CN115243976A

CN115243976A - Packaging apparatus and process

Info

Publication number: CN115243976A
Application number: CN202180023361.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: I·蒂贝
Original assignee: Cryovac LLC
Current assignee: Cryovac LLC
Priority date: 2020-03-23
Filing date: 2021-01-15
Publication date: 2022-10-25
Also published as: US20230016501A1; WO2021190721A1; WO2021190795A1; EP4126675A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a packaging process comprising the steps of: providing a bottom support (1); providing a top film (2); and forming a closed chamber (C) in which a portion (1 a) of the bottom support, the product (P) and a portion (2 a) of the top film are housed. The process provides for the execution of the following further steps: -sealing said portion of the bottom support (1) to said portion of the top membrane (2) along a sealing band (3) surrounding the product (P) to sealingly house it in the volume (V), and-forming one or more hollow structures (4) by sealing a portion of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) to a portion of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) at one or more selected sealing areas. Before forming the hollow structure (4), the portions of the top membrane and of the bottom support intended to form the hollow structure are kept at a distance one from the other.

Description

Packaging apparatus and process

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a new process for packaging products. The invention also relates to a new apparatus for manufacturing a package containing a product. The process and apparatus of the present invention may find particular application in food packaging. The apparatus and process of the present invention is configured to form a package having at least one reinforcing member in the form of a gas-containing tubular element.

Background

In food packaging operations, it is common to place a food item on a rigid tray of the type having a base, side walls and a peripheral flange. The function of the tray is generally to provide a containment area for the product and to provide a substantially rigid support. A thermoplastic film is then placed over the food and heat sealed to the peripheral flange of the tray to hermetically encapsulate the food product. In these types of packages, a significant portion of the cost of the final package is due to the relatively high cost of the trays. Furthermore, due to the thickness of the material forming the tray, the weight and volume of the package are still high, especially compared to the weight of the contained product, resulting in higher costs for transportation and storage. Often, shipping and storing the trays prior to their use in packaging is costly and inconvenient. Moreover, such trays increase the volume of packaging waste that the consumer must dispose of after opening the package.

To address the above problems, WO 03051740 A2 and WO 2016174111 A1 disclose a package that is held together by top and bottom opposing films to form a cavity portion capable of containing a product and a hollow frame that surrounds the cavity portion and provides some rigidity to the overall package. A top chamber housing and an opposing bottom chamber housing may be used to form the package. The top and bottom chamber housings are movable relative to each other between a chamber open mode in which the top and bottom housings are spaced apart to allow the top and bottom films carrying the product to enter a heat-sealed chamber defined by the two housings, and a chamber closed mode in which the top and bottom housings are brought into proximity with each other to form an enclosed chamber volume. The top chamber housing carries an internal heating rod and an external heating rod that can be moved sequentially to form an internal seal between the top and bottom films around the product and then form a hollow frame around the product.

Although the above-described solutions produce very considerable products and processes, the applicant envisages processes that further improve the described prior art solutions.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and process for manufacturing a package of the type formed using a top film and a bottom film defining a watertight chamber portion containing a product and a hollow frame adjacent to the chamber portion.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a simplified process and apparatus for manufacturing said package.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a process and an apparatus for manufacturing the above-mentioned package, wherein a vacuum can be formed in the chamber portion in an efficient manner.

Furthermore, it is an auxiliary object to provide a process and an apparatus for manufacturing the above mentioned package, wherein the gas filling in the hollow frame can be obtained in an efficient manner, optionally in combination with the formation of a vacuum in the chamber portion.

Finally, an auxiliary object of the present invention is to provide a process and an apparatus for manufacturing the above-mentioned packages, which may be adapted to operate with continuous top and bottom films, or with discrete sheets of top and/or bottom films, or with preformed supports instead of bottom films.

These and other objects, which will become more apparent from the following description, are achieved by means of devices and processes expressed in accordance with one or more of the appended claims and/or aspects or features described hereinafter.

Summary of the invention

One or more of the above objects are achieved by a process according to any of the appended process claims. One or more of the above objects are also achieved by a device according to any of the appended device claims.

Drawings

Some embodiments and aspects of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are provided for illustrative purposes only and thus, not limiting, and in which:

figures 1 and 2 show a possible configuration of a packaging device according to the invention;

figures 3-8 show a first embodiment of the packaging device according to the invention at various stages of the packaging cycle;

figure 9 is a detailed view of the packaging assembly of figure 3;

figure 9A is a detailed view of the package assembly of figure 6;

figure 10 is a detailed view of the package assembly of figure 8;

figures 11-14 show a second embodiment of a packaging apparatus according to the invention during various stages of a packaging cycle;

figures 15-19 show a third embodiment of a packaging apparatus according to the invention during various stages of a packaging cycle;

figure 20 is a top view of a package obtainable by the packaging apparatus and associated packaging process according to the present invention.

Figure 21 shows a variant of the packaging plant of the invention, in which the top film is unwound from a top film supply roll and divided into discrete film web material fixed to a lower pre-formed tray from a tray dispenser, before entering the packaging assembly;

figure 22 shows a variant of the packaging plant of the invention, in which the top film is unwound from a supply roll of top film and divided into discrete film web material before entering the packaging assembly, in which the discrete film sheets are fixed to the trays formed in-line by the discrete bottom sheets during the packaging process carried out by the respective tray forming stations.

Figure 23 shows a variant of the packaging plant of the present invention, in which the top film is unwound from a top film supply roll and divided into discrete film web material before entering the packaging assembly, in which the discrete film webs are fixed to trays formed in-line from a portion of the continuous bottom web during the packaging process carried out by the respective tray molding station.

Figure 24 shows a variant of the packaging device of the invention, in which the top film is unwound from a top film supply reel and enters the packaging assembly, in which a portion of the continuous top sheet is fixed to the underlying pre-formed tray from the tray dispenser;

figure 25 shows a variant of the packaging plant of the invention, in which the top film is unwound from a top film supply reel and enters the packaging assembly, in which a portion of the continuous top sheet is fixed to a tray formed in-line by the discrete bottom sheets during the packaging process carried out by the respective tray moulding station.

Figure 26 shows a variant of the packaging apparatus of the invention, in which the top film is unwound from a top film supply reel and enters the packaging assembly, in which a portion of the continuous top sheet is fixed to a tray formed inline from a portion of the continuous bottom sheet during the packaging process carried out by the respective tray moulding station.

Engagement

In the present detailed description, corresponding parts shown in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals. The figures may illustrate the object of the invention by representations which are not to scale; accordingly, the components and assemblies shown in the figures that are relevant for the purposes of the present invention may relate to schematics.

The terms upstream and downstream refer to the direction of advance of the top film and/or the bottom support for making the packages along a predetermined path from the start or forming station of said bottom support or of said top film up to the packaging station using said bottom support and said top film to form said packages.

Definition of

Product(s)

The term product P refers to any kind of article or combination of articles. For example, the product may be of the food type and be in solid, liquid or gel form, i.e. in the form of two or more of the above-mentioned aggregated states. In the food field, products may include: meats, fish, cheese, treated meats, various prepared and frozen foods.

Control unit

The device described and claimed herein comprises at least one control unit designed to control the operations performed by the device. The control unit may be only one or may be composed of a plurality of different control units, depending on design choice and operational needs.

The term control unit refers to an electronic component that may include at least one of: a digital processor (e.g., including at least one selected from the group consisting of a CPU, GPU, GPGPU), memory (or memories), analog circuitry, or a combination of one or more digital processing units and one or more analog circuitry. The control unit may be "configured" or "programmed" to perform some steps: this may be accomplished in virtually any manner that allows the control unit to be constructed or programmed. For example, where the control unit includes one or more CPUs and one or more memories, one or more programs may be stored in an appropriate memory bank connected to the CPU or CPUs; the one or more programs include instructions which, when executed by the one or more CPUs, program or configure the control unit to perform the operations described with respect to the control unit. Alternatively, if the control unit is or includes an analogue circuit, the control unit circuit may be designed to include a circuit configured, in use, to process the electrical signal in order to perform steps associated with the control unit. The control unit may comprise one or more digital units, for example of the microprocessor type, or one or more analog units, or a suitable combination of digital and analog units; the control unit may be configured to coordinate all actions required to execute the instructions and instruction sets.

Actuator

The term actuator refers to any device capable of inducing a movement on the body, for example according to the commands of the control unit (the actuator receives the commands sent by the control unit). The actuator may be of the electric, pneumatic, mechanical (e.g. with a spring) type, or other type.

Suction source

The term suction source may denote a single suction source or a plurality of independent suction sources.

Gas source

The term gas source may refer to a single gas source or a plurality of independent gas sources.

Bottom support

The bottom support may be made of a sheet material at least partially made of a plastic material. In particular, the bottom support may comprise at least one plastic film sheet material. For example, the bottom support may be at least partially made of a monolayer film and/or a multilayer film, optionally made of a thermoplastic material. The bottom support may have gas barrier properties. As used herein, the term refers to an oxygen transmission rate of less than 200 cm when measured at 23 ℃ and 0% relative humidity according to ASTM D-3985 ³ /(m ² * day bar), less than 150 cm ³ /(m ² * day bar), less than 100 cm ³ /(m ² * day bar) film or sheet. Suitable gas barrier materials for single layer thermoplastic containers are, for example, polyester, polyamide, ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), PVdC, and the like.

The bottom support may be made of a multilayer material, optionally a multilayer film material, comprising at least one gas barrier layer and at least one heat seal layer to allow sealing of the cover film on the surface of the bottom support. Gas barrier polymers which may be used in the gas barrier layer are PVDC, EVOH, polyamides, polyesters and mixtures thereof. Typically, the PVDC barrier layer will comprise plasticizers and/or stabilizers known in the art. The thickness of the gas barrier layer will be set to provide an oxygen transmission rate of less than 50 cm at 23 ℃ and 0% when measured according to ASTM D-3985 ³ /(m ² * day atm), optionally less than 10 cm ³ /(m ² * day atm) relative humidity of the material constituting the bottom support

Typically, the heat-sealable layer will be selected from polyolefins, such as ethylene homo-or copolymers, propylene homo-or copolymers, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers, ionomers and homo-or copolyesters, such as PETG, a glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate.

Additional layers, such as adhesive layers, may preferably be present in the material from which the bottom support is made and selected based on the particular resin used for the gas barrier layer, for example, for better adhesion of the gas barrier layer to adjacent layers.

An easy-to-open frangible layer may be positioned adjacent the heat-weldable layer to facilitate opening of the final package. Blends of low cohesion polymers which can be used as brittle layers are for example those described in WO 99/54398. The total thickness of the bottom support is generally, but not limited to, at most 5mm, optionally comprised between 0.04 and 3.00mm and more optionally between 0.05 and 1.50mm, even more optionally between 0.07 and 1.20 mm).

The bottom support may be made entirely of plastic film. In a further embodiment, the bottom support is at least partially made of a paper material and at least partially made of a plastic material; in particular, the bottom support is internally made of plastic material and externally covered at least partially with paper material.

The bottom support may also be used to define a so-called ready-to-eat package; in this configuration, the bottom supports are made such that they can be inserted into an oven to heat and/or cook food items placed in the package. For example, a bottom support suitable for ready-to-eat packaging can be made of CPET, APET or APET/CPET, foam or non-foam material. The bottom support may also include a heat-weldable layer of low-melting material on the membrane. The thermoweldable layer can be coextruded with the PET-based layer (as described in patent applications No. EP1 529 797A and WO 2007/093495), or it can be deposited on the base film by deposition with solvents or by extrusion coating (as described for example in documents US 2,762,720 and EP1 252 008A).

The bottom support may be a tray (i.e., a flat tray or a tray having a bottom wall, side walls emerging from the bottom wall, and a top flange) formed internally of the packaging assembly or inline with a molding station located upstream of the packaging assembly, or may come from a tray dispenser and thus be performed in a different process than the packaging process described herein.

Top film

A top film made of plastic material, in particular polymeric material, is applied to a bottom support (planar support or tray) to form a fluid-tight package containing the product P. To make a vacuum package, the top film applied to the bottom support is typically a flexible multilayer material comprising at least a first heat-sealable outer layer capable of being welded to the inner surface of the bottom support, an optional gas barrier layer, and a second heat-resistant outer layer.

The top film (film made of plastic, in particular a polymeric material) applied with the bottom support can generally be single-or multi-layered if it is desired to make a Modified Atmosphere Package (MAP) or a package in natural atmosphere (non-modified atmosphere). In the case of a multilayer sheet, the top film may include at least one of: one or more gas barrier layers, one or more heat-sealable layers (suitable for welding the plastic film to the support), one or more heat-resistant layers, one or more outer layers (for example of polyamide or polypropylene or polyester).

Plastic materials, especially polymers, should be easy to form when used in a place or VSP packaging process, as the top film needs to be stretched and softened by contact with a heated platen before it can be placed over the product and bottom support. The top film must be placed on the product so that its shape conforms to the shape of the product and possibly to the internal shape of the bottom support.

The heat sealable (e.g., outer) layer can comprise any polymer that can be welded to the inner surface of the bottom support. Suitable polymers for the heat-sealable layer may be ethylene and ethylene copolymers, such as LDPE, ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymers, ethylene/acrylic acid copolymers, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers or ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers, ionomers, copolyesters, such as PETG. Preferred materials for the heat-sealable layer are LDPE, ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymers, such as LLDPE, ionomers, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers and mixtures thereof.

According toThe film may comprise a gas barrier layer for the product to be packaged. The gas barrier layer typically comprises an oxygen-impermeable resin such as PVDC, EVOH, polyamide and mixtures of EVOH and polyamide. Typically, the thickness of the gas barrier layer is such as to provide the film with an oxygen transmission rate of 23 ℃ and a relative humidity of 0% when measured according to ASTM D-3985, less than 100 cm ³ /m ² * m ² * atm, preferably less than 50 cm ³ /(m ² * day atm). Common polymers for the heat-resistant outer layer are, for example, ethylene homo-or copolymers, in particular HDPE, ethylene copolymers and cyclic olefins, such as ethylene/norbornene copolymers, propylene homo-or copolymers, ionomers, polyesters, polyamides.

The top film in the form of a multilayer may also include other layers, such as adhesive layers, filler layers, and the like, to provide the desired thickness of the top film and improve its mechanical properties, such as puncture resistance, abuse resistance, moldability, and the like. The top film may be obtained by any suitable coextrusion process, by a flat or round extrusion head, optionally by coextrusion or by hot blow moulding.

Again, for use in skin packaging or VSP packaging processes, the top film is substantially non-oriented. Typically, the top film, or only one or more layers thereof, is crosslinked to improve the strength and/or heat resistance of the top film, for example, when the top film is brought into contact with a heated plate during vacuum skin packaging. Crosslinking may be achieved by using chemical additives or by subjecting the film layer to an energetic radiation treatment, such as a high energy electron beam treatment, to induce crosslinking between molecules of the irradiated material. Films suitable for this application may have a thickness in the range between 50 μm and 500 μm, optionally between 60 μm and 3000 μm, even more optionally between 65 μm and 100 μm.

For use in product packaging processes under controlled atmosphere (MAP) or natural atmosphere (unmodified atmosphere), the top film (plastic film, in particular polymer) applied to the bottom support is generally single-or multi-layered, having at least one heat-sealable layer, optionally capable of heat-shrinking under the action of heat. The applied top film may also include at least one gas barrier layer and an optional heat resistant outer layer. In particular, the top film may be obtained by a coextrusion and lamination process. The top film may have a symmetrical or asymmetrical structure and may be single-layered or multi-layered. The multilayer film is composed of at least two, more typically at least five, and often at least seven layers.

