Patent Application
20250188678
Paper products often require paperboard to have a specific moisture content during forming. Water moisture in paperboard greatly affects its formability and the success of converting paperboard into good quality structures, particularly for deep containers. Optimum moisture content is different depending on the shapes of the paper products being produced. Lack of control or effort in ensuring optimum moisture content often results in paper products being formed with suboptimal moisture content, which introduces imperfections such as cracks, delamination, wrinkles, warping, and the like.
The background discussion is intended to provide information related to the present invention which is not necessarily prior art.
The present invention solves the above-described problems and other problems by providing a paperboard moisturizing system that moisturizes a supply of paperboard material independently (i.e., offline) from a product forming system. The offline paperboard moisturizing system provides complete moisturizing control, thus improving product quality.
An embodiment is an offline paperboard moisturizing system broadly comprising a supply roll carrier configured to dispense paperboard material, a water spreader configured to deliver water evenly to the paperboard material, a water supply configured to meter the water to the water spreader, a rewind roll carrier configured to take up the paperboard material, and a control system comprising a controller. The controller is configured to instruct the supply roll carrier to advance the paperboard material according to a feed rate and instruct the water supply to meter the water to the paperboard material via the water spreader according to a desired moisture level so that the paperboard material has a desired moisture content as the rewind roll carrier takes up the paperboard material.
Another embodiment is a method of moisturizing paperboard material. The method comprises steps of dispensing paperboard material from a supply roll carrier, metering water to a water spreader via a pump of a water supply, delivering the water from the water spreader evenly to the paperboard material so the paperboard material is evenly moisturized, and taking up the paperboard material via a rewind roll carrier. The method further comprises steps of instructing, via a controller, a motor of the supply roll carrier to advance the paperboard material according to a feed rate, and instructing, via the controller, the pump to meter the water according to a desired moisture level so that the paperboard material has a desired moisture content as the rewind roll carrier takes up the paperboard material.
Yet another embodiment is an offline paperboard moisturizing system broadly comprising a supply roll carrier configured to dispense paperboard material, a water spreader configured to deliver water evenly to the paperboard material, a water supply configured to meter the water to the water spreader according to a desired moisture level, a rewind roll carrier configured to take up the moisturized paperboard material, a moisture reader configured to detect a moisture content of the paperboard material after the paperboard material has been moisturized via the water spreader, and a control system.
The supply roll carrier includes a motor configured to advance the paperboard material according to a feed rate. The water supply comprises a valve fluidly connected to a water source, a tank fluidly connected to the valve, a tank switch configured to activate the valve according to an amount of water in the tank, and a pump fluidly connected to the tank. The rewind roll carrier includes a motor configured to be synchronized with the motor of the supply roll carrier. The control system includes an HMI configured to receive user commands including a desired moisture level, the feed rate, a paperboard material thickness, and a paperboard material width, and a controller.
The controller is configured to instruct the supply roll carrier to advance the paperboard material according to the feed rate, instruct the water supply to meter the water to the paperboard material via the water spreader according to the desired moisture level so that the paperboard material has a desired moisture content as the rewind roll carrier takes up the moisturized paperboard material, automatically set the feed rate according to forming quality of previously formed products and the user inputs, and adjust at least one of the feed rate and a flow rate of the water supply based on the moisture content as detected by the moisture reader.
Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention.
Turning to
The supply roll carrier 102 may be an antifriction supply roll carrier and may be schematically positioned before the first idler roller 104. The supply roll carrier 102 may actively (via supply roll carrier motor 118) or passively dispense paperboard material 200 from a supply roll 202. The supply roll carrier 102 is depicted such that the supply roll 202 rotates counter-clockwise with the paperboard material 200 departing the supply roll 202 from near a bottom of the supply roll 202. Alternatively, the supply roll 202 may rotate clockwise with the paperboard material 200 departing the supply roll 202 from near a top of the supply roll 202.
