Patent Application
20090212153
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a production process for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper, and in particular to an apparatus and a production process, for producing rolls of toilet paper and paper towels that enable removal of a piece of paper for use without needing to tear the paper prior to use.
A roll of disposable pieces of hygienic paper is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/271,891 of Alalu, the present invention inventor, et al., which is incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. Prior to the invention of the roll of disposable pieces of hygienic paper by Alalu et al., there was no machine or method which enabled production of such rolls.
There is a need for an apparatus and a production process for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper.
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a production process for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper, for use without needing to tear the paper prior to use.
An embodiment of the present invention is described herein below in which an apparatus enables feeding hygienic paper which comes in a large roll, performing partial and gradated lateral cuts, as will be described in the following specification, and afterwards rolling the hygienic paper onto an inner tube of a rigid material and performing longitudinal cuts, which will also be described in the following specification, to obtain separate rolls which embody the desired product in the form of rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper, enabling use without any prior need to tear the paper.
According to some embodiments of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper, the apparatus including: (a) a spiral blade cylinder having a spiral blade cylinder rotation axis; (b) a spiral blade having a spiral blade radius, wherein the spiral blade is disposed at the spiral blade cylinder; (c) a segmented blade cylinder having a segmented blade cylinder rotation axis; (d) a first segmented blade having a segmented blade radius, at least two bladed segments, and at least two blade lateral spaces, the first segmented blade is disposed at the segmented blade cylinder, wherein each one of the bladed segments has a width larger than each one of the blade lateral spaces' width dimension; and (e) a second segmented blade having a segmented blade radius, at least two bladed segments, and at least two blade lateral spaces, the second segmented blade is disposed at the segmented blade cylinder, wherein each one of the bladed segments has a width larger than each one of the blade lateral spaces' width dimension, wherein the segmented blade cylinder rotation axis, the first segmented blade, and the second segmented blade are laying on a common plane, wherein a bladed segment of the first segmented blade is facing a lateral space of the second segmented blade, and wherein the distance between the spiral blade cylinder rotation axis and the segmented blade cylinder rotation axis is substantially the sum of the spiral blade radius and the segmented blade radius.
According to still further features in the described embodiments the apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper further includes (f) an internal cylinder for carrying rolls of hygienic paper, wherein a roll of hygienic paper can be loaded on the internal cylinder for carrying rolls of hygienic paper; and (g) an internal cylinder for carrying an inner tube, wherein an inner tube can be loaded on the internal cylinder for carrying an inner tube, and wherein the hygienic paper can move from the roll of hygienic paper and to be rolled around the inner tube, to form a roll of hygienic paper, with perforated lateral lines rolled onto the inner tube.
According to still further features in the described embodiments the apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper further includes (h) a knife for lateral cutting enabling separation of the roll of hygienic paper (with perforated lateral lines) rolled onto an inner tube from the remaining hygienic paper.
According to still further features in the described embodiments the apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper further includes (i) at least one knife for longitudinal cutting, enabling separation of rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper from the roll of hygienic paper (with perforated lateral lines) rolled onto an inner tube.
According to some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a process for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper including the stages of: (a) providing hygienic paper with a surface and thickness, width, and length dimensions, for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper with predetermined width, and length dimensions of the pieces of hygienic paper; (b) cutting a first perforated lateral line on the hygienic paper, wherein the perforated lateral line includes at least two lateral perforations and at least one lateral space, wherein the lateral space is shorter than one of the lateral perforations; (c) cutting a second perforated lateral line on the hygienic paper, wherein the perforated lateral line includes at least two lateral perforations and at least one lateral space, wherein each of the lateral spaces of the second perforated lateral line is shorter than one of the lateral perforations of the second perforated lateral line, wherein each of the lateral spaces of the first perforated lateral line is facing one of the lateral perforations of the second perforated lateral line; (d) cutting additional perforated lateral lines, wherein there is a longitudinal distance between each of every two neighboring even-numbered perforated lateral line and between each of every two neighboring odd-numbered perforated lateral line, and wherein the longitudinal distance is determining the disposable pieces of hygienic paper length dimensions.
