There is described a forming assembly (10a, 10b) for forming a plurality of sealed packs (3) starting from a tube (2) of packaging material, comprising: a track (13a, 13b); a first element (15a, 15b), which is cyclically movable along the track (13a, 13b) and comprises, in turn, one of a sealing element (22b) or a counter-sealing element (22a) adapted to seal the pack (3); and a second element (14a, 14b), which is cyclically movable along the track (13a, 13b) and comprises, in turn, a first half-shell (21a, 21b; 21a′, 21b′) adapted, in use, contact the tube (2) so as to bound at least part of a respective pack (3) and control the shape of the pack (3) during the formation thereof; the first element (15a, 15b) and the second element (14a, 14b) are self-movable along the track (13a, 13b) independently of one another.

The present disclosure provides an apparatus for forming a stream of individual packets, comprising a folder arranged to form a tubular web structure, a feeder arranged to feed the formed tubular web structure to a nip; a first rotor comprising a first sealing jaw and a knife, a second rotor comprising a second sealing jaw and an anvil, the sealing jaws, the knife and anvil rotating into opposing relation at the nip so as to form a severed, completed packet beyond the nip. The apparatus includes an open ended packet catcher adjacent the first and second rotors, which is arranged to catch the severed, completed packets beyond the nip whereby a stream of packets is established. The packet catcher includes a stripper disposed in a proximal location to at least one of the anvil, the knife and the sealing jaws when the anvil, the knife and/or the sealing jaws are rotated beyond the nip, whereby, should a completed packet stick to any of the anvil, the knife and/or the sealing jaws, the stripper is operative to free the stuck packet from the anvil, the knife and/or the sealing jaw. The present disclosure provides a fin sealer and method to seal a radially outwardly directed fin of a tubular web structure by directing the fin through a nip between a first and a second fin sealing rollers while communicating heat to the fin through at least one of the fin sealing rollers, the fin sealer being further arranged to maintain a nominal face-to-face relation between an outer annulus of the first fin sealing roller and an outer annulus of the second fin sealing roller with a flexible connection between a hub element of the second fin sealing roller with the outer annulus of the second fin sealing roller. A cooling system is also provided, which is operative upon one of the rotors of a cut and seal station.

A method and apparatus for settling a product in a package made on a form, fill and seal machine. In one aspect the invention comprises the steps: providing a package material on a product conduit of a form, fill and seal machine; forming a first end seal on the package material to form a partially formed package; filling the partially formed package with product; and settling the product in the partially formed package while continuously conveying the package material along the product conduit. In a second aspect, the invention comprises a product settler comprising a first object positioned to cause an impact against a package material. The impact agitates the package material and settles a product from an unsettled height to a settled height while the package material is continuously conveyed.

The film sealing and wrapping machine with a rotary cut and seal jaw is provided. The rotary cut and seal jaw has an internal sliding mechanism which provides for smooth and quiet operation. The rotational speed of the jaw may be varied to increase through put and to provide for a title bag around products. The rotary cut and seal jaw may comprise a seal bar and pressure pad may both be spring loaded to self align the seal bar and pressure pad during the sealing and cutting process. Lastly, a gap defined by a belt disposed upstream and downstream of the seal bar and pressure pad may be mechanically linked to the pressure pad through a control carriage.

In a method for forming a lateral sealed portion, a liquid packing material can be filled without biting bubbles, granulates and so on included in the liquid packing material into the lateral sealed portion. In a method for forming a lateral sealed portion with a pair of lateral sealing rolls after a packaging film fed and run is folded at its central portion and a vertical sealing is performed at their side edge parts to shape into a cylindrical form and a liquid packing material is filled into an inside of the cylindrically formed packaging film, at least a folded side part of the cylindrically formed packaging film is pushed with a pushing means arranged between heat sealing bars located at equal intervals in a circumferential direction of the lateral sealing roll and the lateral sealed portion is formed at a pushed position with the pair of lateral sealing bars.

A sealing element for heat sealing packaging material for producing sealed packages comprises a heating element arranged to heat-seal the packaging material so as to form the sealed packages and a groove arranged to be engaged by a cutting element carried by a counter-sealing element interacting with the sealing element during a cutting operation in which a sealed package is separated from a portion of the packaging material, wherein the sealing element further comprises a resilient element received within the groove so as to prevent clogging particles from entering into the groove.

An ultrasonic systems and methods for sealing complex interfaces or for metal forming. Complex interfaces, such as a Gable top, have multiple and a variety of layers across the interface, or an oval or round spout having a complex geometry. An example system includes two ultrasonic horns arranged opposite a gap between which the interface is provided. The frequency and phase of the ultrasonic energy are synchronized as the energy is applied simultaneously while the interface is pressed between a jaw and the energy is applied to both sides of the interface. Another example system includes two ultrasonic transducers synchronized in frequency and phase and used to vibrate a horn mechanically to facilitate a sealing or welding interface or to assist in a metal-forming process.

An ultrasonic welding system. The system includes an ultrasonic transducer assembly having a horn and a first transducer and a second transducer arranged to impart ultrasonic energy into the horn. The horn has a first part-interfacing surface and a second part-interfacing surface opposite the first part-interfacing surface. An actuator assembly is operatively coupled to the ultrasonic transducer assembly and configured to cause rotation of the horn. A controller is configured to: cause the actuator assembly to rotate the horn so that the first part-interfacing surface applies the ultrasonic energy to a first part along an entire length of the first part-interface surface while a first ultrasonic energy is applied through the horn via the first transducer to cause the first part-interfacing surface to vibrate back and forth along its entire length as the first ultrasonic energy is applied by the first transducer to the horn.

The invention relates to a tubular bag machine and to a method for operating a tubular bag machine (01) for the continuous production of tubular bags (20), which are filled with a mixture of liquid and solid filling components (29, 30). A formatting device (18), by means of which the bag shape of the tubular bag (20) open at the top seal is formatted, is disposed below the wiper device (16), the formatting device (18) comprising at least two formatting elements (19), which are contacted on the outer side of the film tube (34) and are displaced between an open position and a formatting position. The horizontal distance between the formatting elements (19) is larger in the open position than in the formatting position. The formatting elements (19) are moved to the open position before and/or while filling the tubular bag (20) with filling material (29, 30). The formatting elements (19) are moved to the formatting position while and/or after filling the tubular bag (20) with filling material (29, 30) and before producing the top seam to remove air from the air bubble (32) in the top area of the tubular bag (20) via filling material components (29, 30).

A sealing machine having a movable carriage assembly which utilizes a counterbalance and two servo motors is disclosed. The counterbalance allows high throughput operation without excessive mechanical vibration. The use of two servo motors allows independent control of the horizontal movement of the movable carriage assembly and the vertical movement of the jaws. The use of two servo motors also allows adaptation to articles or packages of various dimensions. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is used to detect the position of the package to be sealed, and the movement of the movable carriage assembly and the jaw is altered based on the detected position.