Patent ID: 6526734
Filing Date: 2003-03-04
Classification: B65B

Abstract:
Portable apparatus adapted to be moved along a circular locus around an article disposed at a wrapping station so as to be capable of wrapping the article in wrapping film, comprising:a manually movable portable push-cart; a vertical mast member mounted upon said portable push-cart; a film roll carriage vertically movable upon said vertical mast member; a roll of wrapping film mounted upon said film roll carriage and adapted to have wrapping film, disposed upon said roll of wrapping film, operatively connected to the article disposed at the wrapping station during the performance of an article wrapping operation; and counterweight means operatively connected to said film roll carriage for descending and overcoming the weight of said film roll carriage and said roll of wrapping film mounted thereon, and thereby causing said film roll carriage and said roll of wrapping film mounted thereon to correspondingly ascend, as a result of said manually movable portable push-cart being moved along the circular locus around the article disposed at the wrapping station so as to relieve frictional and tension forces inherent within said wrapping film disposed upon said roll of wrapping film as well as within said wrapping film extending from said roll of wrapping film to the article being wrapped at the wrapping station and thereby cause said wrapping film to be unwound from said roll of wrapping film, so as to permit the article disposed at the wrapping station to be spirally wrapped within said wrapping film, and for being counterbalanced by said weight of said film roll carriage, said weight of said roll of wrapping film mounted thereon, and said frictional and tension forces inherent within said wrapping film disposed upon said roll of wrapping film as well as within said wrapping film extending from said roll of wrapping film to the article being wrapped at the wrapping station, as a result of the movement of said push-cart along the circular locus around the article disposed at the wrapping station being terminated so as to no longer relieve the frictional and tension forces inherent within said wrapping film disposed upon said roll of wrapping film as well as within said wrapping film extending from said roll of wrapping film to the article being wrapped at the wrapping station whereby the unwinding of said wrapping film from said roll of wrapping film is effectively prevented, such that said counterweight means can no longer descend and correspondingly cause said film roll carriage and said roll of wrapping film mounted thereon to ascend, said counterweight means thereby being maintained elevationally stationary so as to in turn maintain said film roll carriage elevationally stationary.