Shrink banding machine

Apparatus for applying flexible plastic bending sleeves on containers comprising;

• a generally vertically extending supporting frame;
• a roll of continuous flattened tubular web of thin flexible plastic, said roll being rotatably mounted on said frame;
• a planar element having a generally rectangular form, the long axis of said rectangle being aligned with the longitudinal dimension of said web, said planar element including rollers mounted within it;
• a pair of rollers mounted on said frame exterior to said web, said planar element being supported within said web, said pair of exteriorly mounted rollers bearing through said web on the rollers mounted within said planar element;
• web feeding means for unrolling said web and feeding it in its flattened form over said planar element to open said web to substantially the cross sectional dimensions of said planar element;
• a floating mandrel positioned in the path of said moving web beyond and in general alignment with said planar element, the edge of said mandrel closest to the planar element having a transverse cross sectional shape substantially the same as the transverse shape of the edge of said planar element in juxtaposition to it, said mandrel being formed so that its shape changes along the axis of the path of travel of said web to provide a transverse cross sectional shape at its other end substantially the same a the shape of said container in a dimension transverse to the axis of travel of said web;
• first mandrel supporting means included within said mandrel, and second mandrel supporting means positioned on said frame exterior to said web in cooperative relationship with said first support means to continuously support said mandrel within said web, while allowing for continuous passages of said web between said internal an external support means;
• a shearing blade mounted on said frame on one side of the thickness dimension of said web at a longitudinal position between said planar element and said floating mandrel;
• sensor means for determining the length of said web which has passed the position of said shearing blade;
• means responsive to the sensing of a particular length of web passing said position for momentarily stopping the travel of said web;
• means operative when said web is stopped to cause reciprocal motion of said shearing blade transverse to the path of travel of said web to cut said opened web and return to tis original position, providing a severed segment of web to form a banding sleeve;
• and
• transport means for moving said severed segment of web over said mandrel and onto said container.

Apparatus for applying flexible plastic banding sleeves on containers comprising;

• a generally vertically extending support in frame;
• a roll of continuous flattened tubular web of thin flexible plastic, said roll being rotatably mounted on said frame;
• a planar element having a generally rectangular form, the long axis of said rectangle being aligned with the longitudinal dimension of said web, said planar element including rollers mounted within it;
• a pair of rollers mounted on said frame exterior to said web, said planar element being supported within said web, said pair of exteriorly mounted rollers bearing through said web on the rollers mounted within said planar element;
• web feeding means for unrolling said web and feeding it in its flattened form over said planar element to open said web to substantially the cross sectional dimensions of said planar element;
• a floating mandrel positioned in the path of said moving web beyond and in general alignment with said planar element, the edge of said mandrel closest to the planar element having a transverse cross sectional shape substantially the same as the transverse shape of the edge of said planar element in juxtaposition to it, said mandrel being formed so that its shape changes along the axis of the path of travel of said web to provide a transverse cross sectional shape at its other end substantially the same as the shape of said container in a dimension transverse to the axis of travel of said web;
• first mandrel supporting means included within said mandrel, said first mandrel supporting means including at least one pair of rollers mounted adjacent to opposite sides of said mandrel and second mandrel supporting means positioned on said frame exterior to said web, said second mandrel supporting means including at least one roller on each one of opposite sides of said mandrel, each of said rollers in said second mandrel supporting means bearing through said web onto each roller in said first mandrel supporting means, said rollers being positioned with respect to each other to continuously support said mandrel;
• a shearing blade mounted on said frame on one side of the thickness dimension of said web at a longitudinal position between said planar element and said floating mandrel;
• sensor means for determining the length of said web which has passed the position of said shearing blade;
• means responsive to the sensing of a particular length of web passing said position for momentarily stopping the travel of said web;
• means operative when said web is stopped to cause reciprocal motion of said shearing blade transverse to the path of travel of said web to cut said opened web and return to its original position, providing a severed segment of web to form a banding sleeve;
• and
• transport means for moving said severed segment of web over said mandrel and onto said container.

