Stark, Sven Olof Soren (Rydsgard, SW)
Olsen, Jan-erik (Lund, SW)
Soukup, Franz (Malmo, SW)

05/433789

11/11/1975

01/16/1974

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Tetra Pak Development SA (Lausanne, CH)

53/133.100

53/133.300, 53/456, 53/579

B29C65/08; B31B17/00; B65B9/04; B65B43/10; B65B47/06; B29C65/74; B65B9/00; B65B43/00; B65B47/00; B65B61/18; B65B47/00

53/29,133,180,183,184,195

Spruill, Robert L.

Pierce, Scheffler & Parker

We claim

1. A machine for producing filled, sealed packages comprising means for progressively and continuously folding a first continuous web of packaging material into a series of successive, interconnected U-shaped sections extending transversely of the length of the web, feeder drum means for progressively slitting a second web of packaging material transversely at the edges thereof in synchronism with the means for folding the first web, to provide a series of longitudinal opposed marginal flaps therealong, means for folding and sealing said flaps to the outer side edges of the U-shaped sections of the first web to form package cavities, means for filling said package cavities with a filling material, and means for sealing the filled packages by sealing the second web to the transverse ends of the legs of the U-shaped sections of the first web along lines transversely of the second web and coextensively with the slits between the flaps so as to form filled, sealed packages, said means for forming the U-shaped sections in the first web comprising an interconnected series of U-shaped moulds movable in the direction of movement of said first web and means for progressively folding said first web into said moulds during movement of said first web to form the U-shaped sections.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for progressively folding the first web into said moulds comprises a rotatable axle and at least one forming element mounted on said axle for rotation therewith and having forming surfaces for progressively and continuously pressing said first web down into each successive mould of the series during rotation of said forming element to contact said first web and press it against the walls of each successive mould.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein said at least one rotatable forming element includes two elements each having curved forming surfaces, said two elements being disposed on diametrically opposite sides of said axle.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3 and further comprising a reciprocating swivel arm, said rotatable axle being mounted on said arm for providing said axle and said forming elements with a reciprocating movement laterally of said axle during a portion of the rotation thereof.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 4 and further comprising a cam disk for imparting reciprocating movement to said swivel arm.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 5 and further comprising means for temporarily accelerating the reciprocating movement of said swivel arm to feed increased portions of said first web to said moulds to reestablish proper feed of the first web when underfeeding occurs.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein said axle frictionally engages the first web as the web passes over the ends of the legs of each U-shaped mould to cause rotation of said forming elements to press said first web progressively in to each successive mould.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 7 wherein said axle continues to engage the first web until said rotating forming element reaches the bottom of the U-shaped mould to press the web against the bottom of said mould.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 8 wherein said reciprocating swivel arm moves said axle and said forming elements in a direction opposite to the movement of said moulds while one of said forming elements passes across the bottom of each mould whereby the axle on which said forming elements are mounted engages the first web as it passes over the end of the succeeding U-shaped mould and is rotated to retract the one forming element from the bottom of the preceeding mould.

10. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said series of moulds comprises a series of L-shaped links, the end of one leg of each L-shaped link being rotatably connected to the angular corner portion of an adjacent link to form an endless chain of moulds.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 10 wherein said L-shaped links are provided with guide rolls and said machine further comprises guide tracks for receiving said guide rolls for always positioning the projecting leg of said L-shaped links perpendicular to the direction of movement of said endless chain of moulds.

12. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said feeder drum means includes a drum having a plurality of equal, relatively flat segmental surfaces about the periphery thereof for carrying said second web, said segmental surfaces having a width corresponding to the spacing of the moulds and a length corresponding substantially to the length of the moulds, said segmental surfaces also having outer portions having a length corresponding to the height of said moulds.

13. A machine as claimed in claim 12 and further comprising a reciprocable element rotatably surrounding said feeder drum means and means for causing said reciprocable element to rotate with said feeder drum means and return to its former position.

14. A machine as claimed in claim 13 and further comprising means opposite one segmental surface and mounted on said reciprocable element for forming the slits at spaced locations along the side edges of said second web to form said longitudinal opposed marginal flaps therealong.

15. A machine as claimed in claim 14 and further comprising a plurality of separate means opposite other segmental surfaces and mounted on said reciprocable element for punching holes in said second web to serve as pouring openings and for subsequently applying a removable cover for said openings and for thermoforming said second web.

16. A machine as claimed in claim 15 and further comprising means for actuating said slit forming means and said plurality of separate means while said reciprocable element rotates with said feeder drum means.

17. A machine as claimed in claim 12 and further comprising means disposed between the segmental surfaces for radial displacement thereof with respect to said drum to increase or decrease the peripheral surface of said drum so as to increase or decrease the length of the second web being processed by said feeder drum means to maintain synchronous feed of the second web with respect to the first web.

18. A machine as claimed in claim 17 and further comprising conical means for actuating said radial displacement means.

19. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for folding and sealing said longitudinal opposed marginal flaps along said second web to the outer side edges of the U-shaped sections of said first web comprises flap folding members, reciprocating means for closing said flap folding members about the flaps and moving said flap folding members with said webs during sealing thereof and for subsequently returning said flap folding means to its initial position.

20. A machine as claimed in claim 19 and further comprising means for heating the longitudinal edge surfaces of the longitudinal opposed marginal flaps of the second web for heat sealing said flaps to the outer side edges of the U-shaped sections of the first web when folded by said flap folding means.

21. A machine as claimed in claim 20 wherein said heating means and said flap folding members are reciprocable together.

The present invention relates to a machine for the manufacture of packing containers, comprising a device for the forming of a first continuous web of a foldable material to a series of connected, U-shaped sections through folding of the web, a device for the joining of a second web of foldable material to the said first web, a device for folding down the edge zones of the said second web to lie against the edges of the folded first web, a device for sealing the joined portions of the said second web and the said first web along the common contact surfaces of the webs for the formation of a series of parallelepipedic cavities, and finally a device for filling the said cavities with the intended goods.

Frequently, during the packing of goods, the packing containers themselves are manufactured at the same time as the goods intended for packing are supplied to the packing containers. This can be done when the packing containers consist of blanks with punched out lugs manufactured in advance, which is an automatic assembling machine, are folded together to form a container, or when the packing material is furnished in the form of a web, which, e.g., is folded over into a tube, the longitudinal edges of which are sealed to one another, whereupon the tube is filled with the goods and is then divided by means of successive transverse sealings in areas at right angles to the tube axis. The pieces of tube divided in this manner can then be subjected to a forming process so that they are given, for example, a lasting parallelepipedic shape.

With the abovementioned methods for the manufacture of packages there is an unavoidable waste, in that a part of the packing material becomes embodied in the flap fastening arrangement or other parts which do not directly form a part of the packing body. If, e.g., a piece of a tube which has been sealed off at right angles to the tube axis is moulded into a parallelepipedic shape, a triangular double-walled flap is produced at each corner which requires packing material which does not directly constitute any part of the packing container itself, and is inefficiently used.

It has been found in practice that the continuous manufacture of packing containers from a web is to be preferred to the manufacture of packing containers from blanks made in advance, and the main reason for this is that the weblike packing material can be supplied in rolls, where the surface of the packing material web lies well-protected between adjacent turns in the roll, whereas, by contrast, prefabricated blanks cannot be protected in the same manner. Furthermore, the packing material which is supplied in a roll takes up considerably less space and is easier to transport than the kind of packing material which is supplied in the form of prefabricated blanks and the compact packing material rolls require moreover less outer wrapping during transport, which as a great economic advantage.

