US2533554A - Package and method of producing same - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 12, 1950 o. M. BYERLY ,53

PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Sept. 21, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Dec. 12, 1950 o. M. BYERLY 2,533,554

PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Sept. 21, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

OZzTz/er/Yqerfl Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Oliver M. Byerly, Chicago,

Ill., minor to Walter E. Hausheer, Evanston, Ill. Application September 21, 1945, Serial No. 617,749 6 Claims. (Cl. 200-46) This invention relates generally to the packaging of merchandise of various kinds, particularly those such as certain food products which are best preserved and maintained in a marketable 1 condition in hermetically sealed packages.

Many products, the character or flavor of which is best maintained when packaging in hermetically sealed packages, do not justify the ex ense of glass or tinplate jars, cans or similar containers, and it is in connection with the marketing of products of this character such as soup tioned the fact that the packages made of such material have been nothing more than flatbags resembling envelopes which when filled with bulky material bulge and wrinkle and present a quite unattractive appearance. This fact will be particularly appreciated when one recognizes that these packages are formed by sealing together the margins of a pair of sheets of foil, the opposed faces of which have been provided with thermoplastic sealing material, so that-when the margins are pressed together under the influence of heat they are secured together, thus forming a marginal flat sealing area entirely surrounding the package. The contents of the package do not, therefore, approach the edges of the package, but are confined to the central portion of the package. The bulging and wrinkling induced by the presence of the contents in this central portion surrounded by the adhesively united margins of substantial width so wrinkles the margins as to often impair the sealing of the package and distorts and disfigures the package as a whole so that decorative ornamentation applied to the package is rendered unattractive and printed matter becomes distorted and frequently illegible.

and decorative ornamentation will be attractively displayed.

Another purpose is to provide a pack f the character indicated which, while formed of relatively flexible foil or laminated material, will be so constructed that it will retain its shape and will not, if handled with reasonable care, become distorted or disfigured.

. Another feature of my invention resides in the fact that the package, instead of having flat marginal portions surrounding the contents, as heretofore, is substantially rectangular in crosssection, comprising top, bottom and side walls which are self-sustaining and non-collapsible.

The package, therefore, willretain its shape and will present an attractive and sales inducive appearance when displayed. In addition to the advantageous features above enumerated, a package constructed in accordance with my invention is hermetically sealed and moisture-proof, so that the contents, irrespective of the degree of hygroscopicity, will be maintained in the condition of dryness possessed when the package was sealed.

Another purpose of my invention is to provide a method .by which containers in accordance with my invention may be simultaneously formed,

filled and sealed in rapid succession. The method In fact, the whole package fails to present that contemplated provides for the expeditious and economical production of attractive and merchantable packages.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated on the accompanying drawings a preferred form of package and method for producing the same, from which in connection with the following description my invention and many of its inherent advantages will be readily appreciated.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a package made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

apparatus looking 3 downward in the direction of the arrows on the section line;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 9-9 of Fig. 10 is a fragmental sectional view on the line Ill-l of Fig. 6;

Fig. ll'is a fragmental sectional view on the line lI-H 'ofFig.6; and

Fig. 12 is a similar view on the line |2l2 of Fig. 6.

In the production of a package in accordance before the container is completed, and thereupon the filled orcharged container is closed and hermetically sealed. Thus an attractive impervious package is provided, in which the merchandise is protected and maintained in its original condition until the package is opened by the user.

The wider of the two sheets employed, which is designated on the drawing generally by reference character l3 (Fig. '7), is withdrawn from a roll of material (not shown). During its manufacture the foil sheet material is coated on one face with a thermoplastic adhesive by which the sheets when subjected to heat and pressure are sealed together along the area thus treated.

The strip or sheet I3 is, as previously stated, unwound from a supply roll and passed first between a pair of positively driven corrugating or embossing rolls l4 and I5 provided with cooperating ribs and depressions adapted to provide said sheet with three rows of transversely extending strengthening ribs and depressions. The center row comprises the flutes or depressions [6 extending transversely of the sheet and arranged in spaced groups, as will be apparent from Fig. 5, leaving intervening flat unembossed areas I! for the application thereto of printed matter or decorative ornamentation.

