A closure mechanism

Abstract

This application relates to a sealing mechanism for sealing PP cups. It includes a base with positioning seats on it. Each positioning seat has several positioning grooves, and each groove contains a lower mold that matches its corresponding groove. A PP cup is mounted on the lower molds. The base has an injection unit for injecting liquid into the PP cup. Each positioning groove has a buffer groove at its bottom, and each buffer groove contains an elastic element that abuts against the lower mold and the bottom of the buffer groove. The base also has a heat-sealing unit for heat-sealing the PP cup after injection. The technical advantages of this application are: the elastic element provides force to the lower mold, causing the aluminum foil on the end face of the PP cup facing the heat-sealing unit to adhere to the heat-sealing surface of the unit, improving the tightness of the aluminum foil heat-sealing. When the elastic element is compressed, it absorbs some of the force, reducing the possibility of excessive heat-sealing of the aluminum foil at the top of the PP cup, thus improving the yield rate of heat-sealed contact lenses.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of PP cup sealing technology, and in particular to a sealing mechanism. Background Technology

[0002] Contact lens PP cups are specialized containers made of polypropylene, primarily used for the storage, sterilization, and transportation of contact lenses. Their design combines sterile sealing, lens anti-tipping, and easy-to-tear aluminum foil seals to enhance user experience and production efficiency.

[0003] During the contact lens manufacturing process, the base is fixedly connected to several lower molds that match the size of the PP cup. The operator places the PP cup into the lower mold in sequence, then injects the contact lens solution into the PP cup and places the contact lens in it. After the solution is injected, the operator manually takes the aluminum foil, places it on top of the PP cup and aligns it. Finally, the hot-melt mechanism drives the upper mold to rigidly press down to complete the hot-melt sealing of the PP cup.

[0004] During the manufacturing process of the aforementioned contact lenses, when the heat-sealing mechanism drives the upper mold to press down, the upper mold rigidly presses the PP cup against the lower mold. If there is a height difference between the PP cup and the mold during rigid pressing, it will cause some PP cups to be over-heat-sealed or the aluminum foil to not fit tightly with the cup opening, affecting the heat-sealing yield of contact lenses. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the issue of excessive heat sealing or poor adhesion between the aluminum foil and the cup rim in PP cups during rigid sealing, which affects the heat-sealing yield of contact lenses, this application provides a sealing mechanism with the following technical solution: It includes a base with a positioning seat on it. The positioning seat has several positioning grooves, each containing a lower mold that matches the positioning groove. The PP cup is mounted on the lower mold. The base has an injection unit for injecting liquid into the PP cup. Each of the positioning grooves has a buffer groove at its bottom, with an elastic element inside. The elastic element abuts against the lower mold and the bottom of the buffer groove. The base also has a heat-sealing unit for heat-sealing the PP cup after injection.

[0006] In one specific implementation scheme, the injection unit includes a telescopic cylinder mounted on a base. The output end of the telescopic cylinder is provided with a mounting plate. The mounting plate is provided with a plurality of check valves. The liquid outlets of the plurality of check valves correspond to a plurality of lower molds respectively. The base is provided with a liquid supply assembly for supplying liquid to the check valves.

[0007] In one specific implementation, the liquid supply assembly includes a mounting bracket mounted on a base, the mounting bracket having a plurality of peristaltic pumps, the outlet ends of the plurality of peristaltic pumps being connected to the inlet end of a check valve via hoses.

[0008] In one specific implementation, the hot-melt unit includes a support frame mounted on a base, a heating block slidably connected to the support frame, an electric heating rod inside the heating block, a lifting assembly for driving the heating block to rise and fall on the support frame, and several upper molds corresponding to the lower molds on the surface of the heating block facing the base, with PP cups respectively pressed between the upper molds and the lower molds.

[0009] In one specific implementation, the lifting assembly includes a lifting cylinder mounted on a support frame, and the heating block is located at the output end of the lifting cylinder.

