Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Packaging or treatment of packaged product
Patent
1994-06-07
1995-10-24
Czaja, Donald E.
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Packaging or treatment of packaged product
426 77, 426 80, 426 82, 426433, 426435, 531342, 53449, 53451, 53546, 53554, 53548, 206 05, B65D 2904
Patent
active
054608449
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates generally to infusion packages such as tea and coffee bags and similar bags containing herbal or other infusions. Specifically the invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing infusion packages having a cover attached thereto, comprising joined leaves extending over opposed surfaces of the package.
A covered infusion package is disclosed in GB-A-2167380. That package has a cover formed by two leaves joined at a fold line, the package being secured to one of the leaves e.g. by heat sealing below the fold line. The leaves extend beyond the edges of the package around its complete periphery. In use the package is suspended over the edge of a cup by folding back the leaves which are then placed outside the cup. Once the infusion is complete, the package is removed from the cup by the leaves which are then folded over the package to allow the residue to be squeezed from the package, if desired, and also to allow a user conveniently to dispose of the package.
WO-87/06913 and WO-90/00497 disclose machines for manufacturing such packages. In the machines disclosed, cover material is moved in an intermittent manner to a welding head at which an infusion package is heat sealed to a cover. The present invention seeks to provide an improved method and apparatus for the manufacture of such packages, which will enable increased production rates.
From a first aspect, the invention provides a method of manufacturing infusion packages provided with a cover comprising a pair of leaves joined about a fold line and extending over opposed sides of the package, comprising forming infusion containing pockets in a continuously travelling two-ply porous web, passing said web through a rotary cutting device which forms a transverse cut through sealed regions of the web between the pockets to form a plurality of individual infusion packages, feeding continuously a web of cover material to a rotary attachment means which is synchronised with the cutting device and arranged to attach the packages to the web at a region adjacent a transverse edge of each package, feeding said packages from the rotary cutting device to said attachment means such that at the time they are attached to said web of cover material the packages and the web are travelling at substantially the same speed, each package being accelerated either before or immediately after it is attached to the web so that a gap is formed between it and the next package to be attached to the web, and cutting said web of cover material to produce individual lengths of cover material, each having an infusion package arranged towards one end thereof whereby the other end of the cover material may be folded over to enclose the package therebetween.
From a second aspect the invention provides apparatus for manufacturing infusion packages provided with a cover comprising a pair of leaves joined about a fold line, comprising a rotary cutting device for forming a transverse cut through sealed regions between infusion containing pockets in a travelling two-ply porous web to form a plurality of individual packages, rotary attachment means synchronised with said cutting device for attaching said packages to a web of cover material at a region adjacent a transverse edge of each package, means for continuously supplying said web of cover material to said attachment means, means for supplying said packages to said attachment means, such that at the time they are attached to said attachment means the packages and the web are travelling at substantially the same speed, means for accelerating each infusion package either before or immediately after it is attached to the web so that a gap is formed between it and the next package to be attached to the web, and means for cutting said web of cover material to produce individual lengths of cover material each having an infusion package arranged towards one end thereof whereby the other end of the cover material may be folded over to enclose the package therebetween.
Thus in accordance with the invention,
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A. G. (Patents) Limited
Baxley Charles E.
Cano Milton I.
Czaja Donald E.
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