Patent Application
20120180430
The present invention relates to a wrapping machine. More specifically, the present invention relates to a wrapping machine having an improved design to accommodate a larger selection of load of different shapes and an inline wrapper comprising the same.
Several types of wrapping machines are known in the prior art. Known wrapping machines range from individual wrapping machines, for wrapping single items, to wrapping machines for inline wrappers that wrap a line of conveyed unwrapped materials into wrapped columns of different shapes and sizes. The latter type of wrapping machines is often used in the wrapping of bales of silage.
An example of a wrapping machine of an inline wrapper, which is used in the wrapping of bales of silage, can be found in Canadian patent No. 2,112,530 describing a bale wrapping machine for wrapping bales with a plastic sheet.
Conventional wrapping machines for inline wrapper, which present a hoop with a round configuration, however tend to suffer from several drawbacks. Indeed, conventional wrapping machines are limited in the amount of bales of silage which can be stacked before going through the wrapping machine. Moreover, the shape of the wrapping machine often proves to be cumbersome, which can be inconvenient for transport, exportation, and storage of the machine.
Furthermore, recently, the trend concerning the shape of the bales has shifted towards the wrapping of materials into square shaped columns, which are easier to produce and subsequently stack and store, especially in the farming industry, thereby resulting in an improved production rate.
Current wrappers designed for round bales cannot easily accommodate squared shape bales without being substantially modified and unnecessarily stretch the wrapping material, thereby creating waste and an improper seal.
In light of the above, there is a presently a need for an improved wrapping machine and inline wrapper comprising the same which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the above-discussed prior art concerns.
According to a general aspect of the invention, there is provided a wrapping machine for wrapping a load. The wrapping machine comprises a fixed inner hoop having a non-circular shape and comprising inner and outer surfaces. The wrapping machine also comprises a rotatable outer hoop rotatably connected to the outer surface of the inner hoop. The shape of the outer hoop matches that of the inner hoop, thereby allowing the outer hoop to maintain a proximal relationship with the outer surface of the inner hoop during rotation. The wrapping machine further comprises at least one cantilevered support mounted on the outer hoop. The cantilevered support comprises at least one spool holder for rotatable mounting a spool of wrapping material thereon, and a driving mechanism operatively connected to the outer hoop for rotating the outer hoop.
According to another general aspect, there is also provided an inline bale wrapper for wrapping a bale. The inline bale wrapper comprises a base frame having a bale receiving section, for receiving a bale of unwrapped material, and a bale unloading section, for unloading the bale, following a wrapping of the bale by a wrapping machine located between the bale receiving section and the bale unloading section. The wrapping machine comprises a fixed inner hoop having a non-circular shape and comprising inner and outer surfaces. The wrapping machine also comprises a rotatable outer hoop rotatable connected to the outer surface of the inner hoop. The shape of the outer hoop matches that of the inner hoop, thereby allowing the outer hoop to maintain a proximal relationship with the outer surface of the inner hoop during rotation. The wrapping machine further comprises at least one cantilevered support mounted on the outer hoop. The cantilevered support comprises at least one spool holder for rotatable mounting a spool of wrapping material thereon, and a driving mechanism mounted on the base frame of the inline bale wrapper and operatively connected to the outer hoop, for rotating the outer hoop.
In an embodiment, the outer hoop is formed of a plurality of interlocking sections. Each interlocking section comprises an elongated main body, a male interlocking member, a female interlocking member and at least one roller assembly mounted thereto. The male interlocking member is located at a first extremity of the main body and is pivotally connectable to a female interlocking member of a first adjacent interlocking section. The female interlocking member is located at a second extremity of the main body, opposite to the first extremity, and is pivotally connectable to a male interlocking member of a second adjacent interlocking section. The at least one roller assembly is operatively connected to one of the main body, the male interlocking member or the female interlocking member.
In an embodiment, the inner hoop and outer hoop of the wrapping machine are each composed of top and bottom arcuate sections interconnected by first and second elongated central sections. The top and bottom arcuate sections are preferably one of a half circle or a half rounded square.
In an embodiment, the top arcuate sections are half circles and the bottom arcuate sections are half rounded squares.
Still according to a preferred embodiment, the driving mechanism of the wrapping machine, which drives the outer hoop, is a friction wheel.
