Machine and method for overwrapping cylindrical articles

Abstract: A machine for wrapping generally cylindrical articles, includes a supply reel (8) rotatably mounted in the machine for unreeling a web (6) of sheet material, a conveyor (31) for transporting the articles along a predetermined path, an inclined infeed table (3) for supplying the articles (1) by means of a gravity feed to the conveyor, and an article infeed mechanism (30) disposed adjacent the infeed table for success­ ively feeding the articles to the conveyor. The articles infeed mechanism is movable between a first position in which it stops the feed of the articles fed thereto and a second position in which the articles are allowed to successively move by gravity forward for deposit on the conveyor. A device is provided for successively adhering the leading edge of the sheet material (6) to the articles and a transverse parting wire (27) serves to sever a predetermined portion of the sheet material so that it may be wrapped around the article (1) as it rolls forward toward the conveyor (31). A method for wrapping cylindrical articles is also disclosed.

Description: Field of the Invention The invention relates to a machine and method for overwrapping cylindrical or nearly cylindrical articles for packaging or labelling of those articles. More particularly, the invention relates to a machine and method for wrapping wallpaper, giftwrap and facsimile paper rolls. Description of the Prior Art Machines are known for wrapping articles and, in particular, cylindrical or nearly cylindrical articles. One such commercial machine is disclosed in U.S.-A-3659394 on which the preamble of claim 1 is based. The machine is specifically designed and used for packaging and labelling articles, such as adhesive tape rolls. These adhesive tape rolls vary in size, but they typically are manufactured in widths of between 0,7 cm up to 5,1 to 7,6 cm (1/4 inch up to 2 to 3 inches). In intermediate document, patent to the same inventor, US-A-4945707, an improved machine and method for overwrapping such cylindrical and nearly cylindrical articles is disclosed, which significantly enhances the speed of operation and the reliability thereof. The improved machine affords a stable support for the relatively narrow and unstable tape rolls. A problem exists with respect to the overwrapping of generally larger cylindrical objects, such as wallpaper rolls, giftwrap rolls, facsimile paper rolls, and the like, which, unlike tape rolls, have a loose trailing edge. Typically, a piece of tape must be manually applied to the trailing edge on the roll to prevent it from unravelling during processing. As can be appreciated, this is both time consuming and expensive. Consequently, there is a great need for a wrapping machine which would eliminate the need for manually taping the trailing edge of the paper to the remainder of the roll. However, the aforementioned machines are not generally suitable for this purpose since, in the wrapping operation, they effect rotation of the cylindrical article in two different rotational directions. As a result, the roll will start to unwind if its trailing edge is not secured. DE-A-1809220 discloses apparatus for wrapping in film generally cylindrical articles in which the articles, arriving on an inclined feed table are allowed, by a gate, to pass one by one from said table onto a roller conveyor on which the wrapping film has been laid, the wrapping film extending from a continuous roll of such wrapping material. The roller conveyor comprises a series of longitudinally spaced transversely extending rollers which move bodily with the conveyor and at the same time rotate about their axes so that after a cylindrical article to be wrapped lands on the conveyor, it is caused to rotate, and thereby wrap the wrapping film around itself, as it is conveyed along. After each article has been so wrapped, the wrapping film is cut upstream of the article and blown by an airjet against the succeeding article to commence wrapping of the succeeding article. DE-A-1586019 discloses apparatus for wrapping in film generally cylindrical articles. The articles are allowed to roll, from a hopper, down an inclined feed table, towards a wrapping device to which the articles are allowed to roll one by one by operation of an escapement mechanism. US-A-3659394, which claims priority from DE-A-1809220 and includes the subject matter thereof, discloses a method and machine for wrapping cylindrical articles in sheet packaging material in which the cylindrical articles, supplied on an inclined feed table are allowed to drop from the inclined feed table at predetermined intervals onto the sheet material extended from a supply roll over a conveyor device comprising a series of transversely extending rotationally driven rollers spaced apart along the conveyor, the spacing between adjacent rollers on the conveyor being such that one of the cylindrical articles with the wrapping material extending underneath, can span the space between adjacent rollers to be supported thereby. The conveyor rollers are rotated in such a direction as to cause each cylindrical article in turn engaging the rollers to rotate in a sense to wrap the sheet material around the article, as the latter is conveyed longitudinally by the conveyor, application of the wrapping material to the article being assisted by air-blast nozzles associated with the conveyor. After the article has been wrapped