MACHINE AND METHOD FOR WRAPPING OF ONE OR MORE PRODUCTS WITH A TAPE OF MATERIAL

Abstract

 The present invention relates to a machinery for realizing a wrapping of one or more products in general with a tape (101) of material, the machinery comprising:
- A support (2) on which a parent reel (100) from which unreeling the tape of material for the wrapping can be arranged in use, in rotatable way;
- A vertical guide (21);
- A wrapping head (22) translatable along the said vertical guide (21) and comprising at least one reeling/unreeling roll (45) rotatable towards a direction, to operate the reeling around it of a predetermined length in meters of tape of material and rotatable towards the opposite direction to be able to unreel at least one part of the said tape reeled around it in such a way that a predetermined length in meters of tape can be unreeled from the said parent reel to be reeled around the said reeling/unreeling roll (45) to perform a wrapping through the subsequent unreeling of at least one part of the said tape.

Description

Technical field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of packaging.

[0002] In particular, the invention relates to a new machinery for packaging products in general, such as stacked boxes of products and positioned on a pallet or on the ground or single products such as reels of paper placed on a pallet or on a pallet on the ground, as well as individual or stacked products placed on the ground and not necessarily palleted or placed on a pallet.

Brief outlines of prior art

[0003] The packaging of products in general, for example in the "Tissue" field, may include the packaging of products stacked on pallets, for example boxes of Tissue products, such as napkins, rolls, small rolls, facial tissues, hand towels, etc. Packaging may also comprise the packaging of parent reels which must then be moved and then, for such purpose, they are wrapped for protecting them at least laterally during their movement through suitable forklift trucks.

[0004] In the present state of the art, the packaging machinery comprises an unreeling station on which a reel of tape used for the reeling is mounted. Generally, such tape is a tape of the "stretchable" type and thus of material of plastic origin. The reeling reel is formed by many hundreds of meters of tape reeled around a core and thus such tape enables to package many products. The diameter of such reels used as reeling tape may also be greater than one meter, for example.

[0005] Therefore, the station is formed by an unreeler, on which the reel is mounted and with the unreeler which moves, i.e. it translates, along a vertical column, so that during the unreeling of the tape the reel can be translated upwards or downwards in order to cover the whole height of the product to be packaged (both a pile of products arranged on the pallet or on the ground and a single reel which rests on its base or on a side directly on the ground or on a pallet).

[0006] In a possible embodiment in the prior art, the products are positioned on a base rotatable around its vertical axis (substantially rotatable around an axis orthogonal to the ground). In this way, while products are arranged in rotation around the said vertical axis, contextually the reeling tape is unreeled from the unreeling station so that the rotation itself of the products around the vertical axis makes the same products draw around their perimeter the said tape which wraps them.

[0007] The initial reeling phase provides indeed the connection of the free strip of tape, coming from the parent reel, at a point of the objects to be wrapped. Contextually, the reel is raised from below upwards (or vice versa) along its supporting turret so that the reeling involves substantially the whole height of the product/s to be packed.

[0008] Such an embodiment as described has the technical drawback of operating necessarily with reels of particularly light material since the whole reel used for the reeling, i.e. the wrapping of products, must be moved at least vertically along the supporting turret.

[0009] This results in a strong limitation in particular on the choice of the wrapping material which is generally selected from plastic material to be lighter in order to facilitate any movement of the parent reel.

[0010] However, this is contrary to current needs in which the use of bio-degradable materials, which may have a greater specific weight, is increasingly frequent and even mandatory by law.

[0011] If in other technical fields the weight increase is not relevant in this case, instead, the weight increase results in a significant problem since a reel could increase its overall weight by several tens of kilos thus subjecting the machine to such loads as to damage it.

[0012] This is the case of paper which is certainly heavier than plastic film but due to the above-introduced drawbacks it is difficult to use in place of plastic film.

[0013] Furthermore, even when trying to reduce the weights, the reels are still very large since they must ensure a predetermined number of reeling. If the reel is selected to have a small diameter, in order to preserve the weights, it is however necessary at this point to continuously and frequently change the reel and this results in a highly uneconomical solution since it excessively causes a slowdown in production.

[0014] Publications EP0842850, EP2910475, US2018/273226, DE10030979, EP0470196, US2014033657 are also known.

Summary of the invention

[0015] Therefore, the aim of the present invention is to provide an innovative machinery and relative method, which resolves the said technical drawbacks.

[0016] In particular, the aim of the present invention is to provide a machinery, and relative method, which enables to perform a "packaging", therefore in other words a packing or wrapping of a single product or more products together, for example stacked on each other, being able to select any packaging reel and of any weight, therefore structuring the machinery so as to be functional with any reel used for reeling, both a big one or a small one and/or of any material.

