Patent Application
20050193879
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
In the production of paper, film, foil, laminate, plastic, vinyl, rubber, woven and non-woven material products, a continuous web of material is passed through an in-line apparatus to perforate, chip, punch, crease, stamp, cut or otherwise process the web material to form a product. The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for processing a web of material at high speeds and particularly to a web processing apparatus and method incorporating linear tools with rotary motion for web processing at high speeds.
Reciprocating linear web processing systems are well known in the industry. In such systems, a web of material is intermittently fed between a pair of linear or flat-type processing tools. The linear processing tools reciprocate vertically to perforate, chip, punch, crease, stamp, cut or otherwise process the web material. The advantage of linear web processing systems is that the linear processing tools contact the web at a flat angle allowing for precise processing. However, the web of material must be stopped before the linear processing tools engage the web material; otherwise, linear tools will tear or otherwise damage the web during production. This results in inaccurate processing of the web of material since the web cannot always be stopped at the appropriate point. The result is processed forms of incongruent sizes that must be re-processed to achieve consistent, accurate processing results. Therefore, with linear type tooling, the web is processed at low speeds with continuous stoppages for processing. This is a significant production disadvantage as productivity steeply declines with the aforementioned continuous stoppages and corresponding inaccuracy.
In order to improve the rate at which the web is processed, rotary type processing systems became well recognized in the industry. In rotary systems, the tools do not contact the web at a flat angle as in the linear type tooling process. Instead, the tools in rotary type processing systems are relatively circular in construction and rotate with the web supply shafts. The rotation of the tools are synchronized to permit continuous processing of the web as it moves through the system. In rotary type systems, it is imperative to have axis parallelism between the tools and to provide a constant spacing between the tools that is accurately aligned and maintained in order to effectuate the proper relationship between the rotary tools and the web supply shaft for accurate and repeatable formation of the same process on the web.
The main drawback with rotary type tooling is that the rotary tools do not contact the web at a flat angle. Instead, the rotary tools approach the web tangentially and do not interact at a flat angle when processing. This angular interaction of the rotary type tooling and the web material creates severe wear or “scrubbing” on the rotary tools and also can amount to a large waste expense if a web is damaged or improperly processed due to worn rotary tools.
The present invention provides a combination of the advantages of linear type processing with rotary type processing. The present invention allows for the processing of a web at high speeds with the precision of flat angle processing of linear tools in conjunction with the accuracy and high rate of motion associated with rotary type systems. The method and apparatus of the present invention allows for the speed of the web to travel at the same speed as linear processing tools such that the web need not be stopped for linear processing. The present invention has the advantage of variable repeat processing, which is the ability to accurately vary the size of forms being processed on a web using the same machine on the same web of material. Further, the linear processing tools used in the present invention have easily changeable plates such that the machine can switch from one type of processing to another quickly and easily.
The advantages of the present invention are realized by a web processing apparatus having a plurality of sets of rotary gears, the sets of rotary gears each comprising rotary gears horizontally spaced from one another and stacked vertically to engage one another for coordinated movement. The apparatus further includes a drive shaft coupled to a first set of rotary gears, that first set of rotary gears is functionally connected to the remaining sets of rotary gears such that the drive shaft effects motion to the plurality of sets of rotary gears.
A linear processing tool having an upper member and a lower member, with the upper and lower members each having a processing surface is utilized in the present invention. The processing surface of the upper member is adapted to engage the processing surface of the lower member at a flat angle to process a web of material.
Preferably, a plurality of brackets connect the linear processing tool to the remaining sets of rotary gears. Particularly, an upper pair of brackets engages the upper member of the linear processing tool and a lower pair of brackets engages the lower member of the linear processing tool. The upper and lower brackets are connected to a second and third set of rotary gears. When the drive shaft drives the rotary motion of the plurality of sets of rotary gears, the rotary motion effects movement of the first set of gears in a first direction, the second set of gears in a second, opposite direction, and the third set of gears in the same, first direction as the first set of gears. The movement of the first and second sets of rotary gears effects movement of the upper and lower members of the linear processing tools in opposite directions relative to one another. The processing surfaces of the upper and lower members of the linear processing tool engage to process a web when the lower linear processing tool is at its uppermost position and the upper linear processing tool is at its lowermost position. A web guide is utilized to maintain the web of material at a precise vertical position for processing.
