CN1005768B - Forming and packaging articles of compressible foam material - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus or method for forming a product from a strip of a specified length of foam sheet material which is compressed and rolled in a cylindrical wrapper or label, the continuous sheet (12) being indexed through a traction means (22) and through a sensing means (36) to a rolling means (40), opposed foam gripping surfaces of the rolling means being relatively movable to roll and compress the cut strip of foam. Preferably, a useful pre-load is injected into the foam prior to compression and rolling.

Description

Forming and packaging of compressible foam articles

The present invention relates to the formation and packaging of compressible (substantially resilient) foam or sponge (hereinafter referred to as foam) articles.

The compression or partial compression of such articles is of course of significant benefit, since the resulting packages will be finer and thus easier to handle individually and to transport in large quantities, but just as such materials are typically of low density and thus do not cause excessive weight per batch.

The mat-like product of us 3813843 is cut and fed onto a continuous length of kraft paper and wound together into a roll, the kraft paper being spirally wound on the roll, i.e. the mat-like product is compressed between two adjacent kraft papers, which wastes kraft paper and makes it difficult to print labels on kraft paper.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate this disadvantage by providing an improved form packaging apparatus which allows to pass a compressed form roll with a wrapper or label at one time with a minimum of wrapper or label fitting to a portion of the pad-like product.

In carrying out the invention, we are particularly concerned with mats, i.e. three dimensions of the volume of space, one of which (herein referred to as "thickness") is smaller than at least one or typically the other two, and with the handling of roll packaging of such articles, i.e. thickness-over-thickness, it is desirable to compress the volume to some extent, typically the full thickness.

The resulting package is particularly easy to handle and is suitable for certain articles, the foam material of which is open-ended, pre-filled with a useful substance, typically a liquid, or other form that can be sprayed and held for some special or general purpose, e.g., cleaning, sterilization, polishing, etc. The degree of penetration and the degree of volumetric compression of the pre-load may of course be coordinated to provide a package that is more desirable in terms of size and pre-load portion.

Suitable means include a roll forming device having two opposed surfaces between which the sheet or strip of foam is fed, one of the surfaces being movable relative to the other in a desired direction of feed so that a length of sheet or strip of foam of a predetermined length can be rolled and compressed together with a label sheet as the material is transported between the surfaces from the feed to the exit, the ends of the label being joined to form a cylinder around the rolled foam. This other surface may be stationary and preferably has a greater grip on the foam than the first surface (which is typically the same). Thus, the sheet or strip of foam will slow or stop on one of the surfaces and the continued movement of the other surface of the roll forming device will continue to transport the other surface of the sheet or strip of foam forcing the predetermined length to roll into a roll having a diameter equal to the exit separation of the two opposite faces, i.e. equal to the original foam thickness at the entrance of the roll forming device, provided that the two opposite faces are substantially parallel.

It is also contemplated that in this apparatus, another means is added for compressing the foam material prior to entering the roll forming means, thereby allowing further compression of its thickness, resulting in a more compact product. To this end, one of the opposed surfaces of the roll forming device is moved relative to the other surface at the foam feed, and the other surface is provided with an inclined extension which is substantially free of gripping force on the foam material, and is compressed and reduced in thickness as the foam material is pulled into the roll forming device by one of the opposed surfaces. Another embodiment of the inclined extension is one or a row of rollers of appropriate size and position to receive the desired pre-compression when the foam is not entering the two opposing surfaces. Another generally preferred pre-compression device comprises a belt suitably pressed against the foam material and driven, preferably at about the same speed as the surface relatively moving in the roll forming device.

Any tendency of the foam pre-load to accumulate on and/or at least partially adhere to the front end of the other stationary surface of the roll forming device is avoided or at least reduced by providing, in particular, a short and localized additional compression of the foam at the entrance of the roll forming device, which additional compression is applied to the surface of the foam to be engaged with the other surface of the roll forming device, for example at the front end of the other surface of the stationary surface. The cutter may be located at the junction of the other surface and the inclined extension at the inlet or may be located after the one or more rows of rollers or driven belts, but most conveniently is located at the leading edge of the oppositely fixed surface of the roll forming device.

