A vertical form fill sealing machine is a type of automated assembly-line product packaging system, commonly used in the packaging industry for food and many other products. Walter Zwoyer, the inventor of the technology, patented his idea for the VFFS machine in 1936 while working with the Henry Heide Candy Company. [1] The machine constructs plastic bags and stand-up pouches out of a flat roll of film, fills them with product, and seals them. Both solids and liquids can be bagged. [2]
The typical machine is loaded with a continuous flat roll of plastic film, which has usually had labeling and artwork applied. Plastic is the most commonly used packaging material in the food industry, but the technology can be used to form continuous metallized foil/film, paper, and fabric product containers by changing the edge sealing/seaming methods. For some products the film may first be fed through a sterilizing chemical bath and dryer. [3]
Vertical or Inclined Form-Fill-Seal Packaging machine
For a vertical form-fill-seal the film approaches the back of a long hollow conical tube, which is called the forming tube. When the center of the plastic is near the tube, the outer edges of the film form flaps that wrap around the conical forming tube. The film is pulled downward around the outside of the tube and a vertical heat-sealing bar clamps onto the edges of the film to create the "fin Seal", bonding the film by melting the seam edges together. [4]
To start the bagging process, a horizontal sealing bar creates the "Bottom Seal" by clamping across the bottom edge of the tube, bonding the film together, and cutting off any film below. This sealing bar can be on a fixed height, which is called an intermittent sealing process. Faster systems include a sealing bar that moves down with the bag while sealing. This is called a continuous process. The product is either pre-measured by a multi-head weighing system or the sealed tube end is then lowered onto a precision weighing table and the product to be bagged is dispensed through the long conical tube in the center of the bag. When the gross weight of the product-filled bag is reached, filling stops, and the horizontal sealing bar seals the top of the bag, simultaneously forming the bottom of the next bag above. This bag is then cut off from the tube and is now a sealed package, ready to advance onward into the product boxing and shipping processes.
During the final sealing process, the bag may be filled with air from a blower or from an inert gas supply such as nitrogen. Inflating the bag helps reduce the crushing of fragile products such as potato chips, while inflating with inert gas drives out oxygen and retards the growth of bacteria that would spoil the product. Other product finishes such as hole punching for retail hanging racks will be done concurrently or just after the "Top Seal" is made.
The feeding of material and cutting of the bag/pouch can be determined either by pouch length, or by indexing to an eyespot (photo registration mark), which is detected by a visual sensor. While single web systems are popular for food applications, the dual web four side seal system is often popular for IVD and Medical device products. Closely related is the horizontal form-fill-seal machine, which generally uses more floor space than a vertical system. Modern advancements in pouch forming technology have allowed for smaller and smaller Vertical pouch forming systems.
Many food-filled packages are filled with nitrogen to extend shelf life without the use of chemicals. Many manufacturers create and control their own nitrogen supply by using an on demand nitrogen generators.
Dual-web systems are available for pouches requiring different materials for each side, or with four sides. Dual-web systems use two rolls of material fed in from opposite sides of the machine. The bottom and sides are heat-sealed together to form the pouch, and the product is loaded from the top. The pouch with the loaded product then advances downwards; the top is sealed and the pouch is cut off. The sealing of the top of the pouch forms the bottom of the next pouch. During this process a tear notch may be punched.
Shrink wrap, also shrink film, is a material made up of polymer plastic film. When heat is applied, it shrinks tightly over whatever it is covering. Heat can be applied with a handheld heat gun, or the product and film can pass through a heat tunnel on a conveyor.
A heat sealer is a machine used to seal products, packaging, and other thermoplastic materials using heat. This can be with uniform thermoplastic monolayers or with materials having several layers, at least one being thermoplastic. Heat sealing can join two similar materials together or can join dissimilar materials, one of which has a thermoplastic layer.
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is the practice of modifying the composition of the internal atmosphere of a package in order to improve the shelf life. The need for this technology for food arises from the short shelf life of food products such as meat, fish, poultry, and dairy in the presence of oxygen. In food, oxygen is readily available for lipid oxidation reactions. Oxygen also helps maintain high respiration rates of fresh produce, which contribute to shortened shelf life. From a microbiological aspect, oxygen encourages the growth of aerobic spoilage microorganisms. Therefore, the reduction of oxygen and its replacement with other gases can reduce or delay oxidation reactions and microbiological spoilage. Oxygen scavengers may also be used to reduce browning due to lipid oxidation by halting the auto-oxidative chemical process. Besides, MAP changes the gaseous atmosphere by incorporating different compositions of gases.
