Tape splicing system

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6325324
  • Patent Number
    6,325,324
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, September 16, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 4, 2001
    22 years ago
Abstract
An automatic tape splicer includes a block of metal that has a channel journalled into it to receive tape from first and second rolls. Adjacent to and protruding into the channel are first and second pinch rollers. Each roll of tape to be spliced includes a leading end and a trailing end. The leading end includes a portion having adhesive applied to one side which may be covered by release paper. The trailing end includes a reinforced portion which is thicker than the normal thickness of the tape. The channel is dimensioned such that the pinch rollers will press the trailing end of the tape against an adhesive-exposed leading end of the second roll of tape, splicing the two rolls together as the trailing end feeds through the channel engaging the sticky leading end of the second roll.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The following invention relates to a system for splicing rolls of reinforcing tape together and more particularly to a continuous dispensing system for tape which permits uninterrupted operation in which the splicing of one roll of tape onto another occurs automatically.




Modern packaging frequently requires the use of reinforcing tape or tear tape to maintain the structural integrity of boxes, packages and/or containers. Such tape is fed out from a roll mounted on a spool or spindle in a continuous fashion. One problem in the industry is that the feed out of tape must be interrupted when a roll is depleted and a new roll must be inserted. In the past systems have been proposed that permit the uninterrupted dispensing of tape by fashioning a splice between the trailing end of one roll of tape and the leading end of another.




An example of a splicing system of this type may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,327 entitled TAPE DISPENSER. In this patent, the leading end of a roll of tape includes a loop element which mates cooperatively with a pin element at the trailing end of a second roll. The problem with this type of system is that the pin and loop combination creates an undesirable bulge in the tape at the splice point. It also introduces a foreign object, the pin, into the packaging to which the tape is applied. Other disadvantages of the pin and loop system are that the loop must be tied with a knot which can be either too tight or too loose. Additionally, there is the potential for an operator to get a finger caught or get cut by the running tape while making the splice.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention provides an automatic tape splicer that avoids the aforementioned problems. The splicer is a block of metal that has a channel journalled into it to receive tape from first and second rolls. Adjacent to and protruding into the channel are first and second pinch rollers. Each roll of tape includes a leading end and a trailing end. The leading end includes a portion having adhesive applied to one side which may be covered by release paper. The trailing end includes a reinforced portion which is thicker than the normal thickness of the tape. The channel is dimensioned such that the pinch rollers will press the trailing end of the tape against an adhesive-exposed leading end of the second roll of tape, splicing the two rolls together as the trailing end feeds through the channel engaging the sticky leading end of the second roll. Otherwise the channel is wide enough for one roll of tape to feed through unimpeded while a new roll is being set up. The splicer also includes a pair of guide rollers for feeding each roll of tape into the channel




To prepare the new roll for splicing, release paper is peeled off of the leading end of the new roll exposing an adhesive surface. This end is threaded into the channel. Next, the tape from the new roll is tacked down onto the guide roller to hold it in place temporarily. The splice will occur automatically when the thick trailing end of the first roll enters the channel and is pressed onto the exposed adhesive of the second roll by the pinch rollers.




The splicer of the invention may be provided as a retrofit device for an existing tape feed machine. The splicer is mounted on brackets that attach to fixtures such as support members or metal framing. The brackets have adjustment features that permit adjustment in both horizontal and vertical directions so that the splicer may be conveniently located between the rolls holding the tape rolls and the input to the tape feed machine.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a side view of the splicer of the invention mounted to a frame feeding tape into a dispensing machine.





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of leading and trailing ends, respectively of first and second rolls of tape.





FIG. 3

is a partial side view of the splicer of

FIG. 1

illustrating its operation just prior to a splice.





FIG. 4

is a partial side view of the splicer of

FIG. 1

illustrating its operation as the thickened trailing end of the first roll engages the adhesive leading edge of the second roll.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




A tape dispensing machine


10


includes a frame


12


supporting guide rollers


14


,


16


,


18


and


20


. A tensioning arm


22


adjusts the tension on tape


24


which has been completely fed out from a roll


26


. The tape roll


26


is mounted on a spindle


28


which is in turn mounted on a vertical post


30


, part of the frame


12


. The tape dispensing machine


10


feeds out the tape for the application required and the particular form of this machine is not important for the purposes of this invention. The tape


24


may be any type of tape conventionally used in the packaging industry, such as corrugated reinforcing tape. The invention will work with other kinds of tape as well.




