BLOWING DEVICE AND SEALING ARRANGEMENT

Abstract

The present invention relates to a blowing device (1) for blowing gas through a gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material (29). The blowing device comprises at least one gas nozzle (19; 75, 77), adapted to blow gas from an outside of the tubular-shaped packaging material through the tubular-shaped packaging material, and a guiding member (3), which comprises a web passage (5) having a surface (7) adapted to face the tubular-shaped packaging material, such that the web passage surrounds or substantially surrounds the tubular-shaped packaging material. The present invention further relates to a use of the blowing device, to a sealing arrangement (27, 71) for transversely sealing a gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material (29) and to an arrangement (37) for manufacturing of pouched products (39), which arrangement comprises such a sealing arrangement. The present invention also relates to a method for transversely sealing a gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material and to a method for manu facturing a pouched product, e.g. a portion-packed pouched oral snuff product.

Claims

1. A blowing device for blowing gas through a gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, comprising: at least one gas nozzle, configured to blow gas from an outside of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material through said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, and a guiding member, wherein said guiding member comprises a web passage having a surface configured to face said tubular-shaped packaging material, such that said web passage surrounds or substantially surrounds said tubular-shaped packaging material and, wherein said gas nozzle is configured to surround or substantially surround said tubular-shaped packaging material.

2-18. (canceled)

19. The blowing device according to claim 1, wherein said at least one gas nozzle is directed at an angle in relation to a direction of travel of said tubular-shaped packaging material, wherein said angle fulfils the requirement 0<90.

20. The blowing device according to claim 1, wherein said web passage of said guiding member is conical, cylindrical or funnel-shaped.

21. The blowing device according to claim 1, wherein said gas nozzle has a circular, oval or elliptical shape.

22. The blowing device according to claim 1, wherein an inner side wall of said gas nozzle is at least partly constituted by a portion of said guiding member forming said web passage.

23. The blowing device according to claim 1, wherein said inner side wall or an outer side wall of said gas nozzle is provided with one or more ridges or grooves.

24. The blowing device according to claim 1, wherein said blowing device comprises a slot connecting said web passage with an outside of said blowing device.

25. A method of using a blowing device to blow gas from an outside of a tubular-shaped packaging material through said tubular-shaped packaging material comprising: bringing a blowing device in proximity to a tubular-shaped packaging material, wherein said blowing device comprises: at least one gas nozzle configured to blow gas from an outside of said tubular-shaped packaging material through said tubular-shaped packaging material, and a guiding member, wherein said guiding member comprises a web passage having a surface configured to face said tubular-shaped packaging material such that said web passage surrounds or substantially surrounds said tubular-shaped packaging material and, wherein said gas nozzle is configured to surround or substantially surround said tubular-shaped packaging material; and introducing a gas from an outside of said tubular-shaped packaging material through said tubular-shaped packaging material using said blowing device.

26. A sealing arrangement for transversely sealing a gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, said sealing arrangement comprising: a sealing device configured to seal said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material with a transverse seal, and a blowing device comprising at least one gas nozzle configured to blow a gas from an outside of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material through said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, wherein said gas nozzle is configured to surround or substantially surround said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material and, wherein said blowing device is arranged upstream of said sealing device with said gas nozzle configured to blow said gas onto said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, such that said gas contacts said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material at or adjacent to said sealing device.

27. The sealing arrangement according to claim 26, being configured to be displaced together with said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material in said direction of travel of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material.

28. An arrangement for the manufacturing of pouched products comprising a gas-permeable packaging material enclosing a filling material, said arrangement comprising: a first feeding unit for supplying an advancing web of said gas-permeable packaging material, a second feeding unit for supplying said filling material to said advancing web, an enclosing unit for arranging said web of gas-permeable packaging material in a tubular shape, thereby forming a gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, optionally, a longitudinal sealing device for providing said arranged gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material with a longitudinal seal, and a sealing arrangement comprising a sealing device configured to seal said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material with a transverse seal, and a blowing device comprising at least one gas nozzle configured to blow a gas from an outside of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material through said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, wherein said gas nozzle is configured to surround or substantially surround said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material and, wherein said blowing device is arranged upstream of said sealing device with said gas nozzle configured to blow said gas onto said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, such that said gas contacts said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material at or adjacent to said sealing device.

