Apparatus and process for making supports or packages, and packaging apparatus and process

An apparatus comprising:

• a supplying station comprising a roll support configured to receive a feed roll and to rotate the feed roll around an unwinding axis to unroll consecutive portions of plastic film;
• a cutting station configured to perform a cutting procedure comprising separating, from an unrolled portion of plastic film coming from the feed roll, at least one of:
• a strip of plastic film having a width, measured parallel to the unwinding axis, and a length, measured perpendicular to the unwinding axis, wherein the width of said strip is larger than the length of the strip;
• or
• a plurality of distinct film sheets obtained from a same strip shaped portion of plastic film, said strip shaped portion having a width, measured parallel to the unwinding axis, and a length, measured perpendicular to the unwinding axis, wherein the width of said strip shaped portion is larger than the length of the same strip shaped portion;
• a thermoforming station comprising a plurality of adjacent molds configured to:
• receive the strips or the plurality of distinct film sheets, and
• thermoform said strips or said plurality of distinct film sheets in order to form a plurality of plastic supports;
• and
• a packaging station configured to close in a package at least one product positioned on at least one between said strips, film sheets or plastic supports;
• wherein the packaging station is arranged downstream with respect to the thermoforming station along a machine direction of transportation of the plastic supports to the packaging station;
• wherein the unwinding axis of the feed roll is parallel to the machine direction;
• and
• wherein the cutting station is configured to make, on the unrolled portion, one or more cuts or notches perpendicular to the unwinding axis of the feed roll to form a plurality of ribbons.