A heating unit for heating a continuous web, includes a heating roller rotating about an axis of rotation and having an outer surface comprising a pattern of thermally conductive areas and thermally insulating areas, and at least one induction heater electromagnetically coupled to the thermally conductive areas of the outer surface of the heating roller.

A food product gathering and dispensing system is disclosed. The food product is generally a flat disc shaped article dispensed onto a consumable strip of food product conveyer material. The food product is fed to single, or series related, spools that wind up the consumable conveyer material and food product into a removable roll or stack. The roll or stack is placed into a dispenser pack, optionally subject to further environmental treatment, and refrigeration. The pack is then installed within a refrigerated dispenser system where the food product and consumable material are collectively unwound and/or separated, as the food product is fed into a processing system, i.e., a cooking device. The consumable conveyer material is collected and separately discarded.

The present invention relates to a device for sealing a packaging material (10), comprising at least one sealing installation (18) which comprises at least one coil core (24) which is surrounded by at least one coil (25), wherein the coil core (24) has at least one gap (32) through which packaging material peripheries (34, 36) to be sealed are guided, wherein at least one element (23) that conducts a magnetic flux is provided, said element (23) for influencing a region (22) of the packaging material peripheries (34, 36) to be heated being disposed so as to be adjacent to the packaging material peripheries (34, 36) to be sealed.

A packaging machine for placing articles into a carton includes rotating flight assemblies that receive a carton or carton blank, and rotate the carton blank and carton with articles while the flight assemblies move downstream. The flight assemblies each include two fixed segments and one segment that includes a block and associated bracket that rotate as the flight assembly is pulled through the machine by a conveying system. A method includes carton blanks being fed by a carton feeder onto the flight assemblies. Articles are formed into an article group, which is then placed onto a carton blank. As the blank and article group move in a downstream direction, the side panels of the carton blank are wrapped around the article group and the carton and article group are rotated to assist in closing the carton end flaps.

A wrapping unit (1) for a packaging line (2) comprises a conveyor (6) for feeding a succession of products (3) in a first direction (7) and a wrapping station (9) arranged along the conveyor (6) for wrapping a film (5) of wrapping material around said products (3), said wrapping station (9) comprising a wrapping device (13) provided with a plurality of wrapping members (15), each of said wrapping members (15) extending in a second direction (11) perpendicular to said first direction (7), said wrapping unit (1) further comprising a stability control group (12) for preventing said products (3) from tipping along said conveyor (6), said stability control group (12) comprising a plurality of anti-tip devices (33), each of said anti-tip devices (33) being associated, during operation, with a respective product (3) to move together with said respective product (3) through said wrapping station (9).

A wrapping unit (1) for a packaging line (2) comprises a conveyor (6) for feeding a succession of products (3) in a first direction (7) and a wrapping station (9) arranged along the conveyor (6) for wrapping a film (5) of wrapping material around said products (3), said wrapping station (9) comprising a wrapping device (13) provided with a plurality of wrapping members (15), each of said wrapping members (15) extending in a second direction (11) perpendicular to said first direction (7), said wrapping unit (1) further comprising a stability control group (12) for preventing said products (3) from tipping along said conveyor (6), said stability control group (12) comprising a plurality of anti-tip devices (33), each of said anti-tip devices (33) being associated, during operation, with a respective product (3) to move together with said respective product (3) through said wrapping station (9).

A flap folding arrangement is disclosed. The flap folding arrangement includes an axially extending rim that initially contacts a flap of a product to partially fold the flap as the product is dropped from a feed conveyor into a first pocket of a rotator pan. A controller is adapted to rotate the rotator pan away from a first position which drives the flap into contact with a flap-folding flange and a radially extending rim until the product is positioned at a second position under a flap-folding gate. The controller is adapted to drive a product discharger into contact with the product to drive the product out of the first pocket and away from the folding assembly after rotation of the rotator pan.

A food product gathering and dispensing system is disclosed. The food product is generally a flat disc shaped article dispensed onto a consumable strip of food product conveyer material. The food product is fed to single, or series related, spools that wind up the consumable conveyer material and food product into a removable roll. The roll is placed into a dispenser pack, optionally subject to further environmental treatment, and refrigeration. The pack is then installed within a refrigerated dispenser system where the food product and consumable material are collectively unwound and separated, as the food product is fed into a processing system, i.e., a cooking device. The consumable conveyer material is collected and separately discarded.

The invention is directed to solving the problem of wrapping a bundle with cardboard without using glue to hold the cardboard flaps in place before wrapping the bundle with a heat shrink film. The problem is solved by using a mechanical fly bars to restrain the flaps of an insert while moving a bundle on a conveyor. The insert can be any material that provides structural protection to the bundle during stacking.

The invention is directed to solving the problem of wrapping a bundle with cardboard without using glue to hold the cardboard flaps in place before wrapping the bundle with a heat shrink film. The problem is solved by using a mechanical fly bars to restrain the flaps of an insert while moving a bundle on a conveyor. The insert can be any material that provides structural protection to the bundle during stacking.