Title of Invention

FORM, FILL AND SEAL PACKAGING MACHINE

Abstract

The present invention provides for a novel form, fill and seal packaging machine, the said machine comprising - at least two separate supply means for providing front panel web material and back panel web material - sensors disposed on the continuously moving web to adjust the tension on the web materials and the feeding rate for front panel web material and back panel web material to ensure congruent alignment of the front and back panel. - means for guiding the two web materials arriving from different directions to the heat sealing stations. - means for longitudinal heat sealing of edges of two sides and transverse bottom heat sealing to form three side edge sealed pockets. - means for feeding appropriate sample in the said pockets. - means for top sealing the filled pockets. - means for severing the formed, filled and sealed pouches.

Full Text

C2121 FORM - 2 THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) & The Patents Rules, 2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See Section 10 and Rule 13) IMPROVED PACKING MACHINE HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITED, a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1913 and having its registered office at Hindustan Lever House, 165/166, Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai -400 020, Maharashtra, India The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed. FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to a novel form, fill and seal packaging machines for the manufacture of Low Unit Packs. The present invention particularly relates to a novel form, fill and seal packaging machines for the manufacture of Low Unit Packs sealed on four sides wherein two rolls of web material are utilized simultaneously without affecting the congruent alignment of the front printed panel and the back printed panel thereby doubling the productivity of the machine without affecting the quality of packs. The modified multi-track form, fill and seal machines substantially increases efficiency, reduces cost for manufacturing sachets/pouches and saves energy. BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART Low Unit Packs such as sachets are considered to be the preferred manner of packing small quantities of liquids as well as powders. Because of the technical advances in film pouch form, fill and seal (FFS) machines, more and more products are being packaged in flexible film pouches for ease in shipping, handling and dispensing, or for sale, as well as for health and sanitary reasons. This is beneficial from consumers' point of view too as smaller handier cost-effective packs as opposed to bulk packs or containers offer consumers the option to economize and to assess variety of products. In order to achieve market penetration, it is therefore essential that the consumer products be available in the commercial low unit packs such as sachets. It is known in art that low unit packs such as sachet also identified as form-fill-seal packs are manufactured using specialized machines whereby a three-sided 2 edge-sealed pocket is first formed by transverse bottom sealing and longitudinal sides sealing, followed by sample filling, top sealing and then severing the sachet so formed to be further packaged in a secondary packing. Such FFS machines are available globally varying from single-track machines to multi-track machines. Machines of up to ten tracks are widely used which can produce up to ten sachets/pouches simultaneously Single-track machines known in art are associated with problems of low productivity when used in huge commercial scales. Increasing the linear speeds of these machines, to compensate for their single-tracks, resulted in poor sealability and unacceptable pack quality. As an alternative, to increase the linear speed, it has also been proposed to use a number of FFS stations in parallel, each station having a separate feeding line, which led to the development of FFS multi-track machines. FFS multi-track machines conventionally used in art, for manufacturing four side sealed packs, comprise a supply roll of a wide web of packing material passing over various guide rolls and tension rolls which is split to form two halves of equal width, the said halves serve as back and front panel of a sachet. These halves are then drawn over pull-rollers in a manner such that both the halves are congruent to appropriately match the front and the back panel. The motion of pull rollers is monitored by eye mark sensors that detects the printed eye mark on the web material and thereby determines the pulling operation. Since these halves of the individual web material are united with the individual web at their posterior 3 end, their alignment prior to splicing is achieved without any complexity. The aligned halves forming the front and the back panel of the sachet are further cross-edge-sealed at the bottom and longitudinally-edge-sealed at the sides to form a three-sided edge-sealed pocket. The powder or liquid sample is fed through an appropriate feeding system and subsequently the top-edge is sealed by cross-sealing stations. A perforation cutting means provided at the cross-sealing stations ensures appropriate perforation on individual sachet. Batch cutting system ensures appropriate perforation on individual sachet. It is observed that although this machine effectively controls the problems associated with alignment of the front and back panel before splicing, the productivity of the machine is severely compromised when the sachet width is increased. Additionally modifications are continuously required to adapt the machine to produce different width sachet since the number of tracks vary according to the sachet width. A further study of prior art reveals that different modifications and constructions have been proposed to further increase the efficiency of FFS machines. EP 470 787 discloses a FFS apparatus wherein the number of packages produced can be at least double without increasing the linear speed at which the packaging material is supplied to the apparatus. In this construction the sheet of packaging material is brought around adjacent streams of articles by forming the packaging material around the articles with a special guide means which guide a central loop portion of a single sheet of packaging material between adjacent 4 streams of articles so that the guided packaging material is brought between edge portions of the single sheet, advantageously so that the inner surface of the loop are also brought together prior to the point of seal. US 600 6501 discloses a packaging machines for forming, filling and sealing three sided, flexible pouches wherein multiple channels of three sided sealed pouches are formed. The cut strips of material to be formed are fed into a shaped forming area where it is folded into a tubular, extended figure 8 configuration. The tubular figure 8 configuration is then sealed along a central portion, to form two side-by-side tubular elements. These elements are then split longitudinally and sealed laterally after filling with the material to be packaged so as to form pairs of three sided sealed pouches. Therefore, the number of pouches formed in every operation is twice the number of channels since each forming apparatus produces a pair of pouches. However, such machines require high capital cost and specially designed forming stations which also require special arrangements for heating the packaging material or laminate for effectively forming the material in order to give the required tubular shape. Additionally since the maximum web width the machine can handle remains constant, increase in the sachet width not only reduces productivity but also requires constant re-arrangement of the cutting means and the forming stations. US 2003/0163979 relates to an improvement over US 6006501 where the former is modified for packaging material foils, which are not very thin and flexible. 