U.S. patent application number 15/290714 was filed with the patent office on 2017-04-13 for disposable product assembly systems and methods.
This patent application is currently assigned to Curt G. Joa, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Curt G. Joa, Inc.. Invention is credited to Robert E. Andrews, Sean P. Follen.
Application Number | 20170101281 15/290714 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 58499571 |
Filed Date | 2017-04-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170101281 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Follen; Sean P. ; et
al. |
April 13, 2017 |
DISPOSABLE PRODUCT ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS AND METHODS
Abstract
A machine for producing disposable products anticipates when a
current run of a product size is coming to an end, and therefore
begins loading of material rolls intended for the next product size
or code that will be run. An integrated production facility layout
automatically orders and stocks raw material based on production
plans, and commands a production machine to produce specific
products of differing configurations, and automatically loads
appropriately sized raw materials into the process.
Inventors: |
Follen; Sean P.; (Sheboygan
Falls, WI) ; Andrews; Robert E.; (Sheboygan,
WI) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Curt G. Joa, Inc. |
Sheboygan Falls |
WI |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Curt G. Joa, Inc.
Sheboygan Falls
WI
|
Family ID: |
58499571 |
Appl. No.: |
15/290714 |
Filed: |
October 11, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
62240622 |
Oct 13, 2015 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 2408/241 20130101;
B65H 2301/41702 20130101; B65H 2801/57 20130101; A61F 13/15804
20130101; B65H 19/123 20130101; B65H 2301/522 20130101; B65H
2555/32 20130101; B65H 2301/41704 20130101; B65H 2405/422
20130101 |
International
Class: |
B65H 19/10 20060101
B65H019/10 |
Claims
1. A system for manufacturing disposable products, the system
comprising: a production machine for producing a first
configuration of disposable products and a second configuration of
disposable products; a first set of material rolls configured to
produce said first configuration of disposable products; a second
set of material rolls configured to produce said second
configuration of disposable products; a controller communicatively
coupled to said production machine; said controller receiving a
plurality of input signals, and, based upon said input signals,
generating an output signal controlling whether said first
configuration or said second configuration of disposable products
is produced by said production machine; said controller selectively
coupling at least one of said first set of material rolls and said
second set of material rolls with said production machine based
upon at least one of said input and output signals, to selectively
produce said first and said second configurations of disposable
products.
2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said input signals
comprise at least one of scheduling input, sales and marketing
input, purchasing input, receiving input, warehousing input,
production input, maintenance input, shipping input, and accounting
input.
3. A system according to claim 2, said scheduling input reactive to
at least one of sales and marketing input and purchasing input.
4. A system according to claim 1, said first set of material rolls
comprising a plurality of new material rolls having a first roll
width, and said second set of material rolls comprising a plurality
of new material rolls having a second roll width, said second roll
width larger than said first roll width.
5. A system according to claim 1, said first configuration of
disposable products comprising disposable products having a first
product width, said second configuration of disposable products
comprising disposable products having a second product width, said
second product width larger than said first, product width.
6. A system according to claim 1, said system further comprising: a
first turret unwind system carrying at least one material roll of
said first set of material rolls; a second turret unwind system
carrying at least one material roll of said first set of material
rolls; said controller receiving input of machine speed, input of
consumption of raw material, input of material remaining on each
said turret unwind, and based upon said input, coupling at least
one material roll of said second set of material rolls to said
first turret unwind system, and coupling at least one material roll
of said second set of material rolls to said second turret unwind
system.
7. A system according to claim 1, said system further comprising: a
second production machine for producing said first configuration of
disposable products; and said second configuration of disposable
products, said second production machine communicatively coupled to
said controller.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S.
Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/240,622, filed 13 Oct.
2015.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention disclosed herein relates to an apparatus and
methods for forming disposable products such as diapers at very
high speeds, while automatically scheduling certain aspects of
production, including material loading, splicing, reloading. While
the description provided relates to diaper manufacturing, the
apparatus and method are easily adaptable to other
applications.
[0003] In particular, the present invention relates to material
unwind systems. Turret unwind systems, which automatically splice
an expiring roll of material with a waiting roll of material are
disclosed, the turret unwind systems provided with a recovery
system for recovering end portions of the material carried by the
expiring roll, and automatically separating an expiring roll core
from the expiring material. Two waste streams are created--each of
a single material, making recycling and downstream handling of the
expiring roll cores and expiring material simpler and more
efficient.
[0004] Generally, diapers comprise an absorbent insert or patch and
a chassis, which, when the diaper is worn, supports the insert
proximate a wearer's body. Additionally, diapers may include other
various patches, such as tape tab patches, reusable fasteners and
the like. The raw materials used in forming a representative insert
are typically cellulose pulp, tissue paper, poly, nonwoven web,
acquisition, and elastic, although application specific materials
are sometimes utilized. Usually, most of the insert raw materials
are provided in roll form, and unwound and applied in continuously
fed fashion.
[0005] In the creation of a diaper, multiple roll-fed web processes
are typically utilized. To create an absorbent insert, the
cellulose pulp is unwound from the provided raw material roll and
de-bonded by a pulp mill. Discrete pulp cores are created using a
vacuum forming assembly and placed on a continuous tissue web.
Optionally, super-absorbent powder may be added to the pulp core.
The tissue web is wrapped around the pulp core. The wrapped core is
debulked by proceeding through a calendar unit, which at least
partially compresses the core, thereby increasing its density and
structural integrity. After debuIking, the tissue-wrapped core is
passed through a segregation or knife unit, where individual
wrapped cores are cut. The cut cores are conveyed, at the proper
pitch, or spacing, to a boundary compression unit.
[0006] While the insert cores are being formed, other insert
components are being prepared to be presented to the boundary
compression unit. For instance, the poly sheet is prepared to
receive a cut core. Like the cellulose pulp, poly sheet material is
usually provided in roll form. The poly sheet is fed through a
splicer and accumulator, coated with an adhesive in a predetermined
pattern, and then presented to the boundary compression unit. In
addition to the poly sheet, which may form the bottom of the
insert, a two-ply top sheet may also be formed in parallel to the
core formation. Representative plies are an acquisition layer web
material and a nonwoven web material, both of which are fed from
material parent rolls, through a splicer and accumulator. The plies
are coated with adhesive, adhered together, cut to size, and
presented to the boundary compression unit. Therefore, at the
boundary compression unit, three components are provided for
assembly: the poly bottom sheet, the core, and the two-ply top
sheet.
[0007] A representative boundary compression unit includes a
profiled die roller and a smooth platen roller. When all three
insert components are provided to the boundary compression unit,
the nip of the rollers properly compresses the boundary of the
insert. Thus, provided at the output of the boundary compression
unit is a string of interconnected diaper inserts. The diaper
inserts are then separated by an insert knife assembly and properly
oriented, such as disclosed in related U.S. Application No.
61/426,891, owned by the assignee of the present invention and
incorporated herein by reference. At this point, the completed
insert is ready for placement on a diaper chassis.
