Patent ID: 6574941
Filing Date: 2003-06-10
Classification: B65B

Abstract:
A method for banding groups of sheets in a substantially parallelepiped configuration, comprising stages for arranging a group of sheets at a station for the application of at least one band which binds the group of sheets; using first gripper means to grip the end of a continuous web, the latter being unwound from a reel and fed in a first direction and along a first feed path; using the first gripper means to draw the web from a starting position which is adjacent to the banding station, arranging it along a second, closed path inside which the banding station is defined, and returning the end of the web to the starting position, so that the end of the web is opposite a section of web extending in an outfeed section of the first feed path; recovering the web using second gripper means, the latter being located upstream of the outfeed section of the first feed path, gripping the web and drawing it in a second direction which is opposite to the first, so that the web adheres around the group of sheets with a given tension; using first retaining means, situated upstream of a cutting zone relative to the first direction of feed, to hold the web in place, substantially preventing movement of the web; using second retaining means, situated upstream relative to the first direction of feed from where the first gripper means initially grips the web, to hold the web in a position to allow the first gripper means to grip the web to band a new group of sheets such that the web is positioned properly for proper banding of the new group of sheets; sealing the end of the web, at the starting position, to a first portion of the section of web located at the outfeed section of the first feed path; cutting the web at a cutting zone that is upstream of the sealing zone relative to the first direction of feed.