JPH0333601Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the invention] (Field of industrial application) This invention is based on coating plastic containers made of polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, etc. or composite containers with paper, etc. in advance with a lid material made of aluminum foil, plastic, paper, etc. A variety of containers used for one-way packaging in the so-called dessert and fermented milk fields, which are bonded by heat and pressure using adhesives such as hot melt or heat seal lacquer, or by heat and pressure welding with a lid material that has the same resin surface as the container surface. The present invention relates to a heat sealing device that can be used for.

(Prior Art) In the field of desserts and fermented milk, one-way packaging is progressing so that it can be easily purchased and eaten anywhere. The seal between the lid and the container is required to have sealing properties to prevent contamination during distribution and easy peel properties to facilitate opening.

On the other hand, in order to pursue greater fashionability and variety in products, there is a desire for a greater variety of container shapes and designs.

Furthermore, with advances in content sterilization technology and aseptic filling and packaging technology, particularly in the dessert field, there is an increasing demand for longer product life.

By the way, in the conventional sealing method of this type, a lid material is generally placed on the flange of a container having a flange, a seal head with a built-in heater pressurizes the container and the lid material, and the container and lid material are heat-sealed for a predetermined time using heat and pressure. It's becoming like that.

There are two ways to pressurize the container: a seal head with a built-in heater pressurizes the container with the lid on it, and a seal head with a built-in heater and a plate-shaped receiver that supports the flange part with a plate-shaped receiver. There are two ways to apply pressure between the ingredients and the ingredients.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) According to the former method, the pressure required for sealing depends solely on the buckling strength of the container body, and it is not possible to seal with strong pressure.

Further, when the shape of the container changes, the strength of the container also changes, so the sealing pressure changes, and even if the shape is the same, there are large differences in sealing conditions due to the strength inherent to the container.

Therefore, it is not suitable for aseptic filling packaging that is expected to be completely sealed.

In addition, a method of using a hook-shaped receiver to prevent the container from tipping over and to reinforce the sealing pressure has been used, but the sterilization process inside the hook is complicated, and it is also not suitable for aseptic filling and packaging.

The latter method requires a large number of holder plates (plate-shaped holders), ranging from a few as in a rotary filling machine to over a hundred as in an in-line filling machine, so it takes a lot of effort when changing the diameter of the container. It requires cost, time and effort.

Additionally, there is a restriction that some shapes, such as inverted tapered or bolt-shaped containers, cannot be supported.

(Means for solving the problems) Therefore, the technical problem of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned problems, to be able to cope with a wide variety of container shapes, and to be able to quickly change and adjust the shapes. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sealing device that can perform a strong seal that can withstand distribution as an aseptically filled and packaged product.

The technical means of the present invention to solve this technical problem consists of a pair of left and right heat sealing devices that open and close along a slide shaft, and both of them have a half-container receiving plate that is raised and lowered by a lifting cylinder via the slide shaft. one of the heat sealing devices is equipped with a heat sealing plate heated by a heater, and when the pair of left and right heat sealing devices are closed, the container supported by the container receiving plate is raised toward the heat sealing plate. At least the lid material is configured so that it can be heat-sealed to the container.

(Effects of the invention) According to this technical means, a pair of left and right half-split container holders support the container from the left and right to seal it, so regardless of the shape of the container, a strong seal can be achieved even in reverse taper containers and bottles. Since the heat seal plate and the container receiving plate are integrated into a device, stable heat sealing with no displacement can be achieved.

In addition, since a container receiving plate, that is, a holder plate, is used to fixedly support the container only in the heat sealing part, there is an advantage that it is only necessary to replace and adjust the heat sealing plate and the container receiving plate for various container shapes. Suitable for high-mix, low-volume production.

(Example) The embodiments shown in the drawings will be described below.

The present invention consists of a pair of left and right heat sealing devices A and B that open and close along a slide shaft 1, and the illustrated slide shaft 1 is provided on both sides of the heat seal device.

As shown in FIG. 2, one heat sealing device A has an elevating cylinder 3 on a frame 2 supported by slide shafts 1, 1, and a slide shaft 5 that is moved up and down by a piston rod 4.

The illustrated slide shaft 5 is composed of three pieces, and the slide shafts 5 are connected to each other by a connecting plate 9, and a half container receiving plate 6 is provided at the tip of the slide shaft 5.

