ROLLED MATERIAL OR SCREEN MESH DISPENSER

Abstract

A rolled material dispenser; including a roll supporting structure that supports a plurality of rolls of material, each roll of material having a width and a long axis, the roll supporting structure supporting the rolls of material with the long axes parallel and with a free end of the rolled material extending downwardly from each of the of rolls. The dispenser includes a pinch roller assembly located beneath the roll supporting structure. The pinch roller assembly is movable in a direction perpendicular to the long axes of the rolls of material and the pinch rollers have a second long axis oriented parallel to the first long axis. A conveyor is positioned below the pinch roller assembly and a material cutter assembly facilitates cutting the rolled material.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to removable window and door screen mesh material handling. Other rolled fabrics or materials can be handled as well. In particular, example embodiments of the invention relate to the handling of rolls of screen mesh used in the manufacturing of removable window screens that include a flexible frame that is resilient and a flexible mesh material that is bonded to the flexible frame.

BACKGROUND

Fenestrations exist in buildings to permit ingress and egress, entry of fresh air and light. Screens have been used in these openings for a long time to permit the entry and exit of air while excluding insects, debris, leaves and other undesired materials. Currently screens generally include a mesh material supported by a frame that holds the mesh material taut and facilitates insertion of the screen into the frame of a fenestration. For the purposes of this application, the term fenestration refers to any opening in the outside envelope of a building structure including but not limited windows and doors.

In many modern window screens a fiberglass mesh is supported in a frame. Other mesh materials commonly include nylon, polyester, bronze, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass and galvanized steel. Meshes made of fiberglass, nylon and polyester are generally quite flexible, while meshes that are made of stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass and galvanized steel are relatively less flexible.

Screen frames are commonly made of rigid materials such as extruded aluminum, wood, steel or polymers. Occasionally, screens are made without a perimeter frame. In this case the screens are stretched taut over an opening often by a roller under spring tension.

More recently, other screen frames are made of flexible materials with resilient qualities. For example, some flexible screen frames are made from resilient steel that is coated with a polymer material. In many cases, the screen mesh is fused to the flexible screen frame by the application of heat which renders the polymer material of the screen frame, the screen mesh or both at least partially molten during the manufacturing of the screen. When the polymer material returns to its non-molten state the screen mesh is fused and strongly bound to the screen frame.

Such flexible screens are typically inserted into rigid fenestration frames by distorting the flexible window screen, generally by pushing inwardly on parallel rectilinear sides of the flexible window screen and then inserting the flexible window screen into grooves that surround the rigid fenestration frame on an inside of the fenestration frame. Similarly, flexible screens are generally removed by distorting the screen frame which then permits taking the screen frame out of the grooves. To facilitate this, the flexible screen frame is generally resiliently biased outwardly toward an approximately rectangular shape.

Currently, manufacturing of flexible window screen frames and flexible window screens is largely done by manual processes that are labor-intensive. These processes tend to be inefficient and time-consuming. Thus, rapid production of flexible screen frames and screens is not available.

Flexible screen frames are formed from spring metal such as spring steel that is bent to the shape of the screen and so that terminal ends of the metal material abut one another. Generally, the abutting ends of the flexible screen frame are located away from corners of the frame but not at a center of a straight side of the screen frame. The spring material is coated with a polymer material such as polyvinylchloride (PVC) also referred to as vinyl. Other polymer material coatings are, of course, possible.

Flexible screen frames are formed of spring material so that they can be deformed inwardly, inserted into a window frame and then be held in place by the resilience of the flexible screen frame material springing outwardly. Deformation of the flexible screen frame is generally accomplished by pressing inwardly on two opposing straight sides of the screen frame.

The abutting terminal ends of the shaped frame are welded to each other to form a closed geometric shape most commonly a rectangle or a square. Resistance welding is commonly used.

To facilitate the welding of the abutting ends of the frame, the polymer coating material must first be removed from the metal core material. Failure to remove the polymer material interferes with establishing electrical contact with the metal core of the frame material necessary for electrical welding and may result in contamination of any weld that is performed with the coating material present. Contaminated welds are often of inferior quality and may not hold up to the flexing encountered during insertion and removal of the flexible screen frame from a window or door structure.

Following welding of the abutted metal core ends it is good practice to clean the area of the weld to remove weld flash or spatter and possibly to mitigate any mushrooming of the abutted ends that may occur during the welding process.