Apparatus for applying flexible plastic bandage sleeves on containers comprising;

• a generally vertically extending supporting frame;
• a roll of continuous flattened tubular web of thin flexible plastic, said roll being rotatably mounted on said frame;
• a planar element having a generally rectangular form, the long axis of said rectangle being aligned with the longitudinal dimension of said web, said planar element including rollers mounted within it;
• a pair of rollers mounted on said frame exterior to said web, said planar element being supported within said web, said pair of exteriorly mounted rollers bearing through said web on the rollers mounted within said planar element;
• web feeding means for unrolling said web and feeding it in its flattened form over said planar element to open said web to substantially the cross sectional dimensions of said planar element;
• a floating mandrel positioned in the path of said moving web beyond and in general alignment with said planar element, the edge of said mandrel closest to the planar element having a transverse cross sectional shape substantially the same as the transverse shape of the edge of said planar element in juxtaposition to it, said mandrel being formed so that its shape changes along the axis of the path of travel of said web to provide a transverse cross sectional shape at its other end substantially the same as the shape of said container in a dimension transverse to the axis of travel of said web;
• first mandrel supporting means included within said mandrel, and second mandrel supporting means positioned on said frame exterior to said web in cooperative relationship with said first support means to support said mandrel within said web;
• a shearing blade mounted on said frame on one side of the thickness dimension of said web at a longitudinal position between said planar element and said floating mandrel;
• sensor means for determining the length of said web which has passed the position of said shearing blade;
• means responsive to the sensing of a particular length of web passing said position for momentarily stopping the travel of said web;
• means operative when said web is stopped to cause reciprocal motion of said shearing blade transverse to the path of travel of said web to cut said opened web and return to its original position, providing a severed segment of web to form a banding sleeve;
• and
• transport means for moving said severed segment of web over said mandrel and onto said container,
• wherein said apparatus includes one electric motor, and a clutch for coupling said electric motor to said web feeding means, said electric motor running all of the time said apparatus is operating, said clutch being actuated to provide said rotational motor drive as an output in one state and to decouple said motor drive in a second state, and wherein said sensor means controls the state of said clutch.

Apparatus for applying flexible plastic banding sleeves on containers comprising;

• a generally vertically extending supporting frame;
• a roll of continuous flattened tubular web of thin flexible plastic, said roll being rotatably mounted on said frame;
• a planar element having a generally rectangular form, the long axis of said rectangle being aligned with the longitudinal dimension of said web, said planar element including rollers mounted within it;
• a pair of rollers mounted on said frame exterior to said web, said planar element being supported within said web, said pair of exteriorly mounted rollers bearing through said web on the rollers mounted within said planar element;
• web feeding means for unrolling said web and feeding it in its flattened form over said planar element to open said web to substantially the cross sectional dimensions of said planar element;
• a floating mandrel positioned in the path of said moving web beyond and in general alignment with said planar element, the edge of said mandrel closest to the planar element having a transverse cross sectional shape substantially the same as the transverse shape of the edge of said planar element in juxtaposition to it, said mandrel being formed so that its shape changes along the axis of the path of travel of said web to provide a transverse cross sectional shape at its other end substantially the same as the shape of said container in a dimension transverse to the axis of travel of said web;
• first mandrel supporting means included within said mandrel, and second mandrel supporting means positioned on said frame exterior to said web in cooperative relationship with said first support means to support said mandrel within said web;
• a shearing blade mounted on said frame on one side of the thickness dimension of said web at a longitudinal position between said planar element and said floating mandrel;
• sensor means for determining the length of said web which has passed the position of said shearing blade;
• means responsive to the sensing of a particular length of web passing said position for momentarily stopping the travel of said web;
• means operative when said web is stopped to cause reciprocal motion of said shearing blade transverse to the path of travel of said web to cut said opened web and return to its original position, providing a severed segment of web to form a banding sleeve;
• and
• transport means for moving said severed segment of web over said mandrel and onto said container, and
• wherein said planar element is formed as a split element having two separate longitudinal halves and adjustable means for fastening together the two halves to control the width of the gap between said halves so that the outer width of said planar element may be varied as a function of longitudinal position.

