An improved packaging machine is provided for vacuum packing elongated products such as french fries into a succession of sealed bags. The packaging machine includes a weigh station for dropping pre-weighed product charges through a vertical column for product free-fall into a bag at a fill station, with the bag being formed from a sheet of film material drawn downwardly about the column. A divider vane subdivides the vertical column and the fill station into a pair of passages of elongated cross section, whereby the products falling through the column passages are substantially aligned as they fall into the bag. The bag is transferred from the fill station to a settling station, preferably by displacement of the divider vane and fill station. The settling station includes vibratory members to achieve substantial product settling. The bag film material may also be retracted a short stroke through a seal jaw assembly, resulting in stripping and squaring of an open end of the bag. A vacuum is drawn within the bag via vacuum ports formed in the divider vane. The seal jaw assembly then seals the top of the filled bag as well as the bottom of the next bag in succession, and severs the filled bag from the film material. An improved stream-out chute and distribution funnel are also disclosed for delivering the products from the weigh station to the vertical column with product distribution which is substantially uniform across the open area of the free-fall column passages.
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