Patent Application
20230158699
The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for forming lines of weakness in rolled products, and more specifically, relates to apparatuses and methods for adjusting and maintaining a position of a cutting surface used to create lines of weakness for rolled products.
Some articles and packages may include a strip of material that has a line of weakness having one or more perforations to aid in tearing the article or package. For example, articles may include wax paper, aluminum foil, disposable bags, and sanitary tissue products, such as toilet tissue, facial tissue, and paper towels manufactured in the form of a web. Sanitary tissue products include lines of weakness to permit tearing off discrete sheets, for example, as is well known in the art. Such products are commonly used in households, businesses, restaurants, shops, and the like.
A line of weakness may include a plurality of perforations extending across the width of the web. In some configurations, lines of weakness may be created in a substrate by advancing the substrate between two cutting surfaces. For example, some perforators may utilize a cutting surface in the form of a rotating blade that flexes against a relatively stationary blade or anvil during operation to cut perforations in the substrate. However, creating perforations in substrates having relatively long widths and advancing at relatively high speeds can present various challenges in cutting operations. For example, improper initial positioning and unintended movement of the stationary blade during cutting operations can lead to non-perforated areas and/or inconsistent quality in the perforation and/or additional wear on equipment. Thus, it may be important to have the ability to precisely place and hold cutting surfaces in relatively fixed positions in order to maintain a desired engagement between cutting surfaces during operation.
In an attempt to avoid the above described negative affects resulting from improper initial blade positioning and unintended blade movement during operation, perforators may be configured with an adjustment apparatus that allows a user to adjust the position of a stationary blade relative to a rotating cutting surface. For example, in some configurations, an adjustment apparatus may include an eccentric housing that supports the stationary blade. With such a configuration, the cutting surface of the stationary blade may be moved toward and away from an opposing cutting surface by rotating the eccentric housing. Rotation of the eccentric housing may be accomplished by moving a threaded rod against a tang on the eccentric housing. During the adjustment operation, the threaded rod may act against a spring providing an opposing force on an opposite side of the tang. Once the desired blade position is achieved, the rod can be locked into place. In turn, the spring force holds the tang against the rod to help maintain eccentric housing and blade in a fixed position. Thus, the adjustment mechanism may be configured to provide both functions of blade positioning and holding. However, combining the positioning and holding functions into a single apparatus can lead to problems. For example, precise movement of the blade can be relatively difficult, because movement of the blade requires an operator to overcome opposing forces configured for holding the blade in a fixed position. Conversely, when relatively high forces are applied to the stationary blade during cutting operations, the blade may unintentionally move because of cutting forces overcoming the spring forces.
Consequently, it would be beneficial to provide a method and apparatus for adjusting and holding the position of a stationary cutting surface wherein the functions of the blade position adjustment and holding are separated.
“Fibrous structure” as used herein means a structure that comprises one or more fibrous elements. In one example, a fibrous structure according to the present disclosure means an association of fibrous elements that together form a structure capable of performing a function. A nonlimiting example of a fibrous structure of the present disclosure is an absorbent paper product, which may be a sanitary tissue product such as a paper towel, bath tissue, or other rolled, absorbent paper product.
Non-limiting examples of processes for making fibrous structures include known wet-laid papermaking processes, air-laid papermaking processes, and wet, solution, and dry filament spinning processes, for example meltblowing and spunbonding spinning processes, that are typically referred to as nonwoven processes. Such processes may comprise the steps of preparing a fiber composition in the form of a suspension in a medium, either wet, more specifically aqueous medium, or dry, more specifically gaseous, i.e. with air as medium. The aqueous medium used for wet-laid processes is oftentimes referred to as fiber slurry. The fibrous suspension is then used to deposit a plurality of fibers onto a forming wire or belt such that an embryonic fibrous structure is formed, after which drying and/or bonding the fibers together results in a fibrous structure. Further processing the fibrous structure may be carried out such that a finished fibrous structure is formed. For example, in typical papermaking processes, the finished fibrous structure is the fibrous structure that is wound on the reel at the end of papermaking and may subsequently be converted into a finished product (e.g., a sanitary tissue product).
“Fibrous element” as used herein means an elongate particulate having a length greatly exceeding its average diameter, i.e. a length to average diameter ratio of at least about 10. A fibrous element may be a filament or a fiber. In one example, the fibrous element is a single fibrous element rather than a yarn comprising a plurality of fibrous elements.