The first idler roller 104 may be schematically positioned between the supply roll carrier 102 and the second idler roller 112 to guide the paperboard material 200 past the water spreader 108. To that end, the first idler roller 104 may rotate clockwise with the paperboard material 200 passing over the first idler roller 104. The first idler roller 104 may be an active pull roller with a cooperating pinch roller.
The water supply 106 may provide water to the water spreader 108 and may include a valve 122, a tank 124, and a pump 126. The water supply 106 may be fluidly connected to an external water source such as a city water system. Alternatively, the water supply 106 may be an isolated water system that is periodically restocked with water.
The valve 122 may be fluidly connected to and upstream from the tank 124 and connected to the external water source or a water return line. The valve 122 may be a ball valve, butterfly valve, or the like. The valve 122 may be activated via a tank switch of the control system 116 (described below).
The tank 124 may be fluidly connected between the valve 122 and the pump 126 for temporarily storing water to be provided to the water spreader 108. To that end, the tank 124 may have the tank switch of the control system 116 mounted thereon or therein.
The pump 126 may be fluidly connected between the tank 124 and the water spreader 108 for delivering water from the tank 124 to the water spreader 108. The pump 126 may be remotely controlled to meter water when the supply roll carrier 102 and the rewind roll carrier 114 are advancing the paperboard material 200. An exemplary pump is a remote-adjustment high-accuracy metering electric pump, model number 42855K85 sold by McMaster-Carr®.
The water spreader 108 may be positioned above and between the first idler roller 104 and the second idler roller 112 for dispersing water from the water supply 106 onto the paperboard material 200. More specifically, the water spreader 108 may include a chamber and a constricted exit to gravity feed water uniformly across a width of the paperboard material 200 between the first idler roller 104 and the second idler roller 112. In one embodiment, the water spreader 108 is a Valmet IQ Converting Moisturizer that implements compact micro droplet moisturizing.
The drip pan 110 may be positioned below the water spreader 108 for collecting excess or unused water that is not absorbed by the paperboard material 200. The drip pan 110 may not be necessary if the water delivered from the water spreader 108 is entirely absorbed by the paperboard material 200.
The second idler roller 112 may be schematically positioned after the first idler roller 104. To that end, the second idler roller 112 may rotate clockwise with the paperboard material 200 passing over the second idler roller 112. The second idler roller 112 may be approximately horizontally level with the first idler roller 104. The second idler roller 112 may not be necessary in some embodiments.
The rewind roll carrier 114 may be an antifriction roll carrier and may be schematically positioned after the second idler roller 112. The rewind roll carrier 114 may actively (via rewind roll carrier motor 120) or passively take up moisturized paperboard material 200 to form a rewound roll 222. The rewind roll carrier 114 is depicted such that the rewound roll 222 rotates counter-clockwise with the paperboard material 200 wrapping onto the rewound roll 222 near a bottom of the rewound roll 222. Alternatively, the rewound roll 222 may rotate clockwise with the paperboard material 200 winding onto the rewound roll 222 near a top of the rewound roll 222.
Turning to
The controller 128 may include processors, microprocessors (single-core and multi-core), microcontrollers, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), analog and/or digital application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic controllers (PLCs), or the like, or combinations thereof. The controller 128 may generally execute, process, or run instructions, code, code segments, software, firmware, programs, applications, apps, processes, services, daemons, or the like. The controller 128 may also include hardware components such as finite-state machines, sequential and combinational logic, and other electronic circuits that can perform the functions necessary for the operation of the current invention. The controller 128 may be in communication with the other electronic components described herein through serial or parallel links that include address buses, data buses, control lines, and the like.
For example, the controller 128 may be in communication with the moisture reader 130, roll diameter reader 132, tank switch 134, and HMI 136 and/or other components or sensors. The controller 128 may be in communication with the above components via a communication element and/or direct wiring. The controller 128 may be configured to send and/or receive data to and/or from the above components.