A splicer mechanism


32


is affixed to the fixture's vertical post


30


by a bracket arm


34


. The bracket arm


34


has an adjustable clamp


36


which may be loosened to slide the whole assembly up or down the post thereby providing a vertical adjustment. The splicer mechanism


32


is mounted on a pin


37


that protrudes in a horizontal direction from a slidable bracket


39


. The pin


37


may be an elongate member to provide a wide degree of lateral adjustment. A pair of pressure bolts


41




a


and


41




b


clamp the bracket


39


to the arm


34


. The splicer


32


is clamped onto the pin


37


by a bolt


38


which pinches a keyway


40


to hold the splicer


32


at the desired angular orientation for proper feeding of the tape. Thus, the splicer


32


is adjustable in four degrees of freedom, vertically, horizontally, rotationally (about the pin) and horizontally (back and forth) on the pin itself.




The tape


24


shown in

FIG. 1

is depicted as having run off of its roll


26


. The trailing end


44


of the tape


24


has a reinforced portion


46


shown in more detail in FIG.


2


. The reinforced portion


46


is made by wrapping the end of the tape around a piece of cardboard or plastic


48


. This makes the end portion


46


thicker than the tape as it comes off of the roll. Also shown in

FIG. 2

is the leading end


50


of the tape


52


. The tape


52


is shown in

FIG. 1

as unrolling from a second roll of tape


54


mounted on a roll


56


. The leading end


50


of the tape


52


has an adhesive applied to one side


58


. The adhesive is covered by contact paper


60


which can be peeled away to expose the adhesive. The tape


52


has a short paper leader


53


. The leader


53


is held onto the tape


52


by an adhesive. A grommet


55


is placed in the leader


53


. The hole formed by the grommet


55


is placed over a pin


31


on the splicer


32


to hold the tape in preparation for splicing. A mirror image pin


31


a is mounted on the opposite side of the splicer


32


because during the next splice, the leader will enter on the opposite side. It should be noted that both rolls of tape


26


and


54


have both leading and trailing ends as shown in FIG.


2


.




The splicer


32


and its operation are shown more fully in

FIGS. 3 and 4

. The splicer


32


is comprised of a metal block


62


having a wide, beveled center groove or channel


64


that receives tape from both rolls


54


and


26


as will be explained herein. Adjacent to and protruding slightly into the channel


64


at its narrowest point are pinch rollers


66


and


68


. Pinch roller


68


is adjustable laterally to properly dimension the narrow neck of the channel. Below the channel


64


are a pair of guide rollers


70


and


72


which align tape from the respective rolls for proper feeding into the channel


64


. The channel


64


and the pinch roller


66


and


68


may be covered by a transparent plastic or glass face plate (not shown) to insure that the tape does not slip out during operation. The guide rollers


70


and


72


are supported by struts


74


and


76


.





FIGS. 3 and 4

show actual operation of the device. In

FIG. 3

the tape


24


from roll


26


is depleted and the trailing end


44


of the tape is about to enter the channel


64


. The leading end of the tape


52


is inserted into the channel


64


by the leader portion


53


with the contact paper


60


removed thus exposing the adhesive


58


inside the channel


64


to the tape


24


that is feeding through the splicer


32


. The grommet


55


is placed over the pin


31


a and the tape


52


is tacked down to the guide roller


72


to hold it in place temporarily. At this point the channel


64


is too wide for the adhesive portion


58


to make effective contact with the tape


24


.





