Fitment attachment methods in horizontal form/fill/seal machines

A method of attaching fitments to a pouch of thermoplastic material in a horizontal form/fill/seal machine comprising the steps of:

• first folding a web of material substantially in half in a longitudinal direction with the fold being lowermost, and moving said material horizontally, next sealing said web vertically at spaced intervals to provide a plurality of pouches, at least partially slitting said seals with the slit extending upwardly from said fold, separating the opposite side walls of each pouch, moving a fitment against said lowermost fold surface of said pouch and causing said surface to flatten against said fitment, then applying a fitment sealing element against the flattened portion of said fold surface and heating at least one fitment and said fold surface to cause intimate bonding therebetween, said slits permitting the portions of said pouch to move toward each other.