Method and chamber machine for sealing packaging material

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method for sealing packaging material and a chamber machine or a belted chamber machine for implementation of the method for pre-heating at least one sealing bar to a first temperature in order to facilitate the escape of liquid, preferably

1 . A method for sealing packaging materials in a packaging machine, the method comprising:
 heating a sealing bar before or during establishing a contact with the packaging material to a first temperature, which is lower than a sealing temperature and higher than a temperature at which liquid product parts are at least partially disintegrated to facilitate escape of the product parts from a region in which the packaging material is sealed together and maintaining the first temperature for a defined holding time; and   increasing the temperature of the sealing bar to the sealing temperature and maintaining the sealing temperature until sealing of the packaging material is concluded.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first temperature is at least 40° C. and corresponds to the vaporization temperature of water. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein a first contact pressure, which acts relatively between the sealing bar and a counter-pressure strip or a further sealing bar when they are pressed together, is lower than a sealing pressure during the sealing process in a sealing time. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the packaging material is a plastic film or a plastic laminated material and is preferably a bag. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the packaging material has a temperature resistance in a temperature range from 120° C. to 250° C. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the sealing temperature is higher than 250° C. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the sealing bar is heated to a pre-heating temperature before being pressed against the counter-pressure strip or a further sealing bar. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein after sealing, the sealing bar is actively brought to a cooling temperature. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein an interchange of gas follows an evacuation process. 
     
     
         10 . A belted chamber machine for implementing the method of  claim 3 , wherein the belted chamber machine has a controller that is set up to automatically control the temporal progression of the first temperature and the sealing temperature of the sealing bar and the contact pressure of the sealing bar against a counter-pressure strip or against a further sealing bar as well as a holding time for maintaining the first temperature and a sealing time. 
     
     
         11 . The belted chamber machine according to  claim 10 , wherein the controller is designed for the closed-loop or open-loop control of the temperatures of at least two sealing bars enclosing the packaging material. 
     
     
         12 . The belted chamber machine according to  claim 10 , wherein the controller comprises an input device on which an operating person can specify the values, such as temperature, pressure and time, needed for a sealing process. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the packaging material comprises a plastic bag. 
     
     
         14 . A method for sealing packaging materials in a packaging machine, the method comprising:
 providing a chamber machine having a chamber and a movable belt that feeds into the chamber;   introducing a packaging material containing liquid product parts into the chamber via movement of the belt;   heating a sealing bar before or during establishing a contact with an unsealed portion of the packaging material to a first temperature, which is lower than a sealing temperature and higher than a temperature at which the liquid product parts are at least partially disintegrated to facilitate escape of the liquid product parts from the unsealed portion of the packaging material, and maintaining the first temperature for a defined holding time; and   increasing the temperature of the sealing bar to the sealing temperature and maintaining the sealing temperature until the unsealed portion of the packaging material is sealed.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising creating a vacuum inside the chamber after the packaging material has been introduced into the chamber. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first temperature is in a range of 40° C. to 220° C. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the packaging material comprises a plastic bag and has a temperature resistance in a range from 120° C. to 25° C. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the sealing temperature is higher than 250° C. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein a first contact pressure, which acts relatively between the sealing bar and a counter-pressure strip or a further sealing bar when they are pressed together, is lower than a sealing pressure during the sealing process in a sealing time. 
     
     
         20 . A belted chamber machine for sealing packaging material containing product parts, the machine comprising:
 a chamber;   a movable belt capable of introducing packaging materials into the chamber;   a sealing bar located in the chamber, the sealing bar capable of being heated before or during establishing a contact with a packaging material to a first temperature, which is lower than a sealing temperature and higher than a second temperature at which the product parts are at least partially disintegrated to facilitate escape of the product parts from a region in which the packaging materials are sealed together;   the first temperature of the sealing bar capable of being maintained for a defined holding time and also being capable of being increased to the sealing temperature and maintained at the sealing temperature until sealing of the packaging materials is concluded; and   a controller associated with the machine, the controller capable of automatically controlling the temporal progression of the first temperature and the sealing temperature of the sealing bar and the contact pressure of the sealing bar against a counter-pressure strip or against a further sealing bar as well as a holding time for maintaining the first temperature and a sealing time.