Patent Publication Number: US-10766656-B2

Title: Film wrapping apparatus

Description:
NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to any reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to packaging and shipping systems, and more particularly to a film wrapping apparatus, wherein one or more plastic stretch wraps or tapes can be retained by the film wrapping apparatus to packaging units by encircling the wraps about the packaging units. 
     Description of Related Arts 
     In shipping and storing items, plastic stretch wrap or tape can be used for wrapping around the items to protect and secure the items in a load. Particularly, the items in a load can be tightly wrapped and protected by the stretch wrap to prevent any item falling from the load and any damage due to weather or impact. Generally speaking, a wrap dispenser comprises a spindle and a hand grip coaxially and rotatably coupled thereto, wherein a roll of stretch wrap is mounted to the spindle for being unrolled and dispensed to wrap around the items. For a smaller item, the operator, i.e. a labor or a packer, is able to control the wrap dispenser for unrolling the stretch wrap to wrap around the item. However, for a load of items, the operator must hold the wrap dispenser and walk around the load in order to unroll the stretch wrap to wrap around the load. A bigger sized wrap roll, such as having a width of at least 1 foot, can be used for rapidly wrapping around the load. However, such bigger wrap roll cannot fit the existing wrap dispenser, so that the operator must hold the wrap roll directly hold the wrap roll without the wrap dispenser to walk around the load. 
     In particular, the operator must use two hands to hold two ends of the wrap roll respectively to control the unrolling operation thereof, wherein the tension and speed of the unrolling of the wrap roll is controlled by the walking movement of the operator. It is often overlooked that holding the wrap roll by operator&#39;s hands to unroll thereof is not ergonomics of motion. In other words, the wrap roll cannot be free to rotate and may be unbalanced for unrolling due to the movement of the operator. Furthermore, the operator has to walk around the load from an awkward, bent over position to unroll the wrap roll, wherein back injuries and muscle strains often afflict the operator. 
     There is a need for retaining the wrap roll to controllably unroll thereof and for permitting the operator to securely hold the wrap roll without affecting the tension applied to the load. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The invention is advantageous in that it provides a film wrapping apparatus which can efficiently dispensing and applying an elongated plastic stretch film from a roll. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a film wrapping apparatus, which provides two or more handling portions for providing ergonomic motion of the operator to complete the wrapping operation. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a film wrapping apparatus, wherein a larger film roll, such as a width thereof having at least 1 ft, can be mounted to the film wrapping apparatus for being dispensed. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a film wrapping apparatus, wherein two or more stretch films can be dispensed at the same time in such a manner that the tensions and speeds of unrolling of the stretch films are concurrent and controllable during the application of the stretch films to the packaging units. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a film wrapping apparatus, wherein different sizes of film rolls can be securely mounted to the film wrapping apparatus for unrolling the stretch film and wrapping around the packaging units. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a film wrapping apparatus, which can hold any existing film roll to complete the wrapping operation, so as to minimize the additional cost of the film roll incorporating with the film wrapping apparatus. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a film wrapping apparatus, which is simple and easy to operate, wherein an inexperienced person is able to operate the film wrapping apparatus to apply stretch film to the packaging units. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a film wrapping apparatus, wherein the loading operation of the film roll is easy and simple that the user is able to easily and rapidly replace or change the film roll from the film wrapping apparatus. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a film wrapping apparatus, which does not require altering the original structural design of the film roll, so as to minimize the manufacturing cost of the film wrapping apparatus incorporating with the film roll. 
     Another advantage of the invention is to a film wrapping apparatus, wherein no expensive or complicated structure is required to employ in the present invention in order to achieve the above mentioned objects. Therefore, the present invention successfully provides an economic and efficient solution for providing an effective tool for applying the stretch film and the like to the packaging units while being cost effective. 
     Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, and may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appended claims. 
