Filling and sealing machine for providing a flat bottom package

An apparatus for forming a pliable package having a flat bottom is disclosed. The apparatus includes a hollow guide form (16). The guide form, in a preferred embodiment, has a rectangular cross-section. Also provided are means (2) for forming pliable sealable material (12) which is received from a continuous roll, around guide form (16) to form a continuous seamed packaging preform (30). Members (32), (34) are also provided for advancing the continuous packaging preform (3) such that a seamed preform (58) extends below bottom (20) of guide-form (16). A pair of opposing and movable tucking jaws (60) and (62) are located close to the bottom end (20) of guide-form (16). Each of the tucking jaws includes a pair of pointed extension members (68) and (70), and (72) and (74) respectively separated a selected distance, for contacting and partially collapsing preform (58) to form a tuck in the preform (58) when tucking jaws (60) and ( 62) are moved toward each other. A pair of opposing and movable sealing jaws (76) and (78) are located at 90.degree. angles with respect to the tucking jaws. Sealing jaws (76) and (78) are moved toward each other such that they collapse preform (58) and provide a seal portion (96) of a selected width across preform (58). Also provided are means (104) and (106) which cut through the preform at the seal portion (96).

DESCRIPTION 
Technical Field 
This invention relates generally to machines which fabricate packages out 
of a continuous roll of pliable heat sealable material such as PVC 
(polyvinyl-chloride) or cellophane and more particularly to apparatus and 
methods which fabricate a package, fill the package with a commodity, and 
then seal the package with heat. In this particular invention, the machine 
includes unique methods and apparatus for providing a flat bottom package 
formed of the pliable heat sealable material which can stand up on its 
bottom side and is suitable for stacking on a shelf. 
Background Art 
There are various types of "form, fill and seal" packaging machines now 
available on the market. These machines typically come in various sizes 
and are particularly useful for filling granular materials such as nuts, 
rice, wheat, etc. Light fluffy items such as popcorn, cheesepuffs and the 
like can also be filled by these machines. In general, the machines which 
are now available form a package from a roll of film such as PVC film or 
cellophane and then fill the package with a selected product. The package 
is then sealed such that the product is protected in an airtight manner 
from the environment. Such machines are particularly speedy and useful in 
the food processing industry as they can often operate up to speeds of 100 
bags filled and sealed per minute. 
Prior to the form, fill and seal machines now on the market, food products 
and other granular type products including hardware have been packaged in 
many forms such as cans, sealed boxes with liners, etc. However, these 
packaging techniques are usually expensive, since, for example, boxes with 
sealed liners require two different types of packaging materials. 
Packaging can be used to enhance the sale, and is therefore a most 
important aspect of a product; however, care must be taken to assure that 
the cost of the packaging does not increase the cost of the commodity or 
product to the extent that the marketing is deleteriously affected. 
The form, fill and seal packages produced by presently available machines 
typically comprise a single layer of cellophane, PVC or other pliable 
film. All of these packages have the disadvantage that they cannot be 
stacked on a shelf in an upright manner such that the large surfaces of 
the package can be used for advertising brand names, identification, etc. 
That is, to date, known form, fill and seal packages necessarily must lay 
on their side so that only the sealed end or a portion of the side is 
visible when the packages are stacked. 
Since it is desirable that a product be readily identifiable, and since the 
packaging itself typically provides a large surface area suitable for 
identifying a product and for placing required packaging information 
thereon, it is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for 
providing form, fill and seal package which provides a flat bottom on the 
package such that the package can stand on its end. It is also an object 
of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus which allows 
more product to be contained in less packaging film, and which permits 
printing on four sides of the package. 
It is still another object of this invention to provide methods and 
apparatus for providing a flat bottom package made of a pliable material 
which operates with increased speed and can be readily maintained. 
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
Other objects and advantages will in part be obvious, and will in part 
appear hereinafter, and will be accomplished by the present invention 
which provides apparatus and methods for providing a flat bottom package 
from a continuous roll of heat sealable pliable material, and for sealing 
and separating the filled package from the continuous roll of material. 
