Heat plate lock assembly for a heat sealing machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12240183-B2
Application number	US-202217590416-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 1, 2022
Priority date	Feb 10, 2020
Publication date	Mar 4, 2025
Grant date	Mar 4, 2025

Abstract

A heat sealing machine may include a heater assembly, a heat plate lock assembly supporting a heat plate in proximity to the heater assembly, and a lock mechanism allowing the heat plate lock assembly to alternately open and close. The heat plate may be replaced by a second heat plate by moving the lock mechanism to a retracted position, moving a heat plate lock assembly to move the first heat plate away from the heater assembly, removing the first heat plate from the heat plate lock assembly, inserting the second heat plate into the heat plate lock assembly, moving the heat plate lock assembly to move the second heat plate into engagement with the heater assembly, and moving the lock mechanism to a locked position to maintain the engagement between the second heat plate and the heater assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for installing a heat plate having a die mounted thereto in a heater assembly of a heat sealing machine, comprising
moving a heat plate lock assembly to an open position relative to the heater assembly;
inserting the heat plate between a pair of clamp plates of the heat plate lock assembly that are movably mounted on opposite sides of the heater assembly, wherein the pair of clamp plates engages the heat plate to support the heat plate beneath a heater platen of the heater assembly;
raising the pair of clamp plates to a closed position to bring the heat plate into contact with the heater platen; and
releasing a lock mechanism to an extended position wherein the lock mechanism engages the heater assembly to retain the pair of clamp plates in the closed position.

2. The method for installing according to claim 1 , comprising, before raising the pair of clamp plates, moving the lock mechanism to a retracted position where the lock mechanism does not engage the heater assembly.

3. The method for installing according to claim 1 , comprising, before raising the pair of clamp plates, positioning the heat plate so that indexing fingers of the pair of clamp plates are received by indexing recesses defined in the heat plate to align the heat plate beneath the heater platen of the heater assembly.

4. The method for installing according to claim 1 , comprising, before raising the pair of clamp plates, positioning the heat plate with an alignment hole in an upper surface of the heat plate receiving an alignment pin extending downward from a bottom surface of the heater platen of the heater assembly.

5. The method for installing according to claim 1 , comprising, after operating the heat sealing machine:
moving the lock mechanism to a retracted position wherein the lock mechanism is disengaged from the heater assembly to allow the pair of clamp plates to move from the closed position to the open position;
lowering the pair of clamp plates to the open position to move the heat plate away from the heater platen; and
removing the heat plate from between the pair of clamp plates.

6. The method for installing according to claim 1 , comprising, before inserting the heat plate, adjusting a position of the pair of clamp plates relative to the heater assembly to correspond to a heat plate thickness of the heat plate.

7. The method for installing according to claim 6 , wherein the pair of clamp plates are operatively connected to the lock mechanism by a lift rod, and wherein adjusting the position of the pair of clamp plates comprises adjusting the position of the pair of clamp plates relative to the lift rod.

8. The method for installing according to claim 1 , wherein each of the pair of clamp plates comprises a retention channel facing the opposite one of the pair of clamp plates, and wherein inserting the heat plate comprises inserting each lateral edge of the heat plate into the retention channel of a corresponding one of the pair of clamp plates.

9. The method for installing according to claim 1 , wherein each of the pair of clamp plates comprises a plate support surface, and wherein inserting the heat plate comprises inserting the heat plate between the pair of clamp plates with each lateral edge of the heat plate disposed on the plate support surface of a corresponding one of the pair of clamp plates.

10. The method for installing according to claim 1 , wherein the heat plate lock assembly includes a lock plate engaging finger that is disposed within a lock slot of the heater assembly when the pair of clamp plates are in the closed position and the lock mechanism is in the extended position, the method for installing comprising, while raising the pair of clamp plates, engaging the lock plate engaging finger by a surface of a finger guide slot of the heater assembly to move the lock plate engaging finger from the extended position to a retracted position.

11. A method for replacing a first heat plate having a first die mounted thereto with a second heat plate having a second die mounted thereto in a heater assembly of a heat sealing machine, comprising:
moving a lock mechanism to a retracted position;
moving a heat plate lock assembly to move the first heat plate away from a heater platen of the heater assembly;
removing the first heat plate from the heat plate lock assembly;
inserting the second heat plate into the heat plate lock assembly;
moving the heat plate lock assembly to move the second heat plate into engagement with the heater platen; and
moving the lock mechanism to a locked position to maintain the engagement between the second heat plate and the heater platen.

12. The method for replacing according to claim 11 , wherein the lock mechanism includes a lift handle and a release handle that is spring biased away from the lift handle, and wherein moving the lock mechanism to the retracted position comprises pulling the release handle toward the lift handle.

13. The method for replacing according to claim 11 , wherein the heat plate lock assembly comprises a lift arm pivotally connected to the heater assembly, and wherein moving the heat plate lock assembly to move the first heat plate away from the heater platen comprises rotating the lift arm to lower the first heat plate away from the heater platen.

14. The method for replacing according to claim 11 , wherein the heat plate lock assembly includes a pair of clamp plates that are movably mounted on opposite sides of the heater assembly, wherein each of the pair of clamp plates comprises a plate support surface, and wherein inserting the second heat plate comprises inserting the second heat plate between the pair of clamp plates with each lateral edge of the second heat plate disposed on the plate support surface of a corresponding one of the pair of clamp plates.

15. The method for replacing according to claim 11 , wherein the heat plate lock assembly includes a pair of clamp plates that are movably mounted on opposite sides of the heater assembly, and wherein the method for replacing comprises, before inserting the second heat plate, adjusting a position of the pair of clamp plates relative to the heater assembly to correspond to a heat plate thickness of the second heat plate.

16. The method for replacing according to claim 11 , wherein the lock mechanism includes a lift handle operatively connected to the heat plate lock assembly, and wherein moving the heat plate lock assembly to move the second heat plate into the engagement with the heater platen comprises raising the lift handle to move the second heat plate upward into the engagement with the heater platen.

17. A method for removing a heat plate having a die mounted thereto from a heater assembly of a heat sealing machine, comprising
disengaging a lock mechanism from a heater housing of the heater assembly when a heat plate lock assembly of the heater assembly is in a closed position with the heat plate engaging a heater platen of the heater assembly;
moving the heat plate lock assembly from the closed position to an open position where the heat plate is disengaged from the heater platen; and
removing the heat plate from between a pair of clamp plates of the heat plate lock assembly that are movably mounted on opposite sides of the heater housing.

18. The method for removing according to claim 17 , wherein the heater assembly includes a lock slot and the heat plate lock assembly includes a lock plate engaging finger that moves from a retracted position to an extended position and into the lock slot when the heat plate lo

Assignees

• Sonoco Dev Inc

Inventors

• Worden Ronald F

Classifications

• B29C66/81

  General aspects of the pressing elements, i.e. the elements applying pressure on the parts to be joined in the area to be joined, e.g. the welding jaws or clamps (holding or clamping means for handling purposes B29C65/7841) · CPC title

• B29C66/849

  Packaging machines · CPC title

• B65B59/04

  Machines constructed with readily-detachable units or assemblies, e.g. to facilitate maintenance · CPC title

• B29C66/841

  Machines or tools adaptable for making articles of different dimensions or shapes or for making joints of different dimensions · CPC title

• B29C66/876

  Maintenance or cleaning · CPC title