Device for closing the side ends of a package enclosing one roll or rolls of material in an automatic packaging machine

A device for closing side ends of packages including only one roll or one row of rolls of material in an automatic packaging machine, with the packaging machine including:

• a station for preparing a roll or a row of rolls arranged one beside another, to be packaged by wrapping with a sheet of flexible material to form a protective wrapping;
• means for transferring said roll or row of rolls along a transfer path from said preparing station to an inlet section of a packaging line operated in a forward movement direction;
• means for positioning a packaging sheet in stretched configuration and crosswise to the transfer path of said roll or row of rolls from said preparing station to said inlet section;
• and
• wrapping means and folding means situated along said transfer path for wrapping the sheet around said roll or row of rolls to form a tubular partial package with edges of said sheet extending sideways beyond the side ends of the package still open, with said inlet section transferring said partial package to the packaging line with the side ends of the package being parallel to said forward movement direction;
• wherein said device includes operating means connected to said packaging line and acting only on an outer cylindrical surface of said package for translating and rotating said package in said forward movement direction, and stationary folding means, situated beside said packaging line with a configuration to hit only said side ends of said package, so that said side ends, during the motion of said package along said packaging line, hit, in rotation-translation, edges of said stationary folding means thus becoming twisted.