Claims
- 1. A machine for continuously cutting plural bias strips from an advancing tube of material, including:
- (a) a supply of tubular material,
- (b) a plurality of cutters for cutting the tubular material into a plurality of individual strips,
- (c) a rotatable mandrel for winding the cut strips of material into plural rolls,
- (d) at least two skewable, transversely spaced, rotatable cylinders for supporting the tubular material internally and advancing the tubular material axially from the supply to the cutters,
- (e) adjustment means for skewing the cylinders selectively relative to each other, to cause the tube of material to advance to the cutters at a selected rate of speed,
- (f) material tensioning means interposed between the supply of material and the skewable cylinders, said tension means being disposed internally of the advancing tube of material,
- (g) adjustment means associated with the tension means for imposing a selected tension on the advancing tube of material,
- (h) sensing means for monitoring the rate of advance of the tubular material to the cutters,
- (i) first control means responsive to the sensing means and automatically operative to adjust the skew angles of the cylinders, as required during machine operation, to maintain the rate of advance of the tubular material at the selected rate of speed, and
- (j) second control means responsive to the sensing means and automatically operative to adjust the tension means, as required during machine operation, to maintain the tube of material substantially wrinkle-free as it advances at the selected rate of speed.
- 2. The machine of claim 1, further including doffing means automatically operative to remove the plural rolls of material from the mandrel, after the rolls have reached a predetermined size.
- 3. A machine for continuously cutting bias strips from tubes of material, including:
- (a) a supply of tubular material,
- (b) cutting means for cutting the tubular material into at least one helically cut strip,
- (c) a rotatable mandrel for winding cut strips of material into rolls,
- (d) at least two skewable, transversely spaced, rotatable cylinders for supporting to tubular material internally and advancing the tubular material axially from the supply to the cutting means,
- (e) means for skewing the cylinders selectively relative to each other, to cause the tube of material to advance to the cutting means at a selected rate of speed,
- (f) material tensioning means interposed between the supply of material and the skewable cylinders, said tension means being disposed internally of the advancing tube of material,
- (g) means associated with the tension means for imposing a selected tension on the advancing tube of material and
- (h) adjustment means automatically operative during machine operation to monitor the advance of the tube of material and to adjust the skew of the cylinders and the tension imposed on the material, whereby the tube of material is advanced continuously in a substantially wrinkle-free condition at a uniform rate of feed.
- 4. A machine for continuously cutting bias strips from tubes of material, including:
- (a) a supply of tubular material,
- (b) cutting means for cutting the tubular material into at least one helically cut strip,
- (c) a rotatable mandrel for winding cut strips of material into rolls,
- (d) at least two skewable, transversely spaced, rotatable cylinders for supporting the tubular material internally and advancing the tubular material axially from the supply to the cutting means,
- (e) adjustment means for skewing the cylinders selectively relative to each other, to cause the tube of material to advance to the cutting means at a selected rate of speed,
- (f) sensing means for monitoring the rate of advance of the tubular material to the cutting means and
- (g) control means responsive to the sensing means and associated with the adjustment means, said control means being automatically operative to adjust the skew angles of the cylinders, as required during machine operation, to maintain the rate of advance of the tubular material at the selected rate of speed.
- 5. The machine of claim 4, further including means for maintaining the tube of material under selected tension as it advances to the cutting means, said tensioning means comprising:
- (a) a freely rotatable spreader interposed between the supply of material and the skewable cylinders, said spreader being disposed internally of the advancing tube of material,
- (b) a plurality of annularly spaced, articulated tension ribs mounted on the spreader for imposing a frictional drag on the advancing tube of material,
- (c) adjustment means associated with the ribs for varying selectively the frictional drag imposed on the material and
- (d) control means responsive to the sensing means and associated with the adjustment means, said control means being automatically operative to adjust the frictional drag imposed by the ribs, as required during machine operation, to maintain the advancing tube of material substantially wrinkle-free as it advances at the selected rate of speed.
- 6. The machine of claim 5, further including doffing means automatically operative to remove the rolls of material from the mandrel, after the rolls have reached a predetermined size.
