A bale bagging apparatus for wrapping a bag around a bale of compressed material includes a base frame member having a first end and a second end, a transportation system, a bale chute and a bag retrieval system. The transportation system is provided to transport a bale through the bale chute having a bag for wrapping the bale. Additionally, the bale bagging apparatus has the bag retrieval system to position a bag from a first position to a second position to a third position, where in the third position an open end of the bag is positioned around the output end of the bale chute when the bale is transported by the transportation system through the bale chute.

A method for producing bags containing fiber material, comprises the steps of forming at least one continuous layer of fiber material; separating in succession portions of fiber material from the continuous layer and moving them along a predetermined path; feeding each portion of fiber material to respective containment and compaction elements of a first transfer conveyor; feeding an ordered succession of bags containing respective portions of fiber material to respective supporting elements of a second transfer conveyor; transferring the portions of fiber material into respective housings of a third transfer conveyor; transferring the portions from the third transfer conveyor inside respective containment bags carried by a second transfer conveyor; transferring the containment bags from the second transfer conveyor to a fourth transfer conveyor; and moving in succession the bags housing respective portions of fiber material to a folding unit at which the bags are closed.

A method of automatic packing of comminuted silicon includes providing an inner bag in a first shaping vessel, spreading out an opening of the inner bag and positioning the opening above a lip of a first filling funnel of a filling unit, and filling the inner bag with comminuted silicon. The comminuted silicon passes through the filling funnel into the inner bag. The inner bag is welded in a welding unit. The opening of the inner bag is folded together by inward folding of two opposite inner bag sides such that two inner bag edges formed by the folding-together are opposite and parallel to one another and form a fold with a channel. A vacuum welder is applied to the fold and welds the inner bag. The inner bag is transferred into an outer bag. The outer bag is welded.

A method of automatic packing of comminuted silicon includes providing an inner bag in a first shaping vessel, spreading out an opening of the inner bag and positioning the opening above a lip of a first filling funnel of a filling unit, and filling the inner bag with comminuted silicon. The comminuted silicon passes through the filling funnel into the inner bag. The inner bag is welded in a welding unit. The opening of the inner bag is folded together by inward folding of two opposite inner bag sides such that two inner bag edges formed by the folding-together are opposite and parallel to one another and form a fold with a channel. A vacuum welder is applied to the fold and welds the inner bag. The inner bag is transferred into an outer bag. The outer bag is welded.

A container blank (1), so sized and shaped as to form a shipping pack having front (2) and rear (3) walls to which there are attached, along respective fold lines (2a, 2b, 3a), side wall sections (11, 12;16, 17) each being foldable so that said front and rear walls are in juxtaposed alignment, wherein an interior open-mouthed bag (30) is adhered to the inner surfaces of the front and rear walls. When a shipping pack is erected from said container blank, the folded interior bag (30) is deployed to align with the inner volume of said erected pack so as to provide an open-mouthed container with open-mouthed interior bag to be filled and subsequently sealed for dispatch. The shipping pack is configurable in a folded flat stackable form having an interior bag in situ for storage or dispatch and is easily machine assembled or manually formed into an open-mouthed shipping pack at point of use.

A container blank (1), so sized and shaped as to form a shipping pack having front (2) and rear (3) walls to which there are attached, along respective fold lines (2a, 2b, 3a), side wall sections (11, 12;16, 17) each being foldable so that said front and rear walls are in juxtaposed alignment, wherein an interior open-mouthed bag (30) is adhered to the inner surfaces of the front and rear walls. When a shipping pack is erected from said container blank, the folded interior bag (30) is deployed to align with the inner volume of said erected pack so as to provide an open-mouthed container with open-mouthed interior bag to be filled and subsequently sealed for dispatch. The shipping pack is configurable in a folded flat stackable form having an interior bag in situ for storage or dispatch and is easily machine assembled or manually formed into an open-mouthed shipping pack at point of use.

There is disclosed a bag folding assembly for a packaging apparatus for preparing a paper bag to be closed, the bag folding assembly comprising: a first jaw assembly and a second jaw assembly centred on a common operational axis, wherein: each jaw assembly is configured to transition between an open configuration and a closed configuration; the first jaw assembly and second jaw assembly are arranged with the jaws facing one another such that they are operable to grasp the region of the paper bag towards opposite edges of the region of the paper bag; the first jaw assembly and second jaw assembly are configured to simultaneously rotate about the operational axis to fold the paper bag by turning the region of the paper bag with respect to the operational axis. There is also disclosed a method for closing a paper bag, and a packaging apparatus.

There is disclosed a bag folding assembly for a packaging apparatus for preparing a paper bag to be closed, the bag folding assembly comprising: a first jaw assembly and a second jaw assembly centred on a common operational axis, wherein: each jaw assembly is configured to transition between an open configuration and a closed configuration; the first jaw assembly and second jaw assembly are arranged with the jaws facing one another such that they are operable to grasp the region of the paper bag towards opposite edges of the region of the paper bag; the first jaw assembly and second jaw assembly are configured to simultaneously rotate about the operational axis to fold the paper bag by turning the region of the paper bag with respect to the operational axis. There is also disclosed a method for closing a paper bag, and a packaging apparatus.