The predetermined length of foam sheet or strip fed to the infeed of the roll forming apparatus may be prepared by means controlled by a reciprocating cam mechanism, which may be used with a stack of such fixed length pads, or even such pads supplied by a human hand. A continuous sheet or strip of foam material may also be pulled from a roll of a convenient stored form of sheet or strip by indexing the feeder to the roll forming device and cutter station. A suitable indexing feed device includes an intermittently driven traction device having two opposed and driven surfaces for gripping two sides of a sheet or strip of foam, and more desirably a two opposed movable belt system which is driven at constant speed by a controlled electric stepper motor.

A suitable cutting station is one which utilizes a rotary cutter which can enter and leave the foam gripping device, and which is more desirably of a lightweight form, such as on an actuator arm which can rotate along a fixed drive motor. This cutting station is typically provided at or after the output of the traction feed device described above.

A suitable transport system from the cutting station to the roll forming apparatus is one that includes a means for clamping only two sides of the width of the foam, and more desirably applies a slight pressure across the width of the foam. The gripping means may be operative within the thickness of the foam material and may comprise a movable wire-like member, such as a wire, which is preferably also on an intermittent basis, in accordance with the indexing of the traction means.

It should be understood that the term "fixed length" as used herein is not intended to specify that a desired substance must be pre-impregnated, and that the pre-loading process is, of course, performed prior to the operation of the roll forming apparatus, if desired. The preloading procedure is more desirably accomplished on an intermittent cycle basis, i.e., once for each final predetermined length, because each such predetermined length is required to load a specified portion of the preload with great accuracy.

It has been found suitable to directly inject the preload into the foam by contacting the foam with a nozzle containing the injectate or inserting the injectate into the foam. The uniformity of the quantity and distribution of the pre-load injected for each predetermined length of foam is obviously important for quality control of the final product and therefore in addition to time-dependent injection (pre-load hydraulic pressure and nozzle effective size are two other control parameters), it is considered preferable to apply a positive pressure and metered injection, such as by pressing the contents of a predetermined volume of cylinder into a head with a piston cylinder which is operated once for each predetermined length, preferably (but not necessarily) after or as the foam is cut. It is further believed desirable to utilize more nozzles, i.e., more than four, and twelve such nozzles are quite suitable for a given length of ninety millimeters by two hundred millimeters during an actual operation. Such nozzles can be provided on average on a head of a size approximately corresponding to the length of the foam sheet or strip described above, and more desirably protrude from the head and are inserted into the thickness of the foam during actual injection.

The injection station may be located before or after the cutting station described above, and most conveniently both stations are operated simultaneously so that the cut may begin at or just after the injection, although it is generally accepted that it takes a period of time for the injectate to diffuse within the foam material just after the injection is completed. In one embodiment, the foam is defined between injection and cutting, and can be considered as the same distance between the two stations as the defined length. The two devices are of course at least in the region of the lower movable belt of the traction device.

Before considering the label feed system, we first go back to the topic of the above-described supply of foam sheet from a continuous roll stock. It is of course obvious that the roll stock is preferably supplied in an uncompressed nominal thickness of the foam sheet to avoid slicing, preferably much wider than is required for the final finished product, and that the cutting process can be conveniently performed to the desired width, also when the foam is taken off the reel, i.e. only the desired width is fed out. The same applies to the fact that the entire width of the reel, i.e. the cut-out width of the desired length, is continuously operated with a length of the cut-out length being joined end to end, or the desired material width is simultaneously formed across the width of the reel and fed in parallel through the cutting injection and reel forming stations at a trimming station having a plurality of cutters. One suitable 35 mm thick foam sheet spool is two meters wide and sixty meters long, i.e., a defined length of units that can provide at least six thousand five hundred pieces of about ninety millimeters by two hundred millimeters dimensions.

