FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an article enclosed between two foil portions having a larger width than the article, said foil portions forming a package and being arranged to adhere to the article as well as to each other outside the article. Besides this the invention relates to a method for producing an article enclosed between two such foil portions.

The articles here concerned are preferably plate- or disc-like. It is especially referred to articles in the form of flat tools, such as saw blades, rulers, motor saw bars or swords, scrapers and the like. More exactly, the present invention is concerned with such articles or tools, one edge of which has to be active in performing working moments by means of the article or the tool. In the case of a tool the edge or the edges in question may be toothed, perpendicularly cut or provided with slots. Accordingly, the working part of the tool consists of the edge, while the flat sides serve for stiffening and guiding of the tool.

PRIOR ART

The content of the preamble of the appended claims 1 and 7 is at least partially known through for example the British patent specification 1 292 271. The articles therein consist of rivets. When the consumer wishes to use the rivets packaged, these are completely removed from the package.

The planar surfaces of flat tools are nowadays normally protected against corrosion by painting or lacquering and after that provided with product marking, trade mark or any text of warning by screen printing, tampon printing, or the like. On the contrary it is mostly not necessary or not desireable to paint the very edge intended to constitute the working or active part of the tool. For example on a saw bar or sword it is desireable to provide this edge with the low friction that an unpainted surface preferably consisting of metal gives. Card-board capsules, which can be provided with suspension holes and further product information, are mostly used as a package for the final product.

The manufacturing of such tools is to a great extent automa¬ tized. Based upon advanced technique including robots it was possible to build up a rational manufacturing line, which runs harmonically from one process to another until the lacquering, where the manufacturing chain is broken through the time factor. The lacquering as well as the screen printing are processes associated with different kinds of problems. The drying times require that the tools during these moments are rearranged for handling in sets instead of in a line. Necessary technical equipment requires very great investments. The presence of solvents involves health risks. Even when painting or lacquering are not required as a result of rust protection desires, the tools are in general nevertheless provided with some kind of information, for instance about a trade mark, by painting or lacquering or another application technique.

Accordingly, similar process technical problems occur even then.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The -object of the invention is to indicate ways to further develop known technique to the effect that the articles may be in a rational way enclosed between foils or foil portions serving packing ends at the same as these foils or foil por¬ tions shall be able to partially remain on the tool during the use thereof without giving rise to problems for the consumer when the package is broken. The purpose of the invention is in particular to obtain that these foils or foil portions can be provided with information one desires the article to have by a simple printing process.

In accordance with the invention this object is obtained by providing the article with the characteristics appearing especially from the appended claim 1.

Through the foils or foil portions the article gets an elegant package, which makes cardboard capsules or the like superfluous and which is intended, ±o partially remain on the article, which through this at the same time as the package is made receives desireable information, which is printed on the foil portions in advance. Through this the entire manufacturing chain may run smoothly, since the foil coating can take place automatically without any disturbances due to rearrangement and the like occurring by painting, lacquering or the like. The foil in question preferably consists of plastic, which possibly can be combined with aluminium foil. The foil is attached to the article by heating or by a binder, suitably in combination with rolling or other pressure application. Preferably, the foil manufacturer delivers the foil in the form of rolls or foil pieces punched out. Required information, such as goods

designation etc, is applied by a normal printing process on the foil, preferably in connection with its manufacturing.

The characteristics of the method according to the invention will appear more in detail from the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a specific description of an embodiment of the invention cited as an example, in which the invention is applied to an article in the form of a motor saw bar or sword.

In the drawings:

Fig 1 is a general plane showing the different stages of the coating process,

Fig 2 are views from the side and above, respectively, showing the principle of the foil coating,

Fig 3 is a detail view of the suspension end of the package,

Fig 4 is a section through a pair of rolls, which are used in the coating process, and a saw bar coated with a foil and with protruding foil parts compressed located therebetween, and

Fig 5 is a section through a saw blade coated with a foil, an equipment for producing perforations for separation purposes also being shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Fig 1 illustrates different stages of the foil coating process, in which fig 1A illustrates a saw bar without coating, fig IB a saw bar coated by a foil with a goods designation or the like

printed thereon in advance as an endless, repeated pattern, fig 1C a foil package with longitudinal separation perforations and fig ID illustrates a finished package with a suspension hole, exposed mounting recesses and separation perforations around the entire saw bar.

