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.

Control of a wrapping apparatus is facilitated by enabling an operator to input a load containment force requirement and/or a minimum number of layers of packaging material to be applied to a load, with a wrap control system automatically determining wrap force and other parameters required to meet user input requirements and/or parameters to minimize the expertise required of an operator and to provide more consistent and reliable wrapping of loads. In addition, a wrapping apparatus may be controlled to apply at least a minimum number of layers of packaging material to a load throughout a contiguous region thereof.

A product stacking system may include an open bag detection subsystem and a product stacking subsystem. The open bag detection subsystem may agitate bags to cause product to be displaced out of open bags and determine if a bag is open by comparing a weight of the bag after the agitation to a target threshold. The product stacking subsystem may include a robotic arm and a controller that moves the robotic arm between posts of a bin based on an orientation of the bin. A turntable rotates the bin and can operate as an additional axis of movement of the robot.

A machine for stabilising palletised loads including an apparatus having a reel of covering tape, a gripping device to take a first end of the tape of the reel and make it integral with the load, a first movement apparatus to generate relative revolution of the apparatus around the load about a predetermined revolution axis, a second movement apparatus to generate relative translation motion of the apparatus with respect to the load in a direction parallel to the revolution direction, a cutting device placed in the apparatus to separate the tape from the reel, and a fixing device to fix a second end of the tape to the load. The apparatus also includes a tensioning fin configured to rotate around an articulation axis parallel to the reel axis and having a rectilinear end border, distal of and extending parallel to the articulation axis and configured to stay in contact with a longitudinal edge of the tape unwinding from the reel, and a spring acting on the fin to push the end border against the longitudinal edge of the tape.

A machine for stabilising palletised loads includes a functional arrangement, a first movement apparatus generating relative motion about a revolution axis around the palletised load, a second movement apparatus generating relative translation motion of the functional arrangement with respect to the palletised load in a direction parallel to the revolution axis. The functional arrangement includes a support shaft, a motorised drive roller, a contrast roller, and actuator members to create relative movement between the drive roller and the contrast roller in transversal direction with respect to the respective rotation axes between a distanced configuration, in which a gap is defined between the drive roller and the contrast roller to be crossed with clearance by the covering tape unwinding from the reel, and a neared configuration, in which the drive and contrast rollers clamp the covering tape, wherein the support shaft and the contrast and/or drive rollers are mounted on the functional arrangement and oriented in the same direction.

Control of a wrapping apparatus is facilitated by enabling an operator to input a load containment force requirement and/or a minimum number of layers of packaging material to be applied to a load, with a wrap control system automatically determining wrap force and other parameters required to meet user input requirements and/or parameters to minimize the expertise required of an operator and to provide more consistent and reliable wrapping of loads. In addition, a wrapping apparatus may be controlled to apply at least a minimum number of layers of packaging material to a load throughout a contiguous region thereof.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a stretch-hood machine configured to optimize reefing device lateral movement and unwinding speed during film stretching to minimize reefing device travel distance and wear on the actuators that move the reefing devices and to reduce the possibility of damaging the film during stretching.

The present invention provides a wrapping robot with enhanced safety and reliability, the wrapping robot being able to prevent a safety accident that occurs when a worker or another object hits against a handle protruding outward from a robot body while the robot revolving around a product to perform wrapping by biasing the handle toward the product to be wrapped; and being able to improve reliability of wrapping by stopping operation of the wrapping robot when a wrap is loosened or cut during wrapping, using a sensor that senses loosening or cutting of a wrap.

The present invention provides a wrapping robot with enhanced safety and reliability, the wrapping robot being able to prevent a safety accident that occurs when a worker or another object hits against a handle protruding outward from a robot body while the robot revolving around a product to perform wrapping by biasing the handle toward the product to be wrapped; and being able to improve reliability of wrapping by stopping operation of the wrapping robot when a wrap is loosened or cut during wrapping, using a sensor that senses loosening or cutting of a wrap.

Disclosed is an M-shaped fully automatic winding machine provided with a main controller, a film clamping device, an automatic film cutting device, and a film lifting device. The film clamping device is provided on an M-shaped turntable, is driven to work by a second electric motor and uses a storage battery as a power source. A secondary controller controlling the second electric motor to work is also provided on the M-shaped turntable, is in a communication connection with the main controller via wireless data and is controlled by the main controller. A film clamping working position of the film clamping device is in front of an upright post when the M-shaped turntable turns to the angle of the original position. The M-shaped winding machine is also provided with a storage battery charging connection device. When the M-shaped turntable turns to the angle of a charging position, a turntable upper part and a turntable outer part of the charging connection device can be electrically connected. A driving electric motor of a film frame lifting device, the driving electric motor of the M-shaped turntable, and the power devices in the automatic film cutting device and the film lifting device are controlled by the main controller. The M-shaped winding machine can realize automatic film clamping and fully automatic film winding.