5 US 6658818 teaches a system of dividing a web of packing material into a plurality of individual webs and aseptically processing the individual webs. EP 0429135B1 discloses a device for continuous cutting of material web into pieces of sheet material, to be fed to a processing machine such as a packaging machine, which comprises of a working roll and a waiting roll such that when the working roll is completely or almost completely unrolled, there is an automatic switch to the waiting roll, which then becomes the working roll, following which the spent roll can be replaced by a new roll, which then becomes the waiting roll. US 4800705 discloses a packaging machine forming receptacles in the base web material, which are filled appropriately and sealed by a lid web material. This machine is characterized by its continuous operation and by the means for supplying the packing machine an essentially uninterrupted source of web material, the said means comprising providing a secondary supply roll each to the primary base and primary lid roll wherein the secondary web can be spliced to the primary web, and the spent primary supply roll can be removed. The workstations are also so constructed that the packaging operation is performed on a continuously moving web. GB 1319166 discloses a packaging machine suitable for packaging fragile or delicate articles by dropping the articles into a loop formed by two films, without using any gripping means. Pairs of photoelectric cells synchronize the degree of loop formation depending on the article falling in the loop and the subsequent operations like cutting, sealing and conveying the packed article. 6 A review of prior art thus shows that several improvements in the design of FFS machines have been proposed and implemented for increasing the speed of packaging which enables production of larger number of packages in a certain length of time. However this is usually achieved at a greater capital cost. Furthermore, although the machines can be designed to run at faster linear speeds thereby packaging more articles in a given time, there is a limit to linear speed at which such packaging machines can be used as the effectiveness of the seals of the resulting packages tend to be reduced as a speed of their formation increased. Moreover specializing the machines to increase productivity causes adaptability problems in product changeover where the pack dimensions differ. Additionally, complicating the current designs of packaging machines will also enhance the existing problem of aligning the pre-printed front and back panel of the pack in a congruent manner. Therefore, there exists a need for a FFS packaging machine for producing a plurality of channels of sealed pouches in a fast, economical and efficient manner by increasing the number of pouches formed in every operation thereby decreasing the cost of manufacture without decrease in the quality of the seals and achieving superior alignment of the front and back panel webs in the longitudinal direction. The present inventors have thus sought to address this existing need by providing a fast, economical and efficient FFS packaging machine that increases 7 Further object of the present invention is to provide for a novel method of forming multiple channels of sealed pouches in a form fill and sealed packaging machine having congruent alignment of the front and back panel. SUMMARY OF INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a novel form, fill and seal packaging machine, the said machine comprising - at least two separate supply means for providing front panel web material and back panel web material - sensors disposed on the continuously moving web to adjust the tension on the web materials and the feeding rate for front panel web material and back panel web material to ensure congruent alignment of the front and back panel. - means for guiding the two web materials arriving from different directions to the heat sealing stations. - means for longitudinal heat sealing of edges of two sides and transverse bottom heat sealing to form three side edge sealed pockets. - means for feeding appropriate sample in the said pockets. - means for top sealing the filled pockets. - means for severing the formed, filled and sealed pouches. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a novel method of forming multiple channels of pouches sealed on four sides having congruent alignment of the front and back panel in a form fill and seal packaging machine of the present invention. 9 The present invention will be described further in reference to non-limiting embodiments of the invention by way of accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a cross sectional schematic view showing the unwinding mechanism in back of the packaging machine for the movement of the front panel web material. FIG. 2 is a cross sectional schematic view showing the unwinding mechanism in side of the packaging machine for the movement of the back panel web material. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The views of FIG 1 and FIG 2 depict a preferred embodiment of the continuous form fill and seal packaging machine. Referring first to the view of FIG1, the unwinding and feed rate control mechanism for front panel web material in the FFS machine of the present invention is explained. This however is a preferred embodiment and the mechanism will remain same if the back panel web material is loaded at this end. 10 A film of front panel web material 11 is continuously unwound from the supply roller 10. A plurality of means designated as pull rollers 12 continuously convey the web material 11 along its path in the packaging machine at a constant speed, the forward movement of the web material is indicated by F. The web material 11 further travels under a tension roller 13 that takes care of slack, if generated, and is drawn through the intersection of a draw roller 14 and a counter roll 15, both rollers 14 and 15 are operated by a geared motor not shown in the figure. The web material travels in a downward motion onto a tension roller 16 similar to tension roller 13 and is pulled upwards on a pull roller 17. Plurality of electronic edge controllers 18 control the movement of the web material on the conveying means. The web material conveys over a plurality of pull rollers 19 and drawn in between a junction created by draw roller 21 and counter roller 22, both rollers 21 and 22 are operated by a servo motor not shown in the figure. The feeding rate of the web material at this junction is determined by the photocell sensor 20 which is crucial for the later congruent alignment of the pre-printed front panel web