[0008] A representative diaper chassis comprises nonwoven web
material and support structure. The diaper support structure is
generally elastic and may include leg elastic, waistband elastic
and belly band elastic. The support structure is usually sandwiched
between layers of the nonwoven web material, which is fed from
material rolls, through splices and accumulators. The chassis may
also be provided with several patches, besides the absorbent
insert. Representative patches include adhesive tape tabs and
resealable closures.
[0009] The process utilizes two main carrier webs; a nonwoven web
which forms an inner liner web, and an outer web that forms an
outwardly facing layer in the finished diaper. In a representative
chassis process, the nonwoven web is slit at a slitter station by
rotary knives along three lines, thereby forming four webs. One of
the lines is on approximately the centerline of the web and the
other two lines are parallel to and spaced a short distance from
the centerline. The effect of such slitting is twofold; first, to
separate the nonwoven web into two inner diaper liners. One liner
will become the inside of the front of the diaper, and the second
liner will become the inside of the back of that garment. Second,
two separate, relatively narrow strips are formed that may be
subsequently used to cover and entrap portions of the leg-hole
elastics. The strips can be separated physically by an angularly
disposed spreader roll and aligned laterally with their downstream
target positions on the inner edges of the formed liners. This is
also done with turn bars upon entrance to the process.
[0010] After the nonwoven web is slit, an adhesive is applied to
the liners in a predetermined pattern in preparation to receive
leg-hole elastic. The leg-hole elastic is applied to the liners and
then covered with the narrow strips previously separated from the
nonwoven web. Adhesive is applied to the outer web, which is then
combined with the assembled inner webs having elastic thereon,
thereby forming the diaper chassis. Next, after the elastic members
have been sandwiched between the inner and outer webs, an adhesive
is applied to the chassis. The chassis is now ready to receive an
insert.
[0011] In diapers it is preferable to contain elastics around the
leg region in a cuff to contain exudates for securely within the
diaper. Typically, strands of elastic are held by a nonwoven layer
that is folded over itself and contains the elastics within the
overlap of the nonwoven material. The nonwoven is typically folded
by use of a plow system which captures the elastics within a
pocket, which is then sealed to ensure that the elastics remain in
the cuff.
[0012] Most products require some longitudinal folding. It can be
combined with elastic strands to make a cuff. It can be used to
overwrap a stiff edge to soften the feel of the product. It can
also be used to convert the final product into a smaller form to
improve the packaging.
[0013] To assemble the final diaper product, the insert must be
combined with the chassis. The placement of the insert onto the
chassis occurs on a placement drum or at a patch applicator. The
inserts are provided to the chassis on the placement drum at a
desired pitch or spacing. The generally flat chassis/insert
combination is then folded so that the inner webs face each other,
and the combination is trimmed. A sealer bonds the webs at
appropriate locations prior to individual diapers being cut from
the folded and sealed webs.
[0014] Roll-fed web processes typically use splicers and
accumulators to assist in providing continuous webs during web
processing operations. A first web is fed from a supply wheel (the
expiring roll) into the manufacturing process. As the material from
the expiring roll is depleted, it is necessary to splice the
leading edge of a second web from a standby roll to the first web
on the expiring roll in a manner that will not cause interruption
of the web supply to a web consuming or utilizing device.
[0015] In a splicing system, a web accumulation dancer system may
be employed, in which an accumulator collects a substantial length
of the first web. By using an accumulator, the material being fed
into the process can continue, yet the trailing end of the material
can be stopped or slowed for a short time interval so that it can
be spliced to leading edge of the new supply roll. The leading
portion of the expiring roll remains supplied continuously to the
web-utilizing device. The accumulator continues to feed the web
utilization process while the expiring roll is stopped and the new
web on a standby roll can be spliced to the end of the expiring
roll.
[0016] In this manner, the device has a constant web supply being
paid out from the accumulator, while the stopped web material in
the accumulator can be spliced to the standby roll. Examples of web
accumulators include that disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 11/110,616, which is commonly owned by the assignee of the
present application, and incorporated herein by reference.
[0017] As in many manufacturing operations, waste minimization is a
goal in web processing applications, as products having spliced raw
materials cannot be sold to consumers. Indeed, due to the rate at
which web processing machines run, even minimal waste can cause
inefficiencies of scale. In present systems, waste materials are
recycled. However, the act of harvesting recyclable materials from
defective product is intensive. That is, recyclable materials are
harvested only after an identification of a reject product at or
near the end of a process. The result is that recyclable materials
are commingled, and harvesting requires the extra step of
separating waste components. Therefore, the art of web processing
would benefit from systems and methods that identify potentially
defective product prior to product assembly, thereby eliminating
effort during recyclable material harvesting.
[0018] Furthermore, to improve quality and production levels by
eliminating some potentially defective product, the art of web
processing would benefit from systems and methods that ensure
higher product yield and less machine downtime.
[0019] Some diaper forming techniques are disclosed in co-pending
U.S. application Ser. No. 12/925,033 which is incorporated herein
by reference. As described therein, a process wherein a rotary
knife or die, with one or more cutting edges, turns against and in
coordination with a corresponding cylinder to create preferably
trapezoidal ears. Ear material is slit into two lanes, one for a
left side of a diaper and the other for a right side of a diaper.
Fastening tapes are applied to both the right and the left ear
webs. The ear material is then die cut with a nested pattern on a
synchronized vacuum anvil.
[0020] The resulting discrete ear pieces however, due to the
trapezoidal pattern of the ears, alternate between a correct
orientation and an incorrect (reversed) orientation. The reversed
ear is required to be rotated 180.degree. into the correct
orientation such that the ears and associated tape present a left
ear and a right ear on the diaper.
[0021] To accomplish the reversal of the ear pattern, discrete ear
pieces are picked up at the nested ear pitch by an ear turner
assembly that will expand to a pitch large enough for ears to be
unnested and allow clearance for every other ear to be rotated. The
rotated ears are then unnested and into the correct
orientation.
[0022] Two ear turner assemblies can be provided, to rotate every
other ear applied to the right side of the product, and every other
ear applied to the left side of the product. In this manner, for a
single product, one of the two ears will have been rotated
180.degree..
[0023] Ear application to a chassis web can be by a bump method
(described later) with intermittent adhesive applied to the chassis
web, or can be by vacuum transfer.
[0024] The present invention also allows for two side panel
assemblies, including fastening mechanisms, to be attached to two
ears, the side panel assemblies attached in a pre-folded condition.
Two more ears can coupled to a chassis web to create a front panel
to wear about the waist of a user.
[0025] The present invention also allows for chips of material to
be removed from the ears to provide a diaper with contoured leg
openings. In one embodiment, the chips may be removed from the ears
before the ears are attached to the chassis web. In an additional
embodiment the chips may be removed from the ears after the ears
are attached to the chassis web. In an additional embodiment the
chips may be removed from the ears and a portion of the chassis web
removed after the ears are attached to the chassis web.