Amongst other things, the non-circular shape of the above described wrapping machine is advantageous in that it is better adapted to wrap square or rectangular loads.
The objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following non-restrictive description of a preferred embodiment thereof, given for the purpose of exemplification only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
It will be noted that in the following description, the same numerical references refer to similar elements. The embodiments, geometrical configurations, materials mentioned and/or dimensions shown in the figures or described in the present description are preferred embodiments only, given solely for exemplification purposes. Moreover, it will be appreciated that positional descriptions such as “upward”, “downward”, “forward”, “backward”, “above”, “below”, and the like should, unless otherwise indicated, be taken in the context of the figures and should not be considered limiting.
Referring now to the drawings and, more particularly, to
The fixed inner hoop 12 presents a non-circular configuration. The term “non-circular” is used herein to include any shape that differs form a circular configuration such as, without being limitative, an elliptical shape, a rounded square shape or any combination thereof.
In an embodiment, the non-circular configuration encompasses two arcuate sections 12a and 12d which are located at the top and bottom extremities. The top and bottom arcuate sections can be interconnected by first and second elongated sections 12b and 12c. In the illustrated embodiment of
The term “half rounded square” is used herein to refer to a shape where a horizontal elongated portion 12e extends between rounded corners 12f. The vertical elongated portion 12e could be straight or present a slight curvature without departing from the scope of the present invention and need not be perfectly aligned vertically, i.e. could present a slight vertical angle.
Similarly, the term “half circle” is used herein to refer to a shape with a continuous curvature. Therefore it is understood that the shape of the “half circle” need not be such that it would form a circle if coupled with an inverted replica. Moreover the curvature need not be constant, but could be sharper in certain sections than in others without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The shape of the outer hoop 13 matches that of the inner hoop 12. Therefore, the shape of the outer hoop 13 also is non-circular. The outer hoop 13 presents a similar configuration to that of the inner hoop 12, but in a slightly larger format, in order to be rotatable mounted around the outer surface 14 of the inner hoop 12, in a proximal relationship. The above description concerning the different possibilities for the shape of the inner hoop 12 apply verbatim to the shape of the outer hoop 13.
It will be understood that even though the illustrated embodiments, present the inner 12 and outer 13 hoops with the elongated sections 12b and 12c pointing vertically, the orientation of the wrapping machine 10 could be different from the one illustrated in the appended figures, without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the elongated sections could point horizontally or in a different direction.
Still referring to
As can better be seen in
In the preferred embodiment, the elongated main body 15a is provided with a male interlocking member 15b at a first extremity. The male interlocking member 15b comprises a pair of arms 15c mounted on the main body 15a, at the first extremity. The arms 15c are mounted on each lateral sides of the main body 15a and project perpendicularly thereof in an essentially parallel relationship. One skilled in the art will however understand that the arms 15c need not be exactly perpendicular from the main body 15a and/or exactly parallel to one another.
The male interlocking member 15b, further comprises an attachment pin 15d projecting between the arms 15c. In the illustrated, non limitative embodiment, the attachment pin 15d projecting between each arm 15c is a single pin held in place using a nut and bolt arrangement. However one skilled in the art will easily understand that other arrangements could be used to hold the attachment pin in place, such as, without being limitative, a security pin or the like. Moreover, a distinct attachment pin 15d projecting from each arm 15c inwardly towards the opposite arm could also be provided instead of the single pin without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Moreover, the arms 15c of the male interlocking member 15b preferably have a longitudinally extending configuration, where the attachment pin 15d is mounted at an extremity of the arms 15c which extend away from the main body 15a longitudinally. This configuration ensures that adjacent interlocking sections 15 do not come into contact during the rotation of the outer loop 13, therefore preventing adjacent interlocking sections 15 from impeding movement between each other.
Still referring to
The female interlocking member 15e comprises a hollow section 15g at the extremity of each arm 15f located opposite to the main body 15a. The hollow section 15g is sized and shaped to receive the attachment pin 15d of an adjacent interlocking section 15 therein, thereby allowing the pivotal interlock of two interlocking sections 15.
