Apparatus for wrapping articles of a shape of thin rectangular parallelopipeds

Claim 2

Mechanism for wrapping a rectangular article in a rectangular wrapper, comprising means for feeding forwardly a continuous wrapper web, means for making two cuts extending towards each other from opposite sides of the web, means for cutting off a length of the web to form a wrapper blank, means for feeding forwardly the cut-off blank, means for folding on to the blank the two flaps formed between the cuts and one end to form a rectangular panel of the size of the article, means for plunging an article into the blank and for feeding the article and blank forwardly, means for folding the blank about the article with the rectangular panel covering one side of the article, and with the remainder of the blank covering the other side of the article with a side margin on three sides thereof, means for folding the two oppositely disposed side margins around respective sides of the article onto the rectangular panel, means for folding the third side margin around a side of the article onto the rectangular panel, and means for securing the side margins to the rectangular panel.

Claim 3

Mechanism as claimed in claim 1 comprising, in advance of the means for folding the third side margin, plough means for tucking in the corners between the side margins and the adjacent other two side margins to form triangulated ends, and means for folding down the triangulated ends on to the edge of the article and on to the third side margin.

Claim 4

Mechanism as claimed in claim 1, and further comprising means for feeding forwardly into contact with the continuous wrapper web a continuous tear strip, means for gumming the tear strip to the wrapper web, and means for cutting the end of the tear strip at the position along the web where a blank will be cut off.

Claim 5

Mechanism as claimed in claim 3 wherein the means for making the two cuts extending towards each other, and the means for cutting the tear strip, comprise an Oppositely disposed pair of knives carried by a rotatable knife carrier, and a stationary knife with which the rotating knives cooperate, in alternation, on rotation of the knife carrier.

Claim 6

Mechanism as claimed in claim 1 further comprising guide plates between which the blank passes after being cut off, the means for feeding the blank forwardly comprising a driven belt, and the means for folding the two flaps on to the blank comprising a pair of oscillating folders and a pair of stationary folders, slots being provided in the guide plates for the oscillating folders to pass through.

Claim 7

Mechanism as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means for cutting off a length of the blank comprises a stationary knife and a rotatable drum containing a knife which cooperates with said stationary knife.

Claim 8

Mechanism as claimed in claim 6 wherein the drum carries a pivoted deflector member, the deflector member being operated by a stationary cam to deflect the leading edge of the web away from the drum after the blank has been cut off, so that the web passes between the guide plates.

Claim 9

Mechanism as claimed in claim 2 further comprising means for conveying the article and blank transversely after the oppositely disposed side margins have been folded down, the means for tucking in the corners of the adjacent pairs of side margins to form triangulated ends comprising an oscillating plough member, one end of which tucks in the leading corner of the side margins, is then retracted, and is returned to its original position when the trailing corner of the side margins has passed, for the opposite end of the plough member to tuck in the trailing corner of the side margins.

Claim 10

Mechanism for wrapping an article of the shape of a thin rectangular parallelepiped in a rectangular wrapper, which comprises means for feeding forwardly a continuous wrapper web, means for cutting off a length of the web to form a wrapper blank, means for feeding forwardly the cut-off blank, means for plunging an article into the blank and for feeding the article and blank forwardly, means for folding the blank about the forward edge of the article to cover the oppositely-disposed large faces and leave a pair of side margins at each side edge of the article and a single side margin at the rear edge of the article, means at each side of the article for tucking in the forward corner of each pair of side margins, means at each side for folding down one of the pair of side margins against the edge of the article and on to the other side margin, and means at each side for folding said other side margin around the edge, means for conveying the article and blank transversely, means at the rear edge of the article for tucking in the corners of adjacent side margins to form triangulated ends comprising an oscillating plough member, one end of which tucks in the leading corner of the side margins, is then retracted, and is returned to its original position when the trailing corner of the side margins has passed, for the opposite end of the plough member to tuck in the trailing corner of the side margins, means for folding the triangulated ends on to the rear edge of the article and on to the single side margin, means for folding the single side margin around the rear edge, and means for securing all of the folded side margins to the face of the blank.

Claim 11

Mechanism for wrapping an article of the shape of a thin rectangular parallelepiped in a rectangular wrapper, which comprises means for feeding forwardly a continuous wrapper web, means for cutting off a length of the web to form a wrapper blank, means for feeding forwardly the cut-off blank, means for plunging an article into the blank and for feeding the article and blank forwardly, means for folding the blank about the forward edge of the article to cover the oppositely-disposed large faces and leave a pair of side margins at each side edge of the article and a single side margin at the rear edge of the article, means at each side of the article for tucking in the forward corner of each pair of side margins, means at each side for folding down one of the pair of side margins against the edge of the article and on to the other side margin, and means at each side for folding said other side margin around the edge, means for conveying the article and blank transversely, means at the rear edge of the article for tucking in the corners of adjacent side margins to form triangulated ends comprising an oscillating plough member, one end of which tucks in the leading corner of the side margins, is then retracted, and is returned to its original position when the trailing corner of the side margins has passed, for the opposite end of the plough member to tuck in the trailing corner of the side margins, means for folding the triangulated ends on to the rear edge of the article and on to the single side margin, means for folding the single side margin around the rear edge, and means for securing all of the folded side margins to the face of the blank.

Claim 12

Mechanism as claimed in claim 9 wherein the means for cutting off a length of the web to form a wrapper blank comprises a stationary knife and a rotatable drum carrying a knife which cooperates with the stationary knife, the drum also carrying a pivoted deflector member which is operated by a stationary cam to deflect the leading edge of the web away from the drum after the blank has been cut off, so that the web follows the blank forwardly.

Claim 13

Mechanism as claimed in claim 9 wherein the means for securing all of the folded side margins comprises, in advance of the means at each side for folding said other side margin a heat-sealing roller at each side of the article for Securing said other side margin to the face of the blank, and following the means for folding the single side margin a further heat-sealing roller for securing the folded single side margin to the face of the blank.