As mentioned before an undesirable waste arises, however, if for example parallelepipedic packages are formed of a web which is folded over into a tube, and it is an object of this invention to reduce this waste as much as possible. The machine in accordance with the present invention shows an arrangement for the manufacture of packing containers from a web of packing material with a minimum of packing material waste and the machine in accordance with the invention is characterized by a device for the folding of a first packing material web, which device comprises moulds over which the web is adapted to be shaped, a number of the said moulds being arranged behind one another and being arranged movable in the direction of advance of the first web, and that the device for the joining of a second packing material web to the first web comprises a driven feeder drum, which is adapted to impart to the said second web a feed movement which is synchronous with the movement of the said moulds. The invention is characterized further in that the device for the forming of the said first web comprises an endless series of moulds arranged one behind another, which are adapted to move with constant speed and a forming tool rotatable about an axis comprising one or more curved forming surfaces, which are adapted to press the said first web down into the said moulds with the object of bringing the web into contact with the walls of the moulds and thus to impart to the web a shape which corresponds to the surfaces of the moulds.

In the following will be described an embodiment of the packing machine in accordance with the invention with reference to the drawings, which are partly of a schematic character and for the sake of clarity the same details have been given the same reference numbers in all the figures.

The drawing comprises the following figures:

FIG. 1 shows schematically a total front view of the machine

FIG. 2 shows schematically the driving of the machine

FIG. 3a and 3b show the driving equipment of the forming tool,

FIGS. 4a-4c show the forming operation at the folding of the one packing material web,

FIG. 5 shows a front view of the feeder drum,

FIG. 6 shows a side view of a partly cross-sectionalized feeder drum,

FIG. 7 shows a driving equipment of the feeder drum

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the equipment for the assembling of the packing material webs and the sealing of the edge zone flaps, folded down, of the second packing material web to the folded side edges of the packing material web,

FIG. 9 shows a device for the sealing of the central part of the second packing material web to the tops of the folded packing material web, together with a device for the separation of the sealed, individual packing units,

FIG. 10 shows a front view of the parts of the machine, by means of which the webs of packing material are assembled and sealed to one another,

FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of the driving equipment for the set-up shown in FIG. 10,

FIG. 12a shows a series of connected packing containers which have been manufactured by the machine in accordance with the invention, and

FIG. 12b shows a separated individual packing container.

Although it is possible to use as packing materials various materials or material combinations, such as, e.g., plastic film, paper coated with plastic, metal foil coated with plastic and paper or other combinations of known material which can be laminated to one another, it is assumed in the following description that the packing material consists of a web of foamed plastic material, for example polystyrene foam which at least on the one side has a layer of a homogeneous plastic material, e.g., polystyrene. The two packing material webs which after forming are assembled and sealed to one another need not necessarily be of the same thickness, but for the sake of simplicity it shall be assumed in the present case, that the packing material webs are of material of the same kind and of approximately the same thickness. However, one of the packing material webs, namely that which is passed over the feeder drum, must be appreciably wider than the packing material web which is folded by means of the forming tool.

In the first place is given a general description of the machine so as to explain the principle of the machine, whereupon the various details which are illustrated in the figures will be described in greater detail in the subsequent special parts describing the machine.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE MACHINE

In FIG. 1 is shown a front view of a packing machine in accordance with the invention, the frame for the packing machine proper being designated 1, a device for the machining and finishing of the packing units manufactured being designated 33, an automatic packaging device 35 and a packing material part 58.

The packing material part 58 comprises a number of so-called roller stands comprising magazine rolls of packing material. The rolls 8 and 9 comprise packing material webs, which in the case described here consist in particular of extruded foamed plastic webs of polystyrene material, which is lined on both sides with layers of homogeneous polystyrene. The packing material webs 5 and 6 are rolled off the magazine rolls 8 and 9, and are passed over the guide rolls 25. The magazine roll 10 contains strip material 7 of homogeneous plastic material, which strip material 7 is intended to be used for the bringing about of an opening on the packages manufactured.

The packing machine proper consists, as mentioned above, of a frame 1, which frame supports a rotatable drum 23 which is adapted so that the packing material web 6 can be passed over it and on which work operations are carried out at stations along the periphery of the drum, which in the case shown here is divided into 12 sections. The packing machine comprises further a device 2 for the forming of the web 5. The device 2 comprises movable moulds 4 which are fitted onto an endless chain, which in the figure shown moves in clockwise direction. The device 2 further comprises a forming tool 3, which is designed as a rotatable double section vane, by means of which the packing material web 5 is brought into contact with the moulds 4 to form a series of connected U-shaped sections. In FIG. 1, furthermore, a supply line for the goods to be filled into the containers is designated 20, a control valve for the control of the quantity of goods supplied is 21 and a filling tube 19. A heating device is designated 15 and a supply line for hot air 22. A reciprocating, movable column is designated 13 and a bearing which is integral with the machine frame 1 for the guiding of the column 13 is designated 14. The column 13 supports a folding tool 16, a sealing element 17 and a cutting element 18 which all move together with the column in its reciprocating movement which is adjusted so that the column moves synchronously with the moulds 4 in its downward movement, whilst the upward return movement is quicker.

The finished formed packages 30 are transferred from the forming moulds 4 of the forming device 2 to the finishing device 33 by means of a conveyer belt 28 which runs between two end rolls 29 and a transport wheel 27 arranged in between.

In the finishing device 33 projecting sealing fins are removed or machined so as to impart to the packages 30 a more pleasing appearance and free them from edges which might interfere with each other during transport and handling. The packages 30 are retained in the endless chain of the finishing device, which comprises projecting parts which form between them spaces within which the packages 30 can be accomodated, with the help of a supporting belt 31 which runs around an end roll 32 and one of the earlier mentioned end rolls 29. The machining is carried out with the help of the machining tool 36, and the packages 30 are finally delivered by means of a device 34 to an automatic packaging device 35 where the packages are put down into transport cartons or transport baskets for distribution.

The function of the packing machine is as follows:

From the magazine roll 8 a first packing material web 5 is rolled off, which is passed over a guide roll 25. The packing material web 5 is rolled off with the help of a drive pulley 24 which is controlled with the help of a photo-cell equipment containing two photo-cell devices 11. If too much packing material web 5 has been rolled off by means of the drive pulley 24, the loop of packing material web formed will cover, as shown in FIG. 1, the lower one of the photo-cell devices 11. If this happens, the governor obtains an impulse and the driving device for the drive pulley 24 is stopped. The supply of packing material is then also stopped, the loop of packing material diminishes and when the loop has become so small that it clears the photocell device 11, the feed of packing material is started again with the help of drive pulley 24. The packing material web 5 is brought into contact with the moulds 4 on the forming device 2, in which the moulds 4 are fitted on an endless chain, which moves at constant speed in a closed track. The packing material web 5 is brought into contact with the moulds 4 with the help of a forming tool 3, which consists of a rotatable and pivotable double section vane, the function of which will be described in detail in the special machine description. With the help of the forming tool 3 the packing material web 5 is brought accurately into contact with the moulds 4 whilst the web 5 is folded to form an endless series of U-shaped parts, which with the help of the forming device 2 are made mainly to move downwards at a constant speed.

The second packing material web 6 is rolled off its magazine roll 9 and is passed over a guide roll 26 and is then brought into contact with feeder drum 23. The feeder drum 23, as mentioned earlier, has 12 forming surfaces each with a width which largely corresponds to the distance between two successive moulds 4 on the forming device 2. The feeder drum 23 rotates at constant speed whilst an outer ring or oscillator plate 59 moves in a reciprocating rotatory movement around the drum 23. The plate 59 carries machining devices such as a hole punch and cover strip applicator 60, forming and cutting element 61 and heating device 62. When the web 6 with the help of the feeder drum 23 is moved past the machining stations 60,61 and 62 a punching of pouring holes, application of cover strip over the pouring hole, heating up of the web and possibly thermoforming of the web is carried out, as well as cutting of edge zones of the web at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the web. From the magazine roll 10 a strip 7 of homogeneous plastic material is rolled off, which strip is placed by means of the cover strip applicator 60 over the pouring hole produced in the web 6 and is fixed to the web 6, so that the pouring hole is sealed. Furthermore, by means of the cover strip applicator, the front part of the strip 7 is cut off so that the cover strip applied over the pouring hole produced is severed from the rest of the strip 7. The web 6 provided with pouring opening and opening device, is also provided with slits at the edges of the web, the said slits extending at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the web 6, to a length largely corresponding to the height of the moulds 4, and is then advanced with the help of the feeder drum 23 at a speed which is the same as the speed of movement of the moulds 4, the web 6 being advanced until its central part is placed over the tops of the moulds 4, whilst the slotted portions of the web edges project beyond the moulds 4. By means of a governor, not shown here, the web 6 is advanced with the help of the feeder drum 23 in such a manner, that the slits in the web 6 will be positioned right in front of the upright partitions of the moulds 4.

