An apparatus for the treatment of articles such as rolls made of paper material, and/or packets, packs, envelopes, bags, pallets or boxes, or another type of packaging. The apparatus includes a feeding device for feeding the articles, at least one unit for treating the articles, a transferring device for transferring the articles from the feeding device to the treatment unit, and an arranging device able to arrange the articles in respective groups of articles, each group including one or more articles arranged according to a respective and desired configuration of utilization by the treatment unit. In the apparatus, the arranging device is defined by the transferring device.

A unit for control or management of products, including rolls of paper material, includes a plant including an operating line including at least one upstream section including a log saw for cutting rolls off elongate logs, a packaging section for primary packaging, including a packing section where the rolls are packed, and a bagging section where the packs are placed in bags and/or a palletizing section where the packs or bags are placed on pallets. A conveying section transports products between one section of the plant and another, in particular between the upstream section and the packaging section and/or between one packaging section and another downstream. A process controller controls the functioning of the plant sections. The unit includes a device for eliminating a defective product or roll.

The packaging machine includes a wrapping tunnel, adapted to form a tube of plastic film around a group of articles and a feed conveyor adapted to feed articles to be packaged toward the wrapping tunnel. An elevator is positioned between the feed conveyor and the wrapping tunnel, and is movable vertically from a lower position, to receive articles coming from the feed conveyor, to a higher height, to transfer articles to the wrapping tunnel. A pusher is arranged to push articles to be packaged from the elevator into the wrapping tunnel. An auxiliary conveyor is also provided between the feed conveyor and the elevator. An upender is associated with the auxiliary conveyor, adapted to be arranged selectively in an active position, to co-act with the auxiliary conveyor to upend articles coming from the feed conveyor and transfer them toward the elevator, and in a deactivated position.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to packaging apparatuses and methods adapted to wrap absorbent paper product in a continuous sheet of film formed into tube shape with an asymmetric opening. A former may include a plurality of forming members, wherein each forming member includes an outer surface connected with an inner surface along an edge. In operation, a continuous sheet of film advances around the edges of the forming members and forms an opening. In addition, opposing longitudinal edges of the continuous sheet are guided into an overlapping arrangement that forms the plastic film into a tube shape that extends downstream from the opening in the machine direction. The opening is symmetrical about a first axis and is asymmetrical about a second axis. Absorbent paper product to be packaged advances in the machine direction through the opening and into the tube.

The packaging machine includes a wrapping tunnel, adapted to form a tube of plastic film around a group of articles and a feed conveyor, adapted to feed articles to be packaged toward the wrapping tunnel. An elevator is positioned between the feed conveyor and the wrapping tunnel, and is movable vertically from a lower position, to receive articles coming from the feed conveyor, to a higher height, to transfer articles to the wrapping tunnel. A pusher is arranged to push articles to be packaged from the elevator into the wrapping tunnel. An auxiliary conveyor is also provided between the feed conveyor and the elevator. An upender is associated with the auxiliary conveyor, adapted to be arranged selectively in an active position, to co-act with the auxiliary conveyor to upend articles coming from the feed conveyor and transfer them toward the elevator, and in a deactivated position.

An overwrap feed station wraps a product with an overwrap material by drawing the overwrap material around the product to form a tube around the product as the product moves through the feed station. The feed station is configurable in one of first and second configurations based upon a desired location of a longitudinal seal to be formed on the tube around the product. A first former is configured to guide the overwrap material through the entrance of the feed station so that longitudinal edges of the overwrap material overlap on a first side of the tube during wrapping of the product. The second former is configured to guide the overwrap material through the entrance of the feed station so that longitudinal edges of the overwrap material overlap on a second side of the tube during wrapping of the product. The second side is transverse to the first side.

An overwrap feed station wraps a product with an overwrap material by drawing the overwrap material around the product to form a tube around the product as the product moves through the feed station. The feed station is configurable in first, second, or third configurations based upon a desired location of a longitudinal seal to be formed on the tube around the product. A first former is configured to guide the overwrap material through the entrance of the feed station so that longitudinal edges of the overwrap material overlap on a first side of the tube during wrapping of the product. The second former is configured to guide the overwrap material through the entrance of the feed station so that longitudinal edges of the overwrap material overlap on a second side of the tube during wrapping of the product. The third former allows forming the seal on the corner.

A working process of a machine for wrapping products in packages, carried out with a thermoplastic material film from a reel, comprising: a loading station for the products to be packaged; a hollow mandrel with a relative forming shoulder; a sealing device for forming a seal of the longitudinal edges of the film; a horizontally mobile pusher for pushing a bundle of products from the loading station through the mandrel; a sealing and transversal cutting assembly formed by two vertically mobile elements mounted on a horizontally mobile primary carriage a conveyor a secondary carriage carried by the primary carriage; comprising the following operating steps: reducing the transversal section of the mandrel to a diameter smaller than the diameter of the bundle of products positioning the sealing device in a position for sealing the overlapped longitudinal edges of the film while forming a new tubular film casing; arranging the elements of the assembly in a closure position on the head portion of the new tubular film casing and on the tail portion of the tubular film casing of a finished package; and conveying of said new tubular film casing, by the movement of the primary carriage away from the mandrel, and repeating the preceding steps, so that the product placed inside the tubular casing by the mandrel is wrapped in a tight adherent manner due to the elastic retraction of the film of tubular casing.

A unit for control or management of products, including rolls of paper material, includes a plant including an operating line including at least one upstream section including a log saw for cutting rolls off elongate logs, a packaging section for primary packaging, including a packing section where the rolls are packed, and a bagging section where the packs are placed in bags and/or a palletizing section where the packs or bags are placed on pallets. A conveying section transports products between one section of the plant and another, in particular between the upstream section and the packaging section and/or between one packaging section and another downstream. A process controller controls the functioning of the plant sections. The unit includes a device for eliminating a defective product or roll.

A packaging machine with a carousel with horizontal axes, particularly suitable for packaging rolls of paper or packs of paper serviettes or other solid products of variable size, of the type that comprises a plurality of identical seats on the same carousel, angularly equidistant from each other, radially open towards both the outside and the inside and each formed by a longitudinal wall fastened perpendicularly to said carousel and by a parallel and opposite wall, the distance of which from said fixed longitudinal wall can be adjusted to ensure that, with a movement parallel to the axis of the carousel, a product of variable size with its wrapping sheet can be inserted between these walls, and wherein the same seats comprise, between said longitudinal walls, two transverse walls designed to cooperate with the ends of said product with the wrapping sheet inserted in the same seats, which for this must have an adjustable reciprocal distance, whereby at least one of these transverse walls is connected to means for adjusting the distance from the other transverse wall, characterized in that said adjustment means comprise, for each said wall, respective internal threads and respective slides sliding on respective rectilinear guide means, directly or indirectly supported by the table of the carousel and parallel to the movement of the associated walls, with two sets of screws being provided parallel to these guide means that cooperate with said internal threads, which are also rotationally supported, directly or indirectly, by said table, these screws being kinematically connected to each other by associated means to ensure that by acting on one of the components of these connection means, the adjustment of the dimensions in length and in width of all the seats is performed in a centralized, rapid and precise manner to adapt them to the different sizes of the products to be packaged.