Ultrasonic Sealing Anvil Profiles for Packaging Material
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Solution Overview
Problem
The ultrasonic sealing technology faces challenges in controlling the sealing process at the TS-LS cross due to variations in pressure distribution and material thickness, leading to potential defects that can affect food safety, especially in roll-fed packaging machines where the anvil design must handle both two- and three-layer regions of packaging material.
Innovation Solution
The design of an anvil with specific profiles for two- and three-layer regions, featuring a ridge, support surface, and release surface, allows for balanced pressure and heating distribution, using asymmetric transitions to manage pressure gradients and prevent overheating, thereby ensuring uniform sealing across different material thicknesses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a fixed anvil design is used for ultrasonic sealing, then the device complexity is reduced, but the sealing uniformity across two- and three-layer regions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The anvil incorporates different surface profiles in different regions: a first profile for two-layer regions and a second profile for three-layer regions. This local differentiation allows each region to receive optimized pressure distribution tailored to its specific material thickness, achieving uniform sealing quality across varying layer configurations without increasing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The anvil surface is segmented into distinct zones with different geometric profiles. The first profile region applies higher pressure suitable for thinner two-layer sections, while the second profile region applies lower pressure appropriate for thicker three-layer sections. This segmentation enables precise control of pressure distribution across the sealing surface.
2Reliability
If higher sealing pressure is applied to compensate for material variations, then the sealing reliability improves, but the risk of material damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The anvil applies locally adapted pressure through different surface profiles. In two-layer regions, the first profile concentrates pressure to ensure reliable sealing. In three-layer regions, the second profile distributes pressure more evenly to prevent material damage. This local quality approach maintains sealing reliability while minimizing harmful effects on the packaged material.
3Ease of manufacture
If the anvil uses a single pressure distribution profile, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the adaptability to different material thicknesses deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The anvil incorporates multiple pressure distribution profiles (first and second profiles) in different regions to adapt to varying material thicknesses. Despite this increased complexity, the profiles are integrated into a single anvil component, maintaining reasonable manufacturability through conventional machining or molding processes while significantly improving adaptability to different packaging material configurations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution achieves uniform heating and sealing results across two- and three-layer regions, reduces the risk of material damage, and enhances the robustness of the sealing system against variations in material position, while also improving energy efficiency and reducing the risk of leakage.
Implementation Method 1
generating ultrasonic vibrations by using the sonotrode of the ultrasonic generating device, such that the plastic foil of the packaging material in the transversal sealing section at least partly melts
Implementation Method 2
The ultrasonic sealing is formed by applying a pressure and generating heat by inducing ultrasonic oscillations in to the area to be sealed
Implementation Method 3
The applied pressure fuses together the packaging material so as to form an hermetic seal
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The present invention relates to an anvil (402) of an ultrasonic sealing system (200) for sealing a transversal sealing section (302) of a tube (112) of packaging material. The transversal sealing section (302) comprises a first transversal edge section (304), a longitudinal sealing (LS) section (306) and a second transversal edge section (308), said anvil (402) comprising: a ridge (410) extending along a first axis (A1) of the anvil (402), a release surface (414) extending along the first axis of the anvil (402), and a support surface (412) extending along the first axis of the anvil (402) and arranged between the ridge (410) and the release surface (414), wherein the anvil (402) comprises a first and a second side section (420, 428), a middle section (424), a first transition section (422) arranged between the first side section (420) and the middle section (424), and a second transition section (426) arranged between the middle section (424) and the second side section (428), wherein, in the first and second side section (420, 428), the ridge (410), the release surface (414) and the support surface (412) follows a first profile (416), wherein, in the middle section (424), the ridge (410), the release surface (414) and the support surface (412) follows a second profile (418), wherein a height of the ridge (410) and the support surface (412) in the first profile (416) is greater than a respective height in the second profile (418), and a height of the release surface (414) in the first profile (416) is the same as in the second profile (418).