While the web 6, with the help of the feeder drum 23, is advanced synchronously with the movement of the moulds 4, the column 13 attains its upper end position and starts a downward movement, and is synchronous with the movement of the moulds 4. The column 13 carries a heating device 15 which can be connected via a pipeline 22 to an air source, and by means of the heating device 15 hot air is blown through the holes, which are provided in a specified pattern, against the underside of the edge zones of the web 6, which are delimited by the said slits in the edge portions of the web, the plastic material being softened and activated for sealing, and at the same time the edge zones of the web 5 are also heated up by the blowing of hot air against the edge zones of the web 5 exposed at the lateral edges of the moulds.

At the same time as the heating up of the zones on the webs 5 and 6, which are intended to be sealed to one another, is carried out with the help of the heating device 15, the flaps formed between the slits in the web 6 are folded down, with the help of folding flaps 16, against the sides of the moulds 4 and, as a result of this, join together the edge zones of the parts of web 6 and the edge zones of the parts of web 5, which, in an earlier working phase, had been heated with the help of the heating device 15 to such a degree, that the joined portions of the webs are fused together to form a mechanically durable and permanent seal which is stabilized by the folding tool 16 which cools down the sealing area during the time when it is in contact with the folded down portions of the web 6. When the webs 5 and 6 have been joined together through lateral sealings in the aforementioned manner, the goods to be filled into the containers are supplied through the filling pipe 19, which is arranged between the web 6 and above the tops of the moulds 4, the box-like spaces formed underneath the web 6 being filled with the intended goods. The filled box-like spaces are sealed off with the help of the sealing element 17 to form closed units, in that the web 6 is sealed to the parts of the web 5 which are situated above the tops of the upright portions of the moulds 4. The sealing element 17 is also fixed to the column 13 and follows the column in its reciprocating movement, which means that the sealing takes place while the column moves downwards synchronously with the moulds 4. In the case shown here the sealing element is of the ultrasonic type, but it is also possible to use heat sealing devices of the conventional type. The closed units formed are finally separated from one another with the help of the cutting element 18, which severs the closed units from one another by means of a cut through the sealing zones which have been accomplished by means of the sealing elements 17.

The filled and closed packing units 30 are retained in the moulds with the help of a conveyor belt 28 arranged underneath the forming device, which runs between two end rolls 29, and the packing units 30 are transported by means of a transport wheel 27 provided with projecting vanes to the aforementioned machining device, where any projecting sealing edges are machined by means of a machining element 36, whereupon the packages are finally passed by means of the element 34 to an automatic packing device 35, where the packages 30 are put down into cartons or transport boxes.

The packing machine can be operated by means of a control and actuating panel 12, containing the necessary actuating devices as well as control instruments to indicate the temperature in the various heating zones, etc.

The driving of the packing machine is illustrated in FIG. 2, where the main motor is designated 37 and a driving gear coupled to the main motor is marked 38. The output gear 39 of the driving gear 38 is in mesh with an intermediate wheel 40 which transmits the driving force of the motor to a gear 41, which is fitted to the same shaft 49 as a V-belt pulley or serrated belt pulley 43, which shaft is at the same time the driving shaft for the forming device 2 and the chain carrying the moulds 4. By means of the V-belt pulley or serrated belt pulley 42 a movement is transmitted via the V-belt or serrated belt 43 to the intermediate wheel 44 which is fitted on a shaft 48. On the shaft 48 is a further belt pulley, which via serrated belt or V-belt 45 transmits a movement to the belt pulley 46 which is fitted to a shaft 47 by means of which the feeder drum 23 is driven.

The gear 41 mentioned earlier, further drives the gear 57 which is fitted to a shaft 50, on which shaft the transmission wheel 27 is mounted; the gear 57 further drives a wheel 56 which in turn is fitted to a shaft 51, by means of which the finishing device 33 is driven. On the shaft 51 is fitted further a larger gear 55 which is in mesh with a smaller gear 54 which via a sprocket wheel with locking mechanism drives a chain 53 from an auxiliary motor 52. The smaller gear 56 is fitted to the shaft 51 which via a locking mechanism is connected to the shaft 50.

When the driving motor 37 drives the machine, the movement is transmitted via gears 39,40,41 and 57 to the gear 56, which via the locking mechanism transmits the movement to the shaft 51. The auxiliary motor 52 is then cut out and the chain 53 is immovable owing to a locking mechanism in the sprocket wheel on the same shaft as the gear 54. When the driving motor 37 has stopped, the auxiliary motor 52 can be started and this can then drive the finishing device 33 via the sprocket wheel with locking mechanism of the chain 53, the gear 54, the gear 55 and shaft 51. The locking mechanism between the shaft 51 and the gear 56 disconnects then the shaft 51 from the gear 56. The reason for this set-up is that it should be possible to drive the finishing equipment 33 when the packing machine is not in operation.

In FIG. 12a is shown partly in cross-section a picture of a series of mutually connected packing containers as they appear when they are accomodated in the moulds 4 of the forming device 2, and as can be seen from FIG. 12a, the connected series of packing containers 30 are formed of the web 5 folded into U-shaped sections and of the web 6 which is slotted along its edge zones with the slits 63 to form the flaps 64, which are folded towards the ends of the U-shaped sections formed from the web 5 and sealed to these by device 15. Furthermore, the tops of the folded web 5 arae sealed by device 17 to the central portion of the web 6 along the sealing zone 65 after filling. With the help of a cut through the sealing zones 65 individual containers of the type as shown in FIG. 12b are separated and, as can be seen from that figure, the container consists of two U-shaped elements which are formed by the webs 5 and 6, and which are sealed to one another along the areas where they are brought into contact with one another.

A row of interconnected packing containers in accordance with FIG. 12a cannot be manufactured by means of the packing machine described here unless the cutting elements 18 for separation of the packing containers are removed or put out of gear, and this is easily made possible in cases where a row of interconnected packing containers is desired. The cutting elements 18 can also be placed in such a way that they separate a number of interconnected packing containers, e.g., 2 and 2 or 5 and 5.

After this general introduction to the machine, special details and devices of the packing machine in accordance with FIG. 1 will be described more closely in a special part of machine description.

SPECIAL MACHINE DESCRIPTION

I. Folding device

In FIGS. 4a-4f is shown the fold-forming procedure of the packing material web 5, which with the help of the forming device 2 (FIG. 1) is formed into a series of connected U-shaped elements. The forming takes place in such a manner that the web 5, which can be provided with crease lines facilitating the fold formation which have been arranged in advance, is brought into contact with the moulds 4, which are hingeably connected to one another to form an endless chain. Each mould 4, as can be seen from FIG. 4a, may consist of an L-shaped link with an upright part 66 and a bottom part 67. The chain formed by the moulds 4 is guided and driven by means of driving wheels, and the shaft of the upper wheel is designated 48. The moulds 4 can be provided advantageously with guide rolls which are adapted so that they run in fixed guiding tracks, which are arranged along the course of movement of the forming equipment.

By means of the driving shaft 49 (FIG. 2), which in a manner described earlier is coupled to a driving motor, the chain formed by the moulds 4 is moved around at a preferably uniform speed in the direction of the arrow. The packing material web 5, which is to be folded, is brought into contact with the moulds 4 by means of a rotatable forming tool 3, which consists of two vanelike parts 68 which are rotatable about an axle 104. The axle 104 in its turn is fitted to a reciprocatingly movable pendulum arm, the driving of which will be described in detail later. The vanelike parts which in the present case are two in number, have each a curved side-rolling surface 125 and a curved end-rolling surface 124.

