Method for manufacturing biodegradable pillow tea bags containing whole leaf tea

A method for manufacturing biodegradable pillow bags, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a continuous sheet of biodegradable infusion material having opposing free side ends;
• feeding the sheet of biodegradable infusion material downward into a sealing and cutting system having a dispensing mechanism attached thereto, where the dispensing mechanism includes an inlet for receiving steeping material, an auger for dispensing predetermined amounts of steeping material into a feeding tube in amounts to create a single pillow bag;
• forming the biodegradable infusion material into a tubular member by wrapping the biodegradable infusion material around a vertical tube on the sealing and cutting system;
• joining and sealing the opposing free side ends of the biodegradable infusion material wrapped around the tube with a vertical sealing mechanism to create a sleeve;
• advancing the vertically sealed tubular biodegradable infusion material past the lower end of the tube on the sealing and cutting system until it reaches a horizontal sealing member;
• creating a horizontal seal along the bottom of the tubular biodegradable infusion material with the horizontal sealing mechanism, where the horizontal sealing mechanism includes a central channel housing a cutting mechanism that is supported by an actuating mechanism that actuates the cutting mechanism from within the central channel of the horizontal sealing mechanism to cut through the center of the horizontal seal;
• depositing a predetermined amount of steeping material in the bottom of the tubular biodegradable infusion material by dispensing a predetermined amount of steeping material through the tube on sealing and cutting system;
• advancing the tubular biodegradable infusion material below the horizontal sealing mechanism such that the steeping material deposited in the bottom of the tubular biodegradable infusion material is below the horizontal sealing mechanism;
• and
• sealing the tubular biodegradable infusion material to create a top seal on the tubular biodegradable infusion material below the horizontal sealing mechanism and cutting the seal at its middle with the cutting mechanism to create a biodegradable pillow bag.

A method for manufacturing biodegradable pillow bags encasing steeping material, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a biodegradable infusion substrate having two opposing edges;
• creating a sleeve from the biodegradable infusion substrate by sealing the two opposing edges of the substrate together;
• sealing a bottom of the sleeve;
• dispensing a first predetermined amount of steeping material into the bottom of the sleeve in an amount to create a single pillow bag;
• vertically feeding the sleeve into a heat-sealing machine including a cutting mechanism positioned within a sealing mechanism where the bottom seal and the first predetermined amount of steeping material are positioned below the heat-sealing machine;
• creating a horizontal heat seal across the sleeve;
• cutting across the center of the horizontal heat seal with the cutting mechanism to create pillow bags, wherein the cutting mechanism is positioned within the sealing mechanism in alignment with the center of the seal when the horizontal heat seal is created by the sealing mechanism and where the cutting mechanism is supported by an actuating mechanism and where the cutting mechanism is actuated by the actuating mechanism to cut through the center of the horizontal heat seal;
• repeatedly dispensing subsequent predetermined amounts of steeping material into the bottom of the sleeve in an amount to create a single pillow bag;
• vertically feeding the sleeve into the heat-sealing machine after each repeated dispensing of subsequent predetermined amounts of steeping material, creating a horizontal heat seal across the sleeve and cutting across the center of the horizontal heat seal with the cutting mechanism to create pillow bags.