With respect to the method of the present invention, a web is fed into a guide mechanism which guides the web through the processing system on a horizontal plane at a precise vertical position. The processing system operates such that a plurality of linear tools are bracketed to a series of gears such that the gears rotate and cause the linear tools to rotate therewith. As the gears rotate, the plurality of linear tools rotate relative to one another. The system is arranged such that the linear tools will engage one another at the point where the web is guided through the system when a top linear tool is at the bottom of its rotation while the bottom linear tool is at the top of its rotation. The linear tools are aligned so that this interaction occurs. Importantly, the rate of the web moving through the processing system is also the rate of the rotation of the linear processing tools. Therefore, the processing tools engage the web and processes the web with the same horizontal velocity as the web passing therethrough, ensuring a precise and accurate web processing, while maintaining production at a favorable rate.
It is submitted that the processing interaction of the present invention may be achieved with several different types of tooling, bracketing, gear and crank combinations.
The above mentioned advantages, features and objects of the present invention will be further evident from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings of the invention.
Various alternatives and embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.
Referring now to
The web processing apparatus 2 further comprises a plurality of sets of rotary gears 14, 16, 18 engaging one another for coordinated movement. A drive shaft 12 is coupled to a first set 14 of the plurality of sets of rotary gears. The first set of rotary gears 14, when coupled to the drive shaft, effects movement of the remaining sets of rotary gears, 16 and 18. A plurality of brackets 20, 22, 24, 26 connect the upper and lower linear processing tools 8, 10 to the remaining sets of rotary gears 16, 18.
When the drive shaft 12 drives movement of the first set of rotary gears 14, movement of the second set of gears 16 and the third set of gears 18 are effected. Movement of gear sets 16 and 18 results in movement of brackets 20, 22, 24, 26, which in turn, imparts a rotational processing movement on the upper linear processing tool 4 and the lower linear processing tool 6 while maintaining a horizontal orientation of the processing surfaces 8 and 10. This movement results in the processing surface 8 of the upper linear processing tool 4 engaging the processing surface 10 of the lower linear processing tool 6 at a flat angle and at a fixed vertical position within the horizontal plane.
The system 2 operates such that a web 28 moves at a constant horizontal velocity through the linear tools 4, 6. Driven cylindrical rollers (not shown) are upstream and downstream of the apparatus 2. The driven cylindrical rollers drive the web at a constant speed. The web of material 28 is fed into the apparatus 2 at a precise vertical position with the horizontal plane and at a set velocity. The drive shaft 12 drives movement of the linear processing tools 4, 6 such that when the linear processing tools 4, 6 engage to process the web 28, the horizontal velocity of the tools 4, 6 matches the horizontal velocity of the web 28. The web of material 28 thus travels in the same horizontal plane through which the linear processing tools 4, 6 travel.
The web processing apparatus 2 may further comprise a web guide member 30 to guide the web 28 when severed by the processing tools 4, 6 in certain types of processing. In a preferred embodiment, the web guide member 30 maintains the web 28 in a horizontal plane between the pair of linear processing tools 4, 6 and guides the leading edge of a severed web to downstream driven cylindrical rollers (not shown). As the web guide member 30 maintains the web 28 in the horizontal plane in between the pair of linear processing tools 4, 6, the guide member 30 operates to guide the web to a precise vertical position relative to the lower tool 6. Thus, when the processing surface 8 of the upper linear processing tool 4 engages the processing surface 10 of the lower linear processing tool at the fixed vertical position, that vertical position is precisely the same vertical position at which the web is traveling in between the pair of linear processing tools 4, 6. Further, when the linear processing tools 4, 6 engage the web at this precise vertical position, the horizontal velocity of the linear tools 4, 6 matches the horizontal velocity of the web of material 28. In this manner, the system 2 of the present invention processes a web of material 28 at a constant rate with precise processing.
The apparatus 2 of the present invention is capable of variable repeat processing, as well as fixed repeat processing. Variable repeat processing refers to the ability to consistently process forms of different lengths as the web of material 28. In fixed repeat processing, the lengths of forms are not varied.
To control movement of the apparatus 2, a drive motor (not shown) is connected to the drive shaft 12. The motor drives the linear tool 4, 6, via the plurality of rotary gears 14, 16, 18, such that the linear processing tools 4, 6 engage the web of material at a precise vertical position such that the horizontal velocity of the linear tools 4, 6 matches the horizontal velocity of the web of material 28. The drive motor may be any type of electrical or other motor as is well known in the art. Preferably, the drive motor is a servo motor capable of receiving a programmed servo profile.
