Patent Application
20050132852
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates to trimming the ends of rolls of paper or the like, such as for purposes of sizing the width of the roll or removal of damaged paper from the end of the roll.
Formed paper webs are commonly collected in rolls for storage, transport and otherwise handling in the course of conversion of the web into some desired form. In storage, during handling, etc., the ends of these rolls of paper are subjected to becoming damaged, contaminated, wetted or subjected to other destructive treatment which results in the paper adjacent an end of the roll being rendered unusable or undesirable for the intended use of the paper web of the roll. Rolls of paper web may be relatively small, but commonly the web is collected in a jumbo roll which weighs many hundreds of pounds.
In the process of converting the paper web from a roll into a desired product, the web must be unrolled from the basic roll and fed into a converting machine, of which there are many types. In any event, where one or both of the ends of the roll have experienced moisture, the layers of paper web, at the ends of the roll tend to bond together for a relatively short distance inwardly of the roll from the end thereof. This distance may be as short as about ¼ inch or can be more pervasive inwardly of the width of the roll. Such bonded layers of the paper web tend to cause the paper web to resist unwinding such that the web breaks as it is unwound from the roll. Each such break requires a “shut-down” of the conversion machine to re-thread the web into the machine, costing time and money to process the roll of paper web.
The prior art includes devices for cutting the ends of a roll of paper such as by sawing, grinding or similar removal of the damaged portion of the end of the roll. Such devices create potentially hazardous amounts of paper dust, and in some instances are inherently hazardous to operate or expensive to protect against operator injury. Other prior art devices are deficient with respect to control over the cutting operation, resulting in loss of valuable paper or inadequate removal of paper from the end of the roll. Moreover, known prior art devices tend to create a less than square end of the cut roll, often leaving ridges and valleys defined in the cut end of the roll.
In the present invention there is provided a method and apparatus for precisely controlled and operator safe removal of a desired width of layered paper from the end of a roll of paper web employing a compound mount for a knife-blade type cutter which is selectively adjustable along multiple axes relative to the rotational axis and width of the paper roll as the roll is rotated independently of the cutter and without unwinding the paper web from the roll. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, only that quantity of paper web which is damaged is removed while maximizing the depth of cut radially into the roll by the cutter.
In the method of the invention, a paper roll having one or both ends damaged, is mounted for rotation about a central axis thereof. A cutter is mounted for selective movement along multiple axes relative to the rotational axis and width of the roll, and as the roll is rotated, the position of the cutter relative to the roll is adjusted initially a selected distance inwardly of the width of the roll and adjusted periodically as a function of the maximum permissible radial depth of cut made by the cutter.
With reference to
As depicted in
Rotation of the tire is effected by means of a conventional motor 38, preferably including a conventional speed control means (not shown), and including a drive shaft 40 upon which the tire is mounted. As desired, the motor may be mounted upon a conventional air support 43 to provide for adjustment of the frictional engagement between the outer circumferential surface of the tire and the outer circumferential surface of the disc.
As seen in
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided on at least one of the rails, a carrier 54 which in the depicted embodiment takes the form of a metal plate 56 which in bent into an “L” shape cross section. The body 58 of the “L” overlies the upper surface 60 of the rail with the longer leg 59 of the “L” lying along an inner surface 62 of the rail and the shorter leg 64 of the “L” lying along the outboard surface 66 of the rail. This carrier is slidably moveable along the length of the rail as indicated by the arrow “C” of
Such additional carrier functioning in like manner as the carrier 54 for purposes of the present invention.
Referring to
The first element 82 of the compound includes a planar rigid plate 86 adapted to be affixed to the carrier 54 for movement with the carrier along the length of the rail. The plate 86 is fitted with a crank 88 having a shaft 90 which is rotatably supported at its opposite ends 92,94 by upstanding journal bearings 96 and 98. The central portion 100 of the crank shaft is provided with external threads and is threadably received within first and second blocks 104,106, each of which is provided with an internally threaded throughbore for receipt of the threaded portion of the crank shaft. Each block, block 104 being typical, includes a flat bottom surface 108 which is disposed in sliding relationship to the top surface 109 of the plate and which is not-rotatable with respect to the crank shaft. Consequently, upon rotation of the crank shaft as by rotation of the crank handle 110, the blocks 104,106 simultaneously slide over the top surface of the plate in the direction of the arrow “A”, the direction of movement being determined by the direction of rotation of the shaft and the extent of their movement being determined by the rotational turns of the shaft.