[0010] In one specific implementation, the support frame is provided with a guide rod, and the heating block is provided with a sliding hole that matches the guide rod. The guide rod is slidably connected to the inner edge of the sliding hole.

[0011] In one specific implementation, a bearing is provided between the sliding hole and the guide rod, and the guide rod is slidably connected to the inner edge of the bearing.

[0012] In one specific implementation scheme, a plurality of mounting bolts are provided on the positioning seat, and the base is provided with mounting grooves that match the plurality of mounting bolts. The ends of the plurality of mounting bolts facing the base are respectively threaded into the mounting grooves.

[0013] In one specific implementation, the positioning seat is provided with a positioning pin, and the heating block has a positioning groove on the surface facing the positioning pin that matches the positioning pin, and the positioning pin is partially inserted into the positioning groove.

[0014] In one specific implementation, the positioning seat has a retaining ring on its surface facing the heating block, and the lower mold portion is located between the retaining ring and the positioning groove.

[0015] In summary, this application has the following beneficial technical effects: When the hot-melt unit is activated to heat-seal the PP cup mounted on the lower mold with aluminum foil, the elastic element provides force to the lower mold, causing the aluminum foil on the end face of the PP cup facing the hot-melt unit to adhere to the heat-sealing surface of the hot-melt unit, thereby improving the tightness of the aluminum foil heat-sealing. At the same time, since the elastic element has elastic compression, if the force applied by the hot-melt unit to the PP cup and aluminum foil is too large, the elastic element will absorb part of the force when compressed, thereby reducing the possibility of over-heat sealing of the aluminum foil at the top of the PP cup and improving the yield of heat-sealed contact lenses. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of this application.

[0017] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Enlarged diagram of point A in the middle.

[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the telescopic cylinder in the embodiments of this application.

[0019] Reference numerals: 1. Base; 2. Positioning seat; 3. Positioning groove; 4. Lower mold; 5. PP cup; 6. Elastic element; 7. Telescopic cylinder; 8. Mounting plate; 9. Check valve; 10. Mounting bracket; 11. Peristaltic pump; 12. Support frame; 13. Heating block; 14. Electric heating rod; 15. Upper mold; 16. Lifting cylinder; 17. Guide rod; 18. Bearing; 19. Sliding hole; 20. Positioning pin; 21. Retaining ring. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The following is in conjunction with the appendix Figure 1-3 This application will be described in further detail.

[0021] This application discloses a sealing mechanism.

[0022] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The sealing mechanism includes a base 1, a positioning seat 2 on the base 1, a plurality of positioning grooves 3 on the positioning seat 2, and a lower mold 4 matching the size of the positioning groove 3 in each of the plurality of positioning grooves 3. The PP cup 5 is mounted on the lower mold 4. In this embodiment of the application, the number of positioning grooves 3 is set to five, and the lower mold 4 is set according to the shape of the contact lens PP cup 5.

[0023] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The base 1 is provided with a liquid injection unit for injecting liquid into the PP cup 5. The bottom of the five positioning grooves 3 are respectively provided with buffer grooves. An elastic element 6 is provided in the buffer groove. The elastic element 6 is pressed between the lower mold 4 and the bottom of the buffer groove. The base 1 is provided with a heat-sealing unit for heat-sealing aluminum foil into the PP cup 5 after liquid injection. In this embodiment, the elastic element 6 is a compression spring.

[0024] Therefore, when the hot-melt unit is activated to heat-seal the PP cup 5 mounted on the lower mold 4 with aluminum foil, the elastic element 6 provides force to the lower mold 4, causing the aluminum foil on the end face of the PP cup 5 facing the hot-melt unit to adhere to the heat-sealing cover of the hot-melt unit, thus improving the tightness of the aluminum foil heat-sealing. At the same time, since the elastic element 6 has elastic compression, if the force applied by the hot-melt unit to the PP cup 5 and the aluminum foil is too large, the elastic element 6 will absorb part of the force when compressed, thereby reducing the possibility of over-heat sealing of the aluminum foil at the top of the PP cup 5 and improving the heat-sealing yield of contact lenses.