In the illustrated preferred embodiment of
The roller 16a comprises a guiding groove 16c sized and shaped to receive a portion of the outer surface 14 of the inner hoop 12 therein. The guiding groove and matching shape of the outer surface 14 of the inner hoop 12 helps keeping the outer hoop 13 inline with the inner hoop 12 during the rotation of the outer hoop 13 around the fixed inner hoop 12.
One skilled in the art will easily understand that a different interlocking system could be used to removably attach the interlocking sections 15 to one another, as long as the system allows the interlocking sections to be pivotally mounted to one another.
Moreover, the roller assembly 16, which allows the outer hoop 13 to be rotatable mounted to the inner hoop 12, does not need to be attached to the female interlocking member 15e, and could be mounted to the interlocking section 15 using a different configuration. For example, the rolling mechanism could be mounted in a different section of the main body 15a. In an alternative embodiment, the roller assembly 16 could even be mounted on the outer surface 14 of the inner hoop 12.
Now referring to
In the illustrated, non limitative, preferred embodiment, two cantilevered supports 18 are provided on the outer hoop 13. Each cantilevered support 18 is provided on the outer hoop 13 by one of the supporting walls 19d being affixed to the main body of an interlocking section 15, using known mounting techniques, such as nuts and bolts.
Each cantilevered support 18 is provided with a spool holder 19e for rotatably mounting a spool of wrapping material thereon. The spool holder 19e comprises a connector 19f mounted on each supporting wall. When a spool of wrapping material 20 is mounted thereon, the connector 19f connects with the spool of wrapping material 20 by projecting into the central bore of the spool of wrapping material 20.
A tensioning mechanism 19g is further provided on the cantilevered support 18 for stretching the wrapping material before wrapping a load. Stretching of the wrapping material occurs as a result of the rolls of the tensioning mechanism 19g having different rotational speeds. Given the elasticity of the wrapping material, stretching of the wrapping material, before being applied around the load to be wrapped, results in a tighter subsequent wrapping of the load, the wrapping material working to return to its original unstretched state and tightening around the load in the process. Once again, the tensioning mechanism 19g is mounted between the supporting walls 19c and 19d using known mounting techniques such as nuts and bolts.
When the wrapping machine 10 is in action, and the outer hoop 13 rotates around the fixed inner hoop 12, the cantilevered supports 18 rotate around the load to be wrapped, which passes through the inner hoop 12, thereby wrapping the load with wrapping material from the spools.
As better shown in
Still referring to
As can be seen in
The non-circular shape of the above described wrapping machine 10 provides several advantages with respect to prior art circular wrapping machines. The non-circular shape of the inner 12 and outer 13 hoops is better adapted to direct the travel of the cantilevered support 18 comprising the wrapping spool mechanism around square or rectangular shaped items.
Moreover, the non-circular shape of the hoops 12 and 13 of the wrapping machine 10 provide additional flexibility during displacement of the machine from one location to another. In situations where vertical or horizontal clearance is an issue, the hoops 12 and 13 may be positioned such that its length in the given direction is minimized and is shorter compared to the diameter of a circular hoop that could accommodate a similarly sized square or rectangular item.
Moreover, the use of the roller assembly 16 on the outer hoop 13 provides a simplified and efficient means for displacing the wrapping material, when compared to systems using mechanical chain links, with a reduced use of lubricant. This also renders the wrapping machine more energy efficient as less power is required to drive the outer hoop, when compared to equivalent mechanical chain link structures.
Although the above description described a use of a wrapping machine in combination with an inline bale wrappers, it is understood that a wrapping machine according to the present invention can be used for any type of inline wrappers for wrapping items being conveyed through the inner and outer hoop structures.
Several alternative embodiments and examples have been described and illustrated herein. The embodiments of the invention described above are intended to be exemplary only. A person of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate the features of the individual embodiments, and the possible combinations and variations of the components. A person of ordinary skill in the art would further appreciate that any of the embodiments could be provided in any combination with the other embodiments disclosed herein. It is understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the scope or central characteristics thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein. Accordingly, while the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims benefit of Ser. No. 61/432,818, filed 14 Jan. 2011 in the United States and which application is incorporated herein by reference. To the extent appropriate, a claim of priority is made to each of the above disclosed applications.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61432818 | Jan 2011 | US |
