HEAT SEALING OF THREAD TO A WEB

Abstract: A tagged packet carries a tag (T) which is attached to the main body (B) of the packet by a thread (S). The thread comprised polypropylene so as to be attachable by heat sealing to the body. The body is made up of layers of sheet material also comprising thermoplastic material to allow the body to be closed by heat seals. The thread is secured to the face of the body at one edge at the same time as that edge is heat sealed and the heating for the thread seal is applied from the opposite face of the body whereas the adjacent regions of edge seal spaced from the thread has the heating applied through the first face. This arrangement gives closer control of the different conditions required for securing the thread and for sealing together only the sheet material of the body.

Description: HEAT SEALING OF THREAD TO A WEB This invention relates to a method and means for performing heat sealing operations. The heat sealing of a pair of webs containing thermoplastics material by a pair of clamping jaws, at least one of which is heated, is a well known technique. It is also known to employ threads made of a thermoplastics material which are heated while being pressed into place to secure them by adhesion of the softened material. While both these processes have been practised successfully in themselves, problems can arise if it is required to secure a thread in place on a heat-sealed seam. The thermoplastic thread if melted may shrink away from the heat sealing device and so be attached, at best, only insecurely. If this does not happen, it may stick to the heating device in contact with it, again giving an insecure attachment but also contaminating the apparatus. The use of threads made of a mixture of thermoplastic and non-thermoplastic materials might avoid these problems but it is found they cannot in any case adhere securely by heat to a paper web. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of attaching a thermoplastic thread to a web is provided in which the thread and web material are held between a pair of opposed heat sealing elements with the thread on one face of the web and heat being applied from the element on the opposite face of the web to render the thread plastic and cause it to adhere to the web material . It is found, surprisingly, that when employing this method it is possible to avoid sticking of the thread material to either of the heat-sealing elements between which it is held and it is also possible to avoid the material shrinking away from the heat-sealing region in a molten state. Preferably, the heating step is followed by a step in which pressure and cooling is applied to complete the attachment of the thread. For uniformity of results, it is desirable that this step is performed with the web and thread gripped in a predetermined sized gap. As applied to a process in which the thread extends along a continuous tubular web which is to be sealed transversely at intervals to define a series of separate compartments and the thread is to be attached to each of the compartments, the transverse seals may be completed at the same time as the attachment of the thread by the use of at least one further pair of sealing elements, which will normally be required to operate at a different temperature and pressure than those for attaching the thread. The thread may be composed of a single polymer, polypropylene being a preferred material. However, there can be advantages if the thread is composed of a plurality of thermoplastic materials having differing melting points, so that the thread is only partly melted when it is heat sealed in place. Apparatus according to the invention for attaching a thread at one or more regions intermediate the width of a web and for sealing transversely across the web, may thus comprise a plurality of discrete but contiguous heat-sealing devices for heating successive portions across the width of the web, each said device comprising a heating element and anvil element adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of the web to engage between them the portions of the assembly in the respective zones, means being provided to press the web between the elements at the or each zone other than the zone to be occupied by the thread and said latter zone having the heat-sealing element set at a wider spacing than the opposed elements of the or each other of said zone. In a further aspect, the invention also includes a method of attaching a thermoplastic thread to a web in which the thread and web material are held between a pair of opposed heat sealing elements with the thread on one face of the web and heat being applied from the element on the opposite face of the web to render the thread plastic and cause it to adhere to the web material . The invention will be described in more detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a packet which has been produced using the apparatus to be described, Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of an apparatus according to the invention for producing the packet of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a transverse view of the heat sealing devices of the apparatus in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the devices of Fig. 3. The packet illustrated in Fig. 1 has a double- compartmented form described in more detail in EP 448325A but it can take any desired form. It comprises a main body B which is formed from two superimposed webs of a sheet material which may have heat-sealing properties, and which contains, for example, an infusion material. A tag T is loosely tacked by heat seals H to the main body but is attached more securely to it by a heat seal A to a thread S partly gathered in a loop L under the tag. The thread is secured to the body by a heat seal D at one end and that end of the body to be closed by heat-seal E welding the webs together. For this purpose, the thread and the sheet material of the body comprise thermoplastic material, such as polypropylene. For