The apparatus 2 of the present invention, if driven at a constant speed, will drive a constant, repeating movement of the linear processing tools 4, 6. To ensure that the horizontal velocity of the linear tools 4, 6 matches the horizontal velocity of the web of material 28, the speed of the drive motor will have a linear relationship to the speed of the web of material 28 when driven at a constant speed. As the web speed increases or decreases, the drive motor will increase or decrease the rotational speed of the plurality of rotary gears 14, 16, 18 in linear relationship to the speed of the web. In this manner, the speed of the web 28 and corresponding speed of the apparatus 2 determines the length of form to be processed. Therefore, when the apparatus 2 is operating as a fixed repeat device (i.e., the length of form is not varied), the machine is driven at a constant speed which corresponds to a certain length of form. Fixed repeat processing does not require the use of a servo motor, and any type of motor may be used with the apparatus 2 of the present invention to effect fixed repeat processing on a web of material 28. However, it is required that the linear processing tools 4, 6 always engage the web of material at a precise vertical position such that the horizontal velocity of the linear processing tools 4, 6 matches the horizontal velocity of the web of material 28.
A user may also desire to use the apparatus 2 of the present invention to produce a large amount of fixed length forms over an extended period of time, but may also desire to change the length of the forms being processed so that a different length of forms may be produced over an extended period of time. The apparatus 2 of the present invention may then incorporate a servo motor to control the plurality of rotary gears 14, 16, 18 such that the linear processing tools 4, 6 engage the web of material at a precise vertical position with the horizontal velocity of the linear tools 4, 6 matching the horizontal velocity of the web of material 28. The servo motor may be programmed such that when the linear processing tools 4, 6 disengage the web of material 28, the servo motor drives the linear processing tools 4, 6 at the speeds determinative of the length of form a user desires to be produced. Thus, as the disengagement speed is varied, the lengths of the forms are varied. In this manner, a user can program the apparatus 2 of the present invention, via a servo profile, to produce a constant length of forms for an extended period of time while allowing the user to set the desired length of forms to be produced.
The apparatus 2 of the present invention is also capable of effecting true variable repeat processing. In variable repeat processing, the length of the forms may be varied with each subsequent form being produced. Thus, the servo motor may be programmed to disengage the web of material 28 at different speeds determinative of the length of the form a user desires to be produced. As the disengagement speed is varied, the lengths of the forms are varied. The user may program the servo profile of the servo motor to produce consecutive forms of desired varying lengths. Programming of the servo profile indicates to the servo motor at which speed the linear processing tools 4, 6 move when disengaged from the web to produce the desired forms of varying sizes. It must be emphasized that regardless of the length of forms to be produced and the speed at which the linear processing tools 4, 6 move when disengaged, the linear processing tools 4, 6 always engage the web of material at a precise vertical position such that the horizontal velocity of the linear processing tools 4, 6 matches the horizontal velocity of the web of material 28.
The web processing apparatus 2 of the present invention may further comprise a debris clean-up collection bin 32 to collect debris accumulated during the processing of the web of material 28. This collection bin 32 may or may not be connected to the linear tools 4, 6. Additionally, the web processing apparatus 2 of the present invention may further comprise a tooling support 33 for supporting either the upper linear processing tool 4 or lower linear processing tool 6. In
The processing surfaces 8 and 10 of the upper and lower linear processing tools are interchangeable. Specifically, the interchangeable processing surface 8 and 10 can incorporate a variety of plates to effect different types of processing on the web 28. Particularly, the types of plates utilized may include perforating plates, creasing plates, punching plates, cutting plates, creasing plates, stamping plates, chipping plates, die cutting plates, embossing plates, or foil stamping plates, among others. It is contemplated that many other types of interchangeable processing plates are compatible with the present invention and are deemed within the scope of the present invention. Incorporation of the interchangeable processing plates 8 and 10 allows the apparatus 2 to vary the types of processing on a continuous web of material using the same machine.
Referring now to
Brackets 22 and 20 which are connected to the second pair of rotary gears 34 and 36 retain the upper tool 4 of the linear processing tool and brackets 26 and 24, which are connected to the third pair of rotary gears 38, 40, retain the lower tool 6 of the linear processing tool. Thus, the upper tool 4 and lower tool 6 rotate with the rotary gears 34, 36 and 38, 40, respectively, such that the processing surfaces 8 and 10 of the upper 4 and lower 6 linear processing tools engage to process a web of material 28 at a flat angle when the lower linear processing tool 6 is at its uppermost position and the upper linear processing tool 4 is at its lowermost position.