As far as the labels and label feed are concerned, these may also be fed in a continuous connection, the nip between the sheet of foam material fed and one surface of the roll forming device (relatively moving) being preferably generally at a position after cutting at the or each prepared length, which position ensures that the label tail overlaps the or each rolled foam length, i.e. extends over the remaining length of the sheet of foam material, which is shorter than the label length. It is particularly desirable that the labels be taken from a continuous stack that may be folded to avoid large inertia in the form of a rotating spool or other spool or spools with unwind feed that remove tension and inertia effects behind the feed station.

When the foam roll is formed, each label is conveniently applied with an adhesive, preferably a suitable adhesive, which is not too strong to allow the user to peel off. In practice, labels with backing paper that are sized are peeled off, and the result is not very suitable from that point of view, at least except for labels that have adhesive only locally on both ends.

The provision of a label peeling station to remove the unusable liner may be advantageously replaced by providing adhesive application and label cutting while being passed from the desired stack to the roll former. Such application can be readily accomplished by using an intermittently operated applicator with a strip or series of spaced adhesive dots which are relatively easily arranged to provide a weaker adhesive force to the foam, e.g., with fewer adhesive dots, than between the overlapping end portions of the label, e.g., with more adhesive dots, preferably sufficient to form a more or less continuous strip at the overlapping portion of the other end of the label.

Still further, it would be desirable to provide means for assisting in the removal of the label from the rolled foam article to which it is attached, by means of a tear line incorporated into the adhesive at or near the end of the label which is adhered to the foam or sponge material prior to roll forming, or more simply, by adding a tear aid to the label near their ends but in the inward portion of the adhesive. Suitable tear aids may be perforation lines or, more simply, short edge notches. In a supply label system, a movable placement label plate has labels therein, adhesive is applied to the labels as the label plate is held against the foam material between the cutting station and the roll forming apparatus to apply the labels to or behind the leading end of the cut foam material in the length direction, and the adhesive is applied to the labels behind the trailing end of the cut foam material, after which another label is fed to the placement plate.

Another possible label feed conveyor system includes a pull roller or roll serving as a label sheet feed means, a suction table beneath the driven perforated belt or web, a screen or like material for receiving product from the pull roller and supporting at least during operation of the adhesive applying means, and a guide for guiding labels from the suction table/driven belt means to the nip between one surface of the roll forming means and the rolled foam/sponge material, such that the labels are not severed at the suction table/driven belt means, the guide providing support for severing the labels.

Each of the above-described features, including its structural components, contributes significantly to the efficient operation of the labeled rolled foam article. Furthermore, it is also acceptable to employ various unilateral features of the various devices in the present invention, or features in terms of composition or combination of the manufacturing processes, to provide the label-rolled product itself with one or more novel rich features.

Thus, for the manufacturing process, at least the following characteristics are included:

(a) Cutting and shaping from the foam material roll.

(B) The preload is evenly injected therein over the entire length area of the foam product.

(C) The foam sheet is pre-compressed prior to roll forming.

(D) The conveyance of the glued edges of the cut length of foam material.

(E) Labels are formed from a continuous sheet.

(F) Glue is applied to the adjacent portions of the label ends.

(G) An assisted tear open device is provided.

