Process for producing a multi-chamber packaging tube

Details Process for producing a multi-chamber packaging tube Process for producing a multi-chamber packaging tube

1999-05-06

2002-03-19

Silbaugh, Jan H. (Department: 1732)

Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes

Mechanical shaping or molding to form or reform shaped article

To produce composite, plural part or multilayered article

C264S250000, C264S259000, C264S263000, C264S277000, C264SDIG004, C156S069000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06358454

ABSTRACT:

The invention relates to a process for producing a multi-chamber packaging tube, more particularly a tube of plastic material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Multi-chamber packaging tubes are tubes with at least one partition or separating wall accommodated therein, to define a plurality of chambers for receiving respective packaging materials which are to be kept separate until they are delivered, for example components of a consumer material or item, which are to be brought together only when the item is to be used. Consumer items or materials of that kind are increasingly in the forefront in the field of technology, hygiene, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
There are various processes for the production of multi-chamber tubes, which in principle are distinguished as two kinds, more specifically assembler processes and forming processes. The main difference between these kinds of processes is that, in the assembler process, tubes with separating walls are assembled from individual parts while, in the forming process, a tube body portion with separating wall or a head with a separating wall, that is to say always at least two tube components, are formed in one working operation and then for example the tube body portion and the separating wall with head are brought together or the head and the separating wall with the tube body portion are brought together.
In one form of assembler process a prefabricated tube body portion is connected to a tube head which is also prefabricated. A separating wall which is of a fold-shaped configuration and which is resilient in its longitudinal and transverse directions is inserted into the tube body portion. The separating wall, more specifically at one of its transverse sides, is selectively connected to the tube head by adhesive, while the other transverse side is joined to the closure seam of the tube. Due to the transversely and/or longitudinally acting spring forces which are inherent in the separating wall, the separating wall is braced with its longitudinal sides against the interior of the tube body portion and, insofar as there is no adhesive join to the interior of the tube head, between the closure seam and the tube head.
In that process the separating wall is fitted into the interior of a prefabricated tube, and that is an operating procedure which can only be automated with difficulty. In addition special means have to be provided, for connecting the separating wall to the closure seam in a spring-biased condition, after filling of the chambers (U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,520 to Dukess).
In a further assembler process a separating wall is introduced into a prefabricated tube and is braced against the inside surface of the tube body portion along the longitudinal sides of the separating wall, by means of flaps. To form the flaps, the separating wall is spaced with respect to the longitudinal edges thereof, which act as hinges for the flaps. The bracing effect is effected by making use of the return force or memory of the plastic material or materials, to move the flaps in a direction towards the inside surface of the tube body portion. That process suffers from the disadvantage that the separating wall has to be introduced into the tube with the flaps in a condition of being bent over, and that results in complication of the loading apparatus which, by virtue of the mode of operation involved therewith, set limits on the output of the process in the sense of the number of assembled tubes per unit of time (U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,429 to Enamelon Inc.).
One kind of forming process is wherein firstly a head with a separating wall is formed and then the head produced in that way is joined to a tube body portion. A disadvantage of that process is generally the expense involved in automation thereof (British patent specification No 1 030 275 to Rosier).
Another forming process provides that a tube body portion with separating wall is formed by a winding operation around a mandrel or bar with longitudinal seam welds after the winding operation is concluded. A disadvantage of that process is that the winding operation does not make it possible to form any separating wall portions which could be brought into engagement with a shoulder and/or an outlet or nozzle of a tube head. That is obviated by virtue of the fact that prefabricated tube heads have the pitch relationships with which, when joining the tube head, separating walls are to be brought to bear against or otherwise connected to the “winding tube” (U.S. Pat. No 3,948,704 to The Proctor and Gamble Comp.).
The above-outlined assembler processes are generally implemented by starting from prefabricated tubes (head and tube body portion combined) while the basic starting point adopted in the forming process is a prefabricated tube body portion with head. The basic operation in both processes, namely producing a tube by forming a tube head on a tube body portion by press shaping or injection molding or by mounting a tube head to a tube body portion, using a finished head, have been developed to a high technical level which ensures a high level of output of tubes per unit of time. That output is markedly reduced by the process steps involved in the assembler and forming processes, and this factor lies in substantial separation of the latter procedure from the basic operation, that is to say the production of a tube from a tube body portion and a head.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a process for producing multi-chamber tubes, which avoids the disadvantages of the assembler and forming processes as outlined above.
Another object of the invention is to provide a process for producing multi-chamber packaging tubes, which affords a simple reliable operating procedure with enhanced functional versatility and improved automation options.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a process for the production of multi-chamber tubes, which combines process steps in a procedure attaining comparable production times to a process for producing single-chamber tubes.
In accordance with the principles of the invention the foregoing and other objects are attained by a process for the production of a multi-chamber packaging tube of plastic material, the tube comprising a tube body portion, a tube head and at least one separating wall which is accommodated in the tube body portion and the tube head. The tube head is mounted to the tube body portion by means of a tool including a die and a bar as tool halves. The bar is loaded with a separating wall and subsequently a tube body portion or vice-versa.
As will be seen from the description hereinafter of a preferred embodiment of the invention a process step which is common to the above-indicated prior tube-production processes—namely loading a bar or mandrel with a tube body portion—is supplemented by or preceded by an operation of loading a bar or mandrel with a prefabricated separating wall. The operation of loading the bar with a separating wall can be effected substantially more quickly than the operation, which is included in the assembler process, of introducing a separating wall into a tube or the operation, in the forming process, of joining a preshaped tube body portion to a head which is designed for example to extend a separating wall of the tube body portion into the head, whereby the process according to the invention, in regard to its output of multi-chamber tubes per unit of time, comes very close to the output of single-chamber tubes, so that the process according to the invention can provide for the production of a multi-chamber tube, with comparable economy to single-chamber tubes.
The procedure in accordance with the invention can be carried into effect as long as a female mold or die, referred to herein generally as the die, and a bar or mandrel, referred to herein generally as the bar, are determining technical means for carrying the process into effect. In the operation for forming the head on the tube, the die and the bar act as a mold for forming a head, insofar as liquid plastic material is in

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