U.S. patent application number 10/826710 was filed with the patent office on 2004-10-07 for spliced continuous strip of packets.
Invention is credited to Dick, Stefan O., Kimura, Tateshi, Young, Robert W..
Application Number | 20040195136 10/826710 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27732246 |
Filed Date | 2004-10-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040195136 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Young, Robert W. ; et
al. |
October 7, 2004 |
Spliced continuous strip of packets
Abstract
A continuous strip of packets or bags used to hold bulk material
formed by processes including ultrasonic welding, impulse splicing,
adhesive binding and other such processes. Also disclosed is
equipment to produce these spliced products.
Inventors: |
Young, Robert W.; (Belen,
NM) ; Kimura, Tateshi; (Louisville, KY) ;
Dick, Stefan O.; (Albuquerque, NM) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Scott R. Cox
400 West Market St., Ste. 2200
Louisville
KY
40202
US
|
Family ID: |
27732246 |
Appl. No.: |
10/826710 |
Filed: |
April 16, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10826710 |
Apr 16, 2004 |
|
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|
10068342 |
Feb 5, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
206/484 ;
206/820 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65B 61/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/484 ;
206/820 |
International
Class: |
B65B 031/00; B65D
073/00 |
Claims
1. A spliced continuous strip of packets used to hold bulk material
prepared by a process of forming a continuous strip of packets from
packaging material and filling the packets with bulk material
wherein adjacent packets share a common sealed area of packaging
material, forming openings in the common sealed areas between
adjacent packets, cutting the continuous strip entirely across the
common sealed area of the packets at two separate locations on the
continuous strip to form cut ends, wherein each of the cut ends of
the continuous strip contains one of the openings in the common
sealed area, and without using splicing tape, splicing together the
two cut ends of the continuous strip with openings such that the
openings overlap.
2. The spliced continuous strip of packets of claim 1 wherein the
two cut ends of the continuous strip are spliced together by an
ultrasonic welding process.
3. The spliced continuous strip of packets of claim 1 wherein the
two cut ends of the continuous strip are spliced together by
heating the sealed areas of the cut ends of the continuous strip to
melt or partially melt the cut ends of the continuous strip
together.
4. The spliced continuous strip of packets of claim 3 wherein the
heating step uses an impulse heating process.
5. The spliced continuous strip of packets of claim 1 wherein the
two ends of the continuous strip are spliced together by use of an
adhesive material.
6. The spliced continuous strip of packets of claim 2 wherein the
ultrasonic welding process utilizes an ultra sonic welding device
comprising an anvil comprising a base to which is secured a pin and
an ultrasonic energy generator element comprising a hand piece, a
horn and a power supply, wherein the horn is secured to one end of
the hand piece, and wherein the horn comprises a resonator element
and an opening at one end of the horn.
7. The spliced continuous strip of packets of claim 4 wherein the
impulse heating process utilizes an impulse heating machine
comprising a pair of arms joined together, each containing a base,
wherein one of the bases comprises a lower surface element
containing a pin and the other base comprises an upper surface and
an opening complimentary with the pin of the lower surface, and a
source for transmitting energy to the bases.
8. The spliced continuous strip of packets of claim 6 wherein the
ultra sonic welding device further comprises guide sides connected
to at least one of the bases.
9. The spliced continuous strip of packets of claim 7 wherein the
impulse heating machine further comprises guide sides connected to
at least one of the bases.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional application of application
Ser. No. 10/068,342, filed on Feb. 5, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of Invention
[0003] This invention relates to a spliced continuous strip of
packets used to hold granular bulk material. More particularly, the
invention relates to a spliced continuous strip of packets, wherein
cut ends of the continuous strip of packets are spliced utilizing
heat or ultrasonic energy. The invention also relates to devices
used to splice the cut ends of a continuous strip of packets.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Continuous strips of material or webs are manufactured for
many uses. One such use is for the manufacture of continuous strips
of packets or bags containing bulk materials such as desiccants or
deodorizers. For example, a continuous strip of packets of a
deoxidizing agent are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,002. In use,
one or more of the individual packets of this product are severed
from the continuous strip and placed with or in a container to
deoxidize the air associated therewith or contained therein.
