text: the automatic machine according to the invention , which is shown schematically along fig1 and 2 , is intended to form , around the passenger &# 39 ; s luggage , a damage preventing envelope which damage could be caused to the luggage during its transport , with respect to the objects contained in the luggage and which can be stolen , as well as for preventing an unauthorized opening of the luggage for any reason during its handling . the machine according to the invention comprises successively , from front to back , a post 1 where the luggage arrives , a post 2 for forming a tubular protective envelope , made of shrinkable thermoplastic material , around each luggage , a tunnel oven 3 for shrinking the plastic material and a cooling device 4 . baggage 5 which must be wrapped and which can be valises , bags , etc ..., generally have a surface 5a on which or to which is secured a carrying handle 6 . luggage 5 is displaced , through successive posts 1 - 4 of the machine , by means of an entry carrier 7 which includes several endless carriers horizontally and longitudinally driven in the same direction , that is as viewed in the drawing from the left to the right along fig1 and 2 , and an intermediate wrapping carrier 8 and a rear carrier 9 extending through the shrinking oven 3 . luggage 5 is placed flat onto the front carrier 7 and is placed onto this carrier in such a way so that all the pieces of luggage are in the same longitudinal position . stated another way , they are disposed in such a way that their length extends in the longitudinal direction of the machine and that the surface 5a of each individual piece of luggage on which each individual carrying handle 6 is secured , is placed against a lateral stop 11 which is formed by a vertical and longitudinal plate extending above carrier i , on one side thereof , such as on the left side in the directional movement as shown in fig1 . this stop 11 thus defines a reference plane which is vertical and longitudinal for positioning the luggage 5 on the front carrier 7 and for the successive over - wrapping operations . at the end of the front carrier 1 luggage 5 passes through a wrapping post 2 comprising the intermediate carrier 8 . this wrapping post can be of any known type , for example that used in carrying machines used in particular for the distribution of food products . accordingly , post 2 will not be described in detail and it is enough to indicate that this post comprises a device 12 in order to form in the space between the two carriers 7 and 8 , a vertical and transverse curtain formed by at least one sheet 13 of heat - shrinkable plastic . in the non - limiting embodiment shown in fig1 and 2 sheet 13 in fact is constituted by two sheets transversely welded therebetween and respectively unwound from two spools , an upper one 12a and a lower one 12b , which have horizontal and transverse axes . the two parts forming the sheet 13 are welded one to the other during passage of the preceding luggage , being met by the downstream transverse face 5c of each luggage 5 and driven downstream by the luggage , as is shown in fig2 . transverse means 14 for cutting and welding , which comprise welding jaws and a cutting blade , is provided a little downstream of the device 12 which feeds sheet 13 , in order to form , below the luggage , on the one hand , a transverse joint 15 between the two sheets which come out of the two spools 12a , 12b , to reconstitute the continuous vertical sheet 13 and , on the other hand , another joint which is transverse at 15a near the transverse surface above 5d of luggage 5 having driven the sheet 13 , as well as a transverse cut between the two joints 15 and 15a . after the passage of each luggage 5 through sheet 13 , the luggage 5 is provided above it with a tubular envelope 16 which is obtained by unwinding sheet 13 around baggage 5 and more particularly about a transverse direction that is perpendicular to the face 5a having the handle of the luggage 6 attached thereto , and this tubular envelope is defined by the opposite transverse welding joints 15 and 15a . in the wrapping post 2 , spools 12a and 12b of the feed device 12 for the sheet of heat - shrinking material 13 are placed transversely relative to the lateral stop 11 which determines the transverse position of luggage 5 , in such a way that the tubular envelope 16 formed by sheet 13 about each piece of luggage 5 extends slightly outwardly , in the transverse direction , by a small distance a ( fig4 and 5 ), relative to the surface 5a of luggage 5 which has handle 6 . however , sheet 13 which is selected such as the width d be sufficiently large to exceed the largest dimension of luggage 5 in a direction perpendicular to its surface 5a carrying handle 6 , overlaps more or less by a distance b , relative to the opposite longitudinal surface 5b of luggage 5 , as can be seen in fig4 and 5 . naturally , at the exit of the wrapping post 2 , envelope 16 is open at its two extremities , in the transverse direction of the machine , thus allowing to appear the entirety of the longitudinal surfaces 5a and 5b of luggage 5 . luggage 5 thus provided with its tubular envelope 16 then passes on a moving carpet located below at 9 and is driven by the latter through the shrinking oven tunnel 3 . the tubular envelope 16 shrinks then on all sides on luggage 5 and the end portions of sheet 13 , which project slightly by distance a , relative to the longitudinal surface 5a of luggage 5 , shrink only along a small width of this longitudinal surface 5a , from each longitudinal peak of the luggage . these shrunk portions 16a , which are narrow , of envelope 16 appear clearly in fig7 and it is seen that they define therebetween an elongated opening 17 through which appears the handle 6 and which allows access thereto . preferably the machine according to the invention is provided , at the exit of the shrinking oven 3 , with a smoothing brush 18 which is carried by a mobile support 19 in such a way as to be borne against the mass 16b of envelope 16 , while it is still soft , and which is located in front of the longitudinal surface 5b of luggage 5 . this soft mass is more or less important according to the extra distance b of tubular envelope 16 , that is according to the size of the luggage in the direction perpendicular to its longitudinal surfaces 5a and 5b . the brush 18 makes it possible to apply and to crush against the longitudinal surface 5b of luggage 5 , the excess plastic material of mass 16b , in order to make the corresponding surface of the cooled envelope as flat as possible . after