The apparatus comprises a hollow guide form having a top and a bottom end 
which has a selected cross-sectional shape such as for example, a 
rectangular shape. A means is provided for forming the pliable 
heat-sealable material from a continuous roll of such material around the 
guide form to form a continuous seamed packaging preform which has the 
same cross-sectional shape as the guide form. Also included is an 
advancing means such that the continuous packaging preform formed from the 
continuous roll of pliable material may be advanced below the bottom end 
of the guide-form. A pair of opposing and movable tucking jaws are located 
at the bottom end of the guide form on each side such that the continuous 
preform extending below the guide form passes between the tucking jaws. 
Each of the tucking jaws include a pair of extension members which are 
usually parallel and separated a selected distance. Each of the pointed 
extensions of the tucking jaws are suitable for moving inwardly toward 
each other such that they contact and partially collapse the preform 
extending below the guide form so that a tuck is formed in the continuous 
preform. While the tucking jaws are in their inward position, a pair of 
opposing and movable sealing jaws, which usually seal by means of heat, 
and which are located proximate the bottom end of the guide form and the 
tucking jaws close to seal the lower end of the bag. These movable sealing 
jaws are located such that the continuous preform also passes between the 
opposing jaws such that the jaws may be moved inwardly to completely 
collapse a portion of the preform and provide a sealed portion of a 
selected width across the preform as they move toward each other and 
inbetween the parallel pointed extension members of the tucking jaws. 
After the sealing is complete, there is provided a means for cutting 
through the continuous packaging preform at the seal portion to separate 
the seal portion into a first and a remaining part such that the first 
part of the seal portion provides a square sealed top end of a package 
separated from the continuous preform and the remaining part of the sealed 
portion forms a sealed bottom end on the remaining end of the continuous 
preform suitable for providing a sealed square bottom for a subsequent 
package. In a preferred embodiment, a wiping member is provided such that 
after the sealing has been completed and the separation has taken place, 
and while the pliable material is still hot, the wiping member moves past 
the remaining part of the sealed portion and bends it to one side such 
that the completed package now has a substantially flat bottom suitable 
for stacking and standing.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a pictorial view of the filling and 
sealing machine of this invention generally at 10. As shown, a continuous 
roll of sealable, pliable material such as a film 12 is provided across 
tension roller 14 to the elongated guide form 16. Any pliable film such as 
PVC (polyvinyl-chloride) or cellophane, and which preferably is 
heat-sealable may be used as film 12. As shown, elongated guide form 16 is 
hollow, and in the embodiment shown has a rectangular cross-section. The 
guide form includes a top end 18 into which a commodity may be introduced 
to the interior of the guide form by means of a funnel (not shown) such 
that the commodity may advance and drop down the length of the guide form 
16. Guide form 16 extends from its top end 18 to a bottom end 20 located 
proximate the tucking, cutting and sealing members shown generally at 21 
which incorporate certain features of this invention. As can be seen, the 
pliable material or film 12 from the continuous roll of material is 
advanced over the tension roller 14 to a collar forming means 22. Collar 
forming means 22 forms and shapes the pliable material 12 such that the 
left hand edge 24 and the right hand edge 26 of the pliable material 
overlap such as is shown at seam 28, to form a packaging preform 30 having 
a cross-section substantially the same as the cross-section of the outside 
perimeter of the guide form 16. 
