Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.a.

Ab Tetrapak

Yuzo Otsuka

Shigehiro Kinoshita

Kazuya Ono

Toshio Moriya

Hidetoshi Konno

Yasuyuki Moriyama

Hiroyuki Nishimura

Takeo Yamazaki

Toshiro Ishida

Jan Papina

A packaging filling apparatus, which can obtain the most suitable sealing quality by an automatic control without checking the condition of the sealing by the operator on a regular basis, is provided. A transversal sealing apparatus 48 of the packaging filling apparatus includes a high-frequency oscillator, controller, and an inductor, which generates a magnet field in packaging material by receiving the output from the high-frequency oscillator, and is provided with a sealing quality control means, which transmits a control signal to the controller, based on a statistical relation between a plurality of effect factors affecting the quality of a transversal sealingand the quality of transversal sealing.

Packaging filling apparatus and transversal sealing apparatus

The object of the invention is to provide a container inspection method and a container inspection device which is not container quality inspection by individual and operator's empirical approach, not influenced by operator's skillfulness, can eliminate human error such as missing when recording and error in writing, not based on operator's subjective judgment, whose result is objective, and easily and statistically stores objective data. The container inspection method and container inspection device comprises an inspection for a container formed of a web-like packaging laminated material, which includes peeling flaps from the container wall by a pre-processing unit, cutting the container wall to prepare a sampled body by a sampled body preparing unit, inspecting seal quality by a seal quality unit, inspecting seal zone by an image processing unit, and inspecting damage on the seal zone by a seal damage inspection unit.

Vessel inspection method and vessel inspection device

An object is to provide an inspection sample making apparatus () that can simplify work for making an inspection sample () and can ensure inspection for seal condition. The inspection sample making apparatus () includes a preliminary-inspection-sample-making device () for peeling a predetermined fusion-bonded piece of a packaging container () off a wall of the packaging container () so as to make a preliminary inspection sample (); and a cutting device for cutting the preliminary inspection sample () along a predetermined cutting line so as to make an inspection sample (). Since the preliminary-inspection-sample-making device () peels a predetermined fusion-bonded piece of the packaging container () off a wall of the packaging container () to thereby make the preliminary inspection sample (), and the cutting device cuts the preliminary inspection sample () along a predetermined cutting line to thereby make the inspection sample (), an operator does not need to manually make the inspection sample (). Therefore, not only is work for making the inspection sample () simplified, but also cutting at a wrong position is avoided. As a result, a seal condition inspection apparatus () can reliably inspect seal condition.

Specimen creating device

An object of the present invention is to provide a seal condition inspection apparatus capable of reliably inspecting seal condition. The seal condition inspection apparatus includes an electrically-variable-quantity detecting section for detecting an electrically variable quantity at a portion (F) to be inspected for seal condition; a seal condition indicator value calculation processing means for calculating, on the basis of the electrically variable quantity, a seal condition indicator value indicative of seal condition of the portion (F) to be inspected; and a seal condition judgment processing means for judging from the seal condition indicator value whether seal condition is good or defective. In this case, the seal condition indicator value of the portion (F) to be inspected is calculated on the basis of the electrically variable value of the portion (F) to be inspected, and whether seal condition is good or defective is judged on the basis of the seal condition indicator value. Therefore, occurrence of a seal defect can be judged without involvement of an operator's subjectivity. As a result, seal condition can be reliably inspected.

Sealed condition inspecting device

The present invention provides a filling apparatus establishing positional coincidence between creases preformed in a packaging material and actual creases to thereby improve the appearance of a packaging container. A light source irradiates a portion of the outer circumferential surface of a packaging material tube which includes an overlap. A sensor receives light emitted from the light source and reflected from the outer circumferential surface of the tube. The overlap is detected as a peak in the sensor output. Light reflected from an edge portion of the packaging material exhibits greater intensity and is seen as a peak in the sensor output indicating position of the overlap.

Filling machine

A filling machine for producing containers containing liquid food product includes a series of rollers for forming a web-shaped packaging material into a tubular packaging material, a filling tube for introducing a liquid food product into the tubular packaging material while the tubular packaging material is being conveyed downwardly, a heat sealing bar providing with a heating mechanism and engageable with a cutting bar to produce a seal area forming a transverse seal across the tubular packaging material below a level of the liquid food product, and a cutter provided on the cutting bar to cut the tubular packaging material in the seal zone to form a preformed container containing the liquid food product. At least one nozzle is positioned to direct a sterilizing flushing liquid towards the outside surface of the tubular packaging material and/or the cutter. The flushing liquid advantageously cleans and sterilizes the outer surface of the tubular packaging material, and is able to flow downwardly to wash and sterilize the sealing bar and the cutter. Also, the flushing liquid can cool the packaging material after the formation of the transverse seal and so the plastic or resin material of the packaging material is relatively rapidly hardened. It is thus less likely that the plastic or resin material will be stained or soiled. As a result, the appearance of the packaging material is improved.

Filling machine provided with flushing device

A sealing condition monitoring apparatus detects in a real-time manner a defect in of sealing due to entry of foreign matter or due to a defect or malfunction of components of a sealing apparatus. There are provided a counter bar disposed at the forward end of a counter jaw for sealing a packaging container into which a liquid food is charged, and a sealing bar disposed at the forward end of a heat sealing jaw to face the counter bar. A packaging material is held between the sealing bar and the counter bar, and a pressing force is applied thereto for sealing. A sheet-shaped pressure sensor is provided on the surface of the counter bar for detecting the pressing force applied to the packaging material at each detection point. Also, there is provided a controller which compares data of the pressing force detected by the sheet-shaped pressure sensor and master data which are previously set to correspond to a pressing force for obtaining proper sealing conditions. The controller detects a defect in sealing by comparing the data for detected pressing force with the master data.

Sealing condition monitoring apparatus

There is provided a heat sealing bar (19) having a heating ribbon (35) which endures repeated sealing operations. The heat sealing bar comprises a slender block-like bar body (31), an insulating layer (33) formed on the surface of the bar body (31), and a heating ribbon (35) fixed on the insulating layer (33). A heat pipe (41) is embedded in the bar body (31) along the heating ribbon (35). The heat pipe (41) transfers heat in the longitudinal direction of the heat sealing bar (19) from a portion of a small thermal load to a portion of a larger thermal load, thereby holding the entirety of the heat sealing bar uniform in temperature. Accordingly, the opposite ends and central portion of the heating ribbon (35) fall in a stationary state in the same temperature range as that for the rest of the heating ribbon. As a result, the heating ribbon (35) expands uniformly over the entirety thereof, and there never occurs the phenomenon of an inconsistency in expansion between the heating ribbons (35) and the insulating layer (33).

Heat sealing bar

An apparatus for cutting a cylindrical web made of laminated paper into cylindrical bodies from which containers for beverages are formed including a pair of cutting blades provided with suction ports so that dust such as paper powder, etc. generated when the web is cut by the blades is sucked out through the suction ports connected to a suction device.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Yuzo Otsuka