[0017] These and other aims are achieved through the present machinery for realizing a wrapping of one or more products in general with a tape (101) of material, preferably a paper tape, in accordance with claim 1.

[0018] Such machinery, according to the invention comprises:

• A support (2) on which a parent reel (100) from which unreeling the tape of material for the wrapping can be arranged, in rotatable way;
• A wrapping head (22) movable along at least one wrapping path which enables to wrap the product/s around their perimeter, preferably also for at least one part of their height, for example with the wrapping head 22 movable along a guide, for example vertical and/or along a circular path or a helicoidal path which surrounds the positioning zone of the products to be wrapped.
• For such purpose the said wrapping head comprises at least one reeling/unreeling roll (45) rotatable towards a direction, to operate around it the reeling of a predetermined length in meters of tape of material, and rotatable towards the opposite direction to be able to unreel at least one part of the said tape reeled around it in such a way that a predetermined length in meter of tape can be unreeled from the said parent reel to be reeled around the said reeling/unreeling roll (45) and can perform the wrapping, once the tape reeled on the roll (45) is separated from the parent reel from which it originates, through a combination of a movement of the said wrapping head along the said at least one path and the unreeling of at least one part of the said tape reeled on the roll 45.

[0019] In this way all the aforesaid technical drawbacks are readily resolved.

[0020] In particular the support (2) is now configured simply to enable an unreeling of the tape from the parent reel but it must not be moved in any way to wrap, for example with a motion along the height of the whole product.

[0021] Now the movement, for example in height or according to a circular path, can be deputed to the movable wrapping head which has wrapped around it only a limited length in meters of tape.

[0022] Thus, one is not compelled anymore to use small or light reels.

[0023] Indeed, the use of a movable wrapping head (22) which results in an element independent from the support (2) and therefore movable in independent way, enables the achievement of all the predetermined aims.

[0024] Indeed, the wrapping head has the said roll 45 which is rotatable towards a direction, to reel around it a certain length in meters of paper, and rotatable towards the opposite direction to enable the release of a certain length in meters for realizing the wrapping.

[0025] Once the roll 45 has been loaded with a certain length in meters of tape, the separation of the tape from the parent reel can be operated and the wrapping head 22 can move to perform the wrapping with a limited "load" of paper but anyway it can be restored from the parent reel when necessary.

[0026] Therefore, this enables even to select tapes with a greater specific weight, such as paper, even having parent reels of big sizes.

[0027] Advantageously, just in the case that products with a certain height are wrapped, a vertical guide (21) is provided and with the said wrapping head (22) which is thus movable meaning that it can translate along the said vertical guide in such a way that the product/s can be wrapped along the whole or a good part of their height.

[0028] Thanks to the fact that the wrapping head has a limited length in meters of tape it enables to readily move the said head along the guide without burdening it with considerable weights (that is not feasible with a parent reel).

[0029] Therefore, it enables the use of heavy tapes such as paper.

[0030] In addition, if products to be wrapped are positioned in the wrapping zone on a rotatable plane, the head will only be limited to translate to cover the product height.

[0031] Otherwise, if a rotatable rest plane is not provided, the wrapping head must move on a circular path which surrounds the positioning station of the products to be wrapped, to wrap them.

[0032] In addition, if the products are high, the same vertical guide may be provided but with the whole vertical guide and wrapping head movable along the circular path so that the head translates on the guide and at the same time moves around the products thanks to the translation along the circular path of the guide itself.

[0033] A helicoidal guide which surrounds the positioning zone of the products enables, alternatively, the raising of the wrapping head while the latter moves along the guide and in accordance to this alternative it is not necessary anymore to move the guide as in the case above with vertical guide.

[0034] In all the cases, it is anyway necessary a movement of the wrapping head, both in height and if necessary (and/or) according to a circular path to realize the wrapping.

[0035] Therefore, the proposed solution enables to realize structures which are not subjected to strong structural stresses.

