FR2847554A1 - BANDEROLING PACKAGING MACHINE USING A PLASTIC FILM - Google Patents

Abstract

A wrapping machine by wrapping a plastic film 12 around a load CH, comprises means for orienting the film to cover without discontinuity the side face 16 and the upper horizontal face 17 of the load CH. A multidirectional guide system 15 is interposed for this purpose between the coil 11 and the turntable 13, and comprises pivoting means about an axis 22 for tilting between a horizontal position and a vertical position, said axis being orthogonal to the axis. 'axis of rotation of the plate 13, and means for moving in translation between a lowered position and a raised position, separated from each other by an adjustable vertical stroke as a function of the height of the load CH.

Description

Wrapping machine for wrapping a load by means

a plastic film.

  Technical Field of the Invention The invention relates to a machine for packaging a load by means of a flexible plastic film, comprising a load support plate, a film storage reel, means for ensuring a relative movement of displacement of the load and of the reel, and means of orientation and displacement of the film to cover without discontinuity by wrapping the lateral face and the

  upper horizontal face of the load.

  State of the art Such a wrapping machine for wrapping a palletized load of parallelepiped shape is known from document EP-A0 467 729, in which the same film is used to obtain total covering of the four planes of the lateral face, and the upper horizontal face. The film storage reel is rotated in the horizontal position at the start of the packaging cycle, when the upper face is covered, and at the end of the cycle to perform the welding. The coil is actuated on the other hand by pivoting towards the

  vertical position for wrapping the side face.

  Stopping means are necessary to ensure positive locking of the axis of the coil in the two operating positions. In addition to this double orthogonal pivoting of the coil, there is also a vertical sliding movement thanks to a mobile carriage on which the coil is mounted. Such kinematics is complicated, and does not allow the use of large capacity film reels. Swivel mounting of the coil on the carriage makes loading difficult

  of the reel, and the passage of the packaging film. The pre-stretching device must also be pivotally mounted to follow the coil.

  Document EP-A-0 522 928 describes a wrapping machine by wrapping, in which the means supporting the reel comprise a vertical mast and a movable carriage mounted to slide vertically and pivot about an axis. The coil thus describes a double movement of sliding and rotation along a ring

surrounding the table.

  To deposit a packaging film on the vertical planes of the lateral face, and on the upper face of a palletized load, the technique of covering with stretch or heat shrink film is also known. This technique is more difficult to implement than

that of the wrapping.

  Document US-A-4 409 776 relates to a machine for wrapping by wrapping a palletized load with a film having a sticky face. A first layer of film is applied to the load, the non-sticky side facing the load. A 1800 reversal of

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  the reel orients the sticky face of the film on the reel opposite the sticky face of the first layer of the banner film on the load. The wrapping of the second layer ensures the adhesion of the two layers

of movie.

  OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention consists in making a wrapping machine by wrapping, using a simplified mechanism for guiding the film, and

  allowing the adaptation of a large capacity film reel.

  The device according to the invention is characterized in that the orientation and displacement means of the film comprise a multidirectional guidance system interposed between the reel and the plate, and comprising: - pivoting means around a tilting axis between a horizontal position and a vertical position, said axis being orthogonal to the axis of the platform, - and means for translational movement between a lowered position and a raised position, separated from each other by a

  vertical stroke adjustable according to the height of the load.

  The presence of this multidirectional guidance system interposed between the reel and the plate, allows the same film to be used without interruption for covering the lateral face and the upper face of the load, always keeping the reel in a

  same direction, without tilting movement.

  According to a preferred embodiment, the plate is rotating, and the film storage reel extends vertically in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the plate, being mounted with the multidirectional guide system on a movable carriage constituting said means for translational movement. The multidirectional guidance system includes, for example, a

  couple of non-motorized rollers between which the film passes.

  According to an alternative embodiment, the film storage reel is fixed by extending horizontally in the vicinity of the ground, the film being brought to the multidirectional guidance system by means of an accumulator device and a return device. The latter can be mobile so as to carry out a helical wrapping

around the load.

