Weirton Steel Corporation

Jerry L Mullens

Tony Georgetti

Single station apparatus and processing procedures for packaging production-tonnage coils of flat-rolled sheet metal so as to provide protection from (i) packaged atmosphere, (ii) ambient atmosphere, and (iii) changing ambient atmospheric conditions. Such coil is positioned centrally of such single station apparatus for integrated polymeric stretch-film encapsulation of such wound coil and for securing such coil to a pallet. A centrally-located support of such structure enables pivotal circumscribing movement of a power-driven source of polymeric stretch-film with provisions for control of stretch-film tension. A pallet-mounted sheet metal coil, with its central axis vertically-oriented and with bottom and top planar surfaces protected, is circumferentially wound free of any requirement for movement of pallet or coil so as to encapsulate such coil, in effect, providing hermetic sealing of the coil. And the encapsulated coil is affixed to such pallet by continuous-length polymeric stretch-film wrapping. Coil encapsulating and securing of the coil to the pallet are carried out by integrated processing and by integrated apparatus. A rectangular configuration pallet platform surface requires no central opening for metal strand banding to secure the coil to the pallet, resulting in safer and more efficient palletizing of a coil and release from the pallet.

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Weirton, WV, United States of America

Jerry L Mullens