[0036] In the same way, thus, it is also described here a method for realizing a wrapping of one or more products in general with a tape of material, the method providing the following phases:

• Arrangement on a support (2) of a parent reel (100) of tape (101) of material so that the said parent reel (100) is rotatable to enable the unreeling of a predetermined quantity of the said tape (101) of material;
• Arrangement of a wrapping head (22) movable along at least one path for operating the wrapping, preferably translatable along a vertical guide, and comprising at least one reeling/unreeling roll (45) rotatable towards a direction, to operate around it the reeling of a predetermined length in meters of tape of material, and rotatable towards the opposite direction to unreel at least one part of the said tape reeled around it;
• The method providing a reeling of a predetermined quantity of tape which is unreeled from the parent reel to be reeled around the said reeling/unreeling roll of the said wrapping head and the subsequent cut of the tape once reached a predetermined length in meters of tape reeled around the said reeling/unreeling roll (45) in such a way as to separate the tape reeled on the said reeling/unreeling roll (45) from the parent reel from which it originates;

[0037] Execution of the wrapping of the product/s by combining suitably the movement of the wrapping head along the said at least one path and unreeling at least one part of the tape reeled around the said reeling/unreeling roll so as to wrap perimetrically the said product/s.

[0038] Further advantages are inferable from the dependent claims.

Brief description of the drawings

[0039] Further features and the advantages of the present machinery, and relative packaging method of products in general, according to the invention, will become apparent from the following description of some preferred embodiments thereof, given only by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

• Figure 1 depicts an axonometric view of the first station whose function is to support the parent reel of tape to enable the unreeling thereof of a predetermined length in meters towards the second station;
• Figures 2 and 3 depict respectively a view from above and a lateral view of such first station;
• Figure 4 depicts a detail relative to the said first station;
• Figure 5 is an overall axonometric view of the whole machinery in which the components of the second station are yet highlighted;
• Figures from 5A to 7 depict structurally the details of the said second station;
• Figures from 8 to 10 depict yet some working phases of the machinery;
• Figures 11 and 12 depict in axonometric view, in greater detail, a wrapping phase of a product 200.

Description of some preferred embodiments

[0040] The present invention concerns a new machinery for realizing the wrapping of products in general.

[0041] The machinery can be mostly divided into three stations and in particular:
A first station 1 in which the parent reel 100 from which the tape for the packing is unreeled, is positioned. Such station is fixed, except for the fact that it is configured for being able to rotate or enable anyway the rotation, of the parent reel which it supports, with the only aim to enable an unreeling of a predetermined length in meters of tape (of any material, preferably paper). Therefore, on such first station, the parent reel is not translated and/or raised and/or lowered and/or moved onto a certain path. It is only made rotate around a pin which, de facto, is the peg (Sp) entering the reel core.

[0042] In this way, as explained thereinafter, reels with big sizes and weights may be used without causing excessive structural stresses on the machine.

[0043] A second station 20 (see for example figure 5), comprises instead a vertical guide 21 on which a wrapping head 22 is movable vertically which, in turn, includes a roll around which a certain length in meters of tape coming from the parent reel 100 which stands in the first station 1 is reeled. Once a predetermined length in meters of tape has been reeled on the said wrapping head 22, the tape is torn and therefore the second station becomes independent from the first one and can operate the wrapping by using the own length in meters of loaded tape and moving freely along the paths necessary to complete the reeling, such as the guide in case of such preferred embodiment of the invention, thereby leaving the parent reel 100 still in position in its first station.

[0044] In such first preferred embodiment of the invention, it is therefore comprised a third station 30 which represents the positioning zone of the product/s to be wrapped which includes a supporting plane rotatable around the axis Z (see for example the figure 11) so as to make rotate the products to be wrapped around the axis Z (orthogonal to the ground).

[0045] As explained thereinafter, in a second embodiment the positioning plane of products may not be rotatable as well.

[0046] In the prosecution of the present description such three stations introduced above are described in greater detail in the various possible embodiments of invention.

The first station:

[0047] Figure 1 depicts in axonometric view the part of the present machinery which specifically represents the said first station 1.

[0048] In particular, a support 2, preferably in form of a plate for example circular 2, on which a parent reel 100 of tape rests to realize the packaging, is illustrated.

[0049] As depicted in the view from above in figure 2 and in the lateral view of figure 3, the rest plate on which the reel 100 stands, is driven in rotation through a motor 50, preferably an electric motor.

[0050] More particularly, there is provided a motor 50, that is for example electrical, which causes a rotation of a shaft 52 which ends with a cog-wheel 53 which in turn meshes with the relative teeth provided or present in the supporting shaft 54 of the plate 2 on which the reel rests.

[0051] The rotation of the cog-wheel 53 causes the shaft 54 that is integral with the plate 2 to rotate and in this way the reel 100, which stands on the plate, is rotated through the rotation of the said plate.

[0052] Through such rotation a predetermined length in meters of tape can be unreeled from the parent reel.

[0053] The said support 2 comprises a vertical peg (Sp) which protrudes orthogonally from the said support and which, in use, is inserted within the reel core so as to fix it on the plate and render it integral with it.