- 7. A machine for continuously cutting bias strips from tubes of material, including:
- (a) a supply of tubular material,
- (b) cutting means for cutting the tubular material into at least one helically cut strip,
- (c) a rotatable mandrel for winding cut strips of material into rolls,
- (d) positive feeding means for advancing the tubular material from the supply to the cutting means,
- (e) material tensioning means interposed between the supply of material and the positive feeding means, said tension means being disposed internally of the advancing tube of material, and including means for imposing a frictional drag on the advancing tube of material,
- (f) adjustment means associated with the material tension means for varying selectively the frictional drag imposed on the material,
- (g) sensing means for monitoring the advance of the tubular material to the cutting means and
- (h) control means responsive to the sensing means and associated with the adjustment means, said control means being automatically operative to adjust the frictional drag imposed by the tension means on the material, as required during machine operation, to maintain the tube of material substantially wrinkle-free as it advances to the cutting means.
- 8. A machine for continuously cutting plural bias strips from an advancing tube of material, including:
- (a) a supply of tubular material,
- (b) a plurality of cutters for cutting the tubular material into a plurality of individual strips,
- (c) a plurality of skewable, transversely spaced, rotatable cylinders for supporting the tubular material internally and advancing the tubular material axially from the supply to the cutters,
- (d) a rotatable mandrel for winding the cut strips of material into plural rolls,
- (e) said mandrel being surface driven from one of the cylinders, whereby the cut strips are wound into rolls on the periphery of said cylinder, and
- (f) doffing means automatically operative to remove the plural rolls of material from the mandrel, after the rolls have reached a predetermined size.
- 9. The machine of claim 8, wherein the rotatable mandrel is pivotal for angular movement between a material winding position proximate the cylinders and a material removal position remote from the cylinders, said doffing means including:
- (a) means automatically operative for retracting the mandrel from the material winding position to the material removal position, after the rolls have reached a predetermined size, and for returning the empty mandrel to the material winding position following removal of the rolls, and
- (b) means automatically operative to discharge the rolls from the mandrel while the mandrel is in the material removal position.
- 10. A machine for continuously cutting bias strips from tubes of material, including:
- (a) a supply of tubular material,
- (b) cutting means for cutting the tubular material into at least one helically cut strip,
- (c) positive feeding means for advancing the tubular material from the supply to the cutting means,
- (d) a rotatable mandrel for winding cut strips of material into rolls,
- (e) said mandrel being movable between a first position proximate the machine for winding cut strips of material into rolls on the mandrel and a second position remote from the machine where the rolls are removed from the mandrel,
- (f) means automatically operative for moving the mandrel from the first position to the second position, after the rolls have reached a predetermined size, and for returning the mandrel to the first position following removal of the rolls from the mandrel, and
- (g) means automatically operative to remove the rolls from the mandrel while the mandrel is in the second position
- 11. The machine of claim 10, further including cutting means automatically operative to sever the cut strips forming the rolls from the tubular material, after the mandrel has been moved to the second position.
- 12. The machine of claim 11, further including suction means for retaining severed strips of material extending from the tubular material following severing of the rolls from the tubular material.
- 13. The machine of claim 12, further including means automatically operative to re-thread the empty mandrel with severed strips of material, during return of the mandrel to the first position.
- 14. The machine of claim 13, further including means for rotating the mandrel, following re-threading, as the mandrel returns to the first position, to wrap the severed strips of material around the mandrel.
- 15. The machine of claim 14, wherein the mandrel is provided with at least one re-threading slot for reception of cut strips of material, further including:
- (a) a stuffer blade for inserting cut strips of material into a mandrel slot,
- (b) means for rotationally orienting the rotatable mandrel to align a slot with the stuffer blade and
- (c) means for advancing the stuffer blade relative to the aligned slot to insert cut strips of material into the slot.
- 16. The machine of claim 10, further including:
- (a) cutting means automatically operative to sever the cut strips forming the rolls from the tubular material, after the mandrel has been moved to the second position and
- (b) a stuffer assembly disposed intermediate the first and second mandrel positions and incorporating
- (i) suction means for retaining taut severed strips of material extending from the tubular material following separation of the rolls from the tubular material and
- (ii) re-threading means for re-threading the empty mandrel with cut strips of material, during return of the mandrel to the first position.
