Impulse Heat Sealing Jaws with Integrated Cooling for Film Pouches
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heat sealing systems are unsuitable for producing pouches with metal-free heat-sealable film materials, as they cause local stretching and deformation due to the lack of a metallic layer, leading to film damage and reduced seal quality.
Innovation Solution
The system employs impulse heatable susceptor elements with inductors and a high-frequency electric current source to generate a controlled heat impulse for sealing, keeping the jaws clamped during both heating and cooling to prevent distortion and enhance cooling efficiency, eliminating the need for additional cooling stations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional hot-bar sealing with continuously heated jaws is used, then sealing function is achieved, but local stretching and deformation occur due to lack of metallic layer support
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action by using impulse heating instead of continuous heating. The sealing jaws are heated only during the brief moment when they are clamped on the film material, and then quickly cooled before the next sealing cycle. This periodic heating-cooling action prevents the film material from being exposed to heat for extended periods, thereby eliminating local stretching and deformation while maintaining effective sealing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-cooling the sealing jaws before they contact the film material. The jaws are rapidly cooled by a cooling device immediately after the heating impulse, ensuring they are in a cool state before clamping the next section of film. This preliminary cooling prevents heat transfer to the film material during positioning and clamping, avoiding distortion.
2Productivity
If jaw opening speed is increased to maintain production rate, then productivity is improved, but film material damage increases due to pull force on softened film
Solution Approach 1:
The periodic heating-cooling cycle ensures that the film material is heated and sealed only during the brief clamped position, then quickly cooled while still clamped. This rapid cooling restores the film's strength before the jaws open, allowing the jaws to move at high speed without causing damage to the softened film material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuity of useful action by keeping the jaws clamped on the film material throughout the entire heating and cooling process. The cooling device operates continuously during the clamped position, ensuring the film is cooled and strengthened before jaw opening. This continuous clamping action eliminates interruptions and allows for high-speed operation without film damage.
3Reliability
If continuously heated jaws are used, then sealing function is maintained, but energy consumption increases due to constant heating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dramatically reduces energy consumption by replacing continuous heating with periodic impulse heating. The heating element operates only during the brief moment when the jaws are clamped on the film material (typically fractions of a second), rather than maintaining continuous heat. The cooling device then rapidly removes the heat while the jaws remain clamped, preparing the jaws for the next cycle without requiring continuous energy input.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements discarding and recovering by rapidly discarding the heat energy through the cooling device immediately after the sealing impulse. The cooling system quickly removes the thermal energy from the jaws while they are still clamped on the film, converting the thermal energy to be dissipated into a controlled cooling process that prepares the jaws for the next sealing cycle without waste.
4Temperature
If additional cooling stations are added downstream, then seal cooling is achieved, but system size and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cooling function into the sealing jaws themselves by integrating a cooling device directly into the jaw structure. The cooling device operates while the jaws are clamped on the film material, combining the sealing and cooling functions in a single integrated unit. This eliminates the need for separate downstream cooling stations, reducing system size and complexity while achieving effective seal cooling.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing jaws are designed with multi-functionality, serving both as the heating element during the impulse sealing phase and as the cooling element during the subsequent cooling phase. The same jaws that apply heat for sealing also apply cooling to the sealed region, eliminating the need for dedicated cooling equipment and simplifying the overall system architecture.
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 approach allows for efficient and high-quality heat sealing of metal-free film materials with reduced film damage, improved seal quality, and increased production rates, while also reducing the system's size and energy consumption.
Implementation Method 1
the inductor generates a high frequency electromagnetic field with the inductor, wherein the high frequency electromagnetic field induces eddy currents in the susceptor element
Implementation Method 2
induces eddy currents in the susceptor element generating an impulse of heat
Implementation Method 3
eddy currents in the susceptor element generating an impulse of heat
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A sealing system for heat sealing superimposed walls of heat-sealable film material, e.g. in the production of pouches. The sealing section comprises two or more sealing stations arranged in series along a linear path for the superimposed walls dispensed from an infeed section. Each sealing station comprises a sealing device with first and second jaws and an actuator device to move the jaws between an opened position and a clamped position. Each sealing device comprises a motion device that is configured to move the first and second jaws in synchronicity with the superimposed walls when clamped between the first and second jaws. Each sealing station has a cooling device that is configured to continuously cool at least one of the jaws. At least each first jaw comprises at the respective front surface thereof at least one impulse heatable member embodied as a susceptor element that extends along the respective front surface. Each sealing station is configured to perform an integrated impulse sealing and cooling cycle.