AU2003264643A1 - Newspaper folding and wrapping method and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for wrapping a newspaper, magazine, or similar printed product so that it is retained in a flat, folded condition, and in particular to a machine for folding and wrapping a newspaper in plastic film packaging material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is of course well known for newspapers (wrapped in a plastic film material) to be delivered to residences. One commonly known wrapping method involves tightly rolling the newspaper in a cylindrical form and thereafter applying a plastic film wrapping which wraps around the outer cylindrical surface of the rolled newspaper.

It is of course a requirement for wrapped newspapers which are home delivered to consumers to be able to be conveniently thrown from a moving vehicle and for the plastic film wrapping to remain intact during its travel through the air and on impacting the ground after it has been thrown by the delivery man. In addition, the wrapping must protect the newspaper in all weather conditions. Still further, there is the requirement for the wrapper to be able to be conveniently unwrapped by the consumer.

With the existing version, where the newspaper is rolled up in a cylinder and packaged in a web of cling or stretch wrap plastic film material, consumers are constantly complaining about the difficulty in reading a newspaper having pages which are in a partly rolled up or curled state as well as the frustration associated with unwrapping the newspaper in trying to find the free end of the plastic film so that this can be grasped and peeled off to remove the film.

The applicant is also aware that existing machines for wrapping newspapers in a rolled condition are far from satisfactory in that they require the papers to be hand-fed and have a very slow wrapping speed. In addition, with the existing machines, their rolling capacity restricts the total pagination of the newspaper.

It is also well known for newspapers and magazines to be packaged in preformed, open-ended bags or sleeves of protective-sheet material, in particular plastic films, and thereafter heat sealing the two edges defining the open end together in order to seal off the interior of the bag or sleeve. However, this type of packaging is considered far too costly and requires the packaging machinery to be increasingly complicated where heat sealing rollers are employed in combination with a plastic film material.

It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide an improved newspaper wrapping machine which allows newspapers to be wrapped in a flat folded condition in plastic film material in an economical manner and at relatively high speeds, for example in the order of 2,000 copies per hour.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method of wrapping newspapers in a flat half-folded condition using a continuously fed plastic film material which envelops the folded newspaper and effectively protects the newspaper in all weather conditions and as well effectively retains the paper in a compact folded condition during delivery thereof.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an improved method of folding and wrapping newspapers in plastic film material in such a manner that the film wrapper can be easily unwrapped or opened by a consumer.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method of wrapping a newspaper which has been folded in half using two separate webs of plastic film material without the need to heat seal any of the sides or ends of the wrapping.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a first aspect the present invention accordingly provides an apparatus for continuously folding and wrapping newspapers, magazines or similar printed products in a plastic film material, the apparatus including; a first conveyor means onto which said printed products are arranged to be successively fed in an unfolded flat condition and conveyed therealong in a longitudinal direction, product folding means associated with said first conveyor means for successively folding each printed product about a central longitudinal fold line so as to form two halves which are folded together and in face-to-face contact thereby forming a folded printed product, a pair of transversely spaced apart contra-rotatable, plastic film material web supply rolls for enclosing said folded printed product, a wrapping station, feeder means for unwinding the plastic film webs from the supply rolls and feeding same to said wrapping station, said wrapping station including second conveyor means including a pair of transversely spaced apart belt conveyors for receiving and transporting said folded printed product along with the first and second webs disposed one on each side of said folded printed product, through the wrapping station, roller means for joining together in face to face relationship, opposing projecting marginal portions of the webs above and below opposite longitudinal margins of said folded printed product respectively, web folding means for folding the joined marginal portions of the webs respectively, inwardly onto one of the longitudinal sides of the folded printed product, so as to lie contiguous therewith, roller means including a pair of rollers arranged to seal the two webs together adjacent the leading and trailing ends of the folded printed product as the folded over webs pass therethrough, and severing means for severing the joined ends of the folded webs so as to provide a completely enclosed half-folded printed product maintained by the wrapping film material in a substantially flat condition.

Clearly, this apparatus is able to both fold and wrap the newspaper without destroying the quality of the product and which furthermore results in a wrapper which effectively maintains the printed product in its folded, wrapped condition thereby protecting the newspaper against moisture damage. In addition a customer can easily unwrap the resulting wrapped printed product.

Preferably, the two opposed webs of plastic film have different widths and whereby the opposed projecting marginal web portions, when joined, above and below the opposite longitudinal margins of the folded printed product, overlap one another.

