A method, apparatus and program product may determine load stability for a load to be wrapped based upon sensing the response or reaction of the load to a disturbance applied to the load, e.g., through intentionally moving, shaking, tilting, pushing, impacting or otherwise applying an input force to the load and sensing the response using one or more sensors. The sensed response may then be used to determine a load stability parameter that may be used in the control of a load wrapping apparatus when wrapping the load.

Control of a load wrapping apparatus may be based at least in part on packaging material grading and/or factory profiles.

A method, apparatus and program product control a dispense rate of a packaging material dispenser of a stretch wrapping apparatus by utilizing a combination of a sensed rate of packaging material exiting the dispenser and a predicted geometric relationship between the packaging material dispenser and the load.

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 bag supply system includes a bag accommodating unit having a holding member to externally support a bag bundle; and a bag supply device to which bags are supplied from the bag accommodating unit. The bag supply device includes a taking-out unit that takes the bag bundle out of the bag accommodating unit and carries the bag bundle to a depositing unit. The holding member supports the bag bundle in the state of exposing a part of one of a front surface and a back surface of each of a bag arranged on a frontmost side and a bag arranged on a backmost side of two or more bags included in the bag bundle. The taking-out unit takes the bag bundle out of the bag accommodating unit while holding the exposed part of the bag bundle supported by the holding member.

Segmented wrapping materials and related methods. In some embodiments, a plurality of individual segments of a film or other wrapping material may be placed on a single roll or core and each opposing edge of each segment of such roll/core may be folded or otherwise reinforced to improve the strength of the film and thereby improve containment of a pallet or other items being wrapped with the material.

A method, apparatus and program product utilize a torque control algorithm constrained by a speed window to control the dispense rate of a packaging material dispenser when wrapping a non-cylindrical load with packaging material. In particular, a dispenser motor of the packaging material dispenser that is controlled by a VFD may be driven to maintain a substantially constant torque, while also constrained to operate within a speed window that is based at least in part on a rate of relative rotation between the packaging material dispenser and the load.

The invention relates to a wrapping machine for wrapping a load with a film including at least one operating unit for performing operations on the load or on the film and a conveying device for moving the load along an advancing direction through the machine. The machine includes a movement system that is adapted for moving the operating unit and comprises a shuttle assembly movable along a path and arranged for supporting and moving the operating unit. The shuttle assembly and the conveying device are drivable in a coordinated manner in order to enable the operating unit to perform operations on the load wrapped with the fi8lm even while the load is moved along the advancing direction and out of the machine.

A method, apparatus and program product utilize curve fitting to control a dispense rate for a packaging material dispenser. Predicted demands at a plurality of rotational positions of a load relative to a packaging material dispenser may be used to generate one or more points to which a curve may be fit, such that dispense rates may be determined for rotational positions between those for which predicted demands have been determined using the curve.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a wrapping machine that includes an indicating device including one or more light sources configured to project a visible wrapping-zone indicator. The wrapping-zone indicator includes a boundary at least partially surrounding a wrapping zone of the wrapping machine to indicate the wrapping zone.