DESC:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention relates to a continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine capable of sealing a large number of packages for liquids, powders, granules or viscous products. More particularly the invention relates to a continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine with an improved sealing assembly and a large number of packages can be manufactured at a time.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] Conventionally, vertical filling and packaging machines have mainly been used as four-side-sealing automatic filling and packaging machines for producing four-side-sealed packages in single vertical row. Such automatic filling and packaging machines wind a packaging film or laminate web around a tubular pipe to form a substantially cylindrical packaging film. Both ends of the web are overlapped and vertically sealed.
[003] Indian patent number 344327 describes a high speed sealing method for making film or laminate packs or pouches on single or multi track machines where the unequal jaws move from top to bottom along with the film, they start pressing the film or laminate between them before the middle position till after the middle position in continuous motion, which increases the sealing hold time without increasing the total cycle time and providing cushioning effect during horizontal sealing which also prevent damage to the film or laminated within the contact surfaces of the jaws by providing adjustable or fixed flexible force by a means on the back of either front or rear jaw or both the jaws. The mechanism for continuous motion is purely mechanical and cannot be adjusted digitally.
[004] Still there are chances of improvement to increase the vertical seal integrity of the film or laminate. Accordingly, the present invention provides a filling and packaging machine with a three-stage vertical sealing mechanism. Initially the two films travelling together are preheated without pressing against each other followed by heat sealing by die rollers to vertically seal both the equal packaging film at predefined multiple locations to form tubes. Finally, sealed tubes are instantly pressed again by cold rollers to cool down the sealed bands to strengthen the vertical seals integrity. The multiple formed tubes are slitted vertically using slit rollers to separate the tubes and filled online with the products individually but simultaneously in predefined dosing quantity. The filled tubes move downwards continuously, and two servo driven mechanisms provide horizontal hot sealing jaw movement pressing the tubes for sealing and simultaneously providing perforation or full cut between the consecutive pouches coming down in the form of tubes, while moving downwards with the continuously moving tubes by the other servo driven mechanism.
[005] The present invention relates to a continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine that forms a plurality of packages sealed by four-side sealing mechanisms, continuously.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[006] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:
[007] An object of the present invention is to ameliorate one or more of the problems of the prior art or at least provide a useful alternative.
[008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a three stage vertical sealing mechanism for better sealing strength as compared to prior arts to overcome the problem of miss-sealing, gap sealing, sealing with low strength, denaturation at sealing point.
[009] Another object of the present invention is to provide a continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine where a large number of packages can be manufactured at a time, making the time wastage in intermittent motion machine, productive.
[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine which can be suitably adapted to fill liquid, gels, granules and powders etc.
[0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine where all the operations are controlled by servo drive mechanism for ease of operations and digital settings for various pouch sizes and other parameters.
[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine where vertical slitting is performed with V type rotary slitters to separate each string of pouches or with serrated V type rotary slitters to have partially sideways connected pouch strings and avoid knotting of pouch strings for ease of packing in cartons or bags.
[0013] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine where setup to change pouch size can be easily carried out.
[0014] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0015] In view of the foregoing limitations inherent in the prior-art, the present invention provides a continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine that forms a plurality of pouches heat sealed on four-sides.
[0016] A continuous motion multi-track high speed vertical form-fill-seal machine according to the present invention includes an unwind unit along with center slitting & turning bar unit for superimposing two packaging films from a single Film roll by film guide roller sent substantially vertically downward forming plurality of tubes.
[0017] Filling products such as liquid, gel, powder or granules is supplied and filled in the multiple tubes formed between the two sealed films by the vertical sealing mechanism and the horizontal sealing mechanism to obtain four sides sealed plurality of pouches duly filled with product.
[0018] The horizontal sealing mechanism is suitably adapted for sealing, synchronous downward pulling of sealing jaws assembly and film, perforation / cutting the plurality of tubes filled with the product in the middle of the horizontal sealed band to get pouches with four-sides sealed.
[0019] A plurality of diving filling nozzles for feeding the liquid product into the tubes, wherein the vertical sealing mechanism so arranged that the sealing die rollers are placed between the pluralities of diving filling nozzles and similar sealing die rollers are placed on the back side of the two packaging films which are pressed and sealed there between. The positive shutoff rod in each diving filling nozzle and the whole diving filling mechanism moves synchronously with horizontal sealers to dose predefined quantity of product in each pouch before horizontal sealing.