The total thickness of the top film may be 30 μm to 500 μm, alternatively 40 μm to 300 μm, even more alternatively 50 μm to 200 μm; in one embodiment, the film has a thickness between 65 μm and 100 μm.

The top film may be crosslinked. Crosslinking may be achieved by irradiation with high energy electrons at appropriate dosage levels as known in the art. The films may be heat shrinkable or heat curable. Heat-shrinkable films generally have a free shrink value at 120 ℃ (value measured in oil according to ASTM D2732) in the range of 2% to 80%, generally 5% to 60%, and particularly 10% to 40% in both the machine and transverse directions. The heat curable films typically have a shrinkage at 120 ℃ of less than 10% and a transverse and machine direction of less than 5% (measured in oil according to ASTM D2732). The film typically comprises at least one heat-sealable layer and an outer layer (outermost layer) typically consisting of a heat-resistant polymer or polyolefin. The weld layer typically comprises a heat sealable polyolefin, which in turn comprises a single polyolefin or a mixture of two or more polyolefins, such as polyethylene or polypropylene or mixtures thereof. Antifogging properties may also be provided to the weld layer by known techniques, such as by incorporating an antifogging additive in its composition or by coating or spraying one or more antifogging additives to counteract fogging on the weld layer surface. The weld layer may also include one or more plasticizers. The outermost layer may comprise a polyester, polyamide or polyolefin. In some constructions, a mixture of polyamide and polyester may be used for the outermost layer. In some cases, the film includes a gas barrier layer. Barrier films typically have less than 200 cm as evaluated according to ASTM D-3985 at 23 ℃ and 0% RH ³ /(m ² * day atm), also known as OTR (oxygen transmission rate), more often below 80 cm ³ /(m ² * day atm). The barrier layer is generally produced by saponification or hydrolysis of a material selected from ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers (EVOH)And thermoplastic resins of amorphous polyamides and vinyl-vinylidene chlorides and mixtures thereof. Some materials include an EVOH barrier layer between two polyamide layers. In some packaging applications, the film does not include any gas barrier layer. These films typically comprise one or more polyolefins as defined herein.

The non-gas barrier film typically has a thickness of 100 cm ³ /(m ² * day atm) to 10000 cm ³ /(m ² * day atm) at 23 ℃ and 0% RH (evaluated according to ASTM D-3985), generally up to 6000 cm ³ /(m ² * day * atm)。

Particular compositions based on polyesters are those used for so-called ready-to-eat food films. For these films, the polyester resin of the film may comprise at least 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90% by weight of the film. These films are generally used in combination with supports, in particular trays, made of polyester.

In the case of fresh red meat packaging, a double layer of film may be used, including an oxygen permeable inner film and an oxygen impermeable outer film. The combination of these two films greatly prevents discoloration of the meat even in barrier packaging of fresh meat or in the most critical case when the packaged meat extends outside the cavity defined by the tray or the product emerges from the upper peripheral edge of the side wall. These films are described, for example, in European patent applications EP1848635 and EP 0690012.

The top film may be a single layer. Typical compositions of the monolayer film include polyesters as defined herein and mixtures thereof or polyolefins as defined herein and mixtures thereof.

In all of the top film layers described herein, the polymer component may contain suitable amounts of additives typically included in such compositions.

Some of these additives are typically included in the outer layer or one of the outer layers, while other additives are typically added to the inner layer. These additives include slip or antiblock agents such as talc, waxes, silica, or antioxidants, stabilizers, plasticizers, fillers, pigments and dyes, crosslinking inhibitors, crosslinking agents, ultraviolet light absorbers, odor absorbers, oxygen absorbers, bactericides, antistatic agents, antifogging agents or compositions and the like known to those skilled in the art of packaging.

Further, the films described herein can be formulated to provide a secure weld with the bottom support or tray or can be peeled away from the tray/support. As mentioned above, the film may be of the multilayer type and have at least one frangible layer susceptible to opening, which may be positioned adjacent to the heat-sealable layer to facilitate opening of the final package: the frangible layer is adapted to allow easy removal of the same film from its associated support. Such films are described, for example, in PCT patent application No. WO 2017/153434 A1. One method of measuring weld strength, referred to herein as "weld force", is described in ASTM F-88-00. Acceptable weld force values with peelable welds are between 100 g/25mm and 850 g/25mm, 150 g/25mm to 800 g/25mm, 200 g/25mm to 700 g/25 mm.

The top film may be made of the same material as the bottom support, in particular, the top film may comprise (optionally consist of) at least one sheet of plastic material. In particular, the top film may be substantially identical to the thin film defining the bottom support. In particular, the top film may comprise at least one plastic film substantially identical to the plastic film forming the bottom support.

The top film may be a continuous top film which is fed as a continuous film from a supply roll to the packaging assembly, or may be cut into discrete film pieces at a cutting station located upstream of the packaging assembly.

Although in the above sections the structure of the bottom support and the top film has been described, thanks to the invention the bottom film can alternatively be made identical to the top film (including in terms of thickness), providing a significant saving in the amount of plastic or other material used for the whole package.

Specification of material

PVDC is any vinylidene chloride copolymer in which a major amount of the copolymer comprises vinylidene chloride and a minor amount of the copolymer comprises one or more unsaturated monomers copolymerizable therewith, typically vinyl chloride and alkyl acrylates or methacrylates (e.g., methyl acrylate or methyl methacrylate) and mixtures thereof in varying proportions.

The term EVOH includes saponified or hydrolyzed ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers and refers to ethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymers having an ethylene comonomer content preferably consisting of from about 28 mol% to about 48 mol%, more preferably from about 32 mol% to about 44 mol%, even more preferably, a degree of saponification of at least 85%, preferably at least 90% of ethylene.

The term polyamide is intended to denote both homopolymers and copolymers or terpolymers. The term specifically includes aliphatic polyamides or copolyamides such as polyamide 6, polyamide 11, polyamide 12, polyamide 66, polyamide 69, polyamide 610, polyamide 612, copolyamide 6/9, copolyamide 6/10, copolyamide 6/12, copolyamide 6/66, copolyamide 6/69, aromatic and partially aromatic polyamides or copolyamides such as polyamide 61, polyamide 6I/6T, polyamide MXD6/MXDI, and mixtures thereof.

The term polyester refers to polymers obtained from the polycondensation reaction of dicarboxylic acids with dihydric alcohols. Suitable dicarboxylic acids are, for example, terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, 2, 6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid, etc. Suitable dihydric alcohols are, for example, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, 1, 4-butanediol, 1, 4-cyclohexanedimethanol, and the like. Examples of useful polyesters include poly (ethylene terephthalate) and copolyesters obtained by reacting one or more carboxylic acids with one or more dihydric alcohols.

The term copolymer refers to polymers derived from two or more monomers and includes terpolymers. Ethylene homopolymers include High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE). Ethylene copolymers include ethylene/alpha olefin copolymers and unsaturated ethylene/ester copolymers. Ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymers typically include copolymers of ethylene and one or more comonomers selected from alpha-olefins having from 3 to 20 carbon atoms, such as 1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-octene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, and the like.

The density of the ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer is generally about 0.86 g/cm ³ To about 0.94 g/cm ³ Within the range. It is generally understood that the term Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) includes densities in the range of about 0.915 g/cm ³ And about 0.94 g/cm ³ In particular about 0.915 g/cm ³ And about 0.925 g/cm ³ Ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymers of the group. Sometimes, the density ranges from about 0.926 g/cm ³ And about 0.94 g/cm ³ Linear polyethylene in between is called Linear Medium Density Polyethylene (LMDPE). Low density ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymers may be referred to as Very Low Density Polyethylene (VLDPE) and Ultra Low Density Polyethylene (ULDPE). The ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer may be obtained by a heterogeneous or homogeneous polymerization process. Another useful ethylene copolymer is an unsaturated ethylene/ester copolymer which is an ethylene copolymer and one or more unsaturated ester monomers. Useful unsaturated esters include vinyl esters of aliphatic carboxylic acids, wherein the esters have 4 to 12 carbon atoms, such as vinyl acetate, and alkyl esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid, wherein the esters have 4 to 12 carbon atoms. Ionomers are copolymers of ethylene and an unsaturated monocarboxylic acid in which the carboxylic acid is neutralized with a metal ion such as zinc or preferably sodium. Useful propylene copolymers include propylene/ethylene copolymers, which are copolymers of propylene and ethylene predominantly in weight percent, and propylene/ethylene/butene terpolymers, which are copolymers of propylene, ethylene and 1-butene.

Detailed Description

Packaging apparatus 100

Reference numeral 100 designates a device for packaging products P, which is arranged between a bottom support 1 and a top film 2. The apparatus 100 is suitable for modified atmosphere packaging, wherein the top film 2 is applied to the bottom support 1 after a modified atmosphere has been created in the volume defined between said bottom support 1 and top film 2. The apparatus 100 is also suitable for vacuum skin packaging of products P, wherein the top film 2 is suspended over the products P and at least partly adheres tightly to said bottom support 1 and to the product surface, thus leaving a minimum amount of air, if any, inside the package. The apparatus 100 can also be used in the case of applying the top film 2 to the bottom support 1 and generating neither a vacuum nor a modified atmosphere, only performing the sealing between the film 2 and the bottom support 1.

The apparatus 100 comprises a frame 104, the frame 104 defining a base configured to support various portions of the apparatus 100, including at least a packaging assembly 101, the packaging assembly 101 being configured to receive at least a portion 1a of the bottom support 1 and a portion 2a of the top film 2, and to engage the portion 1a with the portion 2a, thereby forming a package 200 for the product P.

Although this should not be construed in a limiting manner, fig. 1 and 2 disclose two possible alternative configurations of the packaging device, including components that are attached to the packaging assembly. In particular, the device 1 may comprise:

a bottom support supply assembly 103 configured to supply a bottom support 1,

a transport assembly 105 receiving the bottom support from the supply assembly 103 and configured for moving the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 towards the packaging assembly 101,

a product loading station 111 for positioning one or more products P onto a respective one or more portions 1a of the bottom support 1,

a top film supply assembly 102 configured to supply the top film 2 to the packaging assembly 101.

The transport assembly 105 may comprise a sliding plane 106 (as shown in the example of fig. 1 and 2), which sliding plane 106 may be, at least partially, a physical plane on which the bottom support 1, in particular the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, is located and slides, or a desired plane on which the bottom support 1 is guided, for example by means of rails or guide rails. A sliding plane 106 is defined at a top region of the frame 104 and may include an endless conveyor belt 107 positioned on the apparatus frame 104 according to a closed loop configuration. The conveyor belt 107 is driven, for example, by at least one drive roller 107a, the drive roller 107a being connected to a drive motor 105a, for example a stepper motor, controlled by the control unit 50 for operating the conveyor belt 107 in a stepwise motion.

In the example shown in fig. 1 and 2, the transport assembly 105 is carried by, for example, a frame 104 fixed so that the sliding plane 106 is substantially horizontal and the conveyor 107 moves the bottom support 1 according to the horizontal direction indicated by the arrow A1. The transport assembly 105 (optionally, the conveyor belt 107) is configured to move the bottom support 1 from the bottom support supply assembly 103 to the packaging assembly 101 along a predetermined path, wherein the portion 2a of the top film 2 is tightly secured to the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, as will be explained in detail below.

The conveyor 107 moves the bottom support 1 within the package assembly 101 to the appropriate position to receive the top film 2. For example, the control unit 50 (to be described further below) may control the conveyor 107 to move a predetermined number of portions 1a at a time from an area outside the packaging assembly 101 to an area inside the packaging assembly 101 in which one or more portions 1a are vertically aligned with a respective top film portion 2a. The conveyor 107 may for example comprise a conveyor 108 (see fig. 2), the conveyor 108 being configured to pick up one or more portions 1a of the bottom support 1 from the conveyor belt 107 and bring them into the packaging assembly 101. Note that the product P can be located upstream of the packaging assembly 101 (fig. 1) or on the bottom support 1 inside said packaging assembly 101 (fig. 2) (optionally on the portion 1a of the bottom support 1).

As shown in fig. 1, the bottom support supply assembly 103 may be configured to supply a continuous film from a bottom film supply roll 112: the continuous portion 1a of the bottom support 1 corresponds to a continuous portion of the continuous bottom film unwound from the bottom film supply reel 112. The continuous film is positioned on the sliding plane 106 of the conveyor belt 107 and is driven by the conveyor belt towards the packaging assembly 101. The bottom film supply roll 112 may be connected to an actuator or motor (not shown) configured to drive the supply roll in rotation to allow the continuous film to be supplied. The control unit 50 is connected to said actuator or motor of the bottom film supply roll 112 to control the rotation of the latter and thus the release of the continuous film support on the conveyor belt 107. In one possible non-limiting variant, the control unit 50 can be configured to synchronize the stepwise movement of the transfer assembly 105 (in particular the transfer belt 107) with the rotation of the continuous film roll 112. The bottom support supply assembly 103 thus allows one or more portions 1a of the bottom support 1 to move from the supply roll 112 to the transport assembly 105, optionally on a sliding plane 106 defined by the top surface of the conveyor belt 107; the conveyor belt 107 defines an operating area configured to receive a plurality of successive portions 1a.

Alternatively, the bottom supply assembly 103 may supply the bottom support membrane 1 in the form of a portion 1a, which portion 1a is constituted by a single discrete membrane sheet, as shown in fig. 2. In such a case, a cutting assembly (not shown) may be located external to the packaging assembly 101 and configured to cut the continuous film into discrete film sheet material. Alternatively, the cutting assembly may be placed between the continuous film supply assembly 103 and the packaging assembly 101 similar to fig. 1, such that the cutting occurs before the bottom support 1 reaches the packaging assembly 101.

In the variant of fig. 2, the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 is defined by a plurality of distinct discrete portions 1a stacked in a support loading station of the support supply assembly 103, the support supply assembly 103 being configured to distribute and load the plurality of distinct portions 1a onto the worklane of the conveyor 107. In this configuration, the support loading station is connected to the control unit 50 of the apparatus 100 to control the distribution and therefore the deposition of one or more portions 1a of the bottom support 1 on the conveyor lane: for example, the control unit 50 may be configured to command the support loading station to position the successive portions 1a on the operative corridor so that each portion 1a is located at a predetermined distance from the adjacent portion 1a. As shown in fig. 2, the support loading station is configured for storing a plurality of said portions 1a and for supplying one or more portions 1a sequentially to the conveyor 107 under the control provided by the control unit 50. The control unit 50 is connected to the transport assembly 105 and to the support loading station 103 so as to synchronize the discontinuous stepping movement of the transfer assembly 105 with the positioning of the portion 1a on the sliding plane 106 of the same transfer assembly 105, performed by the support loading station.

The apparatus 100 of fig. 1 and 2 has a product loading station 111 (with respect to the movement of the products P on the sliding plane 106 of the transfer assembly 105) located downstream of the support loading station 103 or downstream of the bottom film supply roll 112: the product loading station 111 is configured to allow positioning of one or more products P onto the respective one or more portions 1a of the bottom support 1. The product loading station 111 may comprise an automatic dispenser of the product P controlled by the control unit 50. Fig. 1 shows a product loading station 111 arranged upstream of the packaging assembly 101 so that the products P can be positioned on the respective portion 1a of the bottom support 1 before said portion 1a reaches the packaging assembly 101. Alternatively, the product loading station 111 is located at the packaging assembly 101 so that the product P can be positioned on the portion 1a already arranged inside the packaging assembly 101: such as is the case with the apparatus of fig. 2, but without the product loading station.

