Method and apparatus for making parallelepiped packages

Claim 1

IN A METHOD OF PRODUCING PARALLELELEPIPED PACKS, FILLED WITH FLUENT MATERIAL, FROM A CONTINUOUS FLEXIBLE TUBE FILLED TO A PREDETERMINED LEVEL WITH THE FLUENT MATERIAL AND WITHOUT ANY PRELIMINARY COMPRESSION OF THE TUBE IN THE REGION OF THE TRANSVERSE EDGES OF THE PACKS TO BE FORMED, AND WITH THE INDIVIDUAL PACKS BEING FORMED BY LATERAL COMPRESSION OF OPOSITELY DISPOSED WALLS OF THE TUBES AT LONGITUDINALLY SPACED INTERVALS CORRESPNDING TO THE DESIRED SIZE OF THE PACKS AND WITH THE PRODUCTION OF TRANSVERSE SEAMS AT SUCH INTERVALS AND SUBSEQUENT SEVERING OF THE TUBE IN THE CENTRAL ZONE OF THE TRANSVERSE SEAMS: THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING COMPLETELY ENCASING THE TUBE AROUND ITS ENTIRE PERIPHERY AND OVER A LENGTH THEREOF AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE PRESELECTED LENGTH OF A PACK TO DEFORM THE TUBE TO A RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTION AND TO ADVANCE THE TUBE SOLELY BY FRICTIONAL CONTACT WITH THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE THEREOF; AND, WHILE PROGRESSIVELY SHAPING SELECTED LENGTHS OF THE TUBE INTO INTERCONNECTED PACKS OF EXACT PARALLELEPIPED FORM AND FORMING TRANSVERSE TERMINAL SEALS BETWEEN THE PACKS, MAINTAINING A TUBE ADVANCING TENSION ON THE TUBE NOT IN EXCESS OF THE FRICTIONAL FORCE EXERTED ON THE TUBE DURING INITIAL GRIPPING AND SHAPING THEREOF.