[0025] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2The positioning seat 2 is provided with several mounting bolts, and the base 1 is provided with mounting grooves that match the size of the mounting bolts. The ends of the mounting bolts facing the base 1 are threaded into the mounting grooves. Therefore, the operator can remove the positioning seat 2 from the base 1 by removing the bolts. Since there are many models of PP cup 5 on the market, it is necessary to remake the new equipment when changing products. The debugging of the new equipment is time-consuming and labor-intensive, which increases the cost. In this embodiment, the positioning seat 2 is detachable. When adapting to different models of PP cup 5, only the corresponding positioning seat 2 needs to be replaced to fix it accurately. There is no need to adjust the base 1 or the main equipment structure. It has advantages in terms of cost control and maintenance convenience.

[0026] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 3 The injection unit includes a telescopic cylinder 7 mounted on a base 1. An installation plate 8 is mounted on the output end of the telescopic cylinder 7, and several check valves 9 are mounted on the installation plate 8. The outlet ends of the check valves 9 correspond to several lower molds 4, reducing the risk of liquid backflow. A liquid supply assembly for supplying liquid to the check valves 9 is provided on the base 1. The liquid supply assembly includes a mounting bracket 10 mounted on the base 1, and several peristaltic pumps 11 are mounted on the mounting bracket 10. The outlet ends of the peristaltic pumps 11 are connected to the inlet ends of the check valves 9 via flexible hoses. The peristaltic pumps 11 can control the injection speed and volume. The peristaltic pumps 11 mainly propel the fluid by compressing and releasing the hoses, preventing the fluid from being squeezed or damaged during transport. Simultaneously, the fluid only contacts the pump tubing and not the pump body, reducing fluid contamination. This is suitable for injecting contact lens solution in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the number of check valves 9 and peristaltic pumps 11 corresponds to five lower molds 4.

[0027] Therefore, when it is necessary to inject liquid into the PP cup 5 on the positioning seat 2, the telescopic cylinder 7 is activated, which drives the mounting plate 8 at the output end of the telescopic cylinder 7 to extend, so that the liquid outlets of the five check valves 9 are respectively located on the top of the five PP cups 5. The peristaltic pump 11 corresponding to the check valve 9 is activated, and the nursing fluid is injected from the liquid outlet of the peristaltic pump 11 into the liquid inlet of the check valve 9, and then injected into the PP cup 5 from the liquid outlet of the check valve 9, thereby realizing the liquid injection operation of the PP cup 5.

[0028] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 3The hot-melting unit includes a support frame 12 mounted on a base 1. A heating block 13 is slidably connected to the support frame 12, and an electric heating rod 14 is installed inside the heating block 13. In this embodiment, the number of electric heating rods 14 is set to two and evenly distributed inside the heating block 13. A lifting assembly for driving the heating block 13 to rise and fall is provided on the support frame 12. Several upper molds 15 corresponding to the lower molds 4 are fixedly connected to the surface of the heating block 13 facing the base 1. PP cups 5 are respectively pressed between the upper molds 15 and the lower molds 4. In this embodiment, the number of upper molds 15 is set to five according to the number of lower molds 4, and the five upper molds 15 and the five lower molds 4 are respectively located on the same straight line in the vertical direction. The lifting assembly includes a lifting cylinder 16 mounted on the support frame 12. A connecting plate is provided at the output end of the lifting cylinder 16. The heating block 13 is bolted to the connecting plate. The operator can remove the heating block 13 from the connecting plate by unscrewing the bolts, realizing the detachable connection of the heating block 13, which facilitates the subsequent replacement of the heating block 13.