The top film supply assembly 102 includes a top film supply roll 102a that supplies the continuous top film 2. The continuous top film supply assembly 102 may include an arm 102b (shown in phantom in fig. 1 and 2) secured to the frame 104 and adapted to support the top film supply roll 102a. It is noted that the continuous top film 2 may be fed from the top film supply assembly 102 to a suitable position within the packaging assembly 101 using any known means, for example using drive rollers or drive mechanisms acting upstream and/or downstream of the packaging assembly 101, or using transport means acting on the longitudinal boundaries of the top film 2, or a combination of the above or any other suitable means. In detail, the continuous top film 2 is defined by a plurality of adjacent portions 2a arranged along the development path of the top film 2. The top film supply roll 102a may be connected to an actuator or motor (not shown) configured to rotate the roller, thus allowing a continuous top film to be supplied. The control unit 50 is connected to said actuator or motor of the top film supply roll 102a to control the rotation of the latter and thus the release of the continuous top film 2. The control unit 50 may be configured to synchronize the stepwise movement of the transfer assembly 105 (in particular the transfer belt 107) with the rotation of the top film supply roll 102a and thus with the bottom support supply assembly 103.

Alternatively, the top film supply assembly 102 may supply the continuous top film 2 to a cutting assembly 109 located outside the packaging assembly 101 and configured to cut the continuous top film 2 into said portions 2a constituted by individual discrete film pieces. The cutting assembly 109 may be placed between the top film supply assembly 102 and the packaging assembly 101 such that the cutting occurs before the top film portion 2a reaches the packaging assembly 101 (see fig. 2). The conveyor 110 is configured to receive the cut film portions 2a at the cutting assembly 109 and position the cut film portions 2a within the packaging assembly 101. The control unit 50 of the apparatus 100 may be connected to and control the operation of the cutting assembly 109 and the conveying device 110 to control the deposition of the one or more portions 2a of the top film 2 on the transfer device 110 and to synchronize the movement of the transfer device with the operation of the packaging station 101.

For illustrative but not limiting purposes, the

portions

1a and 2a of the bottom support 1 and the top film 2, respectively, are supplied to the packaging assembly 101 in a continuous manner as shown in fig. 1, or they are both supplied to the packaging assembly 101 as discrete portions, as shown in fig. 2. It is not excluded that the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 may be supplied to the packaging assembly 101 (fig. 1) in a continuous manner, while the portion 2a of the top film 2 may be supplied as a discrete portion (fig. 2), or vice versa.

Turning now to a more detailed description of the packaging assembly 101, the latter is configured to tightly fix each portion 2a of the top film 2 to the corresponding portion 1a of the bottom support 1. As mentioned above, the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 may be a part of a continuous bottom support film (see fig. 1) or one of said cut film sheets (discrete portions 1a as shown in fig. 2); similarly, the portion 2a of the top film 2 may be a portion of a continuous film (see fig. 1) or one of the cut film pieces (such as the discrete portion 2a shown in fig. 2).

In particular, the packaging assembly 101 comprises a lower tool 6 and an upper tool 5 movable between at least one open state, a closed state and a sealed state. The upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 define, in the open condition (see figures 3, 4, 9, 11, 15 and 16), an open chamber C: the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are configured during the open state to allow the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, the product P placed or to be placed on the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 and the portion 2a of the top film 2 to enter said open chamber C. The upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 in the closed state define a closed chamber C sealed with respect to the atmosphere outside the packaging assembly 101. Note that sealed means that the packaging chamber C cannot communicate freely with the atmosphere outside the same chamber, since gas can be supplied or withdrawn from the chamber C in a controlled manner only through predetermined supply or discharge channels of the device 100, as described further below.

In the sealed condition, the upper and lower tools continue to delimit a closed chamber (in the sense just explained), and moreover, certain portions of the upper and lower tools move close to each other and are configured to heat seal the

portions

1a, 2a of the bottom support 1 and the top film 2, so as to seal the product P fluidtightly between said

portions

1a, 2a.

An alternative variation of a packaging apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention is shown in fig. 23-26.

For example, as shown in fig. 21, the packaging apparatus 100 of the present invention has a top film supply assembly 102 in the form of a feed roller 102a from which the top film 2 is unwound. The top film 2a is then separated into discrete film web material 2a at a cutting station 109 prior to entering the packaging assembly 101, wherein the discrete film webs are secured to an underlying pre-formed tray 300 from a bottom support supply assembly 103, in this case the bottom support supply assembly 103 is in the form of a tray dispenser that transports the tray (formed in a separate process) on a conveyor belt (not shown) that then transports the tray 300 to the packaging assembly. Note that there is the step of loading at least one product P onto the tray 300 by means of the product loading station 111: the product loading station 111 may operate upstream of the packaging assembly so that the products P may be positioned on each respective tray 300 outside the packaging assembly 101; alternatively, the product loading station may operate at the packaging assembly 101 so that the products P may be positioned on the trays 300 already arranged within the packaging assembly 101.

The tray 300 of fig. 21 defines a bottom portion 1a and is located in the lower tool 6 of the packaging assembly 101.

The tray may comprise, in its peripheral portion, a pre-formed cavity intended to form the lower half of the hollow portion of the final package. As shown in the right-hand portion of fig. 21, a respective film web material 2a is positioned above the tray 300 positioned in the packaging station 101. At this point, the upper and lower tools are approached to form the closed chamber already described, and the process continues as described above, i.e. according to the operating cycle described for the first embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the second embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the third embodiment. Since the tray 300 is not formed at the packaging station, it is not necessary to heat any part of the lower tool 6 in the variant of fig. 21.

Fig. 22 shows another variation of the packaging apparatus 100 of the present invention in which the top film is unwound from a supply roll of top film and separated into discrete film web material prior to entering the packaging assembly, wherein the discrete film sheets are secured to the trays formed in-line from the discrete bottom sheets during the packaging process performed by the respective tray forming stations. In more detail, the packaging apparatus 100 of fig. 22 has a top film supply assembly 102 in the form of a supply roll 102a from which the top film 2 is unwound. The top film 2a is then divided into discrete film pieces 2a at the cutting station 109 before entering the packaging assembly 101, wherein the discrete film pieces are secured to an underlying tray 301, which in this case is formed in-line at the moulding station 200. The molding station may receive pre-cut film sheets, for example, from a bottom support supply assembly 103 in the form of a film sheet dispenser 103. The trays formed at the molding station may be transferred to a conveyor belt (not shown) which then transfers the trays 301 to the packaging assembly. Note that there is the step of loading at least one product P onto the tray 301 through the product loading station 111: the product loading station 111 may operate upstream of the packaging assembly so that the products P may be positioned on each respective tray 301 outside the packaging assembly 101; alternatively, the product loading station may operate at the packaging assembly 101 so that the products P may be positioned on the trays 301 already arranged within the packaging assembly 101.

The tray 301 of fig. 22 defines a bottom portion 1a and is located in the lower tool 6 of the packaging assembly 101. The tray 301 may comprise, in its peripheral portion, a pre-formed cavity intended to form the lower half of the hollow portion of the final package. As shown in the right-hand portion of fig. 21, a respective film web material 2a is positioned above the tray 301 positioned in the packaging station 101. At this point, the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are approached to form the closed chamber already described and the process continues as described above, i.e. according to the operating cycle described for the first embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the second embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the third embodiment. Since the tray 301 is not formed at the packaging station, it is not necessary to heat any part of the lower tool 6 in the variant of fig. 22.

Fig. 23 shows another variation of the packaging apparatus of the present invention wherein the top film is unwound from a top film supply roll and separated into discrete film sheet material prior to entering the packaging assembly wherein the discrete film sheets are secured to trays formed in-line from a portion of the continuous bottom sheet during the packaging process performed by the respective tray molding station. In more detail, the packaging apparatus 100 of fig. 23 has a top film supply assembly 102 in the form of a feed roller 102a from which the top film 2 is unwound. The top film 2a is then divided into discrete film pieces 2a at a cutting station 109 prior to entering the packaging assembly 101, wherein the discrete film pieces are secured to an underlying tray 301, which in this case is formed in-line at a moulding station 200. The molding station may, for example, receive a longitudinal length of continuous bottom support feed from a bottom support supply roll 112. The tray 301 formed at the molding station remains connected to the continuous bottom support and is then transferred to the packaging assembly. Note that there is the step of loading at least one product P onto the tray 301 through the product loading station 111: the product loading station 111 may operate upstream of the packaging assembly so that the products P may be positioned on each respective tray 301 outside the packaging assembly 101; alternatively, the product loading station may operate at the packaging assembly 101 so that the products P may be positioned on the trays 301 already arranged within the packaging assembly 101.

The tray 301 of fig. 23 defines a bottom portion 1a and is located in the lower tool 6 of the packaging assembly 101. The tray 301 may comprise, in its peripheral portion, a pre-formed cavity intended to form the lower half of the hollow portion of the final package. As shown in the right-hand portion of fig. 21, a respective film web material 2a is positioned above the tray 301 positioned in the packaging station 101. At this point, the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are approached to form the closed chamber already described and the process continues as described above, i.e. according to the operating cycle described for the first embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the second embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the third embodiment. Since the tray 301 is not formed at the packaging station, it is not necessary to heat any part of the lower tool 6 in the variant of fig. 23.

FIG. 24 shows yet another variation of the packaging apparatus of the present invention wherein the top film is unwound from a top film supply roll and enters the packaging assembly wherein a portion of the continuous top sheet is secured to an underlying pre-formed tray from a tray dispenser; the packaging apparatus 100 of fig. 24 has a top film supply assembly 102 in the form of a supply roll 102a from which the continuous top film 2 is unwound and fed to the packaging station 101, holding the continuous undivided top film. In particular, in each packaging cycle, a portion 2a of the continuous top film 2 is located at the packaging assembly 101 with the film portion 2a secured to an underlying pre-formed tray 300 from the bottom support supply assembly 103, in this case the bottom support supply assembly 103 is in the form of a tray dispenser, which conveys the tray (formed in a separate process) on a conveyor belt (not shown) which then conveys the tray 300 to the packaging assembly. Note that there is the step of loading at least one product P onto the tray 300 by means of the product loading station 111: the product loading station 111 may operate upstream of the packaging assembly so that the products P may be positioned on each respective tray 300 outside the packaging assembly 101; alternatively, the product loading station may operate at the packaging assembly 101 so that the products P may be positioned on the trays 300 already arranged within the packaging assembly 101.

The tray 300 of fig. 24 defines a bottom portion 1a and is located in the lower tool 6 of the packaging assembly 101.

The tray may comprise, in its peripheral portion, a pre-formed cavity intended to form the lower half of the hollow portion of the final package. Above the tray 300 located in the packaging station 101, the respective film portion 2a of the continuous top film 2 is positioned, as shown in the right-hand part of fig. 24. At this point, the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are approached to form the closed chamber already described and the process continues as described above, i.e. according to the operating cycle described for the first embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the second embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the third embodiment. Since the tray 300 is not formed at the packaging station, no heating of any part of the lower tool 6 is required in the variant of fig. 24.

Fig. 25 shows another variation of the packaging apparatus of the present invention, wherein the top film is unwound from a top film supply roll and enters the packaging assembly, wherein a portion of the continuous top sheet is secured to a tray formed in-line from discrete bottom sheets during the packaging process performed by the respective tray molding station. In more detail, the packaging apparatus 100 of fig. 25 has a top film feeding assembly 102 in the form of a feeding roller 102a from which the top film 2 is unwound and fed to the packaging station 101, maintaining a continuous undivided top film. In particular, in each packaging cycle, a portion 2a of the continuous top film 2 is located at the packaging assembly 101, with the film portion 2a fixed to the underlying tray 301, which tray 301 is formed in-line at the molding station 200 in this case. The molding station may receive pre-cut film sheets, for example, from a bottom support supply assembly 103 in the form of a film sheet dispenser 103. The trays formed at the molding station may be transferred to a conveyor belt (not shown) which then transfers the trays 301 to a packaging assembly. Note that there is the step of loading at least one product P onto the tray 301 through the product loading station 111: the product loading station 111 may operate upstream of the packaging assembly so that the products P may be positioned on each respective tray 301 outside the packaging assembly 101; alternatively, the product loading station may operate at the packaging assembly 101 so that the products P may be positioned on the trays 301 already arranged within the packaging assembly 101.

The tray 301 of fig. 25 defines a bottom portion 1a and is located in the lower tool 6 of the packaging assembly 101. The tray 301 may comprise, in its peripheral portion, a pre-formed cavity intended to form the lower half of the hollow portion of the final package. Above the tray 301 located in the packaging station 101, the respective film portion 2a of the continuous top film 2 is positioned, as shown in the right-hand part of fig. 25. At this point, the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are approached to form the closed chamber already described and the process continues as described above, i.e. according to the operating cycle described for the first embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the second embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the third embodiment. Since the tray 301 is not formed at the packaging station, it is not necessary to heat any part of the lower tool 6 in the variant of fig. 25.

Fig. 26 shows a variation of the packaging apparatus of the present invention wherein the top film is unwound from a top film supply roll and enters the packaging assembly wherein a portion of the continuous top sheet is secured to a tray formed inline from a portion of the continuous bottom sheet during the packaging process performed by the respective tray molding station. In more detail, the packaging apparatus 100 of fig. 26 has a top film feeding assembly 102 in the form of a feeding roller 102a from which the top film 2 is unwound and fed to the packaging station 101, maintaining a continuous undivided top film. In particular, in each packaging cycle, a portion 2a of the continuous top film 2 is located at the packaging assembly 101, where the film portion 2a is fixed to the underlying tray 301 during the packaging process carried out by the respective tray moulding station 200, this tray 301 being formed in-line in a portion of the continuous bottom sheet. The molding station may, for example, receive a continuous longitudinal length of bottom support feed from a bottom support supply roll 112. The tray 301 formed at the molding station remains connected to the continuous bottom support and is then transferred to the packaging assembly. Note that there is the step of loading at least one product P onto the tray 301 through the product loading station 111: the product loading station 111 may operate upstream of the packaging assembly so that the products P may be positioned on each respective tray 301 outside the packaging assembly 101; alternatively, the product loading station may operate at the packaging assembly 101 so that the products P may be positioned on the trays 301 already arranged within the packaging assembly 101.

The tray 301 of fig. 26 defines a bottom portion 1a and is located in the lower tool 6 of the packaging assembly 101. The tray 301 may comprise, in its peripheral portion, a pre-formed cavity intended to form the lower half of the hollow portion of the final package. Above the tray 301 located in the packaging station 101, the respective film portion 2a of the continuous top film 2 is positioned, as shown in the right-hand part of fig. 21. At this point, the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are approached to form the closed chamber already described and the process continues as described above, i.e. according to the operating cycle described for the first embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the second embodiment or according to the operating cycle described for the third embodiment. Since the tray 301 is not formed at the packaging station, it is not necessary to heat any part of the lower tool 6 in the variant of fig. 23.

The

trays

300 and 301 depicted in fig. 21-26 may be flat or substantially flat trays or (as shown) trays having a bottom wall, side walls projecting from the bottom wall, and a top flange projecting radially from the top of the side walls. In the latter case, the flange defines a peripheral portion of each support, in which there is a pre-formed cavity (in the example shown, the cross-section is semi-circular or semi-elliptical in shape). The preformed cavity in each flange may extend circularly along one corner portion or along the entire circumference of the flange and is destined to form the lower half of the hollow portion of the final package.

Before further elaborating on the operation of the upper and lower tools, a detailed description of the structure of these tools is provided, which applies to all the embodiments and variants described above, i.e. also to the variants of fig. 21-26.