It is also desirable to apply a new polymer coating over the stripped and welded area of the frame to mitigate corrosion and to facilitate adhesion of screen mesh in the area surrounding the weld. This is commonly accomplished by slipping a portion of heat shrink tube over the frame material prior to welding to join the abutting ends and moving the heat shrink material away from the portion to be welded until it is welded, cleaned and cooled. After the welding is performed, post weld cleaned and cooled the heat shrink tube is located to cover the previously stripped and welded portion and heat is applied to shrink it. The level of heat required to shrink the heat shrink tube is considerably less than that related to welding.

These processes are typically manually performed.

Accordingly, there is still room for improvement in the handling of screen mesh material used in the manufacturing of flexible window screens as well as other screens and further in the handling of other fabrics and materials that are delivered on rolls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Example embodiments of the invention address many of the above identified concerns by providing a device for and method of dispensing screen mesh materials or other materials that are present on rolls of various widths and cutting those materials to desired lengths.

An example embodiment of the invention includes a supporting structure capable of supporting a plurality of rolls of material. Each roll of material is supported on two spaced apart roller structures with a free end of the mesh material hanging downwards, for example between the two spaced apart rollers.

Below the supporting structure for the rolls of material is located a movable pinch roller assembly including a movable servo driven set of pinch rollers positioned in a pinch roller support structure. The pinch roller support structure is movable laterally to be positioned under any of the rolls of material and to be located beneath a free end of any one of the supported rolls of material and is also movable vertically to engage with the free end of the material hanging downwards. The pinch roller assembly may be supported by a gantry traveling laterally on tracks or rails.

The pinch roller structure moves laterally to engage a desired roll of material under computer control. Once the pinch roller assembly is located below the desired roll of material, the pinch rollers are moved upward so that the pinch rollers straddle the free end of the rolled material. The pinch rollers are brought together to engage with the free end of the material roll and grip the free end of the material between the pinch rollers. The pinch rollers engage with the material by being brought together to pinch the material between the rollers. The pinch rollers are then activated to rotate in opposing directions to draw out a specified length of the fabric material. Rotation of the pinch rollers is controlled to rotate a number of times to measure a specified desired length of material. Once the specified length is pulled off the roll by the turning pinch rollers, the turning is stopped, the pinch rollers are lowered and the material is cut off by movement of a traveling knife blade. Lowering of the pinch roller assembly pulls off and leaves an appropriate desired length tail on the free end of the roll for the next time that the roll is accessed.

According to an example embodiment of the invention, the cutter utilizes a standard utility knife blade which can be reversed end for end when the first end of the blade begins to dull. Utility knife blades are easily replaceable, readily available and very sharp and facilitate efficient cutting of the screen material.

The knife blade is supported in a movable blade support the travels on a cutter track and is made movable by a cutter actuator.

According to another example embodiment, a further plunge knife is also present. The plunge knife is oriented generally perpendicular to the traveling knife blade and is positionable by lateral movement to cut material to a desired width to conform to a screen frame width plus an allowance to be trimmed later. Typically, one to four inches (25 to 100 millimeters) excess mesh or material allowance on each side is desirable. More than four inches or 100 millimeters can sometimes interfere with later processing steps.

According to an example embodiment of the invention, a conveyor is located beneath the pinch roller assembly and the roll supporting structure. The conveyor is sized to receive and transport screen mesh material and screen frames to which screen mesh material may be applied and secured.

According to an example embodiment, the conveyor may be configured to move at a rate consistent with the rate of dispensing screen mesh material so that the screen mesh material is layered over the top of the screen frame on the conveyor to which the screen mesh material is intended to be applied and secured. The conveyor can also be used to transfer cut off pieces of screen material to a receiving tray where it can be manually removed by an operator. The conveyor is power driven and can be computer-controlled to appropriately transport the screen frames, the cut off pieces of screen mesh or both.

The supporting structure includes a plurality of rollers that are at least as long as the width of the rolls of screen mesh or other fabric to be dispensed. A pair of rollers supports each roll of screen mesh.

According to an example embodiment, each pair of rollers is freely rotating. Braking structures can also be utilized to mitigate undesired unrolling of the material. The number of positions for supporting rolls of screen fabric can vary. In the depicted example embodiment, ten rolls of screen fabric can be accommodated. However, more or fewer can be accommodated by changing the number of pairs of rollers and the length of the dispenser.

According to another example embodiment a central core support member supports each roll of screen mesh material. The use of a central core support shaft is expected to mitigate possible excess rolling of the screen or fabric material. The core support shafts can be hinged at one end to move vertically and can include a counterweight to partially balance the weight of the core support member and the roll of material.