     According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by a film wrapping apparatus for wrapping two or more film rolls around a load, comprising: 
     a roll holder comprising an elongated shaft member having at least a handling portion and two holding portions coaxially aligned with each other; 
     a roll locker provided at each of the holding portions of the shaft member for releasably locking the film rolls at the holding portions respectively in a free-rotating manner; and 
     a dispensing handle transversely extended from the shaft member at a position between the holding portions thereof, wherein the handling portion of the shaft member and the dispensing handle provide at least two holding points for being held by an operator to unroll the film rolls in a concurrent and controllable manner so as to wrap stretch films of the film rolls around the load. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the present invention comprises a method for wrapping two or more film rolls around a load by a film wrapping apparatus which comprises an elongated shaft member and a dispensing handle, comprising the following steps. 
     (A) Load the film rolls at two holding portions of the shaft member respectively at a position that the dispensing handle is located therebetween. Accordingly, the film rolls are locked at the holding portions of the shaft member in a free-rotating manner. 
     (B) Hold the dispensing handle by an operator to unroll the film rolls in a concurrent and controllable manner so as to wrap stretch films of the film rolls around the load. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the present invention comprises a film wrapping apparatus, for wrapping a film roll, having a width of at least 1 foot, around a load, comprising: 
     a roll holder comprising an elongated shaft member having a handling portion defined at one end portion of the shaft member and a holding portion for holding the film roll at the holding portion; and 
     a dispensing handle transversely extended from the shaft member at a position that the holding portion of the shaft member is located between the handling portion thereof and the dispensing handle, wherein the handling portion of the shaft member and the dispensing handle provide at least two holding points for being held by an operator to unroll the film roll in a controllable manner so as to wrap stretch films of the film roll around the load. 
     Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings. 
     These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a film wrapping apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view of the film wrapping apparatus according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a roll locker of the film wrapping apparatus according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrate an operation of the film wrapping apparatus according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an alternative mode of the film wrapping apparatus according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The following description is disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Preferred embodiments are provided in the following description only as examples and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The general principles defined in the following description would be applied to other embodiments, alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2  of the drawings, a film wrapping apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the film wrapping apparatus is arranged for wrapping a film roll  1  around a load. Preferably, the film wrapping apparatus is able to hold and unroll two film rolls  1  at the same time in order to wrap around the load. Preferably, the film roll  1  has a width of at least 1 foot. 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the film wrapping apparatus comprises a roll holder  10 , a roll locker  20 , and a dispensing handle  30 . The film roll  1  generally comprises a roll core  1 A and a stretch film  1 B rolled around the roll core  1 A. 
     The roll holder  10  comprises an elongated shaft member  11  having at least a handling portion  111  and two holding portions  112  coaxially aligned with each other, wherein the film rolls  1  are held at the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11  respectively. Preferably, the shaft member  11  has a cylindrical shape and is made of rigid but light weight material. The shaft member  11  has a mid-portion and two end portions, wherein each holding portion  112  of the shaft member  11  is defined between the mid-portion and one end portion. Therefore, the two film rolls  1  are coaxially aligned with each other when the film rolls  1  are retained at the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11 . The holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11  have equal diameter and length. In particular, the length of each holding portion  112  of the shaft member  11  is at least equal to, preferably longer than, a length of the film roll  1 . The handling portion  111  of the shaft member  11  is defined at each of the end portions of the shaft member  11 . Preferably, a length of one of the handling portions  111  of the shaft member  11  is longer than a length of another handling portion  111  thereof. 
     The roll locker  20  is provided at each of the holding portions  112  of the shaft member for releasably locking the film rolls  1  at the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11  respectively in a free-rotating manner. In other words, the films rolls  1  can be rotatable about the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11 , wherein the roll locker  20  will retain the film rolls  1  to minimize an unwanted longitudinal movement of the film rolls  1  along the shaft member  11 . 
