US3338021A

US3338021A - Method and apparatus for wrapping cigarette packs and the like

Info

Publication number: US3338021A
Application number: US366293A
Authority: US
Inventors: Liedtke Kurt
Original assignee: Hauni Werke Koerber and Co KG
Current assignee: Koerber AG
Priority date: 1963-05-09
Filing date: 1964-05-11
Publication date: 1967-08-29
Anticipated expiration: 1984-08-29

Description

Aug. 29, 1967 K. LIEDTKE METHOD AND APPARATUS 'FO R WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE .13 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 11, 1964 Jnvenfor: Kw J lzdw.

Au 29, 1967 Y K. LIEDTKE 3,338,021

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE Filed May 1 1, 1964 13 Sheets-Sheet 2 7nvenfa r: hrf' Y Filed May 11, 1964 Aug. 29, 1967 K. LIEDTKE 3,338,021

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE l3 Sheets-Sheet 3 g- 29, 1967 K. LIEDTKE 3,338,021

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE Filed May 11. 1964 W J w n-1w 1s Sheets-Sheet Aug. 29, 1967 K. LIEDTKE. METHOD AND APPARATUS F0 CIGARETTE PACKS AND 3 WRAPPING THE LIKE l3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 11, 1964 29, 1967 K. LIEDTKE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE Filed May 11 1964 13 Sheets-Sheet 6 K. LIEDTKE METHOD AND Aug. 29; 1967 APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE l3 Sheets-Sheet 7 Fil ed May 11, 1964 .711 vcmor: flit-rt L/Mf L I um w M g- 1967 K. LIEDTKE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE "1led May 11 1964 l3 Sheets-Sheet 8 Jnvenfor:

Aug. 29, 1967 K. LIEDTKE METHOD AND APPARATUS F0 CIGARETTE PACKS AND H WRAPPING THE LIKE l3 Sheets-Sheet 2:

Filed May 11, 1964 Jn venior: Karl L/azfkr.

K. LIEDTKE Aug. 29, 1967 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE l3 Sheets-Sheet 10 Filed May 11, 1964 Fig. 27

Jnvenfor: l lu-t l/edtke.

v /kid \fi MM Aug. 29, 1967 K. LIEDTKE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE l3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 Filed May 11, 1964 Aug. 29, 1967 K. LIEDTKE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE l3 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed May 11, 1964 Fig. 29

Jnvenfar: Ila/f Zied kw g- 29, 1967 K. LIEDTKE 3,338,021

METHOD AND APPARATUS'FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE Filed May 11, 1964 l3 Sheets-Sheet 13 XMOOQXX X XXXXX United States Patent 3,338,021 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND THE LIKE Kurt Liedtke, Verden an der Aller, Germany, assignor to Hauni-Werke Korber & Co. KG., Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany Filed May 11, 1964, Ser. No. 366,293 Claims priority, application Great Britain, May 9, 1963, 18,372/ 63 37 Claims. (Cl. 53-28) The present invention. relates to a method and apparatus for wrapping cigarette packs and similar block-shaped articles. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus each of which is especially suited for making transparent or translucent wrappers of heatsealable synthetic plastic material such as is normally applied around a soft or hard cigarette pack to keep the cigarettes from drying.

Many methods and apparatus for carrying out such wrapping operations are known in the art. In certain conventional wrapping apparatus, the material is precut to yield small blanks which are stacked at a point close to the path of the packs and which are fed one after the other in front of consecutive packs. Such wrapping apparatus are not entirely satisfactory because the feed of wrapper blanks is intermittent which results in lower output.

It is also known to draw a web of wrapping material directly from a reel or a similar source and to sever the web at necessary intervals prior to the start or subsequent to the termination of consecutive wrapping operations. The web is shaped into a tube with overlapping marginal portions which are bonded to each other by suitable adhesive. Such methods are not fully satisfactory for making wrappers of transparent or translucent synthetic plastic web material, for example, those consisting of polypropylene. Such materials may be stretched transversely and their tear strength is so high that they may be shaped to form wrappers without inserted tear-off tabs, tongues or similar handgrip means. The possibility of wrapping cigarette packs or the like in wrappers which are free of built-in tabs or tongues opens an entirely new field in wrapping methods and apparatus, and an important object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for wrapping cigarette packs and other parallelepiped box-shaped articles in wrappers of polypropylene or similar synthetic plastic material which is treated to tear in a predetermined direction.

- Another object of the present invention is to provide a method which is particularly suited for forming wrappers from synthetic plastic foils which are stretched transversely and tend to tear in such direction when a tearoff tab, tongue'or a similar projection is engaged and pulled by two fingers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of wrapping consecutive cigarette packs or similar boxshaped articles in rapid sequence and in such a way that the articles may be closely adjacent to each other so that the apparatus which is used for the practice of such method may wrap exceptionally large quantities of articles per unit of time.

An additional object of the instant invention is to provide a method of the above outlined characteristics according to which tear-off tabs or tongues may be formed on each consecutive heat-sealable wrapper in a fully automatic way and without any danger that such tabs would adhere to the remainder of the wrapper material when the foil undergoes a series of tucking, folding and heat-sealing operations.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide a method of wrapping cigarette packs or the like in transparent wrappers of polypropylene or the like and of carrying out the various wrapping steps in such a way that the entire wrapping operation may be completed in a very small area.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel wrapping apparatus which may be utilized for the practice of my method, and to construct the apparatus in such a way that each consecutive wrapper forms a closely fitting fluidtight envelope around the box-shaped article.

An additional object of the, instant invention is to provide a very simple wrapping apparatus which may be readily combined with or attached to many types of con.- ventional cigarette or cigar packing machines and which can wrap box-shaped articles at the same rate at which such articles issue from modern high-speed packing machines.

A further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus for wrapping cigarette packs or the like ina wrapping material which will tear automatically in a desired direction (i.e., circumferentially of a cigarette pack), whereby the apparatus may be simplified to a considerable degree because the tear-01f tab may form an integral part of the wrapper.

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved instrumentalities which may be utilized in the improved wrapping apparatus to effect rapid, accurate and neat wrapping of opaque, transparent or translucent foils around cigarette packs or similar parallelepiped boxshaped articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wrapping apparatus of the above outlined characteristics whose output exceeds the output of all such conventional wrapping apparatus of which I have knowledge at this time.

