Wrapping machine

Claim 2

In apparatus for wrapping an elongated workpiece in flexible film, a. at a first station, A wrapping frame including means for mounting a pair of rolls of said film with a web thereof extending between said rolls, and spaced-apart guide means for locating a span of said web so as to extend substantially horizontally, b. a horizontally extending conveyor located immediately beneath said span for supporting a said workpiece with said span lying between the the workpiece and the conveyor, c. means for moving said wrapping frame upwardly relatively to said conveyor while the latter is stationary to wrap said span of film around the sides of said workpiece, d. means for moving said guide means inwardly towards each other above said workpiece to complete a film wrap around the workpiece, e. a pair of spaced-apart sealing means and cutting means between said sealing means mounted to move inwardly with said guide means for sealing together the wrapped-around ends of film across the width thereof at a pair of spaced-apart locations to form a pair of seals, the first of which seals closes the film wrap around said workpiece and the second of which seals joins the otherwise free film ends together to maintain a continuous film web between said rolls, said cutting means being effective between such spaced sealing means to separate the seals formed thereby and thus separate the wrapped workpiece from the newly rejoined film web extending across the elevated wrapping frame, f. means for driving said conveyor to move said workpiece to a second station and to leave said first station free for said wrapping frame to descent to bring said newly rejoined film web to film web to lie closely superjacent said conveyor at the first station for receipt of a second workpiece and repetition of the foregoing wrapping action, g. and means at said second station for closing and sealing portions of film projecting beyond the ends of such workpiece to complete the end wrapping thereof.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1 for wrapping generally cylindrical workpieces of varying size, including means for detecting the height of said workpiece when lying on a side thereof on said conveyor and for accordingly stopping operation of said means (c) for moving the wrapping frame upwardly when said guide means have reached a level just above the upper surface of said workpiece.

Claim 4

Apparatus according to claim 2, including h. centering means at the second station for moving said end-wrapping means (g) to a location in which said means (g) is vertically centered on the workpiece, i. and means connected to said workpiece-height-detecting means at the first station for moving said centering means (h) at the second station to its correct location, upon operation of said conveyor to transfer the workpiece from the first to the second station.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said end-wrapping means (g) comprise, at each end of the workpiece, i. a pair of arms and means for moving said arms together to clamp between them the portions of film projecting beyond the workpiece end, and ii. sealing and cutting means mounted on said arms to move together therewith for sealing together said film portions across the width of the workpiece end and for cutting off any film portions projecting beyond the seal so formed.

Claim 6

Apparatus for wrapping elongated, generally cylindrical workpieces in the form of rolls or bolts of textile material of varying diameters in flexible film, comprising a first station, a second station and an horizontal conveyor extending between said stations; i. said first station comprising a. a wrapping frame including means for mounting a pair of rolls of said film with a web thereof extending between said rolls, and spaced-apart guide means for locating a span of said web to extend substantially horizontally just above a first location on said conveyor, b. means for feeding a first said workpiece onto the conveyor at said first location with the span of film lying between the workpiece and the conveyor, c. means for moving said spaced-apart guide means towards each other to engage said workpiece and center the same at the first station, d. means for subsequently retracting said guide means beyond the sides of the workpiece, e. means for moving said wrapping frame vertically upwardly relatively to said conveyor to wrap said span of film around the sides of the workpiece, f. spaced-apart sealing and cutting means on said frame, g. means for detecting when said sealing and cutting means have reached a level above the upper surface of the workpiece, h. means connected to said detecting means for for moving said sealing and cutting means together for sealing together the wrapped-around ends of film across the width thereof at a pair of spaced-apart locations to form a pair of seals, the first of which seals closes the film wrap around the workpiece and the second of which seals joins the otherwise free film ends together to maintain a continuous film web between said rolls, said cutting means being effective between such spaced sealing means to separate the seals formed thereby and thus separate the wrapped workpiece from the newly rejoined film web extending across the elevated wrapping frame, i. means for driving said conveyor to move the wrapped workpiece to the second station, j. and means for returning the wrapping frame to its lower position to bring the newly rejoined film web again to lie closely superjacent the conveyor in readiness for receipt of a second said workpiece and repetition of the circumferential wrapping procedure; ii. and said second station comprising end-wrapping means at each end of the workpiece, each such end-wrapping means comprising k. a vertically movable carriage, l. spaced-apart sealing and cutting means on said carriage, m. means connected to said detecting means (g) for moving said carriage to a location in which said sealing and cutting means (1) are vertically centered on said first workpiece upon conveyance thereof to the second station by said conveyor, n. and means on said carriage for moving together said sealing and cutting means for sealing together portions of film projecting beyond the workpiece end across the width of the workpiece end across the width of the workpiece end and for cutting off any film portions projecting beyond the seal so formed.

Claim 7

Apparatus for wrapping elongated, generally cylindrical workpieces in the form of rolls or bolts of textile material of varying diameters in flexible film, comprising a first station, a second station and an horizontal conveyor extending between said stations; i. said first station comprising a. a wrapping frame including means for mounting a pair of rolls of said film with a web thereof extending between said rolls, and spaced-apart guide means for locating a span of said web to extend substantially horizontally just above a first location on said conveyor, b. means for feeding a first said workpiece onto the conveyor at said first location with the span of film lying between the workpiece and the conveyor, c. means for moving said spaced-apart guide means towards each other to engage said workpiece and center the same at the first station, d. means for subsequently retracting said guide means beyond the sides of the workpiece, e. means for moving said wrapping frame vertically upwardly relatively to said conveyor to wrap said span of film around the sides of the workpiece, f. spaced-apart sealing and cutting means on said frame, g. means for detecting when said sealing and cutting means have reached a level above the upper surface of the workpiece, h. means connected to said detecting means for for moving said sealing and cutting means together for sealing together the wrapped-around ends of film across the width thereof at a pair of spaced-apart locations to form a pair of seals, the first of which seals closes the film wrap around the workpiece and the second of which seals joins the otherwise free film ends together to maintain a continuous film web between said rolls, said cutting means being effective between such spaced sealing means to separate the seals formed thereby and thus separate the wrapped workpiece from the newly rejoined film web extending across the elevated wrapping frame, i. means for driving said conveyor to move the wrapped workpiece to the second station, j. and means for returning the wrapping frame to its lower position to bring the newly rejoined film web again to lie closely superjacent the conveyor in readiness for receipt of a second said workpiece and repetition of the circumferential wrapping procedure; ii. and said second station comprising end-wrapping means at each end of the workpiece, each such end-wrapping means comprising k. a vertically movable carriage, l. spaced-apart sealing and cutting means on said carriage, m. means connected to said detecting means (g) for moving said carriage to a location in which said sealing and cutting means (1) are vertically centered on said first workpiece upon conveyance thereof to the second station by said conveyor, n. and means on said carriage for moving together said sealing and cutting means for sealing together portions of film projecting beyond the workpiece end across the width of the workpiece end across the width of the workpiece end and for cutting off any film portions projecting beyond the seal so formed.