Funnels and gas lances are disclosed for use with filling packages with bulk product.

Devices, systems, and methods for autonomously packing folded laundry articles into a container are described. A packing system includes a refillable cartridge, a queue conveyor having one or more folded laundry articles and stacks of folded laundry articles disposed thereon, at least one retractable conveyor loading end between the refillable cartridge and the queue conveyor for loading the folded laundry articles into the refillable cartridge, a driven lifter for selectively raising and lowering the into and out of the container, and a controller in operative configuration with processors and drives of all of the foregoing and one or more sensors detecting a fill height of the refillable cartridge. The refillable cartridge includes a removable receiving surface that moves from a closed position to an open position during loading of the folded laundry by the retractable conveyor and unloading of the folded laundry into the container.

A stack of products such as pouches are formed in a product bucket, pushed into a stack guide bucket and from there into a carton. A stack tamp descends over the stack, engages and confines it downwardly during stack pushing from product bucket and through stack guide bucket into a carton. Multiple product buckets, stack guide buckets and cartons move downstream during cartoning, and are respectively aligned in a cartoning station. Reciprocal containment blades hold the stack in respective cartons prior to flap closing.

A method including transporting fragile fruit into a hopper. The method also includes transferring the fragile fruit from the hopper into a container that is at least partially submerged in a fluid. The method additionally includes raising the container out of the fluid while the fragile fruit are within the container. Other embodiments are described.

A machine for filling bags with loose products extends along a longitudinal direction of advancing movement of the bags. The machine includes a station for feeding a bag to a pick-up position, and a plurality of filling stations for filling a respective bag, arranged in succession along the longitudinal direction, downstream of the pick-up position. The bags are picked up and transported from one station to another station. The pick-up position and filling stations are arranged at a predefined and equal distance from each other, corresponding to a step between adjacent stations in the longitudinal direction. The bags are transported by performing single translation movements in the longitudinal direction.

Provided herein is a system for automated dispensing and packaging of articles. Systems may include: a controller configured to receive an indication of an order to be packaged, where the order includes one or more articles; a packaging station; a web of bags, where the web of bags is fed to the packaging station; a pneumatic table configurable to support a bag disposed at the packaging station; an opening mechanism including a pneumatic nozzle to open the bag disposed at the packaging station; a loading bin configured to be inserted into the open bag and deposit the one or more articles; and a closure apparatus to seal the bag disposed at the packaging station after receiving the one or more articles.

There is provided a method and apparatus for filling at least one but typically a plurality of containers simultaneously with a predetermined quantity of flowable particulate or powder material. The method and apparatus allow the movement of the flowable particulate or powder material from a hopper into a filling assembly including channels located intermediate the containers and the hopper such that the exit ends of the channels are aligned with a respective container. Movement means cause relative movement between the said channels and the containers from a first position to a second position in which a second, exit, opening in the channels is located in a respective container cavity and moving flowable material from the hopper into a first, entrance opening of the channels so as to allow the predetermined quantity of the flowable material to pass through the channel under the influence of gravity and into the container cavity and then moving the channels and containers apart once the predetermined amount of flowable material has been entered into the containers. The size and shape and/or relative movement of the channels can be defined in order to accurately determine the said predetermined quantity of the flowable particulate or powder material which enters each of the containers even when the weight of the flowable particulate or powder material is relative light.

A rotary filling machine for filling containers with bridgeable dry materials includes a turret supporting a plurality of circumferentially spaced drop buckets and a plurality of funnel assemblies located under the drop buckets. A stationary slide plate is located vertically between the funnel assemblies and the drop buckets. When viewed in a direction of turret rotation, the slide plate has an upstream end, a downstream end, and inner and outer edges. A portion of the slide plate is tapered progressively in diameter toward its downstream end such that flow paths from the bottoms of the drop buckets to the inlet openings of the funnel assemblies increase progressively in diameter with the taper of the slide plate. Also provided is a funnel assembly and drop buckets provided with one more partitions that hinder the “snow-plowing of particles” along the edge of the associated fill opening in machine's fill plate rather than the sweeping of those particles into the fill opening.

A method of packaging water-reactive aluminum may include directing at least one discrete object into a container, the at least one discrete object including an aluminum alloy, the aluminum alloy plastically deformed and non-recrystallized, introducing, into the container, a liquid metal alloy including one or more activation metals, enclosing the at least one discrete object and the liquid metal alloy with one another in the container to form a kit, for a predetermined period, exposing the kit to a heating environment, and agitating the at least one discrete object and the liquid metal alloy in the container in the heating environment during the predetermined period to form the kit into a packaged unit of water-reactive aluminum.

Apparatuses and methods for tamping the contents of a container are disclosed. An embodiment of an apparatus includes a tamp head for tamping the contents of the container; and a container support assembly structured and arranged to temporarily support the bottom surface of the container during tamping, the container support assembly comprising a support element having a protrusion extending upward from a substantially flat and horizontal upper surface, wherein the protrusion is sized and shaped to correspond to the size and shape of the bottom surface of the container.