Precise snuff portion packaging machine

An apparatus for producing packets of a flowable material, each of the packets comprises a quantity of said flowable material enclosed within a layer of heat-sealable sheet material, the apparatus comprising:

• a fixed tubular structure forming a passageway for said flowable material which extends to a discharge opening, a movable feeder structure that moves in a continuous manner relative to said fixed tubular structure to deliver a series of quantities of said flowable material into said fixed tubular structure, said fixed tubular structure having an outside surface configuration which is adapted to guide a strip of said heat-sealable sheet material being formed into a tube with edges of said strip overlapping, wherein said strip of said heat-sealable sheet material is moved onto said fixed tubular structure at a substantially even rate, a die structure to seal said edges of said strip together at a level above said discharge opening thereby to form a filling zone within which said series of said quantities of said flowable material are discharged through said fixed tubular structure in a time-separated series into said tube, a set of movable sealer surfaces to engage opposing sides of said tube to cross-seal said tube in a predetermined manner away from said discharge opening such that said tube is adapted to receive each of said quantities of said flowable material enclosed in said tube between two successive cross-sealed portions of said tube, and a cutting unit spaced below and movable relative to said set of movable sealer surfaces so as to cut said tube along said cross-sealed portions.