Machine for sealing carton

Abstract

A packaging apparatus forms a completely sealed composite package. The apparatus employs a continuous process which involves conditioning a surface of the package substrate. The substrate includes an adhesive coating that can be reactivated by infra-red radiation and adheres the package substrate to a juxtaposed face of a second surface. The apparatus uses rollers ( 102, 104, 118, 120 ) to compress the two surfaces together to complete the construction process.

1 . A method of adhering a plurality of first and second surfaces together comprising the steps of,
 (a) sequentially supplying the first and second surfaces to a conveyor means,   (b) conveying the first surface to means for conditioning the first surface such that it can be adhered to the second surface, and/or   (c) bringing one each of said first and second surfaces into pressure contact so that adhesive portions of the first surface are adhered to a juxtaposed face of the second surface wherein at two of the sequential first surfaces are conditioned simutaneously and are in continuous motion during the conditioning step and said one each of the first and second surfaces are in continuous motion during pressure contact.   
   
   
       2 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the first surface comprises an adhesive coating which is conditioned by heat. 
   
   
       3 . A method according to  claim 2  wherein the means for conditioning the first surface comprises a heating element. 
   
   
       4 . A method according to  claim 2  wherein the second surface comprise an adhesive coating which is conditioned by heat and the sequence of second surfaces is conveyed to a heating element for conditioning of the adhesive coating. 
   
   
       5 . A method according to  claims 1 , wherein the first surface forms a front panel of an outer package and the second surface forms a first surface of an article, and wherein the article is to be secured within the outer package, wherein the method comprises the further steps of:
 conveying the rear panel to a conditioning means for conditioning means for conditioning such that it can be adhered to the second article surface and   bringing the rear panel and the second article surface into pressure contact so that adhesive portions of the rear panel are adhered to the second article surface thereby adhesively securing the article within the outer package.   
   
   
       6 . A method according to  claim 3 wherein the heating element emits infra-red radiation. 
   
   
       7 . A method according to any preceding  claim 1  wherein the steps of conditioning the first surface and bringing the first surface and second surface into pressure contact occur substantially simultaneously. 
   
   
       8 . A method according to any preceding  claim 1  wherein the steps of bringing the first surface and second surface into pressure contact is facilitated by a pair of rollers and said first and second surfaces are compressed between the rollers. 
   
   
       9 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the heating element conditions the adhesive coating by convection. 
   
   
       10 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the method further comprises the step of monitoring the condition of at least one of the first and second surface, and preventing the first and second surface being brought into pressure contact if the integrity of said at least one surface is outside pre-determiner criteria. 
   
   
       11 . A method according to  claim 9  wherein the steps are coordinated by a control means. 
   
   
       12 . A method of monitoring the integrity of a first surface of an object which is to be adhered to a second surface of said article, comprising the steps of:
 (a) using at least one sensor to monitor the integrity of the first surface,   (b) sending a signal to a control means indicating the integrity of the first surface,   (c) preventing the first and second surface from being brought into pressure contact if the integrity of the first and/or second surface is outside predetermined criteria,   (d) rejecting said object if the first surfaces do not comply with the predetermined criteria.   
   
   
       13 . A method according to  claims 12  wherein the integrity of the first surface is monitored by measuring the temperature of the first surface prior to bringing the first and second surfaces into pressure contact. 
   
   
       14 . A method according to  claims 13  wherein the purpose of monitoring the first surface is to determine if the first surface has been conditioned sufficiently to adhere it to said second surface. 
   
   
       15 . A method according to  claim 1  comprising a series of steps before the step of supplying the first and second surfaces to the conveyor means, the series comprising the steps of:
 (a) determining if the conditioning means is ready for conditioning the first surface,   (b) if so then, supplying a test surface to the conveyor means, conveying the test surface to the conditioning means, and monitoring the integrity of the test surface when it is conveyed from the conditioning means,   (c) if the integrity of the test surface is within predetermined criteria, supplying the first and second surfaces to the conveyor means, and   (d) if the conditioning means is not ready to condition the first surface, then causing an alert to be issued that the conditioning means is not so ready.   
   
