US 12,297,932 B2
Valve for providing pulses of air
Arash Saeidihaghi, Södra Sandby (SE); Erik Johansson, Lund (SE); and Markus Florentzson, Staffanstorp (SE)
Assigned to TETRA LAVAL HOLDINGS & FINANCE S.A., Pully (CH)
Appl. No. 18/002,875
Filed by TETRA LAVAL HOLDINGS & FINANCE S.A., Pully (CH)
PCT Filed Jun. 15, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/066075
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 22, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/002579, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 6, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 20182795 (EP), filed on Jun. 29, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0278046 A1, Sep. 7, 2023
Int. Cl. B65B 41/18 (2006.01); B65B 55/10 (2006.01); B65B 55/24 (2006.01); B65B 57/02 (2006.01); B65B 57/04 (2006.01); B65B 61/18 (2006.01); F16K 5/04 (2006.01)
CPC F16K 5/0407 (2013.01) [B65B 41/18 (2013.01); B65B 55/10 (2013.01); B65B 55/103 (2013.01); B65B 55/24 (2013.01); B65B 57/02 (2013.01); B65B 57/04 (2013.01); F16K 5/0414 (2013.01); A61L 2202/15 (2013.01); B65B 61/186 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system configured to provide pulses of aseptic air to a web of packaging material, comprising:
a valve;
an air supply configured to provide aseptic air to the valve; and
a nozzle arranged to provide air pulses from the valve onto one or both sides of the web of packaging material;
said valve comprising:
a rotatable valve shaft having an inlet portion with a circular cross-section, wherein said inlet portion is provided with a radial slot being connected to an axial cavity of said valve shaft; and
a valve member comprising a curved end being adapted to fit with an exterior surface of the inlet portion of the valve shaft during rotation of the valve shaft, and a fluid channel extending through said valve member such that when the valve shaft is rotated to a position where the radial slot of the inlet portion is aligned with the fluid channel of the valve member, air can flow through the valve via the valve member and the valve shaft.
 
10. An apparatus configured to provide pulses of aseptic air to a web of packaging material, the web of packaging material comprising a number of consecutively arranged sections arranged to be formed into individual packages, wherein at least a subset of the sections comprises a positioning element, said apparatus comprising:
a positioning element reader arranged to determine when a positioning element is passing the positioning element reader,
a system configured to provide pulses of aseptic air onto one or both sides of the web of packaging material according to claim 1, and
a control unit configured to control the operation of the valve based on the output of the positioning element reader.
 
14. A method for removing excess of a sterilization agent from a web of packaging material, said method comprising:
providing a system according to claim 1, and
rotating the valve shaft such that a radial slot of the valve shaft is in fluid communication with a fluid channel of the valve member, thereby allowing air to flow through the valve via the valve member and the valve shaft onto the web of packaging material.