29. A method for transversely sealing a gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, which encloses a filling material, said method comprising: a) removing filling material from a seal region of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material by blowing said filling material away from said seal region, wherein said blowing is performed from an outside of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material through said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, and b) providing a transverse seal to said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material in said seal region of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, wherein said blowing is performed by a gas nozzle surrounding or substantially surrounding said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein step b, or steps a and b, is/are performed while moving together with said advancing tubular-shaped packaging material.

31. The method according to claim 29, wherein said blowing is performed by blowing gas at an angle in relation to a direction of travel of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, wherein said angle fulfils the requirement 0<90.

32. The method according to claim 29, wherein said blowing is performed in a pulsating way.

33. The method according to claim 29, wherein step a in addition is performed by vibrating said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material or providing a standing wave in said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material.

34. A method for manufacturing a pouched product comprising: supplying and advancing a web of a gas-permeable packaging material, supplying a filling material to said advancing web, arranging said advancing web in a tubular shape to enclose said filling material, wherein said arranging is performed before or after supplying said filling material, optionally, providing said tubularly arranged gas-permeable packaging material with a longitudinal seal, and providing said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material with a transverse seal by: a) removing filling material from a seal region of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material by blowing said filling material away from said seal region, wherein said blowing is performed from an outside of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material through said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, and b) providing a transverse seal to said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material in said seal region of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, wherein said blowing is performed by a gas nozzle surrounding or substantially surrounding said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material.

35. The blowing device according to claim 1, wherein said at least one gas nozzle is directed at an angle in relation to a direction of travel of said tubular-shaped packaging material, wherein said angle fulfils the requirement 160.

36. The method according to claim 29, wherein said blowing is performed by blowing gas at an angle in relation to a direction of travel of said gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material, wherein said angle fulfils the requirement 160.

37. The method according to claim 29, wherein step a) is performed before step b).

38. The method according to claim 29, wherein step a) is performed during step b).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0070] The present invention will hereinafter be further explained by means of non-limiting examples with reference to the appended drawings wherein:

[0071] FIG. 1a-c illustrate a blowing device according to the invention.

[0072] FIG. 2 illustrates a sealing arrangement according to the invention.

[0073] FIG. 3a-g illustrate an arrangement and a method for manufacturing of poached products.

[0074] FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-section through a nip of a pulling unit.

[0075] FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative sealing arrangement according to the invention.

[0076] It should be noted that the appended drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that the dimensions of some features of the present invention may have been exaggerated for the sake of clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0077] The invention will, in the following, be exemplified by embodiments. It should however be realized that the embodiments are included in order to explain principles of the invention 20 and not to limit the scope of the invention, defined by the appended claims. Details from two or more of the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0078] FIGS. 1a-b illustrate a blowing device 1 according to the invention for blowing gas through a gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material. The gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material is indicated with dashed lines in FIG. 1b. It has a direction of travel indicated by DT. FIG. 1a shows a perspective view of the blowing device 1 and FIG. 1b shows a perspective cross-sectional view.

[0079] The blowing device 1 comprises a guiding member 3 having a web passage 5 with a surface 7 adapted to face the tubular-shaped packaging material such that the web passage 5 surrounds or substantially surrounds the tubular-shaped packaging material. The guiding member 3 is funnel-shaped with the web passage 5 having a first circular opening 11 with a larger diameter than a second circular opening 12. The tubular-shaped packaging material is adapted to pass through the web passage 5. Therefore the web passage 5 has an inner circumference, which is larger than the outer circumference of the tubular-shaped packaging material, e.g. within the range of from 2 mm to 10 mm larger, preferably in the range of from 4 mm to 7 mm larger, allowing the tubular-shaped packaging material to pass through the web passage 5 without wrinkling. By letting the 5 larger first opening 11 face in a direction opposite to the direction of travel DT, it is easy to thread the tubular-shaped packaging material through the web passage 5.

[0080] The blowing device 1 further comprises a chamber 13, which is connectable to a source of pressurized gas, e.g. pressurized air, via at least one gas inlet 15. In the illustrated embodiment, the chamber 13 is annularly shaped. A first wall portion of the chamber 13 is formed by the guiding member 3. A second wall portion of the chamber 13 is formed by a housing member 17, such that the guiding member 3 and the housing member 17 together form the blowing device 1 in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1. The at least one gas inlet 15 is located in the housing member 17. As an option, the walls of the chamber 13 may also be constituted by one or more additional members, and in that case the blowing device may also comprise these one or more additional members.

