Title of Invention	VERTICAL FORM-FILL-SEAL MACHINE
Abstract	A vertical form-fill-seal machine for packaging products including solid, liquid, and semi viscous products is disclosed. The products can be packaged into packets of desired width and length cut into plurality of strips of identical width, with the strip being continuously formed. The sealing jaws are effectively driven by a single cam thereby simplifying the motion transfer between them. The sealing motion is further transferred to another set of sealing jaws through pinion, vertical shaft and another pinion. With this direct transfer of motion between the sealing jaws located in different planes, multiple sealing actions are achieved. The cross sealing jaw assembly is reversed in situ by turning lever that is effectively driven by pneumatic cylinder, thereby facilitating easy access for cleaning or maintenance purposes.

Title of Invention

VERTICAL FORM-FILL-SEAL MACHINE

Abstract

A vertical form-fill-seal machine for packaging products including solid, liquid, and semi viscous products is disclosed. The products can be packaged into packets of desired width and length cut into plurality of strips of identical width, with the strip being continuously formed. The sealing jaws are effectively driven by a single cam thereby simplifying the motion transfer between them. The sealing motion is further transferred to another set of sealing jaws through pinion, vertical shaft and another pinion. With this direct transfer of motion between the sealing jaws located in different planes, multiple sealing actions are achieved. The cross sealing jaw assembly is reversed in situ by turning lever that is effectively driven by pneumatic cylinder, thereby facilitating easy access for cleaning or maintenance purposes.