By employing different widths which still overlap at the longitudinal margins the amount of plastic film required to complete the wrapping is minimised.

Preferably, said product folding means is arrange to fold the folded printed product in a vertical orientation with the two halves in a contiguous face-to-face relationship and to guide the folded product into the wrapping station, and wherein said pair of transversely spaced apart belt conveyors are disposed in a vertical orientation.

This provides a convenient arrangement for packaging purposes.

Preferably, said severing means includes a pair of transversely spaced apart contra-rotatable vertically oriented cutter rollers to receive said enclosed folded printed product therebetween, wherein at least one of said cutter rollers includes a heated wire mounted in a longitudinal recess located along said at least one roller, said heated wire adapted to cut through said plastic film on rotation of said at least one cutter roller.

Use of a heated wire mounted in a roller provides an effective way to cut the plastic film without interrupting the flow of the packaging process.

Further preferably, said at least one roller further includes a heat conducting region, said heat conducting region heated by said heated wire and adapted to seal a portion of said plastic film on contact with said film on rotation of said at least one roller.

This provides a means to both cut and heat seal the ends of the resulting folded and wrapped printed products.

Preferably, said plastic film material is of the cling type and includes one surface of which is tacky, the other surface being non-tacky, whereby when the web surfaces are pressed together, the two film layers will cling or adhere together.

Plastic film material of this nature further improves the strength of the wrapping.

Preferably, said second conveyor means further includes adjustment means to adjust the transverse spacing between said belt conveyors to compensate for varying thicknesses of folded printed product being wrapped.

As newspapers and other printed product often vary in their overall thickness the ability to adjust the apparatus in this manner allows the apparatus to be used with respect to a large variety of printed products.

Preferably, said apparatus further includes means for successively feeding a plurality of printed products from a stack onto said first conveyor means in said unfolded flat condition.

Although not essential, this will further automate the process of folding and wrapping the printed product.

Preferably, said web folding means includes guide rods positioned substantially coplanar and spaced from opposite longitudinal margins of said folded product, said guide rods converging towards said longitudinal margins in a direction of travel of said folded printed product, wherein said web folding means further includes respective pairs of gripper rollers positioned inwardly from each of said longitudinal margins to grip and feed said marginal portions in a folded position.

This arrangement allows both top and bottom marginal portions to be folded simultaneously without interrupting the direction of travel of the folded printed product.

In a second aspect the present invention accordingly provides a method of folding and wrapping substantially planar printed products in plastic film material including the steps of; feeding said printed products successively onto a horizontally moving conveyor in a flat unfolded condition with the spines of the printed product lying parallel to the conveying direction; folding each printed product along a longitudinal central fold line so that said printed product is folded in half, whilst moving along the conveyor, thereby forming a folded printed product, continuously feeding a pair of spaced apart opposing webs of plastic film material from respective supply rolls, between and along a pair of transversely spaced belt conveyors which extend in the direction of travel of said folded printed product, feeding each folded printed product into the leading open end of the belt conveyors, between said pair of webs, to thereby cover the two oppositely facing outer sides of the folded printed product, with each web having marginal portions projecting above and below the top and bottom margins, respectively, of the folded printed product, joining together, in face to face relation, the two opposed projecting marginal web portions, respectively above and below the margins of said folded printed product, folding the joined projecting marginal web portions, respectively inwardly onto one of the outer sides of said folded printed, so as to lie contiguous with an existing film layer, joining together opposed portions of the webs adjacent opposite ends of the newspaper to thereby completely enclose the folded printed product in a film wrapper, and severing the joined opposed portions of the webs to thereby separate the completely wrapped folded printed product from the next adjacent folded printed product being wrapped.

