Package making – Methods – Conforming by stretching or shrinking of cover over contents
Patent
1998-04-13
1999-11-09
Johnson, Linda
Package making
Methods
Conforming by stretching or shrinking of cover over contents
53556, 53587, B65B 5300
Patent
active
059791462
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to methods and apparatus used in agriculture and industry for the encapsulation or wrapping of objects of cylindrical, square or rectangular block form, such as bales.
The objects can include bales of agricultural produce such as silage, hay and straw; individual items of industrial equipment, pallets loaded with goods and goods arranged together to form a bundle.
International patent application PCT/GB94/00505 in the name of Kenneth S. E. Orpen discloses a method and apparatus for the wrapping of bales with stretched film. Field trials of that invention have been successful. During the course of these trials, however, some limitations have emerged and various improvements have now been devised which are the subject of this invention and which the present application discloses.
Our development work has established that the present invention offers significant benefits over the invention taught in PCT/GB94/00505 and, importantly, greatly broadens the scope of its potential agricultural and industrial applications.
The present invention aims to provide improved methods and apparatus for wrapping or encapsulation and to reduce the consumption of wrapping film using hydraulic motors with newly conceived control systems.
In agriculture, encapsulation of bales of many compositions with extensible and partially elastic, or stretchable, polymeric film is well known. The established types of wrapping apparatus and methods used suffer many disadvantages. They include high capital cost, inconsistent stretching of the film, difficulties in controlling film tension, securing even wrapping, acceptable sealing of environmentally sensitive encapsulated items, and excessive consumption of costly film.
For wrapping bales or pallets loaded with goods, known systems often use a load-carrying device such as a table or platform on which the object(s) to be wrapped are placed.
In some systems a dispenser carrying the wrapping material is manually or mechanically moved, e.g. rotated, about the object through one or more axes while the table remains stationary. In other systems, the dispenser carrying the wrapping material is held for the most part stationary, or at a fixed location, whilst the table carrying the object is rotated.
Means commonly used to power either type of system can include manual effort, mechanical drives, electric motors and hydraulic motors, or different combinations thereof.
For simplicity hereafter objects being encapsulated will be referred to generally as bales (whether or not they are of agricultural origin) and the wrapping material will be referred to as film.
Amongst many uses the most common purpose of wrapping or encapsulating a bale is to provide a degree of protection to the contents of the bale. Extensible and partially elastic or stretchable polymeric film is the material most commonly used for this purpose.
Films used are usually clear, white, black or some other colour or combinations of colours. Films used for wrapping some perishable products, including agricultural bales of silage or hay, may include an ultra violet light inhibitor to provide enhanced protection to the encapsulated material. Some films are provided with a tack or low level of self-adhesive on one surface or on both surfaces, to improve the sealing characteristics of the layers and joints on the bale.
Polymeric film is expensive and hence for this reason there is a desire to reduce the amount of film used to wrap a bale. Moreover, polymeric film is not readily biodegradable, and once the protective wrapping is removed, it is not easily reusable, so on environmental grounds there is again a need to maximise efficiency of film usage.
This invention therefore aims to reduce significantly film usage without detriment to the effective wrapping of bales.
Film usage is likely to rise significantly through greater use in agriculture particularly for wrapping bales of silage. Currently, approximately only 30% of the UK silage crop is made in this way and the remaining 70% is still being made in environmentally
REFERENCES:
patent: 5442893 (1995-08-01), Soderberg
patent: 5483785 (1996-01-01), DiCarlo
patent: 5816026 (1998-10-01), Orpen
Orpen Kenneth Stephen Eddin
Pridham Peter William
Engellenner Thomas J.
Johnson Linda
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