Apparatus for applying flexible plastic banding sleeves on containers comprising;

• a generally vertically extending supporting frame;
• a roll of continuous flattened tubular web of thin flexible plastic, said roll being rotatably mounted on said frame;
• a planar element having a generally rectangular form, the long axis of said rectangle being aligned with the longitudinal dimension of said web, said planar element including rollers mounted within it;
• a pair of rollers mounted on said frame exterior to said web, said planar element being supported within said web, said pair of exteriorly mounted rollers bearing through said web on the rollers mounted within said planar element;
• web feeding means for unrolling said web and feeding it in its flattened form over said planar element to open said web to substantially the cross sectional dimensions of said planar element;
• a floating mandrel positioned in the path of said moving web beyond and in general alignment with said planar element, the edge of said mandrel closest to the planar element having a transverse cross sectional shape substantially the same as the transverse shape of the edge of said planar element in juxtaposition to it, said mandrel being formed so that its shape changes along the axis of the path of travel of said web to provide a transverse cross sectional shape at its other end substantially the same as the shape of said container in a dimension transverse to the axis of travel of said web;
• first mandrel supporting means included within said mandrel, and second mandrel supporting means positioned on said frame exterior to said web in cooperative relationship with said first support means to support said mandrel within said web;
• a shearing blade mounted on said frame on one side of the thickness dimension of said web at a longitudinal position between said planar element and said floating mandrel;
• sensor means for determining the length of said web which has passed the position of said shearing blade;
• means responsive to the sensing of a particular length of web passing said position for momentarily stopping the travel of said web;
• means operative when said web is stopped to cause reciprocal motion of said shearing blade transverse to the path of travel of said web to cut said opened web and return to its original position, providing a severed segment of web to form a banding sleeve;
• and
• transport means for moving said severed segment of web over said mandrel and onto said container,
• wherein said transport means comprises first and second pairs of O-rings positioned to lie longitudinally in close juxtaposition to opposite surfaces of said floating mandrel, and
• drive means for moving said O-rings in the direction of travel of said web in conjunction with the operation of said means for unrolling the web and feeding it over said planar element.

Apparatus for applying flexible plastic banding sleeves on containers comprising;

• a generally vertically extending supporting frame;
• a roll of continuous flattened tubular web of thin flexible plastic, said roll being rotatably mounted on said frame;
• a planar element having a generally rectangular form, the long axis of said rectangle being aligned with the longitudinal dimension of said web, said planar element including rollers mounted within it, the axis of rotation of said rollers being parallel to the planar surface of said planar element;
• a pair of rollers mounted on said frame exterior to said web, said planar element being supported within said web, said pair of exteriorly mounted rollers bearing through said web on the rollers mounted within said planar element;
• web feeding means for unrolling said web and feeding it in its flattened form over said planar element to open said web to substantially the cross sectional dimensions of said planar element;
• a floating mandrel positioned in the path of said moving web beyond and in general alignment with said planar element, the edge of said mandrel closest to the planar element having a transverse cross sectional shape substantially the same as the transverse shape of the edge of said planar element in juxtaposition to it, said mandrel being formed so that its shape changes along the axis of the path of travel of said web to provide a transverse cross sectional shape at its other end substantially the same as the shape of said container in a dimension transverse to the axis of travel of said web;
• first mandrel supporting means included within said mandrel, and second mandrel supporting means positioned on said frame exterior to said web in cooperative relationship with said first support means to continuously support said mandrel within said web while allowing said web to pulse continuously therethrough;
• a pair of shearing blades mounted on said frame on either side of the thickness dimension of said web at a longitudinal position between said planar element and said floating mandrel;
• sensor means for determining the length of said web which has passed the position of said shearing blade;
• means responsive to the sensing of a particular length of web passing said position for momentarily stopping the travel of said web;
• means operative when said web is stopped to cause reciprocal motion of said shearing blade transverse to the path of travel of said web to cut said opened web and return to their original position, providing a severed segment of web to form a banding sleeve;
• and
• transport means for moving said severed segment of web over said mandrel and onto said container, and further including blade support means journaled on a pair of shafts, said shearing blades each being mounted on separate one of said support means, said means for causing reciprocal motion being coupled directly to one of said support members;
• and
• linkage means interconnected with the support member carrying each of said shearing blades such that when one of said members moves in a first transverse direction toward engagement of said shearing blades, the other shearing blade supporting members moves in the opposite direction toward engagement, and when one of said shearing blades moves in a transverse direction away from engagement, the other of said shearing blades also moves away from said engagement.