In a third aspect the present invention accordingly provides a method of producing a fold in a web of plastic film material over an elongate edge of a moving substantially planar article including the steps of; feeding said web substantially parallel and adjacent to said article, said web having a marginal projecting portion extending from said elongate edge, folding a leading edge of said projecting portion over a guide rod, said guide rod substantially coplanar and spaced from said article, said guide rod converging towards said elongate edge in a direction of travel of said moving article, wherein said step of folding includes continuously feeding said leading edge through a pair of gripper rollers positioned inwardly from said elongate edge thereby forming a web portion folded over said elongate edge as the article advances past said gripper rollers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to more fully describe the present invention, a preferred embodiment thereof is described hereunder in some further detail with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein; Figure 1 is a top perspective view of the newspaper folding and wrapping machine viewed from one end thereof; Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, looking from the other end of the machine; Figures 3(a) show schematically the flow sequence of the folding and wrapping steps carried out by the machine shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a detailed view of the plastic film folding mechanism according to the present invention; Figure 5 is a top elevational view of the machine shown in Figures 1 and 2; while Figure 6 is a partly sectioned side elevational view of the machine.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to Figures 1, 2, 5 and 6 of the drawings, there is shown a newspaper folding and wrapping machine 10 made in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention. As would be appreciated by those skilled in the art the present invention is equally applicable to other printed products which are transported and delivered in a folded and wrapped configuration. At one end of the machine 10, there is a loading table 11 upon which an operator places a stack of newspapers in a flat unfolded condition. The papers are then individually loaded continuously by the operator onto a first horizontal index conveyor 12 which carries spaced sets of dogs in order to drive the newspapers successively forwardly along the machine. Each newspaper is loaded on to the conveyor 12 in a flat unfolded condition with the spine of the paper lying parallel to the conveying direction or path of movement of the papers (refer Figure The loading of the newspapers onto the conveyor 12 could be done automatically by means of an automated loading device.

The conveyor 12 is provided with forming plates 13 on opposite sides thereof and function to fold the newspaper as it moves along the conveyor 12 in halves, with each half being folded upwardly about a central longitudinal fold line which is defined by an elongate fold forming rod or bar 14 centrally mounted on mounting frame 71 with respect to the index conveyor 12 and beneath which the newspapers pass. Bunch rollers 31 function to ensure that the newspaper folds symmetrically about the longitudinal fold line and does not bulge outwardly.

A pair of wrapping film material webs 15, 15' which in this embodiment are plastic films of the cling type, one side of which is tacky to enable mating layers of the film to cling together, are fed from respective supply rolls 17, with both supply rolls 17 being vertically disposed one to each side of the index conveyor 12 at its downstream end. The pair of films 15, 15' are passed around guide rollers 16 and fed in the same direction as the moving newspapers into a wrapping station 18 which has its leading end 19 located immediately adjacent the downstream end of the index conveyor 12. The plastic film webs are fed into the leading end 19 of the wrapping station 18 between two opposed vertically disposed conveyor belts with the folded newspaper being delivered into the leading end 19 between the pair of webs 15, 15' (refer Figure so as to cover its two opposite outer longitudinal sides 21, 22. In this embodiment, the plastic film webs 15, 15' are of unequal width, with the web 15 being wider than that of web 15' (refer Figure 3(e) of the drawings).

The partly wrapped newspaper (as shown in Figure is then advanced along the wrapping station 18 between the two belt conveyors 25 into the path of pairs of nip rollers 23, 24 mounted respectively above and below the belt conveyors and which function to nip the two film layers 15, 15' together along the top and bottom longitudinal margins of the folded newspaper so as to form projecting marginal flaps (refer Fig each having a long portion L and a shorter portion S in overlapping face to face relationship. At this stage, the newspaper is encapsulated by the film wrapper on opposite sides thereof as well as along its top and bottom longitudinal sides.

As the wrapped newspaper further advances along its path of movement towards the discharge end 20 of the machine 10, the projecting top and bottom marginal flaps which extend along the top and bottom margins of the newspaper are folded onto longitudinal side 21 of the folded newspaper. As best illustrated in Figure 4, which depicts the plastic film folding mechanism 40 used to fold the top projecting marginal flap, the leading edge of this flap is continuously drawn over inclined folder guide rod 26 by cooperating gripper rollers 41, 42 as the folded newspaper advances towards discharge end 20. Sealing rollers 43, 44 function to press and adhere the folded flap onto the longitudinal side 21 of the folded newspaper. Both the vertical positioning and inclination angle of folding mechanism 40 can be varied according to the size of the printed product being wrapped and the required tension at which the flap is to be folded. A similar folding mechanism functions identically in cooperation with folder guide rod 27 in a mirror arrangement to fold and adhere the bottom projecting marginal flap thereby resulting in a wrapped newspaper having a relatively tightly folded condition.

This is clearly shown in Figure 3(f).

