Flexible pouch filling and heat sealing line for flexible pouches and containers for supporting and moving the flexible pouches

A container for receiving and supporting flexible pouches, comprising:

• a container body having an open top and an open bottom so water can drain through the open top, over the pouches supported in the container and out through the open bottom;
• a plurality of support elements, each for supporting side edges of the pouch;
• first cooperating locator means on an upper portion of the container body;
• second cooperating locator means on a lower portion of the container body;
• and
• wherein two like said containers are able to be stacked one above the other by the first cooperating locator means of one container engaging the second cooperating locator means of the other container.

A packaging system plant, including:

• a filling and heat sealing line for filling pouches with a product and sealing the filled pouches;
• a container for receiving filled and sealed pouches from the line, and for supporting a plurality of the pouches;
• a transporter for receiving the containers loaded with the pouches to form a stack of the containers, and for enabling the stack of containers to be moved from one place to another;
• an ancillary processing station for receiving the containers transported by the transporter and for performing an ancillary treatment step on the filled pouches while housed in the stack of containers;
• and
• a packaging station for receiving the transporter carrying the stack of containers to enable the pouches to be removed from the containers and packaged for distribution.

A method of manoeuvring pouches in a packaging plant, comprising:

• filling pouches with a product and sealing the filled pouches;
• loading filled and sealed pouches into containers so the pouches are supported in the containers;
• stacking the containers loaded with the pouches on a transporter;
• moving the stacked containers on the transporter to an ancillary processing station for performing an ancillary treatment step on the filled pouches while housed in the stack of containers;
• and
• moving the stacked containers on the transporter to a packaging station to enable the pouches to be removed from the containers and packaged for distribution.

A system for handling containers which are to be loaded with pouches to facilitate movement of the pouches through a processing plant, including:

• a carriage for receiving an empty container;
• first carriage moving means for moving the carriage from a container receiving position to a first container release position and returning the carriage to the container receiving position;
• loading means for loading the container into the carriage when the carriage is in the container receiving position;
• indexing means for receiving the container from the carriage at the release position and for indexing the container past a loading station at which filled and sealed pouches are loaded into the container as the container is indexed past the loading station;
• a second carriage for receiving loaded containers from the indexing means;
• second carriage moving means for moving the second carriage from a loaded container receiving position to a second container release position;
• and
• unloading means for moving the loaded container from the second carriage at the second release position and stacking the loaded container on a pallet.

A pallet handling apparatus for receiving pallets stacked with containers, from which the containers are to be unloaded, so the containers can be loaded with pouches, and then stacked on an empty pallet, said apparatus comprising:

• a supply conveyor for conveying pallets stacked with containers to a container unloading station so the containers can be unloaded at the unloading station and supplied to a pouch loading station at which pouches are loaded into the containers;
• a discharge conveyor for conveying pallets from a stacking station upon which loaded containers are stacked on a pallet, to a pallet discharge station;
• a pallet moving conveyor extending between the unloading station and the stacking station for conveying an empty pallet from the unloading station to the stacking station;
• first pallet transfer means at the unloading station for transferring a pallet from the supply conveyor at the unloading station onto the pallet moving conveyor;
• and
• second conveyor transfer means at the stacking station for transferring the pallet from the moving conveyor onto the discharge conveyor.

A filling and heat sealing line for filling pouches with product, comprising:

• a filling station for loading a product into the pouches;
• a heat sealing station for heat sealing filled pouches;
• moving means for moving the pouches from the filling station to the heat sealing station;
• a vision system;
• pouch moving means for moving pouches from the heat sealing station past the vision system;
• said vision system including:
• (a) a light source for producing light so that light is transmitted through a transparent region on one side of the sealed pouch which overlaps a heat seal produced by the heat sealing station;
• (b) at least one camera for receiving light transmitted through the seal;
• and
• (c) processing means for determining from the light received by the camera the integrity of the seal to determine whether the pouch should or should not be rejected.

A seal integrity monitoring system for inspecting the integrity of a seal in a pouch which has a transparent region on one side of the pouch, a translucent region on the other side of the pouch, and a seal formed between the transparent region and the translucent region, comprising:

• a light source for producing radiation and directing the radiation through the transparent region;
• a camera for viewing the translucent region and for producing an image of the translucent region;
• and
• a processor for processing the image captured by the camera to determine the integrity of the seal.

A seal integrity monitoring method for inspecting the integrity of a seal, the pouch having a first panel with a transparent region, a second panel having a translucent region, and the seal being formed between the first and second panels so the seal is between the first panel and the translucent region, the method comprising:

• irradiating the transparent region so that the radiation passes into the transparent region, and if the seal is properly formed, the first and second panels at the seal form a continuous waveguide for directing radiation to the translucent region, and if the seal is not properly formed, light is dispersed at the improperly formed seal, thereby producing a dark region at the translucent region;
• detecting the translucent region with a camera to obtain an image of the translucent region;
• and
• processing the image captured by the camera to identify any dark regions appearing at the translucent region to thereby determine the integrity of the seal.