The fibrous elements of the present disclosure may be spun from polymer melt compositions via suitable spinning operations, such as meltblowing and/or spunbonding and/or they may be obtained from natural sources such as vegetative sources, for example trees.
The fibrous elements of the present disclosure may be monocomponent and/or multicomponent. For example, the fibrous elements may comprise bicomponent fibers and/or filaments. The bicomponent fibers and/or filaments may be in any form, such as side-by-side, core and sheath, islands-in-the-sea and the like.
“Filament” as used herein means an elongate particulate as described above that exhibits a length of greater than or equal to 5.08 cm (2 in.) and/or greater than or equal to 7.62 cm (3 in.) and/or greater than or equal to 10.16 cm (4 in.) and/or greater than or equal to 15.24 cm (6 in.).
Filaments are typically considered continuous or substantially continuous in nature. Filaments are relatively longer than fibers. Non-limiting examples of filaments include meltblown and/or spunbond filaments. Non-limiting examples of polymers that may be spun into filaments include natural polymers, such as starch, starch derivatives, cellulose, such as rayon and/or lyocell, and cellulose derivatives, hemicellulose, hemicellulose derivatives, and synthetic polymers including, but not limited to polyvinyl alcohol, thermoplastic polymer, such as polyesters, nylons, polyolefins such as polypropylene filaments, polyethylene filaments, and biodegradable thermoplastic fibers such as polylactic acid filaments, polyhydroxyalkanoate filaments, polyesteramide filaments and polycaprolactone filaments.
“Fiber” as used herein means an elongate particulate as described above that exhibits a length of less than 5.08 cm (2 in.) and/or less than 3.81 cm (1.5 in.) and/or less than 2.54 cm (1 in.). A fiber may be elongate physical structure having an apparent length greatly exceeding its apparent diameter (i.e., a length to diameter ratio of at least about 10.) Fibers having a non-circular cross-section and/or tubular shape are common; the “diameter” in this case may be considered to be the diameter of a circle having a cross-sectional area equal to the cross-sectional area of the fiber.
Fibers are typically considered discontinuous in nature. Non-limiting examples of fibers include pulp fibers, such as wood pulp fibers, and synthetic staple fibers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, copolymers thereof, rayon, glass fibers and polyvinyl alcohol fibers.
Staple fibers may be produced by spinning a filament tow and then cutting the tow into segments of less than 5.08 cm (2 in.) thus producing fibers.
In one example of the present disclosure, a fiber may be a naturally occurring fiber, which means it is obtained from a naturally occurring source, such as a vegetative source, for example a tree and/or other plant. Such fibers are typically used in papermaking and are oftentimes referred to as papermaking fibers. Papermaking fibers useful in the present disclosure include cellulosic fibers commonly known as wood pulp fibers. Applicable wood pulps include chemical pulps, such as Kraft, sulfite, and sulfate pulps, as well as mechanical pulps including, for example, groundwood, thermomechanical pulp and chemically modified thermomechanical pulp. Chemical pulps, however, may be preferred since they impart a superior tactile sense of softness to fibrous structures made therefrom. Pulps derived from both deciduous trees (hereinafter, also referred to as “hardwood”) and coniferous trees (hereinafter, also referred to as “softwood”) may be utilized. The hardwood and softwood fibers may be blended, or alternatively, may be deposited in layers to provide a stratified web. Also applicable to the present disclosure are fibers derived from recycled paper, which may contain any or all of the above categories of fibers as well as other non-fibrous polymers such as fillers, softening agents, wet and dry strength agents, and adhesives used to facilitate the original papermaking.
In addition to the various wood pulp fibers, other cellulosic fibers such as cotton linters, rayon, lyocell, and bagasse fibers may be used in the fibrous structures of the present disclosure.
“Sanitary tissue product” as used herein means one or more finished fibrous structures, that is useful as a wiping implement for post-urinary and post-bowel movement cleaning (e.g., toilet tissue, also referred to as bath tissue, and wet wipes), for otorhinolaryngological discharges (e.g., facial tissue), and multi-functional absorbent and cleaning and drying uses (e.g., paper towels, shop towels). The sanitary tissue products may be embossed or not embossed and creped or uncreped.
