A food article loading system including a shuttle conveyor mounted for reciprocal movement having a first paddle belt for receiving food articles, and upper and lower drives engaging the upper and lower passes of the first paddle belt; a loading head having a second paddle belt for receiving the food articles from the first paddle belt lower pass; a slide gate for receiving groupings of food articles from the loading head; and a control for independently actuating the upper and lower drives to operate at selected speeds, to cause rotation of the first belt and the shuttle conveyor to reciprocate longitudinally to receive and retain a first predetermined number of the food articles, deposit a second predetermined number of the elongate food articles onto the second belt at a selected frequency, and selectively open the slide gate to allow groupings of food articles to fall into receptacles.

Converting line for paper rolls, including at least one converting apparatus adapted to convert paper plies, wound in parent reels, into rolls, a packing machine that in turn includes—a carrier conveyor, on which the rolls coming from the converting apparatus are arranged, —at least one side area at the side of the carrier conveyor, where the rolls are packed, —at least one robot adapted to take the rolls from the at least one conveyor belt and to put them in the at least one side area.

An apparatus (100) for manufacturing capsules (10) under vacuum for preparing beverages is described, comprising: a plurality of support elements (105) and a driving system (120) adapted to move said support elements (105) and stop them in a plurality of operative stations, wherein each support element (105) comprises a row of housing seats (115), wherein the operative stations comprise at least: a loading station (145) for inserting into the housing seats (115) a glass-shaped body (15), a filling station (150) for filling glass-shaped bodies (15) with a food substance adapted to produce a beverage, a covering station (155) for applying and fixing on the glass/shaped bodies (15) a closing film (45), and a sealing station (160) for placing under vacuum the inner volume of the glass-shaped bodies (15) and for sealing the closing film (45) and wherein said sealing station (160) comprises: a plurality of bell-shaped members (280), each of which is adapted to overlay to one respective housing seat (115) and has mouthpiece directed downward, a movement apparatus (300) for moving each bell-shaped member (280) in vertical direction between a raised position to a lowered position, a vacuum generating apparatus (340) to reduce the inner volume of bell-shaped members (280), and a plurality of welding elements (390), each of which is contained inside a respective bell-shaped member (280) for airtightly welding the closing film (45) on the glass-shaped body (15) contained in the housing seat (115).

A capping and de-capping apparatus (100) for capping and de-capping tubes (112) disposed in a tube holding rack (111) having a two-dimensional array of apertures (114) for holding the tubes (112). The apparatus (100) comprises a rack support (110) for supporting the tube holding rack (111), a head unit (120) adapted for carrying a cartridge (152) comprising at least one capping and de-capping gripper (122), a drive system (130) for moving the rack support (110) and the head unit (120) relatively towards and away from one another, in order to cause engagement or disengagement of the capping and de-capping gripper (122) with or from a cap (113) of at least one tube (112), and a drive system (140) for rotating the capping and de-capping gripper (122), wherein rotation in one direction causes attachment of the cap (113) to the tube (112) and rotation in the opposite direction causes detachment of the cap (113) from said tube (112).

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.

The present disclosure provides a device for packaging drug portions, including a plurality of reservoir and dispensing stations, at least one conveyance and collecting apparatus, a packaging material feed, a packaging device, a folding and conveyance device included with the packaging device, a guide device including a receiving segment and a conveying segment, the conveying segment extending along the passage of the folding and conveyance device and guides drug portions into the tubular packaging material web, a first joining device arranged downstream of the folding and conveyance device, and a second joining device arranged downstream of the first joining device, which joins the tubular packaging material web at pre-specified intervals with respect to the direction of movement of the tubular packaging material, such that a continuous blister tube is created.

A unit for the control or management of articles includes a plant including an operating line including an upstream section for making the articles, including a log saw for cutting rolls off elongate logs, a packaging section including a packing section where the articles or rolls are packed, and a bagging section where the packs are placed in bags and/or a palletizing section where the packs or bags are placed on pallets. A conveying section transports products between the upstream section and the packaging section and/or between one packaging section and another downstream. A process controller controls the functioning of the plant sections. The unit includes a device for detecting and/or lighting a face of the product or pack and which is adapted to produce different images of the face, to exhibit different states of reflection of the light that is incident upon the face.

A method for producing sterile solution product bags includes positioning a manifold assembly onto a filling machine. The manifold assembly includes a plurality of bags, a first filter, and a connection line in fluid communication with the first filter. Each of the plurality of bags includes a bladder and a stem in fluid communication with the bladder and with the connection line. The method includes activating a pump and at least partially filling one or more of the bladders by pumping fluid through the feed line, the first filter, and the connection line. The method includes sealing the stem of each of the filled product bags at a location between the connection line and the bladder, thereby creating one or more at least partially filled and sealed product bags. The method includes separating each of the at least partially filled and sealed product bags from the connection line.

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.

A plural-mode automatic medicament packaging system. In embodiments, the system may include an automatic dispensing machine including an automatic medicament dispensing unit and may further include pouch packaging and blister package packaging units. The medicament dispensing unit may include one or more storage and dispensing units which store and dispense medicaments. Medicaments output from the medicament dispensing unit may be packaged in a pouch package by the pouch packaging unit. Alternatively, a diverter may direct medicaments output from the medicament dispensing unit to the pouch package packaging unit for packaging in a blister package. A single automatic medicament packaging system can package medicaments in different types of packaging providing a pharmacy with the opportunity to package medicaments in the form of packaging most appropriate to meet patient needs.