[0006] Another continuous strip of packets containing bulk material
is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,521, wherein the packets are
formed from a heat fusible material. The strip of packets contains
perforations between each individual packet which perforations can
be used to trigger an automatic cutting machine to sever the packet
from the strip. The packets of this strip preferably contain a
desiccant material.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 3,189,227 discloses a continuous strip of
packets, each of which contain a single dosage of a drug or
ointment. Other continuous strips of packets of products are
disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,751,875, 3,254,828,
4,467,207, 4,680,205, 4,844,956, 4,907,393, 5,157,902 and
5,887,722.
[0008] The types of products that are conventionally loaded into
these packets or bags include desiccants, odor absorbers, oxygen
absorbers and the like. Many of these packets or bags are formed
from packaging materials which allow air to flow through the
packaging material to permit the desiccant or absorber contained
therein to remove certain material(s) from the air, such as water,
oxygen or odors.
[0009] Form-fill-and-seal machines are commonly used to produce
these continuous strips of packets. Conventionally, these machines
form a packet by a process of sealing the continuous length of
material to itself, filling packets formed by that sealing process
with a bulk material and finally, sealing the remaining open end of
the packets. Different technologies can be used to form the seals
on these packets, depending on the type and composition of the
packaging material and the method of formation of the packets.
Pressure, heat or some form of sealing energy can be applied to the
packaging material, such as by means of heated seal bars, impulse
sealers or ultrasonic heater to create the seals. Usually these
packets have three seal areas where the packaging material that is
used to produce the packets is sealed to itself: two end seals and
one edge seal, generally on the back of the packet. After formation
and filling with the bulk material, the packets are generally used
either as single packets or in the form of a continuous strip that
is wound onto a reel or fan-folded into a box for storage and
shipping.
[0010] During the manufacture of these packets, there are
frequently situations when the form-fill-and-seal machine must be
stopped during a production run due to mechanical or electrical
problems, scheduled maintenance or adjustments to the packets. In
addition, for quality control and for other reasons, the packets
from the continuous strip must often be removed for sampling.
[0011] In order to insure that the specified minimum number of
packets are present on a continuous strip, or a reel or in a
packaging box for the packets, there are often situations when two
ends of the continuous strip must be spliced together. Further, if
a sample must be removed from the continuous strip, the loose ends
of the continuous strip, which are produced by the sampling
process, must be spliced together to reform the continuous strip.
In addition, if a problem occurs during processing of the
continuous strip which results in damage to one or more packets, it
is necessary to cut out the damaged packet(s) from the continuous
strip necessitating the splicing of the two remaining ends of the
continuous strip.
[0012] The traditional method used to splice two ends of a
continuous strip of packets together is to use a section of
adhesive tape to connect the two loose ends. In fact, some
consumers of these packets require use of a colored piece of
adhesive tape to splice the loose ends of a continuous strip
together to indicate where the splice exists in the continuous
strip.
[0013] The use of tape to seal continuous strips of material is
disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,859,270 and 6,076,671.
A process for splicing a continuous web of paper using an adhesive
tape is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,205. Splicing continuous
webs of material with an adhesive is also disclosed in U.S. Pat.
Nos. 6,264,130 and 5,253,819. Other splicing processes are
disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,468,321 and 6,086,806.
[0014] The process of splicing the ends of other compositions of
material is also well known. However, the splicing of these
materials is not relevant to the splicing of a continuous packaging
material for a number of reasons, including the significant
differences in the composition of the materials used to form the
continuous strip. As an example of the splicing of these dissimilar
products, photographic film is often spliced, as disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 3,556,912 and 5,064,488. The splicing of a soft paper web
material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,502 and the splicing
of endless rubber belts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,182,169,
2,500,273 and 2,702,070. An apparatus for preparing and positioning
a continuous roll of material which contains a recurring pattern
for splicing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,197. However, this
patent does not disclose the method of splicing the two ends of the
material together.
[0015] As stated above, the conventional method for splicing loose
ends of a continuous strip of packets containing bulk material,
such as desiccants, is by using an adhesive tape. These packets,
especially desiccant packets, are widely used in the
pharmaceutical, nutritional and diagnostic industry. The packets
are packaged with the finished goods to provide moisture control
and avoid moisture induced degradation of the packaged
products.