The use of core support shafts to support rolls of material also mitigate the possibility of cores being drawn between rollers when material on a roll is depleted and an end of the material is firmly attached to the core.

According to an example embodiment, short rollers can be present that one end or both ends of the roller supporting structure to assist in positioning of the rolls of screen mesh material. For example, two short rollers may be present and located on either side of the axis upon which the roll of screen frame material rotates.

According to a further example embodiment, a pair of supporting members defining an intervening slot can be positioned beneath the location at which each roll of screen frame material is located. A free end of the screen frame material can be threaded through the slot to position it for ready access by the pinch roller structure.

A mesh dispenser gantry supports the pinch roller structure and facilitates the pinching and releasing of the pinch rollers. The mesh dispenser gantry is supported for example on two gantry tracks on which it travels on wheels. Positioning and operation of the mesh dispenser gantry is computer controlled. The mesh dispenser gantry is controllable to be positioned below any of the rolls of material supported on the roll support. In addition, the mesh dispenser gantry is controllable to pinch the screen material or fabric and to raise and lower relative to the rolls of materials and to cause the supporting rollers to turn in opposing directions to remove an amount of mesh material from a desired roll. The mesh dispenser gantry further supports the mesh cutter which is controlled to travel from one end of the mesh dispenser gantry to the other to appropriately cut off mesh material from the roll as desired. The mesh dispenser gantry is also structured to raise and lower the pinch rollers to grip the free end of the mesh material or to pull out additional mesh material to leave a desired free end on the mesh roll to be accessible for a future dispensing.

The above summary is not intended to describe each illustrated embodiment or every implementation of the subject matter hereof. The figures and the detailed description that follow more particularly exemplify various embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Subject matter hereof may be more completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments in connection with the accompanying figures, in which:

While various embodiments are amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the claimed inventions to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the claims.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mesh dispenser according to an example embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a detail perspective view of the mesh dispenser depicted in FIG. 1 with certain structures removed for clarity;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a mesh dispenser gantry in a lowered position and with pinch rollers closed according to an example embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the mesh dispenser gantry depicted in FIG. 3 in a raised position with pinch rollers open according to the example embodiment of the invention depicted in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a mesh dispenser according to another example embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the mesh dispenser as depicted in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the mesh dispenser as depicted in FIG. 5 with some parts removed;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a mesh dispenser gantry according to another example embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a material cutter assembly according to an example embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, mesh dispenser 20 generally includes roll supporting structure 22, pinch roller assembly 24, conveyor 26 and discharge tray 28.

Roll supporting structure 22 generally includes a plurality of roll supporting positions 30 and gantry tracks 31. Each roll supporting position 30 includes long rollers 32, end rollers 34 and roller supports 36. Gantry tracks 31 extend substantially a length of roll supporting structure 22 generally perpendicular to roll supporting positions 30.

Each of long rollers 32 has a length at least as long as the widest roll of material expected to be accommodated by long rollers 32. Long rollers 32 are arranged in pairs, each pair being spaced apart a sufficient distance to allow a free end of rolled material to pass between the pair of long rollers 32. Roller supports 36 support long rollers 32 and, according to an example embodiment, facilitate free rolling.

End rollers 34 are located at opposing ends 38 of long rollers 32. End rollers 34 are sized and positioned to abut ends of rolls of material expected to be accommodated by long rollers 32. A single end roller 34 may be located at each of opposing ends 38 or a pair of end rollers 34 may be so located.

Pinch roller assembly 24 generally includes gantry 40, pinch rollers 42, pinch roller transmission 44, material cutter assembly 46 and gantry transfer assembly 48.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, gantry 40 extends a width approximately equal to or somewhat greater than a length of long rollers 32. Gantry 40 generally includes track rollers 50 mounted on track roller supports 52. Track roller supports 52 are coupled by crossbeams 54. Track rollers 50 are spaced apart a sufficient distance to ride on gantry tracks 31. Crossbeams 54 are oriented substantially perpendicular to track roller supports 52. Gantry 40 further includes pinch roller supports 56.

Pinch roller supports 56 support pinch rollers 42. Pinch rollers 42 are driven by pinch roller transmission 44. In the depicted embodiment, pinch roller transmission 44 includes pulleys 58, drive belt 60 and drive motor 62. Pulleys 58 include motor pulley 64 and roller pulley 66. Drive belt 60 transfers power from motor pulley 64 to roller pulley 66. Roller pulley 66 is coupled to at least one of pinch rollers 42.