For product characteristics, at least the following characteristics are included:

(h) Features formed by (b)

(I) Features formed by (c)

(J) The specific application of these features due to the features formed in (g) will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, together with the following description

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the overall view of the present apparatus for producing a labeled rolled foam/sponge article;

FIG. 1A shows a different label feeder;

FIG. 2 shows the removal and trimming of another foam material;

Figures 3 and 4 show the injection of the pre-load in more detail;

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the pre-compression of another foam sheet;

FIG. 7 shows a foam sheet cut to product length;

Fig. 8 and 9 show in more detail the cut/adhesive applicator/tear-assist apparatus of the label

FIG. 10 shows a more detailed view of a preferred labeled rolled foam product;

FIGS. 11 and 11A show the foam material feeding apparatus before rolling in more detail;

FIGS. 12, 12A and 12B show a cut strip foam material clamped edge feeder;

FIG. 13 shows another label cutting/adhesive application system;

FIGS. 14A and 14B show in more detail the severing of the foam, and

Fig. 15 shows a cross-sectional view of the retractor apparatus.

It is to be understood that the drawings are designed solely for the purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a roll 10 of sheet-like foam or sponge stock 12 and a trimming device 14, for example, having a circular driven blade 16 on a rotating arm 18 for providing a foam or sponge stock of a predetermined width, in combination. The reel carriers (not shown) are not in the plane of the drawing but between the fed trim material from the reels, which are joined end to end. Furthermore, a continuous unwind drive may be applied during each cut, giving an arc, typically formed before entry 20 into the retractor transporter 22.

Figure 2 shows another arrangement in which there is a row of cutters 116 arranged equidistantly on a roller 118 (the equidistant separation being determined by the desired width of the foam strip), a cushion roller 114 is provided for drawing the whole foam blank from its roller and trimming it on a trimming station 112, the trimming station 112 having slits which coincide with the cutters 116. The retractor transport means to be taught is of course operable simultaneously with other stations and means for foam strips, i.e. for parallel twenty ninety millimeter wide strips of foam from a two meter wide spool.

As shown in the drawings, the retractor device 22 includes two oppositely facing moving surfaces 24 and 26 for gripping the two sides of the sheet 12, i.e., the upper and lower sides, the surfaces 24 and 26 being of endless belt system with guide or drive rollers 24A,24B and 26A,26B at opposite ends, although the drive portion could be intermediate the belts if desired. In any event, the drive is intermittent according to the length of desired predetermined sheet material 12. The drive system using an electric stepper motor has been found to be particularly effective or a control system that uses optical sensing of the holes in the disk that rotate with an idler roller or rollers.

The sheet exiting the retractor assembly 22 generally passes between upstanding side guides 32 on a carrier platform 30, through a spray preloading station 34 and a cutting station 36, and finally to a roll forming assembly 40.

Fig. 11 shows a different retractor device with the underlying drive belt system tensioner 26A extending below the bottom of a spraying/cutting platform 30A and passing over and beyond this platform 30A. Fig. 11A shows a chain drive system 28 which is directed to the sprockets on the rolls 24B and 26B via a drive wheel 28B and a tensioner 29T, and also with reference to fig. 5, the system includes a drive wheel 29D coaxial with the roll 26B, the sprocket on the other end of the shaft 26B being linked to the chain 29 and having the chain in a groove in the bottom bracket member 120B with the tensioner 29T, and two such members 120A and 120B forming two sides of a rectangular bottom bracket.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, a preferred injection station 34 includes a head 42 having a plurality of outlets or nozzles 44 disposed in the foam sheet 12 so that a layer of preload is evenly sprayed onto the sheet 12 during operation of a piston cylinder 46,48, and is supplied into the piston cylinders 46,48 through inlet 50. With ninety millimeter wide foam sheets 12, we have found that more than four such outlets or nozzles 44 are required, with ten or twelve being actually applied along the foam sheet feed direction, and two or more rows of nozzles 44 being actually applied across the foam sheet feed direction. The protruding nozzle 44 should be able to enter the thickness of the foam material before the injection starts.

Referring to fig. 7 and 14A and 14B, a preferred severing station 36 includes a rotary blade 52 having a drive motor 56 for pivoting a limb 54, and a drive transmission 58 along the limb 54 toward the blade 52, and a telescoping ram 53 for pivoting the limb 54. Fig. 14A and 14B also show the roller 55 and slot 57 guidance system.