[0081] The blowing device 1 may as an option comprise one or more brackets 18, which are intended to be used when mounting the blowing device 1 in an arrangement for manu-facturing of pouched products, e.g. portion-packed pouched oral snuff products, like the arrangement 37 described below in conjunction with FIGS. 3a-g.

[0082] The blowing device 1 of the illustrated embodiment comprises an annularly shaped gas nozzle 19. The gas nozzle 19 has a circular shape and surrounds the web passage 5. An inner side wall 21 of the gas nozzle 19 is formed by a portion of the guiding member 3. An outer side wall 23 of the gas nozzle 19 is formed by a portion of the housing member 17. The gas nozzle 19 is directed such that the blown out gas hits the tubular-shaped packaging material at an angle , wherein the angle fulfils the requirement 0<90, preferably 160, more preferably 3<30, most preferably 5<15 in relation to the direction of travel DT. In the illustrated embodiment, the angle is about 10.

[0083] In order to guide the gas flow through the gas nozzle 19, the inner side wall 21 and/or the outer side wall 23 may be provided with ridges and/or grooves. An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 1c showing the outer side wall 23 being provided with a plurality of ridges 25, which are evenly distributed around a circumference of the gas nozzle 19. The ridges 25 and/or grooves divide the gas nozzle 19 into a number of subnozzles.

[0084] FIG. 2 illustrates a sealing arrangement 27 for transversely sealing the gas-permeable tubular-shaped packaging material 29. The sealing arrangement comprises a sealing device 31 for providing the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 with a transverse seal 33 and a blowing device comprising at least one gas nozzle arranged to blow a gas from an outside of the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 through the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. The blowing device may be the blowing device 1 described in 10 conjunction with FIGS. 1a-c.

[0085] The sealing device 31 comprises a first sealing bar 32a and a second sealing bar 32b, whereof at least one is heated. The sealing arrangement 27 is shown in an open non-welding state in FIG. 2. During sealing, the first sealing bar 32a and second sealing bar 32b are in contact with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. The tubular-shaped packaging material 29 is between the first sealing bar 32a and second sealing bar 32b such that they operate from opposite sides of the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 in order to form the transverse seal 33 in a seal region 35. The seal region 35 is a portion of the tubular-shaped packaging material 29, in which the transverse seal 33 is to be located. The transverse seal 33 may be applied by thermo-welding or ultrasonic welding.

[0086] The blowing device 1 is arranged upstream of the sealing device 31 with the gas nozzle 19 adapted to blow the gas onto the tubular-shaped packaging material 29, such that the gas hits the tubular-shaped packaging material at or adjacent to the sealing device 31. As mentioned above, the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 is gas-permeable. Therefore the gas from the gas nozzle 19 can be blown through the packaging material 29, such that the gas may help to move filling material, e.g. snus, enclosed in the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 away from the seal region 35. In order to get the best effect, it may be preferred to perform the removal of filling material from the seal region 35 just before and/or during providing the transverse seal 33. Since the seal region 35 is cleaned from filling material, if any, before providing the transverse seal 33, the risk of trapping any filling material in the transverse seal 33 is avoided, or at least reduced. Thereby the transverse seal 33 will be stronger. The transverse seal 33 will further be neater and more aesthetically appealing, since it looks better. There is also a possible to increase machine speed.

[0087] The sealing arrangement 27 may further comprise a cutting device 34, which is adapted to separate a pouched product 39 from the following pouched product 39 once the transverse seal 33 has been provided. Preferably the cutting device 34 is combined with the sealing arrangement 27 for transversely sealing, e.g. such that the cutting is performed when sealing. In the illustrated embodiment, the cutting device 34 comprises a knife 34a located in a slot in one of the sealing bars, here illustrated in the second sealing bar 32b. The knife 34a cooperates with a corresponding slot 34b in the other of the two sealing bars, here the first sealing bar 32a. As mentioned above, filling material is removed from the seal region. Thereby there is less risk, or no risk, of cutting through filling material, which may contribute to a better durability of the cutting device 34, in particular of the knife 34a.

[0088] The sealing arrangement 27 may form part of an arrangement 37 for manufacturing of poached products, e.g. portion-packed pouched oral snuff products 39, which comprise a gas-permeable packaging material 41 enclosing a filling material 43. See FIGS. 3a-g. The product 39 is best seen in FIG. 3g.

