VACUUM PACKAGING MACHINES

PACKAGING MACHINES

There are three different types of packaging machine which can be used for packaging portions of cheese. Some examples are given below

Chamber machines

This type of equipment uses mainly pre-made pouches (e.g. nylon/polyethylene laminate and polyester or cellulose/polyethylene laminate or related plastic films). The pouch is filled with product, loaded into the chamber which evacuates the air from the pack and then heat seals it.

As a result, the product is in air tight container and the shelf life of cheese packaged in this system (kept under refrigeration) is up to 3 months. In small operations, this system of packaging is carried out manually by placing the portion of cheese inside the pouch and transferring it to the vacuum chamber. When the lid of the chamber is closed, the vacuum is activate followed by heat sealing.

Automatic thermoforming machines

The majority of high speed, vacuum packaging machines are known as form-fill-seal machines. Most of these machines have been adopted for gas flushing. The packaging material is delivered to the dairy in large reels of plastic sheet and two reels are fed into the machine. The base reel which is a thermoplastic material is warmed and vacuum or compressed air stretches the film into cooled, multi-row moulds, which transforms the sheet into desired shape.

The cheese portions are placed into the well and as the cheese container moves forward to the vacuum and heat sealing chamber, it is covered by a plastic sheet from the top reel. The following stage consist of removing the air from the chamber, heat sealing the thermoplastic material to each other, and finally longitudinal and cross cutting units separate the cheese portions before transferring them to the weighing and labeling section.