U.S. patent number 3,845,914 [Application Number 05/398,411] was granted by the patent office on 1974-11-05 for method and apparatus for cutting a web of material in a web winding machine and air lapping a cut end of the material about a winding core in the machine.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Birch Brothers, Inc.. Invention is credited to John E. Straujups.
United States Patent |
3,845,914 |
Straujups |
November 5, 1974 |
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CUTTING A WEB OF MATERIAL IN A WEB WINDING
MACHINE AND AIR LAPPING A CUT END OF THE MATERIAL ABOUT A WINDING
CORE IN THE MACHINE
Abstract
A web of material continuously drawn off from a supply roll is
wound in a web winding machine to a rolled diameter of a desired
size and then severed by means of a vertically movable cutter to
provide a trailing end and a free end. The finished roll and its
trailing end are moved ahead into doffing position. A new roll is
started by feeding a cylindrical shell or core into the winding
position vacated by the finished roll. As the shell is located in
this winding position, the free end of the cut web is wrapped
around the shell in overlapping relationship and by means of
specially devised air lapping apparatus combined with the
vertically movable cutter. With the cutter mechanism in motion
upwardly, the air lapping apparatus serves to provide travelling
jets of air which are laterally directed against the rear driving
roll and which start while below the uncut web, then travel
upwardly just under the shell or core as a cut occurs so that the
jets progressively follow the cut end of material and continuously
force it into an arcuate wrap-around position which positively
secures the free end and avoids bunching or irregular lapping.
Inventors: |
Straujups; John E. (Lexington,
MA) |
Assignee: |
Birch Brothers, Inc.
(Somerville, MA)
|
Family
ID: |
23575290 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/398,411 |
Filed: |
September 18, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
242/527.5;
242/532.2; 242/542; 242/542.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H
19/2253 (20130101); B65H 2301/41361 (20130101); B65H
2301/41425 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65H
19/22 (20060101); B65h 019/20 () |
Field of
Search: |
;242/56R,18 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Huckert; John W.
Assistant Examiner: McCarthy; Edward J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Hamilton; Munroe H.
Claims
I claim:
1. A web winding machine for winding a web of material onto a roll
and cutting a stretched span of the web when the roll attains a
desired size, said winding machine comprising a frame having jaws
and a vertically adjustable core supported in the jaws, a rear
driving roll for supporting and winding a partially formed roll of
the material wound around the core, a forward driving roll located
in the frame in substantially horizontally spaced relation to the
rear driving roll for receiving a partially wound roll while
supporting a stretched span of the web extending between itself and
the rear driving roll, means for transferring the partially wound
roll onto the forward driving roll at a predetermined point, core
feeding apparatus for moving a replacement core onto the said jaws
after the partially finished roll has been moved onto the forward
driving roll, a vertically reciprocating web cutter mechanism
mounted in the frame at points between the rear driving roll and
the forward driving roll, said cutter mechanism being movable into
contact with the underside of the said stretched span of material
when the partially formed roll reaches a desired size, said web
cutting mechanism including an elongated gate structure having
spaced apart sides and cutter means mounted between the sides,
means for vertically moving the gate and engaging the cutter means
with the said span to sever the web and provide a trailing end and
a free cut end of material, and air lapping means located in the
gate structure below the cutter means and movable therewith for
supplying travelling jets of compressed air arranged to be
laterally directed against the first driving roll and which are
mounted for progressive movement upwardly beneath said stretched
span as said cutter means moves into a cutting position, and said
travelling jets of compressed air being guided in a path of travel
for movement against said cut end as cutting occurs to turn the cut
end over onto the said winding core into overlapping
relationship.
2. In a web winding machine in which a web of material is wound
around a supporting shell to form a web of a desired diameter and
in which machine there is included a rear driving roll, a front
driving roll, and means for moving a partially wound roll of
material from one driving roll to the other, the combination of a
gate mechanism for cutting the web of material while a portion
thereof is supported in an extended position between the rear
driving roll and the front driving roll, said gate mechanism
including a frame having spaced apart sides, power driven chain
cutter means mounted between the sides of the frame, fluid pressure
actuated means for raising the frame and cutter means into cutting
relationship with the extended portion of material to provide a
free cut end of the web, air lapping means movable with the gate
mechanism for directing travelling jets of air laterally inwardly
and progressively upwardly against the said free cut end of the
material, said air lapping means comprising an elongated tubular
body rigidly secured between the said sides of the frame
immediately below the chain cutter means, conduit means for
conducting compressed air into the tubular body and said tubular
body being formed with apertures for releasing jets of air
therefrom.