As will be apparent from Figs. 4 and 5, the corrugations l6 terminate some distance from the side edges of the sheet and that area at each side of the row of corrugations I6 is also provided with flutes or corrugations l8 along one side, as indicated in Fig. l, and similar flutes or corrugations l9 along the other side, as illustrated in Fig. 3. These corrugations are also arranged in spaced apart groups and the corrugations near the ends of each group are progressively shorter in length as illustrated, to enable the container to be shaped as shown.

The sheet l3 after being processed by the re l4 and I5 to form the three rows of corrugations, each row comprising spaced apart groups of transversely extending parallel flutes, as described, is next subjected to the action of a pair of folding rolls 2! and 22 which fold the margins provided with the flutes l8 and I!) so as to dispose them at right angles to the plane of the sheet 13, as illustrated in Fig. 8. A hollow mandrel 23 of rectangular cross-section serves as a form about which the sheet is folded as it travels in continuous motion along the mandrel from top to bottom, as indicated in Figs. 6 and 7. The outer or free margins of these side flanges of the sheet are then bent outwardly into a plane parallel with the plane of the sheet [3 by suitable means including supporting bars 24 (Fig. '7) against which the thus disposed margins 25 rest, as shown in this figure. Simultaneously the other sheet 26 is laid against the exposed faces of these flanges and over the then uncovered face of the mandrel.

Sheet 26, which is also faced with a thermoplastic adhesive, is withdrawn from a supply roll (not shown) and passed first between corrugating or embossing rolls 2'! and 28 by which the flutes or corrugations 29, corresponding in length and arrangement to the flutes I6 in sheet I3, are formed. It will be apparent from the drawings, particularly Figs. 2 and 5, that the flutes 29 are arranged in spaced apart groups to leave intervening spaces 3| for the reception and display of printed matter, ornamentation or the like. The sheet 26, which is of the width of sheet I3 when folded to provide the side walls and laterally extending margins of Fig. 10, is laid against the face of the mandrel and upon the margins 25 as it leaves the embossing roll 28, whereupon the superposed margins provided on their opposed contacting faces with thermoplastic adhesive are passed between a pair of spaced apart heated rolls 32 and a cooperating pressure roll 33 whereby the adhesive is plasticized and under the roll pressure the margins are pressed together so as to form a hermetic seal and thereby provide in effect a long rectangular tube of foil having laterally projecting margins of the material hermetically sealed together.

As the tube progresses through the machine it is subjected to the action of a pair of folding devices in the form of curved plates or wings 34 and 35 which first bend the sealed together margins upwardly, as illustrated in Fig. 11, and then fold them over onto the outer face of the sheet 26, as exemplified in Fig. 12. The-tube,

therefore, is not only hermetically sealed where the margins of the sheets l3 and 2B overlap, but the overlapping sealed margins are folded over against the exposed face of sheet 26 to form the seams 36 and 31 along the margins of one-face of the tube and on one face of the completed package, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 4.

My invent-ion contemplates not only the pro-- duction of a hermetically sealed tube in the manner thus far described, but also the formation from such tube of a series of structurally independent containers, and in addition the filling of such containers with merchandise simultaneously with their formation and the hermetic sealing of the ends of such containers when formed. With these purposes in view, the upper end of the hollow mandrel 23 is connected by a chute 38 with a hopper or magazine 39 containing a supply of the merchandise such as milk powder, dehydrated soup or other products to be packaged. From the supply hopper the mandrel is kept continuously supplied with the merchandise to be packaged and a predetermined quantity of such merchandise or material is discharged at timed intervals from the lower end of the mandrel into the surrounding tube by the automatic and timed opening and closing of a gate or valve 4| adapted to close the lower end of the mandrel.