Full Text	FORM 2 THE PATENT ACT, 1970 (39 OF 1970) AND THE PATENTS RULES, 2002 PROVISIONAL/COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See section 10, rule 13; 1. TITLE OF THE INVENTION; VERTICAL FORM-FILL-SEAL MACHINE 2. APPLICANT(S) (a) Name: RAY APU (b) Nationality: INDIAN (c) Address: PLOT NO. 124, SEC. 26 F 27 PARSIK HILLS, BELAPUR NAVI- MUMBAI, PIN: 400604, MAHARASHTRA 3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION PROVISIONAL The following specification describes the invention. COMPLETE The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed. 4. DESCRIPTION (Description shall start from next page) 5. CLAIMS (not applicable for provisional specification. Claims should start with, fat preamble—"I/We claim" on separate page) 6. DATE AND SIGNATURE (to be given at the end of last page of specification) 7. ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION (to be given alongwith complete specification on separate page) Note.— •Repeat boxes in case of more than one entry. To be signed by the applicants) or by authorised registered patent agent. •Name of the applicant should be given in full, family name in the beginning. •Complete address of the applicant should be given stating the postal index no./cone State and country. •Strike out the column which is /are not applicable. VERTICAL FORM-FILL-SEAL MACHINE APPLICANT: Name: Ray Apu Nationality: Indian Address: PlotNo. 124, Sector 26 & 27, Parsik Hills, Belapur, Navi Mumbai PIN: 400 604 Maharashtra, India The following specification describes the invention. Title: Vertical Form-Fill-Seal Machine Technical Field of the Invention: This invention relates to a vertical form-fill-seal machine that can be used for packaging. More particularly, the invention relates to a form-fill-seal machine that can be used for packaging products including solid, liquid, and semi viscous products into packets of desired width and length cut into plurality of strips of identical width, with the strip being continuously formed, in which machine the movement of sealing jaws (directed opposite to each other whilst closing and opening) is accomplished with a single driving member having a dwell time; multiple simultaneous sealing actions are achieved by directly transferring the sealing motion from one sealing jaw to another sealing jaw located in different planes (vertically or horizontally); and the cross sealing jaws can be reversed in situ, allowing the operator to work on the inside face of the sealing jaw holder, without having to remove or disengage any of the components on which the jaw holder is fixed. Background and the Prior Art: It has been in the interest of consumers that consumable goods be available to them in various quantities -large as well as small. In recognition to this need, manufacturers have started packaging goods in a range of quantities and selling them at affordable prices. This trend of consumer need has been rapidly increasing. Accordingly, there has been an ever-increasing demand for means and methods of packaging that are versatile, fast, efficient and cheaper. The conventional apparatus for manufacturing disposable packages for edible products including liquid and solid state comprises two rolls for dispensing sheets of film, foil or plastic of equal dimensions, a plurality of sealing devices appropriate for such film, and means for inserting the contents into the film pouches. Film is removed from each roll and used to form the fronts and backs, respectively, of the pouches as in US patent # 6966166 and or US 6,761,016(for reference). The apparatus first receives film from the dispensers, and aligns their respective edges. The sealing devices are then applied to all but one of the edges, forming a pouch with a cavity and opening. The contents (liquids, viscous materials or other substances) are inserted into the cavity through the opening. The opening is then sealed and separated from the film. The process is then repeated. The above operation in a conventional apparatus is performed by use of several pulleys, slave pulleys, belts, bearing members and support shafts as used in US 5870,887 and 5377474 (as reference). It is known that lesser the mechanical component greater is the reliability. Thus it is desirable to have a machine which is simple to operate and maintain and at the same time can perform at a reasonably high speed. It is also desirable to provide an apparatus for forming, filling and sealing large volumes of film pouches within a minimal amount of time and that such film pouches be manufactured at a continuous and uninterrupted rate so as to maximize production volume and yet it should minimize maintenance by eliminating all mechanical components like chains, gears, belts and pulleys. The prior art does not reflect any such packaging machine wherein cross sealing arms can be reversed in situ without opening the assembly. This mechanism allows access to inside face of the jaw holder for cleaning purpose. Further, the prior art does not reflect any machine in which a cutter is provided for splitting the film in two parts. The present invention provides for the same, thereby avoiding the necessity to use two rolls and aligning their edges. Summary of the Invention: The main object of the invention is firstly to provide a Vertical Form Fill & Seal machine which operates without any conventional mechanical component like chains, belts and pulleys for transferring motion from one moving member to another moving member. The invention proposes to employ a single driving member to drive the sealing members (jaws).This is achieved without compromising speed of the machine. The second object of the present invention is to transfer the sealing mechanism from one plane to another plane in a vertical direction without using any conventional mechanical components like chains, belts and pulleys, for performing cross sealing and vertical sealing in a typical pouch and or packages. Thirdly, the inventive machine also allows the cross sealing arms to be reversed in situ without opening the cross sealing arms assembly thus allowing easy access to the inside face of the jaw holder for cleaning and maintenance purpose. Fourthly, the machine comprises a cutter for splitting the film in two parts thereby avoiding the necessity to house and use two rolls and aligning their edges. List of Preferred and Optional Features: In one form of the invention, the motion of the sealing members can be achieved by a single cam. In one form of the invention, The cross sealing jaw assembly can be reversed in situ thereby facilitating easy access for cleaning or maintenance purposes. In one form of the invention, the unwinding assembly is located on the left side of the machine. In another form of the invention, the unwinding assembly is located on the right side of the machine. To assist with understanding the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which show one example of the invention. Brief Description of the Drawings: FIG. 1 illustrates the arrangement of the sealing jaws; FIG. 2 illustrates the working of the sealing jaws and the transfer of the sealing dwell mechanism to another plane; FIG. 3 illustrates the in situ reversal of the cross sealing jaw arm. Detailed Description of the Presently Preferred Embodiment: Working of the sealing jaws: FIG. 1 illustrates the arrangement of the sealing jaws. The sealing mechanism is driven directly by a cam "340" and the sealing motion is transferred from one sliding member "350" to other sliding member "360" by rolling action of pinion gears "370" and rack "380". This rolling action between the pinion gears "370" and rack "380" is used for accomplishing the motion of the two sealing jaws directed opposite to each other and taking place at the same time. FIG. 1 and 2 illustrate the working of the sealing jaws. A motor is employed to drive the cam "340". The rotating cam forces the cam follower "390" to move in simple harmonic motion. The simple harmonic motion is so designed that out