  In the case of a machine using stretch film, the film can be wound on the reel in a pre-stretched state. It is also possible to make use of a film pre-stretching device arranged at the exit of the reel, and comprising a couple of motorized rollers making it possible to unwind the film downstream at a speed greater than that upstream. The flow rate of stretched film is advantageously controlled by means of speed and / or force measurement to control the

  force of application of the film on the load.

  According to another alternative embodiment, the device for pre-stretching the

  film is associated with the multidirectional guidance system.

  In the case of a machine using heat-shrinkable film, the load wrapped by wrapping on the plate, then passes through a shrinking station containing heating means for heat-shrinking the film on the load. Instead of providing a rotating plate, it is also possible to use a fixed plate, the carriage then being arranged to describe a double movement of vertical sliding and rotation around the

tray.

Brief description of the drawings

  Other advantages and characteristics will emerge more clearly

  of the description which follows of an embodiment of the invention

  given by way of nonlimiting example, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a wrapping machine by wrapping according to the invention, the vertical spool being able to move parallel to the axis of rotation of the load - Figures 2 to 12 illustrate the successive stages of operation of the packaging machine of Figure 1; - Figure 13 shows a similar view of Figure 1, illustrating an alternative embodiment with a fixed horizontal coil and turntable; - Figure 14 shows a partial view of Figure 13 in the

  covering phase of the upper horizontal face of the load.

  Description of a preferred embodiment.

  Referring to Figure 1, a packaging machine 10 for a palletized CH load, comprises a reel 11 for storing a flexible film 12, a turntable 13 serving as a support for the CH load of parallelepiped shape, means actuating 14 in rotation of the plate 13, and means for orienting the film 12 to cover by side wrapping the side face 16 and the horizontal surface 17

higher of the CH load.

  The turntable 13 is mounted in the example of Figure 1 on a fixed table 18, but could also be positioned on a table with motorized rollers. The lateral face 16 of the load CH comprises four planes 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d arranged in vertical planes parallel in pairs, and delimiting at the four corners of the

  vertical edges 19 parallel to the axis of rotation 20 of the load CH.

  The film 12 used is a width of stretchable or heat-shrinkable plastic material, in particular of polyethylene, said width being wound on the reel 11 along a vertical axis parallel to the axis of rotation 20 of the load CH. For example, the width of the width is of the order of 100 cm, while the height of the load CH es.t

greater than said width.

  In the case of a stretchable film 12, the pre-stretching takes place before it is deposited on the load CH, for example by means of a film directly

  wound in the pre-stretched state (case of the example illustrated in Figure 1).

  It is also possible to obtain the pre-stretching by means of a couple of motorized rollers at the output of the reel 11, so that the film 12 is unwound downstream at a speed greater than the speed

upstream.

  The film orientation means 12 after unwinding the reel 11, are constituted according to the invention by a multidirectional guide system 15 interposed between the reel 11 and the turntable 1 3, and comprising for example a pair of non-motorized guide rollers 21 between which the film passes. The guide rollers 21 are mounted to tilt about a horizontal axis 22, being arranged between the coil 11 and the turntable 13, so as to occupy either a horizontal position or a vertical position. In each of these positions, the horizontal axis 22 of tilting of the pair of non-motorized guide rollers 21 extends orthogonally relative to the vertical axis of the coil 11 and to the axis

  vertical load rotation CH.

  The reel 11 and the pair of guide rollers 21 are carried by a movable carriage capable of moving in the vertical direction between a lowered position (Figures 1 to 3) and a raised position

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  (Figures 4 to 8). The vertical stroke of the carriage between the two positions

  extremes is adjustable according to the height of the CH load.

  The turntable 13 comprises a retaining clamp 23 capable of retaining an end portion of the film 12 deposited at the base of the load CH, said clamp being able to be equipped with more means of

welding and film cutting.

