Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – Automatic and/or material-triggered control
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-12
2001-08-21
Sells, James (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
Automatic and/or material-triggered control
C156S359000, C156S583100, C156S583800, C100S050000, C100S319000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06276419
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sealing apparatus, more particular to a sealing apparatus including a pair of jaws which are movable relative to each other between a first state in which the jaws are moved away from each other to receive material to be sealed therebetween and a second state in which the jaws are moved toward each other to damp the material therebetween, a press mechanism for pressing the pair of jaws against each other, and a heating means for heating the material clamped between the jaws.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
A sealing apparatus of the above-noted type is known from e.g. a Japanese laid-open utility model gazette No. Sho. 55-170207 sharing the same applicant as the present application. As shown in
FIG. 5
, this sealing apparatus includes a base
20
having a fixed jaw
20
a
and a press lever
21
pivotally supported on the base member
20
via a pin
21
p
, the press lever
21
having a movable jaw
21
a
. Further, a draw shaft
22
inserted into a through hole defined in the press lever
21
and a cam plate
23
rotatably supported to the base
20
together constitute a press mechanism. The lower end of the draw shaft
22
is coupled with a portion of a side face of the cam plate
23
. The press mechanism pivots the press lever
21
from a first posture in which the movable jaw
21
a
is placed away from the fixed jaw
20
a
to a second posture in which the movable jaw
21
a
is pressed against the fixed jaw
20
a
. On the top of the press lever
21
, a displacement detecting plate
24
is pivotally mounted via a hinge
24
a
, with the plate
24
being urged upward by a coil spring
25
. Via this displacement detecting plate
24
, the upper end of the draw shaft
22
is coupled with the press lever
21
. When the cam plate
23
is rotatably driven by a motor, the draw shaft
22
is lowered thereby to press the movable jaw
21
a
against the fixed jaw
20
a
. On the other hand, the base
20
mounts thereon a microswitch
26
capable of detecting switchover of the posture of the press lever
21
based on the rotary displacement of the peripheral face of the cam plate
23
. If a foreign material or object thicker than the material to be sealed happens to be clamped between the movable jaw
21
a
and the fixed jaw
20
a
during a sealing operation, an upward external force is applied to the movable jaw
21
a
before the press lever
21
reaches the second posture, and the displacement detecting plate
24
is “pivoted” toward the press lever
21
overwhelming the urging force of the coil spring
25
, so that an angle
24
b
attached to the displacement detecting plate
24
acts upon the microswitch
27
on the press lever
21
. With this, the presence of the foreign material may be detected.
However, the sealing apparatus of the above-described conventional construction is capable of detecting the upward external force applied to the movable jaw
21
a
only when such external force lowers the displacement detecting plate
24
by overwhelming the urging force of the coil spring
25
. In other words, the construction is adapted only for judging whether the external force exceeds the predetermined urging force of the coil spring
25
or not.
Therefore, the stress detecting mechanism provided in the conventional sealing apparatus does not provide the function of continuously monitoring the pressing force applied to the sealing material from the fixed jaw and the movable jaw.
In view of the above, the primary material of the present invention is to provide a sealing apparatus which provides the function of allowing continuous monitoring of the pressing force applied from the fixed jaw and the movable jaw to the sealing material.
Another object of the invention is to provide a sealing apparatus capable of invariably measuring/outputting an accurate sealing pressure regardless of the thickness of the material to be sealed, thus recording in each sealed product whether an appropriate sealing pressure within a predetermined permissible range has been applied to the product at the time of the sealing operation (heat-fusing operation) thereof based on the outputted pressure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
For accomplishing the above-noted material, a sealing apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
a base having a fixed jaw;
a press lever pivotally supported on the base, the press lever having a movable jaw and being movable between a first state in which the movable jaw is located away from the fixed jaw to receive a material to be sealed therebetween and a second state in which the movable jaw is moved toward the fixed jaw to damp the material therebetween;
a press mechanism for pressing the movable jaw against the fixed jaw by applying a stress to the press lever toward the base;
means for heating the material pressed between the fixed jaw and the movable jaw by the press mechanism; and
means for measuring the load applied between the fixed jaw and the movable jaw at any selected point in the course of transition from the first state to the second state, the load measuring means including a monitor portion mounted on the press lever to be deformable by the stress applied to the press lever from the press mechanism and means for determining the load based on the amount of the deformation of the monitor portion.
According to the sealing apparatus of the invention having the above-described construction, any pressing force applied to the sealing material from the fixed jaw and the movable jaw may be continuously monitored via the monitor portion. Further, such continuous monitoring of any pressing force is possible not only when the fixed jaw and the movable jaw are located close to each other in order to seal the material, but also when the jaws are still wide open for allowing reception of the material therebetween. Thus, the monitor portion may be utilized also for detecting any foreign material which may be inadvertently present between the movable jaw and the fixed jaw.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the monitor portion includes a pressure plate fixedly mounted on the press lever and a strain gauge affixed to the pressure plate; and the press mechanism draws the press lever via the pressure plate toward the base, so that the resulting load applied to the movable jaw causes corresponding deformation in the pressure plate, which deformation in turn applies a tensile or compressive force to the strain gauge.
The above-described construction provides the advantage of allowing reasonable selection of appropriate different materials for forming the pressure plate and the press lever, respectively. For instance, the pressure plate may be formed of material such as steel which is readily available and which readily provides requisite dimensional accuracy and stable elastic modulus, while the press lever per se may be formed of such material as cast iron which is low cost yet provides a high rigidity. As a result, a highly reliable monitor portion may be provided at relatively low costs. Further, if the monitor portion is constructed by affixing a strain gauge to such pressure plate as above, a calibration operation, when needed, between the output of the affixed strain gauge and the value of load corresponding thereto may be conducted handily to the small pressure plate alone. And, this may be readily affixed to the press lever after completion of the calibration operation.
Preferably, the press lever includes a support portion for supporting the pressure plate and a gap is provided between the press lever and the pressure plate for allowing the deformation of the pressure plate. With this construction, the load applied to the movable jaw and the deformation amount of the pressure plate may be less affected by other components such as the press lever, so that a desirable linear relationship may be readily obtained between the load and the deformation amount. As the result, more accurate measurement of the load becomes possible. Further, by providing such gap or recess, it becomes possible to attach the stra
Fuji Impulse Co., Ltd.
Sells James
Webb Ziesenheim & Logsdon Orkin & Hanson, P.C.
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