Film securing apparatus and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11548667-B2
Application number	US-201916701453-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2019
Priority date	Dec 4, 2018
Publication date	Jan 10, 2023
Grant date	Jan 10, 2023

Abstract

Systems, apparatuses, and methods to secure a film to a container are provided. An example sealing device utilizes film from a supply of film to seal a lid onto a container. Various sizes of containers are usable with some example sealing devices. Additional features, such as printing on the film and piercing the film for ventilation and/or insertion of a straw are contemplated. One or more markings along the film may be utilized for confirming that an approved film has been loaded into the sealing device. In response, various components or features of the sealing device may be appropriately enabled or disabled. The one or more markings may also be utilized to convey data to the sealing device regarding the installed film, such as for improved operation thereof.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus configured to secure a film as a lid to a container, the apparatus comprising:
a body portion configured to house a supply of film;
a sealing portion configured to receive at least a top portion of the container, wherein the body portion defines a film path leading from the supply of film to the sealing portion;
a film sensor positioned along the film path and configured to sense one or more windows on the film;
a nip positioned along the film path and configured to receive the film therethrough;
a motor configured to operate a drive roller to cause advancement of the film along the film path;
at least one heating element configured to cause a portion of the film within the sealing portion to seal to the top portion of the container to form a lid for the container; and
a controller configured to:
determine, based on sensor data from the film sensor, if a detected one or more windows on the film satisfies an approved scheme; and
modify, based on whether the detected one or more windows on the film satisfy the approved scheme, operation of the at least one heating element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to cause at least one of:
in an instance in which the detected one or more windows satisfies the approved scheme, enabling operation of the at least one heating element; or
in an instance in which the detected one or more windows does not satisfy the approved scheme, adversely affecting operation of the at least one heating element.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to send a signal to a remote server indicating that the detected one or more windows does not satisfy the approved scheme.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a film scheme for the film based on the detected one or more windows.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the determined film scheme corresponds to a pattern comprised of a plurality of windows and determined spacing between each adjacent window within the plurality of windows.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the determined film scheme is comprised of at least one of the color of the one or more windows, a width of the one or more windows, a length of the one or more windows, or a spacing between adjacent windows.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the determined film scheme is repeated along the length of the supply of film such that the supply of film comprises a plurality of repeated film schemes.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a second film sensor configured to sense one or more windows along the film, wherein the film sensor is positioned proximate a first edge of the film and the second film sensor is positioned proximate a second, opposite edge of the film, and wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the motor to cease advancement of the film into the sealing portion based on sensor data from the second film sensor.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control operation of the motor to cease advancement of the film into the sealing portion based on sensor data from the film sensor.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine one or more characteristics of the one or more windows, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of the color of the one or more windows, a width of the one or more windows, a length of the one or more windows, or a spacing between adjacent windows; and
determine a desired operation of one or more components of the apparatus based on the detected one or more characteristics; and
cause operation of the at least one of the apparatus or the one or more components thereof based on the determined desired operation.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine one or more characteristics of the one or more windows, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of color of the one or more windows, a width of the one or more windows, a length of the one or more windows, or a spacing between adjacent windows; and
cause the motor to operate according to at least one of a specific amount of time or according to a specific number of detected windows based on the determined one or more characteristics.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a piercer having at least one actuatable tip to pierce the film, wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine one or more characteristics of the one or more windows, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of color of the one or more windows, a width of the one or more windows, a length of the one or more windows, or a spacing between adjacent windows; and
cause the piercer to operate based on the determined one or more characteristics.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a printer configured to print one or more messages or images on the film, wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine one or more characteristics of the one or more windows, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of color of the one or more windows, a width of the one or more windows, a length of the one or more windows, or a spacing between adjacent windows; and
cause the printer to operate based on the determined one or more characteristics.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the one or more messages or images to print on the film based on the determined one or more characteristics.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine one or more characteristics of the one or more windows, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of color of the one or more windows, a width of the one or more windows, a length of the one or more windows, or a spacing between adjacent windows; and
determine one or more characteristics of the film, wherein the one or more characteristics of the film comprise at least one of the thickness of the film, the associated customer, a time of operation of the element, a subset of printing options to present to a user for selection, or the amount of film remaining on the supply of film.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sealing portion comprises an aperture sized to receive the top portion of the container therethrough.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more windows form at least one of a Quick Response Code, a barcode, or a logo.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more windows are clear with respect to a remainder of the film.

19. An apparatus configured to secure a film as a lid to a container, the apparatus comprising:
a body portion configured to house a supply of film;
a sealing portion configured to receive at least a top portion of the container, wherein the body portion defines a film path leading from the supply of film to the sealing portion;
a film sensor positioned along the film path and configured to sense one or more windows on the film;
a nip positioned along the film path and configured to receive the film therethrough;
a motor configured to operate a drive roller to cause advancement of the film along the film path;
at least one element configured to activate to emanate energy to cause a portion of the film within the sealing portion to seal the top portion of the container to form a lid for the container; and
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Assignees

• Gpcp Ip Holdings Llc

Inventors

• Cittadino Antonio Michael
• Peters Mark Edwin
• Wilson Lenox Gregory
• Rozek Roy J
• Lips Erik

Classifications

• B29C66/71

  characterised by the composition of the plastics material of the parts to be joined (welding bar compositions B29C65/125) · CPC title

• B29C66/73713

  bi-axially or multi-axially · CPC title

• B29C66/872

  Starting or stopping procedures · CPC title

• B29C66/9674

  involving special data outputs, e.g. special data display means (B29C66/8748 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29C65/7891

  of discontinuously moving sheets or webs · CPC title