The folded newspaper wrapped in the layers of webs 15, 15' is then fed through two vertically oriented contra-rotating cutter rollers 30, 60 in order to join the film layers 15, 15' together ahead and behind the newspaper, ie at opposite ends thereof, and to cut the joins, thus formed, at a location upstream of the trailing end of the newspaper. This is achieved by using a heated wire 80 which is mounted at top and bottom attachment points 81 in a longitudinal recess 82 formed in the periphery of the roller. First and second heat conducting surface 83, 84 are fixed to the roller in advance and behind longitudinal recess 82. As the first heat conducting surface 83 turns to meet against the plastic it functions to heat and seal the rear or upstream end of a wrapped newspaper being discharged from wrapping station 18. As cutter roller 30 further rotates, cutting wire 80 cuts the plastic film and as the roller 30 keeps turning second heat conducting surface will meet with and seal the advancing end of the next wrapped newspaper progressing towards discharge end 20 of machine 10. The completely wrapped folded newspaper is then driven out of the machine 10 and is ready for delivery to a consumer.

In lieu of the hot cutting wire 80 being used to cut the webs, a cutting knife blade could be used to cut the joined webs in front of and behind the wrapped newspaper as it passes through the rollers 30, The flow sequence of the folding and wrapping steps which are carried out by the machine 10 are schematically shown in Figure 3, with the completely wrapped half folded newspaper being shown in Figure 3(f).

A single electrical motor 100 is responsible for driving the entire folding and wrapping machine 10 by employing a series of geared linkages 101, 102, 103, 104.

In addition, coupling point 105 is provided so that a second folding and wrapping machine may be paired with and driven by the electrical motor 100 of the first machine. A series of adjusting mechanisms are also provided to allow machine to be customised to fold and wrap printed product of varying widths. Forming plates 13 include adjustment means 70 to vary the receiving width between the plates. Both the height and inclination of foldover guide 14 is also settable by adjusting mounting frame 71. Additionally the lateral spacing between opposed vertical conveyer belts 25 is adjustable as each belt is independently mounted on each side of wrapping machine 18 thereby allowing adjustment by handle 29.

Furthermore cutter rollers 30, 60 are formed from a resilient material which can flex and accommodate a range of widths.

Although the above described embodiment describes the newspaper being folded in halves and conveyed through the machine in a vertically oriented position, it should be appreciated that the half folded newspaper, along with the webs 15, could be horizontally oriented.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, it should be understood that the invention is not so limited and modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

A brief consideration of the above described embodiment will indicate that the present invention provides an improved newspaper folding and wrapping machine which is able to fold and wrap the newspaper without destroying the quality of the product and which results in a wrapper which effectively maintains the paper in its folded, wrapped condition, protects the newspaper against moisture damage, and is able to be far more easily removed by the consumer.

Although a preferred embodiment of the method and apparatus of the present invention has been described in the foregoing detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth and defined by the following claims.

Claims (19)

1. Apparatus for continuously folding and wrapping newspapers, magazines or similar printed products in a plastic film material, the apparatus including; a first conveyor means onto which said printed products are arranged to be successively fed in an unfolded flat condition and conveyed therealong in a longitudinal direction, product folding means associated with said first conveyor means for successively folding each printed product about a central longitudinal fold line so as to form two halves which are folded together and in face-to-face contact thereby forming a folded printed product, a pair of transversely spaced apart contra-rotatable, plastic film material web supply rolls for enclosing said folded printed product, a wrapping station, feeder means for unwinding the plastic film webs from the supply rolls and feeding same to said wrapping station, said wrapping station including second conveyor means including a pair of transversely spaced apart belt conveyors for receiving and transporting said folded printed product along with the first and second webs disposed one on each side of said folded printed product, through the wrapping station, roller means for joining together in face to face relationship, opposing projecting marginal portions of the webs above and below opposite longitudinal margins of said folded printed product respectively, web folding means for folding the joined marginal portions of the webs respectively, inwardly onto one of the longitudinal sides of the folded printed product, so as to lie contiguous therewith, roller means including a pair of rollers arranged to seal the two webs together adjacent the leading and trailing ends of the folded printed product as the folded over webs pass therethrough, and severing means for severing the joined ends of the folded webs so as to provide a completely enclosed half-folded printed product maintained by the wrapping film material in a substantially flat condition.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two opposed webs of plastic film have different widths and whereby the opposed projecting marginal web portions, when joined, above and below the opposite longitudinal margins of the folded printed product, overlap one another.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said product folding means is arrange to fold the folded printed product in a vertical orientation with the two halves in a contiguous face-to-face relationship and to guide the folded product into the wrapping station, and wherein said pair of transversely spaced apart belt conveyors are disposed in a vertical orientation.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said severing means includes a pair of transversely spaced apart contra-rotatable vertically oriented cutter rollers to receive said enclosed folded printed product therebetween, wherein at least one of said cutter rollers includes a heated wire mounted in a longitudinal recess located along said at least one roller, said heated wire adapted to cut through said plastic film on rotation of said at least one cutter roller.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said at least one roller further includes a heat conducting region, said heat conducting region heated by said heated wire and adapted to seal a portion of said plastic film on contact with said film on rotation of said at least one roller.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said plastic film material is of the cling type and includes one surface of which is tacky, the other surface being non-tacky, whereby when the web surfaces are pressed together, the two film layers will cling or adhere together.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said second conveyor means further includes adjustment means to adjust the transverse spacing between said belt conveyors to compensate for varying thicknesses of folded printed product being wrapped.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further including means for successively feeding a plurality of printed products from a stack onto said first conveyor means in said unfolded flat condition.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said web folding means includes a pair of symmetrically disposed elongate guide rods on opposite sides of said folded product and spaced therefrom, said guide rods converging towards said sides in a direction of travel of said folded printed product, wherein said web folding means further includes respective pairs of gripper rollers positioned inwardly from said sides to grip and feed said marginal portions in a folded position.

