Winding apparatus

An apparatus for winding flexible material to form a package, comprising:

• an arm pivotally mounted at one end for movement about a horizontal axis;
• a motor-driven mandrel rotatably mounted at an opposite end of said arm;
• bar means, adjacent said mandrel, for engaging and supporting a package of material wound on said mandrel;
• gravitationally-responsive means, associated with said arm, for urging the package against said bar means such that pressure is applied to the periphery of the package by said bar means;
• force transducer means, coupled to said arm, for applying a force to said arm in opposition to said gravitationally-responsive means;
• a first sensor means for emitting a first signal representation of actual package rolling resistance;
• an input means for emitting a second signal representative of a reference valve for packaging rolling resistance;
• control means, coupled to said force transducer means, said first sensor means and said input means, for automatically controlling said force applied by said force transducer means to automatically control packing density of the package in response to differences between said first and second signals by varying said force until said first and second signals are substantially equal.