of the 360 degrees of the cam rotation, for certain degrees, the cam follower "390" moves, and for the remaining degrees, it stands still or "dwells". The cam follower "390" is coupled with the outside sliding rod "400", on which a rack "380" is fixed. When the sliding rod "400" moves forward and backward in exactly the same motion as the cam follower "390", the rack "380" rotates the pinion "370" which is fixed on a shaft "410" in front of the rack "380". The rotational motion of the pinion "370" is further transferred to another rack "420" which is fixed to the inside sliding rod "430". The inside sliding rod "430" is fixed to the inside sliding jaw "440" and the outside sliding rod "400" is fixed to the outside sliding jaw "450". The harmonic reciprocating motion of the outside sliding rod "400" and rack "380" is inversed and transferred to the inside sliding rod "430" and rack "420". As a result of this rolling motion of the racks over the pinion, the pinion oscillates and the inside and outside sliding jaws alternately come close to and move away from each other once in every cycle of the rotation of the cam shaft. During the dwell of the cam, these jaws stand still after closure to each other, thus effectively providing a comprehensive or sealing force on any object which is placed in between the two. Unwinding assembly: The packaging material is fed to the machine in form of a reel of film. The dimensions of the reel depend on the supply specification. The reel is mounted on an unwinding shaft and is unwound by an electrical friction drive. This assembly can be referred to as "unwinding assembly". Vertical sealing action: The packaging material, which can be a laminated or single film, is then fed through a series of feed rollers, which keep the film straight and aligned to the frame of the machine with the help of electro-mechanical sensors. The film is then divided into two halves by a central slitting cutter. Both the halves are then guided through a system of turn bars fixed to the frame of the machine. When the two halves are joined together parallel to the front plane of the machine, they face each other with their sealable sides meeting each other. The film is graphically printed in such a way that multiple front side panels are positioned on the front side and same numbers of back panels are positioned on the back side. When these front and back sides and are exactly aligned with each other, the two halves of the film are pressed by vertically placed heated sealing jaws, thus making pouches in multiple numbers. In each of these pouches, a thin filling tube is inserted from the top. Further to the turn bar system, the two halves of the film are joined together by a series of vertically placed heated sealing jaws. This assembly can be referred to as "vertical sealing assembly". This assembly seals the left side and the right side of each pouch vertically. Bottom sealing action: Below the vertical sealing assembly, a set of pairs of pulleys help pull the two halves of the film downward, and send signal to the unwinding motor to release or unwind equal portion of the film from the reel. The length of the pouch is therefore controlled by the pulling rollers. The pulling rollers are driven by a preprogrammed servo drive. This assembly can be referred to as "pulling roller assembly". Close to this assembly, a "coding assembly" and a "lane slitting assembly" are located. Below the pulling roller bracket, cross sealing jaws are located. The cross sealing jaws press against each other on the front and back sides of the two halves of the film, thus completing the bottom sealing of the pouch. The arrangement of the cross sealing jaws may be referred to as "cross sealing assembly". Filling action: On the top of the machine, a product hopper is filled with the product to be packaged. The hopper is fitted with automatic sensors and whenever the product falls below a fixed level a voltage free signal is passed to the product pumping motor. When the level reaches near to the top, another signal is passed to stop the motor. Below the product hopper, a volumetric dosing pump is fitted. This pump can have one or more separate assembly/assemblies of cylinders and pistons to suck the product from the product hopper and then in turn push the fixed quantity of the product through filling tubes or nozzles into the pouches made out of the film directly below. The product hopper and the vertical dosing pump assembly can be referred to as "filling assembly". Horizontal (cross) sealing action: Successive strokes of the cross sealing assembly will help make the top and the bottom edge seals of the same pouch, when the film is pulled down between the two such strokes. The cross sealing assembly also has a perforation blade to make perforations on the top and the bottom edges of the pouch. The same perforation blade can also clearly separate one pouch from the next one in the same lane. This can be activated by pre-programming, depending upon the requirement of the number of pouches in a string. The operator can easily feed such data in the control panel of the machine. The filled and sealed pouches are finally carried out by a take-off conveyor on which the separated pouches fall. Transfer of the sealing dwell mechanism to another plane: FIG. 2 illustrates the transfer of the sealing dwell mechanism to another plane. The oscillating motion of the pinion "370" is further transferred to another plane, higher than that of the cam shaft "520", The pinion "370" is locked to a vertical shaft "460", on the other end of which, another pinion "470", similar to the bottom one, is fixed. The motion of the bottom pinion "370" is replicated by the top pinion "470". A similar arrangement of two racks "480" and "490", mating the top pinion "470" on exactly opposite sides is fixed to two similar sliding rods "500" and "510". Thus the motion of the sliding rods is replicated from the bottom level to the upper level, without any chain or link. The motion in transferred directly to the assembly at the upper level, replicating and reproducing the compressive or sealing force. In situ reversal of the cross sealing jaw arm: FIG. 3 illustrates the in situ reversal of the cross sealing jaw arm. In this embodiment, the cross sealing jaw arm "260" can be reversed in situ without opening the assembly. The pneumatic cylinder "270" is actuated by compressed air. When actuated, it pushes the turning lever "280". The turning lever "280" is engaged in a slotted swing block "290". The forward movement of a pushing fork "300" forces the swing block "310" to flip backward away from the V-slotted block "320". The swing block "310" also houses the jaw holder "330" and hence the jaw holder "330", in effect presents its inside face on the outside. When the cylinder motion is reversed, the turning lever "280" swings back the swing block "310" on to its predetermined position on the V-slotted block "320". This mechanism therefore allows the operator to work on the inside face of the jaw holder "330", without having to remove or disengage any of the components on which the jaw holder "330" is fixed. ABSTRACT VERTICAL FORM-FILL-SEAL MACHINE A vertical form-fill-seal machine for packaging products including solid, liquid, and semi viscous products is disclosed. The products can be packaged into packets of desired width and length cut into plurality of strips of identical width, with the strip being continuously formed. The sealing jaws are effectively driven by a single cam thereby simplifying the motion transfer between them. The sealing motion is further transferred to another set of sealing jaws through pinion, vertical shaft and another pinion. With this direct transfer of motion between the sealing jaws located in different planes, multiple sealing actions are achieved. The cross sealing jaw assembly is reversed in situ by turning lever that is effectively driven by pneumatic cylinder, thereby facilitating easy access for cleaning or maintenance purposes.

