Banding method and apparatus with acceleration of band along floating mandrel aimed toward article to be banded

• US 5,737,900 A
• Filed: 09/15/1995
• Issued: 04/14/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: PDC International Corporation
• Original Assignee: PDC International Corporation
• Inventors: Malkowski, Jaroslaw T., Konstantin, Anatole E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Moon, Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARADISO, JOHN ROGER
• Application Number:
  US08/529,017
• Time in Patent Office: 942 Days
• Field of Search: 53/556, 53/557, 53/575, 53/585, 53/291, 53/295, 53/297, 53/298, 53/399, 53/296
• US Class Current: 53/295
• CPC Class Codes: B67B 5/03 Applying protective or decorative covers to closures, e.g. by forming in situ

Abstract

Banding apparatus in various embodiments include accelerator members for accelerating plastic bands downstream along a floating mandrel for propelling them at high speed with significant kinetic energy in being ejected off from an end of the mandrel toward and around articles to be banded. In one apparatus belts accelerate elongated label bands to more than 1,000 feet per minute. The peripheries of tear-off rollers turn continuously at a first speed for tearing successive bands off from perforated plastic tubing which may be pre-perforated label tubing. Alternatively, plastic tubing may be perforated during operation by continuously feeding flattened tubing between perforator and anvil rollers positioned upstream from the mandrel. Accelerator members shown as rollers or as revolving belts have repetitive first and second peripheral speeds alternating with each other in cycles. The first speed matches peripheral speed of the tear-off rollers during a portion of each cycle when both the tear-off rollers and the accelerator members are engaging a band. The second speed is suitably higher than the first speed for propelling bands downstream at high speed along the mandrel, for example being at least 2.2 times faster in one embodiment and at least 3.7 times faster in another. In a different embodiment, elongated pusher elements on four belts project into four longitudinal channels in a mandrel for pushing bands downstream at high speed along the mandrel and then ejecting them from the mandrel with a final acceleration kick.

Claims

1. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic bands torn off from plastic tubing having transverse perforations at predetermined intervals, said banding apparatus comprising:

means for supplying flattened plastic tubing having transverse perforations extending across the tubing at predetermined intervals uniformly spaced at distances L along the tubing;

a floating mandrel sized to fit slidably inside of the tubing for entering the flattened perforated tubing for opening it into opened tubing and for holding open the perforated tubing;

continuously rotating feed rollers for engaging the opened perforated tubing adjacent to the mandrel for continuously feeding the perforated tubing downstream around the mandrel;

said continuously rotating feed rollers having axes, said axes of the feed rollers both lying in a first transverse plane extending transversely with respect to the mandrel;

sets of freely-rotatable upper and lower suspension rollers mounted inside of the mandrel, the upper and lower suspension rollers in each set being spaced above and below said first transverse plane, with a set of said suspension rollers being in opposed relation to each of said feed rollers for suspending the floating mandrel;

said feed rollers in cooperation with their respective sets of upper and lower suspension rollers serving dual functions of suspending the mandrel and also of continuously feeding the perforated tubing downwardly around the mandrel;

continuously rotating tear-off rollers positioned downstream from said continuously rotating feed rollers for imparting continuously moving downstream-directed tear-off motion to the opened perforated tubing as the opened perforated tubing continuously moves downstream around the mandrel;

said downstream-directed tear-off motion being sufficiently faster than the feed rollers continuously move the opened perforated tubing downstream around the mandrel for accelerating and tearing off successive lengths L of opened perforated tubing at said transverse perforations for forming successive bands of length L spaced one from another along the mandrel and continuously moving downstream around the mandrel at predetermined higher speed than the opened perforated tubing continuously moves;

said continuously rotating tear-off rollers having axes lying in a second transverse plane extending transversely with respect to the mandrel;

each tear-off roller having an opposed freely-rotatable companion roller mounted inside of the mandrel;

said companion rollers having their axes positioned in said second transverse plane for providing aligned rolling contact of said companion rollers and said tear-off rollers against inner and outer surfaces of each band which is torn off from the opened perforated tubing;

continuously revolving push-off means engaging successive bands at at least two positions around the mandrel for pushing successive bands downstream along the mandrel at higher speed along the mandrel than said perforated tubing continuously moves and then for propelling them off from an end of the mandrel,

thereby advantageously accomplishing these steps all with continuous motion;

(i) opening flattened perforated tubing by the mandrel and (ii) feeding perforated tubing downstream along the mandrel and (iii) tearing successive bands off from continuously moving perforated tubing and (iv) pushing successive bands downstream along the mandrel and (v) propelling the bands off from the mandrel.

2. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said continuously moving push-off means impart an ejection acceleration thrust to each band being propelled off from the end of the mandrel for imparting a final kick to the ejected band to increase kinetic energy of the band being ejected and aimed toward an article to be banded.

3. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

the flattened perforated tubing as it approaches the floating mandrel is in a plane P which extends longitudinally along the floating mandrel; and

stabilizing rollers are mounted on opposite sides of the mandrel centered on plane P, and each stabilizing roller has a freely-rotatable companion roller mounted inside of the mandrel in aligned rolling contact of the companion roller and stabilizing roller against inner and outer surfaces of the perforated tubing moving downstream around the mandrel.

4. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein:

the mandrel has a wedge-shaped transition end with a ridge at an upstream end of the mandrel lying in plane P and extending transversely of the mandrel;

the wedge-shaped transition end has a pair of generally isosceles-shaped triangular faces extending downstream from the ridge and being on opposite sides of plane P and diverging one from the other in the downstream direction and each having a vertex with the two vertices positioned directly opposite each other on opposite sides of plane P; and

the stabilizing rollers are at rolling contact positions located near a level of the vertices.

5. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein:

the wedge-shaped transition end provides a constant distance around its periphery at each successive position downstream therealong.

6. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

perforator means are positioned upstream from the floating mandrel, and said perforator means include a perforator rotor positioned in opposed relationship to an anvil roller;

said perforator rotor is rotatably driven around an axis extending transversely relative to tubing length;

said perforator rotor carries a plurality of perforator blades extending parallel with said axis;

said blades have tips all at a same uniform radial distance from said axis;

the flattened plastic tubing travels partially around the anvil roller and then travels between the anvil roller and the tips of blades of the rotating perforator rotor for transversely perforating the flattened plastic tubing at said uniformly spaced distances L; and

said continuously rotating feed rollers have a peripheral speed 0.03% to 0.5% greater than tip speed of said perforator blades for maintaining the continuously moving perforated tubing under tension in travelling from the perforator means toward and onto the mandrel.

7. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

flattened perforated tubing approaching the floating mandrel lies in a plane P, and said plane P extends longitudinally along the mandrel;

said continuously rotating feed rollers are positioned on opposite sides of the mandrel on opposite sides of the plane P for rolling contact with the opened perforated tubing on opposite sides of plane P;

continuously rotating first and second tear-off rollers are positioned below said continuously rotating feed rollers on opposite sides of the mandrel on opposite sides of the plane p for rolling contact with the opened perforated tubing on a first and second side of plane P, respectively;

said mandrel has first, second, third and fourth parallel channels extending downstream along the mandrel toward the end of the mandrel with said first and second channels being on said first side of the plane P and said third and fourth channels being on said second side of the plane P;

first and second toothed belt-drive pulleys on said first axis with said first tear-off roller being between said first and second belt-drive pulleys, said first and second belt-drive pulleys rotating continuously with said first tear-off roller, and said first and second belt-drive pulley and said first tear-off roller being on the first side of the plane P;

third and fourth toothed belt-drive pulleys on said second axis with said second tear-off roller being between said third and fourth belt-drive pulleys, said third and fourth belt-drive pulleys rotating continuously with said second tear-off roller, and said third and fourth belt-drive pulleys and said second tear-off roller being on the second side of plane P;

first, second, third and fourth push-off belts have teeth engaging in positive drive relationship with said first, second, third and fourth belt-drive pulleys, respectively, for continuously revolving said belts with a portion of each of the first, second, third and fourth belts travelling parallel with said first, second, third and fourth channels, respectively, toward the end of said mandrel;

