Apparatus for feeding foil stock in a process for making sealed sterile packages

Automated packaging of surgical needle-suture assemblies includes a framing operation in which adjacent sheets of polymer coated aluminum foils are conveyed through a sequence of steps in an apparatus which produces frames containing plastic packets of needle-suture assemblies. The apparatus pulls a web of foil off a large diameter feed roll and maintains web alignment as it travels down line through the apparatus by a system that optically detects transverse movement of the web as it is fed into the apparatus and adjusts the position of the feed roll relative to the centerline of travel using a hi-directional stepper motor. Discontinuities in the polymer coating on the top surface of the web of foil are automatically detected so that remedial steps can be taken to avoid processing defective sections of the web. A vision system having video cameras connected to a specially adapted computer enables monitoring the product travelling through the apparatus to detect various defects in the product formation. Upon detection of a defect, the computer system can either identify and separate rejected product from good product or shut down the apparatus. A servo drive system enables rapid and controllable advancement of the web down line in the apparatus.