[0026] The invention disclosed herein also relates to apparatus and
methods for waste reduction, such as disclosed in related U.S.
Application Ser. No. 61/400,318, also incorporated herein by
reference. Generally, diapers comprise an absorbent insert or patch
and a chassis, which, when the diaper is worn, supports the insert
proximate a wearer's body. Additionally, diapers may include other
various patches, such as tape tab patches, reusable fasteners and
the like. The raw materials used in forming a representative insert
are typically cellulose pulp, tissue paper, poly, nonwoven web,
acquisition, and elastic, although application specific materials
are sometimes utilized. Usually, most of the insert raw materials
are provided in roll form, and unwound and applied in assembly line
fashion. As in many manufacturing operations, waste minimization is
a goal in web processing applications, as products having spliced
raw materials cannot be sold to consumers. Indeed, due to the rate
at which web processing machines run, even minimal waste can cause
inefficiencies of scale.
[0027] In present systems, waste materials are recycled. However,
the act of harvesting recyclable materials from defective product
is intensive. That is, recyclable materials are harvested only
after an identification of a reject product at or near the end of a
process. The result is that recyclable materials are commingled,
and harvesting requires the extra step of separating waste
components. Therefore, it is beneficial to use up all of incoming
rolls, so that a portion of the incoming rolls do not become waste.
That objective is accomplished with the present invention
[0028] When manufacturing hygiene products, such as baby diapers,
adult diapers, disposable undergarments, incontinence devices,
sanitary napkins and the like, a common method of applying discrete
pieces of one web to another is by use of a slip-and-cut
applicator. A slip-and-cut applicator is typically comprised of a
cylindrical rotating vacuum anvil, a rotating knife roll, and a
transfer device. In typical applications, an incoming web is fed at
a relatively low speed along the vacuum face of the rotating anvil,
which is moving at a relatively higher surface speed and upon which
the incoming web is allowed to "slip". A knife-edge, mounted on the
rotating knife roll, cuts a off a segment of the incoming web
against the anvil face. This knife-edge is preferably moving at a
surface velocity similar to that of the anvil's surface. Once cut,
the web segment is held by vacuum drawn through holes on the
anvil's face as it is carried at the anvil's speed downstream to
the transfer point where the web segment is transferred to the
traveling web.
[0029] Continual improvements and competitive pressures have
incrementally increased the operational speeds of disposable diaper
converters. As speeds increased, the mechanical integrity and
operational capabilities of the applicators had to be improved
accordingly.
[0030] Decreasing the footprint required by the manufacturing
equipment is also desirable, as is increased automation, decreased
system downtime, and increased manufacturing speeds. In typical
disposable products manufacturing techniques, raw materials are fed
into the manufacturing system at ground level, generally from the
sides (and often perpendicular on the ground level) relative to the
main machine direction on the ground.
[0031] The raw material supply system can also be done manually. A
forklift operator is typically required to constantly monitor
supplies of raw materials, such as the nonwoven materials,
elastics, pulp, SAP, tape, poly, etc. and drive the forklift from a
storage area containing these materials, and deposit those
materials onto the system, where typically splicing systems are
used to provide for continuous operation. In prior art systems, an
operator would typically use a utility knife to slice layers of web
material remaining on an almost empty core, in order to separate
the core from the remaining web material carried by the core. By
using an automated material supply system, along with a system
described in U.S. Application No. 62/206,394, there is no longer a
need for manual separation of the last layers of web material from
the core.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0032] Provided are methods and apparatus for minimizing waste and
improving quality and production in web processing operations in a
high speed, small footprint environment.
[0033] Disclosed is an Automatic Roll Loading System (ARLS).
Specifically, the machine of the present invention anticipates when
a current run of a product size is coming to an end, and therefore
begins loading of material rolls intended for the next product size
or code that will be run.
[0034] Once all material unwinds have the size of material rolls
loaded and splices set up, splices can by manually or automatically
triggered to splice in the new material rolls and use the running
machine process to pull all the new materials through the process.
This saves considerable time compared to loading each unwind
manually and then manually rethreading each material process
throughout the machine. The result is a significant reduction in
change-over times and the present technique can be employed for any
machine process requiring input of multiple material rolls when
different materials (size, weight, color, etc.) are required for
different products codes or sizes.
[0035] When employing the technique described herein, splicing in
different width materials and pulling them through a running
machine process will not result in the immediate making of
acceptable products. The present method results in intentionally
pulling in material widths different than what the current product
code being run is setup for, so certain details will result in
unacceptable product; for instance, glue applicator patterns may
exceed the new material width and therefore glue applicators are
turned off for the duration of this material pull through
technique. For the same reason, web with detectors are temporarily
disable or ignored, and web guides put into a non-responsive mode
so they do not try and respond to material widths not compatible
with their current setup. Those machine capabilities are restored
prior to starting the next good product run, but by pulling in new
materials through web processes by using the old materials already
threaded through web processes, good-product to good-product
changeover is greatly sped.
[0036] An ARLS Scheduler monitors machine speed, consumption of raw
materials, materials remaining on each turret unwind, progress on
case count of current product code run, schedule of next product
code run, materials available at machine, materials remaining on
each material loading cart, and optionally, materials in warehouse,
and general position of robot carts in motion.
[0037] First, the ARLS Scheduler determines which turret unwind
should be loaded next. It also determines when material rolls
specific to the NEXT product, code to be run should be loaded onto
the associated turret unwinds. This is part of the preparation to
conduct the special splice event as part of the current product
code run shutdown, Once new materials are pulled through the
machine process (auto-threaded) by the expiring materials, the
machine can be full shut down in preparation for other,
non-material related changeover activities to set the machine up
for the next product code run.
[0038] The ARLS Scheduler may also keep track of the changeover
parts, assemblies, and set-ups needed for each specific changeover
to assist the machine operators and technicians in their outside
time preparations for the changeover as well as during the inside
time changeover activities when in progress.
[0039] The basic roll loading decision is informed by information
queries such as: material remaining on each cart; status of a
turret unwind as ready to load; and the time remaining or product,
pitches remaining to end of roll on the turret unwind. The decision
could be located in the turret unwind control routine, the ARLS
PLC, or the machine control PLC depending on size, complexity, or
configuration of machine.
[0040] A vertical reciprocating conveyor or a robot is used to
carry waiting new material rolls from a main processing level to
the material unwinding level. A robotic assembly obtains an
expiring roll and discards the roll in a waste chute. Once on the
material unwinding level, the waiting new material rolls are staged
at a material address dedicated to that particular material. A
robotic assembly acquires a material roll from one of said material
addresses and transports and places the material roll onto its
appropriate auto-fed material unwinding system.
[0041] Turret unwind systems, which automatically splice an
expiring roll of material with a waiting roll of material are
disclosed, the turret unwind systems provided with a recovery
system for recovering end portions of the material carried by the
expiring roll, and automatically separating an expiring roll core
from the expiring material. Two waste streams are created--each of
a single material, making recycling and downstream handling of the
expiring roll cores and expiring material simpler and more
efficient.