said first, second, third and fourth belts each having a plurality of pusher elements projecting outwardly from the belt and being equispaced along the length of the belt; and

pusher elements on the respective four belts simultaneously entering into and travelling along the respective four channels toward the end of the mandrel with pusher elements on the first and second belts being on the first side of the plane P and with pusher elements on the third and fourth belts being on the second side of the plane P for simultaneously engaging against four substantially equispaced regions on a trailing edge of each band with two of said regions being on the first side of plane P and two of said regions being on the second side of plane P for pushing each band at high speed along the mandrel without undue distortion and then pushing each band off from the end of the mandrel toward an article to be banded.

8. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein:

the four belts revolve around four respective idler pulleys mounted adjacent ends of the four respective channels near the end of the mandrel; and

in revolving around said idler pulleys, tips of the elongated pusher elements swing around the idler pulleys moving faster than the belts,

thereby imparting an ejection acceleration to each band being propelled off from the end of the mandrel.

9. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein:

said pusher elements are elongated outwardly from each belt;

said pusher elements project from the first and second push-off belts in parallel relationship, and said pusher elements project from the third and fourth push-off belts in parallel relationship; and

the pusher elements project from an outer surface of each belt by a dimension D at least 70% of the radius R of the respective belt-drive pulley.

10. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein:

the mandrel has a cylindrical configuration adjacent to said first, second, third and fourth parallel channels;

said channels are substantially equispaced around said cylindrical configuration; and

said dimension D is at least 40% of a distance from said axes of said companion rollers to said plane P for reaching said pusher elements into said equispaced channels for simultaneously engaging and simultaneously pushing downwardly against four substantially equispaced regions of an upper edge of each band.

11. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein:

the four respective idler pulleys each have a radius larger than the radius R of the first, second, third and fourth belt-drive pulleys for enlarging a radius of swing of the tips of the elongated pusher elements in revolving around the idler pulleys relative to a radius of swing of these tips in revolving around the belt-drive pulleys for preventing a final swinging kick of the elongated pusher elements against the upper edge of each ejected band from applying an undue component of kick motion outwardly in a direction away from the plane P while providing a downward component of kick motion in a direction parallel with plane P significantly effective in a desired downward propulsion direction.

12. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

flattened perforated tubing approaching the floating mandrel lies in a plane P, and said plane P extends longitudinally along the mandrel;

the mandrel has a wedge-shaped transition end with a ridge lying in plane P and extending transversely of the mandrel at an upstream end of the mandrel;

the wedge-shaped transition end has a pair of generally isosceles-shaped triangular faces extending downstream from the ridge and being on opposite sides of plane P and diverging one from the other in the downstream direction and each having a vertex with the two vertices positioned directly opposite each other on opposite sides of plane P;

the mandrel has a generally cylindrical configuration extending downstream from the two vertices; and

the wedge-shaped transition end provides a constant distance around its periphery at each successive position downwardly therealong.

13. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said continuously rotating feed rollers have rims of high friction material with the rims of said feed rollers moving at a first peripheral speed;

said continuously rotating tear-off rollers have rims of high friction material; and

the rims of said tear-off rollers are moving at a second peripheral speed more than three times the peripheral speed of the rims of the feed rollers for accelerating the resulting torn-off bands to a velocity more than three times the continuous feed speed of the perforated tubing for minimizing dwell time of articles near the end of the mandrel for increasing production rate of banded articles.

14. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

there are a plurality of belt-drive pulleys;

at least one of said belt-drive pulleys is mounted on each axis of a continuously-rotating tear-off roller and is continuously rotating at the same rate of rotation as the continuously-rotating tear-off roller;

each belt-drive pulley is a toothed pulley;

there are a plurality of toothed belts;

each of said belt-drive pulleys has a respective one of said toothed belts engaged in positive drive relationship therewith for continuously revolving the toothed belts;

each of the toothed belts revolves around an idler pulley mounted near a downstream end of the mandrel;

each of the toothed belts has a plurality of pusher elements projecting therefrom equispaced along the toothed belt;

the mandrel has a plurality of channels extending downstream therealong; and

pusher elements on all toothed belts simultaneously enter into and travel downstream along said channels for pushing successive bands downstream along the mandrel and off from the downstream end of the mandrel.

15. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein:

said pusher elements project from the first and second push-off belts in parallel relationship, and said pusher elements project from the third and fourth push-off belts in parallel relationship;

said pusher elements are elongated in a direction outwardly from each belt and each pusher element has an outer end spaced away from an outer surface of the belt;

the outer ends of the pusher elements on the first and second push-off belts in revolving around the first and second belt-drive pulleys approach more closely to the plane P than the rim of the first continuously rotating tear-off roller;

the outer ends of the pusher elements on the third and fourth push-off belts in revolving around the third and fourth belt-drive pulleys approach more closely to the plane P than the rim of the second continuously rotating tear-off roller; and

spacing of the outer ends of the pusher elements from the plane P is less than 75% of spacing of the rims of the tear-off rollers from the plane P.

16. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic bands torn off from tubing having transverse perforations at predetermined intervals, said banding apparatus comprising:

means for supplying flattened plastic tubing having transverse perforations extending across the tubing at predetermined intervals uniformly spaced along the tubing at distances L, with each interval of length L corresponding to an axial length of a band;

a floating mandrel sized to fit slidably inside of the tubing for entering the flattened tubing for opening it into opened tubing and for holding open the tubing;

feeding rollers for engaging the opened tubing adjacent to the mandrel for feeding the opened tubing downstream along the mandrel;

said feeding rollers having parallel axes positioned on opposite sides of the mandrel;

said parallel axes of the feeding rollers both lying in a first transverse plane extending transversely with respect to the mandrel;

sets of freely-rotatable upper and lower suspension rollers mounted inside of the mandrel, the upper and lower suspension rollers in each set being spaced above and below said first transverse plane with a set of said suspension rollers being in opposed relation to each feeding roller for suspending the floating mandrel;

said feeding rollers in cooperation with their respective sets of suspension rollers serving dual functions of suspending the mandrel and also of feeding the tubing downwardly around the mandrel;

continuously rotating tear-off rollers positioned downstream from said feeding rollers for engaging opened tubing adjacent to the mandrel for imparting downstream-directed tear-off motion to the opened tubing for tearing off successive intervals of length L of the opened tubing at the transverse perforations for forming successive bands of length L;

said continuously rotating tear-off rollers having parallel axes positioned on opposite sides of the mandrel;

said parallel axes of the tear-off rollers lying in a second transverse plane extending transversely with respect to the mandrel;

each of the tear-off rollers having an opposed freely-rotatable companion roller mounted inside of the mandrel;

said companion rollers having axes in said second transverse plane for providing aligned rolling contact of the tear-off rollers and their respective companion rollers against outer and inner surfaces of the successive torn-off bands; and

pushing means positioned downstream from the continuously rotating tear-off rollers for pushing the torn-off bands at a second speed suitably faster than the speed at which the feeding rollers feed downwardly the opened tubing for ejecting each band from an end of the mandrel aimed at an article to be banded with speed to carry the ejected onto an article for minimizing dwell time for placing bands on articles at a rate of at least 500 articles per minute.

17. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic bands as claimed in claim 16, wherein:

the pushing means push the bands as a speed of at least three times the speed at which the feeding rollers feed downwardly the opened tubing.

18. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic bands as claimed in claim 16, wherein:

the pushing means push the bands at a speed of more than 1,000 feet per minute.

19. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic bands as claimed in claim 16, wherein:

the length L of the bands is sufficient for both the tear-off rollers and the pushing means to engage each band during tear-off of each band from tubing, and the pushing means have a first pushing speed matching a peripheral speed of said continuously rotating tear-off rollers during a portion of each operating cycle when both the pushing means and the tear-off rollers are engaging the tubing for cooperation of said pushing means and said tear-off rollers in tearing off each band from the tubing; and

during another portion of an operating cycle when the pushing means are engaging a band which has been torn off from the tubing and which has moved downstream along the mandrel beyond the tear-off rollers, the pushing means have a second pushing speed faster than said first pushing speed by at least 2.2 times for accelerating the band along the mandrel for ejecting an accelerated band onto an article during a dwell time of the article not exceeding 0.04 of a second.

20. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic bands as claimed in claim 16, wherein:

the tubing is label tubing and the plastic bands are label bands;

the feeding rollers have a predetermined peripheral speed during feeding of the opened label tubing downstream along the mandrel;

the continuously rotating tear-off rollers have a peripheral speed matching the predetermined peripheral speed of the feeding rollers;

the pushing means have a first peripheral speed matching the predetermined peripheral speed of the feeding rollers and also matching the peripheral speed of the tear-off rollers during a portion of an operation cycle when all three of the feeding rollers, the tear-off rollers and the pushing means are engaging the label tubing moving downstream along the mandrel; and

during another portion of an operating cycle when the pushing means are engaging a label band which has been torn off from the label tubing and which has moved downstream along the mandrel beyond the tear-off rollers, the pushing means have a second peripheral speed faster than said first peripheral speed by at least 2.2 times for accelerating the label band along the mandrel for placing bands on articles at a rate of at least 500 articles per minute.

21. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic label bands as claimed in claim 20, wherein:

during said other portion of an operating cycle when the pushing means are engaging a label band which has been torn off from the label tubing and which has moved downstream along the mandrel beyond the tear-off rollers, the pushing means have a second peripheral speed faster than said first peripheral speed, said second peripheral speed being at least 1,000 feet per minute.

22. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic bands as claimed in claim 16, wherein:

the pushing means comprise a plurality of acceleration belts revolving around respective belt-drive pulleys and respective idler pulleys positioned downstream from the belt-drive pulleys and being near an ejection end of the mandrel;

each of said belts having lengths thereof travelling downstream adjacent to and parallel with the mandrel;

said downstream-travelling lengths of the belts being substantially symmetrically positioned around the mandrel; and

a plurality of freely-turning companion rollers are mounted inside of the mandrel and are respectively positioned in opposed and axially aligned relationship with each of the belt-drive pulleys and with each of the idler pulleys.

23. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic label bands as claimed in claim 22, wherein:

said acceleration belts are substantially round as seen in cross section.

24. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic bands having film-like thickness, said banding apparatus comprising:

a floating mandrel;

feed means adjacent to the mandrel for feeding plastic tubing having film-like thickness downstream along the mandrel at a predetermined speed;

said plastic tubing having transverse perforations equispaced along the plastic tubing at predetermined spacing L;

said feed means comprising a plurality of continuously-rotating feed rollers having axes lying in a first transverse plane oriented transversely with respect to the mandrel;

sets of freely-rotatable upper and lower suspension rollers mounted inside of the mandrel;

the upper and lower suspension rollers in each set having their axes positioned above and below said first transverse plane;

a set of said suspension rollers being in opposed relation to each feed roller for suspending the floating mandrel;

said continuously-rotating feed rollers in cooperation with their respective sets of opposed suspension rollers serving dual functions of suspending the mandrel and also of continuously feeding the perforated plastic tubing downstream along the mandrel;

continuously-rotating tear-off rollers positioned downstream from said feed rollers for engaging the continuously-moving perforated plastic tubing adjacent to the mandrel;

said continuously-rotating tear-off rollers having a peripheral speed at least three times a peripheral speed of the continuously-rotating feed rollers for tearing successive plastic bands having film-like thickness off from the perforated plastic tubing and for accelerating successive torn-off plastic bands having a film-like thickness to a speed at least three times the speed at which said perforated plastic tubing is moving downstream along the mandrel;

said continuously-rotating tear-off rollers having axes lying in a second transverse plane oriented transversely with respect to the mandrel;

each of said continuously-rotating tear-off rollers having an opposed freely-rotatable companion roller mounted inside of the mandrel;

said companion rollers having their axes positioned in said second transverse plane for providing aligned rolling contact of said companion rollers and said tear-off rollers against inner and outer surfaces of each successive torn-off band having film-like thickness; and

continuously-moving push-off means for pushing successive accelerated plastic bands having film-like thickness downstream along the mandrel and off from a downstream end of the mandrel toward successive articles to be banded with plastic bands having film-like thickness.