With the above objects in View, one feature of my invention resides in the provision of a method of wrapping cigarette packs and similar box-shaped articles in a transparent or opaque film or web of wrapper material, preferably in a fihn of polypropylene or a similar heat sealable synthetic thermoplastic material which has been treated tov tear transversely to the longitudinal extension thereof The method comprises the steps of advancinga continuous web of wrapper material lengthwise and shaping the web into a U-shaped blank with a back portion and two spaced parallel folds each having a marginal portion distant from the back portion, providing the blank with regularly spaced transverse incisions extending across they back portion and having ends which extend into the folds,"

introducing into the interior of the'blank a single file of equidistant box-shaped articles so that each thereof is located between and remains spaced from .two consecutive incisions, depressing the back portion at both sides of each consecutive incision to form pairs of tucks which abut against the adjacent end walls of two consecutive artides and folding the marginal portions of the folds over' each other, sealing the thus folded overlapping marginal portions to form a tube and severing the tube substantially in the planes of consecutive incisions to provide a single file of tubular sections each containing a partially wrapped article, changing the direction of advance of consecutive sections through an angle of about degrees in such a way that the sections remain parallel to themselves and that the tucks are then located at the trailing ends of the sections, and completing the wrapping operation while the sections advance in such changed direction by providing each section with two additional tucks at the leading end thereof, by thereupon folding the four laterally extending flaps of each section over the adjacent end walls of the respective articles, and by sealing the overlapping portions of such flaps to each other whereby each section forms a parallelepiped wrapper.

If the wrappers are to be provided with tear-off tabs, the web is caused to pass between cooperating punching instrumentalit-ies which form equidistant tongues, and such tongues are thereupon kept away from the remainder of the web to prevent them. from being sealed to the main body portion of the wrapper. The apertures which develop in response to formation of such tongues are preferably provided in one of the marginal portions so as to be sealed in a fully automatic way when the marginal portions are secured to each other.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved wrapping apparatus itself,

however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of a specific embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus which embodies my invention with certain of its parts broken away for clarity;

FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary perspective view' of a travelling foil or web of wrapping material which -is about to form a U-shaped or channel-shaped blank;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a punching station at which the foil is provided with a row of handgrip portions in the form of short tongues or tabs;

FIG. 4 illustrates a channel-shaped blank which is provided with transversely extending I-shaped incisions;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the incising station at which the back. portion of the channel-shaped blank is formed with transversely extending incisions of the type shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a forming station at which a single file of consecutive packs is intro duced tangentially into the space defined by the channelshaped blank;

FIG. 7 is a similar perspective view and illustrates the parts which guide the packs and the blank at the forming station of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an other enlarged fragmentary perspective view and shows the manner in which a vertical panel at the trailing end of each consecutive pack and a vertical panel at the leading end of the next-following pack is tucked in against the respective end wall of the pack;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the actual tucking station as seen in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of that portion of the apparatus which performs the tucking operation shown in FIGS. '8 and 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of a folding station at which a first marginal portion of the blank is folded against the adjacent side walls of consecutive P FIG. 12 is a similar perspective view of another folding station at which a second marginal portion of the blank is folded over and overlaps the first marginal portion;

FIG. 13 illustrates in perspective view that portion of the wrapping apparatuswhich performs the folding op-' erations shown in FIGS. 11 and 12;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a first heat-sealing station at which the overlapping marginal portions of the travelling blank are welded to each other so that the blank forms a tube;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the heat-sealing device which performs the welding operation;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a compressing or pinching station at which portions of the tube are pressed together between consecutive packs preparatory to severing of the tube-in the planes of incisions to form a single file of sections which are to be transformed into wrappers for individual packs;

FIG. 17 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a detail as seen in the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a greatly enlarged perspective view of that portion of the wrapping apparatus which effects the compressing operat-ion shown in FIGS. 16 and 17;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged perspective view of a severing station at which the tube is cut to yield short tubular sections of requisite length;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the instrumentalities which perform the severing operation shown in FIG; 19;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged perspective view of a turntable which serves to change the direction of advance of tubular sections through an angle of degrees into a straight path wherein the remainder of the wrapping operation is to be completed;

FIG. 22 is an enlarged perspective view of a tubular section and of a pack as they appear during such change in direction;

FIG. 23 is an enlarged perspective view of a second tucking station-at which the remaining two vertical panels are tucked in against the respective end walls of consecutive packs;

FIG. 24 illustrates a third folding station at which the lower flaps of each consecutive pack are folded against the respective end walls;

FIG. 25 illustrates in perspective view that portion of the wrapping apparatus which carries out the folding operation shown in FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is an enlarged perspective view of the last folding station at which the remaining two (upper) flaps are folded over the respective lower flaps;

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of that portion of the wrapping apparatus which effects the folding operation shown in FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a finished wrapper; FIG. 29 is a perspective view of a second heat-sealing station at which two welding devices simultaneously seal the overlapping upper flaps to the underlying lower flaps of consecutive sections; and

FIG. 30 is a diagrammatic top plan view of a portion of a foil or web and illustrates the sequence of various steps in the transformation of a length of such foil into a partially finished wrapper.

FIG. 1 illustrates all essential component parts of the improved wrapping apparatus. For the purpose of better illustration, the web 19 which is to form wrappers 36b around consecutive packs 6 is shown as if it were made of opaque material even though transparent or translucent foils are normally used in connection with cigarette packs so that the advertising matter on a soft or hard pack may be read or observed through the wrapper.

A conveyor belt 1 is trained around a driven roller 3 and an idler roller 4, and this belt is provided with equidistant transversely extending motion transmitting elements or pushers 2 which serve to advance a single file of equidistant packs 6 in a horizontal path in the direction indicated by an arrow 5. The pushers 2 engage the rear end walls 17 of the packs and advance them onto an arcuate guide track 7 which begins at the right-hand end turn of the belt 1 and extends along and beyond a portion of a rotary feed wheel 8. This wheel is driven by a vertical shaft 8a to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, and the guide track 7 extends along about one-fourth of the periphery thereof. The feed wheel "8 is provided with vertical motion transmitting elements or pushers 9 which take over from the pushers 2 to advance the packs 6 along the arcuate portion of the guide track 7. The spacing between the pushers 2 or 9 is the same.

