Gel Package Form/Fill/Seal Gel Packaging Equipment

General designs and
manufactures the liquid
fillers used for metering
the gels into bags.

General Model 80LC VFFS Machine–
Gel Pack Sizes up to 5 pounds

General Twin Tube Model 70WL2C
set up to produce two
2-pound gel packs per cycle.

General vertical form fill seal machines are widely used by gel pack manufacturers.

In addition to base vertical form fill seal (VFFS) machines, General Packaging designs and manufactures the liquid fillers used for metering the gels into bags.

General Packaging Equipment Co. has built VFFS machines since 1954 and its first liquid packaging machine was put into operation in 1963. General makes a range of liquid fillers to accommodate specific product characteristics and fill volume requirements. Food products packaged on General machines include Avocado puree, cheese sauce, chili, freezer pops, stews, pie fillings and vegetable oils. Non-food products include abrasive polishing compounds, liquid bleach, industrial greases, printer inks, soaps and reactants for instant hot packs and cold packs. General also builds machines to produce sterilized water pouches for emergency use.

Gels are metered with lobe pump fillers. General manufactured piston fillers until 1999 when advances in variable frequency drive (VFD) technology made them highly reliable and economically acceptable for use in pump filling. Pump fillers require far less maintenance than piston fillers and will run a wide range of fill volumes without change parts. Pump fill volumes and pump motor speeds are controlled through touch screens on the operator interface.

The fill spout delivering the gel to package as it is formed terminates a short distance above the point at which the sealing and cutting jaws come together. A plug synchronized with the pump closes off the bottom of the spout to insure accurate fill volumes and to keep the product out of the seal area.

General’s base bag forming machines are exceptionally simple and reliable. General’s drawbar models, a number of which have been in operation for over 50 years, are unlike any other VFFS machine available today. They are designed to apply higher than usual sealing pressure which in many cases makes the difference in making reliable seals and not making them. The majority of non-liquid applications for VFFS machines do not require such high sealing pressure so competitive machines are not designed to apply as much as is needed for liquid packaging .

In case there is any product in the seal area General’s liquid sealing jaws are designed to push the product out of the seal area as the jaws come together. Conventional sealing jaws tend to trap product in the seals resulting in defective seals.

To our knowledge no one has counted the number of VFFS machines that are making gel packs, but we think that it is safe to say that there are far more General machines than any other make and it is likely that the majority of them are General machines. This is for good reason; rugged and reliable machines well designed for gel pack production.

If you would like to have information on General vertical form/fill/seal machines please contact us:

General Packaging Equipment Company
6048 Westview Street
Houston, TX 77055
Phone: 713-686-4331
Fax:713-683-3967