According to still further features in the described embodiments the process for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper further includes the stages of: (e) providing an inner tube; and (f) rolling the hygienic paper around the inner tube.
According to still further features in the described embodiments the process for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper further includes the stages of: (g) cutting longitudinal cuts along the hygienic paper and cutting the inner tube, wherein there is a lateral space between each of every two of the neighboring longitudinal cuts, and wherein the lateral space is determining the disposable pieces of hygienic paper width dimensions.
According to some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a roll of disposable pieces of hygienic paper from which disposable pieces of hygienic paper can be removed with one hand without any need for tearing or cutting the hygienic paper including: (a) an inner tube of a rigid material with a symmetry axis and external radius and height dimensions such that the section of the inner tube perpendicular to the symmetry axis is substantially round for the entire height; and (b) at least two disposable pieces of hygienic paper with a surface and thickness, and has a rectangular shape with width and length dimensions, and with two long edges and two short edges, deployed so as to synchronously rotate the roll of disposable pieces of hygienic paper when one of the disposable pieces of hygienic paper is removed, with the disposable pieces of hygienic paper packed onto the inner tube and onto themselves such that:
(i) each of the disposable pieces of hygienic paper has a cylindrical shape, with a spiral section around the symmetry axis of the inner tube;
(ii) all of the disposable pieces of hygienic paper are substantially packed to be fully overlapping in the width dimension of each piece; and
(iii) each of the disposable pieces of hygienic paper is substantially packed to be partially overlapping in its length dimension with regard to each adjacent disposable piece of hygienic paper that it is in contact with, wherein one of the short edges of each of the disposable pieces of hygienic paper is substantially in close proximity to the adjacent disposable pieces of hygienic paper.
According to still further features in the described embodiments the roll of disposable pieces of hygienic paper from which disposable pieces of hygienic paper can be removed with one hand without any need for tearing or cutting wherein at each one of the long edges of at least most of the disposable pieces of hygienic paper there is a perforated lateral line.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
a is a side view schematic illustration of an exemplary, illustrative embodiment of an apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper, according to the present invention.
b is a side view schematic illustration of an exemplary, illustrative embodiment of an apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper, containing hygienic paper, according to the present invention.
a is a top view schematic illustration of an exemplary, illustrative embodiment of hygienic paper with perforated lateral lines, according to the present invention.
b is a top view schematic illustration of an exemplary, illustrative embodiment of two neighboring perforated lateral lines, an even-numbered perforated lateral line and an odd-numbered perforated lateral line, according to the present invention.
The present invention is of an apparatus and a production process for producing rolls of toilet paper and paper towels that enable removal of a piece of paper for use without needing to tear the paper prior to use.
The principles and operation of an apparatus and a production process according to the present invention may be better understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The materials, dimensions, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and are not intended to be limiting.
The following list is a legend of the numbering of the application illustrations:
Referring now to the drawings,
Furthermore, apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper 100 includes blades, for cutting perforated lateral lines in the hygienic paper, which include one or more continuous spiral blades 13b, assembled to a spiral blade cylinder 13a, and, at a suitable distance for performing cutting, first segmented blade 14b and second segmented blade 14c, or any other suitable number of segmented blades, assembled to segmented blade cylinder 14a. When the spiral blade 13b rotates counter clockwise, as shown in the illustration, the segmented blades rotate clockwise, as shown in the illustration, and in suitable cases, when the distance between the rotational axis of the spiral blade cylinder 13c and the rotational axis of the segmented blade cylinder 14f is practically the sum of the spiral blade radius R1 and the segmented blade radius R3, an infinitesimal space is achieved, very close to contact in a single point, which is in constant motion, between the spiral blade 13b and one of the segments of one of the segmented blades. When hygienic paper is disposed between them, it will be cut according to the motion of this point, while the rotational speed of the spiral blade 13b is twice the rotational speed of first segmented blade 14b and second segmented blade 14c, or at a different rotational speed ratio according to the number of blades.
Segmented blade cylinder 14a has a segmented blade cylinder radius R2 which is the main factor determining the distance between the perforated lateral lines, and is designed according to the desired length dimension of each of the disposable pieces of hygienic paper (50a).