The forming procedure in such that the chain of moulds 4 moves at a preferably uniform speed in the direction of the arrow and that the said pendulum arm imparts to the axle 104 of the forming tool a movement largely synchronous with the moulds. In FIG. 4a is shown how the axle 104, which carries the vanelike parts 68, rolls over the upper end surface 70 of the upright part 66 of the mould 4 at the same time as the axle 104 moves clockwise synchronously with the mould 4. At the rotation of the axle 104 and the vanelike parts 68 of the forming tool 3 also rotate and the web 5 is passed down into the following mould.

In FIG. 4b is shown the forming procedure a little later, and in FIG. 4c the vane 68 of the forming tool 3 has almost placed the web 5 into the corner point 69 of the mould 4. When, as shown in FIG. 4d the vane 68 has guided the web 5 into the corner 69, the said pendulum arm commences a return movement at the same time as contact between the axle 104 and the upper end surface 70 of the mould 4 is broken. While the pendulum arm and the forming tool 3 are moved opposite the direction of movement of the moulds, the end surface 124 of one of the vanes 68 of the forming tool 3 is made to press by means of a skid-free rolling movement, the web 5 against the bottom part 67 of the mould 4.

In FIG. 4e the edge of the vane 68 has reached the far edge on the bottom part 67, whereupon the web 5, by means of the curved rolling surface 125 of the vane 68, is successively brought into contact against the front edge, in the direction of movement, of the mould coming next in the series of moulds. In FIG. 4f the whole rolling surface of the vane has rolled over the front edge of the said mould 4 and the axle 104 has just been brought into contact with the upper end surface 70 of the mould, over which the axle 104 is adapted to roll whilst the web 5 at the same time is pressed against the end surface 70. In the position according to FIG. 4f the axle 104 is given once more by means of its pendulum arm a movement which is synchronous with the movement of the moulds 4 and the position as shown in FIG. 4a is obtained.

In the foregoing a complete cycle has been described which is repeated over and over whilst the web is brought into contact with the moulds 4. It was found that the packing material owing to its rigidity remains in the applied position, so that the contact with the forming surfaces of the moulds is substantially unbroken, which is a pre-condition for a successful forming operation.

Since the web 5 can advantageously be provided with a printed text or ornament of an advertising or informative nature it is important that the fold formation of the web 5 should take place in register with the print. It was found that pre-printed packing material webs, 5, which are provided with crease lines facilitating the fold formation can readily keep the ornament in register with the U-shaped sections, since the folding takes place along the crease lines, which are arranged in advance in register with the ornaments. When webs 5 of packing material which do not have crease lines are used it is necessary to adjust the feed of the web so that it agrees with the printed ornament, and in the normal manner the monitoring of the position of the ornaments in relation to the U-shaped sections takes place with the help of photo-cell devices not shown here, which are adapted so as to monitor indices applied to the packing material web 5 and to adjust as a function of the result monitored the advance of the web so that the ornament, is brought into register with the forming folds of the formed sections. In the present case this adjustment of the advance of the web can occur in such a way that the said pendulum arm on which is placed the axle 104 is adapted so that if required it briefly pulls forward at a speed which is greater than the speed of the moulds 4 without however, breaking contact between the axle 104 and the upper surface 70 of the moulds 4. Such a small adjustment of 1-2 mm has no noticeable effect on the appearance and volume of the final package but is sufficient for keeping the ornament in register with the forming.

To avoid skidding between the axle 104 and the web 5, against which the axle 104 rolls during the passage over the top end surfaces 70 of the moulds 4, the surface of the axle 104 may be provided with friction promoting lining, e.g., a rubber lining or it may be grooved or have some other discontinuity on the rolling surface.

In FIG. 3a is shown partly in cross-section a view of the driving equipment for the forming tool 3 and in FIG. 3b is shown a perspective view of the same driving equipment. In the following the driving equipment is described, unless stated otherwise, with reference at the same time to FIG. 3a and 3b.

The driving device comprises a housing 100 which has an opening 101 through which projects the axle 104 on which is fixed the forming tool 3. The axle 104 is supported rotatably in the upper tubular portion 103 of the swivel arm or pendulum arm 102, and the one journal 126 (FIG. 3b) of the axle carries a belt pulley 105 which is fixed to the axle 104. The belt pulley 105 is coupled via a serrated belt 106 to another belt pulley 127 which in turn is fixed to an axle 111, which in addition carries a can plate or disk 108 and a gear 110. The gear 110 is in mesh with a gear drive 109 which is fixed to the shaft 48, which is driven by the wheel mentioned earlier in connection with FIG. 4 which latter wheel is driven via the chain of linked-together moulds 4.

The bottom part of the pendulum arm or swivel arm 102 is supported freely on the axle 48 and is consequently not affected by the rotatory movement of that axle. The bottom part of the swivel arm 102 furthermore carries the cam rolls 113 and 114, which are adapted so that they follow the cam disk 108 and the governor blades 115 respectively. So that the rolls, or at least one of them, should always be in contact with the surface of its cam disk, they are maintained pressed against the cam disk by means of a spring or an air cylinder 116 which via the link 117 is coupled to the swivel arm 102.

To keep the serrated belt 106 taut when the swivel arm oscillates forwards and backwards, it is provided with a belt tightener 107, which is acted upon by a spring, not shown here, in the supporting column 123, which endevours to tilt the tightening arm at the ends of which are arranged the tightening rolls 122. As can be seen from FIG. 3 b the serrated belt 106 runs between tightening rolls 122, which act against the outside of the serrated belt.

The driving equipment is provided furthermore with two regulator segments or regulator blades 115 which at the points of support 121 are pivoted on the cam disk 108. The insides of the regulator blades 115 run against an eccentric disk 119 which can be rotated about the axle 111, in relation to which it is disengaged by means of an air cylinder 118 or a similar element, the actuating rod 129 of which is pivoted on the eccentric disk 119 in the point of attachment 130.

By means of the driving equipment, as shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, the movement of the forming tool 3 necessary for the folding of the web 5 is generated, and the function of the driving equipment is as follows: The shaft 48, which is also the shaft for the moulds 4, rotates at constant speed and drives thereby the gear 109, which in turn drives a smaller gear 110. The gear 110 rotates about the shaft 111 supported in the bearing 112 at a speed which at the transmission ratio between the gears 109 and 110 is 6 times higher than the speed of rotation of the shaft 48. The belt pulley 127 present on the shaft 111 rotates with the shaft 111 and the serrated belt 106 transmits this rotatory movement to the belt pulley 105 which drives the axle 104 and the forming tool 3 present on the axle 104.

As described in connection with FIG. 4, not only a rotatory movement is to be imparted to the forming tool 3 but also an oscillating to and fro movement, which is achieved by means of the cam disk 108 fitted on the axle 111. As can be seen clearly from FIG. 3a, the cam disk 108 has two symmetric parts situated directly opposite one another, which implies that the swivel arm 102 performs two complete cycles of reciprocating movement for each revolution of the cam disk 108.

The cam disk 108 acts upon the swivel arm 102 via the cam roll 113 which, with the help of the spring 116, is held pressed against the curved surface of the cam disk. When the cam disk 108 during its rotation lifts the cam roll 113, the swivel arm 102 is displaced in the same direction as the moulds 4 and synchronously with these, and when the radius of the cam disk, after having attained its maximum, diminishes again, the spring 116 presses the swivel arm 102 back, which consequently then performs its return movement. To prevent the movement of the swivel arm 102 from having an effect on the angular velocity of the belt pulley 105 and consequently also on the angular velocity of the axle 104, and to prevent any variation of the tension of the belt, the equipment is provided with a compensating element 107 which is called a belt tightener. By means of this belt tightener 107 on the one hand the serrated belt 106 is kept taut at approximately the same belt tension irrespectively of the position of the swivel arm 102, on the other hand it is prevented that the movement of the swivel arm 102 causes a rotatory displacement of the belt pulley 105 and as a result causes a distorting effect on the angular velocity of the axle 104, which one endeavors to keep constant.

