A method for controlling a production process for articles includes: feeding a plurality of articles to a first operating unit where the articles are subjected to a first processing operation; controlling at least one characteristic of the articles outgoing from the first operating unit; identifying among the outgoing articles a first group and a second group of articles, in which the at least one characteristic is respectively in accordance or not with predetermined quality parameters; transferring the articles outgoing from the first operating unit to at least one second operating unit, where the articles are subjected to at least one second processing operation; allowing the at least one second operating unit to perform the at least one second processing operation on the first group of articles; receiving the articles outgoing from the at least one second operating unit, and then discarding the second group of articles.

A cutting unit (8) configured to make chains of articles having a desired number of articles in each chain of articles.

An apparatus includes a fixed assembly and a reciprocating assembly. The fixed assembly includes a hopper, a first gas manifold, and a dispensing chamber, and the reciprocating assembly includes a channel assembly defining a channel conduit, a shield plate vertically aligned therewith, and a second gas manifold. The reciprocating assembly may move, in relation to the fixed assembly, to a first position to enable the channel conduit to be filled with bulk compressible material from the hopper, a second position to enable compressible material to be pushed from the channel conduit to the dispensing conduit and to be compressed in the dispensing chamber according to a first gas directed through the channel conduit by the first gas manifold, and a third position to enable the compressed material to be pushed out of the dispensing conduit according to a second gas directed through the dispensing conduit by the second gas manifold.

An apparatus includes a fixed assembly and a reciprocating assembly. The fixed assembly includes a hopper, a first gas manifold, and a dispensing chamber, and the reciprocating assembly includes a channel assembly defining a channel conduit, a shield plate vertically aligned therewith, and a second gas manifold. The reciprocating assembly may move, in relation to the fixed assembly, to a first position to enable the channel conduit to be filled with bulk compressible material from the hopper, a second position to enable compressible material to be pushed from the channel conduit to the dispensing conduit and to be compressed in the dispensing chamber according to a first gas directed through the channel conduit by the first gas manifold, and a third position to enable the compressed material to be pushed out of the dispensing conduit according to a second gas directed through the dispensing conduit by the second gas manifold.

A system for manufacturing tamper evident packaging, for example a bag with a tamper evident seal, includes a noncontact sealing device, a manufacturing conveyor, and in some implementations, a tensioning device and a closure device. The manufacturing conveyor conveys the bag to opposing pairs of in-feed belts of the non-contact sealing device, wherein the belts hold opposing sides of the bag together and a laser with an outlet positioned between a first pair of the belts spot welds the bag along a specified line to fuse the opposing sides of the bag together proximate an opening of the bag. In implementations including the tensioning device and the closure device, the tensioning device draws the opposing sides of the bag together prior to the bag entering the noncontact sealing device, and the closure device applies a removably coupleable closure to the bag after the bag exits the non-contact sealing device.

A system for manufacturing tamper evident packaging, for example a bag with a tamper evident seal, includes a noncontact sealing device, a manufacturing conveyor, and in some implementations, a tensioning device and a closure device. The manufacturing conveyor conveys the bag to opposing pairs of in-feed belts of the non-contact sealing device, wherein the belts hold opposing sides of the bag together and a laser with an outlet positioned between a first pair of the belts spot welds the bag along a specified line to fuse the opposing sides of the bag together proximate an opening of the bag. In implementations including the tensioning device and the closure device, the tensioning device draws the opposing sides of the bag together prior to the bag entering the noncontact sealing device, and the closure device applies a removably coupleable closure to the bag after the bag exits the non-contact sealing device.

A bundling machine includes a wrapper that wraps the combination while it rests on a forward end of a paper cutout and a rear end of the paper cutout overlaps the forward end of the paper cutout while the combination moves in a transport direction, a transporter having a wrapping belt and a removal belt that follows the wrapping belt along the transport direction for conveying the combination of packages along a transport plane in the transport direction through the wrapper, and a controller that controls the relative speed of the belts so that, while the combination contacts both belts, the wrapping belt moves faster than the removal belt, thereby causing the rear end to sustain a tension in the direction of the forward end.

A bundling machine includes a wrapper that wraps the combination while it rests on a forward end of a paper cutout and a rear end of the paper cutout overlaps the forward end of the paper cutout while the combination moves in a transport direction, a transporter having a wrapping belt and a removal belt that follows the wrapping belt along the transport direction for conveying the combination of packages along a transport plane in the transport direction through the wrapper, and a controller that controls the relative speed of the belts so that, while the combination contacts both belts, the wrapping belt moves faster than the removal belt, thereby causing the rear end to sustain a tension in the direction of the forward end.

An automatic machine for the production or the packaging of consumer products, in particular of the tobacco industry has at least one processing line provided with a plurality of operating members and feeds at least one material used to manufacture the consumer products. A control and/or identification method includes carrying out, inside a volume containing at least part of the automatic machine, a three-dimensional detection using at least one hyperspectral detection unit for detecting alterations of the electromagnetic field produced by all the objects inside the volume, the hyperspectral detection unit outputs raw data concerning the dimensions, position, shape, physical structure, and/or the chemical composition of all the objects present inside the volume. The raw data is filtered using an artificial intelligence algorithm to isolate and extract information concerning at least one single object inside the volume; and the information is used to carry out a control and/or identification operation.

An automatic machine for the production or the packaging of consumer products, in particular of the tobacco industry has at least one processing line provided with a plurality of operating members and feeds at least one material used to manufacture the consumer products. A control and/or identification method includes carrying out, inside a volume containing at least part of the automatic machine, a three-dimensional detection using at least one hyperspectral detection unit for detecting alterations of the electromagnetic field produced by all the objects inside the volume, the hyperspectral detection unit outputs raw data concerning the dimensions, position, shape, physical structure, and/or the chemical composition of all the objects present inside the volume. The raw data is filtered using an artificial intelligence algorithm to isolate and extract information concerning at least one single object inside the volume; and the information is used to carry out a control and/or identification operation.