Full Text

FORM 2
THE PATENT ACT, 1970
(39 OF 1970)
AND

THE PATENTS RULES, 2002
PROVISIONAL/COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See section 10, rule 13;
1. TITLE OF THE INVENTION; VERTICAL FORM-FILL-SEAL MACHINE
2. APPLICANT(S)
(a) Name: RAY APU
(b) Nationality: INDIAN
(c) Address: PLOT NO. 124, SEC. 26 F 27 PARSIK HILLS, BELAPUR NAVI- MUMBAI, PIN: 400604, MAHARASHTRA
3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION

PROVISIONAL
The following specification describes the invention.

COMPLETE
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

4. DESCRIPTION (Description shall start from next page)

5. CLAIMS (not applicable for provisional specification. Claims should start with, fat preamble—"I/We claim" on separate page)
6. DATE AND SIGNATURE (to be given at the end of last page of specification)
7. ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION (to be given alongwith complete specification on
separate page)
Note.—
•Repeat boxes in case of more than one entry.
To be signed by the applicants) or by authorised registered patent agent.
•Name of the applicant should be given in full, family name in the beginning.
•Complete address of the applicant should be given stating the postal index no./cone State and country.
•Strike out the column which is /are not applicable.

VERTICAL FORM-FILL-SEAL MACHINE
APPLICANT:
Name: Ray Apu

Nationality:

Indian

Address:

PlotNo. 124, Sector 26 & 27, Parsik Hills, Belapur, Navi Mumbai PIN: 400 604 Maharashtra, India

The following specification describes the invention.

