APPARATUS FOR FORMING AND INSERTING AN INTERNAL LID IN A CONTAINER

Abstract: An apparatus for inserting an internal lid (6, 7) in a tubular formed container (1) and for sealed connections of the lid to the inner of the container tube by constant heat welding, high frequence welding or ultrasonic welding and comprising a carrier (8) for holding the container tube (1) while introducing and weld connecting the lid (6, 7), a support provided above the carrier (8) for positioning a plane punched out lid blank having a larger outer periphery than the inner periphery of the container tube, a piston means (16) pressing the lid blank into the container tube while folding a narrow edge rim (7) upwards from the lid plane (6) and in which the piston means comprises a lower piston part (18) and an upper piston part (20) which are axially movable in relation to each other and an expandable means (19) between said two piston parts (18, 20) which expandable means is pressed radially outwards when the two piston parts (18, 20) are compressed. The bottom of the lower piston part (18) is formed with a thin press edge (21) having an outwards-downwards sloping surface (24) which at the inner part thereof is directly succeeded by a flute (22). The upper piston part (20) which at the bottom is cup-shaped (25) is axially movable on the lower piston part (18) into and from contact with the expandable means (19). The expandable means preferably is a rubber ring (23) the form of which is changed when the upper piston part and the lower piston part are compressed, whereby the rubber ring is formed with a radially outwards directed pressure line (26) engaging the fold up lid rim (7) adjacent the very lid plane (6). The carrier (8) and the press piston (16) has substantially parallel cylindrical sides, whereby the weld pressure practically solely is provided by the expandable means (19) within the area of the means (10) of the carrier for providing welding heat.

Description: Apparatus for Forming and Inserting an Internal Lid in a Container The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming and inserting of an internal lid in a tubular package of cardboard or any other material having the equivalent strength properties and for sealed connection of the lid to the inner surface of the package by constant heat welding, high frequence welding or ultrasonic welding and comprising a carrier for . supporting the package tube while introducing and weld connecting the lid in the interior of the tube, a support for positioning a plane punched lid blank having a larger ourter periphery of the package or container tube, a piston means for forcing said lid, blank into the container tube during which operation an edge of! the lid blank is folded upwards and in which the piston means j comprises a lower part and an upper part which are axially movable in relation to each other and between said two parts an expandable means which is pressed radially outwards when the two piston parts are moved axially towards each other. An apparatus of the above defined type is known from applicant's own Swedish patent (patent application No, 810005334-0, equivalent to US appliation 414,056). The patent shows an apparatus in which both the press piston and the carrier for the container tube is at least slightly conical ly widened adjacent the area in which the piston is to be introduced in the container tube and welded to the inner surface of said container tube. The patent mainly discusses containers having a body oqff cardboard or similar material . It has shown that the conical form of the press piston and of the carrier is not necessary and that a conical form thereof even in some cases may provide problems in the manufacture of containers made of stiff cardboard or a bulky cardboard material. Said problems expeci lly relates to sealing problems at the joint between the lid edge and the container tube. The problems also may relate to the exact adjustment of the position of the press piston. In case of a slightly too high position of the press piston in relation to the cone of the carrier the contact i pressure between the lid edge and the container tuoe is to low} and the joint, especially the weld joint between said two parts becomes imperfect and may provide a leakage. On the other hand, in case of a too low position of the press piston the contact pressure is too high, which may cause the joining material, for instance the weldable plastic material, to be pressed out of the joint, whereby a too narrow thickness of material is obtained in the press joint, and in addition thereto it may even be a risk of burning through. In both cases there is a risk of leakage. Further when forcing the lid into the end of the container tube folds and shrinkles unavoidably appear in the folded up lid edge or lid rim by means of which the lid is connected to the container tube. Said folds or shrinkles become heavier the thicker the material is in the lid, and further the size of said folds and shrinkles increase by an increasing distance from the bottom surface of the lid. The joint, especially the weld joint between the lid edge or lid rim and the inner surface of the container tube therefore should be placeα as close to the bottom