Package making – Partial cover application – Band or tube
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-29
2002-10-29
Gerrity, Stephen F. (Department: 3721)
Package making
Partial cover application
Band or tube
C053S389200, C242S421800
Reexamination Certificate
active
06470656
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to stretch film wrapping apparatus which is used for wrapping stretch film material around palletized loads, products, articles, or packages disposed at a wrapping station of a stretch film wrapping facility, and more particularly to a new and improved film delivery system which dispenses prestretched film material from a stretch film supply roll that is mounted upon a film carriage assembly which, in turn, is mounted upon a vertically movable rotatable ring assembly through means of a suitable mounting plate, wherein the film delivery system comprises a new and improved brake mechanism which is operatively associated with the stretch film roll arbor upon which a stretch film supply roll is mounted so as to optimally predetermine, control, and balance the proper degree of tension or force-to-load parameters which are in effect being applied to or impressed upon the stretch film roll arbor, and the supply of stretch film material disposed upon a stretch film supply roll attached to the stretch film roll arbor and being dispensed from the stretch film supply roll, during a stretch film wrapping operation such that the tension or force-to-load parameters are substantially constant, or within a predetermined range of values, regardless of the amount of stretch film material remaining upon the stretch film material supply roll.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Powered apparatus, for wrapping film material around palletized loads, products, packages, or articles which are disposed at a wrapping station of a wrapping or packaging facility, are of course well-known, and apparatus of the aforenoted type are disclosed within several patent publications, such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,796 which issued on May 13, 1986 to Haloila, U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,807 which issued on May 21, 1996 to Morantz, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,691 which issued on Aug. 4, 1998 to Turfan et al. As disclosed, for example, within
FIG. 1
of the present patent application drawings, which corresponds to
FIG. 1
of the aforenoted U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,807, the disclosure of such patent being incorporated herein by reference, it is briefly noted that an article to be wrapped within film material is disclosed at A and is located, in effect, at a wrapping station disposed upon a conveyor
18
. The disclosed plastic film wrapping apparatus is seen to further comprise a stationary frame assembly
10
, and a vertically movable frame assembly
12
which is mounted upon the stationary frame assembly
10
so as to be vertically movable with respect to the stationary frame assembly
10
as well as the load or article A to be wrapped and disposed at the wrapping station upon the conveyor
18
. In addition, a rotatable ring member
14
is rotatably mounted upon the vertically movable frame assembly
12
so as to be vertically movable therewith with respect to the stationary frame assembly
10
and the article or load A to be wrapped and disposed at the wrapping station upon the conveyor
18
, as well as to be rotatable around a vertical axis
16
with respect to the vertically movable frame assembly
12
, the stationary frame assembly
10
, and the article or load A to be wrapped and disposed at the wrapping station upon the conveyor
18
. A film carriage assembly
28
, upon which a plastic film material supply roll
30
is disposed, is in turn mounted upon the rotatable ring member
14
by means of a suitable mounting bracket, plate, or the like
29
. In this manner, as the vertically movable frame assembly
12
is moved through its vertical operating range, and as the rotatable ring member
14
is likewise rotated around the vertical axis
16
, the plastic film material disposed upon the plastic film material supply roll
30
is dispensed and wrapped around the article or load A disposed at the wrapping station upon the conveyor
18
so as to wrap the article or load A as desired.
It has been noted or experienced that while the aforenoted exemplary wrapping apparatus have of course performed satisfactorily and have been commercially successful, the aforenoted wrapping systems have not always been able to control or compensate for different tension or force-to-load requirements or wrapping load or force parameters attendant the wrapping of different portions or regions of a particular load, package, article, or product being wrapped due, for example, to different configurations or physical characteristics of the load, package, article or product as they are encountered during different times of the wrapping cycle. In addition, it has also been noted or experienced that the aforenoted wrapping systems have not always been able to control or compensate for the vastly different force-to-load or tension characteristics that are generated and impressed upon the film material throughout a particular article or load wrapping cycle, or alternatively, the vastly different force-to-load or tension characteristics that are generated and impressed upon the film material during different article or load wrapping cycles, due to the vastly different amounts of film material disposed or remaining upon the film material supply roll. It is well-known that a full roll of film material generates different force-to-load or tension characteristics or parameters than a substantially empty roll of film material. It is also known that it is imperative to control such tension or force-to-load characteristics, values, or parameters in order to ensure that the film material is wrapped around and upon the load, article, package, or product being wrapped with the proper degree or level of tension.
It is also known that, in accordance with conventional film dispensing and wrapping systems, the plastic film dispensed or withdrawn from its film supply roll is often routed or threaded around a multiplicity of film carriage rollers in order to provide or define a requisite amount of friction or tension between the film and the operative drive components of the system so as to prevent film slippage, slackness, or the like. The multiplicity of carriage rollers, however, are usually disposed within a substantially complex array with respect to each other which unfortunately renders the initial routing or threading of the film therethrough, such as, for example, when a new plastic film supply roll is being installed upon the wrapping apparatus, quite tedious, time-consuming, and dangerous for operator or maintenance personnel. The complexity of the film routing or threading also sometimes leads to errors in the actual routing or threading of the film with respect to the proper film route or threading path defined through the carriage rollers, and still further, the tediousness and time-consuming properties or characteristics of such apparatus lead to substantial production downtime of the film wrapping apparatus or system.
Still further, in connection with the provision of the conventional carriage rollers as noted hereinbefore, in order to obtain the aforenoted requisite amount of friction between the carriage rollers and the plastic wrapping film being dispensed or withdrawn from its film supply roll, the outer peripheral surface portions of the carriage rollers are often conventionally provided with raised or embossed mechanical projections or friction-generating surface portions which are adapted to engage the plastic film so as to minimize any slippage of the film relative to the conveying carriage rollers. Slippage between the carriage rollers and the plastic film being conveyed thereby does nevertheless occur, and accordingly, minute amounts of film particles or film additives become separated from the film material as a result of the frictional forces generated by means of the aforenoted raised or embossed mechanical projections or friction-engaging surface portions of the carriage rollers acting upon the plastic film. The surface portions of the carriage rollers therefore tend to become clogged with such film particles or additives, and such particles or additives also tend to adhere to the su
Huson Gale W.
Petrash John B.
Zentmyer Hugh J.
Gerrity Stephen F.
Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Schwartz & Weinrieb
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