Importance

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Abstract

A container seaming machine has a first drive for positioning a seaming roller with respect to a circumferential edge of the lid, and a second drive for rotating the seaming roller with respect to a container lid chuck, container body and container lid. The first drive and the second drive are independently controllable from each other, and each drive is controlled and coordinated by a programmable controller to seam the lid to the container body. Another drive, also controlled by the programmable controller, lifts the container body toward the chuck and allows for varying degrees of force to be exerted between the container body and the lid. The drives use servomotors and linear actuators for precise positioning control. A process for displacing air from containers prior to seaming a lid to a container is also provided. In the process, a container body is filled with contents and is then injected with liquid nitrogen. A lid is immediately placed on the container body, and a biasing force is immediately applied against the lid to maintain the lid on the liquid nitrogen filled container bodies until the container body reaches the seaming mechanism. The biasing force is sufficient to allow a portion of nitrogen gas from vaporization of the liquid nitrogen to escape from the container body, and to allow air originally present in the container body to escape from the container body, while preventing surrounding air from entering the container body.

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First Claim