A wheel guide 10 is mounted for rotation in a horizontal plane which coincides with the plane of the feed wheel 8. It will be noted that the wheels 8, 10 rotate in opposite directions, and that the guide track 7 extends into and beyond the gap between these wheels. A second conveyor belt 12 is trained around the guide wheel 10 and around an idler wheel 11 to serve as a means for advancing a continuous web of transparent plastic foil material 19 which is being payed out at constant speed from a source here shown as a reel 20. The shaft 10:: of the guide wheel 10 is driven to rotate the wheels 10 and 11 in a clockwise direction whereby the belt 12 travels in the direction'indicated by an arrow 13. This belt is provided with equidistant tucking members 14 which are similar to the pushers 9 and which are spaced from each other by distances corresponding to the spacing between the pushers 2 or 9. The facets 15 between the pushers 9 are fiat, and these facets are sufiiciently spaced from the nearest surfaces 16 between the tucking members 14 of the belt 12 to insure that the packs 6 may pass between the wheels 8 and 10 on their way along the upper side of the guide track 7. When the packs 6 advance through the gap between the wheels 8 and 10, each rear end wall 17 and each front end wall 18 thereof is engaged by a pusher 9 and by a tucking member 14 to make sure that the packs are properly positioned with reference to the foil 19. It will be understood that the timing of conveyor belts 1, 12 and of the feed wheel 8 is adjusted in such a Way that the pushers 2, 9 and the tucking members 14 travel at identical speeds. All rotary parts of the wrapping apparatus preferably receive motion from a common drive shaft as is customary in many types of tobacco processing machines. The narrowest portion of the gap between the wheels 8 and 10 is indicated by the head of an arrow 1V. On its way from the reel 20, the foil 19 which travels toward this gap is deflected by a first punching roller 21 which cooperates with a second punching roller 22 in a manner to be described in connection with FIG. 3. On its way to the gap indicated by the arrow IV, the foil 19 also passes between a counterroller 25 and a revolving incising roller 23 with vane-like blades 24, and thereupon into and through a U-shaped former 26 which is adjacent to the guide track 7 and which serves to shape the foil 19 into a U-shaped or channel-shaped blank 19a. This former 26 starts at the point where the packs 6 come in contact with the foil 19, and FIG. 6 shows that each consecutive pack engages the foil with a vertical edge 18a at the right-hand end of its front end wall 18. After having passed along the arcuate portion of the guide track 7 (see the arrow a in FIG. 6 or 7), the packs 6 advance in a straight pathway indicated in FIG. 1 by an arrow 27 to move along a straight portion of the track 7 toward the lowermost point of a second feed wheel 28 which is driven by a horizontal shaft 28a so as rotate in a vertical plane. This feed wheel 28 is provided with axially parallel motion transmitting elements or pushers 32 which cooperate with similar motion transmitting pushers 34 on the periphery of a counterwheel 33. On its way from the former 26 to the feed wheel 28, the blank 19a travels past a pair of folding rails 29, 30 and past a heat-sealing device 31. The spacing between the pushers 32 or 34 is substantially the same as that between the pushers 2. The wheel 33 is driven in a counterclockwise direction (see the arrow 35).

While advancing past the heat-sealing device 31, the blank 19a is transformed into a continuous tube 36 which surrounds the packs 6 and which is thereupon led through the narrowest portion of the gap between the wheels 28 and 33 (see the arrow VIII) on its way along the inner side of an arcuate shield 40 which extends from the gap between the wheels 28, 33 and upwardly toward the uppermost point of the feed wheel 28. The periphery of the feed wheel 28 is provided with flat facets 38 which extend between the pushers 32, and such flat facets 38 cooperate with similar flat facets 37 between the pushers 34 on the counterwheel 33 to advance the plastic tube 36 into the arcuate channel at the inner side of the shield 40, see the arrow 39. The shield 40 is interrupted at a point adjacent in FIG. 1 to the head of the arrow IX so that the pushers 32 may cooperate with radially extending axially parallel blades 42 of a rotary cutter drum 41 which severs the tube 36 whereby the latter yields a single file of tubular sections 36a.

The pushers 32 and 34 cooperate to compress or pinch the tube 36 preparatory to severing by the blades 42. The sections 36a are advanced onto and along the upper side of a second horizontal guide track 43, and the means for advancing the sections 36a comprises a third conveyor belt 44 which is trained around two spaced rollers 46, 47 and is provided with transversely extending motion transmitting. pushers 45. The roller 47 is driven by a horizontal shaft 47a so that the belt 44 travels in the direction indicated by an arrow 48.

The guide track 43 discharges the tubular sections 36a onto a revolving turntable 49 which is provided with a series of vertically reciprocable 'annularly distributed equidistant platforms 52 serving to orbit the sections 36a in a composite path indicated by an arrow 51 so that the sections travel about the axis of the platform 49 and simultaneously descend'to a lower level in order to come to rest on the upper side of a third horizontal guide track 54 whereby the sections 36a remain parallel with themselves but are caused to change the direction of their movement through degrees. The platforms 52 are rotatable about vertical axes and are rotated by a planetary transmission 50. The shafts of the platforms 52 cooperate with an arcuate cam 133 which enables the platforms to deposit the sections 36a on the upper side of the guide track 54. A fourth conveyor belt 56 is trained around a pair of spaced rollers 57, 58 and is provided with transversely extending motion transmitting pushers 55 which advance the sections 36a along the upper side of the guide track 54 and past a series of treating stations which are located at a level above the feed Wheel 8. The tracks 43 and 54 are tangential to the annulus of platforms 52 on the turntable 49. The roller 57 is driven by a horizontal shaft 139 so that the lower stringer of the belt 56 travels in the direction indicated by an arrow 53.

While advancing along the guide track 54, the sections 360 travel past a second tucking station (arrow X) including two tucking members 59 which tuck in the vertically extending panels of consecutive sections 36a so that such panels overlie the respective end walls 17, 18. The second tucking station is followed by a folding station (arrow XI) which accommodates two folding rails 60 serving to fold the lower flaps of the sections 36a upwardly and against the end walls 17, 18, and thereupon by a further folding station (arrow XII) accommodating two folding rails 61 which fold the upper flaps of the sections 36a to cause them to overlie the lower flaps before the thus obtained wrappers 36b reach a second heat-sealing station (arrow XIH) which accommodates two heat-sealing devices 62 serving to weld the overlapping upper and lower flaps to each other and to thus complete the wrapping operation.

