1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an accumulating apparatus for accumulating continuous sheet supplied from an upstream apparatus while continuously feeding the continuous sheet to a downstream apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a system where various processes are applied to continuous sheet while the continuous sheet is continuously conveyed to continuously manufacture products such as disposable diapers, is in practical use. In such a system, an accumulating apparatus is provided between an upstream supplying apparatus for drawing continuous sheet from wound sheet where the continuous sheet is wound like a roll (hereinafter the wound sheet is simply referred to as a “wound roll”) and a downstream manufacturing apparatus for sequentially applying processes to each portion of the continuous sheet.
In the accumulating apparatus, a plurality of upper rollers are located topside in a vertical direction and a plurality of lower rollers are located downside in the vertical direction. The continuous sheet is held in contact with the upper rollers and the lower rollers alternately to be conveyed, and therefore the continuous sheet supplied from the upstream supplying apparatus is accumulated while being continuously fed to the downstream manufacturing apparatus. When the remaining amount of the continuous sheet in the wound roll becomes low, supply of the continuous sheet from the supplying apparatus is stopped and a distance between the upper rollers and the lower rollers is decreased to keep feeding the continuous sheet to the manufacturing apparatus (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-137899). Then, the continuous sheet is cut from the wound roll and spliced to an end of continuous sheet of a new wound roll in the supplying apparatus, and therefore it is possible to switch the wound roll with the low remaining amount to new wound roll, without stopping the downstream manufacturing apparatus.
In the above accumulating apparatus, the distance between the upper rollers and the lower rollers can be changed by moving the upper rollers or the lower rollers in the vertical direction. However, since normally the weights of the rollers are large, a mechanism for moving the rollers in the vertical direction becomes large in size and also manufacturing costs of the accumulating apparatus increase.
The present invention is intended for an accumulating apparatus for accumulating continuous sheet supplied from an upstream apparatus while continuously feeding the continuous sheet to a downstream apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to downsize or omit a mechanism for changing the distance between the upper rollers and the lower rollers in the accumulating apparatus.
The accumulating apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an upper arm and a lower arm; and a distance changing mechanism for simultaneously moving the upper arm and the lower arm opposite to each other with respect to a vertical direction to change the distance between the upper arm and the lower arm. The upper arm comprises upper rollers arranged along an arm main body and each of the upper rollers is parallel with a horizontal direction. The lower arm comprises lower rollers arranged along an arm main body and each of the lower rollers is parallel with a horizontal direction. The continuous sheet is held in contact with the upper rollers and the lower rollers alternately to repeatedly travel between the upper arm and the lower arm, and the distance changing mechanism comprises: a motion transmitting mechanism mechanically coupling the upper arm with the lower arm to synchronize movement of the upper arm with movement of the lower arm; and an actuator for performing at least one of an action to move the upper arm and the lower arm away from each other and an action to move the upper arm and the lower arm close to each other.
In the present invention, it is possible to downsize the actuator in the accumulating apparatus.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the upper arm and the lower arm are swung up and down, and the motion transmitting mechanism is a plurality of gears. With this arrangement, the structure of the motion transmitting mechanism can be simplified.
In this case, more preferably, the motion transmitting mechanism comprises: an upper gear fixed to the upper arm; and a lower gear fixed to the lower arm and engaged with the upper gear.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in a state where the continuous sheet is removed from the upper arm and the lower arm, the upper arm and the lower arm are balanced at constant positions. It is therefore possible to prevent the continuous sheet from being overloaded.
Another accumulating apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an upper arm and a lower arm; and a motion transmitting mechanism mechanically coupling the upper arm with the lower arm, when one arm of the upper arm and the lower arm is moved with respect to a vertical direction, the motion transmitting mechanism simultaneously moves the other arm toward an opposite direction with respect to the vertical direction. The upper arm comprises upper rollers arranged along an arm main body and each of the upper rollers is parallel with a horizontal direction. The lower arm comprises lower rollers arranged along an arm main body and each of the lower rollers is parallel with a horizontal direction. The continuous sheet is held in contact with the upper rollers and the lower rollers alternately to repeatedly travel between the upper arm and the lower arm, and in a state where the continuous sheet is removed from the upper arm and the lower arm, the upper arm and the lower arm are moved away from each other. It is therefore possible to omit an actuator in the accumulating apparatus.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The supplying apparatus 2 has two shaft parts 21, 22 each holding one wound roll 90, and each shaft part 21, 22 parallel with the X direction is rotatably supported by the base part 11. The shaft parts 21, 22 are connected with a motor (not shown), and the wound roll 90 can be rotated together with the shaft parts 21, 22 by driving the motor, to draw the continuous sheet 9 from the wound roll 90. There may be a case where the continuous sheet 9 can be drawn from each wound roll 90 by a rotating belt which is in contact with the continuous sheet 9 or the like.
