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A method for making sterile suture packages employs a frame assembly line, a sterilization line and a blanker/cartoner line. A web of foil is advanced in a series of movements through the frame assembly line to assemble a frame containing needle-suture assemblies in a plurality of cavities in the fr

A method for making sterile suture packages employs a frame assembly line, a sterilization line and a blanker/cartoner line. A web of foil is advanced in a series of movements through the frame assembly line to assemble a frame containing needle-suture assemblies in a plurality of cavities in the frame, the frame having top and bottom aluminum foils with heat seal coatings on their facing surfaces. The cavities are formed in the bottom foil of each frame by a combination of pressurized air and mechanical plugs which are forced against the bottom foil and an underlying die having recesses for defining the cavities. A blanking operation following sterilization and sealing separates individual packages, each containing one needle-suture assembly, from the frame. The packages are then conveyed by belts through inspection stations and reoriented for loading into shipping cartons.

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A method for making sterile suture packages, comprising: a. feeding an elongated web of foil along a frame assembly line, the foil having a thin polymer coating on its top surface; b. moving a frame section of the web into a cavity forming station having a die beneath the web; c. during a pause in t

A method for making sterile suture packages, comprising: a. feeding an elongated web of foil along a frame assembly line, the foil having a thin polymer coating on its top surface; b. moving a frame section of the web into a cavity forming station having a die beneath the web; c. during a pause in the web\s movement, forcing air under pressure at the top surface of the web to deform the web into a plurality of large recesses to define cavities in the web and to deform the web into a plurality of small recesses located along the edges of the web to define rib-like depressions arranged in sets, each set corresponding to and lying adjacent to a cavity, and forcing a plug into each of the cavities from above the web to further define the shape of the cavities; d. advancing the frame section to a suture packet loading station, and loading a suture packet into each cavity during a pause in the web\s movement; e. advancing the frame section to a top foil loading station, and loading a sheet of top foil atop the frame section during a pause in the web\s movement, the sheet of top foil having a polymer coating on its bottom surface; f. advancing the frame section to a sealing station and then, during a pause in the web\s movement, exposing portions of the web and top foil partially around each cavity to heat and pressure to form a primary seal, leaving portions unsealed between each cavity and the adjacent corresponding set of rib-like depressions; g. advancing the frame section to a cutting station, and then, during a pause in the web\s movement, cutting the web at the leading and trailing edges of the frame section to provide a separate frame; h. then, on a sterilization line, sterilizing the suture packets in the frame and then sealing portions of the frame at the outer periphery of each cavity to provide a complete peripheral heat seal around each cavity; and i. transporting the frame to a blanking station and separating a set of packages from the frame, each package having a single suture package contained therein in a sterile condition.