3. A web winding machine for winding a web of material onto a roll
and cutting a stretched span of the web when the roll attains a
desired size, said winding machine comprising a frame having jaws
and a vertically adjustable core supported in the jaws, a rear
driving roll for supporting and winding a partially formed roll of
the material wound around the core, a forward driving roll located
in the frame in substantially horizontally spaced relation to the
rear driving roll for receiving and driving the partially wound
roll while supporting a stretched span of the itself extending
between iself and the rear driving roll, means for transferring the
partially wound roll onto the forward driving roll at a
predetermined point, core feeding apparatus for moving a
replacement core onto the said jaws after the partially finished
roll has been moved onto the forward driving roll, a vertically
movable web cutter mechanism including an elongated gate structure
having spaced apart sides and cutter means mounted between the
sides, said gate structure being transversely disposed in the frame
in front of and immediately below the said jaws for receiving a
replacement core, means for supplying compressed air, a fluid
pressure actuated device located in the base of the web winding
machine and connected to the said gate structure, valve means for
controlling flow of compressed air into the pressure actuated
device and periodically moving the gate and cutter means upwardly
into cutting engagement with the stretched span of material to
provide a free cut end of material, said pressure actuated device
being arranged to control movement of the gate and cutter means
through a path of travel which locates portions of the gate above
the said jaws and a replacement core therein, an air lapping
apparatus for guiding the said cut free end of material around the
replacement core, said air lapping apparatus comprising a tubular
body solidly secured between the sides of the gate structure
immediately below the cutter means and movable therewith, flexible
conduit members connecting said tubular body with the means for
supplying compressed air, said tubular body being formed along one
side with a plurality of spaced apertures arranged to direct moving
jets of air laterally to impinge on the core at points just below
the cut free end of material, and thereafter to travel upwardly
under the cut free end and lap the free end around the said
core.
4. A structure according to claim 2 in which the fluid pressure
actuated device includes a reciprocating piston of a length which
in an extended position operates to raise the tubular body above
the upper side of the core.
5. A structure according to claim 2 in which the fluid pressure
actuated device includes a reciprocating piston of a length which
in an extended position operates to raise the tubular body above
the upper side of the core, and said valve means including
independently operated control valves, including a time-delay valve
for regulating operation of the air jets relative to operation of
the compressed air actuated gate valve.
Description
This invention is concerned with the field of web winding and
relates particularly to web winding machines in which a web of
materials is continuously drawn off from a supply roll and wound to
a roll diameter of a desired size in a web winding machine. At the
point at which the wound roll diameter reaches a desired size, the
web is cut and the finished roll is moved out of the machine. As is
customary in most web winding machines, a new roll is
simultaneously started by lapping a free cut end of the web over a
hollow core or shell inserted in a winding position in the machine
in place of the finished roll.
Various arrangements have been proposed in the art for cutting a
web and lapping a cut end about a hollow core or shell. In U.S.
Pat. No. 3,049,311 there is disclosed a typical form of web winding
machine in which are provided lapping rolls which are pivotally
arranged to mechanically engage a cut end of material and wrap it
around a shell with the lapping rolls traveling around the shell in
an arcuate path of travel. U.S. Pat. No. 2,537,588 utilizes metal
fingers for mechanically lapping in conjunction with the
application of stationary fluid jets. More recently the use of
stationary air jets has been proposed as described in U.S. Pat. No.
3,592,403 and also in U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,424.
In all of these prior art devices, difficulty is experienced in one
way or another. Conventional lapping devices may, in some
instances, fail to handle a cut end properly or uniformly and this
can result in improper wrapping with bunching or wrinkling
occurring. Conventional lapping devices involve several movable
parts which must be maintained in properly adjusted relationship at
some additional expense. There is also an objectionable delay in
starting a new roll with conventional lapping devices. Still
another troublesome problem arises in that these conventional
lapping devices, either of the mechanical or air jet type, are not
well adapted to handling a range of core diameters which are now
being required in the web winding art. It should be understood that
finished rolls of wound material may be received by customers and
mounted on shaft members for unrolling. These shaft members may
vary in diameter from one customer to another and because of this,
the inner diameters of hollow cores utilized to fill orders may
range from 1 inch all the way up to as much as 7 inches.
It is, therefore, a chief object of the present invention to
improve web winding machines and to devise a more efficient, rapid
and reliable lapping means for wrapping a cut end of a web of
material around a hollow supporting shell or core to start building
a roll of wound material in place of a roll which has been finished
and removed from the machine.
Another specific object of the invention is to devise air lapping
apparatus for use with a chain cutting mechanism of the class
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,121 and also U.S. Pat. No.
3,199,393.
Still another object is to provide a combination of air jet lapping
means with a vertically movable chain cutter in order that the air
jet means may be progressively wrapped from a starting position
below a newly inserted shell upwardly to points just under a
portion of a web which is about to be cut.
