Form, fill and seal packaging method utilizing zipper with slider

An apparatus for horizontally forming, horizontally filling and sealing a reclosable package comprising:

• a first drive for horizontally moving a film to a filling station and, in a moving direction, away from said filling station;
• a filling station for horizontally depositing product onto said film;
• a second drive for feeding a first zipper with a slider attached thereto in the moving direction onto said film;
• said zipper having a first profile and a second profile engageable with said first profile, each of said profiles having a web attached thereto extending away from said slider;
• means for folding said film thereby forming a base film and a top film;
• means for applying a top film over said base film;
• first sealing means for sealing said first profile web to said base film laterally adjacent to said product;
• second sealing means for sealing said second profile web to said top film laterally adjacent to said product;
• third sealing means for sealing a longitudinal edge of said top film to a longitudinal edge of said base film laterally adjacent to said first and second profile webs;
• cross-sealing means for sealing said base film and said top film together in a direction transverse to the moving direction of the base film on opposite sides of said product, capturing said product between adjacent cross seals;
• and
• a cutter for transversely cutting said sealed together base film and top film on said opposite sides of said product.