Title:
Vertical Form-Fill-Seal Machine
Technical Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a vertical form-fill-seal machine that can be used for packaging. More particularly, the invention relates to a form-fill-seal machine that can be used for packaging products including solid, liquid, and semi viscous products into packets of desired width and length cut into plurality of strips of identical width, with the strip being continuously formed, in which machine the movement of sealing jaws (directed opposite to each other whilst closing and opening) is accomplished with a single driving member having a dwell time; multiple simultaneous sealing actions are achieved by directly transferring the sealing motion from one sealing jaw to another sealing jaw located in different planes (vertically or horizontally); and the cross sealing jaws can be reversed in situ, allowing the operator to work on the inside face of the sealing jaw holder, without having to remove or disengage any of the components on which the jaw holder is fixed.
Background and the Prior Art:
It has been in the interest of consumers that consumable goods be available to them in various quantities -large as well as small. In recognition to this need, manufacturers have started packaging goods in a range of quantities and selling them at affordable prices. This trend of consumer need has been rapidly increasing. Accordingly, there has been an ever-increasing demand for means and methods of packaging that are versatile, fast, efficient and cheaper.
The conventional apparatus for manufacturing disposable packages for edible products including liquid and solid state comprises two rolls for dispensing sheets of film, foil or plastic of equal dimensions, a plurality of sealing devices appropriate for such film, and means for inserting the contents into the film pouches. Film is removed from each roll and used to form the fronts and backs, respectively, of the pouches as in US patent # 6966166 and or US 6,761,016(for reference). The apparatus first receives film from the dispensers, and aligns their respective edges. The sealing devices are then applied to all but one of the edges, forming a pouch with a cavity and opening. The contents (liquids, viscous materials or other substances) are inserted into the cavity through the opening. The opening is then sealed and separated from the film. The process is then repeated.
The above operation in a conventional apparatus is performed by use of several pulleys, slave pulleys, belts, bearing members and support shafts as used in US 5870,887 and 5377474 (as reference). It is known that lesser the mechanical component greater is the reliability. Thus it is desirable to have a machine which is simple to operate and maintain and at the same time can perform at a reasonably high speed.
It is also desirable to provide an apparatus for forming, filling and sealing large volumes of film pouches within a minimal amount of time and that such film pouches be manufactured at a continuous and uninterrupted rate so as to maximize production volume and yet it should minimize maintenance by eliminating all mechanical components like chains, gears, belts and pulleys.
The prior art does not reflect any such packaging machine wherein cross sealing arms can be reversed in situ without opening the assembly. This mechanism allows access to inside face of the jaw holder for cleaning purpose.
Further, the prior art does not reflect any machine in which a cutter is provided for splitting the film in two parts. The present invention provides for the same, thereby avoiding the necessity to use two rolls and aligning their edges.
Summary of the Invention:
The main object of the invention is firstly to provide a Vertical Form Fill & Seal machine which operates without any conventional mechanical component like chains, belts and pulleys for transferring motion from one moving member to another moving member. The invention proposes to employ a single driving member to drive the sealing members (jaws).This is achieved without compromising speed of the machine.

