GB1454759A - Method and apparatus for forming filling and sealing individual pouches - Google Patents

Abstract

1454759 Forming, filling, and sealing individual pouches R A JONES & CO Inc 12 Nov 1973 [14 Nov 1972] 52479/73 Heading B8C A method of forming, filling, and sealing pouches comprises the steps of forming a continuous train of pouches from a strip of web material, each of said pouches having an upwardly open side adjacent an upper edge of said web, opening the upper side of each pouch, filling each of said pouches with a predetermined quantity of a product, settling the product within each of said pouches by shifting each pouch to modify the shape of said pouch, and sealing the open side of each said pouch to form a filled and sealed package. As shown, a web 9, made e.g. of plastics and preferably coated on at least one side with sealable material and drawn from a roll 10 through a set of rolls 12, 14, 16, and 18, is controlled by a brake unit 20 and is folded upwardly into a V-shaped cross-section by a plough 38. The web 9 then passes over guide rollers 40, 42 to a mechanism 44 which heat seals a thin margin adjacent the bottom folded edge of the web 9 to maintain the latter tightly folded, the web 9 then passing around a segmented drum 46 which seals together the sides of the folded web along spaced vertical bands to form a train of pouches having open upper sides. The web proceeds over an adjustably-mounted synchronizing roll 60, between drive rolls 66, 67, over an idler roller 68, and around a circular filling station 70 where the pouches are successively opened, filled with a quantity of product, such as granulated sugar, and then manipulated to settle the product in the pouches. The series of filled pouches 71 then passes successively through an upper sealing station 72 and second drive rollers 74, 76 which bear on the upper edge of the train of pouches. The train is then twisted through 90 degrees, to pass through, a cutting station 78 which delivers separate packets 80 on to a take-out conveyer 82. As shown in Fig. 34, each pouch is rapidly opened by a pair of compressed air-nozzles 84, 86 located immediately downstream of the roller 68 the radially inner side of the pouch 71, Fig. 4, coming into contact with a vacuum nozzle 92 which pulls open fully the mouth of the pouch, the opening action also being aided due to the fact that the lower edge of the web proceeds around the filling station at a larger radius of curvature than the upper edge, Fig. 5. The carrier wheel 95 has a plurality of equi-circumferentially spaced lands 100, Fig. 8, each of which engages a vertical seal separating two pouches 71, is pivotally mounted at 102, 104, and carries follower rollers 96 which cooperate with a cam track 98, Fig. 5, to rock the pouches after the filling operation. Filling tubes 154 carried by a fillable wheel 144, Fig. 2, are lowered into the pouches after about 60 degrees, and for 90 degrees, of rotation of the carrier as shown by ovals 154, Fig. 3. At a point 180 degrees from the roller 68 the upper and lower edges of the web are forced respectively outwardly and inwardly, Fig. 6, by the lands 100 to vary the shape of the pouches and settle the product therein. The product is delivered, at a uniform rate, on the upper surface of the wheel 144, a scraper blade scraping the material deposited by the funnel 162, Fig. 1, into one or more of the funnels 156, 157. A hood, not shown, overlies the wheel 144, except above the funnel 162. Vacuum is supplied to the nozzles 92 by a pipe 130 which communicates with ducts 112, 116 in the wheel 95. The apparatus optionally includes a vibrator V, Fig. 3.