[0020] A pair of front and rear vertical pre heat sealers, wherein the plurality of pairs of front and rear vertical pre heat sealers sandwich the packaging films to pre-heat the films. The vertical heat-sealing die rollers seal the packaging films vertically between plurality of diving filling nozzles. The film with plurality of vertical sealed bands moves downwards and sealed bands are pressed between the front and rear cold die rollers to cool the sealed band and provide strength and finish to the plurality of vertical seals.
[0021] Further, due to the adjustable mounting and space between the pre heating vertical sealers, the pouch width can be changed easily as per the requirement.
[0022] In addition, the diving filling nozzles create a gap between the two packaging films after vertical sealings. The product is dropped from the diving nozzle tips in predefined quantity and to avoid drooling of excess product the shut off rod moves down and chokes the nozzle tip as soon as the desired quantity of product is dosed and simultaneously the diving nozzle assembly with plurality of nozzles lift up to clear the filled tubes for horizontal sealing.
[0023] The adjustable vertical pre-heat sealers, heat seal die rollers and cold seal rollers make it possible to have different widths of the packages (keeping the length of packages same) across the width of the packaging film web. The diving filling mechanism can be configured to dose different predefined quantity of products according to the set width of the packages.
[0024] The product filling mechanism can also be designed to feed multiple products through designated nozzles in predefined quantities.
[0025] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vertical multi-row four-side seal automatic filling and packaging machine capable of producing a large number of four-side sealed packages at one time with better seal integrity.
[0026] The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine according to the present invention is for manufacturing four-side sealed packages by plurality of sealings on two packaging films continuously moving downwards a substantially vertical direction. The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] These and other advantages and features of the present invention, as well as methods of operation and economies of manufacture, will become apparent to one skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains based upon the following detailed description and the appended drawings, all of which form a part of this application. In the drawings:
[0028] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the present invention;
[0029] FIG. 2 is a side view of the of the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a unwind unit of the present embodiment;
[0031] FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a center slitting & turning bar unit of the present embodiment;
[0032] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a vertical sealing unit of the present embodiment;
[0033] FIG. 6A is a schematic view of a product filling unit of the present embodiment;
[0034] FIG. 6B is a schematic view of a diving filling nozzle unit of the present embodiment;
[0035] FIG. 7A is a schematic exploded view of a continuous motion horizontal sealing mechanism of the present embodiment;
[0036] FIG. 7B is schematic assembled view of a continuous motion horizontal sealing mechanism of the present embodiment;
[0037] FIG. 7C is a side view of a continuous horizontal sealing mechanism of the present embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0038] The present invention relates to a continuous motion multi-track high speed vertical form fill seal machine that forms a plurality of packages sealed on four-sides.
[0039] In FIGS. 1 & 2, it is seen that the embodiment of the present invention includes a single film roll unwind unit (110) to unwind and dispense film to the machine through a center slitting station & a turning bar unit (120); a product feeding unit (130) with a plurality of volumetric piston fillers (620) () driven by a piston servo drive mechanism (210) for dosing of product such as fluids, liquids, viscous, semi-liquids, or other substances into the individual film tube cavity through plurality of diving filling nozzle units (130A); a vertical sealing unit (140) for preheating and forming the side seals of the individual pouches; a film pulling servo drive (240), advancing (pulling) the films through the center slitting & turning bar unit (120); a horizontal sealing unit (150) to simultaneously seal the leading and trailing edges of the consecutive tubes of predefined length by a servo motor driven up and down mechanism (722); a double action horizontal sealing and cutting / perforation blade (703) to separate or partially separate rows of strings of pouches from the sealed two equal packaging film (106, 108); a control system (160) and an HMI (170) to digitally adjust the machine (100). The preferred way of operation of various critical units is to use servo motors. An alternative way or combination thereof is by utilizing pneumatic cylinders to operate the various units as shown in FIG. 3, 5, 6A-6B, and 7A-7C .
[0040] Further in the present embodiment, the FIG. 1; (100) is the machine, a product feeding hopper (602), is a volumetric or quantitative supply mechanism (613), a plurality of diving filling nozzle (634), a plurality of filling levers (614) along with a filing piston servo drive (210), a spool valve drive (608), a center slitting & a turning bar unit (120), a vertical sealing unit (140), a horizontal sealing unit (150) with cutting / perforation blade (703), and an operation / control system (160). Moreover, in FIG. 1, a film roll (102) is a film web (104).
