GB1274038A - Device for mounting flexible tube heat shrinkable material over stacked articles - Google Patents

Abstract

1,274,038. Covering loaded pallets. ALKOROERLIKON PLASTIC G.m.b.H., and D. GROCKE. 17 July, 1969 [18 July, 1968; 9 May, 1969]; No. 35998/69. Heading B8C. In an apparatus, for covering loaded pallets with flattened tubes, a plastics tube 3, withdrawable from a supply roll 2 or 102 is fed to a feed device 4, 5 arranged above the pallet and downwardly to a cutter device 8 followed by. a two-stage transport device the first stage 11 serving to open the leading end of the tube 3 and the second stage 21 pulling the tube downwardly over the pallet. As shown, the shape and size of the tube 3 can be selected from one of four rolls 2, 102, the tube from each of which passes over various deflecting rollers to an associated pair of guide rollers 4, 104, and guide plates 5, 105 which are arranged on a carriage 6 which is displaceable laterally to align, to desired pair of rollers 4, 104 vertically above cutting and welding devices 8, 9, further guide plates 10 feeding the selected tube between a pair of rollers 12 at the upper end of the first stage transport device, the two frame parts 11 of which are pivotally mounted on the spindles of the rollers 12 to diverge outwardly., The frames 11 each carry at their lower ends further rollers 18, 19 which, with the respective rollers 12, rotatably support two sets of laterallyspaced transport belts 13. The rollers 18 which also act as drive rollers, pivotally support the lower frame members 21 of the second stage conveyer and provide the upper rotative support fora corresponding- pair of laterallyspaced transport belts 23 which are guided over rollers 24 at their lower ends and are driven by the rollers 18, the belts 23 slightly overlapping the corresponding set 13 above it as shown in Fig. 2. The belts 13, 23 are perforated and pass over the opening faces of corresponding suction boxes 14 which are divided into sub-sections, each of which is sequentially connected by a tube 15 and valve, not shown, to a suction tube 16. The sets of belts 13 open the mouth of the leading end of the tube 3 and transfer it to the sets of belts 23, which draw the tube downwardly over the pallet, the cutter 8 and preferably the transverse seam welder 9 being actuated when the downwardly transported tube has reached a height equal to that of the pallet. Dancer rollers 7 move downwardly and prevent the uncontrolled downward supply of the tube after the temporary stopping of the feed rollers and the actuation of the cutting device 8. The frames 11, 21 are adjustably mounted so as to be laterally displaceable to accommodate pallets of different sizes, and adhesive strips on, or supplied to, the belts of the conveyers, may replace the suction devices. The latter are placed in communication with atmosphere, or a supply of compressed air, to release the length of tube after it has been placed over the pallet. In a modification, Fig. 5 (not shown), a tube is fed from a single roller (206) through feed rollers (204, 205) and is opened by a pair of devices (211, 212) which first pull open the mouth of the tube by suction and then grip it with grippers (215a) for final spreading. The corners of the tube are then grabbed by four pivotally mounted gripper tongs (220), a pair being heated at each side and raised from a lower position along guide rails (226), to an upper position subsequent descent of the tongs, after pivotal manipulation to grab the tube, pulling 'the tube down over the pallet. The first stage of the first embodiment may be employed with the second stage of the second embodiment. Other stages of the two forms are stated to be combinable.