example the sheet material may have 25% thermoplastic material and the thread more, possibly even 100%. The thread may contain polypropylene in admixture with a further material which is not subject to melting at the melting point of the polypropylene, eg. a polyester having a melting point some 20°C or more higher than the. melting point of the polypropylene. The strength of the thread in the region of the heat seal can be improved this way. To ensure satisfactory heat sealing it is desirable that the thread is not coated with lubricants, as is commonly done in the production of thermoplastic filaments. The surface of the tag facing the thread may be treated to be more receptive to bonding with the thermoplastic material of the thread. As examples, the surface of the tag facing the thread may have a coating of a thermoplastic material such as polypropylene or it may be roughened or made porous to facilitate the penetration of the heat-sealable thread material into the surface when the thread has been softened by heat. Although the thread is held mainly underneath the tag before use, it may be preferred to weld it detachably to the body to ensure it does not become displaced inadvertently with the risk of snagging on extraneous objects. This can conveniently be done on the exposed portion of the thread loop below the tag. The heat seals are achieved by separate sealing operations performed simultaneously between the thread and the body and between the two webs of the body to each side of the thread, as will now be described. The apparatus takes the form of two circulating belts C1,C2 on which a series of heat seal operating members are secured, pairs of opposed members 2,4 on the two belts forming the heat sealing units. The belts extend on opposite sides of a path R along which sheet material of the bodies B enters as a continuous tubular web, being converted into partly completed packets P as they progress through the apparatus, still as a continuous web, and in this respect the belts with their operating members may be arranged similarly to the circulating heat sealing devices for performing the finishing web sealing and separating operations described in EP 448325, urgeing together correspondingly the heat seal operating members 2,4 to secure the thread to the web and to seal the ends of the web compartments. The drawings do not show the guides at the sides of the apparatus for guiding the web of uncompleted packets between the two belts . Each member 2 of the lower belt comprises a lower mounting plate 6 through which it is attached to its belt and a lower heater element 8 and lower anvil element 10 which jointly extend over substantially the area of the mounting plate. The heater element and the anvil element lie close to one another but there is an air gap between them. Between the plate 6 and the elements 8,10 are a thermal insulating sheet 12 and for the heater element and/or the anvil element at least one radiating plate 14. Each radiating plate has essentially the same plan form as its associated element. The components of the operating member 2,4 are clamped together by bolts (not shown) between the lower plate 6 and the elements 8,10. Each member 4 of the upper belt similarly comprises an upper plate 16 through which it is attached to its belt, an upper heater element 18 and closely nested anvil element 20, and an insulating sheet 22 and radiating plates 24 interposed between the plate 16 and the elements 18,20. The radiating plates 24 also have plan profiles matching those of their respective elements 18,20. The lower heater element 8 comprises a pair of upwardly projecting heating jaws 32 at its nesting boundary with the lower anvil element 10 and a cartridge heater 34 inserted into the body close to the jaws 32. The lower anvil element 10 has a central upwardly projecting anvil jaw 36 between the heating jaws 32. The upper heater element 18 disposed opposite the lower anvil element 10 has a cartridge heater 38 inserted into its body close to a central, downwardly projecting heating jaw 40 which is vertically coincident with the lower anvil jaw 36. The upper anvil element 20 similarly has a pair of downwardly projecting anvil jaws 42 on opposite sides of the heating jaw 40 and vertically coincident with the lower heating jaws 32. In this arrangement, the upper heating jaw 40 and lower anvil jaw 36 form one heat-sealing device for a central zone and immediately adjacent to them is a second heat-sealing device formed by the lower heating jaws 32 and upper anvil jaws 42 for a pair of outer zones aligned with the central zone. Heat transfer between the heating jaw or jaws of one device and the adjacent anvil jaws or jaw of the other device is limited by the air gaps between the adjacent elements. Base projections 48 on each of the elements 8,10,18,20 limit the conduction of heat away from the heater and anvil elements. The radiating plates provide a means of dissipating heat that has been transmitted from the elements. The web of partly formed packets is fed between the heat seal operating members as the belts Cl, C2 circulate, the members being oriented parallel to each other before they contact the web so that they close together moving perpendicular relative to the web. The web feed is synchronised with the movement of the belts so that the portions to have end seals formed between the opposed webs of the individual packets, and one end of each packet thread, are brought into register with the jaws of the successive operating members 2,4 The heat sealing of the thread to the web is performed by the central jaws 36,40 of the elements 10,18. That also seals together the two layers of the packet web in the immediate vicinity of the thread, but the main side zones are sealed by the pairs of outer jaws 32,42 of the elements 8,20 to complete the packet end seal. This arrangement allows different heating temperatures to be chosen for the different zones of the end seal, in particular the central zone with the thread may be