Thermoforming for Plastic Package Shaping

Compact packaging apparatus and process for making supports and packages for food products. The apparatus has a thermoforming station to make supports from plastic film, and a packaging station to close products in the supports. The key innovation is a cutting station upstream of thermoforming that separates larger sheets from a roll into smaller sheets. This allows using smaller feed rolls with shorter replacements compared to continuous film. The smaller sheets are then thermoformed into supports. The smaller sheets also allow higher production speed since each cut defines a separate sheet. The apparatus also has features like vacuum plates to transfer the sheets between stations.

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Clear, rigid medical packaging that can be sterilized by autoclave steam without warping or shrinking. The packaging is made by extruding a crystalline thermoplastic like PET, then partially stretching the film, heating it, and thermoforming it into the final shape. This process limits crystal growth to small spherulites rather than large crystals that cause warpage. The film is then sealed around the device and steam sterilized. The spherulitic crystals provide clarity and strength, but the restricted crystal growth prevents warping during sterilization. The packaging can be made by coextruding layers of different thicknesses that are split and stacked by multiplier units to form the final multilayer structure.

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Multilayer barrier film for retort packaging applications that provides a balance of properties like good retort-shock recovery, thermoformability, oxygen barrier, clarity, and recyclability. The film structure has outer layers of polyamide and a sandwiched inner layer of EVOH. The core layers contain polyolefin polymers like PP or blends. This allows retortability of the EVOH while preventing moisture damage. The sealing layer is polypropylene or PP blends. The total composition has less than 10% EVOH and less than 10% amide. The film thickness is 3-20 mils. The composition balance allows retortable EVOH barrier recovery, thermoformability, and recyclability.

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Vertical bag-making machine for efficiently manufacturing film packaging bags with a spout on the top gusset fold. The machine forms the bag shape by folding, heat sealing, and filling the film. The key feature is a sequence of steps that creates the top gusset with a spout and uniform pleat widths. This involves folding one side into a Z shape, folding the center, pulling the first pleat upright, forming the spout, then heat sealing the second pleat. This allows a spout on one gusset pleat with uniform fold depths for stable filling. The machine also has features like correcting the filled shape and squeezing the bag.

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Barrier laminate film for packaging applications that provides high gas barrier properties, puncture resistance, and formability. The film has a substrate made of a high stiffness polyester with specific mechanical properties. The substrate contains polyester as the main component, has a loop stiffness of 0.0017 N or more, a tensile strength divided by elongation of 2.0 MPa/% or more, and a thickness of 16-25 μm. The film also has a vapor deposited layer containing metal or inorganic compounds on the substrate. This barrier layer improves gas barrier properties while the specific substrate properties enable high puncture resistance and formability.

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Packaging material with high barrier properties and transparency for food containers. The packaging is made by thermoforming a laminate sheet with at least two layers. The base layer contains a propylene-based resin with smectite crystals. The laminate is formed at temperatures below the melting point of the propylene resin. This allows thermoforming the laminate into containers without separating the layers. The smectite crystals in the base layer provide barrier properties while the low temperature thermoforming preserves transparency.

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A method to form a bubble valve for sealing and dispensing fluids from flexible packages. The method involves using two aligned formable films, like thermoformed sheets, where one is placed on top of the other. Channels are sealed between them to create a pathway. Then both films are thermoformed into pockets simultaneously. Finally, a separate film is sealed over the bottom of the pockets to trap air and form the bubble valve. This allows precise alignment and registration of the pockets compared to forming them separately.

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A low-cost, small-size, environmentally friendly packaging structure for refrigerators that prevents moisture, mold and damage compared to traditional paper boxes. The packaging uses a sealed plastic wrap around the refrigerator's exterior instead of a large paper box. The refrigerator sits on a bottom seat, has a cover, and vertical sides enclosing an interior space. The plastic wrap is shrunk onto the exterior after heating to seal the refrigerator inside. This avoids moisture, mold and damage issues that paper boxes have. Additional strapping bands can be wrapped around the exterior for additional strength and grip during transportation.

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Laminated metal sheet for packaging applications with improved adhesion and barrier properties compared to conventional methods. The laminated metal sheet has a predominantly uniaxially oriented laminate layer with an adhesion layer containing a specific copolyester and a bulk layer of poly(ethylene terephthalate). The laminate layer is preheated before application to provide initial adhesion, then post-heated without melting the bulk layer. This produces a specific Euclidean distance matrix between ATR FTIR spectra. The uniaxial orientation reduces deformation during forming. The specific copolyester in the adhesion layer improves adhesion to the metal. The post-heating prevents crazing and delamination during forming and opening.

