Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi – Tube making
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-08
2003-07-08
Smith, Scott A. (Department: 3721)
Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi
Tube making
C493S292000, C493S295000, C493S296000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06589147
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The invention relates generally to product packaging systems and, more particularly but not by way of limitation, to a bag former and former assembly for use in a packaging system.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, a product packaging system
100
comprising three major components: the product
105
to be packaged; packaging material
110
from which packages are formed; and former
115
. Product
105
may comprise virtually any material including, for example, liquids, powders, solids and bulk material. Package material
110
is typically a thin film with text and graphics that identify the product (e.g., potato chips or coffee) and supplier (e.g., Company XYZ). Former
115
is an assembly that manipulates package material
110
into the desired shape (e.g., a rectangular or elliptical bag) and forms the package's seal, while the packaging system itself provides the product and actually seals package material
110
to form an enclosed volume (packages
120
).
FIG. 2
shows a typical prior art longitudinal-type packaging system
200
. As shown, product
105
and packaging material
110
is introduced to former
115
where material
110
is shaped and aligned by wing
205
to conform about product filing tube
210
and to form a seam. The seam is longitudinally sealed by sealing device
215
so that material
110
forms a cylinder
220
. Feeding device
225
pulls packaging material
110
(specifically cylinder
220
) downward so that sealing/cutting device
230
seals cylinder
220
to form product package
120
.
For economic reasons, it is important that packaging systems such as
100
and
200
operate at high speeds and for long periods of time. This, in turn, requires that former
115
be constructed of material that is mechanically strong (e.g., rigid), extremely wear resistant, not susceptible to corrosion and presents low resistance to packaging material
110
. The latter is important because as packaging material
110
is pulled over wing
205
component wear can, over time, result in a former
115
that creates uneven seams or wrinkles, creases or tears packaging material
110
as it is pulled over the wing's
205
surface.
Former
115
is typically designed to produce a package having a predetermined size and shape. For example, a first former may be designed to produce rectangular bags having a width of four (4) inches for use in small snack or candy products. A second former may be designed to produce elliptical bags having a width of eight (8) inches for use with breakfast cereal products. Still another former may be designed to produce bags having a width of twenty four (24) inches to package industrial/commercial frozen food. Accordingly, when a different size package (for the same or a different product) is needed, former
115
is replaced by a different former designed to produce a package having the new/correct size. For the reasons discussed above, typical former assemblies are fabricated out of solid stainless steel and, as a result, are quite heavy. Thus, it is often difficult for a worker to change the former because of the former's weight. Large formers often require multiple personnel or a small crane to change. This, in turn, reduces the amount of time the packaging system can be used to package product. This is especially true for larger formers such as those used to package, for example, industrial food packages (e.g., commercial-size containers of frozen foods).
Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a former that is wear and corrosion resistant, presents low friction to packaging material and yet is significantly lighter than current formers.
SUMMARY
In one embodiment the invention provides a former that includes a wing having a concave surface with periodic openings, a tube coupled to the wing along a first edge to form a crown and a base coupled to the tube along a second edge of the tube and conforming substantially to the shape of the tube and further adapted to couple to a packaging system. The tube may be designed to facilitate fabrication of substantially any shape package such as, for example, a rectangle, a square, a circle or an ellipse. In another embodiment of the invention, the tube includes periodic openings. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the former may include a cross-bar (coupled to the base and adapted to attach to a packaging system), a top-plate (coupled to the wing substantially parallel to the plane of the cross-bar and adapted to attach to a packaging system) and spacers that interconnect the cross-bar and top-plate. The wing may be fabricated from 2-WL rigidized stainless steel, the tube and base from stainless steel and the cross-bar, top-plate and spacers from anodized aluminum or other lightweight material. In addition, the cross-bar and top-plates may incorporate hollowed-out regions. Finally, a former in accordance with the invention may include a secondary product inlet to allow the introduction of additional material (other than the primary product) into a package formed by the former.
A former in accordance with the invention may be substantially less heavy than a prior art former designed to fabricate the same package while simultaneously providing improved operating performance, vis a vis the ability to generate packages with uniform seams, and equal or improved durability.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2969627 (1961-01-01), Leasure
patent: 2982334 (1961-05-01), Cooper et al.
patent: 3042103 (1962-07-01), McDevitt et al.
patent: 3486424 (1969-12-01), Tanner
patent: 3636826 (1972-01-01), Bowen et al.
patent: 3935048 (1976-01-01), Rucker
patent: 4532754 (1985-08-01), Hokanson
patent: 4950345 (1990-08-01), Kreager et al.
Dishon Kenneth
Dominguez Ben
Dominguez, III John
Dominguez, Jr. John
Chukwurah Nathaniel
J & F Business, Inc.
Smith Scott A.
The Law Offices of Coe F. Miles, P.C.
LandOfFree
Lightweight former and former assembly does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Lightweight former and former assembly, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Lightweight former and former assembly will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3079406