[0041] FIG. 3, shows an unwind unit (110). A film roll (102), mounted on the unit (110) with the help of reel lifter (302) and reel shaft (304) in such a manner that it allows the film pulling & brake unit (310) to pull the film web (104) with the help of dancing rollers (320) setup. A web aligner (312) is provided to align the film and film tension rollers (314) and film guide rollers (316) to keep the position of film web (104) constant across its width.
[0042] As shown in FIG. 4, a center slitting & turning bar unit (120) of the present embodiment provides a single film web (104) to slit in the middle of its width. To adjust the pressure on the center slitting & turning bar unit (120), a pressure adjustment lever (408) along with a cutter pressure adjustment block (410) are provided. After the film is slit into two equal films (106, 108), it goes downward with the help a turning bar unit (418), spreader rollers (420) are used to avoid wrinkles on the films while going downwards, thus placing two equal packaging films (106, 108) (not shown) parallelly. Thus, the center slitting & turning bar unit (120) converts a single film web (104) into the front and back surfaces (106, 108) of the pouches or sachets or packages to be formed on the continuous motion high speed vertical form fill seal machine (100).
[0043] FIG. 5 shows vertical sealing unit (140), a mechanism that is provided below the pre-heating unit (512) and vertically seals the two equal packaging films (106) and (108) (not shown) as will be described in detail later. The vertical pre heating unit (fix type) (512) has both sides pre heater jaws (512, 512’), pneumatic cylinder to engage/disengage (514), pre-heater unit gap adjustment knob (516), pre heater jaw opening latch with spring loaded (tool less jaw opening ) (520), vertical sealer pre-heating (518), common die roller drive (for both hot sealers & cold sealers) (522), vertical heat sealing Die Rollers (524), a vertical cold sealing die rollers (526), die roller unit engage/disengage drive cylinder (502), vertical sealing heater (504), heater slip ring (506), die roller drive timing belt (508).
[0044] The vertical pre heaters (518) raise the temperature of the two equal packaging films (106, 118) and vertical heat-sealing die rollers (524) seal both the films at plurality of places vertically. The vertical cold sealing die rollers (526) further strengthens the seal integrity.
[0045] The vertical slitters (142) is a mechanism that is provided below the vertical seal unit (140) and slits the vertical sealed bands on the two equal packaging films (106) and (108). The vertical slitting mechanism (144) includes a plurality of V-type slitters or V-type serrated slitters (142), arranged in multiple rows between the diving filling nozzles (634), and the vertical slitters (142) cuts or partially cuts the two equal packaging films (106) and (108) into a plurality of strips in the vertical direction.
[0046] In FIG. 6A is an isometric view of product feeding unit (130) which consists of Product Feeding Hopper (602), a Filling spool valve & valve body (604), (606) is a Filling Nipple for Hose pipe, (616) is an Individual product volume adjustment Knob, (614) is a Filling Lever. The product feeding hopper (602) is a storage container that stores a product. The fixed Filling spool valve and valve body (604) is a mechanism which is provided below the hopper (602) and distributes and supplies the product from the product feeding hopper (602) into a plurality of diving filling nozzles (634). The Volumetric Piston Fillers (620) is provided below the quantitative supply and introduces the filling Product distributed by the quantitative supply mechanism (613) into the diving filling nozzles (634).
[0047] FIG. 6B Shows diving filling nozzle unit (130A) consisting of product inlet Nipples (622), Filling positive shut off Cylinders (628), Diving nozzle drive gears (630), Diving nozzle drive Lever (632), Diving nozzle up down drive Tie Bar (230), (Linked with horizontal sealing Jaws up-down mechanism), Positive shut off plunger (638), Positive shut off rod (636), diving filling nozzles (634), Nozzle adjustment blocks (626), Diving nozzle drive block (624).
[0048] FIG 7A-FIG 7C Show continuous motion horizontal sealing unit (150) and its mechanism is consisting of Sealing Jaw Open Close Servo Drive (250), Sealing Jaws drive Lever (710), Guide Pillars for Up Down Movement (708), Drive Shafts (714), Horizontal sealers (706), Jaw Opening Hinge (704), Perforation and batch cutting cylinders (716), Jaw up down drive lever (710), Jaw up down movement shaft (718), Horizontal sealing jaw up down servo drive (260) and horizontal Sealing Jaws drive crank shaft (714).
[0049] The control system (160) is input / output means for operating each interlinking servo drive mechanism installed on the rear side of the continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100).
[0050] In an exemplary embodiment, the machine can be designed for making pouches from a web for below mentioned parameters. However, it is to be understood that other variations and modifications of the present invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof.