Referring now to
Still referring to
Referring now to
The embodiment of
The third dyad 66, 68 of the third set of gears 18 engages the first dyad 58/60 of the second set 16 of rotary gears, and the fourth dyad 70/72 of the third set of rotary gears 18 engages the second dyad 62/64 of the second set of rotary gears 16. Gear 54 of the first set of rotary gears 14 engages the first dyad 58/60 of the second set of rotary gears 16 and rotary gear 56 of the first set of rotary gears 14 engages the second dyad 62/64 of the second set of rotary gears 16 such that the first sets of rotary gears 14 impart movement on the second set of rotary gears 16 in an opposite direction as the movement of the first set of rotary gears 14, and, in turn, the second set of rotary gears 16 impart movement in the relative opposite direction on the third set of rotary gears 18. Thus, the first set of rotary gears 14 moves in the same direction as the third set of gears 18 while the second set of gears 16 moves in an opposite direction of the first 14 and third 18 sets of rotary gears.
Still referring to
Brackets 20, 22, 24, 26 are connected to cranks 42. Each crank 42 is connected to a hub 46 of a respective rotary gear 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72 such that each bracket 20, 22, 24, 26 is connected to a pair of cranks 42, and said pair of cranks are connected to a respective dyad of gears to effect movement on the upper 4 and lower 6 processing tools. The cranks 42 allow for separation of the sets of rotary gears 14, 16, 18 from the processing environment through partitions 50 and 52. Partitions 50 and 52 allow the plurality of rotary gears 14, 16, 18 to be contained in a separate environment to avoid debris contamination from the processing of the web 28. The cranks 42 span the width of the partition to enable the required movement of the apparatus 2 while allowing the rotary gears to be isolated from the working environment.
Referring now to
A plurality of brackets 20, 22, 24 and 26 connect the upper and lower linear processing tools to the remaining sets of rotary gears 16 and 18 via rectification gears 27. Rectification gears 27 operate to maintain the flat position of the upper and lower linear processing tools 4, 6, when the tools engage the web of material 28. Thus, bracket 20 attaches to the upper linear processing tool 4 and to the face of rotary gear 36. Bracket 22 is likewise attached to rotary gear 34. Bracket 24 is attached to the lower processing tool 6 and to the face surface of rotary gear 40, and bracket 26 is likewise attached to the face of rotary gear 38. The second set of rotary gears 16 is located vertically adjacent to both the upper set of rotary gears 14 and the lower set of rotary gears 18 and engage the first set 14 and the third set 18 for coordinated movement.
Still referring to
When the drive shaft 12 drives the rotary motion of the plurality of sets of rotary gears 14, 16, 18, the rotary motion effects movement of the first set of gears 14 in a first direction. The movement of the first set of rotary gears 14 in the first direction effects movement of the second set of rotary gears 16 in the opposite direction. The movement of the second set of rotary gears 16 effects movement of the third set of rotary gears in the first direction that the first set of rotary gears 14 are traveling, which is opposite from the direction in which the second set of rotary gears 16 are moving. The movement of the second set of rotary gears 16 further effects movement of the upper member 4 of the linear processing tool in the second, opposite direction from the movement of the first rotary gear 14.
The movement of the third set of rotary gears 18 effects movement of the lower member 6 of the linear processing tool in the first direction that the first set of rotary gears 14 are moving such that the upper 4 and lower 6 members of the linear processing tool are moving in opposite directions but at the same rate as the web of material 28 is moving in between the processing surfaces 8, 10 of the respective members of the linear processing tool. Such effective movement allows the upper member 4 to engage the lower member 6 at the respective processing surfaces 8, 10 to effect processing on a web of material 28. The interaction of the upper member 4 and the lower member 6 takes place at a flat angle such that the processing of the web material 28 is precisely accomplished while operating at a high speed.
Referring now to
The articulation member 82 may comprise a cam and roller mechanism as demonstrated in
The method for high speed web processing of the present invention includes the steps of bracketing a pair of linear processing tools to a plurality of rotary gears such that the linear processing tools rotate with the rotary gears. The pair of linear processing tools comprise an upper linear processing tool and a lower linear processing tool. The method further comprises connecting the first set of rotary gears to a first set of brackets and connecting the second set of rotary gears to a second set of brackets. The upper linear processing tool is connected to the first set of brackets and the lower linear processing tool is connected to the second set of brackets.
