Method and apparatus for filling and packaging a flowable product

In a packaging apparatus including conveyor means for intermittently transporting containers along a generally horizontal path in an upright position to a plurality of processing stations for filing said containers with a flowable product, and thereafter closing and sealing the containers, comprising:

• (a) means for dispensing open-ended containers in sequence from a nested stack of said containers at a first station such that said containers are dropped onto the conveyor and carried therealong supported in said upright position;
• (b) filling means at a second station for filling each of the conveyed containers on said conveyor with a requisite quantity of flowable product;
• (c) insertion means at a third station for seating a preshaped closure fitment within the open end of one of the filled containers on the conveyor to thereby define a lip portion of the filled container that extends beyond a peripheral edge of said closure fitment;
• (d) means at a fourth station for interengaging each of said closure fitments and the container within which each said fitment is seated to form a closed container structure, said interengaging means including crimping means which further includes crimping segments and means to inwardly and downwardly move said crimping segments to fold the container lip portion inwardly and downwardly over the peripheral edge of the closure fitment and onto an inner face of the closure fitment to form said closed container structure;
• and (e) sealing means for sealing the folded lip portion of each container to the inner face of each of the closure fitments to produce filled and sealed packages, said filled and sealed packages being conveyed to a discharge end of the apparatus on said conveyor.