of the lid as possible, and at the same time the height of the lid rim may be reduced. Also considering the consumption of the material and the wish to utlize as large volym in the container tube as possible it is a wish that the lid rim is as low as possible. In applicant's above mentioned previous patent welding of the lid to the container tube is made over a relatively large portion of the height of the lid rim, and the metal ring for providing the constant welding, the high frequence welding or the ultrasonic welding is provided relatively close to the upper end of the lid rim. For providing a good and sealed weld joint it is important that the pressure between the lid rim and the container is maintained between a specific lowest and highest pressure. A too low pressure gives an imperfect weld joint and a risk of leakage, a too high pressure, in turn may press a part of the weldable material out of the joint area thereby giving an imperfect joint and a so called through burning of the material and subsequent leakage. The piston therefore must be moved down to a very exact determined lowest position in which the exactly •predetermined pressure is obtained. The necessary pressure, however may vary not least depending on variations in thickness of the cardboard material by which the container and the lid are made and depending on other external circumstances. Obviously it has not been considered possible to provide a good weld joint unless the carrier under the piston is conical so that a press surface is obtained which extends over the entire height of the fold up lid rim. Now it has, however, proved, contrary to what may be expected, that improved weld joint is obtained if the weld contact surface between the fold up lid rim and the inner surface of the container is made more narrow than the height of the lid rim, and it is even possible to get a good weld joint by means of an almost linearly press surface from the expandable means of the piston. Thus it has shown that a quite parallel cylindrical press piston acting against an at least substantially parallel , cylindrical surface of the cotainer tube give an improved safety of sealing between the lid rim and the container tube, and the problem of getting a too low or too high pressure in that the press piston is moved down a too short distance and a too long distance respectively has been eliminated. At the same time it is possible to control the location of the weld joint ^er carefully at the lid rim, and by giving the press piston a speciaj design the weld joint may be located very close to the bottom portion of the lid rim, that is close to the ery lid surface. In order to get the expandable means of the press piston operate as close to the bottom of the lid rim as possible the lower part and the upper part of the press piston, however, must be given a special design which will be closer descrioed in the following. The object of the invention therefore is to solve the problem of providing an apparatus and forming and inserting an internal lid of a tubular package or container, which apparatus is constructed so that the lid can be placed and welded practically anywhere along the interior of the container tube and without the risk that the press piston gives a too low or too high pressure of the lid rim in relation to the container tube, and in which the weld joint can be located very close to the bottom portion of the lid rim at which location the folds and shrinkes have a minimum size. Thereby the apparatus is substantially simpler than previously known apparatus, and especially a substantially improved safety against leakage in the container and the lid is obtained. Therefore the invention relates to a tool for sealed mounting of an inner lid having a fold up lid rim at the end of a container of cardboard or a material having equivalent strength characteristics, in which the tool is constructed so that the problems of a too soft or too hard press contact betwe n the lid rim and the inner surface of the container is el minated in which the problem of moving the piston down to a very exactly determined lowest position is eliminated and in which the tool is designed so that a good and sealed weld joint is under all circumstances obtained between the lid rim and the inner surface of the container. Both the carrier and the piston are formed with substantially straight sides, whereby the weld pressure is provided practically completely by the expandable means, namely within the area of the carrier means for providing the weld heat. The means for providing the weld heat is a ring of a conducting material extending round the entire carrier and providing a contact surface with the outer surface of the container and the expandable means is a rubber ring, which in the non-expansive position is located slightly inside the outer subscribing surface of the piston, whereby there is no risk that the ring is stopped or is clamped between the piston or the lid ring. Further characteristics of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description in which references will be made to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings figure 1 shows a perspective view, a ready container made by means of an apparatus