   
       16 . An apparatus for adhering first and second surfaces together the apparatus comprising a conveyor means for conveying the first surface to conditioning means for conditioning the first surface such that the first surface has an adhesive property, means for applying the second surface to the first surface such that when they are brought into pressure contact the first and second surfaces are adhered together, and means for applying pressure to both the first and second surfaces characterized in that the conveying means is adapted to keep the first surface in continuous motion during the conditioning process and to keep the first and second surfaces in continuous motion during pressure contact. 
   
   
       17 . An apparatus according to  claim 16  wherein the means for conditioning the first surface comprises a heating element. 
   
   
       18 . An apparatus according to  claim 17  wherein the second surface comprises an adhesive coating which is conditioned by heat and conveyor means is provided to convey the second surface to a heating element. 
   
   
       19 . An apparatus according to  claim 16  wherein a pair of rolers are provided for compressing he first and second surfaces together. 
   
   
       20 . An apparatus according to  claim 16  wherein the heating element emits infra-red radiation. 
   
   
       21 . An apparatus according to  claim 16  further comprising means for conducting an intial warm up run wherein the conditioning means is assessed for its readiness to condition the first surface by conveyong a test surface to the conditioning means for conditioning the test surface and then monitoring the intedrity of the test surface, and means automatically to prevent the firsr surface from being conveyed to the conditioning apparatus if the test surface is impaired. 
   
   
       22 . An apparatus according to  claim 16  wherein there further comprises a system for monitoring the integrity of the first surface wherein said monitoring system comprises at least one sensor being coupled to the control means for recieving a signal from the at least one sensor, wherein the control means analyses the signal and determines wheter or not the integrity of the first surface complies with predetermined criteria. 
   
   
       23 . (canceled) 
   
   
       24 . An apparatus according to  claim 22  wherein the control means prevents the second surface from being brought into contacting relationship with the first surface. 
   
   
       25 . An apparatus according to  claim 23  wherein the control means causes an object comprising the first surface to be rejected for not complying with said predetermined criteria. 
   
   
       26 . An apparatus for monitoring the integrity of a first surface of an object which is to be adhered to a second surface of said objectcomprising:
 at least one sensor to monitor the integrity of the first surface, the at least one sensor being coupled to a control means for receiving a signal from the or each sensor indicating the integrity of the first surface,   a means for preventing the first and second surfaces from being brought into pressure contact if the integrity of the first and/or second surface is outside predetermined criteria, and/or   a means for rejecting the object if the first surface does not comply with the predetermined criteria.   
   
   
       27 . An apparatus according to  claims 26  wherein the integrity of the first surface is monitored by measuring the temperature of the first surface and the predetermined criteria is a temperature range at which an adhesive bond between the first and second surfaces is achieved. 
   
   
       28 . An apparatus according to  claim 26  wherein the integrity of the first surface is monitored prior to bringing the first and second surfaces into pressure contact. 
   
   
       29 . An apparatus according to  claims 26  wherein the purpose of monitoring the first surface is to determine if the first surface has been conditioned sufficiently to adhere it to the second surface. 
   
   
       30 . (canceled) 
   
   
       31 . (canceled) 
   
   
       32 . (canceled) 
   
   
       33 . (canceled) 
   
   
       34 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first surface forms a front panel of an outer package and the second surface forms a first surface of an article, and wherein the outer package comprises a rear panel surface and the article has a second article surface, wherein the method comprises the further steps of:
 conveying the rearr panel to a conditionong means for conditioning such that it can be adhered to the second article surface and   bringing the rear panel and the second article surface into pressure contact so that adhesive portions of the rear panel are ahered to the second article surface thereby adhesively securing the article within outer package.   
   
   
       35 . A method according to  claim 1  comprising a series of steps before the step of supplying the first and second surfaces to the conveyor means, the series comprising the steps of:
 (a) determining if the conditioning means is ready for conditioning the first surface,   (b) if so then, supplying a test surface to the conveyor means, conveying the test surface to the conditioning means, and monitoring the integrity of the test surface when it is conveyed from the conditioning means,   (c) if the integrity of the test surface is outside predetermined criteria, preventing said first and second surfaces from being supplied to the conveyor, and   (d) if the conditioning means is not ready to condition the first surface, then causing an alert to be issused that the conditioning means is not so ready.