US2154762A - Package binding - Google Patents

Description

April 1939- .1. M. MOGREGOR ET AL 2,154,762

PACKAGE BINDING Filed Jan. 16, 1956 Lfa 12W WIN Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKAGE BINDING Application January 16, 1936, Serial No. 59,399

3 Claims.

Our invention relates to package binding. More particularly it relates to the tensioning about packages or groups of packages of encircling loops of flexible, metallic binder, such as commonly used for reinforcement and protection and to tie together the packages constituting a group. It is especially useful when the packages are cornered, small and non-compressible.

Heretofore such binders have been tensioned by tools which require the presence of some part, such as a supporting foot or gripper element, between the package and the encircling 100p. When packages or bundles are non-compressible, and the reach of binder where the tension is applied is relatively short (e. g. small packages), the presence of a part of the tensioning tool between the package and the binder during the tensioning operation results in looseness of the binder after the joint has been made between overlapping ends of the loop and the tool has been removed. This looseness is due to the fact that the length of the binder constituting the loop is, because of the interposedpart of the tensioning tool, longer than the periphery of the package and an incompressible package cannot expand to compensate for the excess length so as effectively to maintain sufficient tautness. Thus, although the loop may be as tight as it can be made, or as tight as it should be, before the tensioning tool is removed, it may be unserviceably loose after the tool is removed.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide permanently tight loops of binder about incompressible packages,particularly packages of small size.

Another object is to provide an improved method of tensioning binders looped about packages or bundles, whereby expansion of the packages or bundles will not be required to maintain the binder tight.

Another object is to provide a method and a tool particularly adapted for the tight application of metallic strap about small incompressible packages.

A further object is to provide a tool which has no binder grippers, no supporting feet, no bearings or other parts with relative movement between them, and no ratchets or other means for holding the tension until the loop joints are made.

Another object is to provide a tool which is simple and inexpensive to produce, light and'ruggod, and easily used.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a preferred form of tool for carrying out our invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, of the tool, partly in section and with the outer end of the handle broken away;

Fig. 3 shows one relation of package, binder and tool preparatory to the commencement of the tensioning operation;

Fig. 4 shows the relation during a later stage of the tensioning operation;

Fig. 5 shows another relation of package, binder and tool ready for the tensioning operation to begin;

Fig. 6 shows the relation during an advanced stage of the tensioning operation;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a modification particularly adapted for packages with rounded corners; and

Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the modification.

In general, our invention contemplates the tensioning of a package or package-group binder by means of a Windlass which anchors one end of the binder loop by clamping it (movably or immovable) against the side of a package and upon 25 which the other end of the loop is wound, to take up the slack, as the windlass is rolled or rocked upon the end of the loop it presses against the package.

The tool we prefer to employ will first be described. It includes a Windlass-head [0, which preferably is cylindrical in shape although it may be only a partial or segment of a cylinder or have any other appropriately curved or arcuate surface enabling it to be rolled, for at least a part of a revolution, along a surface of the package. The Peripheral surface of the Windlasshead is knurled or otherwise formed or treated to insure a firm and non-slipping engagement with the binder. The head is provided with one or more invariable (i. e., non-closing) slotsthere preferably being two, H and I2, at right angles to each other and each extending diametrically across the body of the head-to receive one end of the binder and act, when the head 45 is rotated, to snub and hold the binder so that it may be wound upon the head. The Windlasshead is rigidly carried by a handle 13 extending therefrom at substantially a right angle to its axis.

The head and handle may be formed in any desired manner, although we prefer to forge the head and a shank [4 in one piece and then secure a reduced end I5 of the shank in the end of a'tube It, which may be of a length'to give 5 the desired leverage for easy operation. The shank or the tube extension of the handle, preferably the shank, because of the strength of the steel forging, is reversely curved so as to provide a sort of gooseneck effect to bring the major length of the handle, including the part gripped by the operator, into substantial alignment with the knurled portion of the head. This alignment of the grip portion of the handle, where the power is applied, and the head, where the work is done, lessens, if it does not effectively eliminate any tendency of the tool to tilt or skew in operation. Preferably the width of the handle is slightly less than the diameter of head l4 so that, when the handle lies over against the side of a package with the head overhanging the corner, the head will depend somewhat below the corner, as shown in Fig. 3. Thus, the tool employed is a bearingless, gripperless, gearless, screwless and ratchetless integral structure having no relatively movable elements.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, one procedure for binding a package or package group according to our method and with our tool will be explained,a single package A being chosen for the purpose of illustration.

