A form fill seal apparatus for forming and filling a plurality of bags with a product having a tube formation assembly forming a tubular film, a bag forming assembly configured to form transverse seals and to cut the tubular film to form bags. A product delivery system is provided to deliver product from a positive displacement pump to a product delivery tube. A control system is structurally configured to direct the positive displacement pump to operate in two different modes, a first, continuous operating mode and a second, dosing operating mode. A method of filling is likewise disclosed.

An inductor for transverse sealing a packaging material tube filled with food product comprises a main body comprising first and second sealing surfaces facing the packaging material during a sealing state, a recess in the main body for receiving a knife during a cutting state, and an electric conductor arrangement, in the main body for inducing eddy currents in the packaging material during the sealing state. The first/second sealing surfaces each comprise a top section, an inner sealing section between the recess and the top section, and an outer sealing section between the top section and an outer edge of the inductor. The inner sealing section is inclined towards the recess, and the outer sealing section is inclined towards the outer edge, so that product in the tube is pushed away from a sealing band of the tube as the first/second sealing surfaces are pressed towards the sealing band.

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 is provided. The fin sealer is configured 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.

There is described a packaging assembly configured to form and seal a plurality of packs containing a pourable product starting from a tube of packaging material; the packaging assembly comprises: a pair of endless tracks between which the tube is fed along a straight advancement direction; and a pair of movable members, each one of which movably coupled to, and cyclically movable along, one respective track; each movable member movably carrying one respective forming member linearly movable towards said tube, transversally to said advancement direction, to cyclically cooperate in contact with successive tube portions, so as to form at least corresponding pack portions of respective packs; each forming member comprises a movable portion which is tiltable with respect to the advancement direction, to sequentially control a tilting of the tube portions with respect to said advancement direction.

There is described a packaging apparatus for forming a plurality of sealed packages-comprising 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 support structure carrying at least the tube forming device, 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. The support structure comprises at least one support column at least indirectly carrying the tube forming device and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube forming device.

A vertical bag-making/filling/packaging machine (1) comprises: a film supplying portion (5) which lets out a film (F) from a roll (Fr); a bag-making guide (31) which folds the film (F) into a tubular shape and changes a conveying direction downward; a vertical sealing portion (60) which thermally seals side edges of the film (F) to each other in an up-down direction so as to make the film into a tubular shape; a film conveying portion (50) which conveys the film (F) downward; a filling portion (70) which loads a content (X) into an interior of the film (F); a lateral sealing portion (80) which thermally seals the film (F) in a left-right direction so as to make a bag body; a square-bottom sealing portion (90) which expands a bottom of the bag body to a rectangular shape from an inside and then thermally seals the bottom to form a rectangular bottom surface; and a cutter (89) which cuts off the bag body from the film (F).

A method for manufacturing a number of tubular packagings filled with a liquid, particularly a sterile liquid. The method includes providing a tube which is wound onto a first reel and is filled at least partially with the liquid, and unwinding the tube from the first reel and dividing it into a number of tubular segments by means of successive welding operations. The tube is displaceable through a welding device substantially vertically and substantially free of mechanical tension. A temperature prevailing in the welding device can be kept constant during each welding operation by having liquid circulate through the welding device. One or more welding parameters can further be recorded during each welding operation and be stored together with data about the liquid. A system for performing this method.

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 is provided. The fin sealer is configured 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 method of forming bundles of glass articles is provided. The method includes transporting individual glass articles to an insert building station using a conveying system. The glass articles are individually located within article receiving slots of a layer separation insert using the conveying system. Each slot of the layer separation insert receives a single glass article forming a glass article layer of side-by-side glass articles. Multiple glass article layers including layer separation inserts are stacked using the conveying system forming a bundle. The layer separation inserts provide a barrier between adjacent glass articles of each of the glass article layers to inhibit glass-to-glass contact.

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.