The invention relates generally to machines and methods for wrapping aluminum foil around a stiffly flexible material, and more specifically to a machine and method for simultaneously winding aluminum foil and a stiffening material to form a core around which aluminum foil may be wrapped.
Rolls of thin aluminum foil sold for domestic and commercial use are manufactured by winding aluminum foil web on preformed cylindrical cardboard cores. Roll winding machine rotate the cardboard cores to pull aluminum foil web from a larger supply until a desired quantity of foil is wound around the cardboard core. The cardboard cores are expensive to make, expensive to transport from the core manufacturer to the foil winding site and expensive to store at the foil winding site prior to winding of foil rolls.
It would be advantageous to provide a foil roll having a wound stiffener core that replaces known wound foil rolls having pre-formed cylindrical cardboard stiffener cores overcoming the above disadvantages. Further advantages would be realized by a machine and method enabling a web material for a stiffening core to be coextensively introduced with a leading end of the foil web and simultaneously formed into a spiral wound core around which a desired quantity of foil web can subsequently be wound. Still further advantages would be realized in a machine and method capable of simultaneously winding a sheet of stiffener material and a leading portion of a foil web without damage or deformation of the leading portion of the foil web.
The term “core” as subsequently used herein means a wound stiffener core formed in accordance with the present invention unless otherwise specified.
Accordingly, the present invention, in any of the embodiments described herein, may provide one or more of the following advantages:
The invention is an improved aluminum foil roll with a sheet core which is wound during winding of the roll and an apparatus and method for forming aluminum foil roll in which the roll core is wound from a flat core sheet simultaneously with winding the aluminum foil on the wound core. The aluminum foil is wound onto the core at high speed without creasing or deforming the highly malleable material. Creases and deformations in the foil are retained in the non-elastic foil and are unacceptable.
During winding of the roll, the lead end of the foil is preferably fed into the nip between the initial windings of the core sheet and the unwound remainder of the core sheet. Winding of the remainder of the core sheet in the coil captures the lead end of the foil in the core between windings of the sheet and frictionally holds the foil in the wound core without creasing or deforming the foil. The lead end of the foil may be fed into the winding mechanism prior to formation of the nip in the core sheet as long as the lead end of the foil lags the leading edge of the core sheet so that only the core sheet comes into contact with guide structures in the winding mechanism. Continued rotation of the core winds the remainder of the foil into the core without deformation.
The improved aluminum foil roll, with wound core, reduces the cost of the aluminum foil rolls by eliminating preformed cylindrical cardboard cores. Shipping of the core material, in the form of a wound roll of core sheet material, which may be Kraft paper, is reduced over the cost of shipping preformed cylindrical cores. Storage cost is reduced. There is no need to pre-manufacture a core or to store pre-manufactured cores prior to winding of foil rolls.
The apparatus for forming a wound core foil roll should also be durable in construction, simple and effective to use, and capable of producing wound core foil rolls at an economically high rate.
These and other objects are achieved by a foil roll having a wound stiffener core formed from an initially flat sheet of stiffener material fed into a spiral roll winder simultaneously with a feed end of a foil web. An apparatus and method for spirally winding a foil roll with a wound stiffener core in which a stiffener sheet is fed into a roll winder in adjacent outward contact with a foil web and a leading edge of the stiffener slightly ahead of a feed end of a foil web. The stiffener sheet is outwardly disposed from the foil web and in adjacent contact with the roll starter guides to prevent contact between guides and the foil web during initial core formation. Roll starter guides are moved from contact with the outer periphery of the roll once the initial core is formed allowing a desired length of foil web to be spirally wound around the core without damage to the web. The apparatus is configured to receive a continuous supply of foil and stiffener web material, cut each to predetermined lengths, and sequentially form wound core foil rolls at an economically high rate.
The advantages of this invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed disclosure of the invention, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Many of the fastening, connection, processes and other means and components utilized in this invention are widely known and used in the field of the invention described, and their exact nature or type is not necessary for an understanding and use of the invention by a person skilled in the art, and they will not therefore be discussed in significant detail. Also, any reference herein to the terms “upstream” or “downstream” are used as a matter of mere convenience, and are in reference to the normal feed path of foil web through the machine. Furthermore, the various components shown or described herein for any specific application of this invention can be varied or altered as anticipated by this invention and the practice of a specific application of any element may already be widely known or used in the art by persons skilled in the art and each will likewise not therefore be discussed in significant detail.