The binder 20, in the form of a flexible fiat strap or ribbon, is looped about the package in the usual way, one end-portion 2| lying unsecured or freely upon the package and being superposed by the other end-portion 22. Preferably the loop is drawn up by hand until it fits around the package without much excess slack. The reason is that the best results are attainable from the tool if, in taking .up all the slack to tension the binder to the desired degree, it will not be necessary to rotate the Windlass-head to such an extent that the part of the binder wound thereon becomes interposed between the head and that part of the binder the head presses against the package. With the binder loop in this preliminary condition, the tensioning tool may be laid upon the package, as shown in Fig. 3, with its handle lying flat upon the package and its head overhanging and depending slightly below the corner thereof,which will bring its slot 2 slightly above the plane of the top surface of the package so that, when the upper binderend portion is inserted therein there will be a clearance space between it and the top of the package, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3.

The outer binder end portion 22 is now inserted laterally into head slot l2 and with the peripheral surface of the head in engagement with the other end-portion of the binder and, preferably pressed rather firmly against the package corner, the handle is swung clockwise as shown by the arrows. .This rotation of the tool causes the outer binder end-portion 22 to be snubbed as distinguished from clamped between movable jaws at the upper edge corner of head slot l2 and thereby held or anchored so that as rotation continues it will be wound upon the Windlass-head to take up the slack in the binder loop. At the same time the head presses or clamps the inner or lower binder end-portion 25 against the side of the package. The rotation of the tool head also causes it to roll or tend to roll down the side of the package upon the underlying binder end-portion 2|. As the rotation continues, and the binder becomes more and more taut against the package corner about which the overlying binder portion 22 first passes (e. g. the upper left-hand corner of Fig. 3), the reactive or reverse pull of that binder portion upon the tool draws the Windlass-head tighter and tighter against the other binder end-portion 2| lying along the opposite side of the package and upon which the head is rolling. This pressure of the head upon the underlying binder endportion causes the knurled surface thereof to grip that binder portion and the upward pull thereon caused by the heads clockwise rotation tends to draw that binder portion toward the tool around the first corner it passes (e. g. the lower right-hand corner of the package) and to feed the same beyond the Windlass-head between the upper binder end-portion and the package. During its rotation, therefore, the Windlass-head may serve, either simultaneously or successively, both as a drum upon which one binder end-portion is wound to take up slack in the loop and as a pulling and feeding clamp for the other binder end-portion also to take up slack in the loop. Thus, the binder may be tensioned by movements of the end-portions in opposite directions, which take up the slack in both directions from the tool. The advantages of this two-way pull by the tool are that the tension will be more equally distributed throughout the binder loop and that the power required to attain the desired degree of tension is less than would be the case if all the slack should be taken up by movement in only one direction, necessitating the binder being drawn successively around two or three or possibly even four of the package corners. In the tensioning operation therefore the corner of the package adjacent the Windlass-head forms the initial fulcrum about which the head and handle rotate and the package itself forms the abutment upon which the head rotates and against which it tightly clamps one of the binder end-portions. The opposing reactive pulls in the two binder end-portions retain the tool in position tightly against the side of the package, the inner binder end-portion 2| upon which the Windlass rolls serving to distribute to the package the inward pressure exerted by the Windlass-head and to shield the package from the roughened surface thereof; and the slack in the loop is taken up and tension is applied by pulls in opposite directions upon the two binder end-portions.

Inasmuch as the effectiveness of the grip between the windlass-head and the underlying or inner binder end-portion 2| may be weakened or destroyed should the head be turned far enough to cause the extremity 22' of outer endportion 22 which extends beyond the Windlass to be forced in between the head and inner endportion 2|, it will ordinarily be better procedure initially to take up by hand the slack in the binder loop to such an extent that the desired tension in the loop can be attained before the head has been rotated far enough to crowd the extremity 22 in between the head and inner end-portion 2|. In other words, particularly if the binder is rather smooth, it will normally be the better practice to have the binder initially so taut that the desired tension can be reached before the tool handle and Windlass-head are rotated much beyond the condition shown in Fig. 4. If the joint between the overlapping binder end-portions, to render the tensioned loop permanent about the package or package group, is to include a sleeve of the so-called thread-on type (i. e., one which so completely encircles the overlapping binder ends that it cannot be applied laterally), the sleeve should be threaded on to the binder before the tensioning tool is applied. If, however, the joint is to be made with a sleeve that can be applied laterally to the binder (e. g., of the so-called "snap-on type), the sleeve need not be positioned until the desired tension has been attained in the binder loop and the joint is about to be made.

