A method, apparatus and program product may utilize packaging material quality compensation to sense changes in certain characteristics of a packaging material that can be associated with increased risks of film breaks, and automatically make certain changes in machine settings to mitigate the impact of those enhanced risks.

A self-propelled wrapping machine movable on a supporting plane to wrap a load with a film, comprises a self-propelled carriage and an upright fixed to said carriage and slidably supporting an unwinding unit provided with a reel of film; an anchoring element provided with a locking system selectively operable in a closed position or in an open position respectively to tighten or to release an initial flap of the film unwound from the reel; a first gripping unit adapted to position and release the anchoring element with the initial flap of film tightened by the locking system arranged on the supporting plane adjacent to the load in an initial step of the wrapping cycle, and adapted to grasp and lift the anchoring element and activate in an open position the locking system so as to release the initial flap of film after at least one turn travelled by the self-propelled wrapping machine around the load wrapping the load with the film.

A wrapping machine for wrapping material around a load includes a wrapping unit to wrap a portion of the material around the load and a supplying unit to supply the material portion to the wrapping unit. The wrapping unit includes wrapping device to unwind the material portion from the supplying unit and wrap it around the load. The wrapping unit includes a supporting ring, rotating around a wrapping axis and provided with a plurality of wrapping rollers, and an unwinding arm having a first end rotatably fixed to the support ring and a second end supporting at least one unwinding roller to abut and guide the portion of material towards the load during wrapping. The unwinding arm is movable to move the unwinding roller to/from the load during wrapping.

A wrapping machine for wrapping groups of products with an extensible plastic film to form bundles includes a conveyor for supporting and moving a group of products along an advancing direction inside the wrapping machine, a supporting device for supporting the group of products received from the conveyor, a wrapping unit for wrapping a portion of film around the group of products, supported by the supporting device, in order to form a bundle, and a supplying unit to supply the wrapping unit with the film portion separated from the film. The supporting device includes a gripping device that holds an initial flap of the film portion during the wrapping of the group of products, a containment device to abut against the group of products to guide the products when moved along the advancing direction through the wrapping unit and/or to support and restrain the group of products during wrapping.

The packaging system forms a transportable container for bulk goods having stretch wrap that is spirally wrapped about a bottom support and bulk goods to define the transportable container. The stretch wrap contacts at least a portion of the bulk goods to squeeze and lock together the bulk goods. During filling, the bottom support of the transportable container lowers as the transportable container is formed to accommodate additional bulk goods. The stretch wrap is prestretched from a non-stretched state to a stretched state prior to disposing the wrap about a slip frame former in the stretched state. The wrap returns to its non-stretched state as it is disengaged from the slip frame former to squeeze and lock together the bulk goods disposed therein. The packaging system results in a transportable container that is optimally packed and shaped for the efficient filling of a truck for shipping.

A beverage carton packing system includes an End of Arm Tool (EoAT). The EoAT is configured to lift one end and pull a beverage carton, package, or other container from a stack of cartons. Once pulled, the EoAT is configured to grab an opposite side of the carton and remove the carton from the stack. The EoAT is mounted to an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) via a robot arm. Through the EoAT, the robot arm is able to stack mixed pallets of the cartons on the AGV. The AGV has a funnel-shaped packing chamber where the mixed pallet is stacked and a stretch wrapper for stretch wrapping the mixed pallet.

A method, apparatus and program product project a containment force to be applied to a load by a load wrapping apparatus prior to wrapping the load to facilitate proper configuration of the load wrapping apparatus for a wrapping operation.

A method for wrapping a load with a film, strip, band of extensible material comprises: unwinding a film of extensible material from a reel; making a pleat on the film by means of a pleating system; stretching the film by means of a pair of pre-stretching rollers; welding the pleat by means of at least one of the pre-stretching rollers; wrapping the load with the film provided with the pleat.

A method, apparatus and program product may utilize packaging material quality compensation to sense changes in certain characteristics of a packaging material that can be associated with increased risks of film breaks, and automatically make certain changes in machine settings to mitigate the impact of those enhanced risks.

A wrapping machine for wrapping groups of products (100) with an extensible plastic film (50) in order to form bundles (200), comprises first conveyor means (2) for supporting and moving a group of products (100) along an advancing direction (A) inside the wrapping machine (1), supporting means (3; 103) for receiving from the first conveyor means (2) and supporting the group of products (100), a wrapping unit (10) for wrapping a portion (51) of film (50) having a preset length around the group of products (100), supported by the supporting means (3; 103), in order to form a bundle (200), a supplying unit (30) of the film (50) to supply the wrapping unit (10) with the film portion (51) having a preset length, separated from the film (50) unwound from a respective reel (55); the supporting means (3; 103) include first gripping means (4; 104) arranged to hold an initial flap (51a) of the film portion (51) during the wrapping of the group of products (100); containment means (6; 60) are provided to abut at least sidewalls of the group of products (100) in order to support and guide said products (100) when moved along the advancing direction (A) through the wrapping unit (10) and/or to support and restrain the group of products (100) during the wrapping with the portion (51) of film (50).