material with the pre-printed back panel web material. The sensor works in the following manner that results in congruent alignment of the front and back panel. The sensor 20 works in cohesion with a similar photocell sensor 40 responsible for synchronization of the pre-printed back panel web material 31 (as seen in FIG 2). Photocell eye mark for the printed matter on both the web materials 11 and 31 are sensed simultaneously in normal condition and such sensing results in accurate matching of the two panel web materials at the sealing stage. In a situation where the eye marks are not sensed simultaneously there is a mismatch between the panels and this is communicated immediately between the servo 11 motors used for the pre-printed front panel web material 11 and pre-printed back panel web material 31. Depending upon the nature of mismatch i.e. if more or less of the pre-printed front panel web material has to be pulled, the next stroke adjusts the feed rate thereby matching the eye marks and resulting in congruent alignment of the front and back panel. This combination between the servo motors ensures eye mark matching within ± 1 mm tolerance. The rate controlled pre-printed front panel web material 11 is further drawn over a tension roller 23 and taken up by pull roller 24 to descend longitudinally over a spreader roller 25. Simultaneously, as shown in FIG 2, the film of back panel web material 31 is continuously unwound from the supply roller 30, drawn over pull rollers 32, pulled over a tension roller 33 in between a junction created by draw roller 34 and counter roller 35, to descend onto a tension roller 36, further pulled by a pull roller 37 over a plurality of electronic edge controllers 38 and directed forward by a series of pull rollers 39 over a turn bar 41 which directs the web material to descend longitudinally over the spreader roller 26. The photocell sensor 40 controls the alignment of the two panels as described above. The two web materials 11 and 31 descend simultaneously in between a pair of pull rollers 42 moving in counter directions, these rollers are driven by a servo motor not shown in the figure. 12 The drawings are merely illustrative of the invention and it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments. Several modifications or changes in the construction of the device are possible without departing from the scope of the invention and shall be consequently encompassed within the ambit and spirit of this approach and scope thereof. Once the aligned webs collate together at the pull rollers 42, longitudinal heat-sealing of edges of the sides and transverse bottom takes place to form three sided edge sealed pockets, a means for feeding appropriate product e.g. a hopper and chute system automated to deliver pre-determined quantity of product is actuated to fill the pocket. The cross sealing stations provided on the machine ensures that the fourth side of the sachets are adequately sealed. A perforation cutter is provided at cross sealing station ensures appropriate perforation on individual sachet. Batch cutting system ensures formation of a strip of predetermined number of sachet. Appropriate filling system is provided depending on the nature of the product to be filled. 13 We claim 1. A form, fill and seal packaging machine, the said machine comprising at least two separate supply means for providing a front panel web material and a back panel web material; means for continuously pulling the webs from the web supply means arid feeding the webs to heat sealing stations; sensors disposed in the path of the. continuously moving web to adjust the tension on the web materials and the feeding rate for front panel web material and back panel web material to ensure congruent alignment of the front and back panels; means for guiding the web materials arriving from different directions to the heat sealing stations; means for longitudinal heat-sealing of edges of the sides and transverse bottom to form three side edge sealed pockets; means for feeding appropriate product to be packaged in the said pockets; means for top sealing the filled pockets; means for severing the formed, filled and sealed pouches. 2. A form, fill and seal packaging machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the supply means are at least two separate rolls of web material loaded on web rollers. 3. A form, fill and seal packaging machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 or 2 wherein the sensors are photocell sensors. 4. A form, fill and seal packaging machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the sensors detect the eye marks on the printed front and back panel web materials simultaneously and communicate any 14 mismatch to the servo motors for adjusting the tension on the web materials to regulate the feeding rate. 5. A form, fill and seal packaging machine as claimed in as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein means for guiding the web materials are plurality of rollers comprising pull rollers, tension rollers, counter rollers and spreader rollers. 6. A form, fill and seal packaging machine as claimed in as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the conveying of the web materials in between the rollers is controlled by a plurality of electronic edge controllers. 7. A form, fill and seal packaging machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the means for longitudinal heat-sealing of edges of sides and transverse bottom are longitudinal and cross sealing stations resulting in the formation of three side edge sealed pockets. 8. A form, fill and seal packaging machine as claimed in as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the means for feeding appropriate product to be packaged in the pockets is a hopper and chute system preferably automated to deliver pre-determined quantity of product to be packaged to the pocket. 9. A form, fill and seal packaging machine as claimed in as claimed in any one of the preceding claim wherein the means for top sealing the filled pockets are cross sealing stations resulting in the formation of four side sealed pouches. 15 10. A form, fill and seal packaging machine as claimed in as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the means for severing the formed, filled and sealed pouches are plurality of perforation cutters. Dated this 24th day of March 2005 HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITED S. Venkatramani (Senior Patents Manager) 16 ABSTRACT The present invention provides for a novel form, fill and seal packaging machine, the said machine comprising - at least two separate supply means for providing front panel web material and back panel web material - sensors disposed on the continuously moving web to adjust the tension on the web materials and the feeding rate for front panel web material and back panel web material to ensure congruent alignment of the front and back panel. - means for guiding the two web materials arriving from different directions to the heat sealing stations. - means for longitudinal heat sealing of edges of two sides and transverse bottom heat sealing to form three side edge sealed pockets. - means for feeding appropriate sample in the said pockets. - means for top sealing the filled pockets. - means for severing the formed, filled and sealed pouches. 17

