An apparatus for packaging discrete and resiliently compressible articles of substantially uniform and generally rectagular shape in a compressed state, said apparatus comprising in combination;
- (a) article compressing conveyor means having an inlet end and an outlet end for advancing in mutually spaced succession the discrete articles between said inlet and outlet ends while materially reducing the dimension of each article in a direction perpendicular to the direction of advance thereof;
- (b) an elongate, rigid nozzle structure having an inlet end and an outlet end and surrounding an open-ended, straight passageway of generally rectangular cross section for the compressed articles emanating from the outlet end of said article compressing conveyor means, said nozzle structure being supported only near its inlet end in a manner to present a freely extending outlet end portion of substantial length having an outer cross-sectional contour which is of substantially uniform size and shape throughout said free length;
- (c) a pair of cooperating and synchronously driven endless belt conveyors extending longitudinally through said nozzle structure and close to opposite walls of said passageway therein up to the outlet end of said nozzle structure, those portions of said two belt conveyors extending through said free outlet end portion of said nozzle structure being located entirely inside the latter, said two belt conveyors being operative to advance the compressed articles emanating from said article compressing conveyor means through said nozzle structure while maintaining their reduced sizes;
- (d) tube forming means for forming outside and around said free outlet end portion of said nozzle structure and from a continuously supplied web of flexible, heat-sealable wrapping material a continuous, longitudinally sealed tube adapted to receive therein at spaced intervals the compressed articles discharged through the outlet end of said nozzle structure, said tube forming means comprising a web-folding plow device embracing said free outlet end portion of the nozzle structure in closely spaced relationship thereto for causing the wrapping web to successively surround said outlet end portion and the longitudinal margins of the web to meet in overlapping relationship, and heat-sealing means for successively sealing together the overlapping longitudinal margins of the web while the same is still surrounding said outlet end portion of the nozzle structure;
- (e) a double-belt discharge conveyor having an inlet end facing the outlet end of said nozzle structure in spaced relationship thereto and being operative to receive and further advance the tube coming from the outside of said nozzle structure as well as the compressed articles coming from the inside thereof and being surrounded by said tube, said discharge conveyor being adapted to maintain over a considerable length of path a sufficient compression of said articles to prevent them from completely filling up the interior cross section of said tube and from thus exerting expansion forces thereon;
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- (f) means located in the vicinity of the outlet end of said nozzle structure for selectively feeding forward over said nozzle outlet end the tube formed around said outlet end portion of the nozzle structure, said tube feeding means comprising two transversely extending feed rollers rotatably mounted inside said nozzle structure close to opposite walls of said passageway therein and being driven by the respective ones of said two endless belt conveyors in said passageway, said feed rollers being exposed to the outside of said nozzle structure through corresponding slots in said walls;
- two idling pressure rollers, one for each of said feed rollers and coextensive therewith, rotatably and movably mounted outside said nozzle structure in a manner to let the tube formed around said outlet end portion of the nozzle structure pass freely between the latter and said pressure rollers;
- and means for selectively moving both of said pressure rollers towards the respective ones of said feed rollers in order to make the tube engage the latter for thus effecting feeding of the tube.