In one example, sanitary tissue products rolled about a fibrous core of the present disclosure may have a basis weight between about 10 g/m2 to about 160 g/m2 or from about 20 g/m2 to about 150 g/m2 or from about 35 g/m2 to about 120 g/m2 or from about 55 to 100 g/m2, specifically reciting all 0.1 g/m2 increments within the recited ranges. In addition, the sanitary tissue products may have a basis weight between about 40 g/m2 to about 140 g/m2 and/or from about 50 g/m2 to about 120 g/m2 and/or from about 55 g/m2 to about 105 g/m2 and/or from about 60 to 100 g/m2, specifically reciting all 0.1 g/m2 increments within the recited ranges. Other basis weights for other materials, such as wrapping paper and aluminum foil, are also within the scope of the present disclosure.
“Basis Weight” as used herein is the weight per unit area of a sample reported in lbs/3000 ft2 or g/m 2. Basis weight may be measured by preparing one or more samples to create a total area (i.e., flat, in the material’s non-cylindrical form) of at least 100 in2 (accurate to +/- 0.1 in2) and weighing the sample(s) on a top loading calibrated balance with a resolution of 0.001 g or smaller. The balance is protected from air drafts and other disturbances using a draft shield. Weights are recorded when the readings on the balance become constant. The total weight (lbs or g) is calculated and the total area of the samples (ft2 or m2) is measured. The basis weight in units of lbs/3,000 ft2 is calculated by dividing the total weight (lbs) by the total area of the samples (ft2) and multiplying by 3000. The basis weight in units of g/m2 is calculated by dividing the total weight (g) by the total area of the samples (m2).
“Density” as used herein is calculated as the quotient of the Basis Weight expressed in grams per square meter divided by the Caliper expressed in microns. The resulting Density is expressed as grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm3 or g/cc). Sanitary tissue products of the present disclosure may have a density of greater than about 0.05 g/cm3 and/or greater than 0.06 g/cm3 and/or greater than 0.07 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.10 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.09 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.08 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.60 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.30 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.20 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.15 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.10 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.07 g/cm3 and/or less than 0.05 g/cm3 and/or from about 0.01 g/cm3 to about 0.20 g/cm3 and/or from about 0.02 g/cm3 to about 0.15 g/cm3 and/or from about 0.02 g/cm3 to about 0.10 g/cm3.
“Ply” as used herein means an individual, integral fibrous structure.
“Plies” as used herein means two or more individual, integral fibrous structures disposed in a substantially contiguous, face-to-face relationship with one another, forming a multi-ply fibrous structure and/or multi-ply sanitary tissue product. It is also contemplated that an individual, integral fibrous structure may effectively form a multi-ply fibrous structure, for example, by being folded on itself.
“Rolled product(s)” as used herein include plastics, fibrous structures, paper, sanitary tissue products, paperboard, polymeric materials, aluminum foils, and/or films that are in the form of a substrate, also referred to herein as a “web,” and may be wound about a core. For example, the sanitary tissue product may be convolutedly wound upon itself about a core or without a core to form a sanitary tissue product roll or may be in the form of discrete sheets, as is commonly known for toilet tissue and paper towels.
“Machine Direction,” MD, as used herein is the direction of manufacture for a perforated substrate. The machine direction may be the direction in which a substrate is advanced through a perforating apparatus that may comprise a rotating roll and support member, as discussed below in one embodiment. The machine direction may be the direction in which a substrate travels while advancing between a blade and an anvil of a perforating apparatus.
“Cross Machine Direction” or “Cross Direction,” CD as used herein is the direction substantially perpendicular to the machine direction. The cross machine direction or cross direction may be substantially perpendicular to the direction in which a substrate is fed through a cylinder and lower support in one embodiment. The cross machine direction or cross direction may be the direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which a substrate travels while advancing between a blade and an anvil.
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and apparatuses for forming lines of weakness in rolled products, and in particular, to apparatuses and methods for adjusting and maintaining a position of a cutting surface used to create lines of weakness for rolled products. As discussed below, a perforating apparatus may include a frame and a housing rotatably supported by the frame, wherein the housing is adapted to rotate about a first axis. A support member may be rotatably supported by the housing, wherein the support member is adapted to rotate about a second axis, and wherein the second axis is offset from the first axis. The support member includes a first cutting surface. A roll is positioned adjacent the support member, wherein the roll is adapted to rotate about a third axis. And the roll includes a second cutting surface adapted to intermittently contact the first cutting surface as the roll rotates about the third axis.
