Patent ID: 9612216
Date: 2017-04-04
CPC Classifications: B29C,B31B,B65B,G01M,G01N

Claim:
1. A device to inspect a longitudinal heat seal in tubular bag material, the bag material being formed of plastics material having longitudinally extending and overlapping edge portions secured together by the heat seal, the device comprising: a bag material drive assembly to engage the tubular bag material to move the tubular bag material along a predetermined path in a predetermined direction; a heat sealing mechanism to engage the longitudinally extending edge portions to heat the edge portions to form said longitudinally extending heat seal, the heat sealing mechanism comprising a heat sealing bar to engage the tubular bag material to form the seal, the bar being supported for movement between an engaging position to engage the bag material to form the seal, and a retracted position at which the heat sealing bar is removed from contact with the tubular bag material, spaced from the engaged position so as not to be engaged with the tubular bag material, and a bar drive assembly operatively associated with the bar to move the bar between the engaged and retracted positions; a camera directed at the heat seal and to provide a signal indicative of the temperature of the heat seal exposed to the camera; and a central processing unit to control the bar drive assembly, wherein the signal is delivered from the camera to the central processing unit so that the central processing unit can control the bar drive assembly based on the temperature of the heat seal.