The upper tool 5 comprises a respective tool centre portion 42, which tool centre portion 42 is configured to be located above the product P (see fig. 4) and to face the tool centre portion 31 of the lower tool 6. When correctly positioned in the closed chamber C, the product P is located below the portion 2a of the top film 2 and below the central portion 42 of the upper tool 5. The tool central portion 42 of the upper tool 5 may have a flat shape or, as shown in the figures, may define at least one cavity having a concave surface facing the lower tool 6.

The upper tool 5 further comprises a tool peripheral portion 43 surrounding said tool central portion 42 of the same upper tool 5 and directly facing the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool (see e.g. fig. 5-8). In particular, the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 extends around and completely surrounds the tool central portion 42 of the same upper tool 5.

The tool central portion 42 and the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 define the active surface 5a. In detail, the tool peripheral portion 43 may have a flat shape or, as shown in the figures, may define at least one cavity having a concave surface facing the lower tool 6. In more detail, the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 shown in the example of the figures defines:

a corresponding inner abutment portion 43a, for example with a bottom flat shape, completely surrounding the tool central portion 42 of the same upper tool 5,

the respective outer abutment portion 43b, for example with a bottom flat shape, completely surrounds the tool central portion 42 and the inner abutment portion 43a of the same upper tool 5,

a respective intermediate abutment portion 43c connecting said inner abutment portion 43a with said outer abutment portion 43b. The intermediate abutment portion 43C has a bottom concave shape (for example, with a substantially "C" shaped profile-see fig. 3, 4, 9A and 10), the concave surface facing the lower tool 6.

The lower tool 6, in turn, comprises a tool central portion 31, which tool central portion 31 is configured to directly contact and support a portion 1a of the bottom support 1, which portion serves to support said product P, as we have described. The tool center portion 31 is configured to be positioned below the product P (see fig. 4). Thus, when the product P is positioned in the closed chamber C, it is located above the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, in particular above the central portion 31 of the lower tool 6. The tool central portion 31 may have a flat shape or, as shown in the figures, may define at least one cavity having a concave surface facing the upper tool 5; the tool central portion 31 of the lower tool 6 may be provided with a plurality of seats to house a plurality of portions 1a and respective products P.

The lower tool 6 further comprises a tool peripheral portion 32 surrounding the tool central portion 31. In particular, the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 extends around the tool central portion 31 and completely surrounds the tool central portion 31.

In more detail, the tool peripheral portion 32 may have a flat shape or, as shown in the figures, may define at least one cavity having a concave surface facing the upper tool 5. In detail, the tool peripheral portion 32 shown in the example of the figures defines:

an internal abutment portion 32a, for example with a top flat shape, completely surrounding the tool central portion 31,

an outer abutment portion 32b, for example with a top flat shape, completely surrounding the tool central portion 31 and the inner abutment portion 32a,

an intermediate abutment 32c connecting the inner abutment 32a and the outer abutment 32b. The intermediate abutment portion 32C has a top concave shape (e.g. with a substantially "C" shaped profile-see fig. 3, 4, 9A and 10), the concave surface facing the upper tool 5.

The structure of the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 allows to form the hollow structure 4 in cooperation with the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 during the sealed state of the package assembly 101. In particular, the internal abutment 43a and the internal abutment 32a are configured to cooperate in the formation of the sealing band 3, while, due to their concave configuration, the intermediate abutment portion 43c and the intermediate abutment portion 32c are configured so as to cause the formation of said one or more hollow structures 4. The external abutment 43b of the upper tool and the external abutment 32b of the lower tool are configured to ensure a complete fluid-tight seal of the entire package 200 and of each hollow structure 4, the hollow structures 4 being formed at the periphery of the sealing band 3 due to the design of the upper and lower tools. It is indeed worth noting that, after the sealed condition, the hollow structure 4 comprises at least one tubular portion surrounding a central portion, as shown in figure 20.

Finally, as shown in the drawings, the shape of the lower surface of the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 may mirror the shape of the upper surface of the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6. On the other hand, the tool central portion 42 and the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 delimit an active surface 5a, the active surface 5a being configured to directly face and act on the portion 2a of the top film 2 when the portion 2a of the top film is inside the chamber C of the packaging assembly 101. Meanwhile, the tool central portion 31 and the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 define an active surface 6a, and the active surface 6a is configured to directly face and support the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 when the portion 1a is located within the chamber of the packing assembly 101.

Turning now to a more detailed description of the mutually facing bottom side of the upper tool and the top side of the upper tool, it is noted that the upper tool 5 further comprises an outer enclosing surface 5b surrounding the active surface 5a of the same upper tool 5, while the lower tool 6 further comprises an outer enclosing surface 6b surrounding the active surface 6a of the same lower tool 6.

Various alternatives to the closure surface will now be described with reference to the drawings.

In a first alternative, the external closing surface 5b of the upper tool 5 can be defined by an external portion (for example, flat configuration) integral with the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5: as shown in fig. 3-10, the outer closure surface 5b is positioned at or aligned with the bottom surface of the outer abutment section 43b of the upper tool 5, and optionally also aligned with the bottom surface of the inner abutment section 43a of the upper tool 5. The outer enclosing surface 5b extends around and completely surrounds or delimits the bottom surface of the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5.

In this first alternative of fig. 3-10, the lower tool 6 may comprise a sleeve 48, which sleeve 48 is slidingly mounted outside the tool peripheral portion 32 and eventually defines an outer closing surface 6b of the lower tool 6, which may be, for example, of flat configuration; the sleeve 48 may be pushed, typically by the action of a spring arrangement or by an actuator controlled by the control unit 50, to a position such as that shown in fig. 9, so that the outer portion 6b (when the tool is in the open configuration) is located typically above the top surface of the outer abutment portion 32b of the lower tool 6, and optionally also above the top surface of the inner abutment portion 32 a. When the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are moved to the closed condition (see fig. 6 and 9A), the closing surface 5b and the closing surface 6b interact to define a peripheral closure and form a closed cavity C. Note that the outer closure surface 6b extends around the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 and completely surrounds or bounds the lower tool peripheral portion 32 and faces the closure surface 5b of the upper tool 5 so as to form a tight closure therebetween while still keeping the inner and

outer abutments

32a and 32b of the lower tool separate from the inner and

outer abutments

43a and 43b, respectively, of the upper tool. An additional sealing body 80, such as an annular gasket or O-ring, may be interposed between the sealing surface 5b of the upper tool 5 and the sealing surface 6b of the lower tool 6. When the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are further moved relatively with respect to the sealed condition, the sleeve 48 is lowered relatively with respect to the lower tool 6, as shown in fig. 7 and 8, so that the closing surfaces 6b (and therefore also the closing surfaces 5b, if we exclude the smallest contribution provided by the membrane) are substantially aligned with each other and with the top surface, and the inner abutment portions 43a and the inner abutment portions 32a cooperate to form the sealing band 3, while the intermediate abutment portions 43c and the intermediate abutment portions 32c, due to their concave configuration, are configured to cause the formation of said one or more hollow structures 4. The outer abutment portion 43b of the upper tool and the outer abutment portion 32b of the lower tool ensure a complete fluid-tight seal of the package 200 and each hollow structure 4, the hollow structures 4 being formed at the periphery of the sealing band 3 due to the design of the upper and lower tools.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 11-14, the outer closure surface 5b of the upper tool 5 may be defined by the outer sidewall of the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 in combination with the inner sidewall of the lower tool 6. For example, the closing surface 5b may be defined at a downwardly projecting portion of the tool peripheral portion 43, which extends towards the lower tool 6 (see again fig. 11-14). Thus, in the embodiment shown in fig. 11-14, the closing surface 5b of the upper tool 5 is transverse (in particular perpendicular) to the outer abutment portion 43b of the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5. In turn, the outer enclosing surface 6b of the exemplary lower tool 6 of fig. 11-14 may be defined by an inner side wall integral with the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6, projecting towards the upper tool 5 with respect to the tool peripheral portion 32. In this example, the closing surface 6b of the lower tool 6 is defined by a surface that projects laterally from the outer abutment portion 32b of the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 and receives internally (and tightly) the closing surface 5b of the upper tool 5 (in fig. 11-14, the

surfaces

5b and 6b are both vertical). Of course, the design of the

surfaces

5b and 6b may be such that the lower tool closure face 6b is defined on the outer side wall of the lower tool 6 and is tightly received within the closure surface 5b on the inner side wall of the upper tool 5. Also in the example of fig. 11-14, an additional sealing body 80 (e.g., an annular gasket or O-ring) may be interposed between the sealing surface 5b of the upper tool and the sealing surface 6b of the lower tool. The closing surfaces 5b and 6b interact such that when the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are moved to the closed state (see fig. 12), the closing surfaces 5b and 6b interact to define a peripheral closure and form a closed cavity C. Note that the outer closure surface 6b extends around the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 and completely surrounds or bounds the lower tool peripheral portion 32 and faces the closure surface 5b of the upper tool so as to form a tight closure therebetween while still keeping the inner and

outer abutments

32a and 32b of the lower tool separate from the inner and

outer abutments

43a and 43b, respectively, of the upper tool. When the upper and lower tools are relatively moved further with respect to the stroke of the sealing condition, the closing surface 6b continuously cooperates with the closing surface 5b to keep the closed chamber closed, while the

internal abutments

43a and 32a cooperate to form the sealing band 3, while the

intermediate abutments

43c and 32c, due to their concave configuration, result in the formation of said one or more hollow structures 4. When the upper and lower tools reach the sealed condition, the outer abutment portion 43b of the upper tool and the outer abutment portion 32b of the lower tool ensure a complete fluid-tight seal of the package 200 and of each hollow structure 4, the hollow structures 4 being formed on the periphery of the sealing band 3 due to the design of the upper and lower tools.

In yet another alternative embodiment shown in fig. 15-18, the upper tool 5 may include a downwardly opening housing 47 that externally surrounds the tool peripheral portion 43 and the tool central portion 42. The bottom of the housing 47 presents a bottom peripheral surface (for example flat configuration) facing the lower tool 6 and defining the closing surface 5b of the upper tool 5. In detail, the housing 47 is movable with respect to the tool peripheral portion 43 between:

a retracted position, in which the bottom peripheral surface of the housing 47 is located radially outside the outer abutment portion 43b of the tool peripheral portion 43, substantially aligned at the same level (height) as the outer abutment portion 43b (figure 15),

a protruding position, in which the bottom peripheral surface of the housing 47 protrudes axially towards the lower tool 6 (see fig. 16 and 17) with respect to the tool peripheral portion 43, forming an annular closing surface 5b abutting the lower tool closing surface 6b or pressing the film material against the tool lower closing surface 6b.

In the latter embodiment, during the closing condition of the upper and lower tools, the housing 47 is arranged in the protruding position, the closing surface 5b being in close proximity or in contact with the closing surface 6b of the lower tool 6 (see fig. 18 and 19) to define the closed chamber C, while allowing the

active surfaces

5a, 6a to remain separated. During the passage of the upper and lower tools from the closed condition to the sealed condition, the housing 47 moves relatively from projecting back to the retracted position, allowing the

active surfaces

5a, 6a of the upper and lower tools to define the sealing band 3 and the hollow structure 4. In the example of fig. 15-18, the outer closure surface 6b of the lower tool 6 may be defined by an outer portion (e.g., flat configuration) that is integral with the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6; the outer surface 6b is positioned at or aligned with the top surface of the outer abutment portion 32b of the lower tool 6 and optionally also with the top surface of the inner abutment portion 32a of the lower tool 6. When the

tools

5 and 6 are in the closed state, the housing is in the protruding position (fig. 17), the outer closing surface 6b extends around the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 and completely surrounds or delimits the lower tool peripheral portion 32 and faces the closing surface 5b of the upper tool to form a tight closure between them. Also in this example, an additional sealing body 80 (e.g., an annular gasket or O-ring) may be interposed between the sealing surface 5b of the upper tool and the sealing surface 6b of the lower tool. When the

tools

5 and 6 are in the closed state (see fig. 17), the outer closing surface 6b extends around the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 and completely surrounds or delimits the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 and faces the closing surface 5b of the upper tool so as to form a tight closure therebetween, while still keeping the inner 32a and outer 32b abutment portions of the lower tool separated from the inner 43a and outer 43b abutment portions of the upper tool, respectively. It should be noted that, when the packaging station is in the closed condition of fig. 16 and 17, the passage 16 is formed by the casing 47 or the passage formed between the casing 47 and the upper tool peripheral portion 43: this passage may be connected to a gas source 15 or a suction source 13 to inject or withdraw gas from the chamber C, respectively. When the upper and lower tools are further moved relatively with respect to the sealed condition, the housing 47 is moved to its retracted position (fig. 18), the closing face 6b continuously cooperates with the closing face 5b to keep the closed chamber closed, while the

internal abutments

43a and 32a cooperate to form the sealing band 3, while the

intermediate abutments

In a variant of the example of fig. 15-18, the housing 47 can cooperate with a radially outer side wall of the lower tool 6, and the closing surface 6b is defined in an upper portion of the housing 47 and extends transversely (in particular perpendicularly) to the outer abutment portion 32b of the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6. In this case, the position of the housing 47 would be reversed compared to that shown in fig. 15-18, and the upper tool 5 would include an outer portion (e.g., flat configuration) integral with the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5. The operation will be similar to that just described with reference to fig. 15-18.

Continuing with the detailed description of the upper and lower tools, it is noted that, as shown in the accompanying drawings, the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5 comprises a plurality of first apertures 44 which are in fluid communication with at least one suction source 13 via first channels 44 a. The suction source 13 is configured to draw gas from said first hole and to adhere the portion 2a of the top film 2 to the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5. In detail, the suction source 13 is configured to evacuate gas from the closed chamber C during the closed state of the upper and lower tools, so as to make the portion 2a of the top film adhere tightly to the active surface 5a. The suction source 13 includes at least one vacuum pump 13a and at least one suction line 13b connecting the inside of the chamber C to the vacuum pump through a first hole 44. The suction source 13 may comprise a valve 13c, which valve 13c acts on said discharge line 13b and is configured to regulate the passage of the gas flow through said line. The control unit 50 controls the vacuum pump 13a and/or the valve 13C to evacuate gas from the closed chamber C through said first hole 44.

The tool peripheral portion 43 and the tool central portion 42 of the upper tool 5 are at least partially made of a heat conductive material: this allows heating of the upper tool, allowing the portion 2a of the top film 2 to be correctly sealed to the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 during the sealing state. In detail, the upper tool 5 comprises at least one heater, for example comprising an electric resistance heater or an infrared heater or a thermal fluid heater or other nature, configured for heating the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5 to allow heating of the portion 2a of the top film 2 dedicated to the direct sealing with the portion 1a of the bottom support 1. In detail, the arrangement of the heater (for example in the form of a resistor portion of an electric heating circuit) at least at the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 allows the upper tool 5 to form the sealing band 3 and the hollow structure 4. A heater (again, for example in the form of a resistor) can also be located at the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5, directly facing the product P arranged on the portion 1a of the bottom support 1; in other words, the heater may be arranged at the tool center portion 42 of the upper tool 5, allowing the portion 2a of the top film to heat up and become deformable. In particular, when the portion 2a of the top film 2 is in contact with the active surface 5a of the upper tool by means of the suction source 13, the heater heats the portion 2a to a temperature sufficient to allow the same portion 2a to thermally bond (heat seal) the portion 1a of the bottom support 1.

