Wrapping apparatus

Claim 1

Apparatus for wrapping a load on a floor-carried pallet comprising: a carriage having a wheeled base for rolling movement of the carriage on the floor about the pallet-carried load, an upright upstanding from said base, and handle means for manipulation of the carriage in causing the rolling movement thereof; a carrier fo carrying a roll of sheet material on a core for rotation about the roll axis including a flat plate defining a bottom wall support, a spindle upstanding from said bottom roll support rotatably coaxially carrying said roll and having an upper outer end, threaded means coaxially on said outer end of the spindle, a threaded member coaxially threadedly mounted to said threaded means and having an annular shoulder means, a cap having a radial slot permitting said cap to be brought laterally about said member into a dispostion axially outwardly adjacent said spindle outer end with said shoulder means spaced axially outwardly thereof, and means for threading said member on said threaded means to urge said shoulder means axially inwardly and against said cap and retain said cap on said spindle to retain the sheet material roll coaxially on said spindle against movement outwardly from said outer end, wherein said means for threading said threaded member on said threaded means comprises a manipulating handle at its distal end of a size smaller than said core, about which member and handle the roll is coaxially passed during placement of a sheet material roll on, and during withdrawal of the sheet material roll from, the spindle upon removal of said cap and without removal of said member from said spindle; and moving means for moving the carrier vertically along the upright as the carriage is moved about the pallet-carried load between a lowermost position wherein the lower edge of sheet material roll on the carrier is disposed substantially at floor level adjacent the bottom of the pallet and an uppermost position wherein the top of the roll is at a position substantially above the top of the upright to permit the upper edge of sheet material withdrawn from said roll to be adjacent the top of the load on the pallet notwithstanding the disposition of the top of the load at an elevation substantially above that of the top of the upright to wrap the entire pallet and load thereon as desired, said moving means including manually operable means disposed adjacent said handle means for facilitated concurrent movement of the carriage about the pallet-carried load and movement of the carrier on the upright in effecting the spiral wrapping.