R. A. Jones Co., Inc.

Mark R Nease

Robert M Kalany

Michael E Myers

Joseph D Greenwell

Eric W Scarpa

Harold T Benner, Jr

Wickliffe Jones, Deceased

A single level filler wheel for filling pouches with multiple products including a filler wheel having at least two sets of funnels defined within the wheel and spouts attached to the underside of the wheel, alternating spouts communicating with funnels of each set so that products dispensed on the wheel into two different feed paths are respectively received by the respective funnel sets and transferred directly into alternating spouts for filling at least two products, one into each alternate pouch. The total product drop is halved with respect to dual level filling devices and through-put speeds can be significantly increased. Multiple products in excess of two and varied feed drops can be provided by adding funnel sets, alternating spouts differently and the like. Methods and apparatus are disclosed.

Single level multiple product filler wheel

A web of pouches is fed past a detector. Inflating mechanism inflates individual pouches to create individual profiles. The detector responds to the appearance of a preselected distance between the surface of the pouch and the detector as each pouch passes the detector.

Pouch profile detector

A web is folded upon itself and transversely sealed. The web is cut into individual pouches which are fed into gripper units, on an endless conveyor, each having a fixed leading jaw and a movable trailing jaw which grip the leading and trailing edges of the pouches. To open a pouch, the trailing jaw is moved toward the fixed jaw by a cam and held in position by friction. Each opened pouch is carried around a filler unit where it is filled. Thereafter, a cam causes said jaws to spread apart, stretching the mouth of the pouch, where it is sealed in a heat sealer.

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Lakeside Park, KY, United States of America

Mark R Nease