As mentioned earlier in connection with the description of FIG. 4, an adjustment of the feed of the packing material web, with the object of bringing any printing or the like present on the web 5 into register with the fold formation, can be accomplished in that the swivel arm during a brief moment moves more quickly than the moulds 4 and that in doing this the axle 104 pulls the packing material web a few millimeters forwards past the upper end face 70 of the upright part 66 of the moulds 4. This extra over-feed movement of the axle 104 is achieved by means of the blade-shaped regulator device 115, which pivots on the cam disk 108 at pivoting points 121. As described earlier, the insides of the regulator blades 115 are adapted so that they run against an angular adjustable eccentric regulator cam 119, the angular position of which is controlled by means of an air cylinder 118, the actuating rod 129 of which pivots on the eccentric disk 119 at point 130.

To monitor whether the ornament on the packing material web is in the correct position in respect of the folds formed during the fold forming stage, the web 5 is provided with preferably pre-printed, colored markings, so-called indices, which can be picked up for example by a photo-cell device (not shown). In the present case it is assumed that there is a perceptible under-feed of the web 5 of, e.g., 0.1 mm for each ornament, which means that the web, after advancing by a length corresponding to ten ornaments, is out of line by 1 mm. The said markings or indices are located on the web in such a manner, that the distance between two successive indices constitutes the exact length of a packing ornament or multiples of such a length. If, as mentioned above, a perceptible under-feed of the web 5 occurs, an indicator mark or index will, after the advance of a number of ornament lengths, appear right in front of the photo-cell device, which monitors the mark and sends an impulse via an electronic amplifier to a valve element which passes compressed air to the air cylinder 118, which by means of the actuating rod 129, which pushes outwards, rotates the eccentric disk 119, so that the parts of the eccentric disk which have the greater radius will be turned towards the cam roll 114. When the cam disk 108 rotates, the regulator blades 115 are lifted by the eccentric 119 so that parts 131 of them will be pushed outside the edges of the cam disk 108. The parts 131 of the blades 115 which push out beyond the cam disk 108 come into contact, at the rotation of the cam disk, with the cam roll 114, which is fitted to the same axle as the cam roll 113 and placed side by side with it, and the result will be a brief increase in speed of the movement of the swivel arm 102, which by that means is made to move quicker than the moulds 4 in the position when the axle 104 of the swivel arm 102 rolls over the top 70 of the mould 4. As a result of the said difference in speed between the axle 104 and the moulds 4 a skidding effect occurs which brings about that the axle 104 pulls with it a few mm of the packing material web 5 which is situated between the axle 104 and the top 70 of the mould 4. This over-feed of the packing material causes the indices-markings on the web 5 to be moved, and the next monitoring by the photocell element not to indicate any indices, as a result of which the valve device to the air cylinder 118 is cut off and the eccentric disk 119 is restored to its original position, in which the regulator blades 115 are not lifted above the outer contour of the cam disk 108 at the passage past the cam roll 114. After a number of feeds of the web 5 in connection with the execution of the folding operation cycle, new indices markings appear in front of the photo-cell device and a new over-feed is achieved so as to hold the decoration of the web in register with the feed.

II. Feeder drum

The feeder drum 23, described in the general machine description and its driving equipment will be dealt with in greater detail in the following with reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7.

By means of the feeder drum 23 the packing material web 6 is advanced, which is intended to be joined to the packing material web 5 folded by means of the forming device 2 so as to form a series of connected, filled containers, in that the edge zones of the web 6 are folded down until they are in contact with the edges of the folded web 5 and that the webs 5 and 6 are permanently joined together through sealing of the parts in contact with one another. To facilitate the folding down of the edge zones of the web 6 transverse slits are provided in the same, whose length corresponds to the height of the folds of the folded web 5, while the distance between slits 63 (FIG. 12a) following one another corresponds to the distance between two successive folds of the folded web 5.

To make it possible for the web 6 to be joined to the web 5 while both webs are in movement, it is necessary that the web 6 should be fed synchronously with the web 5, and it is also absolutely necessary to see to it that the web 6 is fed so that the slits 63 provided on the web 6 are always located in the areas of the relatively small upright folds of the web 5.

In FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 the feeder drum itself is designated 23 and an oscillator plate adapted to perform a reciprocating movement is designated 59. The machining stations arranged on the oscillator plate 59 are designated as follows: a hollow punch is marked 212, 213, a heating device 203, a stamping tool 208 and a cutting element 209. Furthermore, an adjustment cone actuated by a bellows 253 via a shaft 255 is designated 256 and the spring-loaded push rods co-operating with the cone 256 are designated 257. The push-rods 257 are connected to the radially arranged gusset plates 258 which are arranged so that they can be raised or lowered and are located in the area between adjoining segments 202 of the feeder drum 23.

The driving of the drum 23 and of the oscillator plate 59 takes place by means of a driving device which comprises a belt pulley 46, gears 225, 226, 228, 229, 237 and 238 as well as cam disk 231 and cam roll 232 which is fitted on an arm 233. The driving device is mounted on a base plate 239 and is partly accomodated inside a housing 240 in which the oscillator plate 59 is arranged movably along the sliding seal 241. The driving device comprises also a curved track plate 242, which encloses a curved track 243 in which run the cam rolls 244, 246 which in turn are arranged to act upon actuating arms which drive the said machining stations or working devices.

The belt pulley 46 is driven by a serrated belt 45 from a driving wheel not shown here but which has been described earlier, and by means of the shaft 47, coupled to the drum 23, the latter being driven directly by the belt pulley 46. The belt pulley 46 is integral with the gear 225 which drives a smaller gear 226 fitted on the same axle as gear 228 (FIG. 6 and 7). The gear 228 drives a gear 229 which is arranged on the shaft 230, that is to say on the same shaft which carries the cam disk 231 and the gear 237. The gear 237 drives the gear 238 which is supported loosely on the shaft 47 and which is integral with a curved track plate 242 containing a curved track 243.

The feeder drum 243 has in the embodiment described here 12 segment surfaces 202, which are mutually identical and are arranged at equal spacing along the periphery of the drum 23. Each segment surface 202, in the case described here, has milled recesses 223 in which the packing material is intended to be thermoformed. The outer parts 262 moreover have a hole 222, through which a hole in the packing material is intended to be punched. Each segment 202 supports a part of the packing material web 6 of such a size as is taken up by a packing unit and, during the time when the packing material is in contact with the drum 23, working operations are carried out such as, e.g., hollow punching, re-closure of the punched-out hole by means of a tear-off cover strip, stamping or thermoforming of the packing material and slotting of the edge zones of the web up to the said central portion 260.

Since the tools and elements which are required for the carrying out of the abovementioned working operations are fitted to the oscillator plate 59, the oscillator plate must carry out 12 complete working cycles while the feeder drum 23 rotates once, and since the movement of the working elements is guided by the curved track plate 242, the latter too must rotate at the same speed, so that it gives a driving impulse to the working elements during 12 complete working cycles, while the feeder drum 23 rotates once. Since, however, the curved track plate 242 is provided with two equal curved parts situated at 180° in respect of one another, the curved track plate is adapted so that it rotates at a speed which is 6 times the speed of rotation of the drum 23. The abovementioned ratio of speeds of rotation has been taken into consideration in the dimensioning and gearing of the driving equipment.

When the driven belt pulley 46 rotates, the feeder drum 23 is driven at the same speed of rotation as the pulley 46, since the drum 23, as mentioned earlier, rotates with the belt pulley 46 via the shaft 47.

The reciprocating oscillator plate 59 is driven via the shaft 259, which, by means of so-called splines, is joined to the arm 233 which supports the cam roll 232. To hold the cam roll 232 pressed against the cam disk 231 the arm 233 is acted upon by an air cylinder 234 which by means of its actuating rod 235 presses against the link 236 which is integral with the arm 233. Since the oscillator plate should oscillate 12 times whilst the drum 23 rotates once, the cam disk 231 must rotate at a speed which is 12 times greater than the speed of rotation of the shaft 47, which is achieved by means of the gears 225, 226, 228 and 229.

