Method and apparatus for wrapping a roll with stretch wrap

Claim 1

A method for wrapping a roll, the steps comprising: wrapping a roll having a width and two ends with a sleeve wrap, the sleeve wrap being of a width substantially equal to the width of the roll; securing a head to each end of the roll, the size of the heads being substantially equal to the size of the ends of the roll; and wrapping each end of the roll with a stretchable stretch wrap material while simultaneously providing tension to the stretch wrap so that the stretch wrap stretches and covers both a portion of the width of the roll and a portion of the end of the roll to secure the heads and the sleeve wrap to the roll and create a seal at an edge of the roll where the roll width meets the roll ends without the need of additional equipment or a separate adhesive to hold the stretch wrap against the roll.

Claim 2

A method for wrapping a roll, the steps comprising: wrapping a roll having a width and two ends with a sleeve wrap, the sleeve wrap being of a width substantially equal to the width of the roll; securing a head to each end of the roll, the size of the heads being substantially equal to the size of the ends of the roll; and wrapping each end of the roll with a stretchable stretch wrap material while simultaneously providing tension to the stretch wrap so that the stretch wrap stretches and covers both a portion of the width of the roll and a portion of the end of the roll to secure the heads and the sleeve wrap to the roll and create a seal at an edge of the roll where the roll width meets the roll ends without the need of additional equipment or a separate adhesive to hold the stretch wrap against the roll.

Claim 12

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll having a width and two ends, comprising: means for determining the width of said roll; means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to a width substantially equal to the determined width of said roll before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for wrapping the trimmed sleeve wrap around the roll; and means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll.

Claim 13

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll having a width and two ends, comprising: means for determining the width of said roll; means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to a width substantially equal to the determined width of said roll before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for wrapping the trimmed sleeve wrap around the roll; and means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll.

Claim 18

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; and wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for moving the cutters laterally inwardly or outwardly to correspond to the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll.

Claim 19

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; and wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for moving the cutters laterally inwardly or outwardly to correspond to the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll.

Claim 20

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter to the roll; wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; and a vacuum belt trained over two opposite rollers and a center portion of the table for holding the sleeve wrapper stock against the table and advancing the sleeve wrapper along the table until the sleeve wrapper engages the roll.

Claim 21

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter to the roll; wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; and a vacuum belt trained over two opposite rollers and a center portion of the table for holding the sleeve wrapper stock against the table and advancing the sleeve wrapper along the table until the sleeve wrapper engages the roll.

Claim 22

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; and means for cutting a piece of sleeve wrap from a sleeve wrapper stock roll after an amount of sleeve wrap necessary to wrap the roll has been dispensed.

Claim 23

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; and means for cutting a piece of sleeve wrap from a sleeve wrapper stock roll after an amount of sleeve wrap necessary to wrap the roll has been dispensed.

Claim 24

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to the width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; and wherein the sensing means comprises mechanical arm coupled to the cutter.

Claim 25

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to the width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; and wherein the sensing means comprises mechanical arm coupled to the cutter.

Claim 26

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; and wherein the sensing means comprises a photo electric eye.

Claim 27

An apparatus for applying a protective cover to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrap to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; wherein the trimming means comprises: a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock; a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrap as it is fed down onto the table; sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters are positioned in line with the width of the roll; means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; and wherein the sensing means comprises a photo electric eye.

Claim 28

An apparatus for applying a protective cover including stretch wrap to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrapper to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper, the trimming means comprising a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock, a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrapper stock as it is fed down onto the table, sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters can be positioned in line with the width of the roll, means for moving the cutters laterally inwardly or outwardly to correspond to the width of the roll, and means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; means for wrapping the roll with a stretch wrap material to cover a portion of the head at each end of the roll and a portion of the roll adjacent each end to secure the sleeve wrap and heads to the roll and provide protection to the roll; and means for applying an end band over top of the stretch wrap material to cover a portion of the stretch wrap material and provide additional protection for the roll.

Claim 29

An apparatus for applying a protective cover including stretch wrap to a roll, comprising: means for trimming an oversized sleeve wrapper to correspond to a width of a roll having two ends before wrapping the roll with the sleeve wrapper, the trimming means comprising a table for receiving a sleeve wrapper stock, a pair of cutters, each cutter being located at opposite sides of the table to engage the sleeve wrapper stock as it is fed down onto the table, sensing means for sensing the ends of the roll to be wrapped so that the cutters can be positioned in line with the width of the roll, means for moving the cutters laterally inwardly or outwardly to correspond to the width of the roll, and means for feeding the wrapper stock through the cutters to trim the wrapper stock to correspond to the width of the roll; means for securing the trimmed sleeve wrap to the roll; means for securing a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of the heads being substantially equal to the diameter of the roll; means for wrapping the roll with a stretch wrap material to cover a portion of the head at each end of the roll and a portion of the roll adjacent each end to secure the sleeve wrap and heads to the roll and provide protection to the roll; and means for applying an end band over top of the stretch wrap material to cover a portion of the stretch wrap material and provide additional protection for the roll.

Claim 30

An apparatus for wrapping a roll with stretch wrap, comprising: means for wrapping a roll having a width and two ends with a sleeve wrap having a width corresponding to the width of the roll; means for applying a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of each head being substantially the same as the diameter of the roll; and means for applying separate stretchable stretch wrap material at each edge of the roll where the sleeve wrap and the heads meet, said stretch wrap applying means comprises means for stretching the wrap as it is fed to the roll to stretch the wrap onto portions of the width of the roll and ends of the roll to secure the heads in place, the means for applying the stretch wrap material being located at each end of the roll.

Claim 31

An apparatus for wrapping a roll with stretch wrap, comprising: means for wrapping a roll having a width and two ends with a sleeve wrap having a width corresponding to the width of the roll; means for applying a head to each end of the roll, the diameter of each head being substantially the same as the diameter of the roll; and means for applying separate stretchable stretch wrap material at each edge of the roll where the sleeve wrap and the heads meet, said stretch wrap applying means comprises means for stretching the wrap as it is fed to the roll to stretch the wrap onto portions of the width of the roll and ends of the roll to secure the heads in place, the means for applying the stretch wrap material being located at each end of the roll.