The roll forming device 40 has opposed surfaces 60 and 62, wherein 60 is movable relative to 62 in the direction of feeding of the foam sheet 12, as shown, surface 60 is movable and surface 62 is stationary. The surface 60 is clamped against the sheet for traction purposes and is guided or driven by rollers 63A and 63B at both ends or driven centrally, typically continuously. Surface 62 is shown as a piece of rubber or other material to ensure that a sufficient grip is provided to stop the surface of the foam sheet in contact therewith (actually the upper side as shown), surface 62 is of the same or similar material as other surface 60, and surface 60 is used to force the rolling up of the foam sheet.

The action of the roll forming device 40 involves applying a significant compressive force to the incoming foam sheet 12. As noted above, we have found that to achieve the same uniformity and/or maximum viable compressibility (and minimum actual diameter of the final product) there is a great relationship between the pre-pressurization of the foam sheet 12 as it enters the roll forming device 40. This may be accomplished by adding an inclined guide plate 64 (see fig. 1) to the surface 62 at the feed end of the apparatus 40, on the pair of extensions of the surface 60 from the surface 62, or an array of rollers 65 as shown in fig. 5, or a driven system 65A as shown in fig. 6 (belt speed is synchronized with the moving surface 60).

After the end guide plate 64, or roller 65, or belt 65A of the surface 62, there is shown a relatively steeply inclined and convex correction blade 66, which in effect provides a backing layer 68 of the surface 62, the convex of the blade 66 providing a localized re-pressurization of the foam Zhang Kuai prior to clamping by the surface 62 and avoiding or reducing the build-up of a blocking preload on the backing side of the surface 62. This re-pressurization provided by a localized cutter is desirable because the cutter is specifically made adjustable, but a bead at the end of the guide plate 64 can be utilized if desired.

Between the various feeding actions of the traction device 22, the injection station 34 and the cutting station 36 operate, i.e. with respect to the foam sheet 12 resting on the carrying platform 30 or 30A, which has substantially no grip on the foam sheet, so that the sheet 12 is easily pushed by the traction device 22. More desirably, however, between stations 34 and 36 and roll forming device 40, a traction device is provided which selects the endless ropes of endless filamentary members 100A and 100B for edge-on, with reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B, which hold the cut strip of foam with a slight transverse tension, and which operate intermittently in steps at approximately the same speed as the active surface of traction device 22. The foam material of cords 100A and 100B is immediately and rotatably assisted by idler roller 102 and driven from drive wheel 104, looped over rollers 106A and 106B and around an idler roller 108. The lateral compression of the strip of foam between the cords, say the cords being pressed into the foam strip as deep as three millimeters, is sufficient to firmly secure the strip without any further edge guidance.

Returning to the topic of the roll-forming device 40, it will be readily appreciated that the outer diameter of the rolled product will correspond to the outlet dimensions of the surfaces 60 and 62, i.e. the leftmost end of the device in fig. 1. As illustrated, this diameter corresponds to the size of the guide plate 64 that is pre-compressed to the foam sheet 12, i.e., includes a number of such re-compressions corresponding to the number of superimposed sheet layers in the resulting rolled product. To meet the quality control requirements for uniform pressurization of the full roll length, surfaces 60 and 62 are preferably diverging in the roll forming direction, i.e., surface 62 is inclined relative to surface 60 so that the outlet end has a greater separation dimension than the connection end of surface 62 and feed guide plate 64.

In any event, it will be readily appreciated that a cut-to-length label for the end product, at some point prior to the full length of foam Zhang Kuai 12 being pulled in, should be fed to the entrance end of the roll forming device 40, i.e., when the length that has not been pulled in is greater than the cut label length.