[0016] Modern packaging facilities for pharmaceutical, nutritional
and diagnostic products run at high speed and require a reliable
and fast method of insertion of these individual packets into the
packaging for these products, which packaging may be in the form of
a bottle, vial or box. The most common method to dispense these
packets into the packaging is by use of a machine that cuts the
continuous strip of desiccant packets and dispenses the cut
individual packets into the packaging. To assure a reliable cutting
and dispensing process, the dispensing machine needs a method to
sense where the individual packets of the continuous strip begin
and end. Some methods for sensing can, for example, measure the
length of the packets or the thickness of the packets. (The portion
of the packets containing the bulk material is thicker than the
seal area separating the packets.) These methods of sensing have
disadvantages because the sensor can be confused by the variability
of the packet length or fill volume. This confusion can result in a
packet being cut in the portion of the packet containing the fill
material instead of at the seal area between two individual
packets. This type of cutting error results in down time for the
packaging line, spill of the bulk material and potential
contamination of the product being packaged.
[0017] The most advanced method to solve this sensing problem
utilizes a continuous strip of bulk material containing punch holes
in the seal area between the individual packets as shown, for
example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,521 and Japanese Patent No.
9,099,974. This punch hole is then sensed by a light sensor at the
dispensing unit. The sensor senses where the seal area between the
packets is located and cuts the packet at that location. The light
sensor senses this location by sensing differences in light
transmission through the packets and through the holes between the
individual packets. This difference is so large that this light
sensor generally only needs minimal adjustment during processing
and is very reliable.
[0018] Notwithstanding the advances in the processes for accurately
cutting individual packets of bulk material, it is almost
unavoidable that continuous strips will contain splices between
some of the individual packets. As stated above, the conventional
method for splicing the ends of a continuous strip that is accepted
in the industry is by taping the cut ends using a colored piece of
tape. However, the presence of even a few such taped splices can be
detrimental. In fact, oftentimes the consumer of these continuous
strips demands that the continuous strip contain no more than a
small number of such taped splices. If too many taped splices are
present, the entire continuous strip may be rejected. Further,
there are often significant problems when adhesive tape is used to
form these splices. For example, conventional adhesive tape is not
as strong as the original uncut packaging material used in the
continuous strip. The use of adhesive tape also requires stopping
the packet dispensing machines to remove the spliced tape. Further,
the tape material does not have the same physical characteristics
as the material that forms the packet, such as permeability. In
addition, a taped packet is not as visually appealing to a consumer
as a non-taped packet. Finally, the adhesive tape sometimes jams
the dispensing machine and does not have as long a life expectancy
as that of an untaped seal.
[0019] Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to develop
spliced continuous strips of packaging material which solve these
problems.
[0020] It is a further object of the invention to disclose a
spliced continuous strip of packets or bags holding bulk materials,
which are formed by a process which does not utilize tape to seal
the cut ends thereof.
[0021] It is a still further object of the invention to disclose a
spliced continuous strip of packets or bags used to hold bulk
materials formed by a process which utilizes ultrasonic welding as
the splicing method.
[0022] It is a still further object of the invention to disclose a
spliced continuous strip of packets or bags used to hold bulk
material formed by a process whereby the two cut ends are heated
and melted or partially melted together.
[0023] It is a still further object of the invention to disclose a
spliced continuous strip of packets or bags used to hold bulk
materials, wherein the two cut ends are joined by use of an
adhesive material.
[0024] These and further objects of the invention are obtained from
the products produced by the processes for production disclosed
herein and products used with these processes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0025] The present invention is a spliced continuous strip of
packets or bags used to hold bulk material prepared by a process
comprising
[0026] forming a continuous strip of packets from packaging
material and filling the packets with the bulk material, sealing
the ends of the packaging material to form individual packets of
the continuous strip, wherein the individual packets share a common
sealed area of packaging material, forming an opening in the common
sealed area between adjacent packets, cutting the continuous strip
entirely across the sealed area of the packets at two separate
locations on the continuous strip, wherein each of two remaining
cut ends of the continuous strip comprise a sealed section with an
opening in that sealed section, and, without using tape, splicing
together the two sealed sections of the continuous strip such that
the openings in the cut ends of the sealed sections overlap leaving
a single opening in the spliced section of the continuous
strip.
[0027] In one preferred embodiment the two sealed sections are
spliced together by use of ultrasonic welding.
[0028] In another preferred embodiment the two sealed sections are
spliced by heating to melt, or partially melt, the sealed sections
of the continuous strip together.
[0029] In a further preferred embodiment, the two sealed sections
are spliced together by use of an adhesive.