The curved track disk 242 is driven via the gear 237 which sits on the same shaft as the cam disk 231, and, since the curved track disk 242, as mentioned above, should rotate at a speed which is half the speed of rotation of the cam disk 231, the transmission ratio between the gears 237 and 238 is 1:2. Moreover, the curved track disk 242 rotates with opposite sense of rotation.

The arm 247 is provided with the cam roll 246 is secured in the boss 263 which is arranged rotatable in the oscillator plate 59. The boss 263 has furthermore a toothed segment 248 which can co-operate with a second toothed segment 249, the boss 264 of which is likewise arranged so that it is rotatable in the oscillator plate 59. The boss 264 is in mesh via a toothed clutch 250 with the boss 265 arranged rotatable in the oscillator plate, and the bosses 264 and 265 have shafts 220, 221 which are secured to the bosses.

As can be seen from FIG. 5, the arms 214 and 215 are fixed to the axles 220 and 221 respectively. The arm 214 carries a hollow punch 213 which from the open inner end of the drum 23 pushes into the drum, and the arm 215 carries a punching die 212.

As a result of the cam roll 246 following the curved track 243, the arm 247 is periodically subjected to angular displacement which brings about that also the shafts 220 and 221 will be rotated and with these the arms 214 and 215, which carry the hole punch tools 212 and 213. When the cam roll is forced out into that part of the track 243 which has the greatest diameter, the arms 214 and 215 will then be swivelled towards one another and the striking punch 213 will be made to engage with the die 212 whilst punching out a hole in the web 6 lying inbetween, which hole is intended to act as a pouring aperture in the finished package. Since the punching die 212 is located outside the drum 23 and the hollow punch 213 is located inside the same, it is necessary for the drum 23 to have an opening 222 in the area of operation of the hollow punch (FIG. 6).

The shaft 266 fitted on the boss 263 carries an arm 267 to which is fitted on the one hand the cutting device 219, on the other hand a heated sealing jaw 224, and, concentrically with the boss 263 there is further a feed roll 216 for the web 211 of cover strip material, which feed roll operates against a counter-pressure roll 218. The rolls 216 and 218 can be provided with a lettered surface or with a friction lining so as to ensure the feed function, and the roll 216 is adapted so that it can rotate only with its axle in one direction while it is disengaged at rotation in opposite direction. The axle on which the roll 216 is fitted via a freewheel coupling, is driven by means of the movement of the oscillator plate 59, either by means of a linkage, not shown here, which is fixed to the machine foundation or, e.g., by means of a toothed segment fixed to the machine foundation which is in mesh with a gear fitted to the driving shaft of the roll 216. The material web 211 is passed into the guiding channel 217 between the rolls 216 and 218 and up to the cutting device 219, which comprises a fixed cutting edge and a cutting edge arranged on a tension spring with the object of carrying out a cutting off of the front part of the web 211.

The heating device 203 comprises in the present embodiment of the invention three segments 202 of the feeder drum 23 and the heating device consists of a hollow body which has holes or slots directed towards the drum 23, through which hot air is intended to flow, with the object of heating up the web 6 passed over the drum 23, either uniformly or in a specified pattern, which may be adapted by means of the formation and placing of the said holes or slots. The heating device 203 is fixed by means of the holder 206 to the oscillator plate 59 and consequently follows the oscillator plate in its reciprocating movement. Air is fed to the heating device 203 through the supply line 204, which is connected to a fan, not shown here, and the air supplied is arranged so that it passes, and is heated by, a heating element 205 before it is introduced into the said hollow body belonging to the heating device and is blown onto the web 6.

The stamping device 208 comprises a pressure plate with a relief-like pattern which is adapted to the earlier described pattern or recesses 223 in the outer segment plates 261 and 262 of the drum, and the stamping device comprises furthermore a knife 209 by means of which the web can be slotted in the manner described previously. The stamping device 208 is arranged on an arm 210 which is actuated by means of the shaft 207, which, in the manner as shown in FIG. 7, is joined to an arm 245, to which is fitted the cam roll 244. The cam roll 244, as mentioned earlier, is arranged to run in the curved track 243, and since the curved track 243 has two equal parts arranged opposite one another, the roll 244, in the case described here, will change from the part of the curved track with the smaller radius to the part of the curved track with the larger radius at the same time as the cam roll 246. When the cam roll 244 is raised to the part of the curved track which has the greater radius, the arm 245 undergoes angular displacement, which results in a rotation of the shaft 207, which in turn induces angular displacement of the arm 210 as a result of which the pressing tool, fitted to the arm 210, is pressed against one of the segments 202 of the drum 23, with, at the same time, stamping of the heated up web 6 and slotting of the edges of web 6 by means of the knife 209.

When the packing material web 6 is advanced at a uniform feeding speed by means of the feeder drum 23 the following working cycle occurs:

It is assumed that the oscillator plate 59 has attained its one end position and starts its movement in the same direction as, and synchronous with, the drum 23. The cam rolls 244 and 246 run in this phase in the part of the track 243 of the curved track disc 242 which has the smaller radius, but directly after the oscillator plate 59 begins to move synchronously with the feeder drum 23 the curved track has attained the position where the cam rolls 244 and 246 pass over into that part of the track 243 which has the larger radius, which means that the arms 245 and 247 will undergo angular displacement. Owing to the angular displacement of the arm 247, the arms 214 and 215, as described earlier, are moved towards one another so that the punching tool 213 is made to engage with the punching die 212, punching through the web situated in between along a punching line closed in itself so as to form a hole, while the portion punched out of the web is removed as an unavoidable waste.

At the same time as the punching operation is carried out, a hole punched out in an earlier punching operation is covered over by means of a cover strip applicator, which operates towards the neighboring segment 202 of the drum 23. The fastening of the cover strip takes place so, that a part of the cover strip web 211 (which may consist of a homogeneous polystyrene web) supplied by means of the feeder wheel 216, is pressed by means of the heated sealing jaw 224, which is actuated via the arm 247 by the shaft 266 controlled by the curved track 243, against the web 6 in the area of the punched-out pouring hole, the cover strip being heat-sealed to the surface layer of the web 6 along a closed sealing joint around the hole in the web. At the same time as the sealing jaw 224 is swivelled upwards the cutting edge 219 fitted on a spring is pressed downwards and meets thereby the cutting edge 219 which is integral with the arm 264, the web 211 being cut through and its frontmost part being separated from the rest of the web.

A few drum segments 202 further on, reckoned in the direction of movement of the drum 23, a heating up of the web 6 takes place by means of the heating device 203, the web 6 being conditioned for a stamping process which takes place a few drum segments further still, and which is achieved in that the stamping tool 208 is pressed against the heated web to which is imparted a relief-like pattern which agrees with the pattern 223 which is provided in the outer parts 261 and 262 of the drum 23 and in the pressure plate of the stamping tool. At the same time as the stamping tool 208 is pressed by means of the arm 210, controlled by the shaft 207, against the web 6 the edge zones of the web 6 are slotted by means of the knife 209 in the manner described previously.

All the working operations described here are carried out at the same time and while the oscillator plate 59 follows the drum 23 in a synchronized movement. When the oscillator plate 59 approaches its next turning point position the cam rolls 244 and 246 are moved down into that part of the curved track 243 which has the smaller radius, the arms 210, 267, 214 and 215 being lifted and moved off so that the oscillator plate 59 can rapidly be returned to its original position whereupon a new working cycle commences.

The stamping tool 208 can comprise, beside the said projections and recesses which form the corresponding relief pattern in the heated up web, compressed air nozzles or vacuum suction boxes which can contribute to the forming work. Thus a vacuum suction box or a compressed air nozzle may be fitted below the punched out hole so as to draw down the part of the cover strip exposed in the hole, which is then also heated to softening by means of the heating device 203.

It is important that the web 6 should be fed synchronously and in register with the web 5, since any ornament applied to the web 6 must be adapted in its position on the drum so that each ornament will be placed on a segment surface 202 of the drum. This control of the feed of the web 6 may take place with the help of movable gusset plates 258 arranged radially in the drum 23, which are connected to the push rod 257 which rests against the surface of a cone 256. The cone 256 is connected via a shaft 255 to a bellows or air cylinder 253 which via a controlled valve, not shown here, can be supplied with compressed air.

