Patent ID: 8087215

Claim:
A form, fill, and seal machine for producing bags from semi-finished products and for filling and closing the bags, comprising: a plurality of processing stations, with at least two processing stations of at least one first group being disposed successively, substantially linearly in a horizontal plane (x, z) in a transport direction (z) of the bags, and with the bags or semi-finished products being transported between the processing stations by a transport device which includes grippers; at least one second group including at least one processing station that is not linearly disposed in line with the first group in the horizontal plane (x, z) in the processing direction (z) of the bags; a transverse transport device for transporting the bags to the at least one second group, the transverse transport device including grippers for transporting the bags in a direction lateral to that of the first transport direction (z); and an intermediate or transfer station arranged upstream or downstream of the transverse transport device, the intermediate or transfer station including grippers for holding and transporting the bags.