A paper bag is a bag made of paper, usually kraft paper. Paper bags can be made either with virgin or recycled fibres to meet customers' demands. Paper bags are commonly used as shopping carrier bags and for packaging of some consumer goods. They carry a wide range of products from groceries, glass bottles, clothing, books, toiletries, electronics and various other goods and can also function as means of transport in day-to-day activities.
A blister pack is any of several types of pre-formed plastic packaging used for small consumer goods, foods, and for pharmaceuticals.
An overwrap or wrap is a method of sealing a contained product, typically as part of retail packaging. It is often made of plastic film or paper. The wrap is applied over the bare product or can be applied over another form of packaging. It is typically used to protect products, but can be used decoratively.
Induction sealing is the process of bonding thermoplastic materials by induction heating. This involves controlled heating an electrically conducting object by electromagnetic induction, through heat generated in the object by eddy currents.
Shelf-stable food is food of a type that can be safely stored at room temperature in a sealed container. This includes foods that would normally be stored refrigerated, but which have been processed so that they can be safely stored at room or ambient temperature for a usefully long shelf life.
Vacuum packing is a method of packaging that removes air from the package prior to sealing. This method involves placing items in a plastic film package, removing air from inside and sealing the package. Shrink film is sometimes used to have a tight fit to the contents. The intent of vacuum packing is usually to remove oxygen from the container to extend the shelf life of foods and, with flexible package forms, to reduce the volume of the contents and package.
Food packaging is a packaging system specifically designed for food and represents one of the most important aspects among the processes involved in the food industry, as it provides protection from chemical, biological and physical alterations. The main goal of food packaging is to provide a practical means of protecting and delivering food goods at a reasonable cost while meeting the needs and expectations of both consumers and industries. Additionally, current trends like sustainability, environmental impact reduction, and shelf-life extension have gradually become among the most important aspects in designing a packaging system.
Stretch wrap or stretch film, sometimes known as pallet wrap, is a highly stretchable plastic film that is wrapped around items. The elastic recovery keeps the items tightly bound. In contrast, shrink wrap is applied loosely around an item and shrinks tightly with heat. While it is similar to plastic food wrap, it is not usually made of material rated as safe for food contact.
Aseptic processing is a processing technique wherein commercially thermally sterilized liquid products are packaged into previously sterilized containers under sterile conditions to produce shelf-stable products that do not need refrigeration. Aseptic processing has almost completely replaced in-container sterilization of liquid foods, including milk, fruit juices and concentrates, cream, yogurt, salad dressing, liquid egg, and ice cream mix. There has been an increasing popularity for foods that contain small discrete particles, such as cottage cheese, baby foods, tomato products, fruit and vegetables, soups, and rice desserts.
A stand-up pouch or doypack is a type of flexible packaging that is able to stand erect on its bottom for display, storage, and convenience. It has characteristics of plastic bags, water bottles, and retort pouches. The bottom part of a stand-up pouch is gusseted to provide support for display or use.
A cartoning machine or cartoner, is a packaging machine that forms cartons: erect, close, folded, side seamed and sealed cartons.
Package testing or packaging testing involves the measurement of a characteristic or property involved with packaging. This includes packaging materials, packaging components, primary packages, shipping containers, and unit loads, as well as the associated processes.
A retort pouch or retortable pouch is a type of food packaging made from a laminate of flexible plastic and metal foils. It allows the sterile packaging of a wide variety of food and drink handled by aseptic processing, and is used as an alternative to traditional industrial canning methods. Retort pouches are used in field rations, space food, fish products, camping food, instant noodles, and brands such as Capri-Sun and Tasty Bite.
Fillers are used for packaging, mainly for food/beverage but for other products as well. These are used to fill either a bottle or a pouch, depending on the product.
Pro Mach, Inc. is a packaging machinery company headquartered in Covington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1998 and is a member of The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI).
Hudson-Sharp Machine Company is active in the design and manufacture of plastic bag making machinery, pouch making equipment, and reclosable packaging solutions.
Packaging machinery is used throughout all packaging operations, involving primary packages to distribution packs. This includes many packaging processes: fabrication, cleaning, filling, sealing, combining, labeling, overwrapping, palletizing.
