Packaging apparatus and process

1. A packaging apparatus ( 1 ) comprising:

a vacuum chamber ( 4 ) having an elongated opening ( 5 ) extending along or parallel to a longitudinal axis (L) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

a conveyor ( 8 ) configured for receiving semi-sealed packages (P), each one of the semi-sealed packages (P) having a terminal portion (TP) with at least one opening and a main portion (MP) housing one or more products, the conveyor ( 8 ) being further configured for moving the semi-sealed packages (P) relative to the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) along a main movement direction (M) such that each semi-sealed package (P) positioned on the conveyor ( 8 ) may have, during the relative movement of the semi-sealed package (P) with respect to the vacuum chamber ( 4 ), the terminal portion (TP) passing through the elongated opening ( 5 ) with its opening relatively moving within the vacuum chamber ( 4 ), while the main portion (MP) relatively moves outside the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

evacuation means ( 9 ) fluidly communicating with the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) and configured for providing the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) with an internal vacuum pressure that is lower than an ambient pressure outside the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) thereby evacuating gas present in the semi-sealed packages (P) and forming evacuated semi-sealed packages (P);

a heat sealer ( 13 ) arranged along the main movement direction (M) and configured for receiving the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P), the heat sealer ( 13 ) comprising a heat sealing station ( 14 ) configured for heat sealing the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P) thereby forming heat sealed packages (P),

at least one pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) arranged along the main movement direction (M) upstream of the heat sealing station ( 14 ) and configured for pre-heating at least a band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P),

wherein the heat sealer ( 13 ) comprises a sealing belt ( 18 ) configured for guiding the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P) along the main movement direction (M) at least from the pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) to the heat sealing station ( 14 ), the pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) being configured for pre-heating at least a heat conveying tract of the sealing belt ( 18 ) designed to come into contact with said band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P) and pre-heat it.

2. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sealing belt ( 18 ) comprises, at least on a surface designed to come into contact with a heat sealing surface of the heat sealing station ( 14 ), non-stick material; the sealing belt ( 18 ) being configured for guiding the terminal portion (TP) of evacuated semi-sealed packages (P) along the main movement direction (M) at least at the heat sealing station ( 14 ) while avoiding that said terminal portion (TP) sticks to the heat sealing station ( 14 ).

3. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) comprises a pre-heating body ( 42 ) arranged along the main movement direction (M) and facing or being at least partially in contact with the sealing belt ( 18 ), the pre-heating body ( 42 ) being configured for pre-heating said heat conveying tract of the sealing belt ( 18 ).

4. The packaging apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the heat sealer ( 13 ) comprises a first pulley ( 20 ) and a second pulley ( 21 ) opposite to each other with respect to the heat sealing station ( 14 ), the first pulley ( 20 ) being arranged upstream the heat sealing station ( 14 ) with respect to the main movement direction (M) and being configured for guiding the sealing belt ( 18 ) towards the heat sealing station ( 14 ) and the second pulley ( 21 ) being configured for circulating back the sealing belt ( 18 ) towards the first pulley ( 20 ), the pre-heating body ( 39 , 40 ) being arranged at or in proximity of the first pulley ( 20 ) and being configured for pre-heating said heat conveying tract of the sealing belt ( 18 ) in proximity of the first pulley ( 20 ).

5. The packaging apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the pre-heating body ( 42 ) has at least one housing ( 43 ) and at least one heating cartridge ( 44 ) arranged in the housing ( 43 ), the heating cartridge ( 44 ) being configured for pre-heating said heat conveying tract of the sealing belt ( 18 ) upstream of the heat sealing station ( 14 ).

6. The packaging apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the pre-heating body ( 42 ) comprises a first arm ( 42 a ), a second arm ( 42 b ) and a joining portion ( 42 c ) transversal to the first arm ( 42 a ) and the second arm ( 42 b ), the joining portion ( 42 c ) being arranged between, and joining, the first arm ( 42 a ) and the second arm ( 42 b ), said housing ( 43 ) and said heating cartridge ( 44 ) being located at the first arm ( 42 a ) and/or the second arm ( 42 b ),

the sealing belt ( 18 ) facing or being in contact with the pre-heating body ( 42 ) at least at a portion of an outer surface of the pre-heating body ( 42 ) defined at the first and/or second arm ( 42 a , 42 b ) comprising said housing ( 43 ) and said heating cartridge ( 44 ).

7. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heat sealer ( 13 ) comprises at least one pulley ( 20 , 21 ) configured for engaging the sealing belt ( 18 ), the pre-heating body ( 42 ) being configured for heating the at least one pulley ( 20 , 21 ), the pre-heating body ( 42 ) being built-in in the pulley ( 20 , 21 ) or being configured for conveying heat to the pulley ( 20 , 21 ) or being separate from the at least one pulley ( 20 , 21 ).

