station for taking out the tray carrier with the finished pack.
• FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of an evacuation and sealing device 4 comprising an upper tool 5 and a lower tool 6.
• the upper tool 5 is fixedly mounted on a frame.
• the lower tool 6 can be moved up and down via a toggle lever device or a pneumatic device in the direction of the arrow 7 into the lowered position shown in FIG. 3 or into the closed position shown in FIG. 4.
• the upper tool 5 comprises an interior space 8 which is open towards the lower tool and in which a shape which has a concave opening towards the lower tool device 9 is permanently mounted.
• a conventional sealing tool 10 is provided over this, which can be moved via a pneumatic drive from the retracted position shown in FIG. 3 into the sealing position shown in FIG. 8.
• a cutting device 11 is provided which has a cutting knife which runs around the outside of the sealing device and which can also be moved pneumatically between the retracted position in FIG. 3 and the cutting position shown in FIG. 9.
• the lower tool has an interior 12 facing the upper tool.
• An upper film 13 is guided in the plane formed by the lower edge of the upper tool 5.
• a device hereinafter referred to as a tray support 14, is provided for receiving a tray 1 filled with the product 3, which is initially located outside the evacuation and sealing device 4.
• the tray support can be inserted into the position shown in FIG. 3 between upper tool part 5 and lower tool part 6 of the evacuation and sealing device by means of a transport device described, for example, in EP-A 1 038 773.
• the shell carrier 14 has a frame 15 which is arranged essentially at a height which corresponds to the lower edge of the upper tool 5, ie the upper plane of the frame 15 lies directly below the plane of the upper film 13.
• the frame 15 On its underside, the frame 15 has two at a distance from each other arranged bolts 16, which serve to guide the actual support member 17 of the switch carrier 14.
• the support part 17 has sliding bearings 19 running on the bolts 16 on the two outer sides. It is also on the supporting part 17 is provided with an edge which is determined by the shape and size of the edge 2 of the shell 1 to be accommodated and which receives the shell 1 with its edge on its upper edge facing the sealing tool 10.
• the shape and size of the facing edge 20 of the sealing tool corresponds to the shape and size of the edge of the carrying part 17.
• the upper part has a circumferential sealing ring 21 on the outside of its edge facing the lower tool, and the lower tool 6 has a sealing ring 22 on its side facing the upper tool.
• the interior 8 of the upper tool is connected via a bore 23 to a schematically illustrated evacuation device 24.
• the shaping device 9 has on its bottom facing away from the lower tool all round holes 25 for connecting the side facing the lower tool to the interior 8, so that when vacuum is connected via the hole 23 there is also a suction effect on the side of the hole 25 facing the lower tool ,
• Pneumatic drives 26 for moving the sealing tool up and down and pneumatic drives 27 for moving the cutting tool up and down are also provided.
• the interior 12 of the lower tool 6 initially has an abutment 28 on its base for supporting the supporting part 17.
• the interior 12 is connected via a bore 29 to an evacuation and gassing device which is schematically indicated in FIG. 7A.
• the frame 15 is fixed at the height shown in FIG. 3 relative to the height of the upper tool 5, but yields to the extent that it is present when a corresponding pressure is applied to the lower tool 6 is pressed by the lower tool against the upper tool such that the interior of the evacuation and sealing device is hermetically sealed to the outside.
• the evacuation and sealing device 4 is open in the position shown in FIG. 3.
• the tray carrier 14 carrying the tray 3 loaded with the product 3 is moved in the direction of arrow 31 into the shown centered position between the tool parts.
• the drive 33, schematically indicated in FIG. 4, of the lower tool 6 is actuated in such a way that the lower tool is moved into the closed position shown in FIG. 4, in such a way that the upper film 13 and the frame 15 between the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are trapped.
• the flat, flat top film 13 is thus clamped all around without wrinkles.
• evacuation above the upper film takes place via the evacuation device 24, with the result that it is sucked onto the inner wall of the molding device 9 and thus stretched.
• the shell 1 is held so deep by the retracted position of the supporting part 17 that the product 3 is still at a distance from the plane of the top film 13.
• a drive 33 is indicated in the step shown in FIG the supporting part 17 moves relative to the frame 15 so far towards the upper tool 5 that its upper edge lies in the original plane of the upper film or in a plane with the surface of the frame 15 which is oriented towards the upper tool.
• the evacuation device 24 remains switched on.
• the evacuation and gassing device 30 is additionally switched on.
• evacuation initially takes place via a channel 34 extending around the supporting part 17 between the supporting part 17 and the frame 15.
• This channel opens at a point which is separated from the interior by the top film 13, so that the space 35 between the product 3 and the stretched top film 13 is evacuated.
• a protective gas is subsequently fed into the space 35 by appropriately switching the evacuation and gassing device 30.
• the pneumatic drive 26 of the sealing tool 10 by switching on the pneumatic drive 26 of the sealing tool 10, the latter is moved into the sealing position, as a result of which the edge 2 of the shell 1 is hermetically and wrinkle-free sealed.
• the pneumatic drive 27 for the cutting device 11 is then switched on in such a way that the cutting device is moved into the separating position shown in FIG. 9, as a result of which the finished package is separated from the upper film web.
• the cutting device 11 and the sealing tool 10 are retracted, and ventilation is carried out via the evacuation devices 24 and 30.
• the ventilation is carried out via the evacuation device 24. lie 13 detached from the hollow surface of the molding device 9 and lies on the most protruding part of the product 3. The pack is thus completely produced.
• the lower tool 6 is moved via its drive into the retracted lower position, and then the shell carrier 14 is moved out of the evacuation and sealing device in the direction of arrow 36, so that the finished package can be removed from the shell carrier.
• the tray carrier is designed such that it receives a plurality of trays and these are introduced into the sealing station for simultaneous sealing.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Vacuum Packaging (AREA)
• Closing Of Containers (AREA)
• Container Filling Or Packaging Operations (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Basic Packing Technique (AREA)
• Containers And Plastic Fillers For Packaging (AREA)
• Auxiliary Devices For And Details Of Packaging Control (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=30775433

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (12)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (83)

Family Cites Families (26)

• 2002
  • 2002-08-14 DE DE10237933A patent/DE10237933A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2003
  • 2003-07-28 AU AU2003266251A patent/AU2003266251A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-07-28 PL PL03373555A patent/PL373555A1/xx not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2003-07-28 DK DK03793653T patent/DK1521706T3/da active
  • 2003-07-28 ES ES03793653T patent/ES2263059T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-07-28 JP JP2004533284A patent/JP3950141B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-07-28 EP EP03793653A patent/EP1521706B1/fr not_active Revoked
  • 2003-07-28 AT AT03793653T patent/ATE323649T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-07-28 DE DE50303045T patent/DE50303045D1/de not_active Revoked
  • 2003-07-28 CA CA002495188A patent/CA2495188A1/fr not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-07-28 US US10/524,154 patent/US7600358B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-07-28 WO PCT/EP2003/008309 patent/WO2004022431A1/fr not_active Ceased
• 2005
  • 2005-03-11 NO NO20051283A patent/NO20051283L/no not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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