Winding apparatus and a method of winding a product strip onto a reel

A winding apparatus (200) for winding a product strip (202) onto a reel (204), characterised in that the winding apparatus (200) comprises,

• a feeder module (216) for supplying the product strip (202) to the reel (204);
• a first winding module part (218) that is configured to engage the reel (204), the first winding module part (218) being further configured to move along a first alignment path to align the reel (204) in relation to the feeder module (216) at an operative position for receiving the product strip (202);
• wherein the first winding module part (218) is configured to align the reel (204) in a horizontal position that is normal to a vertical axis of the winding apparatus (200) and the reel (204) is rotatable at the operative position about a longitudinal axis (212) passing through the reel (204);
• wherein the feeder module (216) is arranged to convey the product strip (202) for winding onto the reel (204), the product strip (202) being within a vertical plane normal to the ground;
• a second winding module part (220) disposed adjacent to the first winding module part (218), said second winding module part (220) being configured for rotating the reel (204) about the longitudinal axis (212) to facilitate packaging of the reel (204);
• and
• a transfer module (222) disposed for movement between the first winding module part (218) and the second winding module part (220);
• wherein the transfer module (222) is configured to engage the reel (204) with the reel (204) in its horizontal position, and to move along a transfer path to convey the reel (204) from the first winding module part (218) to the second winding module part (220);
• and
• wherein the second winding module part (220) is configured to move along a second alignment path to engage the reel (204) from the transfer module (222) and to position the reel (204) in relation to one or more end-packaging modules.