     The dispensing handle  30  is transversely extended from the shaft member  11  at a position between the holding portions  112  thereof, wherein at least one of the handling portion  111  of the shaft member  11  and the dispensing handle  30  provides a holding point for being held by an operator to unroll the film rolls  1  in a concurrent and controllable manner so as to wrap stretch films  1 B of the film rolls  1  around the load. It is worth mentioning that the operator is able to only grip at the dispensing handle  30  as a single holding point of the film wrapping apparatus for completing the wrapping operation while the handling portion  111  of the shaft member  11  is considered as an additional holding point or stabilizing point of the film wrapping apparatus for stabilizing thereof. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the roll locker  20  comprises a locking slot  21  transversely extended through the shaft member  11  adjacent to the holding portion  112  thereof, and a locking member  22  detachably passing through the locking slot  21  for locking the film roll  1  at the holding portion  112  of the shaft member  11 . Accordingly, the locking member  22  is coupled at the shaft member  11  at a position adjacent to the outer end of the film roll  1 . 
     Preferably, two or more one locking slots  21  are spacedly and alignedly provided at each of the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11 , wherein the locking member  22  is selectively coupled at one of the locking slots  21  to selectively adjust the length of the holding portion  112  of the shaft member  11 . In other words, different sizes, i.e. different lengths, of the film rolls  1  can be fitted at the holding portion  112  of the shaft member  11 . Preferably, two identical film rolls  1  are coupled at the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11  respectively. It is appreciated that two different sizes of film rolls  1  can be coupled and locked at the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11  respectively via the locations of the locking slots  21 . 
     The locking member  22  has a length larger than a diameter of the shaft member  11  and is larger than a length of the locking slot  21 . In other words, when the locking member  22  is slid to extend through the locking slot  21 , two ends of the locking member  22  are extended out of the locking slot  21  and are protruded out of the shaft member  11 . Therefore, the film roll  1  is locked at the holding portion  112  of the shaft member  11  while the film roll  1  can be free-rotated about the shaft member  11 . 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the roll locker  20  further comprises a locking band  23  which has a fixing end  231  affixed to one end of the locking member  22  and a detachable end  232  detachably coupled at another end of the locking member  22  to lock up the locking member  22  at the shaft member  11 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the locking band  23  is made of flexible material, such as metal wire, adapted to be bent between the fixing end  231  and the detachable end  232  to have a C-shaped configuration. Accordingly, the fixing end  231  of the locking band  23  is pivotally coupled at one end of the locking member  22 , wherein the detachable end  232  of the locking band  23  forms a loop form to encircle around the opposed end of the locking member  22 . It is worth mentioning that the flexibility of the locking band  23  will reinforce the fixing end  231  and the detachable end  232  being engaged with the ends of the locking member  22  respectively. Therefore, when the detachable end  232  of the locking band  23  is pulled away from the locking member  22 , the detachable end  232  of the locking band  23  is disengaged with the respective end of the locking member  22 , so as to allow the locking member  22  to be slid and disengaged with the locking slot  21 . 
     The roll holder  10  further comprises two rotatable reels  12  rotatably and coaxially coupled at the shaft member  11  for securely coupling at outer ends of the film rolls  1  respectively, wherein the rotatable reels  12  are arranged for stabilizing the rotational movements of the film rolls  1  about the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  1  respectively. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , each of the rotatable reels  12  comprises a rotating core  121  adapted for coupling at the outer end of the film roll  1 , and an outer flange  122  integrally and coaxially extended from an outer edge of the rotating core  121  for covering at the outer end of the film roll  1 . Accordingly, a diameter of the rotating core  121  is smaller than an inner diameter of the film roll  1 , such that the rotating core  121  is arranged for inserting into the outer end of the film roll  1 , i.e. inserting into the roll core  1 A of the film roll  1 . In particular, the diameter of the rotating core  121  is slightly larger than a diameter of the shaft member  11 , such that the rotating core  121  is free to rotate about the shaft member  11 . A diameter of the outer flange is larger than the inner diameter of the film roll  1 , such that when the rotating core  121  is inserted into the outer end of the film roll  1 , the outer flange  122  is extended to cover at the outer end of the film roll  1 . It is worth mentioning that the rotating core  121  is provided to minimize a friction between the rotating core  121  and the shaft member  11  to enhance the smooth rotating movement of the film roll  1  about the shaft member  11  during the wrapping operation, i.e. the unrolling the film roll  1 . 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the dispensing handle  30  comprises a hand grip  31  transversely extended from the shaft member  11  and two reel guiders  32  extended from the hand grip  31  in an opposite direction for coupling at the inner ends of the film rolls  1  respectively, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     The operator is able to hold the hand grip  31  in order to lift up the shaft member  11  in a vertical manner. Preferably, the hand grip  31  is perpendicularly extended from the shaft member  11  at the mid-portion thereof between the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11 . 