Further, within the frame 2, a seal heater 7 and a heat seal plate 8 are arranged corresponding to the container receiving plate 6. That is, the left and right container receiving plates are located directly below the heat sealing plate when the heat sealing device B, which will be described later, is in the closed state. The other heat sealing device B, as shown in FIG.
It has the same configuration as .

That is, there is an elevating cylinder 3' on a frame 2' supported by the slide shafts 1, 1, and a slide shaft 5' that is raised and lowered by this piston rod 4', and the slide shafts 5' are connected to each other by a connecting plate 9'. A half container receiving plate 6' is provided at the tip of the slide shaft 5'.

The frames 2, 2' of the sealing device are supported by slide shafts 1, 1 via linear ball bearings 10, 10', and are slid equally on the left and right by an air cylinder (not shown).

Further, the sliding portions of the slide shafts 5, 5' for raising and lowering the container receiving plates 6, 6' are also made to move smoothly by linear ball bearing boxes 11, 11'.

The heat sealing device as described above is employed as the present sealing device in a serial type aseptic filling machine shown in FIG. 9, and will be described below.

Container a is loaded on the supply hopper 12,
Conveyor 1 inside sterile chamber 13 one by one
Supplied on top of 4.

Containers a supplied onto the conveyor 14 are sprayed with a sterilizing solution such as hydrogen peroxide or chlorine water from a sterilizing solution spray nozzle (not shown) in a container sterilizing section 15, and then heated air is sprayed onto the containers in a container drying section 16. It is then sterilized and dried.

The container sterilized as described above is transported to the next filling section 17 and filled with sterilized filling in an aseptic manner.

Lid materials b are laminated in the lid material hopper 18, and are adsorbed one by one by a vacuum head 19 that rotates, and are sterilized using, for example, an ultraviolet irradiator 20.

The sterilized lid material b is placed on the flange of the container a by removing the suction from the vacuum head.

Next, a seal head 23 that is raised and lowered by an elevating cylinder 22 performs a temporary seal in the temporary seal portion 21 .

Then, after complete sealing is performed at the next main seal section 24, the product is discharged to the outside of the sterile chamber 13.

To explain the operation of the present device at the main sealing section, in the standby state shown in FIG. 6, the left and right sealing devices are open and the container receiving plates 6, 6' are in a lowered state.

Next, when the container a with the lid b temporarily sealed is detected by a sensor (not shown) between the container receiving plates 6, 6', the left and right sealing devices A, B are closed by an air cylinder (not shown) as shown in FIG. , the container a is fixed with the container receiving plates 6, 6'. As shown in FIG. 8, the lifting cylinder 3,
3', the container fixed by the container receiving plates 6, 6' is raised, and heat-sealed by heating and pressurizing the container with the heat-sealing plate for a certain period of time.

After heat sealing, lift cylinders 3, 3'
The container is lowered together with the container receiving plates 6, 6', and at the same time, the left and right sealing devices A, B are opened to release the container. Once the container has been sealed, it proceeds to the next step, and the sealing device returns to a standby state.

In this case, the container receiving plate and the heat sealing plate are integrated, so sealing can always be done in a fixed position, and pressure equalization can be adjusted by adjusting the left and right lifting cylinders. Furthermore, a wide variety of containers can be heat-sealed by simply replacing and adjusting the heat-sealing plate and container receiving plate.

Since the heat seal head itself attracts the container and pressurizes it, there is no need for reinforcement to support the pressure and it is easy to equalize the pressure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing the proposed heat sealing device, Figs. 2 and 3 are side views of the left and right heat sealing devices, Fig. 4 is an oblique view of the left heat sealing device, and Fig. 5 is a side view of the left heat sealing device. The right side is a perspective view of the heat sealing device, FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the heat sealing device of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the aseptic filling machine. A, B...Pair of left and right heat sealing devices, 2,
2'... Frame body, 3, 3'... Lifting cylinder, 5,
5'...Slide shaft, 6,6'...Container receiving plate, 7...Heater, 8...Heat seal plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It consists of a pair of left and right heat sealing devices that open and close along a slide shaft, both of which are equipped with a half-container receiving plate that is raised and lowered by an elevating cylinder via the slide shaft, and one of the heat seal devices is heated with a heater. The container is configured to include a heat seal plate which is attached to the container, and when the pair of left and right heat seal devices are in a closed state, the container supported by the container receiving plate is raised toward the heat seal plate and the lid material is heat sealed to the container. A heat sealing device that can handle a wide variety of containers.