Still another object of the invention is to devise a combination of
web cutting means and air lapping apparatus in which the air jet
mechanism is uniquely housed interiorly of the chain cutter means
in a manner such that a wide range of core diameters may be
accommodated and jets of air may be directed along points occurring
below a newly inserted shell before a cut occurs and then
progressively moved upwardly while cutting takes place.
With the foregoing objectives in mind, I have conceived of an
improved web cutting and air lapping apparatus for a web winding
machine in which a web of material is required to be cut off from a
finished roll of material. The air lapping apparatus is combined
interiorly of a chain cutter frame which supports dual chain
cutters vertically movable to cut the web. The air lapping
apparatus moves as an integral part of the chain cutter frame in
suitably spaced relation below the chain cutters. The arrangement
of parts provides for directing traveling jets of air along points
below a rotatable core on which a new roll is to be started. The
air jets are moved upwardly to impinge along points just under the
core as a cut occurs with the result that further upward travel of
the jets causes a cut end of the material to be constantly forced
against the core surface and progressively wrapped around the core
surface in a wrinkle-free and uniformly wrapped relationship. With
the interiorly disposed arrangement of the air jet apparatus in the
chain cutter frame, I am able to control the distance between the
cutter chain and the line of air jets in a unique and desirable
manner and it becomes possible to operate with a wide range of core
diameters with important savings in time and handling.
The nature of the invention and its other objects and novel
features will be more fully understood and appreciated from the
following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention
selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying
drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a web winding machine with
which is combined the chain cutter and air lapping apparatus of the
invention;
FIG. 2 is a detail elevational view of, on a larger scale, the
chain cutter and air lapping apparatus;
FIG. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of the winding machine
indicating a web and cutter means in a position to be moved
upwardly to make a cut;
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a web and a cutter and
air jet means raised into a cutting position and with the air jet
means directing jets of air at points beneath the hollow core and
below the web;
FIG. 6 is another diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 5 and
illustrating the web severed by the cutter mechanism and the air
jets being raised into a position to force a cut end of the web
against the core;
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the cutter mechanism and portions of the
air jet means;
FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of cutter means on a larger
scale.
Referring more in detail to the structure shown in the drawings,
numeral 2 denotes vertical side portions of a web winding machine
of the type noted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,311 and which operates to
draw off a web W from a supply roll not shown. Supported between
the side frames 2 is a rear driving roll 4 and a forward driving
roll 6 and respective power driven shafts 4a and 6a. Also supported
between the side frame 2 for vertical displacement above the rolls
4 and 6 is a rotatable hollow winding core 8. As is cutomary in
machines of this class, ends of the core 8 are received in
vertically movable jaws as 10 and 12. These jaws are slidably
retained in rack and pinion guide parts as 14.
As winding starts with the core 8 turning on the roll 4, it will be
understood that a roll R is built up to some predetermined
diameter. At such a point, the finished roll is transferred into a
doffing position being supported on rolls 6 and 7. A finished roll
R1 is indicated in broken lines at the right hand side of FIG. 1.
In thus moving from engagement with roll 4 onto rolls 6 and 7, the
web of material W being drawn off from a conventional supply roll
becomes extended away from the roll 4 to provide a horizontally
disposed span of material which is required to be cut. Cutting is
carried out by vertically movable chain cutter means generally
indicated by letter C. A shell feeding arm S is pivotally mounted
at one side of the machine in a position to periodically receive a
shell from a shell feeding magazine and to locate the shell in the
jaws 10 and 12.
It is customary for movement of the shell feeding arm to be
synchronized with shifting of the finished roll onto rolls 6 and 7
so that the shell 8 is positioned in the jaws 10 and 12 before the
extended span of web W is cut.
FIG. 1 is intended to illustrate the above-described parts just
after the shell 8 has been placed in the jaws 10 and 12 and the
extended span of web W has been cut to define a trailing edge T and
a free end F. FIG. 1 also illustrates the free end F having been
wrapped around the shell 8 in accordance with the method of the
invention and making use of the special air apparatus of the
invention.
Considering in greater detail the chain cutter and air jet
apparatus of the invention, attention is directed to FIGS. 2 to 8
inclusive. As shown therein, the chain cutter C includes a pair of
endless chain cutters C1 and C2 mounted on shafts C3, C4, C9 and
C10. The shafts C3 and C4 are provided with sprocket gears as C5,
C6 driven by electric motor actuated sprocket chains C7 and C8. The
chains are supported in depending housings 16 and 18, best shown in
FIG. 2 secured at the underside of a frame body 20. The frame body
includes bearing posts 17a and 17b, a pair of spaced apart side
walls 20a and 20b through which are transversely received the chain
shafts C3, C4, C9 and C10. The bearing posts 17a and 17b are
designed to support the cutter apparatus when in a fully bottomed
position. Secured at the under edge of the side walls 20a and 20b
are a plurality of spaced blocks as 30, 32 (FIG. 3) solidly joined
together by a tansversely disposed base plate 34, best shown in
FIG. 3. At its underside, the base plate 34 is received on a
retaining cap 36 fixed to a plunger 38 of a fluid pressure actuated
member 40 which is preferably activated by compressed air. Arrow 42
indicates a compressed air supply for supplying air to the member
40 through a two-way solenoid valve 41.