At least one of pinch rollers 42 is coupled to pinch actuator 68. Pinch actuator 68 moves at least one of pinch rollers 42 to abut the other of pinch rollers 42 and to separate pinch rollers 42 thereby pinching and releasing any rolled material present therebetween.

Pinch roller supports 56 are further coupled to vertical actuators 70. Vertical actuator 70 extends and retracts to raise and lower pinch roller supports 56 along with pinch rollers 42.

Material cutter assembly 46 generally includes blade support 72, cutter track 74 and cutter actuator 76. Blade support 72 is horizontally shiftable on cutter track 74.

Cutter actuator 76 is structured to advance and retract blade support 72 along cutter track 74. Blade support 72 is structured to releasably receive replaceable blade 78 therein.

Conveniently, replaceable blade 78 can be a standard utility knife blade.

Utility knife blades are readily available, very sharp and easily replaceable when dull. Utility knife blades can also be reversed end for end to take advantage of a second sharp portion of the utility knife blade when a first portion has dulled. Other blades may be utilized as well.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, gantry transfer assembly 48 is operably coupled to gantry 40 and facilitates shifting of gantry 40 to any position along gantry tracks 31. In particular, gantry transfer assembly 48 is structured to shift gantry 40 to position pinch rollers 42 beneath any of roll supporting positions 30.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, conveyor 26 extends generally beneath roll supporting positions and also beneath pinch roller assembly 24. Conveyor 26 extends substantially the entire length of roll supporting structure 22. Conveyor 26 extends to discharge tray 28.

Discharge tray 28 is located proximate at least one end of roll supporting structure 42 and at an end of conveyor 26.

All movements of mesh dispenser 20 are controlled by computer controller 80.

According to another example embodiment depicted in FIGS. 5-7, roll supporting structure 22 generally includes a plurality of roll supporting core shafts 82. Core shafts 82 are each sized to pass through a core of a roll of material. Core shafts 82 may be attached to roll supporting structure 22 by hinge 84 and in some embodiments are counterbalanced by counterweight 86 at an end thereof. Core shafts 82 may present tapered end 88 to facilitate core placement. According to the depicted example embodiment, each of roll supporting positions 30 includes core shaft 82, hinge 84 and counterweight 86.

In the depicted embodiment, end rollers 34 are present at opposing ends 38 of each roll. Long rollers 32 are not present. Core shafts 82 are oriented generally parallel to one another and horizontally. Core shafts 82 are tiltable to an angled position about hinge 84 for loading and unloading.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an alternate version of pinch roller assembly 24 is depicted.

According to the depicted example embodiment, pinch roller assembly 24 includes gantry 40, pinch rollers 42, pinch roller transmission 44 and material cutter assembly 46. Material cutter assembly 46 is movable horizontally to facilitate cutting material to length and also to facilitate cutting excess width from material. Similar to the example embodiment of pinch roller assembly 24 previously described pinch roller assembly 24 depicted in FIG. 8 is movable on gantry tracks 31.

Referring now to FIG. 9 according to the depicted example embodiment, material cutter assembly 46 generally includes length cutter 90, stab cutter 92, length cutter actuator 94 and stab cutter actuator 96. Length cutter 90 supports horizontally oriented blade 98. Stab cutter 92 supports vertically oriented blade 100.

Material cutter assembly 46 further includes traveler body 102 supporting length cutter 90, stab cutter 92, length cutter actuator 94 and stab cutter actuator 96. Traveler body 102 further includes track engagement member 104. Length cutter 90 and stab cutter 92 are coupled to length cutter actuator 94 and stab cutter 96 respectively and can be advanced and retracted thereby.

In operation, rolls of mesh or other fabric material are placed on roll supporting structure 22 at each desired roll supporting position 30. Rolls of mesh or fabric material rest on pairs of long rollers 32 and are centered or abutted by end rollers 34.

A free end of the mesh or fabric material dangles down between each pair of long rollers 32. Alternately, the free end of the mesh or fabric material dangles down from the roll of material if the roll is supported by core support 82.

Under command of controller 80 gantry 40 travels on track rollers 50 supported by gantry tracks 31. When gantry 40 is located under a desired roll of mesh or fabric material pinch rollers 42 are positioned to be on either side of the dangling free end of mesh or fabric material.