[0054] It can be configured in order to lock it along the channel delimited by the reel core, for example by means of an inflatable system which expands the diameter of the peg which is constrained against the walls of the reel core (the same occurs when the reel has no inner core but it obviously has the channel around which the tape is reeled).

[0055] As explained thereinafter in the description, the reel can be of any material and therefore it may include a tape of plastic material even if the invention is preferably directed to the use of a paper tape as better specified thereinafter.

[0056] The reel may have any size, for example paper reels of 1,2 m diameter.

[0057] The reel may be unreeled thanks to the rotation of the plate 2.

[0058] Even more particularly, with reference to figure 1, the supporting plate 2 rests on a framework 3 which also acts as support for a transferring turret 4 which supports, in rotatable way, a couple of rolls whose function, as also highlighted in figure 1, is to grab the paper to adjust the correct tensioning thereof and guide the paper with the correct tension towards the wrapping head 22 while the paper is transferred from the rotating parent reel.

[0059] In particular, moving on to figure 4, the transferring turret 4 supports two counter-rotating rolls which define between them a passage space for the tape 101 coming from the reel 100 and which, released by the parent reel moves towards the second station, just thanks to such turret.

[0060] Figure 4 thus depicts the roll 56 and the roll 57 and with the roll 57 which is moved according to a translation which can bring it close or draw it away from the roll 56 so as to increase or decrease the passage "gap" of the tape 101 (see the dotted line representing the tape) so as to adjust the paper tension.

[0061] The roll 57 can move close to the roll 56 thereby trapping the tape coming from the parent reel (see the tape represented in thin dotted line), or it can draw away from it reducing the contact, thus increasing the gap.

[0062] The roll 56 is preferably motorized with a motor 56', electric for example, highlighted in figure 4, while the roll 57 is preferably idle but it is movable anyway through an actuator 57' so as to be able to move close/away to/from the roll 56.

[0063] The motor 56' makes the roll 56 rotate according to such a length that it is possible to adjust correctly the tape tension in the part which is just from the reel 100 to such roll 56, without tearing off the paper and ensuring the correct transfer of the free paper strip. Therefore, it is synchronized with the rotation of the parent reel so as to be able to adjust the tape tension without tearing it off.

[0064] Always as depicted in figure 4, the whole turret 4 is therefore translatable along a guide 58 (see the double arrow direction) so that its movement can guide the free paper strip to lead it to the second station.

[0065] More particularly, the process of paper passage from the parent reel towards the roll 45 of the wrapping head 22 occurs automatically in the following way, just thanks to such turret 4.

[0066] As described and continued thereinafter, the roll 45, belonging to the second station, has a slit 46 within which the free paper strip inserts to begin the reeling onto the roll 45 of the wrapping head 22. This operation occurs automatically thereby the turret 4, thanks to the rolls 56 and 57, maintains the correct paper tension and once drawn a paper strip which passes over the rolls 56 and 57 by approximately 3 cm, locks the rotation of the motorized roll 56 and begins to translate towards the wrapping head 22 along the guide 58 with a translation speed function of the rotation of the parent reel so as to maintain always the tension at a correct value without tearing the paper off. The translation along the guide occurs until such exceeding strip, locked between the said two rolls 56 and 57, is led to the slit 46. At this point, the roll 56 becomes idle and distances from the roll 57, so that the rotation of the roll 45 can occur for the reeling.

[0067] Therefore, the turret, acts like a human hand which grabs the free strip and moves in synchronized way with respect to the rotation of the parent reel to guide the tape which is released towards the roll 45 to which it is fixed.

[0068] Obviously, such solution with turret 4 is very advantageous since it automatizes the whole process, but however, the turret could also be omitted by performing a manual passage.

SECOND STATION:

[0069] Figure 5 depicts in greater detail the second station in the preferred embodiment.

[0070] As already mentioned, it is formed by a vertical guide 21 on which a wrapping head 22 is mounted slidingly, adapted to release the tape for the reeling.

[0071] The task of the wrapping head 22 is therefore to reel around a suitable roll, better described thereinafter, a predetermined length in meter of tape coming from the parent reel, for example an amount sufficient for operating the reeling of a series of products (three or four, for example). In this way, since it would be necessary to move the reel along a vertical path for operating the reeling of high products (see for example the product 200 in figure 5), then according to such solution one can readily move the above-mentioned head 22 which is loaded with a limited and light length in meters, the main reel 100 remaining instead in a fixed position.

[0072] It is therefore clear that, according to such solution, the whole structure of the machine is under less stress since the head movement does not imply a movement of the whole parent reel but instead a movement of a part of tape only.