[0089] The arrangement 37 comprises a first feeding unit 45 for supplying an advancing web 47 of the packaging material and a second feeding unit 49 for supplying the filling material 43 to the advancing web 47.

[0090] The arrangement 37 further comprises an enclosing unit 51 for arranging the web 47 of packaging material in a tubular shape, thereby forming the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 mentioned above. The enclosing unit 51 may be located upstream or down-stream of the second feeding unit 49. In the illustrated embodiment, the enclosing unit 51 comprises a rigid tube, e.g. made of metal or plastics, around which the advancing web 47 of the packaging material is wrapped to form a tubular shape. The filling material 43 may be fed through the rigid tube of the enclosing unit 51.

[0091] As an option, the arrangement 37 may comprise a longitudinal sealing device 53 for providing the arranged packaging material with a longitudinal seal 55, e.g. by means of thermo-welding, ultrasonic welding or an adhesive. The longitudinal seal 55 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The longitudinal sealing device 53 is located at or downstream of the enclosing unit 51, such that the longitudinal sealing device 53 longitudinally seals the tubularly arranged packaging material. In the illustrated embodiment, the longitudinal sealing device 53 works against the rigid tube of the enclosing unit 51.

[0092] The sealing arrangement 27 for transversely sealing the tubular-shaped packaging material, which was described in conjunction with FIG. 2, is located downstream of the enclosing unit 51 and the optional longitudinal sealing device 53.

[0093] In the illustrated embodiment of the sealing arrangement 27, as seen in FIGS. 3a-g, the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b are arranged to be displaced in a laterally reciprocating way in relation to the tubular-shaped packaging material 29, i.e. in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel DT, between a first position, illustrated in FIG. 3a, being in contact with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 and a position, illustrated in FIG. 3c, being out of contact with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29.

[0094] Further, the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b are adapted to be displaced together with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 in the direction of travel DT for a predefined distance and then to return, thereby moving in a longitudinally reciprocating way, i.e. in a direction generally coinciding with the direction of travel DT of the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. Preferably, and is shown in the illustrated embodiment, the blowing device 1 accompanies the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing 32b in this displacement. Thereby the sealing device 31 and the blowing device 1 move at the same speed as the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 and consequently they are stationary in relation to the advancing tubular-shaped packaging material 29 resulting in that the transverse seal 33 can be provided during a longer time span. The length of the time span depends on the speed of the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 and for how long distance the sealing device 31 follows the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. The transverse seal may be applied by thermo-welding or ultrasonic welding.

[0095] Since the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b are adapted to move both longitudinally reciprocating and laterally reciprocating, they follow a rectangular or square path, thus repeating their movement in a cyclic way. The first sealing bar 32a moves along a path 57 which has a first portion 57a parallel to and adjacent to the tubular-shaped packaging material 29, a second portion 57b moving the first sealing bar 32a away from the tubular-shaped packaging material 29, a third portion 57c bringing the first sealing bar 32a back upstream and a fourth portion 57d bringing the first sealing bar 32a back into contact with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. The second sealing bar 32b follows a corresponding path 59, having corresponding portions 59a, 59b, 59c, 59d. See paths 57, 59 illustrated in FIG. 3a. The paths 57, 59 are further described below.

[0096] FIG. 3a illustrates a start of forming a transverse seal. The longitudinal seal 55, see FIG. 2, is continuously formed in the advancing tubular-shaped packaging material 29 by the longitudinal sealing device 53. As mentioned above, the longitudinal sealing device 53 is optional. The first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b assume the first position, in which they start welding. A portion of the filling material 43 is filled from above into the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. The filling material moves downwards, e.g. by gravity, until it reaches the seal region 35 of the tubular-shaped packaging material 29, which is in the gap between the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b.

[0097] The first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b move downstream together with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 while performing the welding along the respective first portions 57a, 59a of their paths. The first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b then reaches a second position being downstream of the first position but yet in contact with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. See FIG. 3b. In this position, the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 may be cut by the cutting device 34 leaving an upper transverse seal 33 at the upper edge of the pouched product and a lower transverse seal 33 at the lower edge of the following pouched product.

[0098] Thereafter the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b are moved away from the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 along the second portions 57b, 59b of their respective paths until they reach a respective third position, such that they are no longer in contact. The already formed lower transverse seal 33 prevents the portion of the filling material 43 from falling out. See FIG. 3c.

[0099] As a next step, the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b are moved back upstream along the third portions 57c, 59c of their respective paths to a fourth position being out of contact with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. See FIG. 3d.