according to the invention, and figure 2 is a vertical cross section thr ugh such a container. Figure 3 shows a lid forming apparatus according to the invention. Figure 4 is a cross section of a press piston included in the apparatus of figure 3. Figure 5 is a more detailed view in a larger scale of a portion of the press piston according to figure 4 in a stage of introducing the lid into the inner of the container, and figure 6 shows the press piston during the welding operation. A package or container made by means of the apparatus according to the invention comprises a sleeve 1 of cardboard or a similar stiff material made from a plane blank of material, which ' has been been joined to a longitudinal joint 2, and where the sleeve at the top is provided with an internal lid 3 and at the bottom with a corresponding inner bottom. In the illustrated embodiment the upper edge 4 of the container is curled inwards to provide an enven and smooth end of the container covering the lid edge and stabilizing the container at both ends. In the illustrated case the container is circular cylindrical, but it is obvious that the container may be given any polygonal or other cross section form provided that the polygone corners are rounded. The lid and the bottom are made from a plane punched out blank 5 which before being pressed down in the container tube or in connection thereto is formed to a lid plane 6 and from said lid plane circumperipherily and upwards extending lid rim as best shown in figures 5 and 6. As previously mentioned it is a wish to have as low a lid rim 7 as possible both in order to obtain smallest possible waste amount of material and also to utlize largest possible voly e of the container. Since th ' e weld joint between the lid rim and the inner surface of the container is located as close to the bottom lid plane 6 as possible the lid rim 7 can be made lower than has previously been possible without adversely affecting the sealing of the container. The apparatus shown in figure 3 comprises a carrier 8 for carrying the container sleeve 1 when the l d is formed and is weld connected to the container. The carrier 8 has substantially the same outer shape as the sleeve 1, but at the lower part it is formed with a guide cone 9 for making it easy to introduce the sleeve 1 from underneath the carrier. It is also formed with an annular welding tool 10, which is preferably a ring for transmitting high frequence heat or ultrasonic heat to the weld joint of the lid and/or the container sleeve. In order to give the part of the sleeve located above the weld tool 10 a possibility of expanding slightly during the welding operation the welding tool 10 preferably is slightly conical ly widened in an upward direction.- The cone 11 of the welding tool 10 is very little and can hardly be observed by the naked eye, the cone angle may be between 2 or 6°. From the upper edge the welding tool and in the direction upwards the carrier 8 is widened to a parallel cylinder 12 the periphery of which coincides with the upper edge of the welding tool 10. For providing a, stop edge defining the uppermost postion of the container sleeve in the carrier the said widened part 12 may be formed with a shoulder. On top of the the carrier 8 a lid shaping tool is mounted which comprises a support disc 13 having a bore and on which the lid blank is placed and below the support disc 13 it has a formation disc 14 with rounded upper edges 15. In order to make it possible to provide the circumperipherily extending rim the lid blank 5 must be slightly larger than the inner area of the sleeve 1, and the borre of the supportt disc 13 is of correspondingly larger size. It should be noted that the lid also can be formed by being directly pressed into the sleeve whereby the support disc and the formation disc can be included. The tool also includes a press piston 16 and a means known OMPI per se for moving the press piston 16 upwards and downwards for formation and pressing the lid into the container sleeve and for widening the expandable means of the press piston in connection to the welding operation. The means 17 for moving the press piston peferably is a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder or any other previously means. The press piston 16 comprises a lower part 18 which is also the carrier for the expandable means 19, and an upper part 20 which is mounted round a shaft portion of the lower part 18. The lower part and the upper part of the press piston are axially movable in relation to each other, and they j are formed so that the expandable means 19 is expanded when thej lower part and the upper part of the press piston are moved towards each other, whereby the expansion of said expandable means 19 is made so that a press surface is obtained as close to the common area of the lid rim 7 and the lid plane 6 as possible. For this purpose the lower part 18 of the press piston is formed with a thin press edge 21 which is sloping outwards - downwards as best shown in figures 5 and 6. The lower part 18 also is formed with a flute extending some distance radially into the lower part and the shape of which corresponds to the shape of the expandable means 19 in its non-expanded state. Preferably the