Similarly to the upper tool, the active surface 6a of the lower tool 6 may also comprise a plurality of second holes 33, in fluid communication with the same or another suction source 13 through second channels 33 a: although indicated with the same reference numerals, the suction source 13 may comprise a single suction source or separate suction sources 13 acting on the first and second holes, wherein at least one acts on the first hole of the upper tool and at least one other acts on the second hole of the bottom tool. The suction source 13 acting on the second hole 33 is configured to extract gas therefrom to cause the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 to adhere to the active surface 6a of the lower tool 6. In detail, the suction source 13 is configured to extract gas from the closed chamber C at least during the closed condition of the upper tool 5 and of the lower tool 6, so as to pull the portion 1a of the bottom support to adhere to the active surface 6a. The control unit 50 may for example control the vacuum pump 13a and/or the valve 13c of the suction source 13 acting on the second orifice to draw gas from said second orifice 33.

According to another aspect, the tool peripheral portion 32 and, in some cases, the tool central portion 31 of the lower tool 6 are at least partially made of a thermally conductive material. This allows heating of the lower tool, allowing the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 to be correctly sealed to the portion 2a of the top film during the sealing state. In detail, the lower tool 6 comprises at least one heater, for example comprising an electrical resistance heater or an infrared heater or a thermal fluid heater or other nature, configured for heating the active surface 6a of the lower tool to heat the portion 1a and allow heat sealing of one or more of said

portions

1a, 2a of the bottom and top films during the sealing state. In particular, the heater may be located at the active surface 6a of the lower tool 6, to allow heating of the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 dedicated to the direct sealing with the portion 2a of the top film 2; in detail, the heater is arranged at least at the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6, allowing the latter to define, together with the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5, the sealing band 3 and the hollow structure 4.

According to another aspect, the lower tool may preferably include, in its central portion 31, a thermal insulator 31a (which may be, for example, a plastic insert as shown) made at least partially of a thermally insulating material, so that heating of the lower tool by the respective heater does not unduly affect the insulator and hence the product above it; the insulator 31a is in fact configured to receive the portion of the film portion 1a over which the product is to rest, so as to avoid excessive heating of the product during packaging. According to another aspect, the insulator 31a may be cooled: for example, a cooling circuit 31b (schematically represented in the figures) may be positioned adjacent to the insulator 31a, or a portion of the cooling circuit may pass through the insulator to keep the insulator relatively cool. The cooling circuit may circulate a cooling fluid, such as water, and maintain the insulator (or at least the surface of the insulator destined to contact the membrane portion 1 a) at a temperature lower than the set temperature, such as lower than 30 ℃.

Following the description of the structural upper and

lower tools

5, 6 above, there is provided an indication as to how the tools may cooperate together and with the rest of the apparatus 100.

As described above, the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are movable at least between the open state, the closed state, and the sealed state. In detail, in the open condition, the

external closing surfaces

5b, 6b and the

active surfaces

5a, 6a of the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are spaced from each other to allow the

portions

1a, 2a to be placed between the active surfaces of the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6; during the open state, the chamber C is open and the

active surfaces

5a, 6a are normally at their maximum distance from each other. When the upper and lower tools are relatively close together (under the control of unit 50) they initially reach a closed state. When the tool is in the closed state, the positions of the upper tool and the lower tool are as follows:

the

active surfaces

5a, 6a of the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are still spaced from each other,

the

external closing surfaces

5b, 6b are close to each other: in particular, the closing surface 5b of the upper tool 5 abuts against the closing surface 6b of the lower tool 6 (optionally interposing the

film portions

1a, 2 a) to hermetically close said packaging chamber C with respect to the atmosphere outside the apparatus; at said

closing surfaces

5b, 6b, a sealing body 80 (for example an annular gasket or O-ring or other element) is squeezed between the

surfaces

5b and 6b, thus promoting an airtight closure of the chamber C.

At least during the closed state, the at least one suction source 13 is activated to draw gas from the first and second holes, allowing the portion 1a of the bottom support to adhere to the active surface 6a of the lower tool 6 and the portion 2a of the top film 2 to adhere to the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5. It should be noted that the suction source 13 may also be activated while the upper and

lower tools

5, 6 are still in the open state; in this case, the

portions

1a, 2a must be arranged in the vicinity of the

active surfaces

6a, 5a, respectively, so as to allow the second and first holes to pull said portions into contact with the respective active surfaces (see fig. 4, 11 and 15). Thanks to the suction source 13 and the first and

second holes

44, 33, the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are configured to keep said portion 2a of the top film 2 and said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 separated from each other at least during the closed state.

The control unit 50 may then move the upper tool and the lower tool to the sealing state. During the sealing state (see fig. 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 18 and 19), at least a portion of the upper tool 5 and a portion of the lower tool 6 become very close and cause contact with said

portions

1a, 2a of the bottom support 1 and the top film 2 to seal said portions and form a package 200 containing the product. In more detail, in said sealed condition, the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are configured to seal the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 to the portion 2a of the top film 2 along the sealing band 3 around the product P, so as to sealingly contain the product P in the volume V between said portion 2a of the top film 2 and said portion 1a of the bottom support 1. Furthermore, in said sealed condition, the upper and lower tools are configured to form one or more hollow structures 4 by sealing a portion of said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 to a portion of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 at one or more selected sealing areas; as shown in fig. 20, the hollow structure 4 extends around the sealing band 3 and completely surrounds the sealing band 3. In detail, in the sealed state, the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 approaches and almost contacts the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 (fig. 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 18 and 19); further, in the sealed state, the components of the packaging assembly are configured to interact as follows:

the inner abutment portion 32a of the lower tool faces the inner abutment portion 43a of the upper tool 5 and is vertically aligned with the inner abutment portion 43a of the upper tool 5; in particular, the inner abutment section 32a of the lower tool 6 directly contacts the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, while said inner abutment portion 43a of the upper tool 5 directly contacts the portion 2a of the top film 2: the inner abutment portion 32a and the inner abutment portion cooperate to bring the portion 1a of the bottom film into contact with the portion 2a of the top film in selected areas, in particular to form a sealing band 3, which sealing band 3 sealingly connects the

portions

1a and 2a, tightly insulating the product inside the volume V;

the intermediate abutment 32c of the lower tool 6 faces the intermediate abutment 43c of the upper tool 5; in particular, the intermediate abutment 32c of the lower tool 6 directly contacts the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, while the intermediate abutment 43c of the upper tool 5 directly contacts the portion 2a of the top film 2: the

intermediate abutment portions

32c, 43c face each other in the sealed condition and, due to their concave and vertical alignment, are configured to form said one or more hollow structures 4 adjacent to the sealing band 3 and radially external to the band 3;

the external abutment 32b of the lower tool faces the external abutment 43b of the upper tool 5; in particular, the outer abutment portion 32b of the lower tool 6, which directly contacts the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, and the outer abutment portion 43b, which directly contacts the portion 2a of the top film 2, bring said portion 1a into contact with the portion 2a of the top film 2; furthermore, the

outer abutment portions

32b, 43b of the lower and upper tools, respectively, face each other during the sealing state and are configured to define an outer sealing band 30, which outer sealing band 30 fluid-tightly seals the package 200; as schematically shown in fig. 20, one or more hollow structures 4 are formed interposed between the sealing band 3 and the outer sealing band 30.

In order to relatively move the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 between the above-mentioned open state, closed state and sealed state, the apparatus 100 has at least one main actuator 60, which acts on at least one of said upper tool 5 and lower tool 6 and is controlled by the control unit 50. In practice, the main actuator 60 may be any type of electric, pneumatic or hydraulic actuator configured for lifting and lowering one or both of the

tools

5, 6 in a direction transverse to said horizontal direction A1 (for example, the vertical direction identified with reference to A2 in fig. 1 and 2).

Furthermore, the plant 100 comprises at least a discharge conveyor 70 arranged downstream of the packaging assembly 101 with respect to said horizontal direction A1. The discharge conveyor 70 is configured for moving the formed packages 200 to a storage station (not shown) placed downstream of the package assembly 101. The conveyor 70 is controlled by the control unit 50 to operate continuously or at least during the open state of the apparatus 100: once the packages 200 are formed, during the open state of the upper and

lower tools

5, 6 after the sealed state, a pick-up mechanism (also not shown) may be present between the packaging station 101 and the discharge conveyor to bring the formed packages 200 from the closed chamber C onto the discharge conveyor 70.

In more detail, the control unit 50 is configured to command the packaging assembly 101 to perform the following steps:

positioning the upper and

lower tools

5, 6 in the open condition;

the upper and

lower tools

5, 6 are then positioned in the closed condition, with the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, the product P and the portion 2a of the top film 2 contained inside the closed chamber C;

then sealing the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 to the portion 2a of the top film 2 along the sealing band 3 around the product P to hermetically contain the product P in the volume V between said portion 2a of the top film 2 and said portion 1a of the bottom support 1: the sealing step takes place by moving the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6, as described above, from the closed condition to the sealed condition, whereby the tool

peripheral portions

32 and 43 of the lower tool and the upper tool, respectively, bring the

portions

1a, 2a into mutual contact along the zone where the sealing band is formed; of course, the control unit can also command the heater to heat at least one or both of the

peripheral portions

32 and 43 appropriately to reach the temperature required for thermal bonding and forming the sealing band 3.

-forming one or more hollow structures 4 by sealing a portion of said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 to a portion of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 at one or more selected sealing areas; this step of forming the hollow structure 4 is preferably performed by moving the upper and lower tools from the closed condition to the sealed condition, while forming the sealing band 3.

Before the step of forming the hollow structure(s) 4 (and preferably before the steps of forming the sealing band 3 and forming the hollow structure(s) 4), and after the formation of the closed chamber C, at least the peripheral portion of the portion 2a of the top membrane 2 is kept separate and at a distance from the underlying peripheral portion of the portion 1a of the bottom support 1; alternatively, as shown in the figures, before the steps of forming the hollow structure(s) 4 and forming the sealing band 3, the control unit controls the packaging assembly 101 to space the entire portion 2a from the underlying portion 1a (see figures 5, 12 and 17); this step allows to fill the chamber with gas, thus making it possible to create the desired gas conditions inside the volume V and inside the hollow structure or structures 4, as will be further explained below.

As just described, the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are configured to keep the

portions

1a and 2a (or portions thereof) separated, thanks to the ability to position the

active surfaces

5a, 6a apart from each other and to the action of the suction source 13 in fluid communication with the first and

second holes

33, 44 of the lower tool and the upper tool, respectively. In particular, the control unit 50 is also connected to the suction source 13 and is configured to command the suction source 13 to draw gas from the first and second plurality of holes 44, 33 (after commanding the packaging station in the closed condition of the upper tool 5 and of the lower tool 6, and at least during said closed condition before the sealing step occurs) in order to separate the portion 2a of the top film 2 and the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 by adhering said portion 2a of the top film 2 to the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5 and by adhering said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 to the active surface 6a of the lower tool 6.

In this way, the tool

peripheral portions

43, 32 of the upper and

lower tools

5, 6 allow one or more hollow structures 4 to be formed as the upper and lower tools transition from the closed state to the sealed state.

As shown in the figures, the packaging apparatus 100 may also comprise at least one gas source 15 (fig. 4-8 and 11-17), the gas source 15 being in fluid communication with at least one passage 16 defined on at least one between the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6. The passageway 16 is configured to place the gas source 15 in fluid communication with the enclosed chamber C and/or the volume V at least during the enclosed state of the upper and

lower tools

5, 6 of the package assembly 101. Gas source 15 comprises an inflator 15a and an inflation line 15b connecting said inflator 15a with a passage 16. Furthermore, the gas source 15 may comprise a regulating valve 15c, the regulating valve 15c acting on the aeration line 15b and configured to regulate the passage of flow through said line 15b. The control unit 50 is connected to the gas source 15 and is configured to command the gas source 15 to fill the closed chamber C with gas through the channel 16 (after commanding the packaging station in the closed condition of the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6, and at least during said closed condition before the sealing step occurs).

The control unit 50 is configured to command the gas source 15 (acting for example on the inflator 15a and/or on the regulating valve 15C) to charge gas into the closed chamber C through the passage 16 at least during the closed condition of the upper and lower tools and during the above-mentioned suction step performed by the suction source 13 through the first and second plurality of

holes

44, 33; in this way, the device ensures that, during the passage between the closed condition and the sealed condition, a predetermined gas pressure or a predetermined quantity of gas is present in the closed chamber C, thus contributing to the formation of one or more hollow structures 4 in which a gas at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure is contained.

In particular, according to a possible non-limiting variant and as shown in the figures, the packaging device 100 can comprise at least one hollow element 10, for example a hollow needle, which operates in a seat 14 defined on at least one between the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6. The hollow element 10 is configured to pierce at least one of the portion of the top membrane 2 and the portion of the bottom support 1 and to be at least partially inserted inside the volume V: the hollow element 10 is also configured to inject and/or extract gases into and/or from the volume V. In the figures, the hollow element 10 is supported in a non-limiting manner by the lower tool 6; it is not excluded that the hollow element 10 is associated with the upper tool 5 or that at least one hollow element 10 may be provided for each of said lower and upper tools.

According to a currently preferred variant, the hollow element is carried by the lower tool 6 and is configured to pierce the portion 1a of the bottom support. In particular, as shown, the hollow element 10 can operate on the radial periphery of the lower tool central region 31 close to the inner abutment portion 32a of the tool peripheral portion 32: this allows the hollow elements 10 to pierce the bottom support 1 away from the area where the product P is located when in operation, allowing (when subsequently forming a package) the hole formed by the hollow element or elements 10 in the bottom support 1 to be closed by hanging the top film portion 2a down onto the product and onto the portion of the bottom support 1a not covered by the product.

The hollow element 10 is relatively movable with respect to the upper and/or

lower tools

5, 6 at least between:

a retracted position in which the hollow element 10 is spaced from the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 and from the portion 2a of the top membrane 2 (figures 3-5, 8-11 and 14-16), and

an advanced position, in which the hollow element 10 pierces at least one between the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 and the portion 2a of the top membrane 2; the hollow element 10 in the advanced position has passed through the thickness of the bottom support (or top membrane) and has a terminal portion located within the volume V delimited by the

portions

1a, 2a of the bottom support 1 and the top membrane 2 (fig. 6-7, 12-13 and 17-19).

The hollow element 10 is configured to be in fluid communication with a gas source 15. The control unit 50 is connected to the hollow element 10 and to the gas source 15; the control unit 50 is also configured to control the operation of the gas source 15 and command the hollow element 10 (acting on a suitable actuator) to move between the retracted position and the advanced position. In particular, the control unit 50 is configured to define an inflation cycle comprising:

commanding the movement of the hollow element 10 from the retracted position to the advanced position at least during the closing condition of the upper and

lower tools

5, 6,

-commanding the gas source 15 to inflate the gas in the volume V through said hollow element 10, with the hollow element in the advanced position.

As mentioned above, the packaging apparatus 100 may also be adapted to form modified atmosphere packages: in this case, the packaging assembly 101 may be configured to create a modified atmosphere in the inner volume V defined between said bottom support 1 and top film 2. The hollow element 10 can therefore be used to inject a specific gas within the volume V to define said modified atmosphere package. The control unit 50 may also be configured to control the gas source 15 to regulate the composition of the gas flow injected into the packaging compartment C, thereby controlling the modified atmosphere composition inside said compartment C and/or inside the volume V. The gas mixture injected into the packaging chamber to create the modified atmosphere may vary depending on the nature of the product P.

As shown in the figures, the hollow element 10 may also be in fluid communication with a suction source 13 (e.g., it may be configured to draw gas from the chamber C and the volume V through the first and/or second apertures 44, 33) for drawing gas from the volume V to define a vacuum skin package surrounded by the one or more hollow structures (see fig. 20). The control unit 50 operates on an actuator connected to the hollow element 10 and on the suction source 13. The control unit is configured to control the operation of the suction source 13 and-as mentioned above-command the hollow elements in the retracted position and in the advanced position. The control unit 50 can be designed in particular to:

commanding the movement of the hollow element 10 from the retracted position to the advanced position, at least during the sealing condition of the upper and

lower tools

5, 6,

commanding the suction source 13 to draw gas from the volume V through said hollow element 10, when the hollow element is in the advanced position and the tool is in the sealed condition.