[0100] Then the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b are moved back to the first position along the fourth portions 57d, 59d of their respective paths, such that they start forming a new transverse seal. See FIG. 3e.

[0101] The first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b move along the respective first portions 57a, 59a of their paths together with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 while performing the welding until the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b reach the second position being downstream of the first position but yet in contact with the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. See FIG. 3f. The tubular-shaped packaging material 29 is cut by the cutting device 34, leaving an upper transverse seal 33 at the upper edge of the pouched product and a lower transverse seal 33 at the lower edge of the following pouched product, which has been filled by a subsequent portion of the filling material 43.

[0102] Thereafter the first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b are moved away from the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 along the second portions 57b, 59b of their respective paths until they reach a respective third position, illustrated in FIG. 3g, such that they are no longer in contact, as is already described above for FIG. 3c. The first sealing bar 32a and the second sealing bar 32b continue to move along their paths 57, 59 described above, while the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 moves in the direction of travel DT.

[0103] In order to help separating the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 after the cut, the arrangement 37 may further comprise a pulling unit, illustrated in FIGS. 3f and 3g as a nip 61 between a pair of rollers 63, 64 arranged to pull the pouched product 39 in the direction of travel DT. Thereby the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 is tensioned in a controllable way in order to make a separation of the pouched product 39 from the following pouched product easier. The distance z between the nip 61 and the cutting device 34 when the sealing device 31 is in the second position, see FIG. 3f, roughly corresponds to the length of the pouched product 39 in the direction of travel DT. Hence, if the arrangement 37 is utilized for manufacturing pouched products of different sizes, the distance z is preferably adjustable. After passing the nip 61, the pouched product 39 is placed on a conveyor 67. See FIG. 3g.

[0104] FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-section through the nip 61 as seen from above in FIG. 3g. In order to be able to pull the pouched product 39 filled with the portion of the filling material without destroying the pouched product 39 in the nip 61, at least one of the rolls, illustrated as the left-hand roll 63, is provided with a plurality of ridges 65, having inter-spaces 67 between the ridges 65. The ridges 65 will help to pull the pouched product 39, while the interspaces 67 give room for the filling material 43. Thereby, it is possible to pull the pouched product 39 through the nip 61 without destroying it. There are at least two ridges 65. The other roll 64 may be flat as is illustrated, or it may also comprise ridges.

[0105] FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative sealing arrangement 71 according to the invention. The sealing device 31 is like the one already described above in conjunction with FIG. 2. The blowing device 73 of the alternative sealing arrangement 71 comprises two separate gas nozzles 75, 77, which blow onto and through the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 from different directions at opposite sides of the tubular-shaped packaging material 29. Preferably they are directed according to above, such that the gas hits the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 at the angle being within the ranges described above, in FIG. 5 illustrated as about 20. The gas nozzles 75, 77 may be arranged at a guiding member, not illustrated, which forms a web passage corresponding to the web passage 5 described above. The alternative sealing arrangement 71 may comprise three or more separate gas nozzles 75, 77. They may be evenly distributed along the circumference of the tubular-shaped packaging material 29.

[0106] In the illustrated embodiments, the filling material 43 is placed in the tubular-shaped packaging material 29 as a portion of filling material, as commonly known in the art. See e.g. the above-mentioned patent document U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,765. In this case, the direction of travel DT is preferably vertical, as in the illustrated embodiments.

[0107] Alternatively, the filling material may be placed on a planar web of packaging material as a portion before the planar web is formed to a tubular-shape, e.g. according to a technique called NYPS described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,120. Thereafter the packaging material is wrapped around the already placed snuff portion to form the tubular-shaped packaging material, thereby enclosing the snuff portion. The arranged packaging material is then sealed by a longitudinal seal. Both lateral edges of the packaging web may face in the same direction, e.g. upwards, such that a fin seal is made. Alternatively, the lateral edge portions of the packaging web may overlap, such that a lap seal is created. A combined fin and lap seal may be formed by letting the lateral edges of the packaging web face in the same direction forming a fin, optionally forming a fin seal in the fin, and then lap sealing the fin to the outer surface of the pouch. In this case, the direction of travel DT may preferably be horizontal.

[0108] Further modifications of the invention within the scope of the appended claims are feasible. As such, the present invention should not be considered as limited by the embodiments and figures described herein. Rather, the full scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims, with reference to the description and drawings.