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When you buy a package of hot dogs
at the market or
your doctor opens a sterile package of medical supplies, you may well be
looking at something packaged by the type of machines
R. Paven Engineering
works with. |
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The process of packaging goods
in a form, fill, & seal environment resembles an
automobile assembly line. There are several "stations" along the path of the
machine's flow where various operations are performed. |
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Basically, two layers of plastic film
are used to form a package with the product in between. On these "roll stock" style
of packaging machines, the bottom layer is formed to fit the product and the
top layer remains flat. After product is added to the bottom "pocket", the
top layer is attached to the bottom layer by heating
the edges until they fuse. This is illustrated below. |
There are 4 basic
"stations" where operations are performed: |
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1- Form. This is where the bottom layer of film
is fed into the machine, heated, and molded into the desired shape by
various means available. |
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2- Fill. In this operation,
products are added into the formed "pockets" or "cavities"
either by machinery or people. |
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3- Seal. This is where the top layer of film is rolled over the
"filled cavity" and melted or fused with the bottom
layer. |
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4- Cut off. After the "sealing" process is completed, the individual
packages are cut off to package specifications. |
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At this point, the packages are led
off of the machine by a conveyor belt and boxed for shipment, racked, or
whatever is desired for the next stage of production.
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To see examples of these
packages, click on this image:
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