As the charge of merchandise is admitted into the tube by the opening of the gate 41', the tube is flattened and sealed transversely at a pointI indicated by 42 (Fig. '7) a spaced distance amass sealed partition across the tube which limits the downward travel in the tube of the merchandise discharged from the mandrel. I

Theiilled portion'of the tube proceeds pas the rolls and 44 to bring the transverse partition into position to be severed transversely by one of the cutters ll carried by the. roll ll and adapted to cooperate with'a companion roll 49. In this manner the filled section of the tube is separated and becomes the completed package consisting of a, hermetically sealed container filled with the merchandise. Simultaneously with the severance of the completed package from the tube, the succeeding filled tube section is sealed at its upper end by the rolls 4! and I4,

as previously described and as illustrated in Fig. 7.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided an hermetically sealed, package formed from impervious foil which is so strengthened by the corrugations or flutes in the top, bottom and side walls as to be self-sustaining and sufficiently strong and rigid to maintain its shape without deformation under reasonably careful handling conditions such as articles of this character commercially receive. The package is formed, filled and sealed during the continuous passage of strips or sheets of suitable material through a machine. Consequently, the production, which is rapidly accomplished without manual handling of either the container material or the container contents, is desirably and commercially economical.

The structural details of the apparatus and the procedure of the method as well as the structural details of the package itself are capable of considerable modification and variation within the scope of my invention ing claims.

Iclaim: 1. The method of producing a merchandise package, which comprises providing a sheet of metal foil with a plurality of rows of spacedapart' transversely extending corrugations arranged in groups, forming said sheet into channel-shape with transversely extending flanges, corrugatlng a second narrower sheet of metal foil, applying said second sheet to said channelshaped form, sealing the margins of said sheets together in substantially metal-to-metal contact to provide a hermetically sealed tube of substantially rectangular cross-section, folding the sealed margins against a face of the tube, delivering a charge of merchandise into the tube at predetermined intervals, sealing the tube along a transverse line ahead of .saidicharge to confine the charge therein, sealing the tube transversely rearwardly of the charge to produce a sealed tubular section containing such charge, and dividing said section from the remaining tube.

2. A water and air impervious container havas defined inthe follow-- ing a commodity sealed therein, said container. including a wide sheet and a narrow sheet of thin and impervious metal of foil type, the wide sheet being of channel shape having marginal sealing portions along the channel side edges, the narrow sheet including the side marginal edges thereof being of a width substantially equal to the transverse dimension of the channel plus 8 the widths of said marginal sealing portions of the wide sheet, the narrow sheet being disposed over said channel with its side marginal edge portions disposed against the marginal portions of the wide sheet at the exterior of the container, an impervious thermoplastic material between the said marginal edge portions andsealing said edge portions together throughout their lengths in substantially 'metal-to-metal contact, said sealed marginal edge portions being folded upon the adjacent exterior surface of the container and said sheets at opposite endsof the channel being. sealed together in substantially metal-to-metal contact from end to end thereof transversely of the channel by an impervious thermoplastic material, a plurality of rigidifying corrugations in the sides of the channel of the wide sheet and extending transversely of the length thereof between said marginal sealing portions and the bottom of the channel, transversely extending corrugations across the bottom of the channel, and a plurality ofcorrugations in the narrow sheet extending transversely of its length between said sealing portions of the wide sheet.

3. A water and airimpervious container having a commodity sealed therein, said container including a wide sheet and a narrow sheet of thin and impervious metal of foil type, the wide sheet being formed into channel-shape with marginal sealing portions along the channel side edges, the narrow sheet including the side marginal edges thereof being of a width substantially equal to the transverse dimension of the channel plus the widths of said marginal sealing portions of the wide sheet, the narrow sheetbeing disposed over said channel with its side'marginal edge portions disposed against the marginal sealing portions of the wide sheet and extending outwardly of the container, an impervious thermoplastic material between the said marginal edge portions and sealing said edge portions together throughout their lengths in substantially metalto-metal contact, said sheets at the opposite ends of the channel being sealed together in substan- 1 tially metal-to-metal contact from end to end thereof transversely of the channel by an impervious thermoplastic material, the sealed side edge portions being folded down to lie' against an adjacent surface ofthe container, a plurality of 'rigidifying corrugations in'the sides of the chan- "gations in the narrow sheet extending trans versely of its length between said sealing portions I of the wide sheet.