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Compact packaging machine for making supports and packages using a continuous film. The machine has a feed roll, cutting station, thermoforming station, and packaging station connected by conveyors. The feed roll unwinds film into strips which are thermoformed into supports. These are moved to the packaging station where they receive a top film. The machine has sensors, a control unit, and a compact layout for space efficiency. The feed roll uses a driving roll parallel to the unwind axis. The continuous film feed allows smaller rolls and shorter changeovers vs discrete sheets.

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Thermoforming packaging machine and method for deforming packaging material that provides reliable deformation with high quality packaging while avoiding damage or tearing. The machine has a stamp that oscillates slightly during movement in the receptacle. The oscillation has a smaller amplitude than the stamp's travel distance and a higher frequency than the movement time. This counter-movement briefly separates the stamp from the material. A control unit adjusts oscillation based on measured material temperature.

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Thermoforming packaging machine with improved quality deep-drawing of packaging material. The machine has a stamp with compressed air openings that direct air towards the material during deformation. This prevents direct stamp contact and creates an air cushion. A control system monitors stamp pressure and adjusts stamp movement and compressed air flow to maintain consistent deformation conditions.

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Thermoforming packaging machine that automatically adjusts processing parameters to maintain consistent packaging quality even as material properties change. The machine has sensors to measure characteristics like thickness during/after deformation. A control unit sets operating parameters for future deformations based on measured values and target values. If a measured value deviates too much, it changes the parameter. This allows the machine to compensate for variations in starting material or environment without operator intervention.

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A tube packaging laminate for collapsible and foldable tube containers that has low friction on both inner and outer surfaces. The laminate has two main polymer layer assemblies: one with a polyolefin film, metal layer, and barrier layer; and the other with an extruded polymer layer. The key is adjusting the cooling conditions during production to modify the friction properties of the exposed inner and outer surfaces. This allows easier rolling and machining of the laminate into tube shapes.

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Heat shrinkable film, label, and packaging material with improved properties for heat shrinking containers. The film has a copolyester resin with controlled crystallinity. The crystallinity is adjusted to have a specific difference in reversible heat capacity before and after the glass transition temperature. This provides better balance between thermal properties like shrinkage and chemical resistance compared to conventional polyester films. The film can be made by preparing the copolyester, casting it into a film, and then heating and stretching it to set the crystallinity.

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Laminate sheet, container, and food packaging with improved appearance and formability after heat treatment. The laminate sheet has four layers: inner, intermediate, first outer, and second outer. The second outer layer contains a polyester or polycarbonate resin with a high deflection temperature. This provides good formability while maintaining transparency after heat treatment. The second outer layer thickness is 0.5-8% of the total sheet. The laminate sheet can be used to make containers that retain their appearance after boiling. The containers can be filled with food for sterilization while maintaining good appearance.

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Packaging method and apparatus for protecting food products with reduced material usage compared to existing methods. The packaging involves using a support with walls that surround the product instead of a separate tray. A sheet of barrier film is fed to an attachment head that seals just the base wall without lateral flanges. This provides protection without excess packaging. The method involves heat-softening the film, creating negative pressure, and pressing the base to seal.

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Method and apparatus for manufacturing a laminate film for a cell-type battery pouch using solvent-free dry lamination. The method involves hot pressing a material sheet onto a base sheet to form a laminate, then thermally treating the laminate in a pressureless manner using induction heating rolls. This gradual heating and cooling process prevents deformation and improves film properties without aging. The induction heating rolls allow controlled thermal treatment without contact pressure.

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Method for producing and filling application packages for liquid pharmaceuticals using thermoforming that allows easy breakage of the package at a predetermined point for controlled dispensing. The method involves heating and forming a multi-layered plastic sheet into the package shape using molds. The outer layers are thermoformable polymers like PP or PE, the inner layer has a barrier like EVOH, and an intermediate layer between. The key innovation is forming a thin region in the intermediate layer between the outer layers. This thin region breaks easily when the package is squeezed to dispense the drug, allowing controlled dosing. The thinning can be done by heating or mold design. The package layers protect the drug and prevent interactions.

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Multi-cup packaging arrangement and polypropylene sheet for producing it that allows easy breakage of the cups along predefined lines by bending the sheet. The packaging has multiple cups connected by bridges. The sheet has grooves on the bottom surface that divide it into segments. Bending the sheet towards the top breaks it along the grooves, separating the segments with the cups. The groove depth is 25-80% of the sheet thickness. This allows snapping the cups off in a predictable way. The snappability is achieved by using polypropylene with specific properties like nucleating agents and fillers.

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