Pouch collapsing assembly for vertical form, fill and seal machine

摘要

A vertical form, fill and seal machine for making material- filled, slack pouches, having little or no headspace in the pouches. One jaw of the heat sealing assembly has a jaw wall convex about a vertical axis and located below the heat sealing element. The opposite jaw of the assembly has a jaw wall of an elastomeric sheet stretched under tension and adapted to cooperate with the convex jaw wall. During operation, the jaw walls bias against the material-filled pouch causing air to be expelled from the material and collapsing the tube as the jaws are closed. The machine is useful for making slack pouches filled with flowable material such as emulsions, soft margarine, food dressings, pastes, peanut butter, preserves, pie fillings, marmalade, jellies, dough, ground meat, detergents and granular solids.