The perforating apparatus according to the present disclosure is configured such that the function of adjusting the position of the first cutting surface and the function of holding the first cutting surface in a fixed position are separate. As discussed in more detail below, the perforating apparatus may also include a holding device connected with the frame, wherein the holding device is selectively operable in a first configuration and a second configuration. In the first configuration, the housing is permitted to rotate about the first axis to selectively move the first cutting surface toward and away from the roll. In the second configuration, the housing is fixedly connected with the frame to maintain a fixed distance between the first cutting surface and the first axis and/or the third axis. As such, the position of the first blade may be adjusted when the holding device is in the first configuration. And the position of the first blade is maintained in a fixed position when the holding device is in the second configuration. Thus, with the holding device in the second configuration, a substrate may be advanced between the first cutting surface and the rotating roll. In turn, the advancing substrate is perforated to form a line of weakness.
It is to be appreciated that various process and equipment configurations may be used to perforate a substrate 100. For example,
With reference to
It is to be appreciated that the support member actuator 220 may be configured in various ways. For example, the support member actuator 220 may include a linear actuator comprising a rotary motor and a screw mechanism. The support member actuator 220 may also include a feedback device such as a rotary or linear encoder to transmit position data to a controller. It is to be appreciated that the support member actuator 220 may comprise various combinations of pneumatic, hydraulic, and/or electromechanical actuation means. In some arrangements, the support member actuator 220 may be configured to be manually operated, such as for example, a manually rotated jacking screw. In addition, as shown in
With continued reference to
As discussed above with reference to
With continued reference to
It is to be appreciated that the support member 212 may be configured in various ways. For example, the support member 212 may be formed from metal, such as steel or a steel alloy, or from some other material as would be known to those skilled in the art to be suitable as a structural support of perforating equipment. The support member 212 may be formed in a block shape, a cylindrical shape, or another shape to support a blade. The support member 212 and blade 234 may be placed in a fixed, non-moveable, non-rotatable position during contacting relationship with the anvil 236. As previously described, the support member 212 may be rotated about the second axis 218 to remove a particular blade 234 from service and fixed in a position so that a replacement blade 234 may be placed in contacting relationship with the anvil 236. As discussed above, a support member actuator 220 may be used to selectively rotate the support member 212 and fix the rotational position of the support member 212 about the second axis 218.
As shown in
It is to be appreciated that a support member 212 may include more than one blade configurations. In some configurations, such as shown in
It is to be appreciated that the roll 228 and anvil 236 may be configured in various ways. For example, the anvil 236 may be made from the same material or different material as the roll 228. The anvil 236 may be made from a material that provides sufficient rigidity and life, strength and wear resistance, such that the anvil 236 does not deflect or deflects minimally when engaging the blade 234 and can sustain relatively prolonged manufacturing run time. The anvil 236 may be made from metal such as steel, aluminum, or tungsten carbide. The anvil 236 may also be made from non-metal such as ceramic, carbon fiber, or hard plastic. It is also to be appreciated that the anvil 236 may be made from two or more different materials. In some configurations, the anvil 236 may extend in the cross direction CD along a straight line in the cross direction CD. In some configurations, the anvil 236 may include curved portions extending along the cross direction CD.
Although the first cutting surface 202 is described above in the form of a blade 234 and the second cutting surface 204 is described above in the form of an anvil 236, it is to be appreciated that the perforating apparatus may be configured various ways, such as disclosed for example, in U.S. Pat. Publication Nos. 2014/0366695; 2014/0366702; 2014/0370224; 2016/0271820; 2016/0271823; and 2016/0271824 and U.S. Provisional Pat. Application Nos. 62/556,628; 62/556,633; and 62/556,720, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. In some configurations, the first cutting surface 202 may be configured as an anvil 236 and the second cutting surface 204 may be configured as a blade 234. In some configurations, the first cutting surface 202 and the second cutting surface 204 may both be configured as blades 234. In some configurations, the blade 234 may be configured with a continuous distal surface and the anvil may configured with a plurality of anvil surfaces, also referred to herein as teeth, separated from each other by notches to define a discontinuous distal edge. The perforating apparatus may also be configured such that the blade 234 may oscillate in the cross direction CD during the perforation process. For example, the blade 234 may oscillate by moving a first direction, substantially parallel to the cross direction CD, by a predetermined amount and, subsequently, moving in a second direction, opposite the first direction by another predetermined amount. The blade 234 may oscillate by the same distance in both the first direction and the second direction, or the blade may oscillate by a different distance in the first direction and the second direction. The oscillation of the blade 234 may aid in reducing wear on the blade during processing and may allow for the blade to wear more uniformly than if the blade remained stationary. Examples of oscillating blades are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Publication Nos. 2016/0271820; 2016/0271823; and 2016/0271824.
