Patent ID: 8528307

Claim:
A method of filling and closing bags ( 10 ) made of sheet material, the bags ( 10 ) having a pocket ( 12 ) which has a closable opening ( 17 ) and is intended for accommodating the bag contents, with the bag ( 10 ) being filled in an upright position on a circulating carrier or turret ( 24 ) and then being closed by means of closure strips in the region of the opening ( 17 ), comprising the steps of: a) transporting prefabricated, empty bags ( 10 ) along a feed path, or by a feed conveyor ( 68 ), into the region of a filling and closure station; b) receiving the bags ( 10 ) by a filling and closure conveyor, namely the turret ( 24 ), and cyclically conveying the bags ( 10 ) by the turret ( 24 ) along a circulating path, formed in a vertical plane, from a charging station ( 40 ) in the bottom region of the turret ( 24 ) to a wrapping station ( 43 ) or a discharging station for the finished bags; and c) transferring the filled and closed bags ( 10 ) from the filling and closure conveyor to a removal conveyor ( 44 ), which transports the bags ( 10 ) away in a direction parallel to the feed conveyor ( 68 ), wherein the filled and closed bags ( 10 ) are completed, in an upright arrangement, by successive folding and wrapping steps, with the filled pocket ( 12 ), in a first folding or wrapping step, being placed in a downwardly directed pivoting movement, from a position above a non-folded wrapping flap ( 16 ), against the upright wrapping flap ( 16 ) or against a central portion ( 19 ) of the wrapping flap ( 16 ), and then a downwardly oriented peripheral flap ( 20 ) of the wrapping flap ( 16 ) being folded, by upwardly directed folding movements, against an exposed side of the pocket ( 12 ), namely against a rear wall ( 15 ) of the pocket ( 12 ).