8. The packaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heat sealer ( 13 ) comprises a tensioning device ( 38 ) configured for tensioning the sealing belt ( 18 ).

9. A packaging apparatus ( 1 ) comprising:

a vacuum chamber ( 4 ) having an elongated opening ( 5 ) extending along or parallel to a longitudinal axis (L) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

a conveyor ( 8 ) configured for receiving semi-sealed packages (P), each one of the semi-sealed packages (P) having a terminal portion (TP) with at least one opening and a main portion (MP) housing one or more products, the conveyor ( 8 ) being further configured for moving the semi-sealed packages (P) relative to the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) along a main movement direction (M) such that each semi-sealed package (P) positioned on the conveyor ( 8 ) may have, during the relative movement of the semi-sealed package (P) with respect to the vacuum chamber ( 4 ), the terminal portion (TP) passing through the elongated opening ( 5 ) with its opening relatively moving within the vacuum chamber ( 4 ), while the main portion (MP) relatively moves outside the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

evacuation means ( 9 ) fluidly communicating with the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) and configured for providing the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) with an internal vacuum pressure that is lower than an ambient pressure outside the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) thereby evacuating gas present in the semi-sealed packages (P) and forming evacuated semi-sealed packages (P);

a heat sealer ( 13 ) arranged along the main movement direction (M) and configured for receiving the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P), the heat sealer ( 13 ) comprising a heat sealing station ( 14 ) configured for heat sealing the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P) thereby forming heat sealed packages (P),

at least one pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) arranged along the main movement direction (M) upstream of the heat sealing station ( 14 ) and configured for pre-heating at least a band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P),

further comprising a control unit ( 47 ) communicatively connected at least with the pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ), with the conveyor ( 8 ) and with the heat sealing station ( 14 ), the control unit ( 47 ) being configured for implementing a sealing procedure comprising:

setting or allowing setting of the pre-heating temperature and the heat sealing temperature,

controlling the conveyor ( 8 ) to guide at least the terminal portion (TP) of the semi-sealed packages (P) through the elongated opening ( 5 ) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) along or parallel to the longitudinal axis (L) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

controlling the pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) based on said pre-heating temperature to pre-heat at least said band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each semi-sealed package (P) while the conveyor ( 8 ) moves the terminal portion (TP) of each semi-sealed package (P) along or parallel to the longitudinal axis (L) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

controlling the heat sealing station ( 14 ) based on said heat sealing temperature to heat seal the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P) thereby forming heat sealed packages (P) while the conveyor ( 8 ) moves the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P) along or parallel to the longitudinal axis (L) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

optionally, the control unit ( 47 ) being communicatively connected also with the sealing belt ( 18 ) and being configured for controlling the sealing belt ( 18 ) in synchrony with the conveyor ( 8 ).

10. The packaging apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the control unit ( 47 ) is configured for setting the pre-heating temperature as a function of at least one of:

an internal vacuum pressure defined in at least a portion of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

a temperature of the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P) located upstream or at the pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ),

a residual target pressure of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P) or of the heat sealed packages (P),

the material of the semi-sealed packages (P) to be heat sealed,

at least one dimension of the semi-sealed packages (P), such as the thickness of the material (TP) of the semi-sealed package (P) at the terminal portion (TP) of the semi-sealed package (P), or of at least one dimension of the one or more products housed inside the semi-sealed packages (P).

11. The packaging apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a pre-heating temperature sensor ( 46 ), the control unit ( 47 ) being communicatively connected with the pre-heating temperature sensor ( 46 ) and being configured for implementing a pre-heating temperature monitoring procedure comprising:

detecting an actual temperature of the pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) or of the sealing belt ( 18 ),

comparing the detected actual temperature with the pre-heating temperature and determining a deviation between the detected actual temperature and the pre-heating temperature,

in case the deviation is greater than a prefixed threshold, controlling the pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) to reduce said deviation.

12. The packaging apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the heat sealing station ( 14 ) comprises at least one heat sealing body ( 29 ) configured to act on the pre-heated band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P), the heat sealing body ( 29 ) being configured for at least partially melting the pre-heated band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P) thereby forming heat sealed packages (P),

the control unit ( 47 ) being communicatively connected at least with the heat sealing body ( 29 ), wherein the sealing procedure further includes:

controlling the heat sealing body ( 29 ) to heat the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P) at the heat sealing temperature,

at least partially melting, at the heat sealing temperature, the pre-heated band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P) thereby forming heat sealed packages (P) while the conveyor ( 8 ) moves the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P) along or parallel to the longitudinal axis (L) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ).