  The successive stages of operation of the packaging machine 10 according to the invention are illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 12, the same film being used both for the continuous covering of the upper face 17 and of the side face 16 of the CH load: In the first step of starting the cycle illustrated in FIG. 2, the CH load is deposited on the plate 13, which is rotated in the direction of the arrow F1 by the actuating means 14, constituted for example by a geared motor. The end of the film 12 is held during the rotational movement of the load CH by the retaining clamp 23 which is in the closed state. The support carriage for the reel 11 and the guide rollers 21 is placed in the lowered position, so as to start the wrapping of the lateral face 16 from the base of the load CH. The vertical axis of the reel 11 extends parallel to the axis of rotation 20 of the plate 13, while the guide rollers 21 are pivoted by a quarter of a turn in the direction of the arrow F2 towards the horizontal position, allowing the start of flat winding of the film 12 over a width

  reduced from the different planes 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d.

  In FIG. 3, an upward movement of the carriage drives the reel 11 and the guide rollers 21 upwards allowing the film to be deposited without trapping the retaining clamp 23. A downward movement of the carriage is then carried out so as to cover the width reduced film, allowing the opening of the clamp 23. The plate 13 rotates by less than one turn in the direction of the arrow Fl during this bidirectional movement of the carriage, while the rollers

  guide 21 remain in a horizontal position.

  In FIG. 4, the guide rollers 21 are tilted towards the vertical position (arrow F3) to position the film 12 parallel to the lateral face 16 before it is deposited on the load CH. The support carriage for the spool 11 and the guide rollers 21 slides to the raised position (arrow F4), until the spool 11 exceeds

  slightly the horizontal plane of the upper face 17 of the load CH.

  During this vertical sliding movement of the carriage, the film 12 envelops the entire lateral surface 16 of the load CH following

  the rotation of the plate 13 in the direction of the arrow Fl.

  With reference to FIG. 5, the guide rollers 21 pivot towards the horizontal position (arrow F5) with an up and down movement of the carriage intended to apply the film 12 to cover the

half of the upper face 17.

  In FIG. 6, the guide rollers 21 pivot in the opposite direction (arrow F3) towards the vertical position, while the carriage remains with the

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  coil 11 in the raised position. The film 12 is then ready to be

  deposited parallel on one of the planes of the lateral face 16.

  During these operations, the load CH rotates continuously with or without speed variation. With reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, maneuvers identical to those described above for FIGS. 5 and 6 are carried out so as to cover the second half of the upper face 17. The support carriage for the reel 11 and the guide rollers 21 stay in the

  position noted during these operations.

  FIG. 9 represents the wrapping operation of the planes of the lateral face 16, after having made the carriage slide towards the lowered position (arrow F6), the guide rollers 21 remaining maintained in the vertical position. The retaining clamp 23 is immobilized in

  open position during wrapping.

  In FIG. 10, the tilting of the guide rollers 21 towards the horizontal position (arrow F2) makes it possible to obtain pleating of the width at a predetermined height from the base, for example between 3 cm and 20 cm. The open clamp 23 collects this pleated part of the

  film during the continued rotation of the load CH on the plate 13.

  In FIG. 11, the rotation of the plate 13 is stopped, without modifying the position of the carriage and the guide rollers 21. Closing the il 2847554 retaining clamp 23 then makes it possible to cut the strip of film 1 2

  after having joined the terminal part to the load CH by welding.

  In FIG. 12, the load CH packed on its five faces, is released from the plate 13 immobilized in rotation, and the film 12 maintained

  in clamp 23, is waiting for a new packaging cycle.

  Table 18, instead of being fixed, can be equipped with motorized running gear, transmission chains or a conveyor belt to automatically transport the ClI load

  packed from an upstream station or evacuate it to a downstream station.

  In the alternative embodiment of FIG. 13, the storage bobbin

  of the film 12 is fixed by being arranged with a horizontal axis at ground level.