Sr. No. Parameters Value
1. Min. width of the film web after slitting 900 mm
2. Max. width of the web or film or roll or laminate 1400 mm
3. Max. number of pouches across the sealing width 4 - 20 packs
4. Min. length of the pouch 25 mm
5. Max. length of pouch 150 mm
6. Max. horizontal sealings per minute (depends on film structure and pouch size) 160
[0051] The Continuous Motion Multi-Track High-Speed Vertical Form Fill Seal Machine (100) according to the present invention has a structure in which a wide film web (104) is sequentially drawn downward from the Film roll (102) in accordance with the vertical movement of the pulling Rollers (112) controlled by film pulling servo drive (240) and dancing rollers arrangement (320).
[0052] When the Film roll (102) is pulled from unwind unit (110), the web aligner (312) and the Film Guide roller (316) senses the eye mark present on the film web (104) and adjust the width wise position of the film edge to keep it constantly aligned. The dancing rollers (320) monitor the tension of the film web (104) along with film tension rollers (314) and control the rotation of the paper feed so that the tension of the film web (104) is always maintained constant.
[0053] The drawn film web (104) reaches the center slitting cutter (412) in a state where the film web (104) is slitted along the travel direction of the film web (104), into two equal packaging films (106, 108). These two equal packaging films (106) and (108) are transferred to the turning bar (416).
[0054] The turning bar places one of the packaging films (106 or 108) to the rear side and other film (108 or 106) in the front inside the machine, on opposite sides keeping the plurality of diving filling nozzle (634) between the two films. The two guided equal packaging films (106) and (108) are transported in a substantially vertical direction at this time, the two equal packaging films (106) and (108) sandwich the diving filling nozzle (634) there between and are sent to the pre-heating and vertical sealing unit (140) in this state.
[0055] In the vertical sealing mechanism, the two equal packaging films (106) and (108) are pre-heated by preheating unit (512) and pressed by a plurality of pairs of vertical heat-sealing die rollers (524) and (524’) and are vertically sealed in bands between the plurality of diving filling nozzle (634). These vertically sealed films are further pressed by the vertical cold sealing die rollers (526). The Preheating Unit heats the packaging film to optimum temperature so that during vertical heat sealing by die rollers (524) and vertical cold sealing by die rollers (526) optimum fusion of the equal packaging Film (106, 108)
[0056] The two vertically sealed equal packaging films (106) and (108) are cut into a plurality of strips along the vertical seal by each V-type rotary slitters (142) of the vertical slitting mechanism (144). Strips are fully separated if the V-type rotary cutters (142) with sharp continuous edge are used however if serrated V-type rotary cutters are used then the strips are partially cut vertically and remained joined for ease of handling and carton packing.
[0057] The embossing unit (114) embosses predetermined text on the film to appear on one side of the pouch.
[0058] The product is supplied from the product feeding hopper (602) through each diving filling nozzle (634) to the bottom of the tubes with bottom horizontally sealed. The diving filling nozzles (634) with positive shutoff rods (636) drop the product in each tube formed, in pre-defined quantity and the diving filling nozzle unit (634) moves up to clear the tubes for horizontal sealing. The horizontal sealing mechanism moves downward by set length of package while pressing for horizontal sealing of the packaging films (106) and (108) by the horizontal heat sealers (706) and (706’), to follow the continuous downwards movement of equal packaging films (106) and (108).
[0059] At this time, the two equal packaging films (106) and (108) are drawn over the diving filling nozzles (634), through the pre-heating (512) and vertical sealing unit (140), and the horizontal sealing unit (150) programmed to execute horizontal sealing at pre-defined length as per desired pouch length by travelling down with the continuously moving films and then opening the horizontal sealing jaws (706) and moving the horizontal sealing mechanism upwards again to close the horizontal sealing jaws assembly (702, 702’) and start moving downwards. This completes one step of sealing the sealing two equal packaging films (106) and (108) in which the product is packaged in four sides sealed pouches. During the horizontal sealing the cutting / perforation blade (703) provided within the horizontal sealing jaws assembly (702) cuts / perforates the horizontal sealed band in the middle to make trailing and leading sealed edges of the consecutive pouches. Further, through pneumatic operation of the cutting mechanism, the horizontal sealing unit (150) is capable of batch cutting into predetermined number of pouches in the strips.