[0042] The material supply techniques and product layouts disclosed
can be used to produce pant-type diapers, brief-type diapers, baby
diapers, adult diapers, or any other types of disposable products
using web processing machinery.
[0043] A system for manufacturing disposable products is disclosed,
the system comprising a production machine for producing a first
configuration of disposable products and a second configuration of
disposable products; a first set of material rolls configured to
produce said first configuration of disposable products; a second
set of material rolls configured to produce said second
configuration of disposable products; a controller communicatively
coupled to said production machine, said controller receiving a
plurality of input signals, and, based upon said input signals,
generating an output signal controlling whether said first
configuration or said second configuration of disposable products
is produced by said production machine; said controller selectively
coupling at least one of said first set of material rolls and said
second set of material rolls with said production machine based
upon at least one of said input and output signals, to selectively
produce said first and said second configurations of disposable
products.
[0044] Input signals can comprise at least one of scheduling input,
sales and marketing input, purchasing input, receiving input,
warehousing input, production input, maintenance input, shipping
input, and accounting input, and based on those inputs, arrive at
an output decision. In a preferred embodiment, the scheduling input
is reactive to at least one of sales and marketing input and
purchasing input.
[0045] The system is capable of producing different disposable
products, for instance by supplying new material rolls having a
first roll width, and said second set of material rolls comprising
a plurality of new material rolls having a second roll width, said
second roll width larger than said first roll width. In this
manner, the disposable products themselves can be characterized as
having a first product width, said second configuration of
disposable products comprising disposable products having a second
product width, said second product width larger than said first
product width.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0046] FIGS. 1A and 1B are a schematic of a representative web
processing system;
[0047] FIG. 2 is a top view of a floorplan layout of the web
processing system of the present invention;
[0048] FIG. 3 is a top view of a floorplan layout of the web
processing system of the present invention;
[0049] FIG. 4 is a side view of the ground level and mezzanine
levels of the web processing system of the present invention;
[0050] FIG. 5 is a side view of an extension panel construction
section of the present invention;
[0051] FIG. 6 is a side view of a back ear final construction
section of the present invention;
[0052] FIG. 7 is a side view of a soft backsheet lamination section
of the present invention.
[0053] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a mezzanine and floor level
of a web processing system of the present invention used to create
a pant-type product;
[0054] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternate mezzanine and
floor level of a web processing system of the present invention
used to create a brief-type product;
[0055] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a loaded material roll
supply cart of the present invention;
[0056] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a gantry crane system
carrying a material roll used in the present invention, shown in a
retracted position;
[0057] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a gantry crane system
carrying a material roll used in the present invention, shown in an
extended position;
[0058] FIG. 13 is a side view of a turret unwind and splicing
system for carrying expiring material rolls and waiting new
material rolls.
[0059] FIGS. 14-22 are views of a splicing and material recovery
sequence.
[0060] FIG. 23 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of a bump
and severing mechanism for bumping an expiring roll to a splice
tape on a waiting material roll, and severing the expiring
roll.
[0061] FIG. 24 is a schematic view of a disposable product
producing facility, and attendant communications system.
[0062] FIG. 25 is a schematic view of a disposable product
producing facility with multiple production machines, and attendant
communications system.
[0063] FIG. 26 is a decision tree for material supply.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0064] Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to
enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the
physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the
invention which may be embodied in other specific structures. While
the preferred embodiment has been described, the details may be
changed without departing from the invention, which is defined by
the claims.
[0065] It is noted that the present waste minimization techniques
and apparatus are described herein with respect to products such as
diapers, but as previously mentioned, can be applied to a wide
variety of processes in which discrete components are applied
sequentially.
[0066] Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a two-level disposable product
manufacturing process is disclosed. Portions of the disposable
product are formed on a floor level, and other portions are formed
on an upper or mezzanine level.
[0067] On the floor level, the web processing operation starts with
incorporating raw materials such as paper pulp and super absorbent
polymer (SAP) in a pulp mill. The mixture is sent to a core forming
drum, where cores are formed for retaining liquids. A core can be
placed on a tissue and processed as shown. Eventually, an
additional tissue layer can be applied to sandwich the core. In the
illustrated embodiment, two independent cores can be formed and
joined together at a compression unit.
[0068] Simultaneously formed on the upper level are back ear and
front ear portions of the disposable product, which can be formed
with methods and apparatus such as those disclosed in the
simultaneously pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/925,033,
incorporated herein by reference, and described in the schematic as
the "NOSE unit."
[0069] As disclosed therein, discrete preferably trapezoidal ear
pieces are initially cut alternating between a correct orientation
and an incorrect (reversed) orientation. The reversed ear is
required to be rotated 180.degree. into the correct orientation
such that the ears and associated tape present a left ear and a
right ear on the diaper.
[0070] To accomplish the reversal of the ear pattern, discrete ear
pieces are picked up at the nested ear pitch by an ear turner
assembly that will expand to a pitch large enough for ears to be
unnested and allow clearance for every other ear to be rotated. The
rotated ears are then unnested and into the correct
orientation.
[0071] Two ear turner assemblies can be provided, to rotate every
other ear applied to the right side of the product, and every other
ear applied to the left side of the product. In this manner, for a
single product, one of the two ears will have been rotated
180.degree..
[0072] Ear application to a chassis web can be by a bump method
with intermittent adhesive applied to the chassis web, or can be by
vacuum transfer.
[0073] Still on the upper level, a cuff portion of the diaper can
be supplied from the upper level, the top sheet can be stored and
unwound, an acquisition layer can be stored and unwound, and a
nonwoven backsheet/poly laminate can be stored, formed and unwound.
All of the stored materials on the upper level can be retrieved
automatically and mechanically to restock as the rolls are used up.
Eventually the upper level materials, which generally overly the
floor level machinery, are supplied down to the floor level for use
in the diaper manufacturing process.
[0074] Together on the floor level, the back ear, front ear, cuff
(now including cuff elastic), top sheet, acquisition layer, and
backsheet/poly laminate are preferably simultaneously placed and
coupled together and coupled with the previously formed core. The
web can undergo folding, extraction and trimming of excess
material, and application of material to tighten the diaper about
the waist. Eventually, the product is folded and packaged.
[0075] Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4, a preferred floor plan of
the present invention is shown both from a top view (FIG. 2) and a
side view (FIG. 4). As indicated, pulp rolls 200 feed raw pulp into
a pulp mill 204, where the pulp is de-bonded. Super absorbent
polymer is added from station 12. The SAP/pulp mixture, or pulp/SAP
blend, or pulp and SAP is fed onto core forming drum 14, The
pulp/SAP mixture is introduced to a core forming apparatus. Cores
are made by conveying the pulp/SAP mixture through a duct and into
a vacuum forming drum. Cores from core forming drum 14 are conveyed
by conveyor 18 and core accelerator 20 downline. A secondary core
forming drum 16 is likewise employed if a secondary core is
desired, and the secondary core is passed through the debulking
unit 22, and onto the core accelerator 20 and placed atop the
primary core. A compression conveyor 23 keeps control of the core
to pass it through to the introduction of poly laminate backsheet.