[0073] Therefore, the head is charged with a certain length in meters of tape and can operate the packaging, i.e. the wrapping, independently from the parent reel which remains in fixed position.

[0074] This enables, for example, the use of tape to wrap in the form of paper tape which is known as much heavier than a stretchable plastic-based tape and, for that purpose, it is hardly usable until now, only with parent reels with small diameter, for example of approximately 170-200 mm diameter. While indeed a reel with diameter of approximately 1 meter of thin plastic tape may weight some tens of kilos, the same diameter of paper weights more tens of kilos and obviously its movement would result in a considerable problem.

[0075] Such solution solves the problem since now the parent reel must not be moved anymore.

[0076] Therefore, as depicted in figure 5, the vertical guide 21 comprises a column 24 which is a endless screw which is made rotate by the motor 25, which is also preferably electric like all the other motors present on the whole machinery. The endless screw 24 meshes along a threaded channel obtained in a sleeve 28 to which the head 22 connects and with such sleeve which obviously is the body translating along the guide 21 and connected to the wrapping head 22.

[0077] In this way, depending on the clockwise or counterclockwise direction of rotation of the endless screw 24 the whole head 22 may be moved along the guide according to a lifting motion, i.e. which goes from the rest base 23 of the guide 21 towards the motor 25 or a lowering motion, i.e. from the motor 25 to the base 23.

[0078] Equivalent solutions such as rack and cog-wheel or hydraulic cylinders could be used in place of the endless screw.

[0079] The motor 26, instead, is connected to the head 22 so as to enable a rotation thereof on the plane parallel to the ground between a loading position of paper and a wrapping position.

[0080] Figure 8 and figure 9 depict in fact the transferring position of the tape from the parent reel to the head 22 while figure 10 depicts the position rotated through 90° degrees of the head 22 to perform the operation of wrapping.

[0081] In this way, thanks to such rotation through 90° degrees, the objects to be wrapped can be arranged in a loading zone spaced from the parent reel thereby preventing all the components of the machine from interfering with one another.

[0082] Through a further suitable motor, the head 22 may also be further adjusted angularly along a plane orthogonal to the ground and which is the plane of longitudinal symmetry (LG) of the head 22 and depicted in figure 5B.

[0083] Therefore, the head can oscillate along this plane (LG) varying the inclination thereof thereby favouring the wrapping phase.

[0084] For example, one can notice in figure 5 that in this case the head 22 is slightly inclined downwards for feeding the paper in an area slightly lower than the head 22 itself which releases it.

[0085] Moving on to the subsequent figures 5A, 5B and 6 the wrapping head 22 is structurally described in greater detail.

[0086] Moving on to figure 5A, the said wrapping head 22 comprises a central body 40 to which two arms (41, 42) are connected rotatable between an open position and a closed position. The rear connection of the head 40 which enables the rotation thereof through 90°degrees on a plane parallel to the ground, should be noted.

[0087] Both figure 5A and figure 5B depict very clearly such two arms (41, 42) which are pivoted so as to rotate like wings between the said open position, in which they rotate radially outwards, and the said closed position in which they close against one another in front of the roll 45.

[0088] As depicted in figure 5A "OPEN position" the central body 40 comprises the reeling roll 45 which, through motor 46, can be made rotate towards a direction or towards the opposite direction.

[0089] The reeling roll 45 comprises a longitudinal notch 47 which serves for fixing on it the free strip of the tape coming from the parent reel to perform the reeling. Within the said longitudinal notch inflatable gaskets are provided such that, when the paper strip is inserted into the notch, the strip is locked through the inflation of such gaskets.

[0090] Substantially, the tape coming from the parent reel is led to such head 22 fixing the free strip within the notch 46 and locking it thanks to the inflation of gaskets. At this point, the roll 45 is rotated by the motor 46' so as to wrap around itself a predetermined length in meter of paper.

[0091] As described above, the turret 44 manages such transfer of the free strip to such notch 46 where the strip is trapped.

[0092] Then the cut of the tape is performed through systems which may include a laser cut or the use of a blade or something else, thus leaving a new free strip which is the one which will be used for initiating the reeling.

[0093] Each one of the wings 41 and 42 include one or more rolls which are well highlighted in figure 5A-5B and figure 6.

[0094] In particular the wing 41 comprises a rubberized roll 47 which is positioned against a haulage roll 49 belonging to the other wing 42 and driven in rotation by a motor 50, which is preferably electric.

[0095] Moreover, the wing 42 comprises a further roll 48 which is a loading cell. The loading cell simply serves for detecting the tension in the paper and therefore for adjusting the inclination of the head on the basis of the tension, in addition to adjusting the speed at which the tape unreels.