The label stock 70 is stored in a folded configuration within a box 72, and the label itself is preferably provided with indicia indicating the length of the label, a pair of upper rollers 74 and 76 for pulling the label from the box 72, at least one of which is driven, and the continuous fan-folded label is unrolled and pulled in a generally conventional manner, including other such conventional fan-folded sheet dispensing methods, such as those employed in computer printers.

According to FIG. 1A, another label feeding method is to form a loop from a reel 70R through a continuously driven roller 73 in front of rollers 74 'and 76', the reel 70R itself can also be driven simultaneously, while another loop is formed in front of the roller 73

From the rollers 74 and 76, the label stock reaches a belt conveyor 78 having fine holes in a surface thereof, and passes through a so-called vacuum table 80, which table 80 applies suction to cause the label stock sheet to rest on the belt conveyor 78.

At least at the exit of the conveyor 78, the label stock is obviously to be cut to the desired length, and it is believed that it is also necessary at this time to apply adhesive to both ends of the cut label, either by brush application or by an adhesive supply nozzle that reciprocates transversely of the width of the label stock, preferably in a combination of cutting and applying adhesive. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a head 82 has a transversely extending cutter 84 with two rows of adhesive dispensing nozzles 86 and 88 on opposite sides thereof for spraying adhesive onto the adjacent leading and trailing ends of each label.

The nozzles 88 for the tail end portion of the label are more densely packed than the nozzles 86 for the head end portion of the label, and desirably, the adhesive dots from the former, but not from the latter, will be spread over the overlap where the two ends of the label are joined together to form a closed loop, which results in a stronger bond between the overlap of the tail end portion of the label than between the head end portion of the label and the foam sheet 12.

It has been found that this allows for easier removal of the label because the stronger and more continuous adhesive forms a stiffer strip at the end portions of the overlapped label, which is relatively loosely attached to the foam sheet product, and thus the label is more easily held and torn off by the user at one end. A further aid is to use a breach in the label inside of the adhesive application, which has been performed by a shorter cutter 90 at the cut/adhesive application head 82.

Another method of assisting in the tearing of the label is of course to apply a thread to the adhesive on the front edge of the label.

The severed label is fed from the conveyor 78/suction station 80 past a guide plate and then into a nip between the surface 60 of the roll forming device 40 and where the foam sheet 12 exits the carrier station 30, the pre-compression of the guide plate 64 also assisting in the picking up of the label at that nip.

Fig. 1 shows a collection box 94 for labeled rolled product exiting the apparatus 40, but any other product handling system may be used.

With respect to the label stock 70, they are assumed to have been printed prior to application, but the apparatus of the system may also include a printing station that is printed onto the blank folded or rolled label stock.

According to the pre-compression of the roller method of fig. 5, all rollers concerned are preferably, or at least the roller nearest the bottom 68, preferably as small in diameter as possible, and are driven, at least when the non-impregnated sponge is rolled up and packed, rather than idling. In practice a belt system is useful, as shown in figure 6, in which the belt 65A (which may be toothed) and the carrier plate 65S cooperate, which system also handles some rounded-edge/side sponges by pressing them into a hemispherical shape.

Fig. 13 shows another label feed system where the blanks are brought from a reel, through a guide system 110, to feed rollers 74 'and 76', and then onto a platen 111 that swings under the strip of foam in the rope conveyor system of fig. 12, while a ram 112 and flick spring 113 are used to secure the label blanks on the platen 111. The adhesive nozzles 114 of a row are preferably controlled in time to supply drops of hot and melted adhesive to the labels between lengths of the strip of foam material, with time control being effected by the sensors for sensing the front SEF and rear subF end edges of the strip of foam material, the label end SEL, the label length SLL and the label address SRL.

One suitable operation for directing the label includes driving the label stock toward the plate 111, sensing the front edge of the strip of foam for controlling lowering and operating the adhesive dispensing device A to dispense adhesive onto the front portion of the label, sensing the rear edge of the strip of foam and raising the label plate to the strip of foam so that the front edge of the label is applied to the strip of foam, sensing the rear end of the label, and again operating the adhesive dispensing device before the next label is directed onto the plate 111.