A backsheet laminate is comprised preferably of a continuous
nonwoven layer (for soft, cloth like feel), along with a moisture
barrier layer, generally made from polypropylene or polyethylene
film. This layer can be glued, ultrasonically bonded over the
length of the backsheet, or applied as a patch with glue using a
slip/cut process.
[0076] Referring to FIG. 7, the formation of the soft backsheet
lamination is shown in side view, A nonwoven backsheet roll is
carried on the upper level along with its backup roll to be spliced
in as inventories deplete (see FIG. 3) and laminated together at
station 110.
[0077] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 7, it can be seen that a process
interface module 110 is carried between said unwind level and said
main processing level, said main level containing splice
preparation equipment 110 located between the unwind level and the
main process system level, for instance by hanging a process
interface module 110 from a supplied I-beam. The process interface
module can achieve many functions, such as slitting, laminating,
and splice preparation. After being transported vertically, the
poly laminated backsheet is introduced to the fed from the bottom,
at station 25 (see FIGS. 3, 7). A nonwoven topsheet assembly,
including a lycra and cuff portion and an absorbent distribution
layer, enters the system prior to the boundary compression unit.
Still referring to FIG. 3, it is noted that actual raw materials
and the locations of those materials could vary in floor plan, but
it is preferred that the materials remain on the vertical levels
shown.
[0078] Referring back to FIG. 4, this poly laminate and core
combination is passed to boundary compression unit 29. It is at
unit 29 that other diaper elements are introduced in pre-formed
fashion, from the upper level components on FIG. 1B. Also, lycra
unwind unit 27 introduces lycra, in addition to the pre-formed
upper level diaper components, at this point.
[0079] Referring to FIG. 2, the upper level components comprise the
front ear nonwoven supply unit 24, to supply the front ears, the
acquisition layer provided from unwind unit 26, the top sheet
supplied from the supply and unwind station 28, and the cuff
components supplied from the cuff supply unit 30 to supply the cuff
material for lower level slitting/spreading and introduction of
lycra, and foldover of the lycra to form the cuff. These materials
are fed in the pathways shown, and introduced to the boundary
compression unit 29, in the sequence shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
[0080] Still referring to FIG. 2, on the upper level, the back ear
and extension panel are formed at station 60. The back ear section
is formed as shown in FIG. 6, using the methods and apparatus
formed in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/925,033, disclosed herein by
reference. The extension panel section is formed as shown in FIG.
5. In particular, the depiction and description shown in FIG.
19A-26 of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/925,033 results in the back
ear/extension panel formation depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6. Ultimately
the back ear/extension panel construction is transported as
depicted, downwards toward the nested zero waste ear rotation unit
27 as shown on FIG. 4, also described in detail in U.S. application
Ser. No. 12/925,033, for instance at FIG. 8A of that
application.
[0081] Still referring to FIG. 4, front, ears are formed at unit 24
using preferably nonwoven material, and are placed onto the chassis
web preferably by slip-cut technique after being conveyed
circuitously and downwardly towards the boundary compression unit
29.
[0082] Cuff unit 30 conveys, from the upper level, cuff material to
the lower level where right and left cuffs are formed by passing
the cuff material first through slitter 42, spreader 44. Lycra
unwind unit 27 feeds strands of lycra onto the cuff material, and
then a bonding/foldover unit 46 seals the lycra strands within a
foldover portion of the nonwoven material to create the cuff.
[0083] An additional bonding unit 48 couples the previously created
cuff with the incoming topsheet material 28, fed from the upper
level downwardly. The cuff/topsheet combination is fed toward
incoming acquisition layer 26 for acquisition placement at station
50 and that combination is then fed toward the NOSE unit 32, where
the previously formed materials will be joined with the
cuff/topsheet/acquisition combination. After the NOSE unit, all of
the materials are then joined at the boundary compression unit,
including the nonwoven topsheet assembly, including an absorbent
distribution layer, lycra and cuff portion, which have entered the
system prior to the boundary compression unit.
[0084] Now moving right to left on FIG. 4, the formed diaper can be
subjected to folding plows 52 to fold over front ear and back
ear/extension panels, passed through a die cut unit 56 to sever
individual products from the previously continuous web, and then
past tucker blades 54 to fold the products at the crotch region or
elsewhere desired for packaging and bagging operations at station
00.
[0085] Referring now to FIG. 5, the extension panel construction is
shown. The formation of side panel assemblies begins with an
nonwoven web material 318, supplied in primary and backup roll
fashion, with splicer 320 and accumulator 322 used to provide a
continuous web, which is slit and spread into discrete nonwoven web
portions (see FIG. 2), each of the nonwoven web portions also
preferably being cut in the cross-machine direction into the
preferred size.
[0086] To each of the discrete nonwoven web portions, one or more
fastening mechanisms are applied. Fastening mechanisms can be tape
tabs, covered tape tabs, strips of hook and loop material,
continuous hook and loop material, patches of hook and loop
material, etc. The fastening mechanisms will be unfastened and
refastened about the waist of the user to tighten the disposable
garment about the waist.
[0087] The fastening mechanisms are supplied by incoming web 62,
slit and spread by units 64 and applied via slip cut unit 324 onto
the nonwoven 318.
[0088] Next, the nonwoven webs 318 carrying fastening mechanisms
322 are folded over, creating a folded web 318 and folded-over
fastening mechanisms. This causes the combination of the nonwoven
web 318 and the fastening mechanisms to be narrower than the
discrete nonwoven web portions. It is noted that the folded
fastening mechanisms of web portions 318a and 318b will have
opposing fastening mechanisms 322' as they will become the right
and left hip waist fastening mechanisms, respectively, once placed
about the waist of a user (shown later in the process).
[0089] Referring now to FIG. 6, the back ear final construction is
shown, a cross sectional view of the designated view of FIG. 2.
This process is disclosed, e.g., in FIGS. 20-22 of simultaneously
pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/925,033, incorporated
herein by reference.
[0090] The back ear final construction receives where indicated the
partially completed extension panel assembly where indicated, which
first pass through additional folding units 342. A back ear web 28
is provided upon which to attach the previously formed extension
panel. This too can be slit and spread into discrete stretch
laminate web portions.
[0091] Next, the nonwoven web portions, including their respective
fastening mechanisms, are slip/cut and bonded to stretch laminate
web portions in a staggered relationship, forming the side panel
assemblies in four different lanes. The nonwoven web portions can
be bonded to the stretch laminate web portions in any fashion, such
as by ultrasonic bonding.