The moisture reader 130 may be a contact or non-contact moisture sensor, such as a near infrared (NIR) non-contact moisture sensor and may be configured to detect a moisture content of the paperboard material 200 after the paperboard material 200 has been moisturized by the water spreader 108. To that end, the moisture reader 130 may be schematically positioned after the water spreader 108 near the paperboard material 200. The moisture reader 130 may sense an absolute amount of moisture, a relative amount of moisture, a moisture percentage, a dryness, or other similar moisture content.
The roll diameter reader 132 may be a contact or non-contact roll diameter reader and may be configured to sense an amount of paperboard material 200 on the supply roll 202. For example, the roll diameter reader 132 may sense a diametric thickness of the supply roll 202, a rotation rate of the supply roll 202, a distance of the paperboard material 200 on the supply roll 202 from the roll diameter reader 132, or other similar measurement.
The tank switch 134 may be communicatively connected to the valve 122, the tank 124, and the controller 128 and configured to activate the valve 122 according to a water level in the tank 124. For example, the tank switch 134 may be a level switch configured to open the valve 122 when the water level drops to a predetermined threshold and close the valve 122 when the water level rises to a predetermined threshold.
The HMI 136 may be communicatively connected to the controller 128 and may include physical or virtual inputs (via a display) for allowing a user to input parameters, commands, option selections, and the like. For example, the HMI 136 may allow the user to input paperboard material thickness and width, and a desired moisture level (e.g., desired moisture percentage). For clarity, “desired moisture level” refers to an input or value, whereas “desired moisture content” refers to a characteristic of paperboard material. For example, a desired moisture level may be entered into the HMI 136 such that the paperboard moisturizing system 100 moisturizes the paperboard material 200 so that the moisture content of the paperboard material 200 reaches a desired moisture content corresponding to the entered desired moisture level.
Turning to
The paperboard forming machine 204 may be similar to or identical to any of the systems described in “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PRODUCING PRESSWARE”, Ser. No. 17/369,406, filed on Jul. 7, 2021; “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PRODUCING PRESSWARE”, Ser. No. 17/369,365, filed on Jul. 7, 2021; and/or “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PRODUCING PRESSWARE”, Ser. No. 17/369,380, filed on Jul. 7, 2021; all of which are hereby incorporated in their entireties by reference herein.
The scoring station 206 may receive the paperboard material 200 from the roll wound by the rewind roll carrier 114 after the system 100 has finished moisturizing the paperboard material 200 and may score the paperboard material 200 in preparation of forming the products 12. The scoring station 206 may include a scoring tool 216 configured to be pressed against the paperboard material 200 to score shapes into the paperboard material 200. To that end, the scoring tool 216 may include one or more tool sections (e.g., a top tool section and a bottom tool section), at least one of which being actuatable toward the paperboard material 200.
The forming station 208 is operationally downstream of the scoring station 206 and may be configured to punch out the scored shapes and form the products. The forming station 208 may comprise a forming tool 218 including one or more molds (e.g., positive and negative molds, male and female molds), one or more heating elements, and the like for shaping the punched-out paperboard material into the desired products.
The picking station 210 may be operationally downstream of the forming station 208 and may be configured to pick the shaped products from the forming tool 218 of the forming station 208. The picking station 210 may include an extractor for removing the shaped products from the surrounding waste material.
The stacking station 212 is operationally downstream of the picking station 210 and receives rows of the products from the picking station 210 and transports each row to a bin. The chopping station 214 is operationally downstream of the picking station 210 and cuts the waste material for recycling or disposal.
