Process for forming sealed liquid filled bags

Claim 1

A process for continuously forming sealed liquid filled dispenser bags in a high speed automated operation from an elongate web of heat sealable plastics material comprising: i. punching holes in said web along the length thereof at predetermined spaced intervals; ii. orienting a plurality of dispensing closures relative to an orifice provided therein; iii. feeding the dispensing closures in single file to a pick up position while maintaining said dispensing closures in said oriented configuration, said dispensing closures comprising attachment means having a spout with an annular flange, a diaphragm member mounted on said attachment means, said diaphragm member being manually deformable to allow flow of liquid through said spout and out of the orifice in said dispensing closure; iv. moving dispensing closures singly from said pick up position into registry with each of said holes in said web such that a spout protrudes through each hole and the respective flange is brought into contact with the web immediately surrounding the respective hole; v. heat sealing each flange to said web, vi. forming said web into an upwardly directed tube by folding the web upon itself and heat sealing the overlapped portion formed thereby, whereby each flange which has been heat sealed to said web is disposed in the interior of said tube; vii. transversely sealing a portion of said tube; viii. separating the upper and lower portions of said tube at said heat seal during said heat sealing of said tube portion; ix. dispensing a metered amount of liquid into said upper tube portion; x. moving said upper tube portion containing liquid downwards; and xi. repeating steps (vii) and (viii) to form a sealed liquid filled bag having a dispensing closure secured thereto which is separated from said tube and an upper tube portion which is arranged to receive a further metered amount of liquid.