Patent ID: 7896792

Claim:
A method for cutting packages in a packaging machine in which the packages are produced from a web of film which is transported in a transport direction from an input side to an output side of the packaging machine in a fixed-cycle way, comprising the steps of: creating a first cut in a first direction on the web of film with a first cutting device, the web of film having multiple containers formed therein, the first direction being transverse to the transport direction of the web of film, and the first cut being a width less than a full width of the web of film at a point where the first cutting device acts on said web of film and thereby leaving a strip at each edge of the web of film; and subsequently creating a second cut in a second direction on the web of film with a separate second cutting device arranged downstream of the first cutting device in the transport direction; wherein said creating of the first cut and said creating of the second cut are each performed intermittently in a fixed-cycle way when the web of film is stationary between two advances, and the second cutting device is configured to completely separate adjacent containers from each other, and wherein the method further comprises moving the containers from the first cutting device to the second cutting device using a transport device that moves the web of film.