Vertical actuator 70 is utilized to raise pinch rollers 42 to a position on either side of the free end of the mesh or fabric material. Pinch actuator 68 is then operated to bring pinch rollers 42 together with mesh or fabric material therebetween.

Pinch rollers 42 are then operated by operation of drive motor 62 to unroll a desired quantity of mesh or fabric material from a roll. When a desired quantity of mesh or fabric material is unrolled, rotation of pinch rollers 42 is stopped and vertical actuator 70 is operated to lower pinch rollers 42 thus pulling out a new free end of mesh or fabric material for a future dispensing.

Cutter actuator 76 then transits blade support 72 with replaceable blade 78 along cutter track 74 to sever mesh or fabric material from the roll. After mesh or fabric material is severed from the roll of material pinch actuator 68 is operated to separate pinch rollers 42 permitting the severed portion of mesh or fabric material to fall onto conveyor 26. Conveyor 26 is then actuated to transport the portion of mesh or fabric material to discharge tray 28.

According to another example embodiment, cutter traveler 88 including length cutter 90 and stab cutter 92 moves to a position to cut rolled material to a desired width. Stab cutter 92 is then extended, by stab cutter actuator 96 to a position to cut the rolled material as it is unrolled by operation of pinch rollers 42. When the desired length has been unrolled stab cutter 92 is retracted by stab cutter actuator 96. Cutter traveler 88 then returns to a terminal position and length cutter actuator 94 extends length cutter 90 and horizontally oriented blade 98. Traveler body 102 then travels on cutter track 94 the width of the rolled material to sever the desired portion of the mesh material of the desired length from the roll. The material then falls to conveyor 26 either overlying a screen frame being conveyed or the material is conveyed to discharge tray 26.

Alternately, a screen frame may be placed on conveyor 26 and advanced under pinch rollers 42 as mesh or fabric material is dispensed to cover the screen frame. In this case, the portion of mesh or fabric material is then transported along with the screen frame by conveyor 26 to a desired discharge location. This procedure may be repeated as necessary and desired to dispense mesh or fabric material from various rolls located at various roll supporting positions 30 of mesh dispenser 20.

Various embodiments of systems, devices, and methods have been described herein. These embodiments are given only by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed inventions. It should be appreciated, moreover, that the various features of the embodiments that have been described may be combined in various ways to produce numerous additional embodiments. Moreover, while various materials, dimensions, shapes, configurations and locations, etc. have been described for use with disclosed embodiments, others besides those disclosed may be utilized without exceeding the scope of the claimed inventions.

Persons of ordinary skill in the relevant arts will recognize that the subject matter hereof may comprise fewer features than illustrated in any individual embodiment described above. The embodiments described herein are not meant to be an exhaustive presentation of the ways in which the various features of the subject matter hereof may be combined. Accordingly, the embodiments are not mutually exclusive combinations of features; rather, the various embodiments can comprise a combination of different individual features selected from different individual embodiments, as understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, elements described with respect to one embodiment can be implemented in other embodiments even when not described in such embodiments unless otherwise noted.

Although a dependent claim may refer in the claims to a specific combination with one or more other claims, other embodiments can also include a combination of the dependent claim with the subject matter of each other dependent claim or a combination of one or more features with other dependent or independent claims. Such combinations are proposed herein unless it is stated that a specific combination is not intended.

Any incorporation by reference of documents above is limited such that no subject matter is incorporated that is contrary to the explicit disclosure herein. Any incorporation by reference of documents above is further limited such that no claims included in the documents are incorporated by reference herein. Any incorporation by reference of documents above is yet further limited such that any definitions provided in the documents are not incorporated by reference herein unless expressly included herein.

For purposes of interpreting the claims, it is expressly intended that the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) are not to be invoked unless the specific terms “means for” or “step for” are recited in a claim.

Claims

1. A rolled material dispenser; comprising: a roll supporting structure configured to support a plurality of rolls of rolled material, each roll of material having a width and a long axis, the roll supporting structure being configured to support the rolls of material with the long axes parallel and with a free end of the rolled material extending downwardly from at least some of the plurality of rolls;a pinch roller assembly located beneath the roll supporting structure, the pinch roller assembly being movable in a direction perpendicular to the long axes of the rolls of material and including pinch rollers having a second long axis oriented parallel to the first long axis;wherein the pinch rollers are operable to pinch the free end of the rolled material upon receipt of control commands and to turn to dispense a selected length of rolled material;a conveyor positioned below the pinch roller assembly; anda material cutter assembly.

2. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the roll supporting structure further comprises a plurality of roll supporting positions, each roll supporting position including a pair of long rollers configured to support one of the rolls of material or each roll supporting position including a core support configured to pass through a core of one of the plurality of rolls of material.

3. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pinch roller assembly further comprises a gantry supporting the pinch rollers, the gantry being movably supported on gantry tracks that extend a length of the roll supporting structure that is perpendicular to the first long axis.

4. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pinch roller assembly further comprises a pinch actuator and a vertical actuator; the pinch actuator being configured to shift the pinch rollers between pinched and unpinched configurations upon receipt of control commands and the vertical actuator being configured to shift the pinch rollers between raised and lowered positions of the pinch rollers upon receipt of control commands.

5. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material cutter assembly further comprises a blade support and a cutter track, the blade support being longitudinally movable upon the cutter track by operation of a cutter actuator.

6. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 5, wherein the blade support is configured to removably receive a replaceable cutting blade.

7. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 5, wherein the material cutting assembly further comprises a plunge knife having a plunge knife blade oriented perpendicular to the cutter track and operable to cut excess material width from the rolled material.

8. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 7, wherein at least one of the replaceable cutting blade and the plunge knife blade comprises a standard utility knife blade.

9. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a conveyor and a discharge tray at an end of the conveyor.

10. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 2, wherein each roll supporting position further includes short rollers positioned at remote ends of each roll supporting position.

11. A method of dispensing rolled mesh or fabric material, comprising: supporting a plurality of rolls of mesh or fabric material on a roll supporting structure configured to support the plurality of rolls of material, each roll of material having a width and a long axis, the roll supporting structure being configured to support the rolls of material with the long axes parallel and with a free end of the rolled material extending downwardly from each of the plurality of rolls;moving a pinch roller assembly in a direction perpendicular to the long axes of the rolls of material, the pinch roller assembly including pinch rollers having a second long axis oriented parallel to the first long axis;engaging the pinch roller assembly located beneath the roll supporting structure to pinch and grip the free end of at one of the plurality of rolls of mesh or fabric material and to unroll a selected length of the mesh or fabric material from the one of the plurality of rolls of mesh or fabric material;severing a desired portion of the mesh or fabric material from the roll of mesh or fabric material; anddepositing the desired portion of the mesh or fabric material below the pinch roller assembly on a conveyor.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising placing at least one of the plurality of rolls of mesh or fabric material on a pair of long rollers configured to support one of the rolls of material or further comprising placing at least one of the plurality of rolls of mesh or fabric material on a core support shaft configured to receive a core of the at least one of the plurality of rolls of mesh or fabric material.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising moving the pinch roller assembly horizontally supported on a gantry traveling on gantry tracks that run a length of the roll supporting structure perpendicular to the long axes of the rolls of material.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising, pinching and unpinching the pinch roller assembly by operation of a pinch actuator and vertically shifting the pinch roller assembly by operation of a vertical actuator to raise and lower the pinch rollers upon receipt of control commands.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising severing the mesh or fabric material by operation of a material cutter assembly which further comprises a blade support and a cutter track and moving the blade support being longitudinally upon the cutter track by operation of a cutter actuator.

16. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising supplying the blade support with a replaceable cutting blade.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising cutting excess width from the rolled material by operation of a plunge knife having a plunge knife blade oriented perpendicular to the cutter track.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising utilizing a standard utility knife as the replaceable cutting blade or as the plunge knife blade.

19. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising conveying the desired portion of the mesh or fabric material to a discharge tray at an end of a conveyor.

20. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pinch rollers and the conveyer are controlled by the control commands such that the conveyor moves at a first rate consistent with a second rate of dispensing of screen mesh material thereby layering the screen mesh material over a screen frame moving on the conveyor.

21. The rolled material dispenser as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the pinch rollers being linked to the conveyor such that the pinch rollers and the conveyor move at a mutually proportional rate.

22. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising unrolling the selected length of the mesh or fabric material at a rate proportional to movement of the conveyor.

23. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising controlling the conveyor such that the conveyor moves at a first rate consistent with a second rate of dispensing of screen mesh material thereby layering the screen mesh material over a screen frame moving on the conveyor.

24. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising linking the pinch rollers to the conveyor such that the pinch rollers and the conveyor move at a mutually proportional rate.

25. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising driving and computer controlling the pinch roller and the conveyor to dispense the screen mesh or fabric material at a rate consistent with driven movement of the conveyor.