Process and apparatus for automated manufacture of link sausages having casings formed of synthetic tubular material

A process for the automatic manufacture of sausages of the type having a casing formed of synthetic tubular material wherein the respective sausage links are closed at one of their ends, then filled with forcemeat and closed at their other end, comprising the following steps:

• supplying synthetic tubular material from a reel to a shirring station,
• shirring a relatively long length of said tubular material, which has a moisture content for stuffing, onto a receiving element, in a first operation, to form a hollow body of shirred tubular material,
• and taking each hollow body of shirred tubular material, individually, and placing same onto the outlet opening of a sausage stuffing machine, stuffing forcemeat into the tubular material, concurrently pushing out the shirred folds and closing the ends of the respective sausage links,
• wherein the supplied tubular material, before the shirring operation, is continuously kept open by means of a special guide body separate from the receiving element and coaxial therewith, the said guide body being stationary during the shirring step, and
• wherein said shirring step takes place while a previously formed shirred length of tubular material, which was transferred to the stuffing outlet following shirring, is being stuffed,
• and further including cutting off a length of shirred material between the guide body and the receiving element and closing one end of said shirred tubular material after cutting off and stuffing.