The control unit may be further configured to perform the following further steps after the step of evacuating gas from the volume V:

commanding the hollow element 10 to move from the advanced position back to the retracted position,

-commanding the suction source 13 to interrupt the extraction of gas from the volume V, with the hollow element in the retracted position,

at some time after or before interruption of the extraction of gas from the volume V, the gas source 13 is commanded to interrupt also the extraction of gas from the first and/or second plurality of holes, so as to allow the

portions

1a, 2a of the bottom support 1 and of the top film 2 to wrap the product P and to adhere tightly one to the other in those areas not in contact with the product, corresponding to the

portions

1a and 2a; note that at this stage any holes formed during piercing of the hollow element are sealingly closed by the sealing attachment of the

portions

1a and 2a to each other.

The apparatus 100 is thus able to form a vacuum skin package by the step of evacuating gas from the volume V.

Note that, also when forming a vacuum skin package, the hollow structure 4 is preferably formed by filling a gas into a closed chamber. In particular, the control unit 50 may be configured to first perform the above-mentioned inflation cycle and then to perform a suction cycle comprising:

command the upper and

lower tools

5, 6 to move from the closed condition to the sealed condition,

moving the hollow element 10 to the advanced position, with the upper and lower tools in the sealed condition, commanding the gas source 15 to interrupt the gas charging into the volume V,

keeping the hollow element 10 in the advanced position and the upper and lower tools in the sealed condition, commanding the suction source 13 to draw gas from the volume V through said hollow element 10.

Then, after the above-mentioned suction cycle, the control unit may be configured to perform the following additional steps:

command the hollow element 10 to move from the advanced position back to the retracted position,

-commanding the suction source 13 to interrupt the extraction of gas from the volume V with the hollow element 10 in the retracted position,

command of the suction source 13, interrupting the extraction of gas from the chamber C or volume V through the first and/or second plurality of holes, after interruption of the extraction of gas from the volume V, to allow the wrapping of the bottom support 1 and of the

portions

1a, 2a of the top film 2 around the product P and the tight adhesion of one to the other in those areas not in contact with the product, corresponding to the

portions

1a and 2a; note that at this stage any holes formed during piercing of the hollow element are hermetically closed by the sealing attachment of the

portions

1a and 2a to each other.

Although the apparatus 100 may have one or both of the suction source 13 and the gas source 15, it should be understood that the control unit 50 of the apparatus 100 may also be configured to tightly engage the portion 2a of the top film 2 with the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 without activating the suction source or gas source, thereby leaving a normal ambient atmosphere within the package.

After the package 200 is formed, the control unit 50 is configured to command the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 to be in an open state to allow the package to be taken out of the packaging assembly 101, and

new portions

1a, 2a with new product P are positioned within the open chamber C.

Packaging process

The invention also relates to a process for packaging a product P. The process described below uses the packaging apparatus 100 disclosed above and/or according to the appended claims. This process is carried out under the control of the control unit 50 and achieves a process of packaging the product P between the bottom support 1 (for example, in the form of a film sheet or a tray having substantially the same structure as the top film 2) and the top film 2. In this case, the described process allows to make a skin package of the product. In any case, the apparatus 100 is also capable of packaging the product P under modified atmosphere. Furthermore, the apparatus 100 may be used to attach the top film 2 to the bottom support 1, thereby forming a package under normal ambient atmosphere.

The packaging process includes the steps of simultaneously supplying the bottom support 1 from the bottom support supply assembly 103 and the top film 2 from the top film supply assembly 102 such that the one or more bottom support portions 1a and the one or more top film portions 2a reach the packaging assembly 101 while the packaging assembly remains in an open state. As described above, the bottom support and the top film may be in the form of a continuous film or may comprise a plurality of separate discrete portions. The

portions

1a, 2a of the bottom support 1 and the

portions

1a, 2a of the top film 2 are positioned inside the packaging assembly in an open state, wherein the upper and

lower tools

5, 6 define said chamber C, which is still open. The positioning step of said

portions

1a, 2a can be performed automatically by the control unit 50, the control unit 50 acting on the bottom support supply assembly 103 and on the top film supply assembly 102, or on the conveyor 108 of the portion 1a and on the conveyor 110 of the portion 2a.

The process also comprises a step of loading at least one product P onto the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 by means of a product loading station 111, which product loading station 111 can operate upstream of the packaging assembly (see fig. 1) so that the product P can be located on the portion 1a outside the packaging assembly 101, or can be located at the packaging assembly 101 so that the product P can be located on the portion 1a already arranged inside the packaging assembly 101.

After positioning the

portions

1a, 2a and the product P within the packaging assembly 101, the process provides the step of forming the closed chamber C. At this point in the process, therefore, the closed chamber C contains: a portion 1a of the bottom support 1, a product P above said portion 1a of the bottom support 1, and said product P and a portion 2a of the top film 2 above said portion 1a of the bottom support 1. In detail, as described above, the closed chamber C is defined by moving the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 from the open state to the closed state.

The above-mentioned components, i.e. said portion 1a of the bottom support 1, said product P, said portion 2a of the top film 2, are located inside the closed chamber C and, when the upper and lower tools are in the closed condition, the

active surfaces

5a, 6a of the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are spaced apart from each other, while the

external closing surfaces

5b, 6b of the upper tool and the lower tool are close to each other to form the closed chamber C.

During the closing condition of the upper and lower tools, said portion 2a of the top film 2 and said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 are kept at a distance from each other; in particular, at least the portion of said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 and the portion of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 that are to form one or more hollow structures 4 are kept at a distance from each other. In the example shown, the entire portion 2a of the top film 2 and the entire portion 1a of the bottom support 1 are kept apart, at a distance from each other. This can be achieved by adhering the portion 2a of the top film 2 to the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5 and by adhering the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 to the active surface 6a of the lower tool 6. In detail, the adhesion of the portion 2a of the top film 2 to the lower active surface 5a of the upper tool 5 is obtained by drawing gas through said first holes 44 by means of said suction source 13, while the adhesion of the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 to the active surface 6a of the lower tool 6 is obtained by drawing gas through said second holes 33 by means of said suction source 13.

During the closed condition of the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6, and when the

portions

1a, 2a adhere to the respective

active surfaces

6a, 5a, this process is used to fill gas into the closed chamber C between said portion 2a of the top film 2 and said portion 1a of the bottom support 1. In particular, the inflating step is performed in the following cases:

said portion 1a of bottom support 1, said product P and said portion 2a of top film 2 are located inside a closed chamber C; and

said portion 2a of the top film 2 and said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 are kept at a distance from each other.

This process can provide heating of the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 and/or of the portion 2a of the top film 2, always during the closing condition of the upper tool 5 and of the lower tool 6 and during the adhesion of the

portions

1a, 2a to the respective

active surfaces

6a, 5a, allowing said

portions

1a, 2a to soften in order to promote the correct sealing of the portions 1a with the portions 2a during the sealing step described below.

Subsequently, the process comprises the following further steps:

sealing the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 to the portion 2a of the top film 2 along the sealing band 3 around the product P to hermetically contain the product in the volume V between said portion 2a of the top film 2 and said portion 1a of the bottom support 1; and

-forming one or more hollow structures 4 by sealing a portion of said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 to a peripheral portion of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 at one or more selected sealing areas; the step of forming one or more hollow structures 4 comprises forming at least one hollow structure extending around the sealing band 3 and completely surrounding the sealing band 3.

The sealing step comprises the relative displacement of the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 from the closed condition to the sealed condition, wherein at least part of the

active surfaces

5a, 6a of the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6 are brought close and approached to each other, causing the

portions

1a and 2a of the bottom support 1 and the top film 2, respectively, to contact each other, thus forming the sealing band 3 and the hollow structure 4.

In detail, before forming said one or more hollow structures 4, at least a portion of said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 and a portion of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1, intended to form said one or more hollow structures 4, are kept at a distance from each other. In particular, the portion of the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 intended to cooperate in forming the hollow structure is a peripheral portion 12 surrounding a central portion 11 of the same portion 1a of the bottom support 1; similarly, the part of the portion 2a of the top membrane 2 intended to cooperate to form the hollow structure is a peripheral portion 23 surrounding a central portion 22 of the same portion 2a of the top membrane 2; it is noted that, before said step of forming one or more hollow structures 4, the portion 2a of the top membrane 2 and the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 are kept separate from each other and vertically aligned, corresponding to said respective

peripheral portions

12, 23 intended to form said one or more hollow structures 4 (and optionally also to the central portions of the bottom support and of the top membrane).

As mentioned above, in the closed condition of the upper and lower tools, the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 and the portion 2a of the top film are kept separate by adhering said portions to the respective active surfaces of the lower and upper tools. In particular, during the step of bonding the portion 2a of the top film 2 to the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5, at least the peripheral portion 23 of the top film 2 bonds to the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5. Meanwhile, in the step of adhering the portion 1a of the lower holder 1 to the action face 6a of the lower tool 6, at least the peripheral portion 12 of the lower holder 1 adheres to the action face 6a of the lower tool 6.

As shown in fig. 4-7, 11-13, 15-18, the central portion 22 of the top film 2 is in direct contact with the upper tool central portion 42 during the bonding step, while the peripheral portion 23 of the top film 2 is in direct contact with the tool peripheral portion 43 of the same upper tool. In particular, the peripheral portion 23 of the portion 2a of the top film 2 comprises at least:

an inner channel 23a extending radially from the central portion 22 of the top membrane 2; the inner ring 23a is in direct contact with the inner contact portion 43a of the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 in the bonding step.

The central channel 23b extends radially from the internal channel 23a of the top membrane 2, away from the central portion 22 of the same top membrane 2, the internal channel 23a being interposed between the central portion 22 and the central channel 23b of the top membrane 2; the central bundle 23b is in direct contact with the intermediate contact portion 43b of the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 in the bonding step.

Outer channels 23c radial from the central channel 23b of the top membrane 2: the central channel 23b is interposed between the inner channel 23a and the outer channel 23c of the peripheral portion 23 of the top membrane 2; the outer ring 23c is opposed to and in direct contact with the outer contact portion 43c of the tool peripheral portion 43 of the upper tool 5 in the bonding step.

On the other hand, as shown again in fig. 4-7, 11-13, 15-18, during the adhesion step, the central portion 11 of the bottom support 1 is in direct contact with the tool central portion 31 of the lower tool, while the peripheral portion 22 of the bottom support 1 is in direct contact with the tool peripheral portion 32 of the same lower tool 6. The peripheral portion 12 of the bottom support 1 comprises at least:

an internal channel 12a extending from the central portion 11 of the bottom support 1; the inner lane 12a, in the adhering step, faces and directly contacts the inner abutment 32a of the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6;

central channel 12b projecting from internal channel 12a of bottom support 1 away from central portion 11 of the same bottom support 1: the inner region 12a of the bottom support 1 is interposed between the central portion 11 and the central region 12b of the bottom support 1; the central bundle 12b faces and directly contacts an intermediate abutment portion 32b of the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6 during the adhesion step;

an outer zone 12c projecting from the central zone 12b of the bottom support 1: the central region 12b is interposed between the inner region 12a and the outer region 12c of the peripheral portion 12 of the bottom support 1; during the adhering step, the outer bundle 12c faces and directly contacts the outer abutment portion 32c of the tool peripheral portion 32 of the lower tool 6.

Before forming the hollow structure or structures 4 and when the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 (with the product (P) thereon) and said portion 2a of the top film 2 are located at the packaging station or already inside the closed chamber C, at least a part of said portion 2a of the top film 2 and a part of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1, intended to form said hollow structure or structures 4, are further separated one from the other from an initial approaching condition (in which said portion 2a and said portion 1a are immediately adjacent) to reach said position where they are kept at a distance from one another (see for example fig. 3-5 or 9, 9A). The control unit 50 is configured to instruct the wrapper component 101 to perform the above-mentioned steps.

Again, the stage preceding said step of forming one or more hollow structures 4 is mentioned, and although said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 (with the respective product P thereon) and said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 are located inside the closed chamber C, the internal channels 23a of the portion 2a of the top membrane 2 and the internal channels 12a of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 (which will subsequently be sealed together to form the radially internal sealing/sealing bands of the one or more hollow structures) are kept at a distance from each other. As shown in fig. 9A, during the same phase, i.e. before said step of forming one or more hollow structures 4 and when said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 (with the respective product P thereon) and said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 are located inside the closed chamber C, the central region 23b of said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 and the central region 12b of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 are also kept at a distance from each other, and the outer region 23C of said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 and the outer region 12C of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 (which are then sealed together to form the radially outer sealing/sealing band 30 of the one or more hollow structures) are kept separate, at a distance from each other. The control unit 50 is configured to instruct the wrapper component 101 to perform the above-mentioned steps.

Note that, in a variant (not shown), during said phase preceding said step of forming one or more hollow structures 4 and while said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 (with the respective product P thereon) and said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 are located inside the closed chamber C, the central region 23b of said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 and the central region 12b of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 are kept at a distance from each other, while the outer region 23C of said portion 2a of the top membrane 2 and the outer region 12C of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 (which are then sealed together to form a radially outer sealing/sealing band of one or more hollow structures) are kept separate, at a distance from each other. In this variant, at the same stage as described above, the inner region 23a of the portion 2a of the top film 2 and the inner region 12a of said portion 1a of the bottom support 1 are not kept separate, but are mutually bonded to form the inner sealing band 3, while the other sealing band will be formed at a later stage. In this way, when the inner sealing band 3 has been formed, the region intended to form the hollow structure can be filled by entering the space between the outer region 23c of said portion 2a and the outer region 12c of said portion 1a of the top film 2. The control unit 50 is configured to command the packaging assembly 101 to perform the above steps.

Note that, in a further variant (not shown), during said phase preceding said step of forming one or more hollow structures 4, and when said portion 1a of bottom support 1 (with the respective product P thereon) and said portion 2a of top membrane 2 are located inside the closed chamber C, the central region 23b of said portion 2a of top membrane 2 and the central region 12b of said portion 1a of bottom support 1 are kept at a distance from each other, while the internal channels 23a of portion 2a of top membrane 2 and the internal channels 12a of said portion 1a of bottom support 1 (which are then sealed together to form the radially internal sealing/sealing band 3 of one or more hollow structures) are kept at a distance from each other. In this variant, during the same phase described above, the outer zone 23c of said portion 2a and the outer zone 12c of said portion 1a of the top membrane 2 are not kept separate, but are sealed together to form one or more radially outer sealing/sealing bands 30 of hollow structure. In this manner, the inflation gas entering central volume V (e.g., through passage 16) can inflate the areas intended to form the hollow structure, while outer sealing band 30 has been formed. The control unit 50 is configured to instruct the wrapper component 101 to perform the above-mentioned steps.

Only during the sealing of the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 with the portion 2a of the top film 2 is the inner zone 12a of the portion 1a in contact with the inner zone 23a of the portion 2a and heat sealed, the outer zone 12c of the portion 1a in contact with the outer zone 23c of the portion 2a and heat sealed. After the just described sealing of the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 with the portion 2a of the top membrane 2, the central area 12b of the peripheral portion 12 of the bottom support 1 and the central area 23b of the peripheral portion 23 of the top membrane 2 form one or more hollow structures 4 (fig. 20).