FIG. 4

shows the operation of the splicer


32


when the trailing end


44


of the tape


24


enters the channel


64


. The channel


64


and in particular, the narrow clearance between pinch rollers


66


and


68


is such that the pinch rollers


66


and


68


will press the adhesive portion


58


against the reinforced thickened portion


46


of the tape


24


. The narrowest distance between the pinch rollers


66


and


68


is slightly less than the combined thicknesses of the leading end


50


of the tape


52


and the trailing end


44


of the tape


24


. The pinch rollers


66


and


68


are thus dimensioned so that they will pinch the combined thicknesses of the tape portions


58


and


46


together thereby splicing together the two rolls of tape


54


and


26


. As the tape splice is pulled through, the leader


53


tears off of the leading end


50


of the new tape roll. This operation is accomplished automatically as the trailing end of a first roll of tape feeds through the splicer


32


in which a second roll of tape has been set up as described above. The channel is wide enough to permit unimpeded feeding of tape until the thickened trailing end enters the channel, so while the first roll is feeding through, the next roll may be prepared.




With the mounting brackets of the invention the splicer


32


may be retrofitted to a wide variety of tape dispensing machines, it being necessary only to properly align the tape for feeding into the machine.




The tape rolls themselves may be prepared in any number of ways, it being necessary only to provide an end having adhesive applied to at least one side and a slightly thicker trailing end that will engage the adhesive once inside the splicer. The use of cardboard as a reinforcing and thickening material is not the only way the trailing end of the tape may be made thicker. Other materials such as plastic may be used, or multiple folds of the tape itself may provide the necessary thickness.



Claims
  • 1. Apparatus for splicing tape comprising:(a) first and second rolls of tape, each including a leading end and a trailing end, the leading end including a portion having a adhesive and the trailing end having a reinforced portion of enhanced thickness, (b) said first roll being mounted on a first spindle, (c) said second roll being mounted on a second spindle; (d) a splicer adapted to receive tape from both said first and second rolls of tape, said splicer including a pair of pinch rollers positioned a predetermined distance apart establishing a channel, tape from said first roll being threaded though said channel, and said leading end of said second roll being threaded though said channel so as to expose said portion having said adhesive within the channel, the channel being dimensioned such that when said reinforced portion of said second roll enters said channel, the pinch rollers press said reinforced portion against said adhesive portion thereby splicing tape from said second roll onto tape from said first roll.
  • 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said splicer is mounted so as to feed tape from said first and second rolls into a tape dispenser.
  • 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said splicer includes a pair of guide rollers, one each of said guide rollers positioned to receive tape from a respective one of said first and second rolls and guide said tape into said channel.
  • 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said splicer comprises a block having mounting brackets for adjustable mounting to a fixture.
  • 5. The apparatus of claim 4 including a mounting apparatus which supports said block and allows the location of said block to be adjusted in vertical and horizontal directions.
  • 6. In combination, a tape dispensing machine, a tape splicer, and first and second rolls of tape, each of said rolls having a leading end and a trailing end, the leading end of each roll having an adhesive portion and the trailing end of each roll having a reinforced portion of enhanced thickness, said tape splicer having a pinch mechanism for pinching said leading end of said first roll of tape against said trailing end of said second roll of tape thereby splicing said first and second rolls of tape together.
  • 7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said tape splicer comprises a block having a channel journalled therein, a pair of pinch rollers adjacent to and protruding into the channel, the spacing between the pinch rollers being slightly less than the combined thicknesses of the leading end of the first roll of tape and the trailing end of the second role of tape.
  • 8. A tape splicer for splicing together first and second rolls of tape comprising a block having a channel for permitting tape to feed through, a pair of pinch rollers adjacent to and protruding into the channel and spaced a predetermined distance apart, and a pair of guide rollers for guiding tape from said first and second rolls of tape into the splicer.
  • 9. The tape splicer of claim 8 further including a bracket comprising an arm which supports said block, the arm having a clamp which is slidably connected to a vertical post for providing vertical adjustment of said block.
  • 10. The splicer of claim 9 wherein said arm includes a pin slidably disposable within an aperture in said block and bolt means for tightening said block onto said pin.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
3072354 Guiles et al. Jan 1963
3349981 Hawkins et al. Oct 1967
3645463 Helm Feb 1972
4262855 Haag Apr 1981
4917327 Asbury, Jr. et al. Apr 1990
5029768 Asbury, Jr. et al. Jul 1991
5323981 Dionne Jun 1994
5853141 Heiber et al. Dec 1998