passing under the cooling device 4 , of any known type , with blowing of cold air from below to above , envelope 16 is then completely cooled and hardened and the luggage 5 thus wrapped can then be evacuated , and is thus protected , for the following part of its transport . the cooling device also makes it possible to cool the rollers of conveyor 9 which pass in the tunnel oven 3 , and owing to that the length of the conveyor can be slightly diminished . in the embodiment of the machine shown in fig8 and 9 , the luggage 5 is placed flat on the carrier 7 in such a way that its length extends in the direction transverse of the machine and that the surface 5a of each luggage on which is fixed a handle 6 be located forward , that is , turned toward the back end of the machine or toward the right in fig8 and 9 . besides , the transverse welding and cutting device 14 comprises three elements , on each side of the horizontal plane of movement of luggage 5 ; one of the three elements is a welding jaw 14a upstream , the second element is an intermediate cutting blade 14b and the third element is a downstream welding jaw 14c which extends vertically and transversely . in the machine according to the invention the downstream jaw 14c is continuous , that is to say it extends along the entire length of the transverse welding zone , while on the contrary the upstream welding jaw 14a is discontinuous in its central part 14d , in order to comprise only two opposite lateral surfaces 14e and 14f . consequently , when the tubular envelope 16 has been formed as a result of its welding on both sides of luggage 5 , as is shown in fig1 and 11 , this envelope 16 has , on one or the upstream side , a continuous transversal welding joint 16d and , on the other or downstream side , two distinct welding joints 16b , 16c , extending transversely and spaced apart from one another in such a way as to define therebetween an elongated opening 17 through which appears the handle 6 of the luggage . after the passage in the oven tunnel for heat shrinkage , there is obtained a luggage wrapped as shown in fig1 . it is seen also in fig1 that the vertical sheet 13 , which is waiting for the following luggage , has a horizontal and transversal opening 17 , between the two lateral welding joints 16b , 16c , in which opening penetrates the handle 6 of the following piece of luggage . in the embodiment of the machine which is shown schematically in fig1 and 15 , the vertical and transversal curtain in which are engaged each piece of luggage 5 is disposed transversely as in the case of the machine shown in fig8 and 9 and the vertical and transversal curtain is formed of several sheets of heat - shrinkable plastic material issuing from several spools mounted side by side , for example three feed spools 21a , 21b and 21c , that is to say sheets 13a , 13b , 13c which extend vertically between the upper and lower feed spools 21a , 21b , 21c which are adjacent to one another and located in the same vertical and transversal plane . spools 21a , 21b , 21c of the respective sheets 13a , 13b , 13c are mounted coaxially and they can be selectively rotated by means of a common driving device 22 , through the agency of respective clutch devices . the driving device 22 is controlled by a detector 23 which detects the length of each piece of luggage 5 placed onto the upper carrier 7 , that is its largest size in the transverse direction of the machine . in this way , when the luggage 5 has to be wrapped along a small length , as indicated in fig1 and 14 , the detector 23 emits an order toward the driving device 22 in such a way so as to rotate the first spool issuing sheet 13a . owing to this fact the luggage 5 is uniquely wrapped with the sheet 13a which corresponds substantially to its length . however , if the luggage 5 placed on the upper conveyor 7 is longer , as shown in fig1 , the detector 23 emits a signal towards the driving device 22 which causes the driving of the two spools 21a and 21b , in order to unroll simultaneously the two sheets 13a and 13b . these two sheets then constitute two adjacent tubular envelopes around luggage 5 . naturally a piece of luggage 5 having a still greater length would put into play or use the third spool 21c . the machine shown schematically in fig1 and 15 thus makes it possible to reduce the use of sheets of plastic material , by using for each piece of luggage one or two sheets in order to obtain one or two tubular envelopes proportioned to the length of the luggage . fig1 shows schematically a luggage 5 wrapped in an envelope 16 forming a band and having , in addition to its carrying handle 6 , an auxiliary handle 24 , on a lateral surface left open by the heat - shrunk tubular envelope 16 and which is opposite to rollers 25 rotatably mounted at an opposite angle of luggage 5 . naturally the heat - shrunk plastic tubular envelope 16 could also be shaped manually on a commercial wrapping machine of the type &# 34 ; l welder &# 34 ;. in this case , the welding jaw which is located in front of the surface of the baggage carrying handle 6 would be interrupted in its central part , as the jaw 14a of fig1 , to form an opening 17 in front of handle 6 . during the exit of the passengers and the delivery of the baggage , the latter can be returned to their owners either while still provided with their protective envelopes 16 , or after having been rid of these envelopes . the plastic envelopes 16 thus recovered can then be chopped up to be recycled in the manufacture of other plastic materials . although , in the foregoing description , it has been indicated that each baggage 5 was wrapped by means of a protective envelope made of a heat - shrinkable material , it will be understood that this envelope could also be made of any other plastic material which can be rapidly and easily put in place around each luggage 5 , while however leaving an opening in front of the handle . notably it would be possible to carry out the process of the invention in a machine which uses a material which can be projected in a fluid state on the luggage and hardening rapidly , or still a material forming a foam shell made of an alveolar or a type of foam . however it would be necessary then to provide , in this case , zones of lesser resistance making it possible to easily tear out the &# 34 ; skin &# 34 ; constituting the wrapping , during the return of the luggage to the passengers . it also would be possible to use , in the place of a smooth plastic sheet 13 , a sheet of plastic material having &# 34 ; bubbles &# 34 ; which would aid in dampening shocks .