In an apparatus for the production of vacuum packages, comprising a drum having serially arranged mold cavities on its surface, is provided a cover means extending over at least two serially arranged mold cavities.
A cover belt for a duct is presented, which can be swung up from a closed position by a deflecting device movable in the longitudinal direction of the duct and falls back in its closed position behind the deflecting device. The cover belt is made of a flexibly deformable material with metallic reinforcements. The cover belt is comprised of a securing strip, a joint strip and a cover strip. The securing strip is secured along the duct, the joint strip connects the securing strip flexibly to the cover strip, and the cover strip spans the duct and is supported on both sides of the duct. At least one belt-shaped textile reinforcement layer with essentially the same overall width as the cover belt is embedded in the flexibly deformable material in the area of the neutral plane of the cover belt. First oblong elements of the metallic reinforcement are arranged between the underside of the cover belt and the textile reinforcements so as to extend essentially at right angles to the longitudinal direction over the full width of the cover belt.