First referring to
As illustrated in
After initiating a winding 18, the lead or feed end 20 of aluminum foil sheet 22 is positioned over the trailing end 24 of sheet 16 on the side of the sheet facing winding 18. While it is preferable to feed the lead end 20 of the foil sheet into the nip formed by the sheet 16 having completed at least one turn to create winding 18 (as shown in
During winding of the lead end of the foil sheet into the core, the aluminum foil sheet is not exposed on the exterior surface of the roll and does not contact parts of the winding machine which rotate the core. In this way, the lead end of the aluminum foil sheet is protected from deformation by core sheet 16 as it is wound into the core.
After winding of the lead end of the foil sheet into the core and completion of coextensive winding of the stiffener sheet 16 into the core, the lead end of the foil is frictionally captured in the core and continued rotation of the core pulls the foil sheet toward the core and winds the foil sheet around the core without deformation of the delicate aluminum foil. The foil is tightly wound on the core, without deformation to form spiral aluminum foil body 14 with flat “book end” edges lying in planes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the roll.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The core sheet 16 is formed from flexible material which, when wound, has sufficient strength to protect the foil during winding of the core, and to support the large and relatively heavy roll of aluminum foil tightly wound on the core. The sheet has a sufficiently high coefficient of friction to hold the lead end of the foil in the core during winding of the foil body 14.
The collars 30 extend to either end of the aluminum foil body 14 protect the aluminum foil from deformation when the roll is placed in a storage box. The collars space the ends of the aluminum roll from the ends of the box. In aluminum foil roll 10, collar 30 may extend out from the ends of the wound foil a distance of 1/16 to ⅛ inches. The outer diameter of the collars may be 1 to 1½ inches. The coil sheet 16 may have a length of about 18 inches with the lead end of the foil sheet positioned at the center of the core sheet so that approximate equal lengths of core sheet are wound into the inner and outer core portions 34 and 36. The sheet 16 may be shorter to reduce cost or longer to provide improved support for aluminum foil body 14.
Roll 10 may have an outside diameter of 2 inches. The core may have a diameter of 1 inch to 1½ inches.
The upper run 76 of foil feed conveyor 78 extends along the feed path from foil cut off station 64 toward winder 68. Sheet stiffener and foil feed conveyor 80 includes an upwardly angled sheet stiffener feed run 82 which intersects feed path 62 at an acute angle downstream from the downstream end of upper run 76 of foil feed conveyor 78. Conveyor 80 also includes a stiffener sheet and foil feed run 84 on feed path 62 extending downstream from run 82 toward the winder 68. Stiffener cut off station 86 is located at the lower end of stiffener sheet feed run 82 away from feed path 62.
During operation of machine 60, aluminum foil 88 is fed continuously toward winder 68 at one or more pre-determined foil feed rates. Foil 88 extends from a foil roll between driven foil roll 90 and pinch roller 92 and around anvil roll 94 at cut off station 64. Station 64 includes a cutter roll 96 with a cutting blade 98 and a drive for continuously rotating the roll. A drive is actuated to move cutter roll 96 toward roll 94 at an appropriate time to sever the foil 88 at the top of roll 94.
Foil cut off station 64 is further illustrated in
The reduced pressure in passages 254 vacuum holds the web 88 to the roll 94 upstream from the cut slot 208 so that after cutting of the web, the newly formed upstream end is held on the roll during rotation of the roll and feeding of the lead end of the web onto foil transfer belts 100. The belts strip the lead end of the web from the roll and assist in moving the lead end of the web downstream along path 62 for capture by vacuum belts 112. The roll 94 pushes the foil end downstream. The 110 degree spacing of passages 254 around roll 94 assures that the foil is held on the roll and the lead end is fed onto belts 100 and belts 112 before vacuum holding of the web on the roll 94 is broken as the furthest upstream passage 254′ is rotated out of contact with the web. The slightly negative pressure at the circumferential ends of passages 254 is sufficient to hold the foil web on the roll and feed the lead end downstream along path 62 without deforming the foil, typically a few inches of water column. The passages 254 may be 3/16 inches in diameter.
Foil feed conveyor 78 includes two sets of feed belts. See FIGS. 15 and 27-30. Round foil transfer belts 100 are fitted in grooves 102 in roll 94 and grooves 104 in roll 106. The upper runs of belts 100 extend through grooves 108 in roll 110.
Flat apertured vacuum belts 112 extend around roll 110 and downstream along path 62 past roll 106 around small diameter roll 114 and around drive roll 116. A vacuum chamber 118 is located below the run of apertured belts 112 along path 62. The vacuum chamber 118 is connected to a vacuum source through a dump valve so that vacuum can be applied to the box to hold the lead end of a foil sheet against belts 112 during movement down path 62. Vacuum is dumped from chamber 118 after the lead end of the foil sheet has been wound into a roll core at winder 68. Foil feed conveyor 78 includes a number of spaced transfer fingers 120 spaced across path 62 between belts 100 and 112 and extending downstream past roll 114. Fingers 120 guide the lead end of a foil strip from belts 112 to the apertured vacuum belts 122 of conveyor 80, as described below.