[0030] The invention further encompasses an impulse splicing device
useful for splicing a pair of ends of a continuous strip of packets
used to hold bulk materials wherein each of the ends of the
continuous strip includes an opening in a sealed section, wherein
the device comprises a pair of connected arms, each containing a
base, wherein one of the bases on one of the arms comprises a lower
surface element, a pin secured to the lower surface element and
guiding sides secured to the lower surface area, wherein the second
base comprises an upper surface element with an opening therein,
which upper surface area is secured to the second arm, and wherein
the device further comprises an energy supply mechanism connected
to the pair of arms to supply energy for melting or partially
melting the ends of the continuous strip of packets when the ends
are placed between the two bases, the two bases are pressed
together and the energy supplying mechanism supplies energy to the
bases.
[0031] In a further preferred embodiment the invention further
comprises an ultrasonic welding tool useful for the splicing of a
pair of ends of a continuous strip of packets used to hold bulk
materials, wherein each of the ends of the continuous strip
includes an opening in a sealed section, wherein the device
comprises an anvil element comprising a base to which is secured a
pin and guiding sides and an ultrasonic energy generator element
comprising a hand piece, a horn secured to an end of the hand
piece, wherein the horn comprises a resonator element and an
opening at one end of the horn, and a power supply to supply energy
to the horn.
DRAWINGS
[0032] FIG. 1 is a top view of a continuous strip of packets
containing bulk material.
[0033] FIG. 2 is a top view of the continuous strip of packets of
FIG. 1 cut into two sections, each section ending with a sealed
area.
[0034] FIG. 3 is a side view of the two sections of the continuous
strip of packets of FIG. 2 with the sealed area at the end of one
section placed directly above the sealed area at the end of the
other section.
[0035] FIG. 4 is an impulse splicing device for splicing the sealed
areas of two cut end sections of a continuous strip of packets.
[0036] FIG. 5 is an ultrasonic splicing device for splicing the
sealed areas of two cut end sections of a continuous strip of
packets.
[0037] FIG. 6a is a top view of an anvil for use with the
ultrasonic splicing device of FIG. 5.
[0038] FIG. 6b is a side view of the anvil of FIG. 6a.
[0039] FIG. 6c is an end view of the anvil of FIG. 6a.
[0040] FIG. 7a is a front view of a horn, which is secured to one
end of a hand piece of the ultrasonic splicing device of FIG.
5.
[0041] FIG. 7b is a side view of the horn of FIG. 7a.
[0042] FIG. 7c is an end view of the horn of FIG. 7a.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0043] The invention includes spliced continuous strips of packets
or bags used to hold bulk material and devices useful to form those
spliced continuous strips of packets or bags. Bulk materials, such
as desiccants, odor absorbers, oxygen absorbers, and the like are
often packaged in individual packets, bags, or canisters. These
packets or bags are often produced from a continuous strip of
packaging material. For example, continuous strips of desiccant
packets, having a fill weight ranging from as little as 0.125 grams
to 10 grams or more, are prepared for use in a variety of
applications, such as pharmaceutical, nutritional, diagnostic and
storage. These packets are formed from a continuous packaging
material which allows air to flow through the packet, for example,
GDT-2, GDT-3, and GDT-4 manufactured by San-Ai Ltd. or TYVEK.RTM.,
manufactured by DuPont. These packets or bags are formed using a
conventional form-fill-and-seal machine. These machines form these
packets by sealing the packaging material to itself, introducing
bulk material into the individual packets and sealing the open end
of the packets together. Different technologies have been used to
seal the ends of the packets depending on the type, composition and
use of the fill material. For example in one embodiment pressure
and heat are applied to the material by means of heated seal bars
to seal the packaging material and form the packets. Alternatively,
an impulse sealer or ultrasonic heating element may be used to form
the seals of these packets.
[0044] In the process of use of the form-fill-and-seal machine, a
continuous strip (10) of the individual packets as shown, for
example in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is formed. The continuous strip (10) is
comprised of individual packets (20), each of which consists of
that portion of the packet (20) which holds the bulk material (22)
and sealed areas (24) at the ends of the packets (20) which exist
between the individual packets (20) holding the bulk material.