A load bearing bracket system for the entire apparatus may include the base bracket 120 described above, and a shorter top cover bracket portion 122 on the retractor means, bearings/brackets (B) on both for securing the roller/drive axle, and edge directors 32 for the foam material prior to the cable transport system 100.

Claims (16)

1. An apparatus for forming and packaging resilient and compressible foam (12) products, comprising first means (22) for feeding a mat-like foam product having a dimension (thickness) smaller than the other two dimensions, and second means comprising a roll forming means (40) for continuously positioning the mat-like products between opposed surfaces (60, 62) of a roll forming mechanism, one of the opposed surfaces being movable relative to the other in a desired direction of conveyance, whereby the mat-like products are rolled and compacted layer by layer as they are conveyed between the surfaces from an inlet to an outlet, the invention being characterized by further comprising feeding means (74, 76) for engaging the respective wrapper or label with the respective mat-like product, engaging the leading edge portion of the wrapper or label with the trailing edge portion of the respective mat-like product, whereby the respective wrapper or label is carried by the respective mat-like product as it is conveyed by the roll forming means, whereby the roll-like product and compression effect produces a rolled mat-like product which is wrapped around its wrapped around the wrapped or packaged label.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of the opposed faces is adapted to provide a gripping engagement with one of the opposed major faces of the foam, and the wrapper or label is pre-attached at or near the rear end of the foam.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the opposed surfaces are progressively spaced apart to provide a rolled article diameter at least slightly greater than the thickness of the foam material prior to entering the opposed surfaces.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for pre-compressing the foam material from its normal thickness at or before the foam material enters between the opposed surfaces.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the pre-pressing means comprises roller means.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising means for injecting a preload into the foam prior to preloading.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising means for briefly and locally recompressing the foam material prior to entry into the roll forming means.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the means just mentioned comprises a modified cutter on or near the fixed surface of said opposed surfaces.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first means comprises a traction means, the opposite surfaces of which are intermittently driven for continuous transport of the foam blank on an indexing basis, and a severing means for severing the foam blank into strips in response to said indexing and rolling it up with said wrapper or label

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the severing means comprises a rotatable blade means which is a indexing chamber for said pulling means.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising a means for transporting the cut foam strip from the cutting means to the rolling means, the means for transporting comprising an edge engaging means which is foam.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the edge engaging means comprises a driven rope in which the foam strip is lightly pressed along its width.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a wrapper or label carrying means including means for applying a row of individual drops of adhesive at or near the end of each wrapper or label.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the adhesive applying means is for applying more drops of adhesive to the rear end of the wrapper or label so that they are sufficiently closely aligned to assist in the tearing of the product.

15. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the wrapper or label attachment means comprises an indexing feed means for the web, an attachment plate movable towards and away from the foam material on which the wrapper or label is attached, and a cutting means for cutting labels from a continuous web at the attachment plate.

16. A method of forming and packaging a mat-like product of a resilient and compressible foam material having one dimension (thickness) less than the other two dimensions into a roll, the method of the invention comprising the steps of:

(a) Feeding the mat-like product to an inlet location of a roll forming device (40);

(b) Rolling and compressing the mat-like product layer by layer between opposite surfaces (60, 62) of the roll forming means, one of the surfaces being movable relative to the other in the feed direction to transport the product from the inlet to the outlet;

The invention is characterized in that:

(c) The wrapper or label is engaged with each of the pad-like products, and the leading edge portion of the wrapper is engaged with the trailing edge portion of each of the pad-like products prior to feeding and rolling and compressing each of the pad-like products, and then the pad-like products are rolled and compressed with the wrapper or label to provide a compressed rolled pad-like product in a cartridge formed from the wrapper or label surrounding the rolled product.

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