  At the exit of the reel 11 is a device for pre-stretching the film allowing the pre-stretching of the film from the reel 11 before passing it through an accumulator device 25. The pre-stretching device 24 of a type well known, comprises rollers 26 between which the film 12 passes, the rollers 26 being driven at different circumferential speeds by a geared mechanism 27 associated with a pair of pinions 29, 30 of different diameters. The accumulator device 25 comprises a series of rollers spaced at various levels to store a certain length of pre-stretched film 12. A return device 28 to 450 is interposed between the accumulator device 25 and the two guide rollers 21 so as to position the web of film 12 parallel to the lateral surface 16 of the load CH. The two devices 25, 28

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  accumulator and return can move in vertical translation to perform a helical wrapping around the load CH. The coil 11 and the pre-stretching device 24 remain subject

on the ground, or on a fixed frame.

  In FIG. 14, the return device 28 to 450 switches (arrow F7) relative to a horizontal axis to effect the covering of the upper face 17. The rest of the packaging cycle is similar to that of

described previously.

  According to another variant (not shown), the film pre-stretching device can be mounted on the mobile carriage of FIG. 1, so as to move with the reel 11 between the lowered position and

the raised position.

  It is also possible to integrate the pre-stretching device into the multidirectional film guide system (15) 12, for example by replacing the non-motorized rollers 21 of FIG. 1 with

  motorized rollers of different speeds.

  In the case of a heat-shrinkable film, the load wrapped by wrapping on the plate 13, then passes through a shrinking station containing a hood or an oven to perform the

  heat shrinkage of the film on the load CH.

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  According to a variant (not shown), the plate 13 can be fixed, the carriage then being arranged to describe a double movement of

  vertical sliding and rotation around the plate.

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Claims (9)

claims   1. Machine for packaging a load (CH) by means of a film (12) of flexible plastic material, comprising - means for supporting the load (CH), - means for supporting a reel (11 ) for storing the film, -activation means (14) for ensuring relative movement of the reel with respect to the load, - and means for orienting and moving the film to cover the lateral face continuously by wrapping (16) and the upper horizontal face (17) of the load (CH), characterized in that the film orientation means comprise a multidirectional guide system (15) interposed between the reel (11) and the plate (13 ), and comprising: - means for pivoting about an axis (22) of tilting between a horizontal position and a vertical position, said axis being orthogonal to the axis of the plate (13), - and means for moving in translation between a lowered position and a raised position, separated from each other by a c vertical bear adjustable according to the height of the load (CH). 2847554   2. Packaging machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuating means (14) drive the plate (13) in rotation, and that the reel (11) for storing the film extends vertically in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the plate (13), being mounted with the multidirectional guide system (15) on a mobile carriage constituting said means of displacement in translation.   3. Packaging machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the reel (11) for storing the film is fixed, extending horizontally in the vicinity of the ground, the film (12) being brought to the guide system (15). multidirectional through a   accumulator device (25) and a return device (28).   4. Packaging machine according to claim 3, characterized in that the accumulator device (25) and the return device (28) at 450 are movable so as to perform a helical wrapping around the load (CH).   5. Packaging machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the plate (13) is fixed, the coil (11) being driven by a double movement of sliding and rotation around the load (CH). 16 2847554   6. Packaging machine according to one of the preceding claims,   making use of a stretch film, characterized in that the film (1 2)   is wound on the spool (11) in a pre-stretched state.   7. Packaging machine according to one of claims 1 to 5, making   use of a stretch film, characterized in that the film pre-stretching device (12) is arranged at the exit of the reel (11), and comprises a pair of motorized rollers (26) making it possible to   unwind the film downstream at a higher speed than that upstream.   8. Packaging machine according to one of claims 1 to 5, making   use of a stretch film, characterized in that the film pre-stretching device is associated with the multidirectional guide system (1 5).   9. Packaging machine according to one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that the multidirectional guide system (15) comprises a pair of non-motorized rollers (21) between which pass the film (12).