Patent ID: 8245485

Claim:
A vertical-type bag packaging machine that fills and packages a material to be packaged into a bag having a seal portion to be ultrasonically seal while intermittently moving a bag along a predetermined path in a vertically suspended position, said machine comprising: an intermittently movable support; a plurality of holding members connected to said support at predetermined spaced locations, each of said holding members arranged for holding a bag in a vertically suspended position, said holding members being successively moved to predetermined stations by intermittent movement of said support; a plurality of packaging processing devices, said packaging processing devices disposed at one or more of said predetermined stations; said plurality of packaging processing devices comprising a filling device for carrying out a filling process by dispensing a material to be packaged into a bag, a steam-replacement deaeration device for carrying out a steam-replacement deaeration process by replacing air in a bag with steam to thereby effect deaeration, a preheating device for carrying out a preheating process by preheating a seal portion of a mouth of a bag to a predetermined preheating temperature, and an ultrasonic sealing device for carrying out an ultrasonic sealing process by ultrasonically sealing a seal portion of a mouth of a bag; wherein said filling device, a steam-replacement deaeration device, preheating device and ultrasonic sealing device are arranged so that said filling process, steam-replacement deaeration process, preheating process and ultrasonic sealing process are carried out in this order, and wherein said predetermined preheating temperature is not lower than a temperature of a highest temperature region of said seal portion before said seal portion is preheated and is below the melting temperature of a material constituting an inner side of said seal portion of said bag.