     The reel guiders  32  are integrally extended from the hand grip  31  towards the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11  respectively, wherein the reel guiders  32  are non-rotatably coupled at the shaft member  11 , such that the reel guiders  32  cannot be rotated about the shaft member  11 . Accordingly, a diameter of each of the reel guiders  32  is smaller than the inner diameter of the film roll  1 , wherein when the reel guider  32  is inserted into the inner end of the film roll  1 , i.e. inserted into the roll core  1 A of the film roll  1 , the film roll  1  can be rotated at the reel guider  32 . In other words, the reel guider  32  is rotatably coupled at the film roll  1 . 
     It is worth mentioning that the outer and inner ends of the film roll  1  are rotatable about the shaft member  11 . In particular, the outer end of the film roll  1  is detachably coupled at the rotatable reel  12  that the rotatable reel  12  is rotatably coupled at the shaft member  11 . The inner end of the film roll  1  is detachably and rotatably coupled at the reel guider  32 . Therefore, two different frictions are created at the rotational movement of the film roll  1  to control the tension and speed of unrolling of the stretch films  1 B during the wrapping operation. One friction is created between the rotatable reel  12  and the shaft member  11  at the outer end of the film roll  1  while another friction is created between the inner end of the film roll  1  and the reel guider  32 . Through these two different frictions, the operator is able to apply the pulling force at the film wrapping apparatus to control the tension and speed of unrolling of the stretch films  1 B during the wrapping operation. 
     According to the preferred embodiment, a wrapping method of the present invention comprises the following steps. 
     (1) Loading Step of the Film Rolls  1 . 
     Load the film roll  1  at the holding portion  112  of the shaft member  11  by slidably and coaxially inserting the shaft member  11  into the shaft member  11 . It is worth mentioning that only one film roll  1  can be held at one of the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11 . Preferably, two film rolls  1  are rotatably and coaxially coupled at the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11  respectively, such that the dispensing handle  30  is located between the two film rolls  1 . It is important that the unrolling direction of the stretch films  1 B of the film rolls  1  should be the same when the film rolls  1  are loaded at the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11 . 
     Accordingly, the inner ends of the film rolls  1  are rotatably engaged with the reel guider  32  respectively. Then, the rotatable reel  12  is slid along the shaft member  11  until the rotatable reel  12  is inserted into the outer end of the film roll  1 . The film rolls  1  are held at the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11 . 
     The film rolls  1  are then locked at the holding portions  112  of the shaft member  11  by the roll locker  20  in a free-rotating manner by slidably passing the locking members  22  through the locking slots  21  respectively and engaging the detachable ends  232  of the locking bands  23  with the ends of the locking members  22  respectively. 
     (2) Dispensing Step of the Film Rolls  1 . 
     Hold the dispensing handle  30  by the operator to unroll the film rolls  1  in a concurrent and controllable manner so as to wrap stretch films  1 B of the film rolls  1  around the load. 
