An adjustable pouch machine comprises a vertical sealer module forms transverse seals between two plies of a pouch web to partially define a plurality of pouches. Rollers selectively tension and relax the web on the vertically oriented wheel, allowing them to drop away from heated lands on emergency and cycle stops. A filler wheel has a plurality of adjustable gripper units mounted directly thereon for transporting independent separate pouches cut from the pouch web. An adjustable knife is selectively provided with changeable knife hub sets to handle a variety of pouch sizes where a filler wheel alternately first fills and seals pouches in a train. Gear linkage accommodates variation in distance between hubs of different sets. Various embodiments, apparatus and methods are described.

An adjustable pouch machine comprises a vertical sealer module forms transverse seals between two plies of a pouch web to partially define a plurality of pouches. Rollers selectively tension and relax the web on the vertically oriented wheel, allowing them to drop away from heated lands on emergency and cycle stops. A filler wheel has a plurality of adjustable gripper units mounted directly thereon for transporting independent separate pouches cut from the pouch web. An adjustable knife is selectively provided with changeable knife hub sets to handle a variety of pouch sizes where a filler wheel alternately first fills and seals pouches in a train. Gear linkage accommodates variation in distance between hubs of different sets. Various embodiments, apparatus and methods are described.

A fill packaging machine includes a vertical sealing means for folding a packaging film at its central part and continuously forming a vertical sealed portion at its side edge part to shape into a cylinder, and a lateral sealing means for forming lateral sealed portions in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the packaging film. An easy separable sealed portion is continuously formed in the side edge part of the packaging film by the first vertical sealed portion forming section, and a vertical sealed portion having a partial non-sealed portion of a bottle mouth type is formed on the easy separable sealed portion by the second vertical sealed portion forming section. The first vertical sealed portion forming section is a pair of heat sealing rolls or heat sealing plates, a surface of at least one of which is made from an elastic material softer than a metal.

A fill packaging machine includes a vertical sealing means for folding a packaging film at its central part and continuously forming a vertical sealed portion at its side edge part to shape into a cylinder, and a lateral sealing means for forming lateral sealed portions in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the packaging film. An easy separable sealed portion is continuously formed in the side edge part of the packaging film by the first vertical sealed portion forming section, and a vertical sealed portion having a partial non-sealed portion of a bottle mouth type is formed on the easy separable sealed portion by the second vertical sealed portion forming section. The first vertical sealed portion forming section is a pair of heat sealing rolls or heat sealing plates, a surface of at least one of which is made from an elastic material softer than a metal.

A tissue paper package not prone to losing shape. Film-packaged tissue paper comprising a pop-up type substantially cuboid bundle of tissue paper packaged with a flexible resin packaging film, and characterized in that air vents for providing communication between the inside and the outside of the package are formed at positions on the packaging film facing short-side surfaces of the bundle of tissue paper where no folded edges are arranged.

A tissue paper package not prone to losing shape. Film-packaged tissue paper comprising a pop-up type substantially cuboid bundle of tissue paper packaged with a flexible resin packaging film, and characterized in that air vents for providing communication between the inside and the outside of the package are formed at positions on the packaging film facing short-side surfaces of the bundle of tissue paper where no folded edges are arranged.

There is described a packaging apparatus for forming a plurality of sealed packages comprising a conveyor for advancing a web of packaging material along an advancement path, an isolation chamber, a tube forming device adapted to form a tube from the, in use, advancing web of packaging material, a sealing device adapted to longitudinally seal the tube, a filling device for continuously filling the tube formed by the tube forming device, a package forming unit adapted to form and seal the packages from the, in use, advancing tube formed by the tube forming device and filled by the filling device and a support platform supporting the isolation chamber from a first side of the support platform and carrying the package forming unit from a second side of the support platform opposite to the first side.

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.

Apparatus (10) for producing tubular packages includes a packaging material dispenser (12) and a forming section (20). The forming section (20) comprises a series of package formers (22a-22e) aligned in the machine direction, each defining a packaging material folding channel (24) through which the packaging material passes. The channels (24) of the package formers in the series vary in shape such that as the packaging material passes through the forming section it is gradually folded about a longitudinal axis from a planar configuration into a tubular structure. A series of items (44) to be packaged is conveyed in the machine direction and may be sequentially introduced proximal to the packaging material (14) at a location such that the packaging material is subsequently folded about each item in turn as it continues through the forming section. The apparatus may be a horizontal or vertical form, fill seal type apparatus. The packaging material (14) may be a semi-rigid packaging material such as paperboard, cartonboard, or semi-rigid plastics.

Apparatus (10) for producing tubular packages includes a packaging material dispenser (12) and a forming section (20). The forming section (20) comprises a series of package formers (22a-22e) aligned in the machine direction, each defining a packaging material folding channel (24) through which the packaging material passes. The channels (24) of the package formers in the series vary in shape such that as the packaging material passes through the forming section it is gradually folded about a longitudinal axis from a planar configuration into a tubular structure. A series of items (44) to be packaged is conveyed in the machine direction and may be sequentially introduced proximal to the packaging material (14) at a location such that the packaging material is subsequently folded about each item in turn as it continues through the forming section. The apparatus may be a horizontal or vertical form, fill seal type apparatus. The packaging material (14) may be a semi-rigid packaging material such as paperboard, cartonboard, or semi-rigid plastics.