Patent ID: 7775017

Claim:
A tray sealing system for heat sealing a film onto a multi-compartment container, the system comprising: a tray support having a plurality of recesses, each recess being configured to receive a compartment of a multi-compartment tray, each recess of the tray support is surrounded by a peripheral ledge upon which a perimeter flange and a plurality of intermediate flanges of the multi-compartment tray rest; a sealing plate having a contact surface for contacting and heat sealing a sealing film placed over the multi-compartment tray received in the tray support, the contact surface having a perimeter sealing surface and a plurality of intermediate sealing surfaces that are configured to form recess perimeters that correspond to perimeters of the compartments in the multi-compartment tray, the perimeter sealing surface and the intermediate sealing surfaces having widths that are wider than the perimeter flange and intermediate flanges of the multi-compartment tray and the sealing plate being positioned over the tray support to enable the perimeter sealing surface and the intermediate sealing surfaces to be above the perimeter flange and intermediate flanges of the multi-compartment tray and to extend beyond the perimeter flange and intermediate flanges of the multi-compartment tray to an area above the recesses of the multi-compartment tray; and an actuator for pressing the tray support and sealing plate together to press and heat the sealing film against the perimeter flange and the intermediate flanges of the multi-compartment tray.