Placed approximately in the center of each sealed area (24) is
preferably an opening (26). To insure a reliable cutting and
dispensing process, the dispensing machine for the continuous strip
(10) of packets utilizes a sensor to sense this opening (26) in the
individual packets (20) and to cut the continuous strip (10)
through this opening (26) to form the individual packets. The
sensor utilized with the continuous strip (10) is a light sensor
which senses the openings (26) in the sealed area (24).
[0045] During the manufacture of the packets (20), it is often
necessary that the form-fill-and-seal machine must be stopped
during a production run due to mechanical or electrical problems,
scheduled maintenance, feed problems, fill weight adjustments and
the like. In addition, individual packets must periodically be
sampled to check for quality. To sample the packets the continuous
strip (10) is cut during these stoppages to remove an individual
packet (20). While these stops do not affect the production of the
packets (20) as a whole, they do result in the production of cut
ends (28, 29) of the continuous strip (10) as shown in FIGS. 2 and
3. In order to assure the specified minimum number of packets (20)
in the continuous strip (10), the cut ends (28, 29) of the
continuous strip (10) must be spliced together. The conventional
preferred method for splicing cut ends (28, 29) of a continuous
strip (10) together is by placing a piece of colored adhesive tape
over both cut ends (28, 29). This tape method creates various
problems, including the tape not being as strong as the original
uncut strip, the tape must be removed prior to utilization of the
individual packet (20) to which the tape has been attached, the
taped packet is not as visually appealing to the consumer and the
tape cannot be utilized with certain pharmaceutical products
because of fear of contamination of the pharmaceutical products by
the tape.
[0046] Accordingly, the invention is spliced continuous strips of
packets produced by splicing the cut ends (28, 29) of a continuous
strip (10) of packets or bags used to hold bulk material using the
processes of the invention, which processes replace the
conventional adhesive tape method for sealing of these cut ends
(28, 29) of the continuous strip (10). In one preferred embodiment,
the process used to seal the cut ends (28, 29) of the continuous
strip (10) utilizes an impulse splicing machine as shown in FIG. 4.
The process for splicing the cut ends (28, 29) of a continuous
strip (10) of packets or bags (20) used to hold bulk material
utilizing an impulse splicing mechanism begins with the formation
of the continuous strip of packets or bags from packaging material,
filling those packets or bags with the bulk material and sealing
the ends of the packaging material to form the continuous strip
(10) of individual packets (20) as shown in FIG. 1. The continuous
strip (10) is then cut at least twice across the sealed area (24)
at a location chosen so that each exposed end (28, 29) of the
continuous strip (10) includes a hole (26) in a sealed area (24).
This cut results in the loss of at least one of the individual
packets and creates two ends (28, 29), each containing a sealed
area (24), as shown in FIG. 2. The respective sealed areas (24) of
the two ends (28, 29) are placed one on top of the other with the
holes (26) in the respective sealed areas (24) being aligned above
each other, as shown in FIG. 3.
[0047] The impulse splicing machine (30) as shown in FIG. 4
consists of a pair of arms (32, 34) joined together in such a
manner as to permit the rotation of one arm (32) in relation to the
other arm (34) and a power supply (48) secured by wire to one of
the arms (32) of the impulse splicing machine (30). At the ends of
each of the arms (32, 34) are secured the elements of the impulse
splicing machine (30) which are useful for splicing the ends of the
continuous strip (10). At the end of one of the arms (32) is
secured an upper base (36). A lower base (38) is secured at the end
of the other arm (34). These upper and lower bases (36, 38) receive
and hold the sealed areas (24) of the continuous strip (10) during
splicing.
[0048] The lower base (38) includes a pin (40) over which the holes
(26) in the sealed area (24) of the ends (28, 29) of the continuous
strip (10) are placed. The lower base (38) also contains raised
guide sides (42) which guide the side edges (21) of the continuous
strip (10) and hold them in place so that the sealed areas (24) of
the continuous strip (10) can be properly aligned and then sealed.
The upper base (36) contains a complimentary opening (44) in an
upper surface (46) of the upper base (36), which opening (44) fits
over the pin (40) in the lower base (38). When in use the upper
base (36) is pressed against the lower base (38) and energy is
applied to heat the two sealed areas (24) and form the seal between
the two portions of the continuous strip (10). Of course, the
components of the upper base (36) can also be secured to the lower
base (38) and the components of the lower base (38) can be secured
to the upper base (36).