Documents:

380-mum-2004-abstract(21-5-2008).pdf

380-mum-2004-abstract(complete).doc

380-mum-2004-abstract(complete).pdf

380-mum-2004-claims(complete).doc

380-mum-2004-claims(complete).pdf

380-mum-2004-claims(granted)-(21-5-2008).pdf

380-mum-2004-correspondace-others.pdf

380-mum-2004-correspondace-received.pdf

380-mum-2004-correspondence 1(24-3-2006).pdf

380-mum-2004-correspondence 2(3-7-2008).pdf

380-MUM-2004-CORRESPONDENCE(8-2-2012).pdf

380-mum-2004-correspondence(ipo)-(11-7-2008).pdf

380-mum-2004-description (complete).pdf

380-mum-2004-description (provisional).pdf

380-mum-2004-drawing(21-3-2005).pdf

380-mum-2004-drawings.pdf

380-mum-2004-form 1(21-3-2004).pdf

380-mum-2004-form 13(3-10-2007).pdf

380-mum-2004-form 18(24-3-2006).pdf

380-mum-2004-form 2(granted)-(21-5-2008).pdf

380-mum-2004-form 3(24-3-2005).pdf

380-mum-2004-form 3(29-3-2004).pdf

380-mum-2004-form 5(24-3-2005).pdf

380-mum-2004-form-1.pdf

380-mum-2004-form-18.pdf

380-mum-2004-form-2 (complete).doc

380-mum-2004-form-2 (complete).pdf

380-mum-2004-form-2 (provisional).doc

380-mum-2004-form-2 (provisional).pdf

380-mum-2004-form-3-240305.pdf

380-mum-2004-form-3.pdf

380-mum-2004-form-5.pdf

380-mum-2004-power of attorney(11-11-2005).pdf

380-mum-2004-power of attorney(14-11-2007).pdf

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