The adjustment occurs so that the position of the web 6 in relation to the drum 23 can be monitored by means of a photocell device or by means of a mechanical device. If the monitoring indicates that the position of the web 6 is correct within given tolerances nothing happens, but if the monitoring were to indicate that the web 6 is not in register with the drum 23 and that the limits of tolerance are exceeded, a pulse is transmitted to a valve device, which opens the compressed air supply to the bellows or the air cylinder 253, which presses the shaft 255 forwards, which means that the cone 256 is moved towards the left in FIG. 6. When the cone 256 is displaced in the abovementioned manner the push rods 257 are acted upon, which are placed at equal spacing around the cone, and each of the push rods 257 pushes the associated gusset plate 258 out a little, which brings about that the circumference of the drum 23 increases and more material is fed and the ornament on web 6 is brought once more to within the limits of tolerance.

III. Forming, filling and sealing of the packages

As mentioned earlier packing containers are manufactured in accordance with the invention, in that a first web 5 of packing material is folded by being brought into contact with the moulds 4, whilst a second web 6 of packing material is assembled with the said first web 5, and, by sealing together adjoining parts of the web, closed hollow bodies are formed.

The assembling and sealing of the webs 5 and 6 takes place by means of devices which are fitted to a column 13 with reciprocating movement, which is supported in a fixed bearing 14.

In FIG. 10 is shown, partly in cross-section, an over-all view over the said column which is designated 13, including the folding device 16 and the sealing device 17 fitted to the column 13. The column 13 is adapted so that a reciprocating movement is imparted to it by means of the arm 301 and the air cylinder 300, the movement taking place in the direction of the moulds 4 synchronously with these, while, by contrast, the return movement takes place appreciably more quickly. The column 13 supports by means of the supporting arm 340 the heating device 15, to which air is supplied through the stationary pipe 22, which ends telescopically in a pipe joined to the heating device which moves together with the column 13 or is joined to the heating device 15 by means of a flexible pipe coupling.

The goods to be filled are supplied to the packing containers formed through the filling tube 19, which is located directly above and parallel with the upper end surfaces of the upright parts of the moulds 4. It is assumed in the present case that the filling tube 19 has a long and narrow, flattened out, cross-section and can advantageously be made of a plastic material. To save washing-up work the filling tube can be of a disposable kind and be attachable to the filling device by means of the coupling device 355. The goods are delivered through the line 20 and the quantity of goods delivered to the filling tube 19 is controlled by means of the valve 356 controlled by the regulator 21.

The folding device 16 consists of folding flaps 333 which are actuable by means of the rotation 307, which at its one end is connected to a rotary arm 304. The sealing device 17 comprises the sealing heads 317, connected to the ultrasonics generator, which are actuated by means of the rotatory shaft 308 located in the column 13 which is hollow and accommodates inside it the aformentioned rotary shaft 307. The shaft 308 is actuated by means of the rotary arm 303 connected to the one end of the rotary shaft.

In FIG. 10 can be seen furthermore a cutting device 18 which comprises a tiltable plate 312 centrally supported, which is movable with the column 13 and which carries cutting edges and a springy arm 310, actuable by means of a cam disk 311, which is connected by means of a rotary arm 341 to a pressure roll 309.

In the following will be given a more detailed description of the folding device 16, the sealing device 17 and the cutting device 18 together with the function of the said devices, with reference to FIGS. 8, 9 and 11, which last-mentioned figure shows the actuating equipment for the column 13 and the working devices fitted to the column 13.

In FIG. 8 is shown the folding device 16 described briefly in the foregoing which comprises a housing 329 fitted to the column 13, in which are supported two shafts 357, one on each side of the housing. On the shaft 357 are fitted folding flaps 333 in such a manner, that the actuating arm 328 to each of the folding flaps 333 is integral with one of the shafts 357, while it is free running on the other one of the shafts. Each of the shafts 357 has rotary arms 332, which are rotatably joined to the actuating rods 331. The actuating rods 331 are mounted pivotably on arms 330 fitted to the shaft 307 in such a manner, that a rotation of the shaft 307 causes a displacement of the rods 331, which in turn brings about an angular displacement of the rotary arms 332 and a rotation of the shafts 357 which brings about that the flaps 333 with their pressure plates 339 are either raised upwards-outwards or swivelled downwards-inwards to the position shown in FIG. 8. The actuating of the shaft 307 takes place with the help of the driving equipment shown in FIG. 11, the shaft 49 of which is driven by the gear wheel 41. The curved track 399, firmly secured to the shaft 49, can co-operate with a cam roll 351 which is fixed to the arm 350 rotatable about the pin 352, at the end of which there is a ball joint coupling 353 which is connected to an actuating rod 354, which via a further ball joint coupling 306 is connected to the rotary arm 304 which is rigidly coupled to the shaft 307.

In FIG. 8 can be seen how the web 6 provided with slots 63 is guided by means of guiding devices 335 over the heating element 15, the upper side of which has holes or slots 336 which are arranged in a pattern corresponding to the zones of the flaps 64 which are adapted to be heated in connection with the sealing. As mentioned earlier, the column 13 with associated heating element 15 moves synchronously with the moulds 4 and with the web 6 and the movement is adapted so that the flaps 64 are located in such a manner over the heating element 15 that the pattern of holes 336 is located at the edge zones of the flaps 64. Since the machine described here is designed so that the working operations by the devices fitted to the column 13 are carried out at the same time on two packing units, the heating element 15 occupies a width corresponding to two flaps 64, and it is provided moreover with two complete patterns of holes 336. Furhermore, the width of the flaps 333 is so great that two flaps 64 are arranged to be folded down at the same time to come into contact with the folded web 5 within an area corresponding to two moulds 4 and two sealing heads 317 (FIG. 9) are arranged for the simultaneous sealing of two packing units.

In FIG. 8 are also shown pressure rolls 338 fitted to the flaps 333, which can co-operate with a stationary cam 337 with the help of which the flaps 64 of the web 6 folded down are held with great force pressed on by the pressure plate 339 of the flaps 333 during the time the roll 338 moves past the cam 337.

In FIG. 9 is shown the sealing device which has here been assumed to be of the ultrasonics type, although it is possible also to use contact heat sealing or in certain cases high frequency sealing. The sealing device 17 comprises two ultrasonic swinging brackets 318 which are provided with energy through the electric supply lines 319. The ultrasonic swinging brackets 318 pivot in a yoke 320 which is in hinged suspension on a socket 325 firmly secured to the column 13. The sealing device 17 comprises furthermore two sealing heads 317, which, together with the ultrasonic swinging brackets 318, are arranged movably between a first position, in which they are pressed against the upper end surfaces of two adjacent moulds 4 and the parts situated in between of webs 5 and 6, which are arranged to be welded together, and a second position in which the sealing heads 317 are lifted up. This actuation of the sealing heads 317 is carried out by means of an actuating arm 323 which pushes out through an opening in the sleeve 325, not shown here, and which is joined to the tubular shaft 308, which, as can be seen from FIG. 11, is joined at its one end to a rotary arm 303, which by means of a ball joint 305 is coupled to an actuating rod 358, which in its turn is coupled via a ball joint 359 to an arm 360, which carries a cam roll, not shown here, which is adapted to run in the curved track 348. The arm 360 is hinged to the machine frame in the same manner as the arm 350, and in the case illustrated here the rod 358 is coupled to the arm 360 via an eccentrically supported rotary plate 362 and a spring 361. The rotary plate 362 and the spring 361, which spring in the case shown here is an air cylinder with easily adjustable pressure, have the task to facilitate the adjustment of the sealing pressure, and to absorb any over-movement from the cam disk 348. To hold down the end faces of the packing containers during the sealing operation the machine is provided with pressure rolls 315, which are actuated by the air cylinder 316 via the arm 324.

