Filling and packaging machine and process for producing package

A method of producing a package including contents held in a film while feeding the film from upward to downward, comprising the steps of:

• using a film feed mechanism to supply contents into the film formed in a tubular shape by way of a supply pipe;
• heat-sealing the film holding the supplied contents therein in a width direction thereof by a pair of seal bars adapted to be movable in the opposite direction to pressurize the film from sides and to repeat opening and closing at a reference position without moving in the vertical direction;
• sandwiching a heat-sealed portion of the film from sides of the film by a pair of cooling bars adapted to move upward to the reference position to sandwich the film between the opened seal bars at the reference position while the feeding of the film remains stopped, wherein each of the cooling bars is supported by an upper portion of a support member placed below the seal bars, extending in the vertical direction and being supported by a slider which moves in a direction in which the sliders are opposite to each other and in the vertical direction;
• sealing in the contents supplied into the film by moving the cooling bars sandwiching the film downward at the same speed as a feeding speed of the film to solidify the heat-sealed portion of the film while the film is fed downward;
• and
• sandwiching the film from the sides thereof by a pair of film holders placed above the seal bars and opposite to each other across a path through which the film passes, from the step of heat-sealing the film to the step of sandwiching the film by the cooling bars,
• wherein the seal bars and the film holders are supported by a first frame structure adapted to be position-adjustable in the vertical direction such that the seal bars and the film holders are movable opposite independently,
• wherein the film feed mechanism includes a pair of squeeze rollers placed between the supply pipe and the seal bars, cooling bars, or film holders in a direction of the feeding of the film and squeezing the film from the sides thereof and rotating at the same time to form a flat portion in the film, and
• wherein a pair of seal bars are adapted to be movable in the vertical direction to change a distance from the pair of squeeze rollers to the pair of seal bars in the vertical direction depending on a size of the package, and a movement range of the pair of cooling bars in the vertical direction is shifted by a value equal to a changed value of the position of the pair of seal bars in the vertical direction.