The second object of the present invention is to transfer the sealing mechanism from one plane to another plane in a vertical direction without using any conventional mechanical components like chains, belts and pulleys, for performing cross sealing and vertical sealing in a typical pouch and or packages.
Thirdly, the inventive machine also allows the cross sealing arms to be reversed in situ without opening the cross sealing arms assembly thus allowing easy access to the inside face of the jaw holder for cleaning and maintenance purpose.
Fourthly, the machine comprises a cutter for splitting the film in two parts thereby avoiding the necessity to house and use two rolls and aligning their edges.
List of Preferred and Optional Features:
In one form of the invention, the motion of the sealing members can be achieved by a single cam.
In one form of the invention, The cross sealing jaw assembly can be reversed in situ thereby facilitating easy access for cleaning or maintenance purposes.
In one form of the invention, the unwinding assembly is located on the left side of the machine.
In another form of the invention, the unwinding assembly is located on the right side of the machine.
To assist with understanding the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which show one example of the invention.
Brief Description of the Drawings:
FIG. 1 illustrates the arrangement of the sealing jaws;
FIG. 2 illustrates the working of the sealing jaws and the transfer of the sealing dwell mechanism to another plane;
FIG. 3 illustrates the in situ reversal of the cross sealing jaw arm.
Detailed Description of the Presently Preferred Embodiment:
Working of the sealing jaws:
FIG. 1 illustrates the arrangement of the sealing jaws. The sealing mechanism is driven directly by a cam "340" and the sealing motion is transferred from one sliding member "350" to other sliding member "360" by rolling action of pinion gears "370" and rack "380". This rolling action between the pinion gears "370" and rack "380" is used for accomplishing the motion of the two sealing jaws directed opposite to each other and taking place at the same time.
FIG. 1 and 2 illustrate the working of the sealing jaws. A motor is employed to drive the cam "340". The rotating cam forces the cam follower "390" to move in simple harmonic motion. The simple harmonic motion is so designed that out of the 360 degrees of the cam rotation, for certain degrees, the cam follower "390" moves, and for the remaining degrees, it stands still or "dwells". The cam follower "390" is coupled with the outside sliding rod "400", on which a rack "380" is fixed. When the sliding rod "400" moves forward and backward in exactly the same motion as the cam follower "390", the rack "380" rotates the pinion "370" which is fixed on a shaft "410" in front of the rack "380". The rotational motion of the pinion "370" is further transferred to another rack "420" which is fixed to the inside sliding rod "430". The inside sliding rod "430" is fixed to the inside sliding jaw "440" and the outside sliding rod "400" is fixed to the outside sliding jaw "450". The harmonic reciprocating motion of the outside sliding rod "400" and rack "380" is inversed and transferred to the inside sliding rod "430" and rack "420". As a result of this rolling motion of the racks over the pinion, the pinion oscillates and the inside and outside sliding jaws alternately come close to and move

away from each other once in every cycle of the rotation of the cam shaft. During the dwell of the cam, these jaws stand still after closure to each other, thus effectively providing a comprehensive or sealing force on any object which is placed in between the two.
Unwinding assembly:
The packaging material is fed to the machine in form of a reel of film. The dimensions of the reel depend on the supply specification. The reel is mounted on an unwinding shaft and is unwound by an electrical friction drive. This assembly can be referred to as "unwinding assembly".
Vertical sealing action:
The packaging material, which can be a laminated or single film, is then fed through a series of feed rollers, which keep the film straight and aligned to the frame of the machine with the help of electro-mechanical sensors. The film is then divided into two halves by a central slitting cutter. Both the halves are then guided through a system of turn bars fixed to the frame of the machine. When the two halves are joined together parallel to the front plane of the machine, they face each other with their sealable sides meeting each other. The film is graphically printed in such a way that multiple front side panels are positioned on the front side and same numbers of back panels are positioned on the back side. When these front and back sides and are exactly aligned with each other, the two halves of the film are pressed by vertically placed heated sealing jaws, thus making pouches in multiple numbers.
In each of these pouches, a thin filling tube is inserted from the top. Further to the turn bar system, the two halves of the film are joined together by a series of vertically placed heated sealing jaws. This assembly can be referred to as "vertical sealing assembly". This assembly seals the left side and the right side of each pouch vertically.
Bottom sealing action:
Below the vertical sealing assembly, a set of pairs of pulleys help pull the two halves of the film downward, and send signal to the unwinding motor to release or unwind equal portion of the film from the reel. The length of the pouch is therefore controlled by the pulling rollers. The pulling rollers are driven by a preprogrammed servo drive. This assembly can be referred to as "pulling roller assembly". Close to this assembly, a "coding assembly" and a "lane slitting assembly" are located. Below the pulling roller bracket, cross sealing jaws are located. The cross sealing jaws press against each other on the front and back sides of the two halves of the film, thus completing the bottom sealing of the pouch. The arrangement of the cross sealing jaws may be referred to as "cross sealing assembly".
Filling action:
On the top of the machine, a product hopper is filled with the product to be packaged. The hopper is fitted with automatic sensors and whenever the product falls below a fixed level a voltage free signal is passed to the product pumping motor. When the level reaches near to the top, another signal is passed to stop the motor. Below the product hopper, a volumetric dosing pump is fitted. This pump can have one or more separate assembly/assemblies of cylinders and pistons to suck the product from the product hopper and then in turn push the fixed quantity of the product through filling tubes or nozzles into the pouches made out of the film directly below. The product hopper and the vertical dosing pump assembly can be referred to as "filling assembly".
Horizontal (cross) sealing action:
Successive strokes of the cross sealing assembly will help make the top and the bottom edge seals of the same pouch, when the film is pulled down between the two such strokes. The cross sealing assembly also has a perforation blade to make perforations on the top and the bottom edges of the pouch. The same perforation blade can also clearly separate one pouch from the next one in the same lane. This can be activated by pre-programming, depending upon the requirement of the number of pouches in a string. The operator can easily feed such data in the control panel of the machine.