The two foils intended to be laid on both flat sides of the saw bar are illustrated in Fig 2 as provided as rolls. The foils 1, which may have the character of tape, have a width being a few centimeters larger than the one of the saw bar or sword. Rolls 3, which preferably can be soft and elastic, press continously the two foils against both sides of the saw bar at the same time as the protruding parts of the foils are brought together and enclose the saw bar. The rolls 4, which preferably may be hard, subject the foils to a high pressure against the surfaces of the saw bar and gives by that rise to a powerful connection between the bar surfaces and the foils. As mentioned the foils may be provided with a binder or adhesive in advance or as an alternative a binder or adhesive may be applied to the saw bar and/or the foils in connection with the coating of the foils on the saw bar. If the foils according to another alternative shall be secured to the article by heating, which requires that the foils consist of a thermoplastic material, a heat source, e.g. an infrared radiator, may be arranged on a suitable place, e.g. between the rolls 3 and 4. As an alternative or complement to such a heat source the saw bar and/or the rolls of the pair of rolls 3 and/or 4 may themselves be subjected to heating.

When the saw bar is moving forwardly the foils 1 are provided with separation weakenings 6, which may have the character of perforations. These perforations may be accomplished by grooved rolls 5 angularly set, which in the way illustrated in fig 5 press against the lateral edges of the bar. Separate packages which are fed to a station for finishing are formed by cutting the foils between two adjacent saw bars.

Fig 3 shows the upper part of a finished foil package with a suspension hole 7 reinforced by cardboard, exposed mounting recesses 9 , 10 and 11 as well as perforations 6, which after completing near the top and near the bottom will extend around the entire saw bar. These weakenings or perforations make it possible for the customer to make the saw bar coated with oil free by tearing when it has to be mounted in the motor saw. After tearing off, the edge portion of the saw bar will be uncovered, so that the guide groove existing will be free to receive the saw chain. Foil parts existing on the flat sides of the saw bar will permanently remain thereon, so that informa¬ tion printed on the foils will be permanently visible and so that the foils in that region will serve as a protection of the saw bar.

A dashed line 8 in Fig 3 defines the lower limitation of the possible card board reinforcement.

Fig 4 shows more in detail how the soft, elastic rolls 3 press against the saw bar and protruding edge portions 12 of the foils.

Fig 5 shows a section of a saw bar covered with foil and how the perforations are formed by the pressure from the grooved rolls 5 upon the outer edges of the saw bar. The rolls may have a hard surface, e.g. a steel surface, and be inclined, which is to prefer at the contours of comparatively thick objects, such as saw bars, or be made of rubber or plastic and have the axis parallel to the surface, which is to prefer for recesses and holes in the tools.

Although the invention above has been described for the par¬ ticular application on saw bars it should be understood that the idea of the invention may be applied also on other tools and for the rest also on other articles than tools, in which articles separation of the covering part of the foils adhered

to each other brings the article in question in a condition fit for use.

In the case that the article is made of a material which is corroding or otherwise susceptible to attacks, the parts of the foils adhering to the article will act as a permanent protec¬ tion against corrosion or ^' other attacks. The corrosion protec¬ tion action can be strengthened by the fact that the foils or the binder on these contain substances counter-acting corro¬ sion. Otherwise the corrosion protection will be established by the moist and dirt excluding action of the foils.

The foils can be transparent, which is suitable for instance if it is desirable to see the lustre of the metallic surface of metallic articles or other details of the article, or the foils may also be coloured if it is aimed at obtaining a warning colour or a harmony together with other painted or lacquered products. It is possible to direct the attention of the cus¬ tomer to oil holes or other technical details by making the foils transparent only in certain portions.

The spirit of the invention is not restricted to the embodiment described, but it is also possible to coat and enclose two or more articles or tools belonging together in one and the same package. In the case that the foils alone are sufficiently strong for suspension or other similar objects or if the very article is provided with holes of a suitable size, the card¬ board reinforcement may be omitted. The foils can be provided with optically, electrically or mechanically readable orien¬ tation marks so as to be carefully fit over the article, which also requires modification of the feeding mechanism. If it is desired to have a part of the article surface uncoated the foils can be shaped so that they do not cover that part. Finally, it is possible to design the separation weakening or perforation in another way than by means of the grooved rolls 5 discussed above. The foils 1 could for instance be provided

with weakenings or perforations corresponding to the contours of the articles in question in advance, and in this case it is required to assure by means of a suitable control equipment that the weakenings or perforations are correctly positioned with respect to the articles when the foils are applied on the articles. It would also be possible to produce weakenings or perforations by means of punch-like tools. It may also be mentioned that the package not necessarily has to be formed by two -foils initially separated, but it would also be possible to fold one single foil by means of a suitable equipment so that the foil portions thereof will be located on each side of the articles in question.