Sheet stiffener and foil feed conveyor 80 includes a series of transversely spaced apertured flat vacuum belts 122 which extend around rolls 124 and 126 on path 62, roll 128 located below roll 126 and roll 130 located at the upstream end of run 82. A drive motor (not illustrated) moves belts 122 downstream along run 82 and then downstream along path 62 toward winder 68.
Vacuum chamber 132 is located under belts 122 between rolls 124 and 126. The chamber 132 is connected to a vacuum source and to a dump valve so that vacuum is supplied to the box for holding the lead end of a stiffener sheet fed along path 62 by belts 122. After the stiffener sheet has been wound into a coil by winder 68, the dump valve is actuated to increase the pressure in the chamber 132 to atmospheric pressure during feeding of the foil during winding of the roll.
Downstream extending foil transfer fingers 134 are provided on the top of chamber 132. The fingers extend between belts 122 past roll 126 and downstream to adjacent roll 136 in conveyor 74.
Vacuum transfer table 140 on the upper surface of chamber 138 supports core sheets 16 during movement on belts 122 along run to path 62. The table 140 extends between rolls 130 and 124. The vacuum chamber is connected to a vacuum source during feeding of core sheets to path 62. The box may be disconnected from the vacuum source after the stiffener core sheet has been fed to path 62 and during winding of foil into the roll.
Stiffener web cut off station 86 includes a fixed anvil 142 and a cutter blade on roll 146. A servo-actuated drive rotates roll 146 to cut core sheets 16 from web 152. Stiffener web pull roll 148 and idler roll 150 are located upstream from station 86. The pull roll is selectively rotated to feed sheet stiffener web 152 into machine 60.
Hold down wheels 154 are located above roll 130 to capture the free ends of sheet stiffener web fed into run 82. Web hold down fingers 156 and 158 extend along the upper surface of run 82 to prevent core sheets from lifting above run 82.
Round hold down belts 160 are wound around rolls 162 and 164 located above feed path 62 to either side of roll 124. See
Back guide fingers 184 are located above transfer fingers 134 and above feed path 62. See
Rolling head 68 extends across feed path 62 downstream from rolls 126 and 164. Rolling head 68 is illustrated in
Assembly 168 is mounted on a support (not illustrated) rotatably mounted to the frame of machine 60 for rotation of the assembly about the longitudinal axis 188 of roller 174. An extendable and contractible drive (not illustrated), such as a power cylinder, rotates the assembly up about axis 188 during winding of roll 182 and during release of the roll from the assembly.
The rolling head 68 also includes a number of front guide fingers 190 spaced across path 62 beneath assembly 168. A finger 190 is located between each adjacent pair of flat bottom belts 72. Belts 72 are shown in
A front guide fingers drive (not illustrated) is operable to extend the front guide fingers 190 to an elevated position between belts 72 as shown in
Rolling head 68 includes a pair of winding cone pivot arms 194 extending down from the frame of machine 60 with lower ends located to either end of the cylindrical roll winding recess 196. A non-driven rotary winding cone 198 extends inwardly from the end of each arm 194 into recess 196. The initial windings of the stiffener core sheet are wound around the surfaces of the cones. The cones stabilize the roll 182 in the winder during winding of the aluminum foil. The cones are slightly biased toward the roll to seat the cones in the wound stiffener core sheet. The cones rotate freely with the roll during winding. After winding has been completed and prior to discharge of a roll 182 from winder 68, arms 194 are moved outwardly from the roll to withdraw the winding cones from the ends of the stiffening core.
Belts 72 are moved downstream past rolling head 68 and to discharge location 66 at a speed greater than the speed at which core sheets and foil are fed to winder 68. High speed belts 72 accelerate tail roll up after the foil has been cut at station 64. High speed winding of the foil into the roll at winder 68 creates gap or separation 214 between the trailing end and lead ends of the foil 210, 212 formed when the foil is cut.
As the roll is wound and increases in diameter, winding assembly 168 is rotated upwardly about the axis 188 from the initial position shown in
After winding of the stiffening web core sheet into the roll core, with inter-winding of the lead end of the aluminum foil web, the speed at which aluminum foil is delivered to the winder and the winding speed may be increased during winding of the foil on the roll. The feed speed may be decreased immediately prior to discharge of the roll 182 from winder 68.