The filled and sealed pouches are finally carried out by a take-off conveyor on which the separated pouches fall.
Transfer of the sealing dwell mechanism to another plane:
FIG. 2 illustrates the transfer of the sealing dwell mechanism to another plane. The oscillating motion of the pinion "370" is further transferred to another plane, higher than that of the cam shaft "520", The pinion "370" is locked to a vertical shaft "460", on the other end of which, another pinion "470", similar to the bottom one, is fixed. The motion of the bottom pinion "370" is replicated by the top pinion "470". A similar arrangement of two racks "480" and "490", mating the top pinion "470" on exactly opposite sides is fixed to two similar sliding rods "500" and "510". Thus the motion of the sliding rods is replicated from the bottom level to the upper level, without any chain or link. The motion in transferred directly to the assembly at the upper level, replicating and reproducing the compressive or sealing force.
In situ reversal of the cross sealing jaw arm:
FIG. 3 illustrates the in situ reversal of the cross sealing jaw arm. In this embodiment, the cross sealing jaw arm "260" can be reversed in situ without opening the assembly. The pneumatic cylinder "270" is actuated by compressed air. When actuated, it pushes the turning lever "280". The turning lever "280" is engaged in a slotted swing block "290". The forward movement of a pushing fork "300" forces the swing block "310" to flip backward away from the V-slotted block "320". The swing block "310" also houses the jaw holder "330" and hence the jaw holder "330", in effect presents its inside face on the outside. When the cylinder motion is reversed, the turning lever "280" swings back the swing block "310" on to its predetermined position on the V-slotted block "320". This mechanism therefore allows the operator to work on the inside face of the jaw holder "330", without having to remove or disengage any of the components on which the jaw holder "330" is fixed.

ABSTRACT
VERTICAL FORM-FILL-SEAL MACHINE
A vertical form-fill-seal machine for packaging products including solid, liquid, and semi viscous products is disclosed. The products can be packaged into packets of desired width and length cut into plurality of strips of identical width, with the strip being continuously formed. The sealing jaws are effectively driven by a single cam thereby simplifying the motion transfer between them. The sealing motion is further transferred to another set of sealing jaws through pinion, vertical shaft and another pinion. With this direct transfer of motion between the sealing jaws located in different planes, multiple sealing actions are achieved. The cross sealing jaw assembly is reversed in situ by turning lever that is effectively driven by pneumatic cylinder, thereby facilitating easy access for cleaning or maintenance purposes.

Documents:

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Patent Number

279685

Indian Patent Application Number

342/MUM/2008

PG Journal Number

05/2017

Publication Date

03-Feb-2017

Grant Date

30-Jan-2017

Date of Filing

18-Feb-2008

Name of Patentee

RAY APU

Applicant Address

PLOT NO. 124, SECTOR 26 & 27, PARSIK HILLS, BELAPUR, NAVI MUMBAI-400604,

Inventors:

#	Inventor's Name	Inventor's Address
1	RAY APU	PLOT NO. 124, SECTOR 26 & 27, PARSIK HILLS, BELAPUR, NAVI MUMBAI 400604.

PCT International Classification Number

B65B61/00

PCT International Application Number

N/A

PCT International Filing date

PCT Conventions:

#	PCT Application Number	Date of Convention	Priority Country
1			NA