the sheet material is severed adjacent the article and the wrapping sealed around the article whilst a further article is allowed to pass onto the conveyor for wrapping. Summary of the Invention Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved machine for overwrapping cylindrical and nearly cylindrical articles which eliminates the need for taping the trailing edge of the roll, prior to wrapping thereof. It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a machine which is relatively simple in design, has a high degree of reliability and flexibility, and provides significantly higher speeds of operation. It is a more particular object of the present invention to eliminate the need for the use of water or glue for effecting the initial retention of the sheet material used as a wrapper to the cylindrical object to be wrapped. According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a machine for wrapping generally cylindrical articles comprising: a supply reel rotatably mounted in said machine for unreeling a web of sheet material having a leading edge; conveyor means for transporting said articles along a pre-determined path; an inclined infeed table for supplying said articles by means of a gravity feed to said conveyor means; article feed means disposed adjacent said infeed table, said article feed means being operable to feed said articles one by one at intervals down said inclined infeed table toward said conveyor means, characterised in that article restraint means is additionally provided adjacent said infeed table, said article restraint means including a transversely extending restraining member which in a first position thereof lies in the path of movement of said articles down said infeed table from said article feed means towards said conveyor means in order to arrest such articles on the infeed table and which restraining member, in a second position thereof, permits said articles to roll down said inclined infeed table onto said conveyor means, the arrangement being such that said sheet material can be extended from said supply reel to said restraining member with a portion of the sheet material adjacent said leading edge passing on the up-slope side of said restraining member, the article feed means being operable, when said restraining member is in said first position, to allow a said article to move down said inclined infeed table to be arrested by said restraining member and to engage the portion of the sheet material passing on the up-slope side of the restraining member, means operable to cause said portion of the sheet material to adhere to the article when the latter rolls into engagement with said restraining member to be arrested thereby, said restraining member being operable thereafter to move to said second position thereof so as to allow the article to roll further down the inclined table to said conveyor means and at the same time to roll said sheet material around itself, and transverse cutting means operable to sever said sheet material in a region thereof extending between the article and said restraining member, after the article, with the sheet material wrapped therearound, has separated from said restraining member, whereby a fresh leading edge is provided on the sheet material extending from the reel in preparation for the next article to be wrapped, the machine further including means for feeding said web of sheet material from said supply reel past said restraining member to replace the material wrapped around said article. Preferably, the machine additionally includes means for exposing the wrapped articles to heat for the purpose of hot sealing, shrinking or drying the sheet material and securely wrapping it about the articles, disposed along a portion of the conveyor means. The means for exposing advantageously includes a heat tunnel having a generally inverted U-shaped housing which defines a tunnel extending along a portion of the predetermined path. It is also desirable that the conveyor means includes a multiplicity of spaced-apart rollers operatively mounted thereon for moving the articles along the predetermined path. The means operable to cause the sheet material to adhere to the article may include spray means for applying a liquid spray to said web, adhesive means for applying adhesive to said web, or, most advantageously, an electrostatic generating means for generating opposite electric charges in said web and article, thereby causing the sheet to electrostatically adhere to the article. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the article feed means comprises an escapement device located above the inclined infeed table and the article restraint means comprises a pivotable gate assembly positioned downstream of the escapement device, the gate assembly being movable between first and second positions. The pivotable gate assembly desirably includes a gate pivot shaft rotatably supported on the machine above the infeed table, a pair of spaced-apart, generally parallel gate arms supported on the gate pivot shaft, and a pair of infeed gate rollers supported between the gate arms which serve as guide rollers for the sheet material and as an article restraint when the gate assembly is in its first position. Most desirably the transverse cutting means comprises a parting wire carriage pivotably mounted on the gate assembly and a parting wire supported by the parting wire carriage. The parting wire is pivotable between a withdrawn position and a parting position, the latter of which generally coincides with the second position of the gate assembly and in which the predetermined portion of sheet material is severed from the web. Certain of the foregoing and related objects are also attained in a method for wrapping generally cylindrical articles according to claim 11. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further advantages and details can be gleaned from the drawings, wherein similar reference numerals denote similar elements throughout the several views. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is an isometric front, side and end view of a novel machine embodying the present invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentarily-illustrated reverse angle isometric view of the article infeed assembly of the machine shown in Fig. 1; FIG. 3 is a schematic side elevational view of the machine; FIG. 4 is a fragmentarily-illustrated schematic view of the article infeed assembly of the machine, employing an atomizer for wetting the leading edge of the film, showing in full line, the position of the assembly following wetting of the film's leading edge and, in phantom line, the position of the assembly at the point at which the film is cut. FIG. 5 is a view comparable to that of FIG. 4, but showing an alternate embodiment wherein an adhesive applicator is employed to apply adhesive to the leading edge of the overwrap film, showing in full line, the position of the assembly at time of adhesive application and, in phantom line, the position of the assembly at the point at which the film is cut; and FIG. 6 is a view comparable to that of Figs. 4 and 5, but showing a further embodiment wherein a static generator is employed to electrostatically adhere the leading edge of the overwrap film to the article, showing in full line, the position of the assembly at the time of application of the electrostatic charge and, in phantom line, the position of the assembly at the point at which the film is cut. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning now in detail to the drawings, and, in particular Figs. 1-3 thereof, therein illustrated is a novel wrapping machine especially intended for wrapping cylindrical articles which includes a machine base or table 10, which supports a web feeding assembly 11, an article infeed assembly 30, an article transport conveyor assembly 31, and a heat tunnel 70. The basic construction and operation of the machine is perhaps best illustrated in the schematic drawing of Fig. 3. As can be seen therein, the web feeding assembly 11 includes an overwrap material mill roll 8 supported on a shaft 9, the free rotation of which is controlled by a mill roll brake consisting of a brake disk 110 and a brake caliper 111. The web 6 of overwrap material wound on mill roll 8, typically consists of a shrink-wrappable film, such as PVC, polyethylene or polyolefin. However, other materials, such as paper, could also be used. Upon unwinding of mill roll 8 in the direction of arrow 7, web 6 is feed between the overwrap material feed roller 18 and overwrap material pressure roller 22. Feed roller 18 is mounted on feed roller shaft 20 which, in turn, is controlled by a conventional proportional drive mechanism 55 (e.g., a helical gear reduction unit), as described in greater detail hereinafter. Web 6 is then guided to the article infeed assembly 30. Article infeed assembly 30 includes an inclined infeed table or base 3 to allow the articles 1 to be fed by gravity to the machine. The infeed table 3 has a conventional, pneumatically-operated pivotable article escapement device 5 associated therewith for successively feeding the articles in timed relation to the feeding of the web 6, as described in greater detail hereinafter. Assembly 30 also includes an article infeed gate assembly 14 consisting of a pair of laterally-spaced apart, parallel gate arms 51, each of which is fixed on a gate pivot shaft 52 suspended above the article infeed base 3 and disposed perpendicular to the direction of travel 32 of the transport conveyor 31. The gate assembly 14 further includes a gate actuator 56 (e.g., a conventional rotary actuated pneumatic cylinder) acting on the gate pivot shaft 52 and capable of moving the infeed gate arms 51 through a pivotal motion described by the arrow 53. A pair of infeed gate rollers 17 is suspended between the gate arms 51 which act as overwrap material guide rollers as well as an article restraint. The proportional drive mechanism 55 through which the gate pivot shaft 52, the gate actuator 56 and the material feed roller 18 are interconnected, serves to synchronize their actions. The proportional drive mechanism 55 preferably consists of a conventional helical gear reducer (e.g., Matel 221-D10 of Boston Gear/Incom International, Inc., Quincy, Massachusetts) having a nominal 10:1 ratio. The reducer is installed "backwards" to produce an increase in output revolutions instead of a decrease. The input drive to the drive mechanism 55 is the rotation of infeed gate pivot shaft 52 driven by gate actuator 56. The drive mechanism 55, in turn, drives feed roller shaft 20 and feed roller 18. As can be appreciated, the greater the "throw" of crank of gate actuator 56, the greater (proportionally) the rotation of shaft 20 and feed roller 18. This, in turn, feeds a larger predetermined length of web 6 so as to accommodate larger diameter articles. Of course, the gear ratio and/or the gate actuator can be adjusted to the diameter of the article to ensure the feeding of an appropriate length of web material to wrap the article. A parting wire 26 is supported by a pivoting parting wire carriage 27 is suspended between the gate arms 51 and fixed to a parting wire carriage pivot shaft 57. A parting wire carriage actuator 28 (e.g., a double-acting pneumatic cylinder) is coupled to shaft 57 to cause wire 27 to be pivoted in the direction of arrow 29 from a withdrawn or rest position (Fig. 3), to a parting position (shown in phantom view in Figs. 4-6) and vice versa. