Claims
- 1. A method for making bows of curled ribbon, the steps comprising:
providing a ribbon; providing a cornered spindle; spinning said spindle at a first linear speed according to a radius of said spindle; and moving said ribbon over said spinning spindle at a second speed, said second speed slower than said first speed; whereby said corners of said spindle locally stretch or stress said ribbon, thereby curling said ribbon.
- 2. The method for making bows of curled ribbon as set forth in claim 1, the steps further comprising:
providing a venturi airflow drive; and pulling said ribbon forward via said venturi airflow drive after said ribbon has been curled by said spinning cornered spindle; whereby said curled ribbon is displaced or moved without pinching or rolling.
- 3. The method for making bows of curled ribbon as set forth in claim 1, the steps further comprising:
providing a controlled rear nip, said rear nip pulling said ribbon forward after it has been curled by said spinning cornered spindle; whereby said curled ribbon is transported through said curl bow machine.
- 4. A method for making bows of curled ribbon, the steps comprising:
providing a ribbon; providing a cornered spindle; spinning said spindle at a first circular speed giving rise to a first tangential linear speed corresponding to said first circular speed; moving said ribbon over said spinning spindle at a second linear speed, said second linear speed slower than said first tangential linear speed; and said step of moving said ribbon over said spinning spindle including providing motivation for said ribbon selected from the group of steps consisting of:
1) providing a venturi airflow drive and pulling said ribbon forward via said venturi airflow drive after said ribbon has been curled by said spinning cornered spindle so that said curled ribbon is displaced or moved without pinching or rolling; and 2) providing a controlled rear nip, said rear nip pulling said ribbon forward after it has been curled by said spinning cornered spindle so that said curled ribbon is transported through said curl bow machine; whereby said corners of said spindle locally stretch or stress said ribbon, thereby curling said ribbon.
- 5. A machine for making bows of curled ribbon, comprising:
a ribbon guide, said ribbon guide receiving ribbon and separating said ribbon from other ribbon strands; a ribbon tensioning station, said ribbon tensioning station applying tension to said ribbon; a ribbon curling station, said ribbon curling station curling said ribbon; a ribbon pulling station, said ribbon pulling station pulling said ribbon through said ribbon tensioning station and said ribbon curling station; a hang tag feeder, said hang tag feeder feeding hang tags in a consistent manner, said hang tags for attachment to said ribbon; a ribbon gathering station, said ribbon gathering station gathering together strands of ribbon, including said ribbon; a hang tag attachment station, said hang tag attachment station receiving hang tags from said hang tag feeder and attaching said hang tags to said gathered strands of ribbon; a ribbon exit drive, said ribbon exit drive impelling said ribbon away from said hang tag attachment station; and a curl bow cutter, said curl bow cutter severing said ribbon between pairs of attached hang tags; whereby ribbon is fed into the curl bow machine at a first end, hang tags are fed into the curl bow machine at an intermediate station, and curl bows are delivered at a terminal end of the curl bow machine.
- 6. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, further comprising:
an unwinding stand; and a spool of ribbon, said spool of ribbon holding ribbon wound upon said spool, said ribbon spool held by said unwinding stand and supplying ribbon; whereby said ribbon guide receives ribbon from said ribbon spool.
- 7. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 6, wherein said unwinding stand comprises a mechanical unwinding stand that actively unspools ribbon from said spool of ribbon thereby reducing tension on said ribbon as it passes into said ribbon guide.
- 8. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said ribbon tensioning station further comprises:
a pivotable lever, said pivotable lever exerting pressure upon said ribbon as said ribbon passes said pivotable lever; and a pressure adjustment, said pressure adjustment coupled to said pivotable lever and controlling pressure upon said ribbon by said pivotable lever.
- 9. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 8, wherein said pivotable lever further comprises:
a spring, said spring contained within said pivotable lever; and a ball, said ball held within said pivotable lever, said spring urging said ball away from said pivotable lever; whereby said ribbon engages said ball with said ball tending to hold said ribbon in place, said spring allowing said ribbon to work against said ball resiliently while said ribbon is held in tension by said pivotable lever.
- 10. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said ribbon curling station further comprises:
a spindle having corners, said cornered spindle spinning at a first speed (RPM) and a first tangential linear speed, said spindle having a spindle cross-section; said ribbon traveling over said cornered spindle at a second speed; and said spindle spinning at said first tangential linear speed faster than said ribbon speed; whereby said corners of said spindle locally stretch or stress said ribbon, thereby curling said ribbon.
- 11. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 10, wherein said spindle cross-section is selected from the group consisting of:
squares, rectangles, triangles, pentagons, and hexagons.