[0096] Therefore, when one wants to reel a certain length in meters of paper onto the reeling roll 45 the wings are in open position and the free paper strip coming from the parent reel is inserted within the loop 46. The strip is locked and the motor 46' makes rotate the roll 45 reeling a certain length in meters.

[0097] In this phase, as depicted in figure 8, the head 22 is rotated towards the turret 4 and is aligned with the rolls of such turret.

[0098] The roll 45 rotates in synchronized way with the parent reel and the turret rotates the tension thereof.

[0099] In this condition, as already mentioned, the two rolls of the turret 4 draw away from one another and are in idle condition, thereby enabling the free unreeling of the parent reel. Contextually, the turret translates backwards to the nearest position to the parent reel ready to resume a guiding cycle of the paper into the slot 46 when it will be necessary.

[0100] Therefore, the roll 45 rotates in synchronous way with respect to the parent reel to reel the tape.

[0101] At the reeling end the wings close again trapping a tape section and the tape downstream of the closed wings is cut thus creating the free strip of tape reeled around the roll 45 and the free strip of tape which belongs to the parent reel.

[0102] Therefore, contextually, the two rolls of the turret 4 close the gap to grab the free strip belonging to the tape of the parent reel and to be ready for another cycle while, as mentioned, the roll 45 has its tape reeled with its free strip which protrudes from the above-said wings.

[0103] Therefore, in this condition, the two wings lock the strip which protrudes from the rolls 47 and 49 of some centimeters through the rotation and lock of the motorized roll 49 which abuts the rubberized roll. Then one proceeds, as per figure 10 to the head rotation which rotates through 90 degrees to face it towards the positioning station of products to be wrapped.

[0104] The roll 49 may be activated so as to make protrude a strip of a sufficient length to reach the objects to be wrapped so that the operator connects, at the beginning of reeling, such free strip to the products.

[0105] After having performed that, the motor 50 is unfastened and the rolls 49 and 50 become idle.

[0106] The only roll which remains motorized is the roll 45 which rotates now towards the unreeling direction of paper.

[0107] As introduced above, the reeling phase around the roll 45 requires the rotation of the support plate of the parent reel in the first station at a speed which is obviously synchronized with the rotation speed of the roll 45.

[0108] When the reeling of a certain length in meters has been finished, the two wings close again, the head is rotated (see the sequence figure 9 and 10) and, for initiating the reeling of product/s, it is sufficient to attach the free strip of paper reeled on the roll 45 of the head 22 to a point of the object/s positioned in the third station.

[0109] During the reeling of product/s, the roll 45 rotates in such a way as to release the paper, therefore rotating towards an opposite direction to that through which it rotated to reel around itself a certain length in meters of paper.

THIRD STATION:

[0110] As it is then depicted in figure 11, a rest station 30 is provided for the products to be wrapped and which comprises a rest plane 32 on which the object/s to be wrapped rest/s, whether it is a single product, or a pile of product/s positioned on a pallet or directly on the rest plane 32.

[0111] Therefore, the base or rest plane 32 forms a rest surface for the products to be wrapped and it is mounted on a supporting tower 31. The rest base 32 is rotatable, for example through suitable motor, around the axis Z vertical to the ground indicated in figure 11 for clarity purposes.

[0112] The rest plane 32 can rotate with a technical solution similar to that described for the plane 2 of figure 1.

[0113] In this way, as it is highlighted by the succession of figures 11 and 12, the product positioned on the rest base 32 is made rotate around the axis Z and, contextually, the tape which has been previously reeled on the roll 45 of the head 22, is progressively released by the head 22 so that the rotation itself of the product around its axis Z makes the product itself draw and reel with the tape. Therefore, the roll 45 is moved to an opposite rotation to that of reeling in synchronized way and suitable speed with respect to the rotation Z of the rest plane of the objects.

[0114] Therefore, to initiate the wrapping operation it is sufficient to connect to a point the objects to be wrapped, for example by using adhesive tape, the free strip of tape exiting from the head 22. At this point the base 32 is made rotate and at each finished turn the product draws and wraps with a turn of tape.

[0115] The roll 45 releases the tape.

[0116] More or less upon completing each turn the head progressively translates from below upwards (or also vice versa in case that one initiates from top) and in this way the whole wrapping of product is operated for its whole length or a good part of it, also including a partial wrapping of the pallet in case that it/they is/are positioned on pallets. In this way, the wrapped product is firmer on the pallet.

[0117] Moreover, it is possible to perform a number of packaging operations in this way until the tape preloaded on the head 22 has run out.