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate different overwrap material adhesion systems capable of adhering the leading edge of the overwrap material 6 to the article-in-process 1'. In Fig. 4, water atomized through nozzles 80 (one of which is shown) is directed onto the leading edge of the web 6 immediately prior to article 1' abutting and coming to rest against web 6, supported by gate roller 17. The water causes the leading edge of the web to adhere to article 1' so that after its release, it rotates under the action of gravity in the direction of arrow 54, entraining the "adhered" web 6 around its circumference as it rolls forward. For applications which require use of a heavier weight web, such as when processing a paper wrapper, water may not be an adequate adhesive. In such a case and as shown in Fig. 5, a conventional contact adhesive may be utilized and deposited by adhesive applicators 63 pivoting into and out of position by an appropriate and conventional pivot mechanism 64, operated, e.g., by a double-acting pneumatic cylinder (not shown). Alternatively, in cases where the use of either water or glue is not appropriate or desired, e.g., where the water or glue would damage the articles by leaving spots, etc. or mar its appearance, adhesion is effected as shown in Fig. 6, by the effect of static electricity generated by an electrostatic generator 72 having probes 74, 76, the construction and operation of which is well known by those skilled in the art. Probe 74 is disposed to contact web 6 adjacent its free leading edge and probe 76 is disposed to contact the article-in-transit 1'. Upon activation of the generator 72, probes 74,76 produce opposite electrical charges in web 6 and article 1', causing the web to electrostatically adhere to the article 1'. Disposed underneath and adjacent the article infeed assembly 30, is an inlet end of the endless transport conveyor assembly 31, consisting of a pair of spaced-apart chain sprocket wheels 33, 33' on which are mounted chain driven, independently and freely rotatable, spaced-apart conveyor rollers 36. The upper run of the rollers 36 are disposed to engage guide rails 37 (one of which is shown) to cause rotation of the articles in the direction of arrow 54. Sprocket wheel 33 is mounted on sprocket shaft 34 for rotation therewith and sprocket wheel 33' is coupled via a belt to a constant drive motor 39. Since the cylindrical articles normally intended for use with the machine are rather long and therefore stable and since the articles always rotate in the same direction, it is not necessary to employ a stepping motor as employed in my earlier patent application Serial No. 342,110, the subject matter of which is otherwise incorporated herein by reference thereto. As seen in Fig. 3, a heating tunnel 70 is mounted on the machine table 10 above the discharge end of the transport conveyor 31. The heating tunnel 70 has a longitudinal passageway through which the wrapped articles are transported via the upper run of the roller conveyor 31. The construction and operation of the heat tunnel is also described in greater detail in the aforesaid prior patent application. The various movements of the machine are controlled in timed sequence by a conventional programmable electronic sequence controller (not shown), as also described in the aforesaid prior patent application. Turning now to the operation of the machine, a machine cycle begins with overwrap material 6 having been drawn, in the form of a web from the over-wrap mill roll 8 in the direction indicated by the arrow 7, between the material feed roller 18 and pressure roller 22; behind, in the direction of travel 32 of the indexing transport conveyor 31, the infeed gate rollers 17, and stopping at the point shown in Fig. 3. An article 1 is held within the article escapement device 5, the article having been brought into this position by the action of gravity and the pivotal movement of article escapement device 5; the article infeed base 3 having been fixed at an appropriate angle of declination above the indexing transport conveyor 31. The material parting wire 26 and parting wire carriage 27 are withdrawn to an appropriate position by the carriage actuator 28 according to instructions previously programmed into the programmable electronic sequence controller. Continuous and automatic machine operation proceeds, according to instructions previously programmed into the programmable electronic sequence controller as follows: The width of the overwrap material 6 where it crosses the infeed gate rollers 17 (Fig. 3), is made "adhesive" by one of the techniques previously described, as illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. An article 1 being held in the escapement device 5 is released by the pivotal action thereof and rolls, by consequence of the action of gravity, to the position of