In combination with the chain cutter parts above described I
provide a movable air jet apparatus which is contained interiorly
of the chain cutter frame sides and in predetermined spaced
relationship below the undersides of the cutter chains in a manner
such that when the cutter is in a fully bottomed position, air jets
J may be laterally directed against the roll 4 well below the core
8. These air jets J are produced by means of an air lapping tube 50
located between the frame portions 30 and 32 as shown in FIGS. 2
and 3. The air lapping tube 50 is formed along one side by a series
of spaced air jet apertures 52 which are designed to register with
bays or openings 54 defined in the cutter frame by the spaced
blocks 30. Compressed air from supply source 42 is contained in a
tank 44 and selectively released therefrom through a two-way
solenoid valve 46 and a time-delay valve 48.
An important feature of this air lapping apparatus is the provision
of air conduits 56 and 58 which are fitted into T-connections 60
and 62 connected into the underside of the air lapping tube 50 and
which have flexible extensions as 64 and 66. These flexible
extensions 64 and 66 are designed of a length and flexibility such
that they may be connected to an air supply tank 44 and can be
drawn upwardly with the air lapping tube 50 when the cutter frame
is raised by the plunger 38. At predetermined intervals in the
upward travel of the air lapping tube, jets of air may be
continuously released, being regulated by the valves 46 and 48. The
air lapping tube is rigidly supported in the cutter frame by
securing the conduit parts 56 and 58 in the base plate 34 as is
illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.
In FIGS. 3 to 6 inclusive, there are illustrated progressive steps
in carrying out the cutting and air lapping method of the
invention. As shown therein, a span of extended web material (FIG.
4) is drawn from the roll 4 as a result of a finished roll R1
having been advanced onto the rolls 6 and 7, as was earlier
described in reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 illustrates the step of moving the cutter means upwardly
towards the extended span of web W with the control valves having
been simultaneously actuated to direct jets of air J upwardly
against the underside of the core 8 and also against the underside
of the uncut span of material. A suitable air pressure may, for
example, be 80 lbs. p.s.i.
FIG. 5 illustrates the cutting means coming into engagement with
the web W and with the air jets progressively moving upwardly
towards the underside of the core 8 as well as those portions of
the web lying between the core 8 and the cutters.
In FIG. 6, there is illustrated the step of cutting the web to form
a trailing end T and a free end F. As suggested diagrammatically in
FIG. 6, the free end F has been forced upwardly and turned over on
the core 8 into a position to carry out lapping. It will be
observed that the traveling jets J have been progressively moved so
as to be continuously in contact with the web portion being cut and
to follow the cut portion. Thus there is realized a positive
turning over of the cut end and a highly uniform lapping is carried
out in a manner which prevents irregularity or wrinkling.
An important advantage inherent in the step of traveling the jets
upwardly with the cutter frame is the adaptability of this
combination of parts to deal with cores of varying sizes including,
for example, cores of a diameter as little as one inch, running up
to diameters of seven inches and more.
It will be apparent that by regulating the distance of travel of
the plunger 38 relative to its cylinder 40, it is possible to
provide for a sweeping action of the air jets over a distance
sufficient to overlie cores of as large as seven inches diameter
and greater, and no adjustment need be made other than control of
the valves 41, 46 and 48.
It is pointed out that the combination of an air tank and time
delay valve makes possible at the proper time supplying a high
pressure, high velocity air blast. The higher air jet velocity thus
realized will provide uniform wrinkle-free lap of the trailing
edge. This is because of the relatively large volume of air being
utilized for a short interval of, for example, approximately 3
seconds.
It will also be observed that the time delay insures that the air
is released at a proper time depending on the web traveling time
and the core size. The arrangement disclosed also provides that the
supply tank is not exhausted too soon and air jet velocity
decreased to a point where the air lap is ineffective before the
cut occurs.
Other advantages realized are elimination of moving parts such as
individually activated fingers, little if any maintenance required
to keep the air lapping apparatus in good working condition, and
savings in material and construction. There is no physical contact
with the material other than by the cutter and the jets may be
regulated to provide more uniform force in pushing the cut end
around the core periphery. As the air jets rise into a position
such as indicated in FIG. 6, it will be observed that they follow
the cut end all the way around to the rear side of the core, thus
insuring a positive lapping action.
* * * * *