In the supplying apparatus 2, only the continuous sheet 9 drawn from one wound roll 90 is supplied to the accumulating apparatus 4 through a plurality of rollers 23 that are parallel with the X direction (some rollers are denoted by reference signs 23a.). The plurality of rollers 23 are rotatably supported by the base part 11. Hereinafter the wound roll 90 from which the continuous sheet 9 is drawn to be supplied to the accumulating apparatus 4 (in
Cutting parts 24 are provided between two rollers (in
The accumulating apparatus 4 has an upper arm 51 located at the upper side ((+Z) side) in the vertical direction, a lower arm 52 located at the lower side ((−Z) side) in the vertical direction, and a distance changing mechanism 6 for changing a distance (i.e., gap distance) between the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52. The upper arm 51 has a long arm main body 512 and a plurality of upper rollers 511 arranged along the arm main body 512. The arm main body 512 has two supporting rods 513 each extending in a direction orthogonal to the X direction, and the two supporting rods 513 are arranged in the X direction. The plurality of upper rollers 511, parallel with the X direction, are rotatably supported between the two supporting rods 513 parallel with each other. In a similar fashion to the upper arm 51, the lower arm 52 has a long arm main body 522 and a plurality of lower rollers 521 arranged along the arm main body 522, and the plurality of lower rollers 521, parallel with the X direction, are rotatably supported between two supporting rods 523 of the arm main body 522 which are parallel with each other. In the accumulating apparatus 4, the continuous sheet 9 supplied from the upstream supplying part 2 is held in contact with the upper rollers 511 and the lower rollers 521 alternately from the (−Y) side toward the (+Y) direction, to repeatedly travel between the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 (i.e., to have multiple turns therebetween) and to be conveyed.
The distance changing mechanism 6 has an upper gear 61 fixed to an end of the arm main body 512 of the upper arm 51 and a lower gear 62 fixed to an end of the arm main body 522 of the lower arm 52. The upper gear 61 and the lower gear 62 are rotatably supported by the base part 11, and the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 can be swung up and down in the vertical direction (the Z direction) with respect to the upper gear 61 and the lower gear 62 (around the gears), respectively. The upper gear 61 and the lower gear 62 are engaged with each other, and in the present embodiment, the upper gear 61 and the lower gear 62 have the same shape (i.e., both have the same diameter, the same number of gear teeth and the like). Thus, when the lower arm 52 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise around the lower gear 62 by a predetermined angle, the upper arm 51 is rotated counterclockwise or clockwise around the upper gear 61 by the same angle. In other words, the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 are simultaneously moved by the same distance in opposite directions with respect to the vertical direction. With respect to each position in the Y direction, the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 are moved simultaneously by the same distance toward respective directions opposite to each other.
As above, in the distance changing mechanism 6 shown in
The distance changing mechanism 6 further has an air cylinder 63, and an end of a piston part 631 of the air cylinder 63 is rotatably attached, through a pin 641, to a portion of the arm main body 522 in the lower arm 52 which is positioned in the vicinity of the lower gear 62. Also a main body part (cylinder part) 632 of the air cylinder 63 is rotatably supported through a pin 642 by the base part 11. With the above structure, the air cylinder 63, which is an actuator, can perform an action to move the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 away from each other and an action to move the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 close to each other (i.e., it can perform an action to distance the arms from each other and an action to bring the arms close to each other). The actuator may be another fluid cylinder for moving a piston part by another kind of fluid (for example, oil) other than air.
In normal operation of the accumulating apparatus 4, in a state where the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 are close to each other in the Z direction as shown in
When the remaining amount of the continuous sheet 9 in the current wound roll 90 becomes low, the lower arm 52 is gradually moved downward (toward the (−Z) direction) by the air cylinder 63 as shown in
Subsequently, the supplying apparatus 2 of
In the supplying apparatus 2, an end of continuous sheet 9 in the other wound roll 90 (the right wound roll 90 in
In the accumulating apparatus 4, after completion of switching of the current wound roll 90, the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 reach positions in the normal operation shown in
The wound roll 90 cut by the cutting part 24 (i.e., the wound roll 90 where the remaining amount of the continuous sheet 9 is low) is replaced with a new wound roll 90 (shown by the double-dashed line in
Correspondingly, in the accumulating apparatus 4 shown in
In a state of the accumulating apparatus 4 where the continuous sheet 9 is removed from the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52, the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 are balanced at constant positions, and therefore the continuous sheet 9 can be further prevented from being overloaded by the weight of the lower arm 52. In addition, since the distance between the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 can be changed by a smaller force, the air cylinder 63 can be further downsized. Even if the continuous sheet 9 is removed from the accumulating apparatus 4 for maintenance, both arms can be positioned (stay) at desired positions.