expandable means is a ring 23 of rubber or any other suitable elastic material, and the flute 22 consequently is of circular cylindrical form. The flute 22 may be of such extent as to enclose between 90° and 160° of the rubber ring. The lower end of the flute 22 directly is succeeded by the outwards-downwards sloping surface 24 of the press edge 21. The press edge 21 has an outer diameter which is so much less than the inner diameter of the container sleeve 1 that the lid with easy slip fit can be pressed down in the container sleeve. The outer diameter of the press edge therefore should be less than the inner diameter of the sleeve corresponding to twice the thickness of the lid material and in addition thereto corresponding to a tolerance play of 0.5-1 %. The upper part 20 is movable outside the lower part 18 with easy slip fit and it should have an outer diameter OMPI ^ to which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the press edge 21. The bottom edge of the lower part 20 is cup shaped at 25 with a size which corresponds to or is larger than the diameter of the rubber ring 23. The form of the cup shaped surface 25 should be such as to give the rubber ring 23 as low outer pressure line 26 as possible when compressing the ring, and for this purpose the cup surface 25 is lower at the outer surface than the inner surface of the upper piston part 20. As previously mentioned the carrier 8 is formed with a lower guide cone 9, and the welding tool 10 has an upwardly " directed cone 11 which is directly succeeded by the widened cylindrical portion 12. The cone parts of the carrier are very small. In a practical embodiment of the tool, which is intended for manufacture of circular cup-container of cardboard having an inner diameter of 72.6 mm the carrier is formed with " a guide cone of 7°, and the welding tool 10 which has a height of 3.8 mm is formed with an upwardly widened cone of 3° what gives a tolerance in the widened 'cylindrical portion of about 0.2 mm. In a practial embodiment of the invention a container was made of the same material as the sleeve and the lid, and the material was cardboard which at the surface to become the inside of the container was laminated with aluminum and a weldable polyethylene. The total thickness of the material was 0.5 mm. The container had an inner diameter of 72.6 mm and the diameter of the press edge 21 was made 71.2 mm, what means a tolerance of 0.4 mm in addition to the width of twice the thickness of the material. The outer diameter of the upper part 200 was made without any tolerance and therefore had a diameter of 71.6 mm. After the container sleeve 1 is introduced in the carrier 8 the piston 16 is pressed down whereby the lid blank 5 is shaped against the rounded upper edge of the formation disc or ring 14, and whereby the lid is formed with an upwardly directed rim 7. The piston is moved down to a predetermined distance which is calculated so that the press surface of the rubber ring 23 is located straight ahead of the welding ring 10. In the compressed -ξJS.EA^r OMPI 5 , WIFO *V condition the rubber ring 23 provides an almost lineary press surface 26 just on line with the welding ring 10. After that heat has been supplied in the welding ring 10 the rubber ring 23 expands when moving the two parts 18, 20 of the press piston together, whereby the weldable layers of the container sleeve and the lid melt together. Melted material has the possibility of creeping both downwards and upwards, and the part of the container sleeve and the lid rim located above the welding ring 10 has the possibility of slightly expanding for self-controlling of the contact pressure at said parts. The welding only takes some second and after the welding is finished the part 20 of the press piston is moved back from the lower part 18 of the press piston 16, whereby the rubber ring 23 regains its circular form with the outer surface of the ring located inside a line corresponding to the outer surface of the upper part 20, and the piston is retracted to be ready for a new operation cycle. As best illustrated in figure 6 the outermost pressure surface 26 of the rubber ring 23 is placed close to the lid plane 6 and substantially right in front of the welding tool 10. During the welding operation the plastic layer of the lid will melt together with the plastic layer of the sleeve, and some portions of the weldable plastic layers are pressed upwards and downwards thereby providing thickened portions 27 and 28 of plastic material which contributes to giving a good sealing in the lid and the sleeve. After the lid and the slid are welded together the upper edge 4 is curled inwards as shown in figures 1 and 2. It is to be understood that the above specification and the embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings are only illustrating examples and different modifications may be presented within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: to CLAIMS 1. Apparatus for forming and inserting an internal lid in a tubular container and for sealed connection of the lid to the inner surface of the container tube by constant heat welding, high frequence welding or ultrasonic welding and comprising a carrier 8 for carrying the container