The separation of the filled and sealed packing units takes place by means of a cutting device 18 (FIG. 10) which comprises a cutting plate 312 provided with cutting edges 314 (FIG. 9), which is mounted hinged on the central shaft 313 which is fixed on a support 326 integral with the column 13. The cutting device comprises moreover a pressure roll 309, the axle of which 327 (FIG. 9) is supported in an arm 341 (FIG. 10) which is joined to a springy arm 310 (FIG. 10, 11) at the end of which is arranged a cam roll 342 which is adapted to be controlled by the cam disk 311. The cam disk 311 is so synchronized with the driving of the column 13, that the cam roll 342 is raised during the quick return movement of the column, while it is in its lower position during the time when the column 13 moves synchronously with the webs 5 and 6. This means that the pressure roll 309 too is raised during the return movement of the column 13 but that it is pressed against the cutting plate 312 during the period when the column 13 moves synchronously with the webs 5 and 6.

The cutting operation takes place so that the pressure roll 309, which has been moved away during the return movement of the column 13, is lowered at the same time as the synchronous movement of the column 13 with the movement of the webs 5 and 6 commences. The pressure roll 309 will then roll against the front edge of the cutting plate 312 and press-down cutting edge 314, which is in front in the direction of the movement, against the seal between the webs 5 and 6, which has been produced in an earlier working operation, and thus sever a packing unit by means of a cut through the sealing zone. The roll 309 rolls further over the plate 312, which thereby rotates a little about the shaft 313 and tilts over so that the rear knife edge 314 will be pressed against the succeeding sealing zone, which means that a further packing unit 30 is separated.

The driving of the column 13 takes place so that the column 13 is hinged on an arm 301 which sits on a shaft 346, which in turn is joined to another arm 345 which has a cam roll 344, which is adapted so that it runs against, and is guided by, a cam disk 343. So that the roll 344 should at all times be in contact with the cam disk 343, the column 13 or the arm 301 are acted upon by a constantly applied pressure derived from the compressed air cylinder 300 (FIG. 10). When the column 13 moves synchronously with the feed of the webs 5 and 6, that is to say in an obliquely downward direction (see also FIG. 1) this takes place against the spring force in the air cylinder 300, the air content of which is compressed. The movement is controlled by the cam disk 343 driven by the shaft 49 the convex part of the guiding cam of which is designed so that the movement will be synchronized with the movement of the moulds 4 and thus also with the webs 5 and 6. When the cam roll passes over the point of discontinuity of the cam disk 343 at the transition from the convex part of the cam to its concave part, the cam roll 344 is maintained pressed against the cam disk by means of the air cylinder 300 acting against the column 13 and the arm 301. As can be seen from FIG. 11, the concave part of the cam disk is appreciably steeper than the convex part and it takes up also an appreciably smaller angle reckoned from the center of the cam disk 343. This means that a column 13 guided by the cam disk 343 has a relatively quick, upwards-going return movement which is controlled by the concave part of the cam disk and which is performed with the help of the air cylinder 300 which presses the column 13 rapidly upwards.

When the cam roll 344 has reached the bottom of the cam disk, that is to say the part of the cam disk which has the smallest radius, a further displacement upwards of the column 13 is prevented and instead the movement downwards, synchronously with the webs 5 and 6, is started owing to the cam radius of the cam disk 343 increasing and the cam roll 344 being pressed outwards, which brings about a rotation of the shaft 346 and an angular displacement of the arm 301 which is in hinged connection with the column 13. So that the column 13 should not be rotated during its up and down movement it is guided in axial direction by two rolls 363.

The procedure during the forming, filling and sealing of the packages is as follows: the web 5, folded with the help of the folding device 3 to U-shaped sections, is in contact with the moulds 4 which are connected together in an endless train driven forward at uniform speed. After passing the feeder drum 23, the web 6 is passed forward over the upper end surfaces of the moulds 4 to come into contact with the web 5. Between the webs 5 and 6 is arranged the flat filling tube 19, which via control valve 356 is in connection with a tank containing the goods to be filled, e.g., milk, water, wine or the like.

It is assumed that the column 13 has just attained its upper turning point, that is to say, it has finished its return movement and is starting its movement synchronously with the webs 5 and 6. In this position the heating device 15 joined to the column 13 is located so that hot air is blown through the holes 336 (FIG. 8) on the one hand against the underside of the flaps 64 of the web 6 which are in contact with the upper side of the heating device 15, on the other hand against the edge zones of web 5 slightly projecting from the moulds 4. Owing to the placing of the holes 336, the hot air blown out concentrates on the parts of the webs 5 and 6, the surface layer of thermoplastic material of which is intended to be heated to sealing temperature, and the heating operation continues during the whole movement until the column 13 once again starts its return movement.

At the same time as the heating operation is carried out the flaps 64 of the web 6, heated up in an operation carried out earlier, are folded down against the somewhat projecting, and likewise heated, edge zones of the folded web 5 by means of the folding flaps 333, in doing which the parts of the webs 5 and 6 heated to the sealing temperature are brought into contact with each other with the intention of achieving a tight and mechanically durable seal between the adjoining parts of the webs 5 and 6. After the flaps 64 of the web have been sealed against the side edges of the web 5, a series of connected, tight "pockets" is formed, which communicate with each other through not yet sealed slots which exist between the tops of the folds of web 5 and the central part of web 6. Through the said slots runs the filling tube 19 which ends just before the sealing device 17. The intended goods are delivered through the filling tube 19, the said pockets formed are filled with the goods, but the level of the contents is not allowed to rise so high that the goods might penetrate the non-sealed part of the web 5, that is to say onto the folding flaps 333.

At the same time as the heating of the sealing areas of the webs 5 and 6 is carried out, and as the already heated flaps 64 are folded down by means of folding flaps 333, the final sealing takes place of the filled pockets in that the sealing heads 317 (FIG. 9) are pressed against the upper end surfaces of the moulds 4 when the column 13 starts its downwards movement, synchronously with the moulds 4. As mentioned earlier, this is done in that the shaft 308 is turned with the help of the arm 360 guided by the curved track 348 which by means of the rod 358 acts upon the rotary arm 303 of the shaft 308. When the sealing heads 317 have been pressed against the webs 5 and 6 in contact with one another in the area above the upper end surfaces of the moulds 4, the ultrasonic swinging brackets 318 are cut in, which generate the ultrasonic energy required for the sealing.

The separation of the individual packing units 30 also takes place during the downward movement of the column 13, in that the cutting roll 309, in the manner described earlier, rolls over the cutting plate 312 and so presses the tiltable cutting edge 314 of the cutting plate 312 against the sealing area achieved in a previous working operation, so that a cut which goes through both webs 5 and 6 within the sealing area is obtained.

All the working operations described here are thus carried out simultaneously on different parts along the assembled webs 5 and 6 while the column 13 moves a distance, which is a little less than two package spaces. At the end of the working cycle the folding flaps 333 are folded outwards-upwards again, the sealing heads 317 are raised and the cutting roll 309 is raised, whereupon the column 13, with the help of the air cylinder 300, and controlled by the cam disk 343, is given a rapid return movement upwards so that a new working cycle can commence again. Since it is important that the folding flaps 333, the sealing heads 317 and the cutting edges 314 should be located correctly in relation to the moving moulds 4, and since the working operations in the example described here are carried out at the same time on two packing units, the movement scheme of the column 13 must be adapted so that the time for a complete working cycle including the return movement corresponds exactly to the time needed for a displacement of the moulds by two package spaces.

In the embodiment described here it was assumed that the packing units 30 formed have a parallelepipedic form. It has been found possible, however, to modify within wide limits the shape of the packages manufactured while remaining within the scope of the concept of the invention. It is possible for example to design moulds 4 as ⊥-links instead of L-links, and to design the links so that the U-shaped sections formed are given a rounded, e.g., semi-circular base instead of a straight base. The folded web 5 then obtains a cross-section with U-shaped sections with rounded base, that is to say . The web 6 must in this case also be modified a little and instead of simply arranging slits in the edge zones of the web 6 material can be punched out with a curved punch so that the flaps formed obtain a rounded outer part which fits against the rounded section of the folds. In this case the package thus obtains a rounded side which gives them a cup-like appearance.