[0029] Therefore, the lifting cylinder 16 is activated, which drives the heating block 13 at the output end of the lifting cylinder 16 to press down, so that the PP cup 5 and the aluminum foil placed on top of the PP cup 5 are pressed tightly between the upper mold 15 and the lower mold 4. The electric heating rod 14 is activated to heat the heating block 13. The heat is transferred to the upper mold 15 through the electric heating block 13, so that the upper mold 15 heat seals the PP cup 5 after liquid injection.

[0030] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 Two guide rods 17 are mounted on the support frame 12, and the heating block 13 is located between the two guide rods 17. The heating block 13 has sliding holes 19 that match the dimensions of the two guide rods 17. The guide rods 17 are slidably connected to the inner edges of the sliding holes 19. A bearing 18 is installed between the sliding holes 19 and the guide rods 17, and the guide rods 17 are slidably connected to the inner edges of the bearings 18. The bearings 18 provide support for the guide rods 17 while reducing friction between the guide rods 17 and the sliding holes 19. The guide rods 17 limit the lifting direction of the heating block 13, improving the stability of the heating block 13 during lifting.

[0031] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2A retaining ring 21 is provided on the surface of the positioning seat 2 facing the heating block 13. The lower mold 4 is located between the retaining ring 21 and the positioning groove 3. The retaining ring 21 limits the position of the lower mold 4, reducing the possibility of vertical displacement of the lower mold 4 and improving the stability of the lower mold 4. A positioning pin 20 is installed on the positioning seat 2. A guide groove is opened at the end of the positioning pin 20 facing the heating block 13. A positioning groove 3 matching the size of the positioning pin 20 is opened on the surface of the heating block 13 facing the positioning pin 20. The guide groove facilitates the smooth insertion of the positioning pin 20 into the positioning groove 3. The positioning pin 20 facilitates the mutual positioning between the positioning seat 2 and the heating block 13, improving the accuracy of the relative position between the upper mold 15 and the lower mold 4.

[0032] The implementation principle of this application embodiment is as follows: The operator manually takes five PP cups 5 and places them on the lower mold 4 of the positioning seat 2. When it is necessary to inject liquid into the PP cups 5 on the positioning seat 2, the telescopic cylinder 7 is activated, which drives the mounting plate 8 at the output end of the telescopic cylinder 7 to extend, so that the liquid outlet of the five check valves 9 is located on the top of the five PP cups 5 respectively. The peristaltic pump 11 corresponding to the check valve 9 is activated, and the nursing fluid is injected from the liquid outlet of the peristaltic pump 11 into the liquid inlet of the check valve 9, and then injected into the PP cup 5 from the liquid outlet of the check valve 9, thereby realizing the liquid injection operation of the PP cups 5. Then, the operator manually places the aluminum foil on the top of the PP cups 5 respectively.

[0033] The lifting cylinder 16 is activated, causing the heating block 13 at the output end of the lifting cylinder 16 to press down, so that the PP cup 5 and the aluminum foil placed on top of the PP cup 5 are pressed tightly between the upper mold 15 and the lower mold 4. The electric heating rod 14 is activated to heat the heating block 13, and the heat is transferred to the upper mold 15 through the electric heating block 13, so that the upper mold 15 heat seals the PP cup 5 after liquid injection. The embodiment of this application uses a combination of manual feeding, automatic liquid injection and automatic heat sealing, which improves the heat sealing speed of the PP cup 5 and improves the stability of the heat sealing effect. The operator only needs to put the PP cup 5 and aluminum foil in at regular intervals, and the equipment can automatically inject a quantitative amount of liquid into the PP cup 5 and complete the heat sealing.

[0034] When the hot-melt unit heat-seals the PP cup 5 mounted on the lower mold 4 with aluminum foil, the elastic element 6 applies force to the lower mold 4, causing the aluminum foil on the end face of the PP cup 5 facing the hot-melt unit to adhere to the heat-sealing surface of the hot-melt unit, thus improving the tightness of the aluminum foil heat-sealing. At the same time, since the elastic element 6 has elastic compression, if the force applied by the hot-melt unit to the PP cup 5 and the aluminum foil is too large, the elastic element 6 will absorb part of the force when compressed, thereby reducing the possibility of excessive heat sealing of the aluminum foil on the top of the PP cup 5 and improving the heat-sealing yield of contact lenses.