The roll is discharged from the winder 68 shortly before the full length of foil is wound into the roll. A trailing end or tail 210 of the foil extends upstream along feed path 62 from the roll. In this position, roller 172 has been elevated to a position where the lower surface of the roll is at the level of the lower surface of friction bars 70. Further upward rotation of assembly 168 releases the partially wound roll from the winder for downstream movement with belt 72. The top of the roll 182′ frictionally engages the lower surfaces of bars 70 so that the belt 72 rotates the roll in the direction of arrow 201 shown in
The operation of winding machine 60 will now be described with particular reference to
In
After initial winding of the core, with the inter-wound lead end of the foil captured in the core, the upward rotation of winding assembly 168 moves the roll 182 away from back guide fingers 184. The increased diameter of roll 182 moves the roll away from top guide fingers 178. Compare
In
Air jet manifold 209 extends across feed path 62 between rolls 94 and 110. Downward air jets from manifold 209 push the lead end of the web against belts 100 to assist feeding of the lead end of the foil to roll 110 and belts 112 over vacuum box 118 for vacuum capture of the foil on belts 112. See also
Between the positions of
In
In
In
After approximately one-half the length of the sheet 16 has been moved downstream onto path 62 from the intersection with run 82, the lead end 212 of the foil web is moved along path 62 on top of sheet 16 between belts 160 and 122. The foil web and the sheet are carried downstream together toward winding recess 196 without deforming the aluminum web. The aluminum web rests on the moving sheet and is carried downstream with the sheet. Both the foil and sheet are fed downstream at the same speed. Belts 160 run slightly above the foil and do not contact or deform the foil. The vacuum from chamber 132 holds the sheet 16 against belts 122 but does not engage the foil. The lead end 224 of the sheet is fed between fingers 134 and back guide fingers 184 as illustrated in
In
Continued downstream feeding of the stiffener core sheet 16 and aluminum foil web 88 will complete winding of the spiral core with the lead end of the foil spirally wound in the outer portion of the core. During winding of the core, the strong, resilient stiffening web sheet 16 engages fingers 190, roll 172, fingers 178 (see also
After all of the stiffening web sheet 16 has been wound into recess 196, continued operation of winding machine 60 winds aluminum web 88 onto the spiral core to form wound foil body 14. During this winding, belts 72 and rolls 172 and 174 rotate the growing foil roll as web is fed to and wound onto the roll. The belts and rolls contact the web at large surface areas under relatively low pressure and do not permanently deform the web.
During operation of winding machine 60, aluminum foil web may be fed along path 62 at a roll starting speed or a roll winding speed. These speeds may be adjusted to suit the foil web material being wound. Stiffening core sheet is fed into the machine at the roll starting speed only at a time when the foil web is being fed at the starting speed. The winding speed is equal to or greater than the starting speed. Foil web speeds may range between 400 and 1,000 feet per minute or more depending on the foil characteristics. The roll starting speed is generally at the low end of the speed range.
During winding of the aluminum foil body 14, the web is fed into machine 60 by feed pull roll 90 and is wound into the roll by winder 68 at the same speed. At this time, the vacuum boxes 118 and 132 are at atmospheric pressure and do not exert forces on the web as the web is rapidly wound onto the roll.
Winding of the aluminum web into the roll at recess 196 returns winding machine to the position of
During operation of winding machine 60, vacuum chamber 118 is maintained at a slight negative pressure sufficient to hold the foil web against the vacuum without deforming the foil during feed of the lead end of the foil along path 62 until the foil is wound into the roll at recess 196. At this time, the pressure in box 118 is dumped and increased to atmospheric pressure.
During feed of stiffener sheet 16 along run 82 the vacuum chamber 138 is maintained at a negative pressure sufficient to hold the sheet 16 on belts 122 without deforming the stiffener sheet. During feeding of segment 16 along path 62 past vacuum chamber 132, the pressure in chamber 132 is maintained at a slight negative pressure sufficient to hold the stiffener sheet against belts 122 without deforming the stiffener sheet.
The aluminum foil wound into roll 10 preferably has a thickness between 0.00043 inches and 0.001 inches.
The core sheets 16 are preferably formed from strengthened Kraft paper. This paper has a stiffness greater than Kraft paper of the type used for grocery bags. The Kraft paper may be from 0.008 inches to 0.010 inches thick.
The foil is wound into rolls at a tension of about 1 to 1.5 pounds for each inch of web width. A 12 inch wide web would be wound at a tension of 12 to 18 pounds.
It will be understood that changes in the details, materials, steps and arrangements of parts which have been described and illustrated to explain the nature of the invention will occur to and may be made by those skilled in the art upon a reading of this disclosure within the principles and scope of the invention. The foregoing description illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention; however, concepts, as based upon the description, may be employed in other embodiments without departing from the scope of the inventions.
This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application 61/219,846, filed Jun. 24, 2009.
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