Turning to
The HMI 136 may then be used to input paperboard material thickness and width and a desired moisture level, feed rate, water flow rate, among other inputs, as shown in block 302. The controller 128 may then instruct the supply roll carrier 102 and/or the rewind roll carrier 114 to begin advancing the paperboard material 200 over the first idler roller 104 and the second idler roller 112 and to the rewind roll carrier 114, as shown in block 304. This may include advancing the paperboard material 200 at the feed rate. The feed rate may be continuous linear web speed. Because the paperboard moisturizing system 100 is offline relative to the paperboard forming machine 204, the feed rate can be independent of feed rates of the paperboard forming machine 204. In the case where both the supply roll carrier 102 and the rewind roll carrier 114 are driven, an unwinding speed of the supply roll carrier 102 and a rewinding speed of the rewind roll carrier 114 may be synchronized.
The controller 128 may also instruct the pump 126 to deliver water from the tank 124 to the water spreader 108 so that water is gravity fed from the water spreader 108 onto the advancing paperboard material 200 between the first idler roller 104 and the second idler roller 112, as shown in block 306. The pump 126 may pump water at an input water flow rate or at a flow rate corresponding to the feed rate of the paperboard material 200. For example, an 8 gallon per hour flow rate may be used to add 5% moisture to 45 inch width, 20 pt. paper paperboard material 200 at 100 feet per minute feed rate. As another example, a feed rate of 15 inches per second and a flow rate of 5.7 inches per second with a 0.002 inch exit gap and 0.00076 inch thick water layer may be used. The pump 126 may be remotely controlled and may be configured to pump water to the water spreader 108 when the supply roll carrier 102 is unwinding and/or the rewind roll carrier 114 is rewinding.
The controller 128 may control the water flow rate for the paperboard material 200 to absorb water according to a desired moisture level. To that end, the controller 128 may, via a coded software formula, automatically set the feed rate according to a line speed and HMI input of paperboard material thickness, paperboard material width, the desired moisture level (e.g., additional percentage of moisture), forming quality of products previously formed by the paperboard forming machine 204, and other factors. Alternatively, the controller 128 may, via a closed loop automatic moisture control algorithm, modulate the pump according to moisture content detected by the moisture reader 130.
The controller 128 may also stop advancing the paperboard material 200 when the roll diameter reader 132 indicates the supply roll 202 has been depleted, as shown in block 308. The moisturized paperboard material 200 may also be wound to form the rewound roll 222, as shown in block 310. The moisturized paperboard material 200 may subsequently be fed to the paperboard forming machine 204. To that end, the rewound roll of paperboard material 200 may be removed from the paperboard moisturizing system 100 (while retained on the rewind roll carrier 114 or relocated onto a separate roll carrier) and aligned with the paperboard forming machine 204. The system 100 can service a plurality of paperboard forming machines because the system 100 is offline and independent therefrom.
The above-described system provides several advantages. For example, the paperboard moisturizing system 100 provides offline paperboard moisturizing so that moisturizing can be performed as needed, independent from forming processes. The paperboard moisturizing system 100 also provides complete moisturizing control regarding feed rates, water flow rates, and other parameters to ensure a desired moisture content. The paperboard moisturizing system 100 further provides closed loop control and also accommodates user inputs.
In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to are included in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separate references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” in this description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are also not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For example, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included in other embodiments but is not necessarily included. Thus, the current technology can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.
Although the present application sets forth a detailed description of numerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legal scope of the description is defined by the words of the claims set forth in any subsequent regular utility patent application. The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment since describing every possible embodiment would be impractical. Numerous alternative embodiments may be implemented, using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims.
Throughout this specification, plural instances may implement components, operations, or structures described as a single instance. Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of the individual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures and functionality presented as separate components in example configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single component may be implemented as separate components. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of the subject matter herein.
As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
The patent claims included in any subsequent regular utility patent application a non are not intended to be construed under 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f) unless traditional means-plus-function language is expressly recited, such as “means for” or “step for” language being explicitly recited in the claim(s).
Although the invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention.
Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following:
This regular utility non-provisional patent application claims priority benefit with regard to all common subject matter of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/606,639, filed Dec. 6, 2023, entitled “OFFLINE PAPERBOARD MOISTURIZING”. The above-identified patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present patent application.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63606639 | Dec 2023 | US |
