Granted Patent B2

US 12,378,029 · App. 18/303,083 · Granted Aug 5, 2025

Inventors: Patrick R. Lancaster, III (Louisville, KY); Michael P. Mitchell (Louisville, KY); Richard L. Johnson (LaGrange, KY); Jeremy D. McCray (Waddy, KY)

Assignee: Lantech.com, LLC

B65B57/04B65B11/025B65B11/045B65B2210/18B65B2210/20

Abstract

Claims (21)

1. A method of controlling a load wrapping apparatus of the type configured to wrap a load on a load support with packaging material dispensed from a packaging material dispenser through relative rotation between the packaging material dispenser and the load support, wherein the packaging material is dispensed from a roll of packaging material, the method comprising:

controlling a dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation based at least in part on a wrap force parameter; and

in response to a roll change, temporarily and automatically adjusting the wrap force parameter used to control the dispense rate for at least one wrap cycle to decrease a wrap force applied during the at least one wrap cycle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein temporarily and automatically adjusting the wrap force parameter includes adjusting the wrap force parameter when wrapping a number of loads.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein temporarily and automatically adjusting the wrap force parameter includes adjusting the wrap force parameter until a predetermined amount of packaging material has been dispensed.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein temporarily and automatically adjusting the wrap force parameter includes temporarily increasing a number of layers of packaging material applied to a load during each wrap cycle to maintain a load containment force requirement associated with the wrap force parameter.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein temporarily and automatically adjusting the wrap force parameter includes adjusting the wrap force parameter for a plurality of wrap cycles and until a predetermined amount of packaging material has been dispensed, and wherein temporarily and automatically adjusting the wrap force parameter further includes temporarily increasing a number of layers of packaging material applied to a load during each wrap cycle to maintain a load containment force requirement associated with the wrap force parameter.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the roll change, determining a desired containment force to be applied to loads by the load wrapping apparatus, wherein controlling the dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation based at least in part on the wrap force parameter applies a number of layers of packaging material during the relative rotation based at least in part on a layer parameter, and wherein the wrap force parameter and the layer parameter are selected based at least in part upon the determined desired containment force.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein temporarily and automatically adjusting the wrap force parameter used to control the dispense rate for at least one wrap cycle to decrease the wrap force applied during the at least one wrap cycle includes:

selecting initial values for the wrap force and layer parameters to apply the determined desired containment force;

monitoring wrap force or packaging material breaks over at least a portion of a wrap cycle after selecting the initial values; and

dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter or the layer parameter based upon the monitored wrap force or packaging material breaks.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein monitoring wrap force or packaging material breaks over at least a portion of a wrap cycle includes monitoring wrap force, and wherein dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter or the layer parameter includes dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter based upon the monitored wrap force in response to determining an unacceptable containment force applied to a load.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein monitoring wrap force or packaging material breaks over at least a portion of a wrap cycle includes monitoring packaging material breaks, and wherein dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter or the layer parameter includes dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter based upon the monitored packaging material breaks.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein monitoring wrap force or packaging material breaks over at least a portion of a wrap cycle includes monitoring wrap force and monitoring packaging material breaks, and wherein dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter or the layer parameter includes:

dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter based upon the monitored wrap force in response to determining an unacceptable containment force applied to a load; and

dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter based upon the monitored packaging material breaks.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter or the layer parameter further includes:

dynamically adjusting the wrap force parameter;

determining if the dynamically adjusted wrap force parameter is outside of a wrap force limit; and

dynamically adjusting the layer parameter and the wrap force parameter to meet the desired containment force in response to determining that the dynamically adjusted wrap force parameter is outside of a wrap force limit.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (400)