To move the preform 30 along after it is formed around guide form 16, a 
pair of nonslipping advancing members 32 and 34 are provided as is shown 
in both FIGS. 1 and 2. These members 32 and 34 are shown in their 
lowermost position in FIG. 1 and in an uppermost position in FIG. 2. In 
operation, these members will move outward away from the guide form 16 as 
is shown by arrows 36 and 38 of FIG. 1 such that they are no longer in 
contact with the film 12 or the guide-form 16. Once in the outward 
position 40 as indicated by the phantom lines of FIG. 2, the members then 
move upward as indicated by arrows 42A and 42B to the position shown in 
FIG. 2, and to the position 44 shown in FIG. 1 and indicated by phantom 
lines. Advancing members 32 and 34 then move inwardly again from the 
position shown in FIG. 2 as is shown by arrows 46A and 46B such that they 
again contact the continuous preform and are in position to move down as 
is indicated by arrows 48 and 50 in FIG. 1 such that the continuous 
preform 30 is advanced a selected distance. 
Also as is shown, as preform 30 is advanced, the seam 28 advances between 
the guide form 16 and a heat sealing member 52. As the seam 28 of 
continuous preform 30 moves past heat sealing member 52, a permanent heat 
sealed seam 54 is provided. It will also be appreciated that while the 
contacting members 32 and 34 are moving in a downward motion such that 
they are advancing the preform 30 along guide form 16, sealing member 52 
will be held firmly against the seam 28 to provide the heat seal seam 54. 
However, in an intermediate stage while the advancing members 32 and 34 
are moving back to the starting or advancing position, heat sealing member 
52 may be moved outwardly away from the guide form as indicated by arrow 
56 to prevent excess heating while the preform is stationary on guide form 
16. 
Once the continuous seamed and sealed preform 58 has been advanced to a 
selected position, filling of the package is accomplished, as indicated by 
arrow 57, through the hollow of the elongated guide form 16 until the 
package has been filled with a desired quantity of commodity. Once the 
filling is complete, a final sealing and separating operation is 
undertaken. As shown, at the bottom end 20 of guide-form 16 there is a 
pair of opposing tucking jaws 60 and 62 located on each of the narrow 
sides 64 and 66 of packaging preform 58. As shown, both tucking jaws 60 
and 62 include top and bottom pointed extension members 68 and 70, and 72 
and 74 respectively. Also as shown in FIG. 1, a pair of heat sealing jaws 
76 and 78 are located proximate the end 20 of elongated guide form 16 and 
according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 at a 90.degree. 
right angle to tucking jaws 60 and 62. In the preferred embodiment, it 
will be appreciated that these sealing jaws 76 and 78 are heat sealing 
jaws such that they provide a selected amount of heat to seal a portion of 
the packaging preform 58. Also shown partially in FIGS. 1 and 2 and 
complete in FIG. 3, and as will be discussed in detail hereinafter, there 
is a support container 80 for receiving the continuous seamed package 
preform 58 prior to filling. A wiping member 82 and a vibrating member 84 
for providing vibrating motion to wiping member 82 is also provided and 
will be discussed hereinafter. Once the package has been filled, the 
sealing process proceeds as follows. As shown in FIG. 1, the tucking jaws 
60 and 62 are in an outermost position such that the continuous preform 58 
is free to pass therebetween without obstructions. Once the continuous 
preform 58 has stopped and the filling completed, tucking jaws 60 and 62 
are advanced inwardly towards each other such as shown by arrows 86A and 
86B such that they contact the narrow sides 64 and 66 of the packaging 
preform 58 and partially collapse the packaging preform. To obtain a 
smooth fold or crease at the bottom of the continuous preform 58, 
elongated guide form 16 includes a bottom edge 88 having an indenture 90. 
Tucking jaws 60 and 62 are located in very close proximity to the end 88 
of the elongated form guide 16 such that a smooth crease of the packaging 
preform is achieved as the tucking jaws move toward each other. 
Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a cross-section through tucking 
jaws 60 and 62, guide form 16 and packaging preform 58 which clearly 
illustrates how the tucking jaws 60 and 62 partially collapse preform 58. 
While tucking jaws 60 and 62 are in their innermost position as shown in 
FIG. 5 and FIG. 2, sealing jaws 76 and 78 more clearly shown in FIG. 1 
also start advancing toward each other to completely collapse the preform 
58 such that the wide sidewalls 92 and 94 are pressed against each other. 
Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a cross-section through the 
prefrom 58 and the sealing jaws 76 and 78 which clearly show that sealing 
jaws 76 and 78 have advanced to their innermost position such that they 
are pressing firmly against the wide sides 92 and 94 of preform 58, and 
except for the material of preform 58 being in between, would 
substantially be in contact with each other. As seen in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6 
the parallel extensions 68 and 70, and 72 and 74 of tucking jaws 60 and 62 
have a spacing such that sealing jaws 76 and 78 slide therebetween to 
complete the sealing. It will also be appreciated, and as was discussed 
heretofore, sealing jaws 76 and 78 preferably apply heat to the heat 
sealing material of the continuous preform 58 to effect the seal. Thus, it 
will be appreciated, that sealing jaws 76 and 78 provide a seal portion 96 
across continuous preform 58. Once the heat sealing is complete, the 
sealed portion 96 is then separated by a cutting means which cuts through 
the continuous preform 58 at the seal portion 96 leaving a bottom portion 
98 attached to a sealed package 100 and a top portion 102 attached to the 
remaining end of continuous preform 58. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 
and 6, there is a cutting edge 104 and a receiving anvil 106 encased by 
sealing jaws 76 and 78. Sealing jaw 76 has been removed in FIG. 3 to more 
clearly show cutting edge 104. Thus, once the sealing is completed, the 
cutting edge 104 and the anvil 106 advance toward each other such that the 
continuous preform is separated through the sealed portion 96. It will be 
appreciated, of course, that instead of the cutting edge 104 and anvil 106 
being included as a part of the sealing jaws, the separating and cutting 
by means of a cutting edge and anvil could take place at a later time 
after the package has moved or advanced to another step. The filling and 
sealing of the packages is a continuous process, and after a sealing and 
cutting operation is completed, the sealed package preferably passes 
wiping member 82, and the preform is advanced once more for another 
filling operation. While the bottom portion 98 of the sealed portion 96 is 
still hot it is advanced to the location such that bottom seal portion 98 
is in the position shown adjacent wiping member 82 of FIG. 1. Wiping 
member 82 may simply provide a wiping action as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 
4 or may supply additional heat. While in the position shown in FIG. 3, 
wiping member 82 will support the package preform during the filling 
operation, at the same time, vibrator 84 can be used to vibrate the wiping 
member 82 such that proper settling of the commodity filling the package 
is effected. Although such vibration is not necessary for commodities such 
as rice, grains and heavy objects, filling the package with light objects 
such as popcorn, cheesepuffs and the like is best served by the use of the 
vibrating member. As is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, and more clearly in 
FIG. 4, supporting container 80 provides a supporting form for the pliable 
preform package as it is being filled by the machine. FIG. 4 also shows 
how the sealed remaining end of the container preform 58 is moved into 
supporting container 80 for filling after the top of the previous package 
has been sealed and the filled package has been advanced beyond the 
machine. 
It will, of course, be recognized that it is not necessary that wiping 
member 82 act on the bag. For example, it may be desirable for the portion 
102 of the bag to remain extended as shown in FIG. 4. To this end, the 
wiping or folding step is eliminated such that the bottom of the final bag 
product appears as is shown in FIG. 4. 
Therefore, there has been described to this point, a form, fill and seal 
machine for use with a square elongated guide form 16 for providing a soft 
or pliable package having a rectangular cross-section and a flat bottom 
such that the package can be stored or set on a shelf in a vertical 
position. Although the preferred embodiment of this invention does 
disclose the use of a rectangular cross-section, it will be appreciated 
however, that packages having other cross-sections such as circular guide 
form 108 and as is shown in FIG. 7 can be obtained by using the methods 
and apparatus of this invention. 
Thus, although the present invention has been described with respect to 
specific methods and apparatus for providing a forming, filling and 
sealing machine which preferably forms a flat bottom package from a 
pliable material, it is not intended that such specific references be 
considered as limitations upon the scope of this invention except insofar 
as is set forth in the following claims.