4. The method of forming a substantially continuous series of substantially identical packages, with a commodity enclosed therein, from a pair of substantially continuousstrips of impervious metal foil wherein one of the stripsis wider than the other which comprises, feeding the strips substantially continuously,embossing the wide strip at predetermined intervals along its length to provide a central and intermittent series of transversely extending ribs and alateral transversely extending and substantially continuous series of ribs at each side of and spaced from both said central seriesof ribs and the side edges of the strip, folding the wide strip sides in the same 7 and central series of ribs whereby to form a channel in the strip, embossing the second or narrow strip at predetermined intervals along its length with a series of ribs extending transversely of the strip, said ribs ,of the narrow strip terminating short of the side edges of the strip whereby to leavean unembossed margin at each side thereof, securing the unembossed margins of the narrow strip'to the corresponding unembossed marginal edges of the wide strip by the application of a thermoplastic and heat whereby the strip edge margins make a continuous and impervious and substantially metal-to-metal contact with one another, folding said secured margins down against the face of an adJacent side of-the thus formed tube, placing a commodity within each of successive predetermined lengths of such tube as determined by predetermined intervals between embossings, and thereafter flattening and sealing the tube inthe spaces provided by the said predetermined intervals between embossings for a substantial width in the direction of the strip lengths and for the entire transverse width of the tube.

5. The method of forming a substantially continuous series of substantially identical packages assess from a pair of substantially continuous strips of impervious metal foil wherein one of the strips is wider than the other which comprises, feeding the strips substantially continuously, embossing the wide strip at predetermined intervals alon its length to provide a central and intermittent series of transversely extending ribs and a lateral transversely extending and substantially continuous series of ribs at each side of and spaced from both said central series of ribs and the side. edges of the strip, folding the wide strip sides in the same general direction and at an angle to the strip portion therebetween along fold lines extending longitudinally of the strip between said lateral and central series of ribs whereby to form a channel in the strip, embossing the second or narrow strip at predetermined intervals along its length with a single central series of ribs similar to the central series of the wide strip, said ribs of the narrow strip terminating short of the side edges of the strip whereby to leave an unembossed margin at each side thereof, securing the unembossed margins of the narrow strip to the corresponding unembossed marginal edges of the wide strip by the application of a thermoplastic and heat whereby the strip edge margins make a continuous and impervious and substantially metal to metal contact with one another, folding said secured margins down against the face of an adjacent side of the thus formed tube, plac-' ing a commodity within each of successive predetermined lengths of such tube as determined by predetermined interval between embossings, and thereafter flattening and sealing the tube in the spaces provided by the said predetermined intervals between embossings forthe entire transverse width of the tube.

6. The method of forming a substantially continuous series of substantially identical packages from a pair of substantially continuous strips of impervious metal foil wherein one of the strips is wider than the other which comprises, feeding the strips substantially continuously, embossingthe wide strip at. predetermined intervals along its length to provide a central and intermittent series of transversely extending ribs and a lateral transversely extending and substantially continuous series of ribs at each side of and spaced from both said central series of ribs and the side edges of the strip, folding the wide strip sides in the same general direction and at an angle to the strip portion therebetween along foldlines extending longitudinally of the-strip between said lateral and central series of ribs whereby to form a channel in the strip, embossing the second or narrow strip at predetermined intervals along its length with a series of ribs extending transversely of the strip, said ribs of the narrow strip terminating short of the side edges of the strip whereby to leave an unembossed margin at each side thereof, securing theunembossed margins of the narrow strip to the corresponding unembossed marginal edges of the wide strip by the application of a thermoplastic and heat whereby the strip edge margins make a continuous and I impervious and substantially metal-to-metal contact with one another, folding said secured margins down against the face of 'an adjacent side of the thus formed tube, placing a commodity within each of successive predetermined lengths of such tube as determined by predetermined intervals between embossings, thereafter flattening and sealing the tube in the spaces provided by the said predetermined intervals between embossings for a substantial area extending over the entire transverse width of the tube, and severing the resultant containers from one another by transversely shearing both strips wholly within the area of sealing.

. OLIVER M. BYERLY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain July 31, 1930

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