[0092] The stretch laminate portions can also be folded if desired,
or the stretch laminate portions in combination with the nonwoven
web portions can all be folded together and again, by plows 52. The
back ear/extension panel construction assembly is then conveyed to
the floor level NOSE unit 32, ultimately for placement with the
other components and the boundary compression unit 29.
[0093] Referring now to FIG. 8, a perspective view of a mezzanine
(or material unwinding) level 480 and floor (or main processing)
level 482 of a web processing system used to create a pant-type
product of the present invention is shown. The material unwinding
level 480 is a human-free zone, intended for no human occupation
during machine operation in areas accessible by a gantry crane
500.
[0094] On the floor level, a series of ground floor material access
doors 464 are provided. These access doors 464 are each preferably
dedicated to a single material. For example in a preferred
embodiment, door address 416 is for transporting inner nonwoven
material from the ground level to the mezzanine level. Address 414
is for outer nonwoven, address 412 for non-woven backsheet
material, address 410 for non-woven topsheet material, address 408
for poly backsheet material, address 406 for acquisition layer
material, and address 404 for tissue material. A vertical
reciprocating conveyor (VRC) operates behind each access door 464
to lift a full rack of waiting new material rolls (FIG. 10)
supplied into the addresses in magazines to the mezzanine level.
Alternatively, descending robots can be used in place of the
VRCs.
[0095] Preferably, when an access door 464 is open, a corresponding
access door on the mezzanine level is closed, and vice versa.
[0096] On the material unwinding level 480, unmanned, auto-fed
material unwinding systems are provided corresponding to the
materials supplied to addresses above. In a preferred layout,
turret unwind 424 is for a tissue unwind, corresponding to address
404 on the ground and mezzanine levels (turret unwind detail
provided in FIG. 13). An acquisition layer unwind station 426
(corresponding to station 406) is provided, as are turret unwinds
for poly backsheet unwind 428 (corresponding to station 408),
nonwoven topsheet layer 430 (corresponding to station 410),
nonwoven backsheet layer 422 (corresponding to station 412), outer
chassis nonwoven unwind 434 (corresponding to station 414), and
inner chassis nonwoven unwind 436 (corresponding to station
416).
[0097] As material is unwound from the unwinds 424, 426, 428, 430,
432, 434, and 436, material is fed through material supply slots
462 in the floor of the mezzanine level, downward to the ground
level 482. There, the materials are fed into and used by the
system, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, 2, and 4-7.
[0098] As a connected material roll feeds material from the
mezzanine level through an opening 462 in the floor of the
mezzanine level to the floor level, the material roll will
eventually expire.
[0099] During machine operation, those portions of the mezzanine
level accessible by a gantry crane system 500 are designed to
operate without human occupation. This not only provides an added
measure of safety, but an added measure of automation for the
machine. A gantry crane system 500 operates robotically on an
overhead system that allows movement across a horizontal plane. The
present invention uses the gantry crane 500 for horizontal
movement, and a robotic arm 502 capable of vertical movement and
rotation, and equipped with a camera operated location system (see
FIGS. 11 and 12) to detect the position of the core of waiting new
material rolls for pickup, and to deposit precisely a core of a
replacement waiting new material roll onto arms of turret unwinds
for use in the system.
[0100] Gantry robots 500 are preferred for this pick and place
applications because of positioning accuracy, aided by vision
systems. Positional programming is done in reference to an X, Y, Z
coordinate system.
[0101] Although humans can access the mezzanine level 480 by stairs
460 for equipment service, no human occupation during operation is
intended. Humans can also access the mezzanine level 480 behind
access door 452, this portion of the mezzanine level 480 is
physically separated from the human-free zone of the other portions
of the mezzanine level 480. Access door 452 is used to access
physically divided power station and control station 450. This
station is for control panels, ultrasonic bonder control, and drive
controls.
[0102] Also evident on FIG. 8 are pulp rolls 402 supplying pump
mill 400 at the beginning of the processing on the main floor, and
a final knife unit 466, an ear folding and horizontal pad turner
468, and lastly a cross-folder 470 which discharges the diapers to
product packaging downstream.
[0103] This unique machine layout has achieved significant machine
length decrease. Exemplary prior art diaper making machines for a
pant process are approximately 44 meters, and this new machine
layout can be achieved in less than 34 meters, a 23% shorter
overall machine length from the beginning of the pulp unwind to the
end of cross-folder 470. A range of 20-35% decrease in machine
length can be achieved.
[0104] Referring now to FIG. 9, a perspective view of an alternate
mezzanine and floor level of a web processing system of the present
invention used to create a brief-type product is shown.
[0105] In this embodiment, carts of materials are staged initially
on the ground floor. In an exemplary embodiment, loading carts are
position at stations 510 (upper tissue), 512 (lower tissue), 514
(poly backsheet), 516 (nonwoven backsheet), 518 (back ear), 520
(acquisition layer), 521 (front ear), 522 (nonwoven topsheet), 524
(extension panel), and 526 (cuff). These materials are transported
to and placed behind VRC door 464 and transported by VRC 550 to the
mezzanine level 480. A similar demand/replacement system is
employed in the brief-type product floor layout as in the pant-type
product layout described in FIG. 8. Namely, expiring materials are
fed through slots in the floor of the mezzanine level, a splicing
sequence is initiated, and a material replacement sequence is
initiated, whereby a material roll is acquired by crane/robot
combination 500/502 and transported to and placed on the turret
unwind systems.
[0106] In the pictured embodiment, a lower tissue turret unwind 532
is provided as are turret unwind stations for upper tissue (530),
poly backsheet (534), nonwoven backsheet (536), back ear (538),
acquisition layer (540), front ear (541), inner top-sheet nonwoven
extension panel (544), cuff (546). These materials are all fed
downward to be used in a brief-type diaper.
[0107] This unique machine layout has achieved significant machine
length decrease. Exemplary prior art diaper making machines for a
brief process are approximately 41 meters, and this new machine
layout can be achieved in less than 29 meters, a 30% shorter
overall machine length from the beginning of the pulp unwind to the
end of cross-folder 470. A range of 20-35% decrease in machine
length can be achieved. A power station and control station 592 is
provided. Additionally, certain components can be fed at the ground
level, for instance an offline stretch material unwind 590.
[0108] Referring now to FIG. 10, a perspective view of a loaded
material roll supply cart 600 or magazine of the present invention
is shown. A material staging magazine 600 is provided to carry
waiting new material rolls 602 from a ground level to a mezzanine
level 480, the mezzanine level 480 carrying a series of turret
unwind systems for dispensing materials from the mezzanine level
back to the ground level. The material staging magazines 600
contain a series of individual roll stabilization features 604
which prevent waiting new material rolls 604 from tipping during
material transport and unloading. The cart 600 is filled on the
ground level, and rolled into the appropriate ground level
addresses 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, and 416, for transport to
mezzanine level addresses 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, and 416.
The rolls are then summoned as described above.
