Machine and a method for manufacturing pouches of cohesionless material
AssigneeAzionaria Costruzioni Macchine Automatiche A.C.M.A. S.p.A.
InventorFulvio Boldrini
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Pouches (2) of cohesionless material, typically a smokeless tobacco product, are manufactured on a machine equipped with feed components (101) by which the material is supplied to a conveyor (4) at a delivery station (8), then transferred by the conveyor (4) from this station (8) to a transfer station (9) where a forcing mechanism (14) directs measured portions (100) of the material from the conveyor into at least one duct (12) connecting with a form-fill-and-seal wrapping station (10) where the portions (100) are enclosed in a continuous succession (21) of pouches (2). Before being separated one from the next at a downstream cutting station (23), the single pouches (2) pass through an in-line quality control station (105) at which their weight is checked individually.
Claims12
A machine for manufacturing pouches of cohesionless material, comprising
- a feed mechanism for feeding the cohesionless material to a conveying mechanism at a delivery station, from where the cohesionless material is transported by the conveying mechanism to a transfer station;
- a forcing mechanism, operating at the transfer station, for directing predetermined single portions of the cohesionless material from the conveying mechanism into at least one connecting duct associated with a wrapping station where the single portions are enclosed in a continuous succession of pouches;
- a cutting mechanism for dividing the continuous succession of pouches one from a next,
- a weight checking mechanism positioned upstream of the cutting mechanism for checking a weight of each pouch while still attached to other pouches in the continuous succession of pouches.
A method for manufacturing pouches of cohesionless material, including the steps of:
- supplying the cohesionless material to a conveying mechanism via use of a feed mechanism, at a delivery station;
- directing the cohesionless material, via the conveying mechanism, from the delivery station to a transfer station;
- transferring predetermined portions of the cohesionless material, via a forcing mechanism operating at the transfer station, from the conveyor mechanism to at least one duct connecting with a wrapping station where the pouches are formed, filled and sealed;
- checking a weight of each pouch while still attached to other pouches in a continuous succession of pouches exiting the wrapping station and upstream of a cutting station for cutting the continuous succession of pouches one from a next.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.