- 17. A method for the continuous bias cutting of an elongated tube of material into a plurality of helically cut strips, and winding the cut strips into a plurality of separate rolls, comprising the steps:
- (a) providing a supply of material,
- (b) advancing the tubular material by positive feeding means from the supply to a plurality of individual cutting means at a uniform rate of feed,
- (c) opening the tubular material and applying a selected tension thereto as it advances from the supply, to maintain the advancing tube substantially wrinkle-free as it advances to the cutting means,
- (d) cutting the advancing tube of material into a plurality of strips, and forming the cut strips into a batch of separate rolls of material, and
- (e) continuously monitoring the advancing tube of material, and adjusting automatically its rate of advance and the tension applied thereto, as required during cutting of the material, whereby to advance continuously the tube of material to the cutting means in a substantially wrinkle-free condition at the uniform rate of feed.
- 18. The method of claim 17, utilizing a machine wherein the positive feeding means comprises a plurality of skewable rotatable cylinders, and wherein a rotatable spreader disposed internally of the tubular material opens and tensions the material, said spreader having a plurality of friction elements for imposing a selected frictional drag on the advancing tube of material, further including the steps:
- (a) setting the cylinders at selected skew angles relative to each other to advance the tube of material at a selected rate of feed,
- (b) selectively setting the frictional drag imposed by the friction elements on the material, whereby said tube is advanced in substantially wrinkle-free condition,
- (c) continuously monitoring the advancing tube of material by photoelectric sensing means and
- (d) adjusting automatically the skew angles of the cylinders and the frictional drag imposed by the friction elements, in response to signals generated by the photoelectric sensing means, to maintain the advancing tube of material in a substantially wrinkle-free conidition and at the uniform rate of feed.
- 19. The method of claim 18, further including the step of doffing automatically the batch of rolls of cut material after the rolls have reached a predetermined size.
- 20. The method of claim 19, further including alternately repeating the following:
- (a) cutting of the material into strips and forming the strips into a batch of rolls and
- (b) doffing each batch of rolls after they have reached the predetermined size.
- 21. The method of claim 17, utilizing a machine wherein the plural strips of cut material are formed into rolls on a retractable mandrel, further including the steps:
- (a) retracting the mandrel from the machine, with a batch of rolls of cut material disposed thereon, after the rolls have reached a predetermined size,
- (b) removing the rolls from the mandrel,
- (c) re-threading the empty mandrel with strips of cut fabric and
- (d) advancing the re-threaded mandrel to the machine, preparatory to forming a new batch of rolls of material on the mandrel.
- 22. The method of claim 17, further including the steps:
- (a) carrying out a machine cycle of material feeding, cutting and rolling into separate rolls of cut material of predetermined size,
- (b) then carrying out a doffing cycle of retracting the rolls of cut material to a discharge position and discharging the rolls and
- (c) alternately repeating said machine and doffing cycles.
- 23. The method of claim 22, further including the step of separating the rolls of cut material from the tubular material during each doffing cycle.
- 24. A method for the continuous bias cutting of an elongated tube of material into at least one helically cut strip, comprising the steps:
- (a) providing a supply of material,
- (b) advancing the tubular material by positive feeding means from the supply to a cutting means at a uniform rate of feed,
- (c) opening the tubular material and applying a selected frictional drag on the material as it advances from the supply, to maintain the advancing tube substantially wrinkle-free as it advances to the cutting means,
- (d) cutting the advancing tube of material into at least one helically cut strip, and forming the cut strips of material into rolls, and
- (e) continuously monitoring the advancing tube of material, and adjusting automatically its rate of advance and the frictional drag applied thereto, as required during cutting and rolling of the material, whereby to advance continuously the tube of material to the cutting means in a substantially wrinkle-free condition at the uniform rate of feed.
- 25. The machine of claim 10, further including counterbalancing means connected to the mandrel for minimizing tension variations on the cut strips of material due to the mandrel, as the cut strips are wound into rolls.
- 26. The machine of claim 25, wherein the counterbalancing means includes spring means connected to the mandrel and automatically operative to uniformize the effect of the weight of the mandrel on the cut strips, as the strips are formed into rolls of progressively increasing size.
- 27. The machine of claim 10, further including brake means connected to the mandrel and automatically operative to prevent the rolls from unwinding excessively as the mandrel is moved from the first position to the second position.
- 28. The machine of claim 10, further including material trimming means disposed proximate the cutting means and automatically operative to trim wastage from the advancing tubular material, and to remove the cut wastage from the machine.
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 644,569 filed Dec. 29, 1975, entitled "Machine for Continuous Bias Cutting of Tubular Fabric".
US Referenced Citations (15)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
644569 |
Dec 1975 |
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