tube (1) while the lid (6, 7) is introduced and secured by welding in the interior of the tube, the support (13) provided above the carrier 8 for positioning a plane punched out lid blank (5) having a larger outer periphery than the inner periphery of the container tube, a piston means (16) for pressing the lid blank (5) into the container tube (1) while folding a rim (7) of the lid blank upwards, and in which the piston means (16) comprises a lower part (18) and an upper part (20) which are axially movable in relation to each other and an expandable means (19) between said two parts (18, 20) which is pressed radially outwards when the two piston parts (18, 20) are moved axially towards each other, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the lower part (18) of the piston means (16) at the bottom thereof is formed with an all around extending thin press edge (21) the upper surface (24) of which is sloping outwards -downwards providing a press surface for the expandable means (19) and in that the upper part (20) of the piston means (16) is axially displacaole outside a portion of the lower part (18) in the direction and from contact with the expandable means (19), and in that the bottom surface of the upper part (20) is cup-shaped (25). 2. Appartus according to claim 1, c h a r c t e¬ i z e d in that the expandable means (19) is a ring of rubber or a similar elastic material, and in that the lower part (18) of the press piston (16) is a bow-formed flute (22) the lower end of which is directly succeeded by the downward-outwards sloping surface (24), and in that said flute (22) has a radius which substantially coincides with the radius of the expandable ring (19) in the pressure released state thereof. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e¬ r i z e d in that the upper part (20) of the press, piston (16) is parallel cylindrical and in that the outer periphery of the press edge (21) of the lower press piston part (18) is slightly less than the outer periphery of the upper part (20). 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, 2 and 3 c h a r a c¬ t e r i z e d in that the cup-shaped bottom surface (25) of the upper press piston part (20) is located on a lower level at the outer periphery than at the inner periphery. 5. Apparatus according to claim 1, c h a r a c e¬ i z e d in that the means for providing constant heat welding, frequence welding or ultrasonic welding is a welding tool (10) in the form of a metal ring (10) which is mounted in the carrier (8) substantially on the same level as the line in which the expandable means (19) has its press surface (26) when the upper part and the lower part (18, 20) of the piston means are compressed. 6. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that both the carrier (8) and the press piston (16) has substantially parallel cylindrical sides, whereby the welding pressure is provided substantially solely by the expandable means (19) within the area defined by the welding tool (10) of the carrier (8). 7. Apparatus according to claim 5, c h a r a c e¬ r i z e d in that the welding ring (10) is conically widened in the direction upwards in an angle of about 2-6° and that the carrier (8) has a cavity above said welding ring (10) and corresponding to the largest diameter of the welding ring, 8. Apparatus according to claim 5, c h a r a c t e-. r i z e d in that the carrier (8) has a cavity above the welding ring (10) which is sligtly wider than the outer periphery of the container tube (1) to be end sealed, preferably 0.5-1 % wider. 9. Apparatus according to claim 5, 6 or 7, c h a a c¬ t e r i z e d in that the bottom edge of the welding ring (10) is located at or slightly above the upper surface of the lid plane (6). 10. Apparatus according to any of claims 6-9, c h a ac¬ t e r i z e d in that the carrier (8) has a shoulder at the upper end of the widened cylindrical part thereof, which shoulder defines the uppermost position of the container tube (1) in the carrier. 11. Apparatus according to any of claims 6-9, c h a r a c¬ t e r i z e d in that the carrier (8) is formed so that the upper edge of the container sleeve (1) in its fully introduced state is on plane with the upper edge of the carrier or extends a slight distance above said upper edge of the carrier, whereby the lid, which is formed by a plane punched out lid blank (5) is formed with an all around extending upwards fold rim directly being driven down in the container sleeve (1). ' JKE ~ \^ r ! OMPI "Apparatus for forming and inserting an internal lid in a container". 1 sleeve 2 joint 3 lid 4 curled edge • 5 lid blank 6 lid plane 7 lid rim 8 carrier 9 guide cone 10 welding tool 11 cone (of 10) 12 para!ell cylinder part 13 support disc 14 formation disc 15 rouded edges (of 14) 16 press piston 17 moving means 18 lower part (of 16) 19 expandable means 20 upper part (of 16) 21 press edge 22 flute 23 rubber ring 24 sloping surface (of 21) 5 cup-shaped bottom edge (of 20) 6 pressure line 7 thickened portion of weldable layers 8 thickened portion of weldable layers

Inventors: BOGREN INGEMAR, BOGREN, INGEMAR
Applicants: ESSELTEPACK AB, ESSELTE PAC AB
Application year: 1984
Main classification: B65B7
IPC codes: B29C65, B31B17, B65B7, B65B51