In the accumulating apparatus 4a, the upper gear 61 and the lower gear 62 have the same shape, and the amount of torque exerted on the lower gear 62 by the weight of the lower arm 52 is larger than the amount of torque exerted on the upper gear 61 by the weight of the upper arm 51. Thus, in a state where the continuous sheet 9 has just been removed from the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 (i.e., in a period from the time when the continuous sheet 9 is removed to the time when movement of the arms is stopped), the lower arm 52 is moved downward (i.e., toward the (−Z) direction) with respect to the vertical direction and the upper arm 51 is moved upward.
In normal operation of the accumulating apparatus 4a, the continuous sheet 9 supplied from the upstream supplying apparatus 2 is continuously fed to the downstream manufacturing apparatus 3 in a state where the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 are close to each other as shown by double-dashed lines in
When a remaining amount of the continuous sheet 9 in the current wound roll 90 located left in
Subsequently, the supplying apparatus 2 stops supplying the continuous sheet 9 from the current wound roll 90. The manufacturing apparatus 3 keeps drawing the continuous sheet 9 accumulated between the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 in the accumulating apparatus 4a, and with this, a distance between the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 gradually decreases. As above, in the accumulating apparatus 4a, supply of the continuous sheet 9 from the upstream supplying apparatus 2 is stopped while the feeding speed of the continuous sheet 9 to the downstream manufacturing apparatus 3 is kept constant. In a period when the supplying apparatus 2 stops supplying the continuous sheet 9, current wound roll 90 from which continuous sheet 9 is drawn is switched to the right wound roll 90 in
After completion of switching of current wound roll 90, at almost the same time when the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 reach the positions in the normal operation shown by the chain double-dashed lines in
As described above, in the accumulating apparatus 4a shown in
Though the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been discussed above, the present invention is not limited to the above-discussed preferred embodiments, but allows various variations.
In the above first and second preferred embodiments, the supplying apparatus 2 does not necessarily stop supplying the continuous sheet 9 when switching the current wound roll 90. Switching of current wound roll 90 may be performed while a speed of conveying the continuous sheet 9 in the supplying apparatus 2 (the speed is a supplying speed.) is made lower than a speed in normal operation. In the accumulating apparatus 4, 4a, even if the supplying speed of the continuous sheet 9 from the supplying apparatus 2 becomes lower than that in normal operation, the feeding speed of the continuous sheet 9 can be kept constant (i.e., can be maintained at the same speed as the normal operation) by gradually bringing the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52, which are away from each other, close to each other.
In the accumulating apparatus 4, 4a shown in
As shown in
Furthermore, as shown in
As above, when one arm of the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 is moved with respect to the vertical direction, a motion transmitting mechanism simultaneously moves the other arm toward an opposite direction with respect to the vertical direction (i.e., synchronizes movement of the upper arm 51 with movement of the lower arm 52) by mechanically coupling the upper arm 51 with the lower arm 52, and such a motion transmitting mechanism may be implemented by combination of various mechanical elements such as gear, rack, link mechanism, chain, belt (the same applies to the accumulating apparatus 4a shown in
In the accumulating apparatus 4 of
In a certain design of the accumulating apparatus 4, 4a, an actuator may be implemented by a driving mechanism having a motor, a solenoid or the like.
It is only necessary that the number of rollers (upper rollers 511 or lower rollers 521) provided in each of the upper arm 51 and the lower arm 52 is two or more, and therefore the accumulating apparatus 4, 4a can accumulate a sufficient length of the continuous sheet 9.
The accumulating apparatus 4, 4a for accumulating continuous sheet supplied from an upstream apparatus while continuously feeding the continuous sheet to a downstream apparatus may be used for various applications treating continuous sheet (it may be formed of material other than nonwoven fabric), other than manufacturing of absorbent product with use of the continuous sheet 9 of nonwoven fabric.
The constituent elements of above-discussed preferred embodiments and modified examples may be appropriately combined with one another, as long as they are not mutually exclusive.
While the invention has been shown and described in detail, the foregoing description is in all aspects illustrative and not restrictive. It is therefore understood that numerous modifications and variations can be devised without departing from the scope of the invention. This application claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 119 of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-275875 filed in the Japan Patent Office on Dec. 10, 2010, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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