Form fill compression seal and cut-off packaging system for compressible goods

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a packaging system for compressible goods utilizing pre-punched alignment apertures on wicketed and/or chain-linked open bottom bags. The disclosure relates to a bag transport and indexing system through the form fill compress and seal system. The disclosure further relates to the use of sprocket pins spaced accordingly on either a horizontal linear or rotary machine so that the sprockets correspond to the pre-punched apertures on the wicketed and/or chain-linked open bottom bags.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising the steps of:
 providing a concatenation of packages, wherein the packages include an upwardly facing opening and further include a series of spaced apertures proximate to the upwardly facing opening;   engaging the series of spaced apertures with a plurality of pins;   a first step of transporting the concatenation of packages by moving the plurality of pins, whereby the packages are successively placed in a filling station which inserts compressible goods into the upwardly facing opening;   compressing the filled package thereby reducing the volume of the filled package; and   closing the upwardly facing opening.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of closing is a sealing step. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the step of sealing includes thermal sealing. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the concatenation of packages is provided as a stack. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the stack is a wicketed stack of packages, wherein rods pass through spaced apertures of successive packages. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the packages of the concatenation are inverted whereby the upwardly facing opening is a bottom of the package and the top of the package is at a lower position. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the bottom of the package includes a reclosure. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the bottom of the package is closed. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the packages includes sidewalls. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein at least one of the sidewalls includes a valve. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the sidewalls are polymeric. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6  further including a second step of transporting the concatenation of packages by moving the plurality of pins, whereby the packages successively moved from the filling station to a compressing station for the step of compressing and the step of closing. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  further including a third step of transporting the concatenation of packages by moving the plurality of pins, whereby the packages successively moved from the compressing station to a cutting station for a step of cutting the packages from the concatenation of packages. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the first, second and third transporting steps are combined into a single indexing step wherein the first, second and third transporting steps apply to different packages within the concatenation. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the filling station, the compressing station and the cutting station are configured around a circular path. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the compressible goods are provided successively along a conveying device. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the filling station includes a gripper which sequentially engages the compressible goods and places the compressible goods into the packages. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the filling station and compressing station are combined into a single station. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the series of spaced apertures is placed on at least one flange extending from the open bottom of the package. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the filling station includes a plow for spreading apart the upwardly facing opening.