[0118] Once it has run out, a predetermined amount of new tape coming from the parent reel is reeled on it and the normal wrapping of products begins again.

[0119] Thanks to such solution, the wrapping head 22 can move translating along the guide without having the load of a whole parent reel.

[0120] Therefore, this enables the use of much heavier tapes (i.e. with a greater specific weight) such as paper tapes.

[0121] Therefore, in use, a certain length in meters is unreeled from the parent reel. In particular, the turret 4 transfers the free strip to the roll 45 of the mobile parent reel 22 and then the roll 45 reels a certain length in meters by rotating.

[0122] The tape is cut, once reached a certain length in meters and the free strip exiting from the head 22 is applied to the product to be wrapped to perform the wrapping.

[0123] The free strip of parent reel is trapped by the turret which is ready to guide it again to the roll 45 to initiate a new wrapping when the tape has run out.

[0124] In an embodiment of the invention, it is not excluded to position the whole assembly formed by a vertical guide 21 and head 22 on a circular guide on which they translate along the circumference shaped by such guide. Therefore, they can move along a circular trajectory.

[0125] According to such solution, the base 32 described above can be positioned in the midst of such circular trajectory and it is not necessary anymore that it, i.e. the base 32, is in turn rotatable around its axis Z since the reeling rotation is now performed by the assembly of guide 21 and head 22 which rotate around the positioning zone 32 of product/s.

[0126] A further embodiment can provide the only head without vertical guide and with the head movable on a circular path around the positioning station of products and with such positioning station of products which can be fixed at this point.

[0127] In accordance with the invention, the preferred usable tape is a tape of paper material which, even being heavy, can be used now.

[0128] In this way, the use of plastic can be fully eliminated therefore using an ecofriendly material.

[0129] Briefly, in greater detail, therefore the operating way of the machinery is as follows.

[0130] A certain parent reel is selected with a certain diameter, for example paper tape, and it is positioned on the plate 2 of its station from where a certain length in meters of paper can be unreeled.

[0131] The tape is made pass through the turret 4 which guides the free strip to the roll 45 locking it in the loop 46.

[0132] The reeling on the roll 45 of a certain length in meters of paper is initiated in the loading position of figure 8.

[0133] Once a certain length in meters has been reeled then paper is cut (preferably through a suitable laser or blade or through cutting means in general). It is also possible a manual cut.

[0134] Once the cut has been performed, the head 22 is rotated to the wrapping position and the wrapping of products positioned on the station 30 can be performed.

[0135] The turret grabs the free strip of the parent reel and it is ready for a new loading cycle.

[0136] For example, if a parent reel for Tissue products must be wrapped, this is positioned on the rest base 32, for example in turn positioned on a pallet.

[0137] The free paper strip is connected to the reel and the plane 32 is made rotate around the axis Z so that a reeling of tape around the reel to be wrapped occurs at each turn (or it may be any other object/product) .

[0138] During the reeling the head 22 translates along the guide, generally from below upwards, so as to wrap the whole product height.

[0139] In accordance with the embodiment of the invention the method is unvaried except for the fact that the head 22 rotates around the product to be wrapped which on the contrary remains still in position.

[0140] If the product is not high, the machine may not comprise the vertical guide moving anyway around the product obviously always to operate the wrapping.

[0141] In a further alternative, the wrapping head may move on a guide which shapes a helicoidal path which develops around the arrangement position of the products to be wrapped; the head being able in this way to turn around the products to be wrapped positioned in the wrapping zone and progressively raising itself with respect to the ground as it moves forward along the helicoidal path, thereby being able to wrap the products for their whole height.

[0142] Therefore, this solution enables to wrap even low products since with a little more than a turn the whole product is wrapped for its whole height and it does not require the movement of the guide itself as in the case of a vertical guide which translates integrally with the head it carries along a circular path to make the head perform a helicoidal motion.

Claims

1. A machinery for operating a wrapping of one or more products in general with a tape (101) of material, the machinery comprising:

- A support (2) on which a parent reel (100) from which unreeling the tape of material for the wrapping can be arranged in use, in rotatable way;

- A wrapping head (22) movable along at least one path and comprising at least one reeling/unreeling roll (45) rotatable towards a direction, to operate the reeling around it of a predetermined length of tape of material, and rotatable towards the opposite direction to be able to unreel at least one part of the said tape reeled around it in such a way that a predetermined quantity of tape can be unreeled from the said parent reel to be reeled around the said reeling/unreeling roll (45) in such a way that a wrapping can be performed through the combination of a movement of the said wrapping head along the said at least one path and the unreeling of at least one part of the said tape reeled on the said reeling/unreeling roll (45).