[0109] Referring now to FIG. 11, a perspective view of a roll
transfer device 700 comprising a gantry crane 500 system carrying a
material roll 602 used in the present invention is shown in a
retracted position. A camera 612 is used to detect the position of
a core of a waiting new material roll during pickup of a waiting
new material roll by the robot off of a cart 600, and also to
detect the position of the shaft 616 on the turret unwind systems
(FIG. 13) upon which to push the material roll 602 with roll bumper
610. Lasers, radar, or ultrasonics can also be used to measure
distance and position, either in addition to or instead of camera
612.
[0110] In an alternate embodiment (not shown), an automated cart is
provided. A powered and programmed cart is provided to retrieve
material rolls from an initial storage location, and then to return
to the material address to be called upon to provide new material
rolls to the system. Once emptied of one or more waiting new
material rolls, the powered and programmed cart returns to retrieve
material rolls from the initial storage location.
[0111] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a gantry crane 500 carrying
a material roll 602 used in the present invention, the robotic arm
502 shown in an extended position.
[0112] Referring now to FIG. 13, a side view of a turret unwind and
splicing system for carrying expiring material rolls 602' and
waiting new material rolls 602 is shown. In a preferred embodiment,
an expiring material roll 602' is positioned in an expiring
material roll position at the top of turret arm 622, and waiting
new material rolls 602 are positioned in a waiting roll position at
the bottom of turret arm 622. Of course alternate configurations
are possible for the positions of expiring material roll position
and the waiting roll position,
[0113] Turret unwinds are described for exemplary purposes in U.S.
Pat. Nos. 6,701,992, 3,655,143, 3,306,546, 3,460,775, which are
incorporated herein by reference.
[0114] When the system detects that one of the expiring material
rolls 602' in the top position on unwinds 424, 426, 428, 430, 432,
434, and 436 is set to expire of material 642, a splice sequence is
initiated between the expiring material roll 602' and the waiting
new material roll 602. In a preferable embodiment, a running or
expiring roll 602' is at a top position of the turret unwind of
FIG. 13, with a waiting new material roll 602 placed by the gantry
crane system located at a bottom position of the turret unwind on
shaft 616. The web 642 of expiring roll 602' is guided to the hot
wire splicer arm 624 structure by a guide roller 640.
[0115] A splice and material recovery sequence is shown with
reference to FIGS. 14-22. Referring first to FIGS. 14 and 15, when
vision system 650 detects that, the expiring roll 602' traveling at
velocity V1 is coming close to expiration (compare the size of
expiring roll 602' from FIG. 14 to FIG. 15), the waiting new
material roll 602 traveling at velocity V2 is driven up to velocity
V1.
[0116] Referring to FIG. 14A, the expiring roll 602' carried by
rotating shaft 616 has a core 602a, around which is wrapped
material 642.
[0117] Referring now to FIG. 16, hot wire splicer arm 624 moves in
adjacent to the waiting new material roll 602, bringing in the
running web 642 into close proximity to the waiting new material
roll 602. Vision system 650a (or a photo eye) identifies the
location of splice tape 644, and then the waiting new material roll
602 is driven by its controlled motor so that at the moment of
splice, a bump of the expiring roll material 642 towards splice
tape 644 by arm 624 bonds the expiring roll material 642 to
material 644 of the waiting roll 602. A bump arm of the hot wire
structure 624 bumps the expiring web 602' to the waiting new
material roll, and at the precise moment of contact, splice tape
644 is introduced to splice the web 644 of waiting new material
roll 602 and the expiring roll 602' together. At the same time as
the bump, the hot wire arm 624 severs the running web with a hot
wire. In this manner, the expiring web material 642 is instantly
taped to the leading edge of the new roll material 644, as depicted
in FIG. 18A.
[0118] Referring now to FIG. 17, at the moment that the web 642 is
severed, a free end 643 of web 642 is created. Just prior to or
when web 642 is severed, a vacuum is initiated and drawn by vacuum
structure 646 which is coupled to a source of negative pressure
(not shown), and the vacuum structure 646 is situated in close
proximity to web 642. At this point, web 644 is paid out and is
supplied to the process, and there is no longer any use for the
expiring roll 602' comprising the web 642 and the core 602a.
Material recovery system or vacuum structure 646 recovers free end
643 of web 642, and the remainder of web 642 is paid out by
rotation of shaft 616. Web 642 is paid out by shaft 616 until the
entirety of the web 642 becomes separated from core 602a as shown
in FIG. 19. At this point, point shaft 616 is no longer required to
rotate until called upon to begin rotation of the next web of
material.
[0119] Material recovery system 646 thus automatically separates an
expiring roll core 602a from the expiring material 642. Two single
material waste streams are created, one of the expiring roll core
602a, and the other of the expiring material 642, which makes
recycling and downstream handling of the expiring roll cores 602a
and expiring material 642 simpler and more efficient because the
waste streams are not required to be handled manually.
[0120] Next referring to FIG. 20, the rotating turret arm 622
rotates clockwise to place the waiting new material roll 602 into
the expiring roll position (because the material roll 602 will now
be an expiring roll 602'), preferably at the top vertical position
of rotating turret arm 622. Clockwise rotation of the turret arm
622 also places the shaft 616 (still carrying core 602a) in the
waiting roll position in order to automatically receive a new
waiting roll 624. Also at this time, splicer arm 624 swings away.
During rotation of the rotating turret arm 622, it is desirable to
vary V2 during rotation of the new material roll 602 from the
waiting position to the expiring roll position, in order to
maintain constant tension and supply rate of web 644 to the
downstream processing operations.
[0121] Referring now to FIG. 21, rotating turret arm 622 causes the
newly expiring roll 602 to reach the expiring roll position, and
eventually splicer arm 624 swings back to its ready position for
the next bump sequence.
[0122] Referring now to FIG. 22, a kicker ring 620 next bumps the
core 602a off of shaft 616 for discard, and kicker ring 620 then
reverts back to its position proximal to the rotating turret arm
622 to allow shaft 616 to receive the next waiting roll 602, for
instance from the unit configured in FIG. 12.
[0123] Next, the system demands a replacement waiting new material
roll to place upon the shaft 616 at the bottom position of the
turret unwind.
[0124] At the mezzanine level addresses 404, 406, 408, 410, 412,
414, and 416, magazines of waiting new material roll (FIG. 10) are
received from the ground level, and wait for demand. The gantry
crane 500 is summoned to pick up a material roll from a cart (FIG.
10) stationed at the dedicated VRC stations, and transport the full
material roll to a turret unwind system dedicated to that
particular material. The system detects which waiting new material
roll requires replacement after its predecessor has been spliced
and turned into an expiring roll, and then travels the crane/robot
combination 500/502 to the appropriate mezzanine level address 404,
406, 408, 410, 412, 414, and 416 and obtains a replacement waiting
new material roll.
[0125] The gantry robot is programmed to discard the remainder of
the expiring roll (the now empty core 602a) into a waste chute (not
shown) on the mezzanine level or to container 660 (FIG. 22), and
then to obtain a replacement waiting new material roll from the
dedicated VRC from which the appropriate material is located on the
cart. When the system detects that all rolls of waiting new
material roll are used from a supply cart (FIG. 10), the VRC
containing the empty cart is automatically transported to the floor
level for replacement of all of the waiting new material rolls.
