Patent ID: 9505504
Filing Date: 2016-11-29
CPC Classification: B65B

Claim Text:
1. An apparatus for the filling of a flexible pouch with a product, said pouch having a bottom end, an opposite top end, and a pair of side edges extending between said top end and said bottom end, said apparatus comprising: a filling station having a feeder that dispenses an amount of product into said pouch, said feeder configured to dispense the product into the pouch such that the product stacks with a triangular shape so as to provide an apex; a supply of compressed purging gas; and a gas purge station positioned subsequent to said filling station, said gas purge station having only one pair of gas lances operatively connected to said supply of purging gas, each one of said pair of gas lances having an outlet at a distal end to discharge said purging gas into said pouch, said pair of gas lances reciprocatingly moveable between an inserted position and a withdrawn position, said pair of gas lances extend parallel and spaced apart a distance in said inserted position and said same distance in said withdrawn position, said distance less than a distance between said pair of side edges of said pouch, said pair of gas lances in said inserted position being within said pouch, each one of said pair of gas lances in said inserted position being disposed adjacent and spaced apart from one of said pair of side edges of said pouch such that there is a space between each one of said pair of gas lances to permit accumulation of the product having the apex and in which each one of said pair of gas lances in said inserted position is disposed between one of said side edges of said pouch and the product, below the apex of the product, without contacting the product, and said pair of gas lances in said withdrawn position being disposed above said top end of said pouch.