2. The machinery, as per claim 1, wherein there is comprised a guide (21) which defines the said path and with the said wrapping head which is translatable along the said guide.

3. The machinery, as per claim 2, wherein the said guide is a vertical guide along which the said wrapping head can translate.

4. The machinery, as per claim 1, wherein cutting means are comprised to cut the tape reeled around the said reeling/unreeling roll (45), preferably the said means being in the form of a laser.

5. The machinery, as per one or more of the previous claims, wherein the said reeling/unreeling roll (45) comprises locking means (46) through which a free strip of the tape can be fastened to the said roll (45) to begin a reeling around it.

6. The machinery, as per one or more of the previous claims wherein by choosing:

- The said wrapping head can be translated along a fixed vertical guide in the case of product/s positioned onto a rotatable positioning station or

- The said wrapping head is movable along a helicoidal path obtained with a helicoidal guide which surrounds the positioning station of product/s or

- The said wrapping head is movable onto the said vertical guide and whose vertical guide is further movable along a circular path which surrounds the positioning station of products.

7. The machinery, as per claim 6, wherein for each one of these choices the wrapping head is furthermore rotatable around a pin between a loading position, in which it faces the support (2) to perform the reeling of the tape around the reeling/unreeling roll (45), and a wrapping position in which it faces a rest station (30) on which the object/s to be wrapped are positioned in use.

8. The machinery, as per one or more of the previous claims, wherein the said wrapping head (22) further comprises two lateral wings on which one or more rotatable rolls are arranged rotatably, the said wings being movable, preferably rotatable, between a divaricated position in which they release the reeling/unreeling roll (45) and a closed position in which they cover at least in part the said reeling/unreeling roll (45).

9. The machinery, as per claim 1, wherein a movable transferring turret (4) is provided and configured to collect the free paper strip from the parent reel to transfer it to the said wrapping head (22).

10. A method for realizing a wrapping of one or more products in general with a tape of material, the method comprising the following phases:

- Arrangement, on a support (2), of a parent reel (100) of tape (101) of material, so that the said parent reel (100) is rotatable to enable the unreeling of a predetermined quantity of the said tape (101) of material;

- Arrangement of a wrapping head (22), movable along at least one path and comprising at least one reeling/unreeling roll (45) rotatable towards a direction, to operate the reeling around it of a predetermined length of tape of material, and rotatable towards the opposite direction to unreel at least one part of the said tape reeled around it;

- The method comprising a reeling of a predetermined quantity of tape which is unreeled from the parent reel to be reeled around the reeling/unreeling roll of the said wrapping head and the subsequent cut of the tape once reached a predetermined length of tape reeled around the said reeling/unreeling roll (45) in such a way as to separate the tape reeled on the said reeling/unreeling roll (45) from the parent reel from which it originates;

- Execution of the wrapping of the product/s by moving the wrapping head along the said at least one path and unreeling at least one part of the tape reeled around the said reeling/unreeling roll so as to wrap perimetrically the said product/s.

11. The method, as per claim 10, wherein the said wrapping phase comprises a connection of the free strip of tape reeled on the said roll (45) to the said product/s to be wrapped and a rotation of the product/s to be wrapped along its/their vertical axis (Z) with a further translation of the wrapping head (22) along the said path formed by a guide which is directed from below upwards or vice versa, preferably a vertical guide, or, alternatively, a connection of the free strip of tape reeled on the roll (45) to the said product/s to be wrapped and a consequent movement of the said wrapping head along the said path which develops around the product/s to be wrapped and which goes up from the ground upwards or vice versa, in such a way as to be able to wrap the product/s for at least one part of their whole height, preferably such path being a fixed helicoidal guide or a vertical guide movable along a circular path.

12. The method, as per claim 10 or 11, wherein the product/s to be wrapped is/are positioned on a further rest base (32) rotatable around its vertical axis (Z), the wrapping comprising a phase of rotation of the said further rest base (32) during the release of the tape from the said reeling/unreeling roll (45) in such a way that through the said rotation the tape is drawn by the rotation itself of the product/s positioned on the said further rest base reeling around them.

13. The method, as per claim 12, wherein there is provided a preliminary phase of beginning of wrapping of the product/s which comprises a connection of the free end of the tape reeled on the roll of the said wrapping head (22) to a point of the product/s to be wrapped in such a way that the said rotation of the said product/s through rotating the said rest base (32) on which it/they rest/s draws around it/them the tape which is unreeled from the said roll.

14. The method, as per one or more of the previous claims, wherein the said tape is of paper material.

Drawing