The various stations and the devices which are accommodated at such stations will now be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 2 through 29. It will be noted that the Wrapping operation is carried out in such a Way that a foil'19 is deformed to provide a U-shaped or channel-shaped blank 19a which receives a single file of packs 6 and which is thereupon sealed to form a tube 36. The tube travels toward and past the blades 42 which sever it transversely to provide a single file of tubular sections 36a each of which accommodates a pack 6. These sections are then treated while advancing along the upper side of the guide track 54 to finally take the form of wrappers 36b which are ready to be stacked in cartons or similar receptacles, not shown.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of the web 19 just ahead of the former 26 (not shown), and a portion of the U-shaped blank 19a. The web 19 is a foil of transparent or translucent heat-sealable thermoplastic material which has been treated to tear transversely in response to a pull upon one of the tongues or tabs 65 which are formed therein by the punching rollers 21, 22. The tongues 65 are obtained by forming in longitudinally spaced portions of the foil 19 substantially U-shaped cuts 64 so as to provide apertures 66 as soon as the corresponding tongues 65 are bent out of the general plane of the foil. The punching rollers 21, 22 are mounted at a punching or tabforming station (see the arrow I in FIG. 1) and are arranged to form cuts 64 at equidistant points close to the upper marginal portion of the foil 19 so that, when the foil is folded by the former 26, the tongues 65 will be located in the upper horizontal fold 82 of the U-shaped blank 19a. The tongues 65 serve as a means for facilitating destruction of the wrapper 36b when a purchaser desires to gain access to the contents of a pack 6. At the present, transparent wrappers on most cigarette packs are provided with a differently colored strip which is welded to the wrapper material and one end of which may be engaged by two fingers to remove a portion of the wrapper at that end of the pack which is to be opened in order to expose the ends of cigarettes. The tongues 65 replace such strips, and it is obvious that the provision of one-piece wrappers 36b constitutes a substantial improvement in the method of packing cigarettes or the like because the wrapping apparatus is much simpler than conventional wrapping apparatus wherein the strips must be welded to precut blanks of transparent wrapper material prior to deformation of blanks around the packs.

'Each wrapper 36b follows very closely the outline of the respective pack 6 and the presence of the aperture 66 therein is of no consequence because each such aperture is overlapped by the material of the foil when the wrapper 36b is completed.

FIG. 3 illustrates the construction of and the drive means for the punching rollers 21, 22. The roller 21 is mounted on a vertical drive shaft 67 which is provided with a gear 68 meshing with a gear 69 on the shaft 70 of the roller 22. The rollers 21, 22 rotate in directions indicated by the arrows, and the upper portion of the peripheral surface on the roller 21 is provided with two 7 U-shaped male punching elements 71, 72 each of which slopes downwardly and terminates at a point 73 so that there is a smooth transition between its face and the peripheral surface of the roller. The punching elements 71, 72 are located diametrically opposite each other and cooperate with a complementary female punching element 74 provided in the periphery of the roller 22. The female punching element 74 has a lower end 75 which will be adjacent to one of the points 73 when the cooperating elements 71, 74 or 72, 74 travel through the gap between the rollers 21, 22. The edges of the male punching elements 71, 72 cooperate with similar edges of the female elements 74 to form the U-shaped cuts 64. It is obvious that each punching roller may be provided with a single punching element or with three or more such elements, depending on the diameters of the rollers, on the dimensions of the packs, and on the desired distance between consecutive tongues 65. The roller 22 comprises a single female punching element 74 because its diameter is smaller than that of the roller 21.

An elongated guide rail 76 is mounted at a level above the upper fold 82 of the blank 19a and serves to flex the tongues 65 upwardly and out of the general plane of the fold 82. To this end, the rail 76 is provided with a suitably configurated leading edge portion 77 which resembles a sharp blade and which enters between consecutive tongues 65 and the remainder of the foil 19 to prevent the tongues from remaining in the general plane of the foil as the latter advances toward the former 26 and begins to take the form of the blank 19a.

FIG. 4 illustrates the blank 19a folded to a complete U-form and provided with I-shaped incisions 78 each including a long slit and two short transverse slits at the ends of the long slit. Such transverse slits are called stoppers and prevent uncontrolled tearing of the foil. It will be noted that the incisions 78 alternate with the tongues 65 and that they are provided in the back portion 19a" of the U-shaped blank 19a. The incising station is indicated by an arrow II and accommodates an incising or slittingdevice which is shown in FIG. 5. This device comprises the aforementioned counterroller 25, the incising roller 23 and two blades 24. The blades 24 have vertical edges bounded at their ends by two arcuate edges which form the stoppers. The roller 23 is driven by a vertical shaft 79 which rotates in a clockwise direction, see the arrow 80. The counterroller 25 is free to rotate with a vertical shaft 25a which is journalled in the prongs of a U-shaped holder 81, and this holder is fixed to a stationary part of the frame for the wrapping apparatus. FIG. 5 also shows a portion of the aforementioned guide rail 76 which keeps the tongues 65' from following the deformation of the foil 19.

FIG. '6 illustrates the forming station, indicated by the arrow III, at which the vertical edges 18a at the front end walls 18 of consecutive packs 6 reach the inner side of the back portion 19a". At this point, the formation of the blank 19a is completed because the blank is surrounded by the former 26. The top fold 82 is then parallel with but spaced from a bottom fold 83. The packs 6 rest on the bottom fold 83.

