Franrica Mfg. Inc.

Container Technologies, Inc.

Albert F Rica

Lloyd F Hay

John C Davis

Ronald J Reiss

Steven A Rechtsteiner

John R Heron

John R Webber

J Richard Heron

J R Webber

A fitmentless, aseptic, temporarily sealed pouch is formed from two multiple-ply side walls sealed together at marginal edges. A portion of the seal is removable. Half seals joining the plies within each side wall are disposed in the side walls proximate the removable seal, but do not seal the side walls together. Apparatus and processes for handling, filling and sealing the pouch in an aseptic chamber include apparatus for moving the pouch through a sterilant bath, into and out of an aseptic chamber, a cutter for cutting off the removable seal, and vacuum jaws for engaging, stretching and opening the pouch. Once opened, the pouch is filled, then closed, sealed and moved out of the chamber through the bath.

Apparatus and methods for filling and sealing an aseptic fitmentless

There is disclosed apparatus for aseptically filling a flexible container having a rigid fitment including a neck, outer flange surrounding the neck, a frangible membrane and an outer rim. The apparatus includes an enclosed filling chamber including a platen with an opening, clamping jaws for holding the fitment in the opening, a vacuum head and sealing unit for removing a lid loosely placed on the fitment and supporting it within the sealing chamber while the sealing chamber, fitment and lid are sterilized, a fill tube which is retractable within a housing and shiftable to a position in sealed engagement with the neck to introduce product into the container. After the container is filled, the fill tube is withdrawn and enclosed in its housing, the lid is transferred back onto the rim and heat sealed in place. The fitment is then unclamped to end the filling cycle.

Method and apparatus for aseptically filling containers

There is disclosed an aseptic flexible walled container having a rigid fitment member cooperative with an aseptic filling apparatus and including a neck, outer flanges surrounding the neck, a frangible membrane and an outer end rim receptive of an hermetically sealed lid. The neck is formed with an internal chamferred seating shoulder for fluid-tight engagement with a fill tube. One outer flange cooperates with clamping jaws of the aseptic filling apparatus for detachably sealing the fitment to a sterilizing chamber and placing it in position for insertion of the filling tube which ruptures the membrane and permits the aseptic introduction of product to the container's interior. The other outer flange is secured to an opening in a wall of the flexible container. The joined fitment and container are presterilized prior to filling. Selected materials for the multi-ply container walls and the fitment permit the container to withstand gamma ray and other sterilization treatment, heat and pressure while maintaining required strength. After the container is aseptically filled, such as with flowable food product, the fill tube is withdrawn and a lid is hermetically sealed onto the rim of the fitment. A heat shield adjacent a container wall surrounds the fitment to protect the container from excessive heat generated by the associated filling apparatus during filling.

Flexible walled container having membrane fitment for use with aseptic

A dual cooling tunnel arrangement for cooling viscous heated fluid foodstuffs in flexible bags. The flexible bags containing the heated fluids are received on pivoted wire carriers which are driven by an endless chain through an upper cooling tunnel in a first direction and returned through a second cooling tunnel in the opposite direction. In each cooling tunnel, a cooling water spray is directed on the bags in the carriers as the carriers are slowly rocked, causing the fluid in each bag to flow to different areas of the bag, altering its shape, to produce enhanced heat transfer rates and a more uniform temperature distribution throughout the fluid during cooling.

Flexible bag cooling arrangement

A scraped surface heat exchanger is disclosed which includes a heat exchange cylinder and a vertically disposed rotating drum positioned within the cylinder having pivotal scraping elements on the periphery thereof for scraping the cylinder interior surface. The cylinder and drum define an annular product flow chamber through which product is pumped in heat transfer relationship to the cylinder. The heat transfer cylinder is surrounded by a thermally insulated jacket which in combination with the cylinder defines an annular flow chamber for circulation of a heat transfer medium to facilitate cooling or heating of product passing through the product flow chamber. The drum is mounted on a shaft which is journaled in a bearing at only one end, requiring utilization of only a single seal to seal the bearing from the product being heated or cooled. An indicator element integral with a carrier to which a rotating seal element is attached moves as the seal wears to provide a visual indication of seal wear. The carrier is designed such that the net product force acting on the carrier is in a direction tending to urge the relatively moving seal element together. Rotary agitating elements are provided at the inlet to the annular product flow chamber to distribute product, which is introduced at a single point, to the entirety of the inlet end of the annular product flow chamber. A mixing chamber located between the outlet end of the annular product flow chamber and the outlet of the heat exchanger is provided with cooperating stationary and rotary agitator elements to mix the product, thereby assuring uniform temperature distribution of product leaving the heat exchanger. A temperature sensor is mounted to the inner end of one of the stationary agitator elements to monitor the temperature of the material leaving the heat exchanger.

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Stockton, CA, United States of America

Albert F Rica