[0049] In use the continuous strip (10) is cut to the design
specifications as shown in FIG. 2 such that each of the ends (28,
29) of the sealed areas (24) of the continuous strip (10) contain
an opening (26) as shown in FIG. 2. Each of these ends (28, 29) is
then placed in the position that is shown in FIG. 3. Each of these
ends (28, 29) is then placed over the pin (40) in the lower base
(38). The guide sides (42) in the lower base (38) hold the ends
(28, 29) and sides (21) of the continuous strip (10) in proper
position for splicing. The upper base (36) is then rotated downward
such that it is pressed firmly against the lower base (38) holding
the two ends (28, 29) of the continuous strip (10) securely in a
proper position for splicing. An activator (50) then activates the
power from the power supply (48) and directs it to the upper and
lower bases (36, 38). The amount of energy utilized is sufficient
to heat and melt the sealed areas (24) together and form a strong
seal between the individual ends (28, 29) of the continuous strip
(10). The energy from the activator (48) is adjusted so that a
sufficiently hot temperature is reached between the upper base (36)
and the lower base (38) such that the two ends (28, 29) of the
continuous strip melt together and form a strong seal. The seal
that is formed is then allowed to cool in place so that the spliced
seal properly cures before the upper base (36) is rotated away from
the lower base (38) of the impulse splicing machine (30). The seal
that is formed is then inspected for appearance and strength and
the continuous strip (10) is then returned to normal operation.
[0050] Another device used to form the spliced continuous strips of
packets utilizes ultrasonic splicing equipment (60) as shown in
FIGS. 5, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7a, 7b and 7c. The ultrasonic splicing
equipment (60) of FIG. 5 is comprised of an anvil element (62) (see
FIGS. 6a, 6b and 6c), a hand piece (64) with horn (66) (see FIGS.
7a, 7b and 7c) and a power supply (76), which is attached by an
extended wire to the hand piece (64) as shown in FIG. 5.
[0051] When using this ultrasonic splicing equipment (60), the
continuous strip (10) is cut into two pieces as shown in FIG. 2.
The ends (28, 29) of the sealed areas (24) are then placed in the
position as shown in FIG. 3. The openings (26) in the sealed areas
(24) are then placed in the anvil element (62) of FIGS. 6a, 6b and
6c. The anvil (62) consists of a base (63) to which is secured a
pin (68) and a pair of guide sides (70) to receive the cut ends
(28, 29) of the continuous strip (10). The distance between the
guide sides (70) of the anvil (62) is sufficient to hold the two
sections of the continuous strip (10) in proper position for
splicing. The holes in the sealed areas (24) are placed over the
pin (68) in the anvil (62) with the sides (21) of the continuous
strip (10) placed against the base (63) between the guide sides
(70) of the anvil (62).
[0052] The hand piece (64) (FIG. 5) with horn (66), as shown in
FIGS. 7a, 7b and 7c, is then brought into contact with the anvil
(62). The horn (66) includes a resonator (78) and an opening (72)
in the end of the horn (66) which is slightly larger than the pin
(68) in the anvil (62). After the hand piece (64) with horn (66) is
placed over the pin (68) in the anvil (62), ultrasonic energy is
supplied from the power supply (76) upon activation by the
activator (74). The activator (74) remains activated until
sufficient ultrasonic splicing energy has been conveyed to the two
ends (28, 29) of the sealed area (24) of the continuous strip (10)
to melt those two ends together and form a good seal between the
two sealed areas (24) of the continuous strip (10). The spliced
continuous strip (10) is then removed from the anvil element (62)
and visually and physically inspected for appearance and
strength.
[0053] Useful continuous strips of packets can be formed by other
processes which are used to splice the two ends (28, 29) of the
continuous strip (10). For example, an adhesive material may be
placed between the sealed areas (24) of the two ends (28, 29) of
the continuous strip (10) after they have been placed in the
position as shown in FIG. 3. The types of acceptable adhesive
material are well known in the art. The two portions of the
continuous strip (10) are then held securely together by
conventional means until the adhesive seal is secure.
[0054] Any other continuous strip of packets formed by a process
which results in the formation of a strong seal between the two
sealed areas (24) of the ends (28, 29) of the continuous strip (10)
and does not use splicing tape is within the scope of the
invention.
[0055] Although the invention has been described in detail, it is
clearly understood that the description contained in the
specification is in no way to be taken as a limitation on the scope
of the invention. The scope of the present invention can only be
limited by the appended claims.
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