13. A packaging apparatus ( 1 ) comprising:

a vacuum chamber ( 4 ) having an elongated opening ( 5 ) extending along or parallel to a longitudinal axis (L) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

a conveyor ( 8 ) configured for receiving semi-sealed packages (P), each one of the semi-sealed packages (P) having a terminal portion (TP) with at least one opening and a main portion (MP) housing one or more products, the conveyor ( 8 ) being further configured for moving the semi-sealed packages (P) relative to the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) along a main movement direction (M) such that each semi-sealed package (P) positioned on the conveyor ( 8 ) may have, during the relative movement of the semi-sealed package (P) with respect to the vacuum chamber ( 4 ), the terminal portion (TP) passing through the elongated opening ( 5 ) with its opening relatively moving within the vacuum chamber ( 4 ), while the main portion (MP) relatively moves outside the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

evacuation means ( 9 ) fluidly communicating with the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) and configured for providing the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) with an internal vacuum pressure that is lower than an ambient pressure outside the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) thereby evacuating gas present in the semi-sealed packages (P) and forming evacuated semi-sealed packages (P);

a heat sealer ( 13 ) arranged along the main movement direction (M) and configured for receiving the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P), the heat sealer ( 13 ) comprising a heat sealing station ( 14 ) configured for heat sealing the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P) thereby forming heat sealed packages (P),

at least one pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) arranged along the main movement direction (M) upstream of the heat sealing station ( 14 ) and configured for pre-heating at least a band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P),

further comprising a first pre-heating unit ( 39 ) and a second pre-heating unit ( 40 ) arranged opposite each other with respect to the elongated opening ( 5 ) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) and configured for receiving therebetween the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P),

optionally the pre-heating body ( 42 ) of the first pre-heating unit ( 39 ) being configured for pre-heating a first surface of said band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P) and the pre-heating body ( 42 ) of the second pre-heating unit ( 40 ) being configured for pre-heating a second surface, opposite to the first surface, of said band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P).

14. A packaging process of semi-sealed packages (P) comprising the steps of:

providing a packaging apparatus ( 1 ) comprising:

a vacuum chamber ( 4 ) having an elongated opening ( 5 ) extending along or parallel to a longitudinal axis (L) of the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

a conveyor ( 8 ) configured for receiving semi-sealed packages (P), each one of the semi-sealed packages (P) having a terminal portion (TP) with at least one opening and a main portion (MP) housing one or more products, the conveyor ( 8 ) being further configured for moving the semi-sealed packages (P) relative to the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) along a main movement direction (M) such that each semi-sealed package (P) positioned on the conveyor ( 8 ) may have, during the relative movement of the semi-sealed package (P) with respect to the vacuum chamber ( 4 ), the terminal portion (TP) passing through the elongated opening ( 5 ) with its opening relatively moving within the vacuum chamber ( 4 ), while the main portion (MP) relatively moves outside the vacuum chamber ( 4 ),

evacuation means ( 9 ) fluidly communicating with the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) and configured for providing the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) with an internal vacuum pressure that is lower than an ambient pressure outside the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) thereby evacuating gas present in the semi-sealed packages (P) and forming evacuated semi-sealed packages (P);

a heat sealer ( 13 ) arranged along the main movement direction (M) and configured for receiving the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P), the heat sealer ( 13 ) comprising a heat sealing station ( 14 ) configured for heat sealing the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P) thereby forming heat sealed packages (P),

at least one pre-heating unit ( 39 , 40 ) arranged along the main movement direction (M) upstream of the heat sealing station ( 14 ) and configured for pre-heating at least a band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P),

providing at least one semi-sealed package (P) having a terminal portion (TP) with at least one opening and a main portion (MP) housing one or more products,

moving the semi-sealed package (P) along the main movement direction (M), the step of moving the semi-sealed package (P) along the main movement direction (M) comprising:

introducing at least the terminal portion (TP) of the semi-sealed package (P) in the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) at the elongated opening ( 5 ),

moving at least the terminal portion (TP) of the semi-sealed package (P) inside the vacuum chamber ( 4 ) along or parallel to the elongated opening ( 5 ),

evacuating gas present in the semi-sealed package (P) and forming evacuated semi-sealed package (P) while moving the semi-sealed package (P) along the main movement direction (M),

heat sealing the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed package (P),

before heat sealing the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed package (P), pre-heating at least a band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P),

wherein the step of pre-heating at least said band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P) comprises:

pre-heating at least said heat conveying tract of a sealing belt ( 18 ) acting on the terminal portion (TP) of the evacuated semi-sealed packages (P), the sealing belt ( 18 ) optionally cooperating in guiding the terminal portion (TP) along the main movement direction (M),

pre-heating said band (TP 2 ) of the terminal portion (TP) of each evacuated semi-sealed package (P) by means of the heat conveying tract of the sealing belt ( 18 ).