- 12. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 10, wherein said ribbon curling station further comprises:
a first idle roller, said first idle roller disposing said ribbon in a first lateral position on a first side of said spinning cornered spindle; said spinning cornered spindle disposed in a second lateral position; and a second idle roller, said second idle roller disposing said ribbon in said first lateral position on a second side of said spinning cornered spindle, said first and second idle rollers defining a roller plane from which said spinning cornered spindle is offset by a distance equal to the difference between said roller plane in said first lateral position and said spinning cornered spindle in said second lateral position; whereby said ribbon travels about said spinning cornered spindle in a manner forcing engagement by said ribbon with said spinning cornered spindle.
- 13. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 12, wherein said ribbon curling station further comprises:
said first and second rollers being independently and laterally adjustable in said roller plane.
- 14. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said ribbon curling station further comprises:
a heater, said heater located adjacent said ribbon, said heater heating said ribbon to curl said ribbon.
- 15. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 14, wherein said heater is located adjacent said ribbon at a location selected from the group consisting of:
adjacent said ribbon guide, adjacent said ribbon tensioning station, and adjacent both said ribbon guide and said ribbon tensioning station.
- 16. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said ribbon pulling station further comprises:
first and second pull rollers, said first and second pull rollers forming a nip, said ribbon threaded through and engaged by said nip, said nip pulling said ribbon through said ribbon tensioning station and said ribbon curling station.
- 17. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 16, wherein said ribbon pulling station is driven by a drive motor having a clutch, said drive motor and said clutch driving said ribbon pulling station regularly and intermittently.
- 18. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said hang tag feeder further comprises:
a microswitch, said microswitch detecting a position of hang tags in said hang tag feeder.
- 19. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said hang tag feeder further comprises:
a hang tag cutter, said hang tag cutter severing an individual hang tag from a roll or stream of hang tags.
- 20. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said ribbon gathering station further comprises:
a narrowing channel, said narrowing channel receiving said ribbon and confining lateral travel of said ribbon; whereby said ribbon is aligned with hang tags fed by said hang tag feeder and said ribbon is made ready for attachment to one of said hang tags.
- 21. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said ribbon gathering station further comprises:
a movable piston, said movable piston defining one side of a variable channel, said variable channel being wide when receiving said ribbon and being narrow to confine lateral travel of said ribbon when said ribbon is ready to be attached to a hang tag; whereby said ribbon is aligned with hang tags fed by said hang tag feeder and said ribbon is made ready for attachment to one of said hang tags.
- 22. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said ribbon gathering station further comprises:
a first laterally-traveling extension bar; a second laterally-traveling extension bar, said second laterally-traveling extension bar adjacent and oppositely opposed to said first laterally-traveling extension bar; said first and second laterally-traveling extension bars defining a controllable slot aperture, or iris, through which ribbon may travel and be controllably gathered together.
- 23. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 22, wherein said ribbon gathering station further comprises:
said first laterally-traveling extension defining a first ribbon aperture; and said second laterally-traveling extension defining a second ribbon aperture; whereby said controllable slot aperture is formed by the intersection of said first and second ribbon apertures of said first and second laterally-traveling extensions, respectively.
- 24. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said hang tag attachment station further comprises:
a stapler, said stapler attaching said ribbon to hang tag.
- 25. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 24, wherein said stapler further comprises:
a wire stitcher, said wire stitcher stitching said ribbon to said hang tag by forming a staple from a roll of wire and attaching said ribbon to said hang tag with said staple.
- 26. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said ribbon exit drive further comprises:
a pair of nip rollers, said pair of nip rollers engaging said ribbon and pulling said ribbon from said hang tag attachment station.
- 27. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said ribbon exit drive further comprises:
a venturi airflow drive, said venturi airflow drive receiving said ribbon from said hang tag attachment station, said venturi airflow drive impelling said ribbon away from said hang tag attachment station; whereby said curled ribbon is displaced or moved without pinching or rolling.
- 28. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 27, wherein said venturi airflow drive further comprises:
a ribbon intake; a ribbon exhaust; a junction connection connecting said ribbon intake and said ribbon exhaust; and a supply of pressurized air, said junction connection directing said pressurized air to said ribbon exhaust; whereby said ribbon is drawn into said ribbon intake by venturi effect and propelled by said pressurized air to said ribbon exhaust upon reaching said junction.
- 29. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 5, wherein said curl bow cutter further comprises:
a guillotine device, said guillotine device severing said ribbon and separating individual curl bows from said ribbon.
