In a weighing and packaging system 1, an analysis unit 714 ascertains a fluctuation tendency in a time series for a measured value of information pertaining to a time in which a group of articles C passes between a light-projecting unit 27a and a light-receiving unit 27b of a detection sensor 27 of a bag-making and packaging unit 3, and adjusts a transverse seal timing or a cycle time in accordance with the fluctuation tendency. As a result, articles can be prevented in advance from being bitten during transverse sealing.

A bag-making and packaging machine forms a sheet-like film into a tubular shape and transversely seals the film to manufacture bags containing articles. The bag-making and packaging machine includes a transverse sealing mechanism and a control unit. The transverse sealing mechanism pinches and transversely seals the tubular film that has been formed into a tubular shape to form a transverse seal portion. The control unit determines whether or not there is jamming in the transverse seal portion and, in a case where it has determined that there is jamming, switches between a first bag-making process to continue bag-making operation and a second bag-making process to stop bag-making operation based on a jamming state.

A package for products comprises: at least two flexible adjoined layers configured to provide a cavity extending therebetween for containing a product. The at least two flexible adjoined layers are moveable between: a first closed configuration in which the flexible adjoined layers are sealed around the entire periphery thereof to isolate the cavity from an external environment; and a second open configuration in which the flexible adjoined layers extend in a substantially cone shaped configuration, and in which the base of the substantially cone shaped configuration provides an opening extending into the cavity.

A system and a method for gently loading, transporting and unloading frangible products using totes is provided. The system includes a loading station at a first location, an unloading station at a second location and a plurality of totes for use in storing the frangible products for transportation from the first location to the second location. The totes include an interior space that is upwardly curved and concave for gently receiving the frangible products therein as they are laterally discharged off of a lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor. Two or more totes can be sequentially loaded along the lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor using backpressure caused by accumulation of frangible product along the edge of the lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor to redirect incoming frangible products towards a downstream section of the lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor.

An assembly for forming bags, having a belt drive for feeding a film at a film speed to a former shoulder to form a tubular film, a set of jaws movable at a jaw speed to engage and seal a tubular film to form a closed bag, and a sensor assembly to provide a volume signal indicative of a volume of the closed bag, wherein the controller is configured to adjust at least one of the film speed and the jaw speed in response to the volume signal.

A system and a method for gently loading, transporting and unloading frangible products using totes is provided. The system includes a loading station at a first location, an unloading station at a second location and a plurality of totes for use in storing the frangible products for transportation from the first location to the second location. The totes include an interior space that is upwardly curved for gently receiving the frangible products therein as they are laterally discharged off of a lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor. Two or more totes can be sequentially loaded along the lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor using backpressure caused by accumulation of frangible product along the edge of the lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor to redirect incoming frangible products towards a downstream section of the lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor.

A bag-making and packaging machine works with a weighing machine installed upstream to manufacture bags containing article discharged from the weighing machine. The bag-making and packaging machine includes a forming unit, a transverse sealing unit, a conveyance unit, a communication unit, and a control unit. The communication unit receives from the weighing machine a signal relating to weighing and discharge of the article. The control unit has a disposal mode for disposing of the article in the weighing machine. When changing from a normal production mode to the disposal mode, the control unit performs control to skip, among operations in the normal production mode, the operation of the transverse sealing unit implemented in conjunction with the signal received by the communication unit from the weighing machine.

A package for products comprises: at least two flexible adjoined layers configured to provide a cavity extending therebetween for containing a product. The at least two flexible adjoined layers are moveable between: a first closed configuration in which the flexible adjoined layers are sealed around the entire periphery thereof to isolate the cavity from an external environment; and a second open configuration in which the flexible adjoined layers extend in a substantially cone shaped configuration, and in which the base of the substantially cone shaped configuration provides an opening extending into the cavity.

A method of packaging snack food chips, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a plurality of snack food chips as a shingled assembly of the snack food chips; (b) enclosing the shingled assembly within an elongate packaging container; (c) vibrating the shingled assembly supported so as to cause the snack food chips sequentially to fall from a free output end into the elongate packaging container while progressively translationally separating a closed end and the free output end to form a shingled stack extending away from the closed end; and (d) during at least a part of step (c), rotating the elongate packaging container so that the closed end is lowered while decreasing an angle of inclination such that the shingled stack is being progressively formed.

An integrated cleansing wipe system for use with packaged items including a first-bag-body having a front-panel; a rear-panel; and an inner-volume; a second-bag-body including a proximate-panel; a tab-panel; and an interior-volume; and a cleansing wipe; wherein the package assembly is the first-bag-body and the second-bag-body in integral and functional combination; wherein the first-bag-body is defined by the front-panel and the rear-panel in a sealed relationship such that at least one food item is able to be sealingly stored in the inner-volume prior to be opened for consumption of the at least one food item stored therein. The interior-volume of the second-bag-body is defined by the proximate-panel being sealingly adjacent against the front-panel to removably contain the cleansing wipe. The tab-panel is able to be pulled to access the cleansing wipe for a user to clean hands after consumption of the at least one food item.