All of the cylinders shown in the illustration rotate synchronously by means of a suitable mechanic drive, excluding cylinder for leading hygienic paper 12, and the support cylinders 15, which can be without any drive other than the effect of the movement of the hygienic paper which is in contact with them.
Furthermore, the apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper 100 includes a device for performing full lateral cutting of the hygienic paper. This device can include knife for lateral cutting 18 which can move within grooved table 17, or any other suitable device.
In addition, the apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper 100 includes a device for performing cutting in inner tube (22) and in roll of hygienic paper rolled onto an inner tube 23 (with perforated lateral lines), namely for creating longitudinal cuts (33) in the hygienic paper. This device can include one knife for longitudinal cutting 19, or more, and it doesn't need to be in a specifically defined position with regard to the other aforementioned components.
b is a side view schematic illustration of an exemplary, illustrative embodiment of an apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper 100 containing hygienic paper according to the present invention.
A roll of hygienic paper 21, which serves as raw material, is fed into apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper 100, and its end is pulled through until it is connected to inner tube 22, which is made of a rigid material such as cardboard, which is also fed as a raw material into apparatus for producing rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper 100.
The hygienic paper is cut with perforated lateral lines at required spaces, and is gathered by rolling onto the inner tube 22, as a roll of hygienic paper rolled onto an inner tube 23. After the desired length of hygienic paper is gathered, the hygienic paper is cut in its entire width, and the inner tube 22, and the roll of hygienic paper rolled onto an inner tube 23, (with perforated lateral lines) are moved to a cutting device for creating longitudinal cuts (33).
The hygienic paper 30a is pulled from the roll of hygienic paper 21, and after passing through the first segmented blade 14b and second segmented blade 14c, it becomes hygienic paper with perforated lateral lines 30b.
Each segmented blade has bladed segments 14d, each of whose length dimensions is d3, and between the two a blade lateral space 14e, the lateral distance between two adjacent segmented blades d2. d1 and d4 can also be spaced at both ends of each segmented blade. The dimensions are designed such that d3>d2.
Blade lateral space 14e has depth enabling a certain predetermined blade lateral space base dimension d7 which can be zero or other than zero.
In the arrangement, as shown in the illustrations of the present application, including one first segmented blade 14b and one second segmented blade 14c, the blades are disposed at 180 degrees relative to each other, around a common rotational axis. They are laterally deviated with regard to each other so that each bladed segment 14d is facing a blade lateral space 14e.
This illustration clearly shows spiral blade 13b.
a is a top view schematic illustration of an exemplary, illustrative embodiment of hygienic paper with perforated lateral lines 30b, according to the present invention.
The hygienic paper with perforated lateral lines 30b, includes alternating odd-numbered perforated lateral lines 31 and even-numbered perforated lateral lines 32, while between each of every two neighboring even-numbered perforated lateral lines 32 and between each of every two neighboring odd-numbered perforated lateral lines 31, there is a longitudinal distance d5 whose size is, as noted, primarily determined according to the size of the segmented blade cylinder radius R2 of segmented blade cylinder 14a, while the size of blade lateral space base dimension d7, when other than zero, also has an effect.
b is a top view schematic illustration of an exemplary, illustrative embodiment of two neighboring perforated lateral lines, an even-numbered perforated lateral line 32 and an odd-numbered perforated lateral line 31, according to the present invention.
A lateral space 42, of odd-numbered perforated lateral line 31, is facing lateral perforation 41 of even-numbered perforated lateral line 32. The size of lateral space 42 is determined according to the size of d2 and the size of lateral perforation 41 is determined according to the size of d3.
It is possible to have an apparatus in which the amount of knives for longitudinal cutting 19 enables performing the cutting in a single action, or with a smaller amount of knives, necessitating more than one stroke to perform the cutting.
The knives for longitudinal cutting 19 can be shaped as rotating discs, as shown in the illustration, or in any other suitable shape. When the distance between every two knives for longitudinal cutting 19 is d6, the end product is rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper 24, whose width is d6.
Furthermore, the disposable piece of hygienic paper 50a carries two remnants of lateral perforation 50d.
While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations, modifications and other applications of the invention may be made.