- 30. A machine for making bows of curled ribbon, comprising:
an unwinding stand; a spool of ribbon, said spool of ribbon holding ribbon wound upon said spool, said ribbon spool held by said unwinding stand and supplying ribbon; a ribbon guide, said ribbon guide receiving ribbon from said unwinding stand and separating said ribbon from other ribbon strands; a pivotable lever, said pivotable lever exerting pressure upon said ribbon as said ribbon passes said pivotable lever; a pressure adjustment, said pressure adjustment coupled to said pivotable lever and controlling pressure upon said ribbon by said pivotable lever; a spring, said spring contained within said pivotable lever; a ball, said ball held within said pivotable lever, said spring urging said ball away from said pivotable lever so that said ball engages said ribbon with said ball tending to hold said ribbon in place, said spring allowing said ribbon to work against said ball resiliently while said ribbon is held in tension by said pivotable lever; a spindle having corners, said cornered spindle spinning at a first speed (RPM), said spinning cornered spindle disposed in a first lateral position and having a spindle cross-section selected from the group consisting of squares, rectangles, triangles, pentagons, and hexagons; a first idle roller, said first idle roller disposing said ribbon in a second lateral position offset from said first lateral position, said first idle roller on a first side of said spinning cornered spindle; a second idle roller, said second idle roller disposing said ribbon in said second lateral position on a second side of said spinning cornered spindle, said first and second idle rollers defining a roller plane from which said spinning cornered spindle is offset by a distance equal to the difference between said roller plane in said second lateral position and said spinning cornered spindle in said first lateral position so that said ribbon travels about said spinning cornered spindle in a manner forcing engagement by said ribbon with said spinning cornered spindle; said first and second rollers being independently and laterally adjustable in said roller plane; said ribbon traveling over said cornered spindle at a second speed; said spindle spinning faster than said ribbon speed so that said corners of said spindle locally stretch or stress said ribbon, thereby curling said ribbon; first and second pull rollers, said first and second pull rollers forming a nip, said ribbon threaded through and engaged by said nip, said nip pulling said ribbon past said pivotable lever and said spinning cornered spindle, said first roller driven by a drive motor having a clutch, said drive motor and said clutch driving said ribbon pulling station regularly and intermittently; a hang tag feeder, said hang tag feeder feeding hang tags in a consistent manner, said hang tags for attachment to said ribbon; a microswitch, said microswitch coupled to said hang tag feeder and detecting a position of hang tags in said hang tag feeder; a hang tag cutter, said hang tag cutter severing an individual hang tag from a roll or stream of hang tags fed by said hang tag feeder; a movable piston, said movable piston defining one side of a variable channel receiving said ribbon and gathering together strands of ribbon, said variable channel being wide when receiving said ribbon and being narrow to confine lateral travel of said ribbon when said ribbon is ready to be attached to a hang tag so that said ribbon is aligned with hang tags fed by said hang tag feeder and said ribbon is made ready for attachment to one of said hang tags; a wire stitcher, said wire stitcher stitching said ribbon to said hang tag by forming a staple from a roll of wire and attaching said ribbon to said hang tag with said staple; a venturi airflow drive, said venturi airflow drive receiving said ribbon from said hang tag attachment station, said venturi airflow drive impelling said ribbon away from said hang tag attachment station so that said ribbon is displaced or moved without pinching or rolling; and a curl bow cutter, said curl bow cutter severing said ribbon between pairs of attached hang tags; whereby ribbon is fed into the curl bow machine at a first end, hang tags are fed into the curl bow machine at an intermediate station, and curl bows are delivered at a terminal end of the curl bow machine.
- 31. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 30, wherein said venturi airflow drive further comprises:
a ribbon intake; a ribbon exhaust; a junction connection connecting said ribbon intake and said ribbon exhaust; and a supply of pressurized air, said junction connection directing said pressurized air to said ribbon exhaust; whereby said ribbon is drawn into said ribbon intake by venturi effect and propelled by said pressurized air to said ribbon exhaust upon reaching said junction.
- 32. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 30, wherein said unwinding stand comprises a mechanical unwinding stand that actively unspools ribbon from said spool of ribbon thereby reducing tension on said ribbon as it passes into said ribbon guide.
- 33. The machine for making bows of curled ribbon of claim 30, further comprising:
a heater, said heater located adjacent said ribbon, said heater heating said ribbon to curl said ribbon, said heater located adjacent said ribbon at a location selected from the group consisting of: adjacent said ribbon guide, adjacent said pivotable lever, and adjacent both said ribbon guide and said pivotable lever.
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/250,884 filed Feb. 16, 1999 for RIBBON CURLING MACHINE AND PROCESS which application is incorporated herein by this reference thereto.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09250884 |
Feb 1999 |
US |
Child |
10086128 |
Feb 2002 |
US |