25. Apparatus for banding articles with plastic bands having film-like thickness as claimed in claim 24, wherein:

said continuously-moving push-off means comprise continuously-rotating toothed belt-drive pulleys positioned on opposite sides of the mandrel with push-off belts continuously revolving around said belt-drive pulleys;

said continuously revolving push-off belts have teeth engaging in positive drive relationship with the toothed belt-drive pulleys;

each of said continuously revolving push-off belts having a plurality of pusher elements secured to the belt equispaced along the belt projecting outwardly from the belt;

said continuously revolving push-off belts revolve around freely-rotating idler pulleys positioned near the downstream end of the floating mandrel;

the floating mandrel has channels extending downstream along the mandrel; and

pusher elements simultaneously enter into respective channels for simultaneously pushing downstream against an upstream edge of each successive band of film-like thickness for pushing the bands downstream along the mandrel and for ejecting the bands from the downstream end of the floating mandrel toward successive articles to be banded with plastic bands having film-like thickness.

26. Apparatus as claimed in claim 25 for banding articles with plastic bands having film-like thickness, wherein:

outer ends of the pusher elements in swinging around axes of the idler pulleys are moving faster than the push-off belts imparting a final ejection acceleration kick to each band being ejected from the downstream end of the floating mandrel.

27. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 26, wherein:

the idler pulleys have a radius larger than a radius R of the belt-drive pulleys for enlarging the radius of swing of tips of the pusher elements around the axes of the idler pulleys relative to their radius of swing around axes of the belt-drive pulleys for increasing a desired downstream final ejection acceleration kick being applied to the upstream edge of each band of film-like thickness while decreasing the component of motion outwardly against the upstream edge of each band.

28. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein:

at least one belt-drive pulley is mounted on a continuously rotating shaft on which is mounted a tear-off roller and the belt-drive pulley and tear-off roller are continuously rotating at the same rate of rotation.

29. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 28, wherein:

the radius R of the belt drive pulley on each continuously rotating shaft is less than the radius of a rim of the tear-off roller on the shaft.

30. In a machine wherein articles are conveyed into and out of a banding station for banding the articles with plastic bands torn off from perforated plastic tubing, banding apparatus comprising:

continuously rotating feeding rollers for continuously pulling flattened plastic tubing downstream from a perforating station;

continuously rotating perforating means in said perforating station for perforating continuously moving flattened tubing with transverse perforations at predetermined intervals uniformly spaced at lengths L along the length of the flattened tubing;

a floating mandrel positioned downstream from said perforating station and sized to fit slidably inside of said tubing for opening the perforated tubing into a tubular configuration;

said continuously rotating feeding rollers being positioned adjacent the mandrel;

said continuously rotating feeding rollers for continuously pulling opened perforated tubing downstream around the mandrel;

said continuously rotating feeding rollers having their axes positioned in a first transverse plane extending transversely with respect to the floating mandrel;

sets of freely-rotatable suspension rollers mounted inside of the mandrel, the upper and lower suspension rollers in each set being positioned above and below said first transverse plane with a set of the suspension rollers being opposed to each feeding roller for suspending the mandrel;

said continuously rotating feeding rollers in cooperation with their respective sets of suspension rollers performing dual functions of continuously feeding the perforated plastic tubing downstream around the mandrel and also of suspending the mandrel;

continuously rotating tear-off rollers positioned a predetermined distance downstream from said continuously rotating feeding rollers and having their axes positioned in a second transverse plane extending transversely with respect to the floating mandrel;

said predetermined distance being suitable for imparting downstream-directed tear-off motion to the opened perforated tubing as the opened perforated tubing is continuously moving downstream around the mandrel;

said downstream-directed tear-off motion being at least two times faster than the opened perforated tubing is moving downstream around the floating mandrel for accelerating and tearing off successive lengths L of tubing at the transverse perforations for forming successive bands continuously moving downstream around said floating mandrel at higher speed than provided by said continuously rotating feeding rollers and for spacing successive bands from each other along the mandrel by a distance of at least L as they are moving downstream along the mandrel; and

continuously moving push-off means positioned adjacent to the mandrel downstream from said continuously rotating tear-off rollers for pushing successive bands off from the mandrel toward articles in the banding station.

31. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 30, wherein:

the continuously moving push-off means comprise a plurality of continuously revolving endless belts having portions travelling downstream from the continuously rotating tear-off rollers; and

the portions of the continuously revolving endless belts are travelling downstream parallel with the mandrel.

32. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 31, wherein:

each of the continuously revolving endless belts has a plurality of pusher elements thereon projecting outwardly from an outer surface of the belt;

the revolving endless bands are all driven in a positive driving relationship for keeping all belts revolving in synchronized relationship; and

the pusher elements are equispaced spaced along each belt and the pusher elements on all synchronized belts are positioned in downstream alignment for pushing successive bands downstream along the floating mandrel and then off from the floating mandrel toward articles in the banding station by a plurality of pusher elements simultaneously pushing each successive band.

33. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

the floating mandrel has a plurality of channels therein extending downstream; and

four pusher elements projecting outwardly from outer surfaces of four respective belts simultaneously enter into four respective channels for simultaneously engaging with trailing edges of successive bands for pushing successive bands downstream along the floating mandrel and then off from the floating mandrel toward articles in the banding station by four pusher elements simultaneously pushing each successive band.

34. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 33, wherein:

at least one continuously revolving endless belt travels around an axis of each continuously rotating tear-off roller.

35. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 34, wherein:

each of the continuously rotating tear-off rollers has a rim in rolling contact with the opened perforated tubing continuously moving downstream around the floating mandrel;

the rims of the continuously rotating tear-off rollers at their points of rolling contact with the opened perforated tubing are moving downstream at a second rate of speed at least two times faster than a first rate of speed at which the opened perforated tubing is moving downstream; and

the downstream travelling portions of the continuously revolving endless belts are travelling downstream at a third rate of speed intermediate said first and second rates of speed.

36. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 35, wherein:

the second rate of speed is more than about three times the first rate of speed.

37. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 34, wherein:

two continuously revolving endless belts travel around the axis of each continuously rotating tear-off roller; and

said tear-off roller is positioned between the two belts.

38. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 34, wherein:

a continuously rotating toothed pulley wheel is positioned coaxially with each continuously rotating tear-off roller;

each toothed pulley wheel and the tear-off roller coaxial therewith are rotating at the same rate of rotation;

each tear-off roller has a rim in rolling contact with the opened perforated tubing continuously moving downstream around the floating mandrel;

the rims of the continuously rotating tear-off rollers are moving at a second rate of speed at least two times faster than a first speed at which the opened perforated tubing is moving downstream along the mandrel;

each toothed pulley wheel has a toothed endless belt running therearound in belt-driving relationship with the toothed pulley wheel; and

each toothed pulley wheel is smaller in diameter than the tear-off roller coaxial therewith for moving four pusher elements simultaneously downstream at a third speed which is slower than the second speed at which the rim of each tear-off roller is moving and which is faster than the first speed at which the opened perforated tubing is moving downstream along the mandrel.

39. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 38, wherein:

two continuously rotating toothed pulley wheels are positioned coaxially with each continuously rotating tear-off roller;

the two toothed pulley wheels and the tear-off roller coaxial therewith are rotating at the same rate of rotation;

the tear-off roller is located between the two toothed pulley wheels which are coaxial therewith;

each of the two pulley wheels has a toothed endless belt running therearound in positive driving relationship with the toothed pulley wheel; and

each of the two pulley wheels is smaller in diameter than the tear-off roller coaxial therewith for moving four pusher elements simultaneously downstream at a slower speed than the speed of the rims of the tear-off rollers coaxial with the two respective pulley wheels.

40. Banding apparatus as claimed in claim 30, wherein:

said continuously rotating perforating means have revolving perforator blades revolving at a predetermined tip speed; and

said continuously rotating feeding rollers are rotating with peripheral speed 0.03% to 0.5% faster than said tip speed for maintaining the perforated tubing under tension as it is being pulled downstream from the perforating means and onto the mandrel.