article 1', shown in Fig. 3, coming to rest against the infeed gate roller 17. The overwrap material 6 now adheres to the article 1' resting against the infeed gate roller 17. The gate pivot actuation is initiated causing the infeed gate assembly 14 to withdraw, in the direction indicated by the arrow 53 in Fig. 3. The rotation of the gate pivot shaft 52, transmitted through the proportional drive mechanism 55 imparts motion to the material feed roller 18 thus drawing overwrap material 6 from the material mill roll 8, the length of which is determined by the mechanics of the proportional drive mechanism and the degree of travel 53 of the gate arms (also the degree of rotation of the gate pivot shaft 52); this obviously being variable depending on the size of the cylindrical articles to be wrapped. Simultaneously, the article 1' begins to roll down the infeed base 3 drawing the previously adhered overwrap material around its circumference as it rolls. This wrapping motion continues until the rotation of gate pivot shaft 52 and material feed roller 18 (interconnected through proportional drive mechanism 55) are caused to stop. The parting wire 26 and parting wire carriage 27 are now engaged via pneumatic cylinder 28 causing the pivoting of wire 27 in the direction of arrow 27 (Figs. 4, 5 and 6) into the path of web 6 and causing the previously metered length of overwrap material to be parted from the web 6. Consequently, the article-in-process 1', with the overwrap material 6 now wrapped around its circumference completes its descent and is deposited onto an adjacent pair of article support rollers 36 of the constantly driven transport conveyor 31. The parting wire 26 and parting wire carriage 27 are withdrawn to an appropriate position by the carriage actuator 28 while the article infeed gate assembly 14 returns to the ready position shown in Fig. 3. The overwrapped article-in-process 1' continues along the length of the transport conveyor 31 through the integral heat tunnel 70. The direction of rotation (arrow 54) of the article-in-process 1' does not change but continues in the same direction, both at the article infeed station and along the conveyor 36. The circulating hot air in the heat tunnel 70 heats the web 6, causing it to firmly adhere to the article 1'. The completed, overwrapped or shrink-wrapped articles are then fed to the discharge end of the transport conveyor 31, where an accumulation tray or automatic collection assembly is positioned (not shown). As can be appreciated, various modifications may be made to the method and machine of the present invention, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, although the machine is specifically intended for wrapping facsimile paper, gift wrap, wallpaper, and the like, other generally cylindrical articles may also be wrapped by the present invention. In addition, although the machine is specifically intended for use with shrink-wrap film, such as PVC, polyethylene or polyolefin, which typically come in thicknesses of 6,4 µm (3/4 mil) to 31,8 µm (1-1/4 mil), it would be possible to wrap articles with heavier paper weight or other materials, if so desired. Thus, while only several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it is obvious that there are many changes and modifications that may be made thereunto, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims: A machine for wrapping generally cylindrical articles (1) comprising: a supply reel (8) rotatably mounted in said machine for unreeling a web of sheet material (6) having a leading edge; conveyor means (31) for transporting said articles (1) along a pre-determined path; an inclined infeed table (3) for supplying said articles by means of a gravity feed to said conveyor means; article feed means (5) disposed adjacent said infeed table, said article feed means (5) being operable to feed said articles one by one at intervals down said inclined infeed table (3) toward said conveyor means (31), characterised in that article restraint means (14) is additionally provided adjacent said infeed table (3), said article restraint means (14) including a transversely extending restraining member (17) which in a first position thereof lies in the path of movement of said articles (1) down said infeed table from said article feed means (5) towards said conveyor means (31) in order to arrest such articles on the infeed table and which restraining member (17), in a second position thereof, permits said articles (1) to roll down said inclined infeed table onto said conveyor means (31), the arrangement being such that said sheet material can be extended from said supply reel (8) to said restraining member (17) with a portion of the sheet material adjacent said leading edge passing on the up-slope side of said restraining member (17), the article feed means (5) being operable, when said restraining member (17) is in said first position, to allow a said article (1) to move down said inclined infeed table (3) to be arrested by said restraining member (17) and to engage the portion of the sheet material passing on the up-slope side of the restraining member (17), means (80, 72, 74, 76) operable to cause said portion of the sheet material to adhere to the article when the latter rolls into engagement with said restraining member (17) to be arrested thereby, said restraining member (17) being operable thereafter to move to said second position thereof so as to allow the article (1) to