Packaging apparatus for small piece goods and method for producing a blister tube comprising a plurality of blister bags

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11858677-B2
Application number	US-202218087536-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2022
Priority date	May 20, 2020
Publication date	Jan 2, 2024
Grant date	Jan 2, 2024

Abstract

A packaging apparatus for small piece goods, the use of the packaging apparatus, and a method for producing a blister tube are provided. The packaging apparatus includes a packaging material guiding device for providing a shaped packaging material web suitable for receiving small piece goods, a longitudinal joining device which is arranged downstream of the packaging material guiding device and a transverse joining device which is arranged downstream of the packaging material guiding device. The transverse joining device joins the shaped packaging material web together at predetermined intervals transversely to the direction of travel to form a transverse joining area. The transverse joining device includes two joiners, a first joiner having a plurality of embossers that are individually movable transversely to the direction of travel and are arranged so that they can be extended from the first joiner and retracted into the first joiner.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A packaging apparatus for small piece goods, comprising:
a packaging material guiding device for receiving an elongated packaging material web, the packaging material guiding device configured to shape the elongated packaging material web to be suitable for receiving small piece goods;
a longitudinal joining device configured to join the shaped packaging material web together at a packaging material overlap area in a direction of travel of the shaped packaging material web;
a transverse joining device configured to join the shaped packaging material web together at predetermined intervals transversely to the direction of travel to form a transverse joining area, the transverse joining device comprising first and second joiners, wherein at least one of the first and second joiners is movable transversely to the direction of travel; and
a plurality of embossers individually moveable transversely to the direction of travel and arranged so that they can be extended from the first joiner and retracted into the first joiner.

2. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of embossers cooperate to form elevations that are palpable in the transverse joining area.

3. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second joiner has at least one contact area configured as an elastically designed joining surface.

4. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second joiner has at least one contact area comprising a plurality of embosser receptacles that are individually movable transversely to the direction of travel.

5. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the embossers are configured as at least one 2 by 3 matrix of embossing pins, wherein a palpable dot pattern in the shape of a Braille character is generated per matrix by the embossing pins.

6. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a joining surface of one of the first joiner and the second joiner can be heated.

7. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the packaging material guiding device has a central through opening and is configured such that the elongated packaging material web is fed to the central through opening, wherein the elongated packaging material web is shaped in the direction of travel to a tubular packaging material web defined by the central through opening.

8. The packaging apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the central through opening shapes the tubular packaging material web to have a packaging material overlap area.

9. The packaging apparatus of claim 7 , wherein a guide part extends within a part of the tubular packaging material web.

10. The packaging apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the guide part is positioned so that the packaging material web in the area of the packaging material guiding device extends through a gap between the guide part and a wall of the central through opening.

11. The packaging apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of spreaders arranged in the lower area of the guide part, the plurality of spreaders configured to spread open the tubular packaging material web to form a receiving area for medicament portions.

12. The packaging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of spreaders are configured to prepare the tubular packaging material web to be joined together by the transverse joining device according to an alignment of the joiners.

13. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the packaging apparatus is configured to produce a blister tube comprising a plurality of blister bags.

14. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a separator moveable transversely to the direction of travel of the shaped packaging material web, wherein the separator is configured to introduce one of a perforation into the transverse joining area and a complete separation of the transverse joining area.

15. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a medicament guiding device disposed above the packaging material guiding device, the medicament guiding device comprising a funnel-shaped receiving area configured to receive medicament portions.

16. A method for producing a blister tube comprising a plurality of blister bags, the method comprising:
shaping, in a direction of travel, a packaging material web into a shaped packaging material web;
feeding one or more small piece goods to a receiving area in the shaped packaging material web;
joining, by a plurality of joining devices, the shaped packaging material web together to form a tubular packaging material web at a packaging material overlap area in the direction of travel and at transverse joining areas at predetermined intervals in the direction of travel; and
embossing a palpable pattern in one or more of the transverse joining areas by a plurality of embossers extending from and retracting into one of the plurality of joining devices.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of embossers are configured as at least one 2 by 3 matrix of embossing pins, and wherein embossing the palpable pattern includes moving at least one of the embossing pins.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein embossing the palpable pattern comprises forming a dot pattern in the shape of a Braille character.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising introducing, by a separator, one of a perforation into one or more of the transverse joining areas and a complete separation of one or more of the transverse joining areas.

20. A packaging apparatus, comprising:
a packaging material guiding device configured to shape a moving elongated packaging material web into a shaped packaging material web;
a plurality of joining devices configured to join the shaped packaging material web together at a packaging material overlap area in a direction of travel of the shaped packaging material web and at predetermined intervals transversely to the direction of travel to form a plurality of transverse joining areas; and
a plurality of embossers individually moveable transversely to the direction of travel and configured to be extended from and retracted into one of the plurality of joining devices.

Assignees

• Becton Dickinson Rowa Germany Gmbh

Inventors

• Schüttfort Torben

Classifications

• B65B9/2042 Primary

  Means for altering the cross-section of the tube filling opening prior to transversal sealing, e.g. tube spreading devices (subdividing filled tubes to form two or more packages by sealing involving displacement of contents B65B9/12) · CPC title

• B65B9/20

  the webs being formed into tubes in situ around the filling nozzles · CPC title

• B65B9/2035

  Tube guiding means · CPC title

• B65B9/213

  the web having intermittent motion (B65B9/22 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B65B51/303

  reciprocating along only one axis · CPC title