APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETECTING THE POSITION OF APPLICATION OF A SEALING STRIP ONTO A WEB OF PACKAGING MATERIAL FOR FOOD PRODUCTS

• Main Authors: ROBERTO ANSALONI, ROBERTO GRAMAZIO, ALBERTO DORATI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: 17.06.2011
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; ARRANGEMENTS FOR MEASURING TWO OR MORE VARIABLES NOT COVEREDIN A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS; CONVEYING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS,CABLES; MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGINGARTICLES OR MATERIALS; MEASURING; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS; MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEARDIMENSIONS; MEASURING NOT SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR A SPECIFIC VARIABLE; MEASURING OR TESTING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PACKING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; STORING; TARIFF METERING APPARATUS; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; UNPACKING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

There is described an apparatus (10, 10') for detecting the position of application of a sealing strip (7) of heat-seal plastic material onto a multilayer web (3) of packaging material for food products advanced along a predetermined path (P) and including at least one base layer for stiffness and strength and one or more heat-seal plastic layers; the sealing strip (7) has a first longitudinal portion (42), applied onto a longitudinal edge (8) of the web (3), and a second longitudinal portion (43) projecting laterally from the longitudinal edge (8). The apparatus (10, 10') comprises a light source (45, 45'), configured for irradiating a transversal portion of the web (3) during movement thereof along its path (P), and a sensor (46, 46') in use detecting a quantity (I, F) related to the different behavior of the materials forming the web (3) and the sealing strip (7) to light exposure and generating an output signal (W) related to the width of the second portion (43) of the sealing strip (7) in a direction (X) orthogonal to the travelling direction of the web (3) and parallel to said web (3). La presente invención describe un aparato (10, 10') para detectar la posición de aplicación de una tira sellante (7) de un material de plástico que se puede sellar con calor sobre una trama de capas múltiples (3) del material de empaque para los productos alimenticios, que se hace avanzar a lo largo de una ruta predeterminada (P) y que incluye al menos una capa base para proporcionar rigidez y resistencia y una o más capas de plástico que se pueden sellar con calor; la tira sellante (7) tiene una primera porción longitudinal (42), aplicada sobre un borde longitudinal (8) de la trama (3), y una segunda porción longitudinal (43) que se proyecta lateralmente desde el borde longitudinal (8). El aparato (10, 10') comprende una fuente de luz (45, 45'), configurada para irradiar una porción transversal de la trama (3) durante el movimiento de la misma a lo largo de su ruta (P), y un sensor (46, 46') que en su uso detecta una cantidad (1, F) relacionada con un comportamiento diferente de los materiales que forman la trama (3) y la tira sellante (7) para la exposición a la luz y que generan una señal de salida (W) relacionada con la anchura de la segunda porción (43) de la tira sellante (7) en una dirección (X) ortogonal con respecto a la dirección de recorrido de la trama (3) y paralela a la trama (3).