     Accordingly, the operator is able to affix free ends of the stretch films  1 B at the load and to walk around the load for unrolling the film rolls so as to wrap the stretch films  1 B around the load, preferably from bottom to top, as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     As it is mentioned above, one of the handling portions  111  of the shaft member  11  is longer than another handling portion  111  thereof. When the shaft member  11  is held in a vertical manner via the dispensing handle  30  during the wrapping operation, the longer handling portion  111  of the shaft member  11  is located above the shorter handling portion  111  thereof. When wrapping the lower portion of the load, the shorter handling portion  111  of the shaft member  11  is positioned close to the ground in order to minimize the ground clearance between the film rolls  1  and the ground. At the same time, the operator is able to hold the longer handling portion  111  of the shaft member  11  to stabilize the shaft member  11  during the wrapping operation. In other words, one hand of the operator holds at the dispensing handle  30  while another hand of the operator holds at the longer handling portion  111  of the shaft member  11  to control the tension and speed of unrolling of the stretch films  1 B during the wrapping operation. When moving the film wrapping apparatus upwardly to wrap the upper portion of the load, the operator is able to lift up the shaft member  11  via the dispensing handle  30  at the same time the operator is able to hold the shorter handling portion  111  of the shaft member  11  to stabilize the shaft member  11  during the wrapping operation. In other words, one hand of the operator holds at the dispensing handle  30  while another hand of the operator holds at the shorter handling portion  111  of the shaft member  11  to control the tension and speed of unrolling of the stretch films  1 B during the wrapping operation. Therefore, throughout the entire wrapping operation, the tension and speed of unrolling of the stretch films  1 B can be easily controlled via the two handling points of the film wrapping apparatus. It is worth mentioning that two film rolls  1  are unrolled to parallelly dispense two stretch films  1 B at the same time, the walking distance of the operator, i.e. walking around the load, will be reduced in half so as to minimize the operation time for completing the wrapping operation of the load. Since the film rolls  1  are spacedly separated by the hand grip  31 , the stretch films  1 B of the film rolls  1  can be evenly dispensed in a balanced manner while the stretch films  1 B of the film rolls  1  will not be overlapped with each other during the unrolling process. Once the load is wrapped by the stretch films  1 B, the operator is able to tear off the stretch films  1 B from the film rolls  1 . 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an alternative mode of the film wrapping apparatus which can selectively hold one or more film rolls  1  for the wrapping operation. Accordingly, the roll holder  10 A comprises a shaft member  11 A having a holding portion  112 A for holding a primary film roll  1  and an extendable member  13 A coaxially and retractably extended from the shaft member  11 A to provide an additional holding portion  131 A for holding a secondary film roll  1 . A length of the shaft member  11 A is longer than a length of the extendable member  13 A. A diameter of the shaft member  11 A is larger than a diameter of the extendable member  13 A. 
     In particular, the shaft member  11 A has a receiving cavity  110 A defining a closed end and an opened end, wherein the extendable member  13 A is slidably coupled at the shaft member  11 A via the opened end thereof. It is worth mentioning that the dispensing handle  30  is coupled at the shaft member  11 A close to the opened end thereof. The extendable member  13 A is slidably and coaxially moved between a retracted position and an extended position. At the retracted position, the extendable member  13 A is slidably received in the receiving cavity  110 A of the shaft member  11 A, wherein only one holding portion  112 A is provided to hold one film roll  1 . At the extended position, the extendable member  13 A is coaxially slid out of the receiving cavity  110 A through the opened end of the shaft member  11 A. Therefore, two holding portions  112 A,  131 A are provided to hold two film rolls  1  respectively. It is worth mentioning that at the extended position, the dispensing handle  30  is located between the holding portion  112 A of the shaft member  11 A and the holding portion  131 A of the extendable member  13 A. Preferably, the longer handling portion  111 A is defined at the end portion of the shaft member  11 A while the shorter handling portion  111 A is defined at the end portion of the extendable member  13 A. It is worth mentioning that any existing locking means can be incorporated with the roll holder  10 A to lock up the extendable member  13 A at the extended position. 
     The operator is able to selectively load one or two film rolls  1 , wherein the roll holder  10 A is able to hold one single film roll  1  at the retracted position of the extendable member  13 A and is able to hold two film rolls  1  at the extended position of the extendable member  13 A. The film rolls  1  are locked at the holding portions  112 A,  131 A via the roll locker  20 , wherein the locking slots  21  are provided at the shaft member  11 A and the extendable member  13 A respectively, such that when the film rolls  1  are held at to the holding portions  112 A,  131 A, the locking members  22  and the locking bands  23  are capable of locking the film rolls  1  at the holding portions  112 A,  131 A respectively. 
     One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting. 
     It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.