The parts of the wrapping apparatus which are accommodated at and which travel through and along the forming station ,(arrow III) are illustrated in FIG. 7. The guide rail 76 extends along but is spaced from the upper front face of the former 26, and the guide track 7 terminates at the right-hand end face of the former. The top fold 82 travels beneath the guide rail 76, and the rear end wall 17 of each consecutive pack 6 is entrained by one of the pushers 9. These pushers extend through the open side of the U-shaped blank 19a, i.e., between the top and bottom folds 82; 83. The parts 7, 26 and 76 are fixed but the feed wheel 8 with its pushers 9 rotates in a counterclockwise direction to advance the packs 6 onto the bottom fold 83. Each incision 7 8 is located midway between a pair of consecutive packs but the tongues 65 are located above the top walls of the respective packs.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate the first tucking station (arrow IV) at which the tucking members 14 of the guide Wheel 9 depress portions of the blank 19a so that the blank forms two vertical score lines 84, 84a. The score line'84 is adjacent to the edge 18a of a trailing pack 6 and the score line 84a is adjacent to the edge 17a at the righthand end of the rear end wall 17 on the preceding pack 6. The formation of such score lines is made possible by the incisions 78 which enable the tucking members 14 to depress portions 'to the blank 19:! in actual contact with the end walls of two adjacent packs. The length of each incision 78 corresponds to the thickness (height) of a pack 6 thus the spacing between two adjacent packs. Thus, and referring to the transverse incision 78 shown in the right-hand part of FIG. 8, this incision comprises a median part whose length equals the height of a pack,

i.e., the width of the back portion 19a", an upper 'horizontal part whose length equals one-half the distance between a pair of packs and which extends into the top fold .82, and a lower horizontal part whose length also equals onehalf the distance between a pair of consecutive packs and which extends into the bottom fold 83. The drive for the incising roller 23 is synchronized with the drive for the wheels 8 and 9 in such a way that each incision 78 is located exactly midway between a pair of adjacent packs, i.e., between two adjacent vertical edges 17a, 18a.

The left-hand tuck shown in FIG. 9 is bounded by score lines 84, 85, 86, 87 and 88, and this tuck comprises a rectangular panel 89 of single thickness which abuts against the front end wall 18 of the left-hand (trailing) pack 6. In addition, the left-hand tuck comprises two triangular panels 90, 91 of twin thickness which are respectively coplanar with the top and bottom folds 82, 83. The other tuck, formed by the same tucking member 14, is of identical configuration and FIG. 9 merely shows its 9 upper triangular panel 92 of twin thickness which is coplanar with the panel 90. The two tucks are mirror symmetrical with reference to each other.

Referring to FIG. 10, the formation of the tucks shown in FIG. 9 is completed when a tucking member 14 begins to move away from the periphery of the guide wheel 10 and toward the idler wheel 11 (arrow 27). The facets abut against the respective side walls of the packs 6 to insure that each tucking member 14 enters accurately into an incision 78 in order to form a pair of tucks in a simultaneous operation. The flexible portions of the belt 12 between the tucking members 14 will engage the back portion of the blank 19a and will cooperate with the facets 15 to properly lead the packs through the station IV. The surfaces 16 of the belt 12 are convex as long as the corresponding portions of the belt abut against the periphery of the wheel 10. The guide rail 76 is sufficiently close to the top fold 82 of the blank 19a to keep the packs 6 in a common plane, at least while they advance along the guide track 7 which extends all the way to and slightly beyond the first heat-sealing device 31. When looked at from above, the outline of each tucking member 14 resembles the letter U.

FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate the first two folding stations, indicated by arrows V and VI, at which the blank 19a is transformed into a tube 36. At the first folding station shown in FIG. 11, the lower marginal portion 94 of the blank 19a (i.e., the free marginal portion of the bottom fold 83) is bent upwardly and into abutment with the adjacent side walls of consecutive packs to form a continuous horizontal score line 95. At the station indicated by the arrow VI, the upper marginal portion 93 (i.e., the free marginal portion of the top fold 82) is bent downwardly to overlap in part the marginal portion 94 and to form a horizontal score line 96. When the marginal portion 93 is folded downwardly and into a vertical plane, the tongues 65 are caused to turn through 90 degrees and extend in a horizontal plane in a direction away from the partially completed tube 36. The apertures 66 are in the planes of the marginal portions 93 and overlie the marginal portions 94 so that there is no possibility that air could enter through such apertures when the wrappers 36b are completed.

FIG. 13 shows the devices which effect folding or bending of the marginal portions 93 and 94. At the station indicated by the arrow V, the wrapping apparatus comprises the folding rail 29 which is suitably twisted to effect gradual flexing of the marginal portion 94 into a vertical plane and in actual abutment with the adjacent side walls of the packs 6. As shown, the rail 29 comprises a substantially horizontal leading face 97 with a smooth transition into a substantially vertical trailing face 98. The marginal portion 94 starts to advance along the leading face 97 and is gradually flexed upwardly as it travels along the median part of the rail 29 and toward and along the trailing face 98. The folding rail 29 also forms the score line 95.

The second folding rail 30 is slotted and comprises a leading face 99 which is substantially horizontal and a trailing face 100 which is substantially vertical. The transition between the faces 99, 100 is smooth so that the marginal portion 93 is folded gradually, and the folding rail 30 simultaneously forms the score line 96. The guide rail 76 extends into the slot 101 of the folding rail 30 and serves to gradually deflect the tongues 65 so that the tongues enter the slot 101 and are bent into a horizontal plane. Thus, the surfaces surrounding the slot 101 perform the same function as the rail 76 by continuing to guide the tongues 65 and by keeping them from adhering to the marginal portion 93. This insures that the tongues 65 are not welded to the remainder of a Wrapper and can be readily grasped by fingers when the purchaser desires to remove the wrapper 36b from a pack 6.

A guide wire 107 takes over at the discharge end of the slot 101 and continues to keep the tongues 65 away 10 from the marginal portion 93 as the packs 6 advance toward the feed wheel 28.

FIG. 14 illustrates the heat-sealing station (see the arrow VII) at which the overlapping zones of the marginal portions 93, 94 are welded to each other by the device 31 shown in FIG. 15. The thus obtained welded seam 106 is indicated by criss-cross hatching, and the blank 19a then forms a tube 36 which is advanced by the tucking members 14 to travel toward the gap between the wheels 28, 33. The heat-sealing device 31 comprises a drive shaft 108 which rotates a roller 109. An endless flexible steel band 111 is trained around the roller 109 and around an idler roller 112 which latter is mounted on a shaft 113. The shaft 108 is driven in a counterclockwise direction which is indicated by the arrow 110. The inner stringer 11111 of the band 111 is heated by an electric heating element 114 which is fixed to a stationary part of the wrapping apparatus and is connected to a suitable source of electrical energy via cable 115. The exact construction of the heating element 114 forms no part of this invention. The guide wire 107 is located at a level above the stringer 111a and its left-hand end, as viewed in FIG. 15, is secured to a second guide rail 76a which extends to the wheel 28. FIG. 15 also shows that the tongues 65 travel above the heat-sealing station so that they cannot be welded to the marginal portion 93. However, and as stated above, the stringer 111a (which is heated by the element 114) will weld the marginal portions 93, 94 to each other so that each aperture 66 is completely sealed from the interior of the tube 36.

