Apparatus and method of covering a stack of articles

A method of covering a stack formed of articles supported on a support board with a stretch film, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing an apparatus having:
• at least four reefing fingers movable in horizontal and vertical directions for picking up a film cover in four corners of the cover in a bellow-like manner, each reefing finger comprising a somewhat L-shaped arch,
• an adjustable drive unit associated with each reefing finger for folding, in the bellows-like manner, the film cover onto an associated reefing finger, and
• a rigid stretching element associated with each reefing finger and movable relative to an associated reefing finger substantially horizontally and in such a way that a respective region of the cover upon being pulled over the stack, moves over the associated reefing finger in an S-shaped manner and, finally, slides over the stretching element;
• moving the reefing fingers horizontally into four corner regions of the cover, so that the reefing fingers engage the cover in the four corner regions;
• placing the cover around the reefing fingers in a bellows-like manner;
• moving, before an end of the placing process, the stretching elements radially outwardly and above the respective associated reefing fingers and moving the stretching elements, after reefing and before start of a pull-over process inward in a substantially horizontal direction toward the stack until the stretching elements are located closer to the stack than the respective reefing fingers;
• moving the reefing fingers away from the stack in a horizontal surface exceeding a horizontal dimension of the stack;
• thereafter, pulling the cover over the stack, with the cover being initially supported on upper edges of the stack.