After the binder loop has been tensioned to the desired degree its overlapping ends are joined or sealed together in any desired or appropriate manner to make the loop permanent; the tensioning tool can then be released and removed; and the free extremity of the upper binder end-portion cut or broken off at or near, but of course outside of, the joint.

Figs. and 6 show initial and final positions, respectively, of the tool when, for any reason, it is deemed desirable or necessary that the tensioning operation start with the handle raised above the surface of the package. Fig. 5 shows the initial position with the handle substantially at right angles to the upper surface of the package being bound and with head slot ll, instead of slot I2, holding the upper binder end-portion. The rotation of the Windlass-head in a clockwise direction results in the binder loop being tensioned about the package in the manner previously described.

Fig. '7 illustrates the use of a tool attachment which may be employed when the package corner at which it is desired to apply the tool is rounded to such an extent that it would not effectively provide the initial abutment for the Windlass-head. The attachment is in the form of a yoke 25 having at one end a hook 26, for fitting over a cylindrical neck 21 in that part of the shank of the tool handle which is parallel to the .axis of the Windlass-head, and at the other end an adjustable .bracket 28, which can be brought against a corner of the package. Such a yoke or anchor will prevent the reactive or reverse pull in the upper binder end-portion from causing the head merely to wind itself along that binder portion as the handle is 1'0- tated.

Because of the ratio between the relatively long handle lever and the short lever represented by the radius of the Windlass-head, the weight of the handle may ordinarily suffice to render the tool self-retaining. That is, the reverse or reactive pull of the tensioned binder upon the Windlass-head may be insufficient to rotate the tool in a direction opposite to that for imparting tension when the operator releases the handle. However, should it be deemed desirable so to do, the handle may be provided with an adjustable counterweight 29 which can be moved inwardly or outwardly to overbalance whatever difference there may be between the reactive I pull of the binder and the inertia of the tool is removed after the joint is made. Thus, the permanent loop retains the tension or tautness about the package to which it was subjected by the operation of the tool.

Because no part of the tool comes directly in contact with the package-the Windlass-head contacting and rotating upon one of the binderend portions-the package is not marred or damaged by it; and the underlying binder-end portion serves to distribute the pressure of the windlass-head so that the tendency to localized crushing of the package during the tensioning operation is reduced.

The tool requires no lubrication, it may be made light in weight .and yet very rugged, it may be operated either right-hand or left-hand (i. e., by changing the package corner of application, rotated either clockwise or anti-clockwise) and, being free from relatively moving parts such as bearings, it will wear long.

Having thus illustrated and explained the nature and typical embodiments of our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A package-binder-strap tensioning tool comprising a cylindrical Windlass head having a roughened peripheral surface for engaging only and rolling upon the strap that encircles the package being bound and upon which the strap may be wound, said head having a peripherically opening invariable slot for receiving and anchoring one end of the strap, and a handle extending radially outward from one end of the Windlass head, the outer end of said handle being substantially in line with the roughened surface of the Windlass head.

2. A package-binder-strap tensioning tool comprising a cylindrical Windlass head having a roughened peripheral surface for engaging only and rolling upon the strap that encircles the package being bound and upon which the strap may be wound, said head having a peripherically opening invariable slot for receiving and anchoring one end of the binder; and a handle extending radially outward from one end of the Windlass head, the outer grip end of said handle being substantially in line with the roughened surface of the windless and the diameter of the Windlass head being greater than the width of the handle in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the Windlass head.

3. A package-binder-strap tensioning tool, comprising .a Windlass head having a roughened a-rcuately shaped peripheral surface for engaging only and rolling upon the strap that encircles the package being bound and upon which the strap may be wound, said head having a peripherically opening invariable slot for receiving and by a snubbing action anchoring one end of the binder; and a handle extending radially outward from one end of the Windlass head, the outer grip end of said handle being substantially in line with the roughened surface of the Windlass head.

JOHN M. MCGREGOR. HOWARD C. PORTER.

Images