[0060] A horizontal lever (710) is connected to the crank shaft (714) and horizontal sealing jaws assembly (702). The crank shaft (714) is rotated clockwise and anticlockwise by a sealing jaw open close servo drive (250), to perform horizontal open and close movements of horizontal sealing jaws assembly (702) and simultaneously sealing jaws assembly moves up/down by a lever (710), driven by another Sealing Jaw Up Down Drive (260).
[0061] The rotary motion of the Horizontal Sealing Jaw Up Down Drive (260) is converted into linear motion. A sealing jaw up down drive lever (720) is mounted on the drive shaft of the Horizontal Sealing Jaw Up Down Servo Drive (260). A lever (710) is connected with the Sealing Jaw Up Down Drive at one end and with the horizontal sealing unit (150) on the other end, as described with reference to Fig 7Aand Fig. 7B above. The servo motors (250) and (260) are programmed such that the horizontal sealing jaw assembly (702) moves up-down in synchronization with horizontal sealing jaws open / close motion (726) that close in top position and open in bottom position on a continuously moving two equal packaging films (106, 108).
[0062] Further, the film or laminate (104) includes single layer and multi-layer film or laminates of polymer, fibrous material such as paper, woven and non-woven substrate or laminate of combination of polymer layer(s) and fibrous layer(s).
[0063] Further, in case the machine (100) is designed for products in the form of powder, granules, flakes, etc., the product feeding unit (130) with diving filling nozzles (634) mechanism shall be replaced with a suitable multi-ware or Product feeding system.
[0064] It is to be understood that other variations and modifications of the present invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof.
,CLAIMS:We Claim,
1. A continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) for producing four-side sealed packages, comprising:
a. an unwind unit (110) configured to dispense packaging film (104) from a roll (102);
b. a center slitting & turning bar unit (120) for slitting a film (104) into two equal packaging films (106, 108) & superimposing the two equal films (106,108) in a vertical direction;
c. a vertical sealing unit (140) comprising a vertical heat-sealing die rollers (524) and a vertical cold sealing die rollers (526) for forming vertical seals between the two equal packaging films (106, 108);
d. a vertical slitting mechanism (144) with a vertical slitter (142) for separating the tubes;
e. a product feeding unit (130) with a plurality of filling nozzles (634) for dosing product into plurality of vertically formed tubes between the two equal packaging films (106, 108);
f. a horizontal sealing unit (150) comprising servo-driven horizontal sealers for sealing the plurality of tubes forming leading and trailing edges of consecutive pouches; and
g. A control system (160) for adjusting machine parameters through an HMI (170) and operation of machine.
2. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the vertical sealing unit (140) comprises a Pre heating unit (512).
3. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the vertical sealing unit (140) further comprises the vertical cold sealing die rollers (526) for cooling down the vertical seals.
4. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein each of the diving filling nozzles (634) of the product feeding unit (130) include a positive shut-off rod (636) for precise dosing of product.
5. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the vertical slitting mechanism (144) uses V-type rotary slitters or serrated V-type rotary slitters to separate or partially separate pouches, respectively.
6. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the machine is adapted to fill products selected from the group consisting of liquids, gels, powders, and granules.
7. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the horizontal sealing unit (150) includes a cutting or perforation mechanism (703) operated by a plurality of pneumatic cylinders (716) for separating pouches.
8. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, comprising a control system (160) comprising a plurality of servo drive mechanisms for adjusting machine operations and digital settings for pouch length.
9. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the horizontal sealing mechanism (150) includes a servo motor-driven up-down movement (722) by a horizontal sealing jaw up down servo drive (260) for a sealing jaws assembly (702) and a sealing jaw open & close motion (726) driven by a sealing jaw open close servo drive (250) for sealing, perforating or cutting of pouches.
10. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the vertical sealing unit (140) includes adjustable mounting and spacing for achieving different pouch widths.
11. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the product feeding unit (130) is adapted to fill multiple formed tubes simultaneously through designated nozzles (634).
12. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, further comprising an embossing unit (114) for embossing predetermined text onto the packaging film.
13. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the diving filling nozzles (634) are configured between the two equal packaging films (106, 108) creating a gap between the packaging films after vertical sealing.
14. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the machine is configured to produce packages with varying widths while maintaining a constant length.
15. The continuous motion multi-track high-speed vertical form fill seal machine (100) of claim 1, wherein the machine is adapted for use with single-layer or multi-layer packaging film or laminate.
Dated this 1st day of September 2023.

For UFLEX LIMITED
-Digitally Signed :: Filed via e-Filing-
Sandeep Gupta [IN/PA-3900]
Agent for the Applicant