As previously mentioned, the perforating apparatus 200 may be adapted to allow a user to selectively move the first cutting surface 202 to adjust engagement between the first cutting surface 202 and the second cutting surface 204. As shown in
It is to be appreciated that the perforating apparatus 200 may be configured in various ways to allow the housing 208 to be rotated about the first axis 210. For example, as shown in
As previously mentioned, the perforating apparatus 200 may be configured to separate the function of adjusting the position of the first cutting surface 202 from the function of holding the first cutting surface 202 in a fixed position. Thus, the perforating apparatus 200 may also be adapted to selectively hold the first cutting surface 202 in a fixed position after the first cutting surface 202 has been adjusted to a particular position. For example, as shown in
It is to be appreciated that the holding device 264 may be configured in various ways. For example, as shown in
In some configurations, the clamp 266 may be configured as a circular clamp adapted to prevent rotational movement, such as for example, a Rotoclamp available from HEMA Maschinenund Apparateschutz GmbH. In some configurations, the housing 208 may comprise a series of surfaces substantially perpendicular to the first axis, such as a disk surface. The clamping surface may actuate and move substantially perpendicular to the disk surface, similar to a disk brake. It is to be appreciated that various forms of clamping technology may be applied to clamp the housing. In some configurations, the clamping forces may be applied by pneumatic, hydraulic, and/or mechanical means, such as springs. The clamping forces may utilize friction forces between the housing and clamping surface to hold the housing in a fixed position. In some configurations, the housing and clamping surfaces may be adapted for mechanical engagement, such as ridges or gear teeth. In some configurations, the clamp may be connected with the housing and may be operated between a first and second configuration to selectively move the clamping surface to engage and disengage with a surface of the frame.
It should be appreciated that the apparatus may be configured such that the clamp may not directly interact with the housing. For example, as previously described, the housing may comprise a gear tooth surface wherein a pinon gear or gear tooth rack may interface with the gear tooth surface. In such a configuration, the clamping mechanism may be adapted to interact with the pinion gear or gear tooth rack instead of directly interacting with the housing. In yet another example, the clamp may interact with a portion of the actuator such as with a rod lock mechanism.
As discussed above and as illustrated in
With continued reference to
Referring now to
As discussed above and as schematically represented in
It is to be also be appreciated that the perforating apparatus 200 may be configured in various ways to adjust and maintain the position of the first cutting surface. For example, as shown in
It is also to be appreciated that the perforating apparatus 200 may be configured with housings, actuators, and holding devices as described herein that may be operatively connected with the roll 236 and frame 206 and adapted to selectively adjust the positions of second cutting surface 204 of the roll 236.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/729,441 filed on Sep. 11, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean “about 40 mm.”
Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or related patent or application and any patent application or patent to which this application claims priority or benefit thereof, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimed herein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggests or discloses any such invention. Further, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shall govern.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
This application is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, U.S. Pat. Application Serial No. 17/095,787, filed on Nov. 12, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. Application Serial No. 16/156,023, filed on Oct. 10, 2018, which is now granted U.S. Pat. No. 10,857,690, issued on Dec. 7, 2020, which claims the benefit, under 35 USC §119(e), of U.S. Provisional Pat. Application Serial No. 62/729,441, filed on Sep. 11, 2018, the entire disclosures of which are fully incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62729441 | Sep 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17095787 | Nov 2020 | US |
| Child | 18158672 | US | |
| Parent | 16156023 | Oct 2018 | US |
| Child | 17095787 | US |
