Food Cup Seal Strength

Seal Strength of Sealed Food Cups

Non-Destructive vacuum decay testing of preformed sealed food cups.
Problem: A manufacturer of soft food products needed a way to confirm the seal integrity of their two-up food cups of various sizes.

Resolution: The TME Solution chamber leak test system is provided with custom manufactured inserts designed to minimize the interstitial space surrounding the test item in the chamber) and thus maximize the sensitivity of the leak test.

The system is designed to detect air leakage when a differential pressure is created on the test part inside this closed chamber.

The test fixture is composed of a fixed base and cavity block mounted on a holding frame. An O-ring on the cavity block seals the tested part inside the fitted cavities. After the chamber is evacuated to the desired vacuum level, the vacuum is monitored. If air from the test part enters the test chamber a drop in vacuum indicates a leakage into the test part. The Solution leak tester detects this leakage of air (“vacuum decay”), thus indicating a leak.

Interchangeable cavity blocks, manufactured to accommodate various sizes of product, were provided to the customer. These blocks fit into the holding frame in the fixed base of the fixture. Test parameters for each size of food cups can be stored in the test instrument for easy and quick retrieval, further increasing the range of use of the test system.

Image shows the TME SolutionTM with the test fixture.