System for making pouches

Abstract

A system for making water-soluble pouches containing a composition, the system including: a) a platen conveyer unit, b) a heating unit, c) a dispensing unit, d) a composition supply unit, e) a sealing unit, and f) one or more cutting units.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for making water-soluble pouches containing a composition, the system comprising:
 a) a platen conveyer unit comprising a conveyer and a supporting base of the conveyer, in which the conveyer comprises a plurality of moulds and the conveyer is configured to form a continuously moving, horizontally positioned web of open water-soluble pouches by feeding a first water-soluble film onto the conveyer and drawing the first water-soluble film into the moulds,   b) a heating unit which is configured to heat the first water-soluble film after feeding the first water-soluble film onto the conveyer,   c) a dispensing unit which is configured to fill the continuously moving, horizontally positioned web of open water-soluble pouches with a composition, in which the dispensing unit comprises a plurality of nozzles wherein the nozzles are capable of moving horizontally with the same speed as the pouches and in the same direction such that each open pouch is under the same nozzle or nozzles for the duration of the dispensing and the nozzles are capable of moving vertically such that the distance between the open pouches and the nozzles is adjustable,   d) a composition supply unit which is configured to store the composition and supply the composition to the dispensing unit,   e) a sealing unit which is configured to form a web of closed water-soluble pouches by feeding a second water-soluble film onto the web of open water-soluble pouches after filing and then sealing the first and second water-soluble films together, and   f) one or more cutting units configured to cut the web of closed water-soluble pouches in machine direction and in cross-machine direction to obtain a plurality of separated water-soluble pouches.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the platen conveyer is capable of continuously moving in horizontal position, until the platen conveyer rotates around an axis perpendicular to the direction of motion, about 180 degrees, to then move in opposite direction which is also a horizontal motion. 
     
     
         3 . The system according  claim 1 , wherein the first water-soluble film is drawn into the moulds through vacuum. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of moulds is arranged in an array having about 2 to about 20 moulds in the direction of width and about 1 to about 10 moulds in the direction of length. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the supporting base comprises a series of processing stations, including heating, forming, filling, sealing, and Machine Direction (MD) cutting stations. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the heating unit comprises an infrared lamp that is capable of heating the first water-soluble film to temperatures of about 50 to about 150° C. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 6 , wherein the infrared lamp comprises a plurality of sections that are capable of independently working, and wherein the plurality of sections are capable of heating the first water-soluble film to different temperatures. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein the infrared lamp comprises two sections which are capable of independently working and the plurality of sections are capable of heating the first water-soluble film to different temperatures. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the sealing unit comprises a wetting mechanism that is configured to wet the first water-soluble film and/or the second water-soluble film by applying a sealing composition prior to sealing,
 wherein the sealing unit further comprises a sealing roller that is configured to compress the first and second water-soluble films together to form the seal.   
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a collecting unit that is configured to collect the plurality of separated water-soluble pouches. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the cutting unit comprises:
 a machine direction (MD) cutting mechanism which is configured to cut the web of closed water-soluble pouches in machine direction,   a cross-machine direction (CD) cutting mechanism which is configured to cut the web of closed water-soluble pouches after MD cutting in cross-machine direction,   a first transfer drum which is configured to draw the closed water-soluble pouches after MD cutting by application of a vacuum and then to transfer the closed water-soluble pouches to the CD cutting mechanism, and   a second transfer drum which is configured to draw the closed water-soluble pouches after CD cutting by application of a vacuum and then to transfer the closed water-soluble pouches to the collecting unit   
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein the CD cutting mechanism comprises a rotating anvil and a rotating knife roll in which a plurality of knives is arranged on the rotating knife roll, wherein the CD cutting mechanism is configured so that the knives intermittently contact the web of pouches and cut the web of pouches in cross-machine direction. 
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a first film feeding unit comprising at least one roller from which the first water-soluble film unwinds and a second film feeding unit comprising at least one roller from which the second water-soluble film unwinds. 
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 13 , wherein the first film feeding unit comprises two rollers from which the first water-soluble film unwinds,
 wherein the two rollers are configured so that when the first film is being fed, one of the two rollers is operating and the other of the two rollers is standby, and wherein the second film feeding unit comprises two rollers from which the second water-soluble film unwinds which are configured so that when the second film is being fed, one of the two rollers is operating and the other of the two rollers is standby, and   wherein the two rollers in the first film feeding unit are configured to automatically switch between operating and standby when the first water-soluble film on the roller in operation runs out, and wherein the two rollers in the second film feeding unit are configured to automatically switch between operating and standby when the second water-soluble film on the roller in operation runs out.   
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a vacuum-pumping unit which is configured to apply vacuum,
 wherein the vacuum-pumping unit is configured to apply at least two different under-pressures comprising a first under-pressure and a second under-pressure.   
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein the first under-pressure is between 0 mbar and about −400 mbar, and the second under-pressure is between about −200 mbar and about −700 mbar. 
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a temperature and humidity control unit, and/or an air extraction unit. 
     
     
         18 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein each of the water-soluble pouches comprises a plurality of compartments in which each compartment contains a different composition. 
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a dusting unit which is configured to dust the outer surface of the water-soluble pouches with a dusting composition comprising an absorbent material,
 wherein the absorbent material is selected from the group consisting of zeolite, talc, starch, zinc stearate, calcium stearate, calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate, and combinations thereof.   
     
     
         20 . A process of making a water-soluble pouch using the system of according to any preceding claims, the process comprising the steps of:
 a) continuously feeding a first water-soluble film onto a horizontal portion of a continuously and rotatably moving endless surface, which comprises a plurality of moulds, or onto a non-horizontal portion thereof and continuously moving the film to the horizontal portion;   b) forming from the film on the horizontal portion of the continuously moving surface, and in the moulds on the surface, a continuously moving, horizontally positioned web of open pouches, by heating the film and applying vacuum;   c) filling the continuously moving, horizontally positioned web of open pouches with a composition, to obtain a horizontally positioned web of open, filled pouches;   d) continuously sealing the web of open pouches, by feeding a second water-soluble film, on which a sealing composition is applied, onto the horizontally positioned web of open, filed pouches, to obtain a horizontally positioned web of closed pouches; and   e) cutting the web of closed pouches into a plurality of individual pouches, wherein the cutting comprises MD cutting and CD cutting.