The sonotrode and anvil of copending application Ser. No. 12/925,652, for advanced ultrasonic welding of work pieces, are readily incorporated into new form-fill-seal machines, but existing machines with heat-seal stations pose difficult problems for swapping of the sealing packages. Kits enabling heat station replacement, with the further improved sonotrode and anvil disclosed herein, comprise: a housing; a linear rail fixed thereto; anvil and sonotrode support members; and a parallel gripper. Each of the anvil and sonotrode support members is slidably attached to the rail(s) and are also connected to a respective piston of the gripper, permitting actuation of each through cycling of the gripper pistons. The improved sonotrode/anvil combination each comprise a corresponding plurality of energy directors arranged into a three-dimensional grid pattern to produce a narrower weld region, but one exhibiting greater durability, thereby permitting use of less packaging material, and which may also weld a company logo into the workpieces.

In a lateral sealing mechanism, a cylindrical film is sandwiched and ultrasonic sealing is performed along a direction that intersects a conveying direction while a first horn and a first anvil, and a second horn and a second anvil rotate. The first horn is mounted on a first rotating body in a state of being coupled to a plurality of vibrating elements. The second horn is mounted on the second rotating body in a state coupled to a plurality of vibrating elements. A securing member grips a horn unit, which includes the horns and the plurality of vibrating elements, on the forward and rearward sides in the direction of rotation of the horn assembly in the vicinity of the node of ultrasonic vibration and secures the horn unit to the first rotating body and the second rotating body, respectively.

The sonotrode and anvil of co-pending application Ser. No. 12/925,652, for advanced ultrasonic welding of work pieces, are readily incorporated into new form-fill-seal machines, but existing machines with heat-seal stations pose difficult problems for swapping of the sealing packages. Kits enabling heat station replacement, with the further improved sonotrode and anvil disclosed herein, comprise: a housing; a linear rail fixed thereto; anvil and sonotrode support members; and a parallel gripper. Each of the anvil and sonotrode support members is slidably attached to the rail(s) and are also connected to a respective piston of the gripper, permitting actuation of each through cycling of the gripper pistons. The improved sonotrode/anvil combination each comprise a corresponding plurality of energy directors arranged into a three-dimensional grid pattern to produce a narrower weld region, but one exhibiting greater durability; thereby permitting use of less packaging material, and which may also weld a company logo into the workpieces.

Advanced ultrasonic welding components of co-pending application Ser. No. 12/925,652 are readily incorporated into new form-fill-seal machines, but owners of existing machines utilizing heat-seal stations were unsuccessful at swapping the sealing packages. Retrofit kits to a replace heat sealing station with an advanced ultrasonic sonotrode and anvil comprise: a housing; a linear rail fixed thereto; first and second bearing carriages being slidable upon the rail; and first and second fluidic muscles. Each of the fluidic muscles is mounted with a first end fixed to a respective housing wall, and a second end fixed to a respective bearing carriage, permitting actuation of each carriage through pressurization and depressurization of the muscles. The advanced anvil and sonotrode may be secured to respective carriages. In-line arrangements of anvil/sonotrode, bearing carriages, the first fluidic muscle, and the second fluidic muscle provides a narrow profile, permitting side-by-side kit installations for retrofits accomplishing duplex sealing on a horizontal machine.

A converter having a converter base part, a bolt connected to the converter base part, a tensioning element and at least one piezo element with a through-opening, the bolt penetrating the through-opening and the tensioning element tensioning the at least one piezo element in the direction of the converter base part, wherein that the bolt is connected to the converter base part in a material bond.

An apparatus for mutually welding at least two elements of an absorbent sanitary item, including a supporting structure, a first welding member including a first welding surface, and a second welding member including a second welding surface. The second welding member is movable with respect to the first welding member between a non-operating position, in which the second welding surface is spaced apart from the first welding surface to allow at least two elements of the absorbent sanitary item to be positioned above the first welding surface, and a welding position, in which the second welding surface is in contact with the first welding surface to allow welding the at least two elements. One of the welding members includes a yielding coupling element configured to allow a relative displacement between the first and second welding surfaces as a result of the mutual contact between the second and first welding members.