The second element 84 of the compound includes a planar rigid plate 112 adapted to be affixed to, and carried with, the blocks 104, 106 of the first element 80 of the compound. The fixation of the plate 112 to the blocks may be by means of screws or bolts passing through the thickness of the plate 112 and being threadably received within internally threaded blind bores 114,116 provided in the top surfaces 118,120 of the blocks. Thus movement of the plate 112 in the direction depicted by the arrow “A” is effected upon movement of the blocks associated with the first element of the compound.
The plate 112 of the second element is fitted with a crank 122 having a shaft 124 which is rotatably supported at its opposite ends 126,128 by upstanding journal bearings 130 and 132. The central portion 134 of the shaft 124 is provided with external threads and is threadably received within a cutter mount block 140 which is provided with an internally threaded throughbore 144 for receipt of the threaded portion of the shaft 124. The block 140 includes a flat bottom surface 146 which is disposed in sliding relationship to the top surface 148 of the plate 112 and which is non-rotatable with respect to the shaft 124. Consequently, upon rotation of the shaft 124 as by rotation of the crank handle 150, the block 140 slides over the top surface of the plate in the direction of the arrow “B”, the direction of movement being determined by the direction of rotation of the shaft and the extent of the block's movement being determined by the rotational turns of the shaft.
Further referring to
The cutting blade includes a very sharp cutting end 170 which projects laterally and outboard of the blade carrier 156 and outboard of the side edge 172 of the plate 112 in cantilevered fashion to be in position for presentation to and engagement of the cutting end 170 of the blade with the end 10 of the roll 12 for severing away a portion of the end of the roll as the roll is rotated past the cutting end of the blade. As noted, in the depicted embodiment, the plane of the blade preferably is oriented at an angle with respect to the plane of the end of the roll thereby defining a relief 174 between the blade and the roll to ensure efficient and clean cutting of the paper on the roll. Further, when the blade is disposed properly for cutting the end of the roll, the relief permits the outboard end 159 of the carrier 156 to be disposed distant from the end of the roll, hence the carrier does not engage the end of the roll as cutting progresses. Still, further, in a preferred embodiment, the blade is substantially rigid and is mounted rigidly within the carrier 156 and relative to the compound element 84 to which the carrier 156 is secured to ensure controlled positioning of the cutting end of the blade relative to the end 10 of the roll 12 upon actuation of one or both of the compound elements 80 and 82.
In accordance with the method of the present invention, the compound 82 is mounted on the carrier 54 which, in turn, is mounted on the rail 50 for slidable positioning of the carrier 54 along the length of the rail. Initially, the carrier is releasably fixed at a location along the rail which positions the cutting end of the cutter blade contiguous to the outer rim 180 (
With the roll rotating about its axis, and with the cutting end of the blade disposed contiguous the outer circumference of the end of the roll, the operator turns the crank handle 150 which moves the cutting end of the blade 154 radially relative to the rotational axis of the roll to select the desired depth of the cut into the end of the roll. As the roll is rotating, the operator turns the crank 150 to move the cutting end of the blade in a direction radially inwardly or outwardly of the roll until the desired radial depth of the cut is achieved. This radially inwardly movement of the cutting edge of cutting end of the blade is controlled by the operator as the cut progresses to maintain a maximum depth of cut, thereby minimizing the time required to sever the entire end of the roll.
Notably, the present invention provides for the cutting edge of the blade to be maintained in its cutting position until the cutting edge has reached the spool of the roll, thereby ensuring a full cutting away of the end of the roll. Moreover, the degree of adjustment of the cutting end of the blade relative to the end of the roll provides the operator the means whereby there may be performed a clean and even cut over the entire end of the roll. A partially cut end of the roll is depicted in
Importantly, the present invention provides for the clean, even cutting away of the paper web from the roll without unwinding of the paper web from the roll. As desired, however, the cutting away of the end of the roll also may be performed as the paper web is being unwound from the roll. In this latter instance, the depth of cut is adjusted to ensure that at all times the paper web has been cut before it leaves the roll. This latter arrangement is-possible by positioning the location of the cutting operation at a location along the outer circumference of the roll that is located ahead of the location where the paper web leaves the roll (such as depicted in
Paper severed from the roll employing the present invention is in the form of small pieces or continuous strips, both of which are recoverable for recycling. No material dust from the paper on the roll is generated by the present invention. Thus, the present invention provides for material savings over the prior art devices which grind or saw away paper from a roll with the generation of large quantities of dust which is lost to recycling and which is recognized health hazard to operators, etc.
In the embodiment depicted herein, the paper roll is mounted for rotation on rails and the carrier 54 is slidably mounted on a rail. It will be recognized that the carrier 54 may be supported on a mount which is separate from the support for the paper roll.
Whereas the present invention has been described herein at times using specific examples, one skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and/or substitutions may be made without departing from the essentials of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be limited only as set forth in the claims appended hereto.
