Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-04
2003-09-16
Crispino, Richard (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S442100, C156S442200, C156S443000, C156S538000, C493S243000, C493S249000, C493S267000, C493S421000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06620279
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automated apparatus which facilitates both folding and sealing of a pre-glued form by passing the pre-glued form through a plurality of pressure rollers to sequentially fold and seal the pre-glued form into a desired folded configuration.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the prior art, a variety of folding apparatuses are conventional used and well known in the art for folding pre-glued forms. In addition, a variety of separate sealing apparatuses are also conventional used and well known in the art for sealing pre-glued forms. However, none of the heretofore known apparatuses facilitate both folding of a pre-glued form and sealing of a pre-glued form during a single pass of the form through a sealing and folding apparatus. Moreover, generally at least four rollers are required to facilitate folding of a pre-glued form while at least two additional rollers are required to facilitate sealing of the folded pre-glued form in its folded configuration.
With reference to
FIGS. 1-3
, the basic folding arrangement for three well known pre-glued forms
1
will be briefly discussed. Turning first to
FIG. 1
, the single folded configuration for the pre-glued form is shown. According to the single fold, a pre-glued form, which typically measures 8½ inches wide by either 11 inches, 14 inches or 17 inches long is folded. The pre-glued form is passed through a folding apparatus which folds, in a conventional fashion, the pre-glued form in half. A perimeter edge of a first surface of a top half
8
of the pre-glued form is provided with a first component of a pressure sensitive micro-encapsulated epoxy or adhesive
4
while a perimeter edge of the lower half
10
of the first surface is provided with a second mating component of a pressure sensitive micro-encapsulated epoxy or adhesive
6
. Once the pre-glued and folded form is folded in half and then subjected to sufficient sealing pressure, the micro-encapsulated first and second components
4
,
6
of the pressure sensitive epoxy or adhesive are released from their respective micro-capsules and mix and bonded with one another to seal the folded form in its folded in half configuration.
Turning now to
FIG. 2
, a second folded configuration, namely a Z-shaped fold will now be briefly discussed. According to this configuration, as with the previous embodiment, selected areas of opposed perimeter edge of a first surface of a top panel
12
of the pre-glued form
1
are provided with a first component of a pressure sensitive micro-encapsulated epoxy or adhesive
4
while selected areas of opposed perimeter side edge of an adjacent intermediate panel
14
on the same surface are provided with a second mating component of a pressure sensitive micro-encapsulated epoxy or adhesive
6
. In addition, an opposed perimeter side edges of a rear surface of the intermediate panel
14
of the pre-glued form
1
is provided with a first component of a pressure sensitive micro-encapsulated epoxy or adhesive
4
or
6
while adjacent perimeter side edges of the lower panel
16
are provided with a second mating component of a pressure sensitive micro-encapsulated epoxy or adhesive
4
or
6
. Once the pre-glued and folded form
1
is properly folded and subjected to a sufficient sealing pressure, the micro-encapsulated first and second components
4
,
6
of a pressure sensitive epoxy or adhesive are released from their respective micro-capsules and mix and bonded with one another to seal the Z shaped form
1
in its folded configuration.
Turning now to
FIG. 3
, a third folded configuration, namely a letter type fold will now be briefly discussed. According to this configuration, as with the previous embodiment, opposed perimeter side edges of a top panel
8
of the front surface of the pre-glued form
1
and opposed perimeter side edges of a bottom panel
12
of the front surface of the pre-glued form
1
are both provided with a first component of a pressure sensitive micro-encapsulated epoxy or adhesive
4
while opposed perimeter side edges of an intermediate panel
10
of the front surface are provided with a second mating component of a pressure sensitive micro-encapsulated epoxy or adhesive
6
. In addition, opposed perimeter side edges of a rear surface of either the top panel
8
or the bottom panel
12
of the pre-glued form
1
are provided with a second mating component of a pressure sensitive micro-encapsulated epoxy or adhesive
6
. Once the pre-glued form
1
is properly folded and subjected to a sufficient sealing pressure, the micro-encapsulated first and second components
4
,
6
of a pressure sensitive epoxy or adhesive are released from their respective micro-capsules and mix and bonded with one another to seal the Z shaped form
1
in its folded configuration.
With reference now to
FIG. 4
, a brief description concerning a prior art apparatus for folding one of the pre-glued form
1
described above will now be discussed. As can be seen in this Figure, the prior art folding apparatus
22
comprises four identically sized rollers
24
,
26
,
28
and
30
which are arranged to form three nips
32
,
34
and
36
between each respective mating pair of the rollers. The first nip
32
is an intake nip which feeds the pre-glued form
1
to be folded from an infeed table or platform
38
to a fold channel tray which, in combination with the first nip and the second nip, facilitates formation of a first fold for the pre-glued form
1
. As a leading edge of the folded pre-glued form
1
exits from the second nip
34
, it is conveyed toward a second stop (not shown). As soon as the leading edge of the pre-glued form
1
abuts against the second stop, the pre-glued is stopped but the second nip continues to convey the pre-glued form
1
through the second nip
34
of the folding apparatus
22
and such conveyance feeds a trailing portion of the pre-glued form
1
into the third nip
36
. As the trailing end portion of the pre-glued form
1
passes through the third nip
36
, a second fold is made in the pre-glued form
1
and the third nip
36
conveys the pre-glued form
1
to a collection bin (not numbered) where the folded pre-glued form
1
is collected and subsequently sealed by a further separate sealing process.
By passing the pre-glued form
1
through the four rollers
24
,
26
,
28
and
30
and the three nips
32
,
34
,
36
formed therebetween, the two folds are made in the pre-glued form
1
. It is to be appreciated that the second roller
26
, however, is generally a fixedly positioned roller, i.e. the second roller
26
is fixedly mounted to housing and not spring biased in any manner, while the first roller
24
, the third roller
28
and the fourth roller
30
are each spring biased toward one another to accommodate for the thickness of the pre-glued form
1
as it passes between one of the three nips
32
,
34
,
36
. That is, the first roller
24
is spring biased toward the second roller
26
and is moved slightly away from the second fixed roller
26
as the pre-glued form
1
passes through the first nip
32
, the third roller
28
is spring biased toward the second roller
26
and moves slightly away from the second roller
26
as the pre-glued form
1
passes through the second nip
34
, and the fourth roller
30
is spring biased toward the third roller
28
and moves slightly away from the third roller
28
as the pre-glued form
1
passes through the third nip
36
.
As will be appreciated from the above discussion, the folding apparatus, according to the prior art, is only able to provide a folded pre-glued form
1
and a separate further sealing operation, e.g. passing the folded pre-glued form
1
through a sealing apparatus, is required in order to finish production of the pre-glued form
1
in its completely folded and sealed configuration.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Wherefore, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned shortcomings and drawbacks associated with the prior art folding and sealing apparatuses.
Another obje
Lindsay Brett A.
Lindsay Wayne R.
Bri-Lin, Incorporated
Crispino Richard
Davis & Bujold PLLC
Hawkins Cheryl N.
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