Furthermore, when inflating between the

portions

1a, 2a of the bottom support 1 and the top film 2, and thanks to the adhesion of said

portions

1a, 2a to the respective

active surfaces

5a, 6a of the upper tool 5 and the lower tool 6, the process can define one or more hollow structures 4, having inside a desired amount of gas and therefore a desired rigidity. The steps of sealing the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 to the portion 2a of the top membrane 2 along said sealing band 3 and of forming one or more hollow structures 4 are for example performed simultaneously.

The process may further comprise the step of inserting at least one hollow element 10, optionally a hollow needle, through one of the portion 2a of the top membrane portion 2 and the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, thereby forming an access to said volume V, such that the hollow element 10 is at least partially inserted into the volume V. The step of forming a passage to the volume V comprises the sub-steps of: piercing at least one between the central portion 11 of the bottom support 1 and the central portion 22 of the top membrane 2 with the hollow element 10 to pass through said at least one central portion and position an end portion of the hollow element 10 within the volume V. In particular, the hollow element is inserted into the volume V during the adhesion of the portions of the bottom support 1 and of the top membrane 2 to the active surfaces of the lower and

upper tools

5, 6, respectively. The inflation step may be performed with the hollow element 10 inserted, the hollow element 10 being in fluid communication with a gas source 15. Alternatively, with reference to the example of fig. 15-18, the inflation step may be performed using the housing 47 or the channel or channels 16 formed between the housing 47 and the upper tool peripheral portion 43: the passageway may be connected to a gas source 15 to inject gas into chamber C.

After the sealing step, the process may comprise a step of evacuating gas from said volume V to make the portion 2a of the portion of the top film 2 adhere to the product P and to the portion 1a of the bottom support 1. In particular, the step of extracting the gas follows the sealing step and may comprise inserting a hollow element 10, optionally a hollow needle, through one of the portion 2a of the top membrane portion 2 and the portion 1a of the bottom support 1, so that the hollow element 10 is at least partially inserted into the volume V and forms a fluid communication between the volume and a suction source 13 located outside the volume V: the operation of the suction source 13 allows to extract the gas from the volume V through said hollow element 10 and (once the

portions

1a and 2a have been released from the respective

active surfaces

6a and 5 a) results in the formation of a vacuum skin package containing the product, delimited by the sealing band 3 and surrounded by the hollow element 4.

In fact, before or during said step of extracting gas from said volume V, the first hole 44, optionally both said first and

second holes

44, 33, are either open to the external atmosphere or are vented with gas at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, so as to release the portion 2a of the top membrane 2 from the active surface 5a of the upper tool 5 and, optionally, the portion 1a of the bottom support 1 from the active surface 6a of the lower tool 6.

Alternatively, the process may comprise the step of filling the volume V with a gas mixture through said hollow element 10 after the sealing step, thereby allowing the gas composition within the volume V to be controlled to produce a modified atmosphere package.

After the sealing step, the process provides for removing the package 200 from the package assembly 101. In particular, the upper and lower tools are moved away from each other, transitioning from the sealed state to the open state, to allow the package 200 to be ejected or removed from the package assembly 101. In case the top film 2 and/or the bottom support 1 are in the form of a continuous film, the process may comprise a cutting stage, cutting the interconnected packages formed by the packaging station 101 into individual discrete packages.

Finally, the discrete packages 200 may be moved from the packaging assembly to a storage station, such as by the conveyor belt 70.

Claims

1. A process of packaging comprising the steps of:

-providing a bottom support (1),

-providing a top film (2),

-forming a closed chamber (C) housing at least:

a portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1),

a product (P) located above said portion (1 a) of said bottom support (1), and

a portion (2 a) of the top film (2) above the product (P) and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1),

wherein, with said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), said product (P) and said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) located inside the closed chamber (C), the process provides for the execution of the following further steps:

-sealing said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) along a sealing band (3) surrounding the product (P) to sealingly house the product in a volume (V) between said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) and said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), and

-forming one or more hollow structures (4) by sealing a portion of said portion (2 a) of said top membrane (2) to a portion of said portion (1 a) of said bottom support (1) at one or more selected sealing areas; further wherein, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4), at least said portion of said portion (2 a) of said top membrane (2) and said portion of said portion (1 a) of said bottom support (1) intended to form said one or more hollow structures (4) are kept at a distance one from the other.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the process further comprises the steps of: -inflating a gas into the closed chamber (C) between the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), the step of inflating a gas being performed while the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), the product (P) and the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) are located inside the closed chamber (C).

3. The process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the process further comprises the steps of: charging a gas into the closed chamber (C) between the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), the step of charging a gas being performed while:

-said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), said product (P) and said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) are located inside the closed chamber (C), and

-said part of portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and said part of portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) intended to form said one or more hollow structures (4) are kept at a distance one from the other.

4. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4), said portion (2 a) of said top membrane (2) and said portion (1 a) of said bottom support (1) are kept one separate from the other, at least in correspondence of two of said respective portions intended to form said one or more hollow structures (4);

or wherein said portion (2 a) of said top membrane (2) and said portion (1 a) of said bottom support (1) are kept completely separated one from the other before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4).

5. Process according to claim 3 or 4, when depending on claim 2, wherein the step of inflating a gas into the closed chamber (C) between the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) is carried out simultaneously with:

-said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) are kept at a distance one from the other, or at least said portion of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and said portion of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) intended to form said one or more hollow structures (4) are kept at a distance one from the other.

6. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of forming a closed chamber (C) comprises relatively moving an upper tool (5) and a lower tool (6) from:

-an open state, in which the upper tool (5) and the lower tool (6) define an open chamber and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), the product (P) and the portion (2 a) of the top film (2) are allowed to enter into the open chamber;

to:

-a closed condition, in which said upper tool (5) and said lower tool (6) are close to each other and delimit said closed chamber (C);

wherein the upper tool (5) comprises:

-an active surface (5 a) directly facing said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) at least during said closed condition, and

-an outer closing surface (5 b) surrounding said active surface (5 a) of the same upper tool (5),

wherein the lower tool (6) comprises:

-an active surface (6 a) directly facing said portion (1 a) of said bottom support (1) at least during said closed condition, and

-a respective outer closing surface (6 b) surrounding said active surface (6 a) of the same lower tool (6).

7. The process of claim 6, wherein during the open state:

-the outer enclosing surfaces of the upper and lower tools are spaced from each other, and

-the active surfaces of the upper tool and the lower tool are spaced apart from each other.

8. A process according to claim 6 or 7, wherein during the closed state:

-the active surfaces (5 a, 6 a) of the upper and lower tools (5, 6) are still spaced from each other, and

-said external closure surfaces being close to each other.

9. Process according to claim 6 or 7 or 8, wherein, at least during the closed condition, the portion (2 a) of the top film (2) and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) are kept at a distance one from the other, by adhering the portion (2 a) of the top film (2) to the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool (5), and by adhering the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6).

10. A process according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool is provided with a plurality of first holes, and wherein adhering the portion (2 a) of the top film (2) to the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool (5) is achieved by means of evacuating gas through said first holes.

11. Process according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6) comprises a plurality of second holes and the adhesion of the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6) is achieved by means of the extraction of gas through said second holes.

12. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said step of sealing a portion (1 a) of bottom support (1) to a portion (2 a) of top membrane (2) along said sealing band (3) and said step of forming one or more hollow structures (4) are performed simultaneously.

13. Process according to any one of the previous claims from 6 to 12, wherein said step of inflating gas into said closed chamber (C) between said portion (2 a) of top membrane (2) and said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1) is carried out while said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1) and said portion (2 a) of top membrane (2) adhere to the active surfaces (6 a, 5 a) of lower and upper tools (6, 5), respectively.

14. Process according to any one of the preceding claims 6 to 13, wherein the step of sealing the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to the portion (2 a) of the top film (2) along the sealing band (3) comprises relatively moving the upper tool (5) and the lower tool (6) from:

-the closed state of the device being,

to

-a sealing condition, in which at least a portion of the active surfaces (5 a, 6 a) of the upper and lower tools (5, 6) are close and cause the portion (1 a) of the bottom support to come into contact with the portion (2 a) of the top film, defining the sealing band (3).

15. A process as claimed in claim 14, wherein the sealed condition is reached while keeping the closed chamber (C) continuously closed.

16. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising the further step of:

-creating a passage to said volume (V),

-evacuating gas from said volume (V) to adhere a portion (2 a) of the top film (2) to the product (P).

17. A process according to claim 16, wherein the steps of creating a passage to the volume (V) and extracting gases from the volume are carried out after sealing a portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to a portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) along the sealing band (3).

18. Process according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the steps of creating a passage to the volume (V) and extracting the gases from the volume are carried out after sealing the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) along the sealing band (3) and after forming the one or more hollow structures (4).

19. Process according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the step of creating a passage to the volume (V) comprises: inserting at least one hollow element (10) through one of the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) such that said at least one hollow element (10) is at least partially inserted into the volume (V) and fluid communication is established between said volume and at least one of a suction source (13) located outside said volume (V) and a gas source (15) located outside said volume (V).

20. Process according to claim 19, wherein the hollow element is a hollow needle having a tip designed to pierce one of the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1).

21. A process as claimed in claim 19 or 20, wherein extracting gas comprises extracting gas from the volume (V) through the hollow element (10) using the suction source (13).

22. Process according to any one of the preceding claims 19 to 21, in combination with claim 9, wherein the hollow element is inserted into the volume (V) while adhering the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to the active surface of the lower tool (5).

23. Process according to any one of claims 19 to 22, in combination with claim 9, and wherein said hollow element is inserted into the volume (V) while adhering the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) to said active surface of the upper tool (6).

24. Process according to any one of claims 16 to 23, when combined with claim 10, wherein, before or during said step of extracting gas from said volume (V), said first hole is either open to the external atmosphere or supplied with gas at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, to release a portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) from the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool (5).

25. Process according to any one of claims 16 to 24, when combined with claim 10 and claim 11, wherein, before or during said step of extracting gas from said volume (V), said first and second holes are either open to the external atmosphere or supplied with gas at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, so as to release a portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) from said active surface of the upper tool (5) and a portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) from said active surface of the lower tool (6).

26. Process according to any one of the preceding claims 16 to 25, in combination with claim 2 or 3, wherein the step of creating a passage to the volume (V) is carried out before the step of inflating the gas.

27. Process according to claims 19 and 26, wherein creating the passage to the volume comprises inserting the at least one hollow element (10) through one of the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), so that the hollow element (10) is at least partially inserted into the volume (V) and fluid communication is created between the volume (V) and a gas source (15) located outside the volume (V), and

wherein inflating gas comprises inflating gas into the volume (V) through the hollow element (10) using the gas source (15).

28. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein forming one or more hollow structures (4) comprises forming at least one hollow structure extending around the sealing band (3) and completely surrounding the sealing band (3).

29. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the lower tool (6) comprises a tool central portion (31) and a tool peripheral portion (32) surrounding the tool central portion (31), wherein the tool central portion (31) is made of a thermally insulating material and the tool peripheral portion (32) is made of a thermally conductive material, further wherein the product (P) is located above the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) and above the central portion (31) of the lower tool (6) when the product (P) is located in the closed chamber (C).

30. A process as claimed in claim 29, wherein the central portion (31) and the peripheral portion (32) of the lower tool (6) delimit the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6).

31. A process according to claim 29 or 30, wherein the insulator (31 a) is cooled by a cooling circuit located adjacent to the insulator or having a portion passing through the insulator.

32. Process according to claim 31, comprising maintaining the insulator, or at least the surface of the insulator intended to contact the membrane portion (1 a), at a temperature lower than a set temperature, in particular lower than 30 ℃.

33. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising heating at least a portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) before or before and simultaneously with the step of forming one or more hollow structures (4) taking place.

34. Process according to claims 6 and 33, wherein the step of heating the portion (2 a) of the top film (2) comprises the steps of: heating an active surface (5 a) of an upper tool (5) when the upper and lower tools are in the closed state and the portion of the top film is adhered to the active surface.

35. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) is a portion of a continuous top film unwound from a top film supply roll (102 a).

36. A process according to any one of the preceding claims from 1 to 34, wherein said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) is a portion of or is formed by a discrete film sheet that has been cut outside the closed chamber (C).

37. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) is part of or is formed by a discrete pre-formed bottom support.

38. A process according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 36, wherein said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) is a portion of continuous bottom film unwound from a bottom film supply reel (112).

39. Process according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 36, wherein said portion of the bottom support is a portion of or is formed by a discrete film sheet that has been cut outside the closed chamber (C).

40. A process as claimed in any one of the foregoing claims, wherein said portion (1 a) is:

a pre-formed tray (300) from a tray dispenser (103 a) located upstream of the enclosed chamber; or alternatively

Trays (301) formed in-line during a packaging process are performed at respective tray molding stations (200).

41. A process according to claim 40, wherein the in-line formed tray or pre-formed tray is in the form of a flat tray or a tray of: the tray includes a bottom wall, a side wall extending from the side wall, and a flange extending peripherally from a top of the side wall.

42. Process according to claim 40 or 41, further wherein the in-line formation of the tray (301) occurs so as to form discrete film sheets (302) at the tray moulding station (200) or to form longitudinal sections (303) of continuous bottom film at the tray moulding station (200), optionally unwound from a bottom film supply roll (112).

43. Process as claimed in claim 40 or 41 or 42, wherein the in-line formed tray (301) or pre-formed tray (300) comprises a bottom wall, a side wall projecting from the side wall and a flange projecting perimetrically from the top of said side wall and wherein said flange defines said portion of said portion (1 a) of said bottom support (1) intended to form said one or more hollow structures (4).

44. Process according to claim 43, wherein the flange defines a peripheral portion (12) of each support where there is a preformed cavity, optionally with a semi-circular or semi-elliptical shape in section, wherein the preformed cavity in each flange may extend circularly along a corner portion or along the entire perimeter of the flange and is intended to form the lower half of the hollow portion of the final package.

45. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said portion of the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) is a peripheral portion (12) surrounding a central portion (11) of the same portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1).

46. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said portion of the portion (2 a) of the top film (2) is a peripheral portion (23) surrounding a central portion (22) of the same portion (2 a) of the top film (2).

47. Process according to the preceding claim, wherein, before the step of forming the one or more hollow structures (4), the peripheral portion (23) of the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the peripheral portion (12) of the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) intended to form the one or more hollow structures (4) are kept separated one from the other.

48. Process as claimed in claim 46 or 47, wherein, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4), said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) are also kept separate one from the other in correspondence with a central portion of the bottom support and of the top membrane extending respectively below and above the product (P).

49. Process according to any one of claims 45 to 48, wherein, after the sealing step of the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) with the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), at least a portion of the perimetric portion (23) of the top membrane (2) and at least a portion of the perimetric portion (12) of the bottom support (1) cooperate to define a sealing band (3) and said one or more hollow structures (4).

50. A process as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein at least the respective peripheral portions (12, 23) of the bottom support (1) and of the top membrane (2) are kept separated one from the other before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4).

51. A process according to any one of the preceding claims 45 to 50, wherein during the step of adhering said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) to the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool (5), at least a peripheral portion (23) of the top film (2) adheres to the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool (5).

52. Process as claimed in any one of claims 45 to 50, wherein during the step of adhering said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6), at least the peripheral portion (12) of the bottom support (1) adheres to the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6).

53. Process according to any one of the previous claims 45 to 52, wherein the peripheral portion (23) of the top film (2) comprises at least:

-an inner channel (23 a) extending radially from a central portion (22) of the top membrane (2),

-a central channel (23 b) extending radially from an inner channel (23 a) of the top membrane (2), opposite the central portion (22) of the same top membrane (2), the inner channel (23 a) being interposed between the central portion (22) and the central channel (23 b) of the top membrane (2),

-an outer channel (23 c) extending radially from a central channel (23 b) of the top membrane (2), opposite to the inner channel (23 a) of the same top membrane (2), the central channel (23 b) being interposed between the inner channel (23 a) and the outer channel (23 a) of the peripheral portion (23) of the top membrane (2).

