Wrapping and sealing machine

Claim 1

A wrapping and sealing machine, comprising; (a) an intermittently movable wrapping assembly for wrapping plastic products, each having a parallelpiped shape, in wraps each defined by sheet like material wrapped about four consecutive sides of the respective product, the wrap having end portions thereof mutually superposed on one of the sides and having tabs folded on the two other, mutually opposite sides on the product; (b) a first sealing and conveying unit, comprising: a disk movable in intermittent rotary steps synchronically with the wrapping assembly and having circumferential pockets, each disposed to be brought into a product-receiving station by one of the rotary steps to receive one of the products with the mutualy superposed wrap portions exposed on a side of the disk, the disk having, in each pocket, two end walls approximately radial of the disk, spaced apart a distance equal to that between the folded tabs and normally in contact with the folded tabs on the product received in the pocket, each pocket having open sides on parallel sides of the disk, a supporting plate parallel with the disk and extending along a circumferential portion thereof to close one of said open sides, the unit also having, in overlying relationship with consecutive circumferential segments of the disk: a presser plate disposed opposite the supporting plate and reciprocably movable toward the disk to press the received plastic products into the respective pockets and thereby to flatten the mutually superposed wrap portions and the folded tabs, a heat-welding plate for weld-sealing the mutually superposed wrap portions, and a cooling plate for cooling the heat-welded, weld-sealed wrap portions; and (c) a second sealing and conveying unit, comprising; a generally similar disk having heat-welding and cooling plates disposed respectively to heat-weld the folded tabs and to cool the heat-welded tabs, the second unit also having means for discharging the wrapped products with heat-welded wrap portions and tabs thereon, the disk of the second unit being normal to the disk of the first unit and the two disks being disposed to intersect one another at a location remote from the supporting, heat welding and cooling plates by having one of the pockets of one of the disks coincide with one of the pockets of the other disk upon each intermittent rotary step for directly transferring a wrapped product with the heat-welded and cooled wrap portions thereof to the second unit for the heat-welding and cooling of the folded tabs.