[0126] Referring now to FIG. 23, a side view of an alternate
embodiment of a bump and severing mechanism for bumping expiring
roll 602' to splice tape 644 on the waiting material roll 602, and
severing the expiring roll 602' is shown. In this embodiment, a
sliding bump/sever mechanism 668 is engaged when called upon, to
bump via roller 672 the expiring web material 642 against splice
tape 644. In preferred embodiments, the linear sliding bump/sever
mechanism 668 can be fired by an air cylinder, simplifying setup of
the pivot arm 624 previously described, or the sliding bump/sever
mechanism 668 could be servo motor driven. When called upon, for
instance when vision system 650 senses material 602' is running
out, the splicing/severing sequence begins. The bump/sever
mechanism 668 linearly approaches the web 642 to bump the web 642
into contact with splice tape 644, and momentarily thereafter, a
hot wire 670 severs expiring web material 642, allowing newly
expiring roll material to be used in the process as shown in FIG.
18a.
[0127] Referring now to FIG. 24, a schematic view of a disposable
product producing facility, and attendant communications system is
shown. As can be seen, this schematic can be used to plan an
inventive production facility of the present invention.
[0128] At the conceptual center of the facility is a front office,
where communications take place (receiving and sending information)
between the front office and a machine equipment platform, an
incoming warehouse and storage section, an outgoing packages
section, and a case packaging section. The machine equipment
platform is where disposable products are products, e.g., a machine
to make diapers. The incoming warehouse/storage section is where
raw materials are delivered to the facility, and stored until
called upon for introduction into the machine equipment platform or
the case packaging platform. The outgoing packages portion of the
facility if where formed product in packages and cases, is stored
for distribution outside of the facility. The front office will
receive information and send information from the different
segments to inform of material requirements, inventory, and
scheduling.
[0129] Referring now to FIG. 25, a schematic view of a disposable
product producing facility with multiple production machines, and
attendant communications system is shown. Disclosed is an Automatic
Roll Loading System (ARLS). A plurality of ARLS schedulers (S1, S2,
and S3) for example, communicate with each other, and with their
dedicated production machines (Production Machines 1, 2, and 3,
respectively). Specifically, the ARLS scheduler(s) of the present
invention anticipates when a current run of a product size is
coming to an end, and therefore begins loading of material rolls
intended for the next product size or code that will be run. Those
decisions are informed by, with respect to ARLS scheduler S1 but
equally applicable to the schedulers S2 and S3, sales and marketing
input/output A1, purchasing input/output A2, and scheduling
input/output A3. Sales and marketing input/output A1 contains
information related to the desired output quantity of certain
disposable products, e.g., SKUs (stock keeping units of a
particular product that allows it to be tracked for inventory
purposes). A specific material requirement schedule for each of the
certain disposable products is necessary, and purchasing
input/output A2 reacts with the scheduler S1 to ensure that
required materials are on hand at the incoming warehouse storage of
FIG. 24. Scheduling input/output A3 reacts with sales and marketing
input/output A1, and purchasing input/output A2, as well as the
ARLS scheduler S1 to control when ARLS scheduler S1 commands
production machine M1 to manufacture a specific product.
[0130] ARLS scheduler S1 commands production machine M1 to
manufacture a specific product, and when informed by
receiving/purchasing/scheduling input/outputs A1/A2/A3 to command
machine M1 to manufacture a different specific product, raw
material used by production machine M1 may require changeover,
e.g., for a size dependent material change such as a chassis web of
a different width. Once all material unwinds of machine M1 (e.g.,
any one of upstairs unwinds of FIG. 9) have the size of material
rolls loaded and splices set up, splices can by manually or
automatically triggered to splice in the new material rolls and use
the running machine process to pull all the new materials through
the process. This saves considerable time compared to loading each
unwind manually and then manually rethreading each material process
throughout the machine. The result is a significant reduction in
change-over times and the present technique can be employed for any
machine process requiring input of multiple material rolls when
different materials (size, weight, color, etc.) are required for
different products codes or sizes.
[0131] When employing the technique described herein, splicing in
different width materials and pulling them through a running
machine process will not result in the immediate making of
acceptable products. The present method results in intentionally
pulling in material widths different than what the current product
code being run is setup for, so certain details will result in
unacceptable product; for instance, glue applicator patterns may
exceed the new material width and therefore glue applicators are
turned off for the duration of this material pull through
technique. For the same reason, web with detectors are temporarily
disable or ignored, and web guides put into a non-responsive mode
so they do not try and respond to material widths not compatible
with their current setup. Those machine capabilities are restored
prior to starting the next good product run, but by pulling in new
materials through web processes by using the old materials already
threaded through web processes, good-product to good-product
changeover is greatly sped.
[0132] An ARLS Scheduler monitors machine speed, consumption of raw
materials, materials remaining on each turret unwind, progress on
case count of current product code run, schedule of next product
code run, materials available at machine, materials remaining on
each material loading cart, and optionally, materials in warehouse,
and general position of robot carts in motion.
[0133] Referring now to FIG. 26, a decision tree for material
supply is shown. First, the ARLS Scheduler determines which turret
unwind should be loaded next. It also determines when material
rolls specific to the NEXT product code to be run should be loaded
onto the associated turret unwinds. This is part of the preparation
to conduct the special splice event as part of the current product
code run shutdown. Once new materials are pulled through the
machine process (auto-threaded) by the expiring materials, the
machine can be full shut down in preparation for other,
non-material related changeover activities to set the machine up
for the next product code run.
[0134] The ARLS Scheduler may also keep track of the changeover
parts, assemblies, and set-ups needed for each specific changeover
to assist the machine operators and technicians in their outside
time preparations for the changeover as well as during the inside
time changeover activities when in progress.
[0135] The basic roll loading decision is informed by information
queries such as: material remaining on each cart; status of a
turret unwind as ready to load; and the time remaining or product
pitches remaining to end of roll on the turret unwind. The decision
could be located in the turret unwind control routine, the ARLS
PLC, or the machine control PLC depending on size, complexity, or
configuration of machine.
[0136] As described with respect to FIGS. 1-23, a vertical
reciprocating conveyor or a robot is used to carry waiting new
material rolls from a main processing level to the material
unwinding level. A robotic assembly obtains an expiring roll and
discards the roll in a waste chute. Once on the material unwinding
level, the waiting new material rolls are staged at a material
address dedicated to that particular material. A robotic assembly
acquires a material roll from one of said material addresses and
transports and places the material roll onto its appropriate
auto-fed material unwinding system.
[0137] The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the
principles of the invention. Furthermore, since numerous
modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in
the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact
construction and operation shown and described. While the preferred
embodiment has been described, the details may be changed without
departing from the invention, which is defined by the claims.
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