A method of folding and wrapping substantially planar printed products in plastic film material including the steps of; feeding said printed products successively onto a horizontally moving conveyor in a flat unfolded condition with the spines of the printed product lying parallel to the conveying direction; folding each printed product along a longitudinal central fold line so that said printed product is folded in half, whilst moving along the conveyor, thereby forming a folded printed product, continuously feeding a pair of spaced apart opposing webs of plastic film material from respective supply rolls, between and along a pair of transversely spaced belt conveyors which extend in the direction of travel of said folded printed product, feeding each folded printed product into the leading open end of the belt conveyors, between said pair of webs, to thereby cover the two oppositely facing outer sides of the folded printed product, with each web having marginal portions projecting above and below the top and bottom margins, respectively, of the folded printed product, joining together, in face to face relation, the two opposed projecting marginal web portions, respectively above and below the margins of said folded printed product, folding the joined projecting marginal web portions, respectively inwardly onto one of the outer sides of said folded printed, so as to lie contiguous with an existing film layer, joining together opposed portions of the webs adjacent opposite ends of the newspaper to thereby completely enclose the folded printed product in a film wrapper, and severing the joined opposed portions of the webs to thereby separate the completely wrapped folded printed product from the next adjacent folded printed product being wrapped.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the two opposed webs of plastic film have different widths and whereby the opposed projecting marginal web portions of each web, when joined, above and below the opposite longitudinal margins of the folded printed product, overlap one another.

12. A method as claimed in claim 10 or 11, wherein said method further includes the step of maintaining said folded printed product in a vertical orientation with the two halves in a contiguous face-to-face relationship and wherein said webs of plastic from said supply rolls are fed in a vertical orientation and between vertically disposed belt conveyors.

13. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said step of severing includes heating the joined opposed portions of the webs along a vertical region between the completely wrapped folded printed product and the next adjacent folded printed product being wrapped, to cut said joined webs.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said step of heating and cutting further includes heating a portion of said joined webs adjacent to said cut at a reduced heat to heat seal said portion.

A method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein said plastic film material is of the cling type and includes one surface of which is tacky, the other surface being non-tacky, whereby when the web surfaces are pressed together, the two film layers will cling or adhere together.

16. A method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein said method further includes the step of adjusting the spacing between said belt conveyors to compensate for varying thicknesses of folded printed product being wrapped.

17. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said planar printed product is a newspaper.

18. A folded and wrapped printed product made in accordance with the method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 17.

19. A method of producing a fold in a web of plastic film material over an elongate edge of a moving substantially planar article including the steps of; feeding said web substantially parallel and adjacent to said article, said web having a marginal projecting portion extending from said elongate edge, folding a leading edge of said projecting portion over an elongate guide rod spaced from a longitudinal margin of said article, said guide rod converging towards said elongate edge in a direction of travel of said moving article, wherein said step of folding includes continuously feeding said leading edge through a pair of gripper rollers positioned inwardly from said elongate edge thereby forming a web portion folded over said elongate edge as the article advances past said gripper rollers. An apparatus for wrapping a planar printed product in a plastic film material substantially in accordance with the embodiment described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated this 3rd day of December, 2003. Advertiser Newspapers Limited By its Patent Attorneys MADDERNS