Referring now to FIG. 16, there is shown a compressing or pinching station (arrow VIII) at which the pushers 32 and 34 of the wheels 28, 33 cooperate to pinch the tube 36 in the intervening spaces 116 between each pair of consecutive packs 6. The pushers 32 and 34, shown in FIG. 18, pinch the tube to form score lines 117, 118 at points indicated by an arrow 119. In this manner, the vertical portions of the tube in the intervening spaces 116 are provided with groups of rather weak fold lines 120 shown in FIG. 17. FIG. 18 shows that the shield 40 begins immediately past the point where the tube 36 is formed with sets of fold lines 120. This shield extends close to the tips of the uppermost pushers 34 and takes over to guide the tube in the direction indicated by the arrow 39. Once the tube 36 is introduced into the channel between the shield 40 and the periphery of the wheel 28, it automatically continues to advance toward the roller 46 shown in FIG. 1.

The peripheral speed of the wheels 28, 33 is somewhat less than the linear speed of the oncoming tube 36 so as to compensate for slight shortening of the tube which takes place during the formation of score lines 117, 118. These score lines are coplanar with the respective incisions 78.

FIGS. 19 and 20 illustrate the severing station, indicated by an arrow IX, at which the tube 36 is severed by the blades 42 of the cutter drum 41. This drum is driven by a horizontal shaft 122 and rotates in a counterclockwise direction (arr-ow 123). The edges of the blades 42 form cuts 121 to sever the tube 36 in the planes of consecutive incisions 78 so that the tube yields a single file of tubular sections 36a, and it will be noted that the top of each pusher 124 is provided with a flat and narrow countersurface 124 which cooperates with the edge of the corresponding blade 42 to insure that the cuts 121 are clean. As a rule, the material along the countersurfaces 124 will be hardened to prevent excessive wear or, alternatively, each pusher may the provided with a hard insert which forms the countersurface 124.

The fold lines 120 shown in FIG. 17 will be allowed to disappear, either in part or entirely, as soon as the adjacent portion of the tube 36 is formed with a cut 121.

FIG. 21 illustrates the turntable 49 with its vertically reciprocable platforms 52 which serve to move the sections 36a from a higher level to a lower level and which simultaneously cause the sections to remain parallel with themselves while travelling in the direction indicated by arrow 51. Such change in the direction of movement of the sections 36a through 90 degrees is advisable because the remaining folding and heat-sealing steps may be performed much more conveniently if the end walls 17, 18 of consecutive packs are parallel with the direction of forward movement (arrow 53). As explained in connection with FIG. 1, the platforms 52 receive the sections 36a from the upper side of the guide track 43 (arrow 48) and deposit them on the upper side of the guide track 54 (arrow 53).

The platform 49 resembles a short hollow cylinder and is mounted on a vertical drive shaft 125 to rotate in a clockwise direction (arrow 51). A second drive shaft 126 is coaxially telescoped in the shaft 125 and serves to rotate the sun gear 127 of the planetary transmission 50. The sun gear 127 meshes with a series of planet pinions 128 whose shafts 129 are rotatably and vertically movably mounted in the disk-shaped top and bottom walls of the platform 49 to rotate in bearings 134, 135. The top wall of the turntable 49 is identified by the numeral 136. The platforms 52 are provided with pairs of upwardly extending stops 130, 131 which insure that the packs 6 in the sections 36a remain in the same angular position while travelling from the track 43 to the track '54. The ratio of the teeth on the pinions 128 to the teeth on the sun gear 127 is selected in such a way that the shafts 129 remain in the same angular position while they orbit about the sun gear. The lower end portions 132 of the shafts 129 are rounded and travel along the upper face of the cam 133 while the sections 36a rest on the corresponding platforms 52. The pinions 128 and their shaft-s 129 are biased downwardly and into engagement with the cam 133, for example, 'by suitable helical springs 133a one of which is indicated schematically in FIG. 21. Thus, each platform 52 normally tends to move to a lower end position and is lifted just in time to receive a section 36a from the discharge end of the track 43 in order to deliver such section onto the receiving end of the track 54.

FIGS. 22 and 23 illustrate a second tucking station (indicated by the arrow X) at which the panels at the longitudinal ends of the overlapping marginal portions 93, 94 are tucked in to form tucks 137. The device for eifecting such tucking includes the tucking members 59 which resemble fingers and whose leading ends are spread apart, as at 138 in FIG. 23, to insure that the formation of tucks 137 is gradual. The tucking members 59 are fixed to a stationary part of the frame and are adjacent to the opposite sides of the guide track 54 immediately downstream of the roller 57 for the belt 56. The roller 57 is driven by the shaft 139 which causes it to rotate in a clockwise direction (arrow 140).

The folding station shown at XI in FIG. 24 accommodates a folding device which includes the folding rails 60 each having a horizontal run-on portion or. leading face 142 and a vertical trailing face 142a. The lower flaps 141 of the sections 36a at the end walls 17, 18 of consecutive packs 6 are thereby folded upwardly to overlie the respective end Walls and to form horizontal score lines 141a.

FIGS. 26 and 27 illustrate the last folding station, indicated 'by the arrow XII, which accommodates the folding rails 61 having leading faces or run-on portions 144 and trailing faces 144a which serve to flex the remaining two (upper) flaps 143 and to form horizontal score lines 143a. The flaps 143 overlie the flaps 141 so that they may be heat-sealed to each other at the next station, indicated at XIII in FIG. 28, and accommodating the heat-sealing device 62 of FIG. 29. The overlap between the flaps 141, 143 is shown in FIG. 26 at 145. It will be noted that the configuration of the folding rails 60 and 61 is practically identical with that of the folding rail 29 shown in FIG. 13.

'The welded seam 146, shown in FIG. 28 by criss-cross hatching, is formed by the device 62 of FIG. 29 which comprises two identical halves, each adjacent to one side of the guide track 54. Each half includes an endless steel band 111A, two rollers 109a, 112a having shafts 108a, 113a, and an electric heating element 114a connected with a cable 115a. The welding or heat-sealing action of each of the bands 111A is the same as described in connection with FIG. 15. Upon leaving the heat-sealing station of FIGS. 28 and 29, the sections 36a emerge in the form of finished wrappers 36b each of which forms a tight seal around the respective pack 6. Such wrappers may be stacked in cartons or other receptacles for shipment or storage.