heated more intensively. A small gap is present between the central jaws 32,42 but the outer jaws are set without a gap to clamp the web material between them under pressure. It will be noted from Fig. 3 that the web of partly completed packets progresses through the apparatus with the tag and thread on its lower face. The heating in the central zone occupied by the thread is applied through the jaw 40 of the upper element 18, ie. the thread is heated through the web material. It is found that this procedure is able to soften the thread so that it can adhere to the web but it does not stick to the cooler anvil element. Nor need it be subjected to heating conditions which would cause it to melt and shrink away from the contacting element. The heater element 18 is raised to higher heating temperature than the heater elements 8. For example, the jaws 32 may be heated to 180°C but although the thread may be weldable at a temperature of about 160°C it may be necessary to heat the jaws 40 to some 300°C to transmit sufficient heat through the web, but the process gives a more secure and reliable attachment for the thermoplastic thread. A pair of cold rollers 48 in the path of the packet web following the belts have control rings (not shown) on their mounting shafts which set the arms 50 of the rollers at a fixed minimum gap, eg. 0.2mm. The rotation of the rollers is synchronised with the belts so that the arms pinch the still soft thread at each end seal to spread and to solidify it. This final step ensures the thread is securely and permanently connected before the packets proceed to the next stage of processing.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A method of attaching a thermoplastic thread to a web in which the thread and web material are held between a pair of opposed heat sealing elements with the thread on one face of the web and heat being applied from the element on the opposite face of the web to render the thread plastic and cause it to adhere to the web material . 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the heat sealing elements are held at a predetermined gap while heating the thread. 3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the heating step is followed by a step in which pressure and cooling is applied to complete the attachment of the thread. 4. A method according to claim 3 wherein said pressure and cooling are applied while the web and the thread are gripped in a predetermined size gap. 5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the thread is extended along a web in the form of a length in the form of a continuous tubular length which is to be sealed transversely at intervals to define a series of separate compartments for producing discrete articles, and the thread is attached by said heat sealing elements to each of the compartments, the transverse seals being completed of at least one further pair of sealing elements at the same time as the attachment of the thread. 6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the temperature at which said further pair of sealing elements are operated and/or the pressure which they apply during heat sealing are different from said temperature and/or pressure of the sealing elements employed to attach the thread to the web. 7. A method according to claim 4 together with claim 5 or claim 6 wherein respective tags are attached to the thread for each of said compartments and the tags are also releasably attached to the web of their compartments. 8. Apparatus for attaching a thread at least at one region intermediate the width of a web and for sealing transversely across the web, comprising a plurality of discrete but contiguous heat-sealing devices for heating successive portions of the web across its width, each said device comprising a heating element and an anvil element adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of the web, means being provided to press the web between the opposed elements at the or each zone other than the zone or zones to be occupied by the thread, said latter zone having the heat sealing elements set at a wider spacing than the opposed elements of the or each other said zone. 9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said devices are arranged on circulatory conveying means for transporting cooperating heating and anvil elements along respective path which have mutually adjacent portions where said elements are brought into cooperation with each other. 10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said conveying means comprise respective belts having circulating paths with substantially rectilinear mutually adjacent portions for said cooperation of the elements. 11. Apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10 wherein presser means are provided for pressing and cooling the heat seals between the thread and the web prior to the setting of the heat sealing material. 12. Apparatus according to claim 9 or claim 10 together with claim 11 wherein said presser means are disposed downstream of the conveying means. 13. A tagged article comprising a main body of web material and a tag detachably secured to the body, the main body and tag also being connected by a length of thread secured at opposite ends to the body and tag, said thread comprising a thermoplastic material that is heat- sealed to the body and tag. 14. An article according to claim 13 wherein the thread comprises polypropylene. 15. An article according to claim 13 or claim 14 wherein the thread is composed of a plurality of thermoplastic materials having differing melting points. 16. An article according to any one of claims 13 to 15 wherein the tag comprises heat sealing material for said attachment of the tag to the thread.

Inventors: BAILEY THOMAS WILLIAM, CLEALL ANDREW, GOODWIN JAMES, VERNON GEOFFREY WILLIAM, BAILEY, THOMAS, WILLIAM, CLEALL, ANDREW, GOODWIN, JAMES, VERNON, GEOFFREY, WILLIAM
Applicants: UNILEVER NV, UNILEVER PLC
Application year: 1993
Main classification: B29C65
IPC codes: B29C65, B31D1, B65B29