A packaging machine using extensible film for products fed in groups or individually includes a conveyor feeding the product, a product positioning unit, a film winding unit and a discharge conveyor positioned at the outlet of the winding unit. The winding unit is a ring winder having a ring rotating with respect to guiding rolls, positioned on a supporting frame, and arranged on a plane perpendicular to the advance direction of the products. A shelf is provided beneath the winding unit, cantilevered for extending in the advance direction of the products, and connects the feeding conveyor with the winding unit. A vacuum-effect gripping unit is positioned beneath the shelf for gripping the film and carries a cutting unit. The vacuum-effect gripping unit and the cutting unit can be moved alternatingly and selectively from a withdrawn rest position of the shelf to an extended position for gripping and cutting the film.

A wrapping machine includes a first moving device for conveying a plurality of separate products on a movement plane along a first direction, a wrapping unit for wrapping film around the products, once stacked and overlapped on a pallet, and a grouping unit that receives the products from the first moving unit, and arranges and ensures the products remain stacked and overlapped along a second direction on the pallet. The machine also includes a supporting platform to support the pallet, which can be moved during the wrapping phase along the second direction, so as to progressively extract and disengage the stacked and overlapped products from the grouping unit to enable them to be wrapped by the film. The grouping unit includes a hopper equipped with a plurality of movable side walls to vary the grouping volume of the hopper.

A method, apparatus and program product monitor a wrap force during a wrap cycle to dynamically control the dispense rate of a packaging material dispenser to meet a desired containment force to be applied to a load. A conversion may be performed between wrap force and containment force for the monitored wrap force or a containment force parameter to facilitate the performance of a comparison between the monitored wrap force and a containment force parameter associated with the desired containment force to be applied to the load. A wrap force parameter may also be dynamically adjusted, and in some instances, the dynamic adjustment may be responsive to monitored wrap force, and may be used to meet a load containment force requirement for a load. In other instances, the dynamic adjustment may be responsive to monitored packaging material breaks to reduce the occurrence of packaging material breaks.

A method, apparatus and program product monitor a wrap force during a wrap cycle to dynamically control the dispense rate of a packaging material dispenser to meet a desired containment force to be applied to a load. A conversion may be performed between wrap force and containment force for the monitored wrap force or a containment force parameter to facilitate the performance of a comparison between the monitored wrap force and a containment force parameter associated with the desired containment force to be applied to the load. A wrap force parameter may also be dynamically adjusted, and in some instances, the dynamic adjustment may be responsive to monitored wrap force, and may be used to meet a load containment force requirement for a load. In other instances, the dynamic adjustment may be responsive to monitored packaging material breaks to reduce the occurrence of packaging material breaks.

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.

Embodiments of product handling systems facilitate transfer of individual product items from incoming bulk form into dedicated trays for inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging. Inspection may comprise interrogation of product items within a tray by electromagnetic (e.g., optical, hyperspectral) or other (e.g., physical, acoustic, gas sensing, etc.) techniques. Prior to packaging, product items disposed within the tray may be stored in a moveable carousel responsible for controlling environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, illumination, ambient gases, product-to-product interactions, and/or others. Movement of product items from a carousel's transfer station to an outside staging position may be accomplished using robots and/or conveyor belts. Embodiments may allow rapid, low-cost consumer selection of specific individual product items based upon their accompanying metadata (e.g., source, identifier), in combination with the results of inspection (e.g., visual appearance). Embodiments may receive product items pre-packaged in tray format to expedite inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging.

An automatic roll change system for a stretch wrapping machine may include multiple mechanically-actuated load stations capable of being actuated by a common actuator assembly, as well as pivotable support members for use in positioning packaging material in a tortuous path for loading into a packaging material dispenser.

A one-way clutch arrangement may be provided on a packaging material dispenser of a stretch wrapping machine in part to provide differing rates of rotation for upstream and downstream pre-stretch rollers in forward and reverse directions of the packaging material dispenser.

An apparatus for producing wrapped bales comprises first and second wrapping material dispenser means for dispensing wrapping material on the bales. It also comprises a wrapping means for circulating the first and second wrapping material dispenser means in a first plane of rotation around said bale for wrapping said web of wrapping material around said bale. The apparatus is further configured to emerge the first wrapping material from the first wrapping material dispenser means and the second wrapping material from the second wrapping material dispenser means around the bale at least in two different areas so that the properties of the final wrapping of at least one of said first and/or second wrapping material provided onto the bale differs substantially at least in the second area from the properties of the final wrapping of at least one of said first and/or second wrapping material in said first area in order to make the bale wrapping stronger in said second area.

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.