54. Process as claimed in any one of claims 45 to 53, wherein the peripheral portion (12) of the bottom support (1) comprises at least:

-an inner conduit (12 a) extending radially from the central portion (11) of the bottom support (1),

-a central channel (12 b) extending radially from the internal channel (12 a) of the bottom support (1), opposite to the central portion (11) of the same bottom support (1), the internal channel (12 a) of the bottom support (1) being interposed between the central portion (11) and the central channel (12 b) of the bottom support (1),

-an outer channel (12 c) extending radially from a central channel (12 b) of the bottom support (1), opposite to the inner channel (12 a) of the same bottom support (1), the central channel (12 b) being interposed between the inner channel (12 a) and the outer channel (12 c) of the peripheral portion (12) of the bottom support (1).

55. Process as claimed in claim 53 or 54, wherein, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4) and while said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), said product (P) and said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) are located at the packaging station or already inside the closed chamber (C), at least said portion of said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) and said portion of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) intended to form said one or more hollow structures (4) are moved further apart one from the other from the initial approached condition, to reach said position where they are kept at a distance one from the other.

56. Process according to any one of claims 53 to 55, wherein, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4) and when said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1), said product (P) and said portion (2 a) of top membrane (2) are located inside the closed chamber (C), the internal channels (23 a) of said portion (2 a) of top membrane (2) and the internal channels (12 a) of said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1) are kept at a distance one from the other.

57. Process according to any one of claims 53 to 56, wherein, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4) and when said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1), said product (P) and said portion (2 a) of top membrane (2) are located inside the closed chamber (C), the central channel (23 b) of said portion (2 a) of top membrane (2) and the central channel (12 b) of said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1) are kept at a distance one from the other.

58. Process as claimed in any one of claims 53 to 57, wherein, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4), and while said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), said product (P) and said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) are located inside the closed chamber (C), the external channels (23C) of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the external channels (12C) of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) are kept at a distance one from the other.

59. The process of claim 54, in combination with any of the other claims 1-53 and 55-58, wherein the central channel (12 b) of the peripheral portion (12) of the bottom support (1) and the central channel (23 b) of the peripheral portion (23) of the top membrane (2) form the one or more hollow structures (4) after the step of sealing the portions (1 a, 2 a) of the bottom support (1) and the top membrane (2) to each other.

60. The process according to claim 54 or 59, in combination with any of the other claims 1-53 and 55-58, wherein, after the step of sealing the bottom support (1) and the portion (1 a, 2 a) of the top film (2) to each other:

-the internal channel (12 a) of the peripheral portion (12) of the bottom support (1) is sealed to the internal channel (23 a) of the peripheral portion (23) of the top membrane (2),

-the outer channel (23 c) of the peripheral portion (12) of the bottom support (1) is sealed to the outer channel (23 c) of the peripheral portion (23) of the top membrane (2).

61. A process as claimed in claim 60, wherein the sealing band (3) is defined by respective sealed inner channels (12 a, 23 a) and sealed outer channels (12 c, 23 c) of a peripheral portion (12) of said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1) and a peripheral portion (23) of said portion (2 a) of top membrane (2).

62. Process according to any one of the preceding claims 45 to 61, wherein said step of creating a passage to the volume (V) comprises the sub-steps of: piercing at least one between the central portion (11) of the bottom support (1) and the central portion (22) of the top membrane (2) with a hollow element (10) so as to pass the entire thickness of at least one between the central portion (11) of the bottom support (1) and the central portion (22) of the top membrane (2) with the hollow element and position an end portion of the hollow element (10) within the volume (V).

63. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bottom support (1) comprises a membrane made at least partially or totally of plastic material and wherein the top membrane (2) is made at least partially or totally of plastic material.

64. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the membrane material forming the bottom support (1) is the same membrane material forming the top membrane (2).

65. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the film sheet material forming the bottom support (1) is a plastic multilayer film material identical to the film sheet material forming the top film (2).

66. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the top film (2) is fed to the chamber in the form of a continuous film.

67. A packaging apparatus (100) comprising:

-a packaging assembly (101) having an upper tool (5) and a lower tool (6);

a top film supply assembly (102) configured for supplying a top film (2) to the packaging assembly (101),

-a bottom support supply assembly (103) configured for supplying a bottom support (1) to the packaging assembly, and

-a control unit (50) connected to the packaging assembly (101) and configured to control the operation of the packaging assembly (101),

wherein the upper tool (5) and the lower tool (6) are movable relative to each other between:

-at least one open state, wherein the upper tool (5) and the lower tool (6) define an open chamber, the upper and lower tools (5, 6) being configured during said open state to allow the entry of at least a portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), a product (P) located on the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) and a portion (2 a) of the top film (2) into said open chamber;

-at least one closed condition, in which the upper tool (5) and the lower tool (6) are close to each other and delimit a closed chamber (C);

further wherein the control unit (50) is configured to command the packaging component (101) to:

-positioned in said open condition and allowing the entry of at least the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), the product (P) on the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) and the portion (2 a) of the top film (2) into said open chamber, and subsequently

-positioned in said closed condition to house the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1), the product (P) and the portion (2 a) of the top film (2) within the closed chamber (C),

-sealing a portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to a portion (2 a) of the top film (2) along a sealing band (3) surrounding the product (P) to sealingly house the product (P) in a volume (V) between said portion (2 a) of the top film (2) and said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1),

-forming one or more hollow structures (4) by sealing a portion of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) to a portion of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) at one or more selected sealing areas,

-keeping at least said part of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and said part of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) separated from one another by a certain distance, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4).

68. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein the upper tool (5) comprises an active surface (5 a), said active surface (5 a) being configured to face, at least during said closed condition, a portion (2 a) of the top film (2) receivable within the closed chamber (C), wherein the upper tool (5) further comprises an external closing surface (5 b) surrounding the active surface (5 a) of the same upper tool (5).

69. Apparatus as claimed in claim 67 or 68, wherein the lower tool (6) comprises an active surface (6 a), said active surface (6 a) being configured to face, at least during said closed condition, a portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) receivable within the closed chamber (C), wherein the lower tool (6) further comprises a respective outer closing surface (6 b) surrounding the active surface (6 a) of the same lower tool (6).

70. The device of claim 69, wherein during the open state:

-the respective outer closing surfaces (5 b, 6 b) of the upper and lower tools (5, 6) are spaced from each other, and

-the respective active surfaces (5 a, 6 a) of the upper and lower tools (5, 6) are spaced from each other,

wherein, during the closed state:

-the active surfaces (5 a, 6 a) of the upper and lower tools (5, 6) are still spaced from each other, while

-the outer closing surfaces (5 b, 6 b) are close to each other,

and wherein the active surfaces (5 a, 6 a) of the upper tool (5) and the lower tool (6) are configured to keep the bottom support (1) and the portions (1 a, 2 a) of the top film (2) separated at least during said closed state.

71. Apparatus according to any one of claims 68 to 70, wherein the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool (5) comprises a plurality of first holes (44) in fluid communication with a suction source (13), wherein the suction source (13) is configured to draw gas from said first holes (44) to allow the portions (2 a) of the top film (2) to adhere to the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool (5).

72. The apparatus according to any one of claims 69 to 71, wherein the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6) comprises a plurality of second holes (33) in fluid communication with a suction source (13),

wherein the suction source (13) is configured to draw gas from said second hole (33) to allow the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to adhere to the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6).

73. Apparatus according to claim 72, wherein said suction source (13) comprises a single suction source for serving both said upper tool and said lower tool, or a suction source for said upper tool and a separate and distinct suction source for said lower tool.

74. Apparatus according to claim 72 or 73, wherein the control unit (50) is configured to:

-commanding the closing state of the upper and lower tools (5, 6),

-commanding the suction source (13) to draw gas from the first and second plurality of holes (44, 33) at least during said closed condition, in order to separate the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) by adhering said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) to the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool (5) and by adhering said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) to the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6).

75. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 68 to 74, wherein said upper tool (5) and said lower tool (6) are movable with respect to each other between:

-the closed state of the valve,

and

-a sealing condition, in which at least a portion of the active surface (5 a) of the upper tool (5) is close to at least a portion of the active surface (6 a) of the lower tool (6), for bringing the bottom support (1) and said portion (1 a, 2 a) of the top film (2) received in the closed chamber (C) into contact and sealing with each other.

76. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein said sealed condition is reached while keeping said closed chamber (C) continuously closed.

77. Apparatus as claimed in one of the claims from 68 to 76, wherein the upper tool (5) has an active surface (5 a), said active surface (5 a) being configured to receive a peripheral portion (23) of the top film (2) and defining on said peripheral portion (23) at least:

78. Apparatus as claimed in one of the claims from 69 to 77, wherein the lower tool (6) has an active surface (6 a), said active surface (6 a) being configured to receive a perimetric portion (12) of the bottom support (1) and to define on said perimetric portion (12) at least:

-an inner duct (12 a) extending radially from the central portion (11) of the bottom support (1),

79. Apparatus according to claim 77 or 78, wherein said control unit (50) is configured to control said packaging assembly (101) so that, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4), and when said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1), said product (P) and said portion (2 a) of top film (2) are located inside a closed chamber (C):

-the internal channel (23 a) of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the internal channel (12 a) of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) are kept at a distance one from the other;

-the central channel (23 b) of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the central channel (12 b) of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) are kept at a distance one from the other; and

-the outer channels (23 c) of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the outer channels (12 c) of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) are not kept separate, but are joined together to form an outer sealing band (30).

80. Apparatus as claimed in claim 77 or 78, wherein said control unit (50) is configured to control said packaging assembly (101) so that, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4), and while said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1), said product (P) and said portion (2 a) of top film (2) are located inside a closed chamber (C):

-the internal channels (23 a) of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the internal channels (12 a) of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) are not kept separate, but are joined together to form an internal sealing band (3);

-the outer channel (23 c) of said portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and the outer channel (12 c) of said portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) are kept at a distance one from the other.

81. Apparatus according to claim 77 or 78, wherein said control unit (50) is configured to control said packaging assembly (101) so that, before said step of forming said one or more hollow structures (4), and when said portion (1 a) of bottom support (1), said product (P) and said portion (2 a) of top film (2) are located inside a closed chamber (C):

82. The apparatus of claim 75 or 76, in combination with any one of claims 77 to 81, further wherein, in the sealing state, the upper and lower tools (5, 6) configure the active surfaces (5 a, 6 a) of the upper and lower tools (5, 6) to simultaneously form the sealing band (3) and the one or more hollow structures (4).

83. The apparatus of claim 75 or 76 or 82, in combination with any one of claims 77 to 81, comprising at least one gas source (15), the gas source (15) being in fluid communication with at least one passage (16) defined on at least one between the upper tool (5) and the lower tool (6),

the passageway (16) is configured to place the gas source (15) in fluid communication with the closed chamber (C) and/or the volume (V) at least during the closed state of the upper tool (5) and the lower tool (6) of the packaging assembly (101).

84. The apparatus of the preceding claim, wherein the control unit (50) is configured to:

-commanding the closing state of the upper and lower tools (5, 6),

-commanding the gas source (15) to fill the gas into the closed chamber (C) through the passage (16) at least during said closed condition.

85. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein the control unit (50) is configured to command the gas source (15) to fill gas into the closed chamber (C) through the passage (16) at least during the closed condition of the upper and lower tools and during the gas extraction performed by the suction source (13) via the first and second plurality of holes (44, 33).

86. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 67 to 85, wherein said apparatus comprises at least one hollow element (10), optionally a hollow needle, said hollow element (10) being operated by a seat (14) defined in at least one between an upper and a lower tool (5, 6),

the hollow element (10) is configured to pierce at least one of said portion of the top membrane (2) and said portion of the bottom support (1) receivable in said closed chamber (C) and to be at least partially inserted inside the volume (V), the hollow element (10) being configured to blow and/or extract gas from the volume (V).

87. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein said hollow element (10) is relatively movable with respect to said upper and/or lower tools (5, 6) at least between:

-a retracted position, in which the hollow element (10) does not protrude from the active surface (5 a, 6 a) of the upper tool (5) or of the lower tool (6), so as to avoid the respective piercing of the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) or of the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) receivable in said closed chamber (C), and

-an advanced position, in which the hollow element (10) protrudes from the active surface (5 a, 6 a) of the upper tool (5) or lower tool (6) to pierce at least one between the portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) and the portion (2 a) of the top membrane (2) and to position at least a portion of said hollow element within the volume (V) delimited by the portions (1 a, 2 a) of the bottom support (1) and the top membrane (2) receivable in said closed chamber (C).

88. Apparatus as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein said hollow element (10) is in fluid communication with said suction source (13) or with a suction source (13).

89. The device according to the preceding claim, wherein the control unit is configured to control the operation of the suction source (13) and command the hollow element to move between its retracted position and its advanced position,

wherein the control unit (50) is configured to:

-commanding the hollow element (10) to move from the retracted position to the advanced position at least during the sealing condition of the upper tool and the lower tool,

-commanding the suction source to draw gas from the volume (V) through the hollow element (10) with the hollow element (10) in the advanced position.

90. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein the control unit is configured, after the step of commanding the suction source (13) to draw gas from the volume (V), to carry out the following further steps:

-commanding the hollow element (10) to move from the advanced position to the retracted position,

-commanding the suction source (13) to interrupt the extraction of gas from the volume (V) with the hollow element in the retracted position,

-after interruption of the extraction of gas from said volume, commanding the suction source (13) to interrupt the extraction of gas from the first and/or second plurality of holes, so as to allow said bottom support and said central portion of the top film to wrap said product.

91. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims 87 to 90, wherein the hollow element (10) is in fluid communication with the gas source (15) or with a gas source (15),

wherein the control unit is configured to control the operation of the gas source (15) and command the hollow element to move between its retracted and advanced positions,

wherein the control unit (50) is configured to perform an inflation cycle comprising:

-commanding the hollow element (10) to move from the retracted position to the advanced position at least during the closing condition of the upper tool and the lower tool,

-commanding a gas source (15) to fill gas in said volume through said hollow element (10) during said advanced position of the hollow element (10).

92. The apparatus of the preceding claim, wherein the control unit (50) is configured to define a suction cycle after the inflation cycle, comprising:

-commanding the sealing position of the upper and lower tools (5, 6),

-controlling the gas source (15) to interrupt the filling of gas into the volume (V) with the hollow element (10) in said advanced position and the upper and lower tools (5, 6) in the sealing position,

-commanding the suction source (13) to extract gas from the volume (V) through the hollow element (10) with the hollow element (10) in the advanced position and the upper and lower tools (5, 6) in the sealing position.

93. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein said suction cycle further comprises commanding the hollow element (10) to move from said advanced position to said retracted position.

94. An apparatus as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein the suction cycle further comprises commanding the suction source (13) to interrupt the extraction of gas from the volume (V) at least when the hollow element (10) reaches the retracted position.

95. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein the suction cycle further comprises commanding the suction source (13) to interrupt the extraction of gas from the first and/or second plurality of holes, after interruption of the extraction of gas from the volume, so as to allow the central portion of the bottom support and of the top membrane to wrap the product.

96. Apparatus as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims 86 to 95, wherein the hollow element (10) is carried by a lower tool (6) and is configured to pierce a portion (1 a) of the bottom support (1) during the movement from said retracted position to said advanced position.

97. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims 67 to 96, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform a packaging process according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 66.

98. The process according to any one of claims 1 to 66, wherein said process uses the apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 67 to 96.