A capping machine for open top cups has an elevator for lifting a tray of the cups to be capped. A unit positioned above the elevator is subdivided into vertical pockets one for receiving each cup in the tray. The pockets are delineated by walls having knife edges at the bottom. Heating irons are disposed in the pockets for contacting a heat sealable sheet of material against the rims of the cups. Further upward movement of the tray causes a retraction of the heating irons and the sheet to contact the knife edges which separate it into individual sections that are heat sealed to the cups respectively. This retraction also causes a wiper ring to fold down the edges of the individual sections around the rims of the cups as a sanitary measure.
A container closuring machine comprises means for guiding a longitudinally movable web of foil or un-backed plastics film. A container to be closured is mounted under the web, and above the web is mounted a sealing and cutting head. The latter comprises a tubular shaped knife blade within which is mounted a generally cylindrically shaped heated sealing tool. The head and the container are arranged to undergo relative movement towards each other so as to clamp the web and to cause the heated sealing tool to press the clamped web against the top of the container. The sealing tool is capable of limited reciprocable movement along the axis of the tubular knife blade, and this movement, in response to the pressure between the tool and the container, brings the knife blade into severing contact with the web during the sealing process.
A container with a heat-securable tamper-indicating wax-coated closure sheet is disclosed herein, along with the methods and apparatus for making same. The container comprises a base with a sidewall extending upwardly from the periphery of the base and defining a substantially circular open top, or mouth. A square-shaped sheet of flexible closure material is disposed over the rim of the mouth of the container and is engaged between the container rim and a superposed container lid. Each of the four corners of the sheet extend beyond the periphery of the lid to form tabs which project downwardly alongside the container sidewall and are heat-sealingly secured thereto. The method and apparatus for securing the tabs to the container includes engaging the upper portion of the container with a plunger with a depending cylindrical flange for bearing against the projecting tabs of the sheet to urge them downwardly alongside the container sidewall at a temperature to heat-set them in that position. The container is moved on a conveyor between, and in contact with, a heated rail on one side and a cool sealing belt on the other side. The sealing belt engages the container to rotate the container about a vertical axis and roll the container along the heated rail to bring each tab sequentially into contact with the rail and the belt wherein the wax coating on the tabs is melted by the heated rail and subsequently pressed against the container sidewall by the belt to secure the corners of the sheet to the sidewall of the container.
A sealed container is formed by positioning a length of heat shrinkable film above the open top of a container, grasping a corner of the film, and heat shrinking the peripheral portion of the film into fluid tight compressive engagement with the upper portion of the container while the film corner is grasped. The unshrunk gripped corner of the film provides a pull tab for removing the closure, when desired. As the peripheral portion of the film is heat shrunk, the remainder of the film is tensioned across the open top of the container, and minute perforations are then formed in the tensioned film to define frangible sections which may be ruptured by a straw when the contents of the container are to be consumed with the closure in place.
Apparatus for closing an open-ended container in which a shearing mechanism which shears a film positioned above the container retains and moves the sheared film into contact with the rim of the container where it is formed into sealing relationship with the container to close it.
The device for sealing plastic bottles, especially PET bottles, after they are filled with a material under aseptic conditions, comprises a magazine for the seals, a delivery device for taking individual seals from the magazine and placing the seals on the filling opening of the bottles, which are fed to the treatment stations singly, consecutively and in a clocked sequence. The device further comprises a tool for carrying out the sealing operation. To this end, the delivery device takes sealing blanks, which are used as the seals, from the magazine and passes them on to the filling opening of the respectively prepared bottle, after which the sealing tool seals the sealing blank in the same working cycle onto the edge region surrounding the filling opening of the bottle, which remains in its position of readiness.
