Patent ID: 7775018

Claim:
A device for performing a sealing operation on a moving web, the device comprising: a first plate assembly comprising, a first base, a mount, means for linearly moving the mount with respect to the first base, an air bladder back plate, and an air bladder and an air bladder hard stop positioned between the mount and the air bladder back plate, wherein the air bladder hard stop is connected to the mount and the air bladder back plate; and a first tooling plate with a sealing surface area, wherein the air bladder back plate is between the air bladder and the first tooling plate; a second plate assembly comprising, a second base, a second tooling plate, and means for linearly moving the second tooling plate with respect to the second base; at least one plate assembly motor operably linked to the first base and the second base to provide a linear motion of the first and second plate assemblies toward each other during the sealing operation on the moving web and away from each other after the sealing operation; and wherein the air bladder is configured to be used in controlling a seal pressure during the sealing operation, and has a footprint with respect to the sealing surface area of the first tooling plate to substantially equalize the seal pressure about the sealing surface area during the sealing operation on the moving web.