Apparatus and method for case packing flexible bags

Claim 1

Apparatus for case packing of products in flexible bags, said bags being partially compressible, the apparatus comprising: (a) a tongue assembly for supporting, guiding and compressing flexible product-containing bags, said tongue assembly having a flat plate for supporting a row of flexible product-containing bags from the sides of the bags, a movable lip for supporting the flexible product-containing bags from the bottoms of the bags and means for moving the movable lip from a bag-supporting position to a non-supporting position to release a row of flexible product-containing bags after they have been inserted into a carton; (b) means for holding an open carton in a bag-receiving position relative to the tongue assembly, such that the bottom of the carton is perpendicular to the flat plate; (c) means for moving the tongue assembly toward the bottom of the open carton to guide a row of flexible product-containing bags into the carton and for retracting the tongue assembly after a row of flexible product-containing bags has been deposited in the carton; and (d) means for moving the open carton, relative to the tongue assembly, in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the flat plate to compress a row of flexible product-containing bags in the carton and for indexing the carton into a position to receive a new row of flexible product-containing bags.