The linear processing tools are aligned such that the upper and lower linear processing tools engage one another at a flat angle when the lower linear processing tool is at its uppermost position and the upper linear processing tool is at its lowermost position. This is accomplished when a first set of rotary gears are rotated in a first direction and a second set of rotary gears are rotated in a second direction, with the aforementioned plurality of rotating gears comprising the first and second sets of rotary gears.
The method of the present invention further comprises guiding a web of material at a precise vertical position in a horizontal plane between the upper and lower linear processing tools at a constant velocity, and processing a web of material when the upper and lower processing tools engage one another at a flat angle at the precise vertical position at which the web of material is guided. The processing step further includes engaging the web of material with the linear processing tools such that the horizontal velocity of the linear processing tools matches the horizontal velocity of the web of material. The step of guiding the web of material may further comprise: guiding the web of material when the web is severed by linear processing tools, wherein the web of material is guided in a horizontal plane between a pair of linear processing tools, engaging the web of material with the linear processing tools to sever the web of material, and guiding the leading edge of the severed web to downstream driven cylindrical rollers.
The method of the present invention includes many different types of processing. Therefore, the step of processing the web of material may comprise the steps of: perforating the web of material, creasing the web of material, punching the web of material, creasing the web of material, stamping the web of material, cutting the web of material, chipping the web of material, die cutting the web of material, embossing the web of material, foil stamping the web of material, or various other types of processing.
Some particular types of web processing require an increased processing pressure. Die cutting and foil stamping are examples of two types of processing which require high pressure. In order to provide such high pressure to the method of the present invention, a step of supporting the upper and/or lower linear processing tools with a support member is incorporated as a feature of the present invention. The incorporation of the supporting step allows for the processing step to process a web of material at an increased processing pressure.
The processing step of the method of the present invention may further comprise varying the rotational speed of the drive shaft to process the web in forms of different lengths from the same web of material. The step of varying the speed of the drive shaft includes connecting a servo motor to a drive shaft, the drive shaft driving the linear tools, programming a servo profile to control the servo motor at different speeds to produce forms of a certain length, driving the linear processing tools via the servo profile programmed for forms of a certain length, engaging the web of material with the linear processing tools such that the horizontal velocity of the linear processing tools matches the horizontal velocity of the web of material, disengaging the web of material, and driving the linear processing tools via the next programmed servo profile to process the web in forms of various sizes.
The processing step of the method of the present invention may further comprise fixing a rotational speed ratio of the drive shaft to the speed of the web to process the web of material in forms of a constant length from the same web of material. The step of fixing the rotational speed ratio of the drive shaft to the speed of the web includes connecting a motor to a drive shaft, the drive shaft driving the linear processing tools at a speed corresponding to the movement of the web of material through the linear processing tools, such that the horizontal velocity of the linear processing tools matches the horizontal velocity of the web of material, engaging the web of material with the linear processing tools and disengaging the web of material to process the web of material into forms of a constant length. The motor driving the drive shaft may be a servo motor or a conventional electric motor or any other motor as is well known in the art.
The processing step of the method of the present invention may further comprise varying the rotational speed of the drive shaft to process the web of material in forms of a constant length over a set period of time and subsequently varying the rotational speed of the drive shaft with a different velocity profile to process the web of material in forms of a second constant length for a given period of time. The step of varying the speed of the drive shaft includes connecting a servo motor to the drive shaft, the drive shaft driving the linear processing tools, programming a servo profile to control the servo motor, driving the linear processing tools via the servo profile for a certain length, engaging the web of material with the linear processing tools such that the horizontal velocity of the linear processing tools matches the horizontal velocity of the web of material, disengaging the web of material, and repeating this process over a set period of time to process the web in forms of a constant size for a set period of time. Processing a different form length would be achieved in the aforementioned manner of the method of the present invention, except that the servo profile would be programmed with different velocities corresponding to the different desired form lengths.
Finally, the method of the present invention may include the step of collecting debris from the processing step in a debris collection container.
It should be apparent from the scope in the art that the present invention as described contains several features, and that variations of the embodiments disclosed herein may be made which embody only some of the features disclosed herein. For example, many different types of interchangeable tooling may be used with the present invention to effect the variable processing advantage of the present invention. Also, the type of motor used to drive the apparatus may be varied. Further, numerous different types of gear, bracket and linear tool interactions may be assembled to achieve the processing of a web at a flat angle with a high rate of processing.
Various other combinations and modifications or alternatives may also be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such various alternatives and other embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention.
The present invention is entitled to the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/550,265, filed Mar. 5, 2004.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60550265 | Mar 2004 | US |