[0035] This specific embodiment is merely an explanation of the present invention and is not intended to limit the invention. After reading this specification, those skilled in the art can make modifications to this embodiment without contributing any inventive step, but such modifications are protected by patent law as long as they are within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A sealing mechanism, characterized in that: The device includes a base (1), a positioning seat (2) on the base (1), a plurality of positioning grooves (3) on the positioning seat (2), a lower mold (4) matching the positioning groove (3) in each of the plurality of positioning grooves (3), a PP cup (5) on the lower mold (4), a liquid injection unit for injecting liquid into the PP cup (5) on the base (1), a buffer groove on the bottom of each of the plurality of positioning grooves (3), an elastic element (6) in the buffer groove, the elastic element (6) abutting between the lower mold (4) and the bottom of the buffer groove, and a heat-sealing unit for heat sealing the PP cup (5) after liquid injection on the base (1).

2. A closure mechanism according to claim 1, characterised in that: The liquid injection unit includes a telescopic cylinder (7) mounted on a base (1). The output end of the telescopic cylinder (7) is provided with a mounting plate (8). The mounting plate (8) is provided with a plurality of check valves (9). The liquid outlets of the plurality of check valves (9) correspond to a plurality of lower molds (4). The base (1) is provided with a liquid supply assembly for supplying liquid to the check valves (9).

3. A closure mechanism according to claim 2, wherein: The liquid supply assembly includes a mounting bracket (10) mounted on a base (1). The mounting bracket (10) is provided with a plurality of peristaltic pumps (11). The liquid outlets of the plurality of peristaltic pumps (11) are respectively connected to the liquid inlet of a check valve (9) via hoses.

4. The closure mechanism of claim 1, wherein: The hot melt unit includes a support frame (12) set on the base (1), a heating block (13) is slidably connected on the support frame (12), an electric heating rod (14) is provided inside the heating block (13), a lifting component for driving the heating block (13) to rise and fall is provided on the support frame (12), and a plurality of upper molds (15) corresponding to the lower mold (4) are provided on the surface of the heating block (13) facing the base (1), and PP cups (5) are respectively pressed between the upper molds (15) and the lower molds (4).

5. A closure mechanism according to claim 4, wherein: The lifting assembly includes a lifting cylinder (16) mounted on a support frame (12), and a heating block (13) is mounted on the output end of the lifting cylinder (16).

6. The closure mechanism of claim 4, wherein: The support frame (12) is provided with a guide rod (17), and the heating block (13) is provided with a sliding hole (19) that matches the guide rod (17). The guide rod (17) is slidably connected to the inner edge of the sliding hole (19).

7. A closure mechanism according to claim 6, wherein: A bearing (18) is provided between the sliding hole (19) and the guide rod (17), and the guide rod (17) is slidably connected to the inner edge of the bearing (18).

8. The closure mechanism of claim 1, wherein: The positioning seat (2) is provided with several mounting bolts, and the base (1) is provided with mounting grooves that match the mounting bolts. The ends of the mounting bolts facing the base (1) are respectively threaded into the mounting grooves.

9. The closure mechanism of claim 4, wherein: The positioning seat (2) is provided with a positioning pin (20), and the heating block (13) has a positioning groove (3) that matches the positioning pin (20) on its surface facing the positioning pin (20). The positioning pin (20) is partially inserted into the positioning groove (3).

10. A closure mechanism according to claim 9, characterised in that: The positioning seat (2) has a retaining ring (21) on its surface facing the heating block (13), and the lower mold (4) is located between the retaining ring (21) and the positioning groove (3).

Images