It will be noted that the rollers 112a of the heat-sealing device 62 are closely adjacent to the roller 58 so that the overall length of the track 54 is reduced to a minimum, i.e., just enough to complete the welding operation. The tucking, folding and heat-sealing actions of the parts which are adjacent to the opposite sides of the track 54 are mirror symmetrical so that there is no one-sided pressure or pull on the sections 36a to insure that the wrappers remain in satisfactory engagement with the respective pushers 55.

FIG. 30 illustrates a portion of a blank 19a as it appears, opened up, at various stations which are identified by the numerals I to DC. The operation of the wrapping apparatus will now be described with reference to this FIG.30 and with occasional reference to the preceding illustrations.

The foil of FIGS. 1 to 3 consists of known synthetic plastic material and is being payed out continuously by the reel 20 to advance in the direction indicatedby the arrow. The foil then passes through the gap between the punching rollers 21, 22 whereby the male punching elements 71, 72 cooperate alternatively with the female punching element 74 (station I). to form the U-shaped. cuts 64. After passing along the leading edge 77 of the guide rail 76, the foil 19 advances in the direction indicated by arrow 27 and toward the incising station (arrow H) to undergo deformation and to form the U-shaped blank 19a which is completed when the transparent material reaches the former 26 (arrow III). The leading edge 77 of the guide rail 76 is located at the point where the top 7 fold 82 of the foil 19 begins to move out of the general plane of the foil so that the tongues 65 may be engaged by the rail 76 and are kept from following the path of the fold 82. It is to be noted that the punching'elements 71, 72 and 74 deflect the tongues 65 from the general plane of the foil 19 to facilitate the work of the rail 76 in keeping the tongues from turning as the foil begins to take the shape of the blank 19a. As known, the tongues 65 will form the tear-off tabs of the wrappers 36b and, therefore, they should not be welded to the lower marginal portions 94. The rail 76, the Wire 107 and the rail 76a form a continuous guide for the tongues 65 and extend all the way to thesecond feed wheel 28.

Intermediate the rollers 21, 22 and the former 26, the

blank 19a passes through the gap between the counterroller 25 and incising roller 23 (arrow I11) and is provided with I-shaped incisions 78 which are formed by the blades 24. The roller 23 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow 80, and the counterroller 25 rotates in the opposite direction. Since all revolving parts of the wrapping apparatus rotate at constant speed, the incisions 78 are equidistant from each other and their mutual spacing corresponds to the length of a section 36a. Also, each incision 78 is located at the same distance from the nearest U-shaped cut 64. i

The packs 6 reach the blank 19a substantially tangentially at a point slightly below the heads of the arrows III in FIG. 30, i.e., in the interior of the former 26. Such packs are being fed from a packing machine, not shown, and onto the upper stringer of the belt 1 to be entrained by consecutive pushers 2 and to advance in the direction indicated by the arrow 5. Once they reach the periphery of the feed wheel 8, the packs are entrained by the pushers 13 9 to advance along the guide track 7 and onto the bottom fold 83 of the blank 19a. FIG. 7 shows that the track 7 comprises an upstanding arc'ua'te deflecting element 7a which resists centrifugal force and keeps the packs in the arcuate path indicated by the arrow a. In other words, the path of the packs 6 along the periphery of the feed wheel 8 merges into the straight path of the blank 19a which is indicated by the arrow 27. Each consecutive pack enters through the open side of the blank 19, and the right-hand edge 18a of its front end wall 18 comes in actual abutment with the back portion 19a" of the blank. FIG. 7 shows that the front end of the former 26 is bounded by surfaces without sharp edges to avoid damage to the blank, but the space in the left-hand portion of this former is bounded by truly rectangular internal surfaces so that the former defines sharp score lines between the folds 82, 83 and the back portion 19a" of the blank 19a before the thus obtained blank reaches the belt 12 and the tucking members 14. The members 14 engage the blank 19a at the narrowest point of the gap between the periphery of the wheel 8 and the belt 12, and each thereof forms a pair of tucks of the type shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 by entering through the adjacent incision 78 and by depressing some material of the back portion 19a" at each side of the respective incision against the end walls 17, 18 of two adjacent packs 6. As best shown in FIG. 10, the heads of the tucking members 14 are well rounded to avoid tearing of the foil and to insure that the formation of tucks is gradual even though the score lines 84, 84a are very pronounced when the tucking step is completed. This tucking step is carried out at the station indicated in FIGS. 1, 8 and 30 by the arrow IV. Of course, once the tucking members 14 engage and depress the back portion 19a" of the blank 19a, the packs 6 on the straight portion of the guide track 7 are compelled to remain at equal distances from each other because the score lines 84, 84a prevent any longitudinal displacement of such partially wrapped packs. Once a tucking member 14 has completed the formation of two tucks, it continues to remain in engagement with the blank 19a and then merely serves as a pusher in keeping the packs 6 and the blank 19a in motion along the upper side of the straight portion of the track 7 and all the way to the pushers 32, 34 of the wheels 28, 33. The fifth working operation is carried out at the station indicated by the arrow V, namely, at the first folding station which accommodates the folding rail 29 and at which the free marginal portion 94 of the bottom fold 83 is bent upwardly against consecutive packs 6 to provide a horizontal score line 95 best shown in FIG. 11. The folding rail 30 then performs a second folding operation at the station indicated by the arrow VI in that the free marginal portion 93 of the upper fold 82 is folded over the marginal portion 94 whereby the fold 82 is formed with a horizontal score line 96 shown in FIG. 12. p

The tongues 65 enter the slot 101 of the folding rail 30 and are kept in planes at right angles to the plane of the folded-down. upper marginal portion 93. Thus,- and when the marginal portion 93 comes in actual abutment with the marginal portion 94, the tongues 65 are moved into a horizontal plane slightly above the zone in which the marginal portions 93, 94 overlap, see particularly'FIGS. 14 and 15. At the first heat-sealing'station (arrow VII), the overlapping zones of the marginal portions 93, 94 are welded to each other to form the seams 106 whereby the blank 19a is transformed into a tube 36 which travels toward the wheel 28 and which is rectangular in cross section save at the points where the tucking members 14 depress the back portion 19a" to spread apart the edges bounding the incisions 78. The wire 107 guides the tongues 65 above the heated inner stringer 111a of the band 111 to make sure that the tongues are not bonded to the .overlapped marginal poi"- tion 94.

