Packaging unit and method for producing sealed packages containing a pourable food product

A packaging unit for producing sealed packages containing a pourable food product from a tube of packaging material fed along a first direction and filled with the pourable food product;

• said unit comprising:
• at least one pair of jaws, configured to grip said tube along spaced transverse sections, defining respective second directions crosswise with respect to said first direction;
• sealing means configured to seal said transverse sections in order to form said sealed packages;
• separating means configured to separate said packages from said tube along said transverse sections and comprising at least one knife movably supported by one of said jaws;
• and
• driving means configured to move said knife with respect to said one of said jaws along a plane crosswise to said first direction and between a resting position, in which a cutting edge of said knife is spaced from said tube and is aligned with the respective second direction defined by the transverse section to be cut, and an operating position, in which said knife has completely cut said tube at the respective transverse section;
• wherein said driving means are configured to move said cutting edge obliquely with respect to the respective second direction when said driving means move, in use, said knife from said resting position towards said operating position;
• said cutting edge contacting, in use, the respective transverse section along a cutting surface, which is parallel to the respective second direction and progressively increases as said knife moves, in use, from said resting position to said operating position;
• and
• said cutting surface corresponding to the length of said respective transverse section along the respective second direction when said knife is in said operating position.