Granted Patent B2

US 12,643,250 · App. 18/245,867 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Inventors: Luca Capelli (Novellara, IT); Davide Borghi (Modena, IT); Daniel Sandberg (Lund, SE); Marco Cocconcelli (Reggio Emilia, IT); Achraf Lahrache (Montecchio Emilia, IT)

Assignee: Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A.

B26D5/04B26D5/007B65B9/2042B65B51/144

Abstract

Claims (42)

1 . A method of monitoring a status of a cutting unit in an apparatus for producing packages of liquid food, said apparatus comprising the cutting unit and being configured to vertically seal a web of packaging material in the form of a tube, fill the tube with liquid food, form transverse seals in the tube, and cut the transverse seals by a cutting blade in the cutting unit to sever food-containing packages from each other, said method comprising:

measuring, with a sensor, measurement values indicative of a cutting resistance of the cutting blade during a cut;

obtaining, from the sensor, a time sequence of the measurement values;

generating a resistance time profile of the cut based on the time sequence of measurement values;

detecting at least one predefined feature in the resistance time profile;

determining a phase value for the at least one predefined feature within the resistance time profile, wherein the phase value is a time of occurrence of the at least one predefined feature on the resistance time profile relative to a known reference time point on the resistance time profile;

determining the status of the cutting unit based at least in part on the phase value;

generating, based on the status of the cutting unit, output data indicating the status of the cutting blade;

transmitting the output data to a module of the apparatus, wherein the output data causes the module to display the status of the cutting unit.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time sequence of measurement values is obtained to represent hydraulic pressure in a hydraulic circuit for actuating the cutting blade to cut the transverse seals.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein said detecting comprises processing the resistance time profile for detection of a time point of a maximum time derivative in the resistance time profile, and processing the resistance time profile for detection of a peak selected from the group consisting of a negative peak before the time point, a first positive peak before the time point and the negative peak, and a second positive peak after the time point.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one predefined feature is selected from the group consisting of a peak in the resistance time profile, a minimum or maximum value of the resistance time profile, and a minimum or maximum time derivative in the resistance time profile.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the peak corresponds to the cutting blade entering into a transverse seal or the cutting blade penetrating through the transverse seal.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the status of the cutting unit is determined based at least in part on a set of input values comprising the phase value.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining at least one magnitude value of the resistance time profile, wherein the at least one magnitude value is included in the set of input values.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the at least one magnitude value comprises a magnitude of the resistance time profile at a selected time point relative to the at least one predefined feature.

9 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining at least one change value representing a magnitude of temporal change within the resistance time profile, wherein the at least one change value is included in the set of input values.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the at least one change value is selected from the group consisting of a time derivative in the resistance time profile at a selected time point relative to the at least one predefined feature, and a sum of time derivatives of at least a subset of the resistance time profile.

11 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining at least one intra-variability value representing a variability within at least a subset of the resistance time profile, wherein the at least one intra-variability value is included in the set of input values.

12 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining at least one inter-variability value representing a variability between a plurality of resistance time profiles, wherein the at least one inter-variability value is included in the set of input values.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one inter-variability value represents a variability, between a plurality of resistance time profiles selected from the group consisting of the phase value, at least one magnitude value, at least one change value or at least one intra-variability value.

14 . A computer-readable medium comprising computer instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of claim 1 .

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the known reference time point is a time of generating a trigger signal for operating the cutting blade.

16 . A monitoring device, comprising a signal interface for connection to a sensor which is arranged to measure and output a time sequence of measurement values indicative of a cutting resistance for a cutting blade in an apparatus for producing packages of liquid food during a cut performed by the cutting blade to cut a seal formed in a tube filled with liquid food, and logic configured to control the monitoring device to cause the monitoring device to:

obtain, from the sensor, the time sequence of the measurement values;

generate a resistance time profile of the cut based on the time sequence of measurement values;

detect at least one predefined feature in the resistance time profile;

determine a phase value for the at least one predefined feature within the resistance time profile, wherein the phase value is a time of occurrence of the at least one predefined feature on the resistance time profile relative to a known reference time point on the resistance time profile;

determine a status of the cutting blade based at least in part on the phase value;

generate, based on the status of the cutting blade, output data indicating the status of the cutting blade;

transmit the output data to a module of the apparatus, wherein the output data causes the module to display the status of the cutting blade.

17 . An apparatus for producing packages of liquid food, said apparatus comprising a cutting unit and being configured to vertically seal a web of packaging material in the form of a tube, fill the tube with liquid food, form transverse seals in the tube, and cut the transverse seals with a cutting blade in the cutting unit to sever food-containing packages from each other,

said apparatus further comprising:

a sensor which is arranged to measure and output a time sequence of measurement values that represent cutting resistance for the cutting blade when actuated to cut a transverse seal; and

a monitoring device configured to:

obtain, from the sensor, the time sequence of the measurement values;

generate a resistance time profile of the cut based on the time sequence of measurement values;

detect at least one predefined feature in the resistance time profile;

determine a phase value for the at least one predefined feature within the resistance time profile, wherein the phase value is a time of occurrence of the at least one predefined feature on the resistance time profile relative to a known reference time point on the resistance time profile;

determine a status of the cutting unit based at least in part on the phase value;

generate, based on the status of the cutting unit, output data indicating the status of the cutting blade;

transmit the output data to a module of the apparatus, wherein the output data causes the module to display the status of the cutting unit.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (31)