roll further down the inclined table (3) to said conveyor means (31) and at the same time to roll said sheet material around itself, and transverse cutting means (27) operable to sever said sheet material (6) in a region thereof extending between the article (1) and said restraining member, after the article, with the sheet material wrapped therearound, has separated from said restraining member, whereby a fresh leading edge is provided on the sheet material (6) extending from the reel (8) in preparation for the next article (1) to be wrapped, the machine further including means (18, 22) for feeding said web of sheet material (6) from said supply reel (8) past said restraining member (17) to replace the material wrapped around said article. The machine according to claim 1, additionally including means (70) for exposing the wrapped articles (1) to heat for the purpose of hot sealing, shrinking or drying the sheet material and securely wrapping it about the articles, said means being disposed along a portion of said conveyor means reached by said articles after they have left the restraining member (17) and after the transverse cutting means (26) has severed from the web (6) the sheet material wrapped around the articles. The machine according to claim 2, wherein said means (70) for exposing the articles (1) to heat comprises a heat tunnel having a generally inverted U-shaped housing which defines a tunnel extending along a portion of said predetermined path. The machine according to claim 1, wherein said conveyor means (31) including a multiplicity of space-apart rollers (36) operatively mounted thereon for moving said articles along said predetermined path. The machine according to claim 1, wherein said means operable to cause the sheet material to adhere to an article including spray means (80) for applying a liquid spray to said sheet material (6). The machine according to claim 1, wherein said means operable to cause the sheet material to adhere to an article includes adhesive means (63) for applying adhesive to said sheet material (6). The machine according to claim 1, wherein said means operable to cause the sheet material (6) to adhere to an article (1) includes electrostatic generating means (72, 74, 76) for generating opposite electric charges in said material (6) and article (1). The machine according to claim 1, wherein said article restraint means comprises a pivotable gate assembly (14) of which said restraining member (17) is part, said gate assembly being movable between a position in which said restraining member occupies said first position thereof and a position in which said restraining member occupies said second position thereof. The machine according to claim 8, wherein said pivotable gate assembly (14) includes a gate pivot shaft (52) rotatably supported on said machine above said infeed table (3), a pair of spaced-apart, generally parallel gate arms (51) supported on said gate pivot shaft (52), and a pair of infeed gate rollers (17) supported between said gate arms (51), one said gate roller (17) constituting said transversely extending restraining member, said gate rollers (17) further serving to guide said sheet material (6). The machine according to claim 8, wherein said transverse cutting means comprises a parting wire carriage (27) pivotably mounted on said gate assembly (14) and a parting wire (26) supported by said parting wire carriage, said parting wire carriage being pivotable to move said parting wire (26) between a withdrawn position and a parting position, the latter of which generally coincides with said web of sheet material in the position of said gate assembly (14) which places said restraining member (17) in said second position thereof and in which the said sheet material is severed from said web. A method for wrapping generally cylindrical articles (1) comprising the steps of: providing a supply reel (8) of sheet wrapping material (6), providing conveyor means (31), providing an inclined infeed table (3), providing article restraint means (14) including a transversely extending restraining member (17) above said infeed table, extending said sheet wrapping material from said reel (8) past said restraining member (17) on the up-slope side of said restraining member, placing said restraining member (17) in a position relative to said infeed table (3), in which the restraining member lies in the path of movement of a said article (1) down said inclined table (3), allowing a said article to roll down the inclined feed table (3) and engage the portion of the sheet material (6) passing on the up-slope side of the restraining member (17), adhering the leading edge of said sheet material (16) to said article (1); moving said restraining member (17) so as to allow the article to roll further down the infeed table (3) towards the conveyor means (31) and thereby to allow the article (1) to roll said sheet material (16) around itself and draw further sheet material from the reel (18), past said article restraint means (14), on the up-slope side of the article restraint means (14), and severing the sheet material (6) in a region thereof extending between the article (1) and said restraining member (17), after the article, with the sheet material wrapped therearound, has separated from the restraining member (17).

Inventors: COSMO GUY, COSMO, GUY
Applicants: COSMO GUY, COSMO, GUY
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B65B11
IPC codes: B65B25, B65B11