Patent ID: 6871474

Claim:
A device for partitioning portion packages of filling material in a flexible tubular casing by constricting a portion of a filled casing and displacing filling material from the constricted portion of the casing to form a tress of said constricted portion of said casing and applying at least one closing clip onto said casing tress, the device comprising: a guide element pivotable about a central axis of said tubular casing; two sets of displacement elements, each set comprising at least one first displacement element and one second displacement element, which are displaceable in mutually opposite directions in an overlapping and symmetrical manner with respect to said central axis and which comprise substantially triangular notches facing each other, wherein at least a portion of each displacement element is positioned within said guide element and said displacement elements are moveable linearly along a guide portion of said guide element, a clipping apparatus comprising two interacting elements which are displaceable between the sets of displacement elements in mutually opposite directions and coupled to the movement of the displacement elements, a first crank pin comprising a crank pin positioned on the first crank at a distance defining a first radius and a second crank pin comprising a crank pin positioned on the second crank at a distance defining a second radius, the radii of said first and second crank pins being equal to each other, and their axes of rotation and the central axis being parallel and coplanar, and wherein the cranks are driven in the same direction as each other; wherein the first crank pin of the first crank is pivotally connected with the first displacement element of each set of displacement elements to move the first displacement elements as well as a first element of said two interacting elements of the clipping apparatus and wherein the second crank pin of the second crank is pivotally connected with the second displacement element of each set of displacement elements to move the second displacement elements as well as a second element of said two interacting elements of the clipping apparatus, wherein said first and second cranks are rotatable about their axes of rotation synchronously to close or open said displacement elements about said central axis and to move said elements of said clipping apparatus towards or away from each other, wherein the rotation of the cranks cause the displacement elements, the clipping apparatus, and the common guide element to pivot about said central axis.