As the tube 36 advances toward and into the range of the pushers 32 and 34, it is provided with consecutive pairs of transverse score lines 117, 118 and with bunches vof fold lines 120. This is done at the station numbered VIII at which the matching pairs of pushers 32, 34 enter the intervening spaces 116 between consecutive packs 6 and pinch the tube to move the packs somewhat nearer to each other. It is to be noted that the speed of the wheels 28, 33 is somewhat less than the speed of the belt 12, and this is necessary to avoid tearing of the tube 36 while its length decreases in response to the formation of score lines 117, 118 shown in FIG. 16. The guide rail 76a terminates shortly in advance of the wheel 28 since the bulges shown at the head of the arrow 119 in FIG. 17 prevent further guiding of the tongues 65. Also, such further guiding is not necessary because the formation of welded seams 106 is completed and there is no need for further welding at that side of the tube 36 from which the tongues 65 extend.

The tube 36 advances in the space between the periphery of the wheel 28 and the inner side of the shield to reach the station marked IX at which the shield 40 is interrupted so that the blades 42 of the drum 41 may form the cuts 121 in the planes of incisions 78 in order to sever the tube 36 into a single file of tubular sections 36a. The blades 42 cut across the overlapping score lines 117, 118 which insures that each cut is very clean and accurate, and the sections 36a are then engaged by the pushers of the lower stringer of the belt 44 to advance along the upper side of the guide track 43 and toward the turntable 49 (arrow 48 in FIG. 21). The platforms 52 orbit in the aforedescribed manner to keep the packs 6 and the sections 36a in positions of true parallelism with themselves and to advance the sections in the direction indicated by the arrow 51 so that the sections descend onto the guide track 54 and are entrained by consecutive pushers of the belt 56. The stops 130, 131 on each platform 52 keeps the packs 6 from turning during transfer onto the track 54. The cam 133 lifts the shafts 129 of consecutive planet pinions 128 at the time the pinions approach the discharge end of the track 43 and then allows the springs 133a to move the shafts 129 with the corresponding platforms 52 downwardly at the time the platforms advance from the track 43 to the receiving end of the track 54. Such composite movement of the platforms (arrow 51 in FIG. 21) is desirable in order to avoid any interference between movements of the belts 44 and 56. 1

It will be noted that, by advancing from the track 43 onto the track 54, the packs 6 have changed the direction of their movement through 90 degrees which means that the end walls 17, 18 are now located laterally of the packs and that the welded seams 106 are leading, see the arrow 53 and the position of the section 36a in FIG. 22.

The. remainder of the wrapping operation is not shown in FIG. 30 and will be described by renewed reference to FIGS. 22 to 29. The shaft 139 of the roller 57 drives the lower stringer of the belt 56 in a direction away from the turntable 49 so that the pushers 55 keep moving the packs 6 at a constant speed and the sections 36a thereby advance past the station X at which the members 59 form the tucks 137 shown in FIGS. 22 and 23. While advancing between the folding rails (station XI of FIG. 24), the lower flaps 141 at both sidesof each consecutive pack 6 are folded upwardly, and the rails 61 then complete the folding by flexing the upper flaps 143 downwardly (station XII of FIG. 26) preparatory to the welding step at the station XIII shown in FIG. 29. The seams 146 are formed simultaneously while the sections 36a advance between the inner stringers of the bands 111A. This completes the wrapping operation and each pack 6 emerges from the discharge end of the track 54 completely surrounded by a parallelepiped wrapper 36b which

Claims

1. A METHOD OF WRAPPING CIGARETTE PACKS AND SIMILAR BOX-SHAPED ARTICLES, COMPRISING ADVANCING LENGTHWISE A CONTINUOUS WEB OF SYNTHETIC PLASTIC WRAPPER MATERIAL WHICH WAS STRETCHED TRANSVERSELY THEREOF SO AS TO EXHIBIT A TENDENCY TO TEAR IN THE DIRECTION OF STRETCH AND FORMING THE WEB INTO A U-SHAPED BLANK WITH A BACK PORTION AND TWO FOLDS EACH HAVING A MARGINAL PORTION DISTANT FROM SAID BACK PORTION; PROVIDING ONE OF SAID MARGINAL PORTIONS WITH REGULARLY SPACED TONGUES BY PUNCHING APERTURES IN THE MATERIAL OF THE RESPECTIVE FOLD; PROVIDING THE BLANK WITH REGULARLY SPACED INCISIONS EXTENDING ACROSS SAID BACK PORTION AND HAVING ENDS EXTENDING INTO SAID FOLDS, SAID INCISIONS BEING FORMED TO ALTERNATE WITH SAID TONGUES; INTRODUCING INTO THE BLANK A FILE OF EQUIDISTANT ARTICLES SO THAT EACH ARTICLE IS LOCATED BETWEEN AND IS SPACED FROM TWO CONSECUTIVE INCISIONS; DEPRESSING THE BACK PORTION AT BOTH SIDES EACH CONSECUTIVE INCISION TO FORM PAIRS OF TUCKS WHICH ABUT AGAINST THE ADJACENT END WALLS OF TWO CONSECUTIVE ARTICLES AND FOLDING SAID MARGINAL PORTIONS OVER EACH OTHER; SEALING THE THUS FOLDED MARGINAL PORTIONS TO EACH OTHER TO FORM A TUBE AND SEVERING THE TUBE SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE PLANES OF CONSECUTIVE INCISIONS TO PROVIDE A FILE OF TUBULAR SECTIONS; CHANGING THE DIRECTION OF ADVANCE OF CONSECUTIVE SECTIONS THROUGH ABOUT 90 DEGREES SO THAT THE TUCKS ARE LOCATED AT THE TRAILING ENDS OF SAID SECTIONS; AND COMPLETING THE WRAPPING OPERATION WHILE THE SECTIONS ADVANCE IN SUCH CHANGED PAINT OR THE LIKE INTO EACH INDIVIDUAL CONTAINER FROM SAID DIRECTION.