A tetrahedral-shaped pouch can be opened by tearing from a cut in a first lateral sealing edge and along a longitudinal sealing substantially perpendicular to the first lateral sealing edge to conveniently access non-liquid food contents, such as seeds or nuts. A short longitudinal cut can be made into but not all the way through the first lateral sealing edge, adjacent where the longitudinal sealing is positioned on the first lateral sealing edge. When opening the pouch, by initiating a tear starting at the cut, the packaging material will tear along, but not cross the longitudinal sealing, since the longitudinal sealing is formed from an overlapped and doubly thick section of packaging material. The pouch will therefore open, on at least one side of the tetrahedron, along a predictable tear line following the longitudinal sealing, to form a bowl-shaped receptacle from which the contained food product can be conveniently accessed.

A method for producing a sealed package for a product may include: providing a sheet packaging material having a crease pattern with a first transverse crease line, a second transverse crease line, and a plurality of further crease lines interposed between the first and second transverse crease lines, the further crease lines extending transversely to the first and second transverse crease lines; obtaining a sealed preliminary packaging unit from the sheet packaging material, the sealed preliminary packaging unit having a preset inner volume and containing the product; exerting a forming action on the sealed preliminary packaging unit so as to fold the sheet packaging material defining the sealed preliminary packaging unit and obtain a package therefrom. During the step of obtaining the sealed preliminary packaging unit, the sheet packaging material may be processed without being folded along the further crease lines.

A set of sealing jaws incorporating an adjustable seal area to seal the vertical portion of a bottom gusseted style of package. An adjustable seal surface allows a packaging machine to run different film web widths without the need to change jaws. The sealing jaws to be converted to run bottom gusset packages to pillow packages without the requirement to change jaws.

The present invention is directed to a method of forming a bottom-gusseted package, wherein each package includes an inwardly-extending, pleat-like gusset at the bottom of the package. To permit heat-sealing formation of each package, the sleeve from which each gusset is formed comprises a lamination of two differing polymeric materials, a sealant layer and a non-sealant layer, so that only an exterior surface of each sleeve, at which the sealant layer is positioned, exhibits the desired heat-sealing characteristics. To facilitate package formation, the sleeves from which the bottom gussets are formed are maintained in a closed or sealed configuration during package formation by providing a heat-sealed bond at the edge of each sleeve. In one embodiment, portions of the non-sealant layer are vaporized to provide sealable surface regions of the sealant layer. In an alternative embodiment, a lamination of the sealant and non-sealant layers is formed such that the sealant layer extends laterally beyond the non-sealant layer, to thereby provide sealable surface regions of the sealant layer.

A machine and a method for forming a two-compartment pouch having a lower compartment and an upper compartment The method includes the steps of drawing a film over a pair of fill tubes; sealing side edges of the film to form a sleeve; forming a bottom seal on the sleeve; pulling the sleeve downwardly; filling a bottom portion of the pouch using one of the fill tubes; forming a second seal over the filled bottom portion; filling an upper portion of the pouch using the other fill tube; and sealing the upper portion.

A package and method of creating a package for dispensing a product are disclosed. The package comprises a flexible pouch comprising an elongated spout and a flowable product disposed within the pouch. A spout retainer is disposed on an exterior surface of the pouch adjacent to the spout, with opposite ends of the spout retainer attached to the exterior surface of the pouch to form two bridges, each of the bridges having a bridge width that is wider than a spout width to allow the spout to pass underneath each of the two bridges. The package may be manufactured on a vertical form-fill-seal machine where the pouch and spout retainer are formed from different supplies of film material.

An apparatus for forming a seal (40-44) along an edge portion of a flexible package (10) that is made from a sheet of flexible material (137) includes an elongated film folding member (102) and at least one heating and/or sealing member (104), the at least one heating and/or sealing member (104) extending along a first heat/seal axis parallel to a lengthwise axis (108) of the film folding member (102). A first engagement end (112) of the film folding member is adapted to contact a portion of the sheet of flexible material (137) during a sealing process and the at least one heating and/or sealing member (104) is adapted to heat the portion of the sheet of flexible material (137) during the sealing process such that the contact between the first engagement end (112) and the portion of the sheet of flexible material creates the seal along the edge portion of the flexible package (10).

A device for producing tubular bags sealed on multiple sides, the device including a forming shoulder for deforming a plane film web into an envelope web and a forming tube surrounded by the envelope web, the forming tube having, adjacent to a forming shoulder outlet, fins for forming film overlap areas, and a film guide having first and second film guide elements, each of which is associated with one of the fins.

A package formed from film including a first compartment and a second compartment. Each compartment can be sealed except for one or more unsealed portions between the first and second compartments. The first compartment can be configured to hold one or more perishable product. The second compartment can be configured to hold at least one active member.

A sealing jaw assembly for providing transversal seals to a tube of packaging material is provided. The sealing jaw assembly comprises a first pair of opposing sealing jaws (22a, 22b) being movable relative to each other to provide a first transversal seal (6a) to the tube (12), and a second pair of opposing sealing jaws (24a, 24b) being moveable relative to each other to provide a second transversal seal (6b) to the tube (12), wherein an angular distance between a first jaw (22a) of the first pair of jaws (22a, 22b) and a first jaw (24a) of the second pair of jaws (24a, 24b) is less than 90, and an angular distance between the first jaw (22a) of the first pair of jaws (22a, 22b) and a second jaw (24b) of the second pair of jaws (24a, 24b) is greater than 90.