HK1028010A - Slitter rewinder machine for producing reels of weblike material and associated method - Google Patents

Description

Cutting rewinder for producing reels of weblike material and method for implementing same

The present invention relates to a machine for producing rolls of web material, such as paper, tissue paper, nonwoven material and the like.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a machine for simultaneously producing a plurality of logs on a corresponding plurality of tubular winding cores, axially aligned and placed on winding carriages formed by a rotating-axis drum.

The invention also relates to a method for producing a plurality of rolls of web-material wound on a tubular winding core.

In the paper industry, rolls of relatively large diameter must often be produced, which are wound on tubular winding cores. This need arises, for example, when processing rolls for toilet paper, paper towels and similar industrial applications or public facilities, that is to say where a roll containing a large amount of paper web is required.

There are many different types of machines, which have been designed to produce these rolls; in these machines, one or more tubular winding cores are located on a carriage formed by two rotating winding rollers. GB-a-2,050,317 discloses a machine for producing logs on tubular winding cores in one go. The winding core is placed on a lateral chuck which positions the winding core on the winding cradle (on which the length of adhesive tape has been used) at the beginning of the winding cycle.

A similar machine is shown in US-A-4,456,190.

US-A-3,727,854 discloses A machine in which the winding cores are inserted sequentially into the winding cradle by means of A chain-like lifting device and A pivotable insertion device.

In many cases, two or more winding cores are arranged in axial alignment on the winding cradle. The web material is then cut in the longitudinal direction leading to the winding roller. The result is that two or more logs can be wound simultaneously in parallel, which makes it possible to wind logs of considerable diameter and to wind logs of the desired production axial dimension equivalent to the final dimension, thus avoiding the need for post-winding cutting. The machine is manufactured by Jagenberg Aktiengesellschaft, Dusseldorf, Germany, under the machine name "Vari-Dur".

Other machines for simultaneously producing windings on two or more axially aligned tubular winding cores are disclosed in japanese utility model applications JP-54-4806 and US-A-4,157,794.

In these machines, the tubular winding cores to be wound are fed along the axial dimension.

The manufacturing machine, belonging to the owner of the present invention and named "Rodumat", also has a cutting station, in which a tube made of wood or cardboard or of other suitable material is cut into a plurality of tubular winding cores of reduced length, which are then inserted into winding carriages. In this machine, a mandrel is inserted into the bobbin of the cutting station as a support for the cutting tool, after which, inside the tubular winding core produced by cutting the bobbin, the mandrel is inserted into the winding zone in order to form a reel of weblike material. After winding is complete, the mandrel is withdrawn and sent through a recycling channel to a cutting station. These machines must therefore have a large number of spindles, two systems for insertion and withdrawal of the spindles at two different points of the machine and a spindle circulation channel.

The object of the present invention is to provide a rewinding machine for producing a large number of logs on axially aligned winding cores, which is highly compact and efficient.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a rewinder that also comprises means for accurately and efficiently cutting the bobbins to produce tubular winding cores of the desired winding length, in line with the feeding means of the weblike material.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine which makes it possible to vary the length of the individual tubular cores rapidly and flexibly to suit the needs of the product.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following, are achieved by a rewinding machine for producing web material, of the type comprising a pair of winding rollers, a feeding device, a severing device, an insertion device and a cutting station; the winding rollers define winding cradles towards which the feeding devices feed the web material, the severing devices cut longitudinally said web material, and the insertion devices insert a plurality of axially aligned tubular winding cores into said winding cradles. The cutting station, upstream of the winding rollers, has tools which divide a bobbin of great length into a plurality of tubular winding cores of a given length, at right angles to its axis.

According to the invention, it is characterized in that the cutting station comprises a mandrel and means for inserting the mandrel into the tube to be cut, which withdraw the mandrel from the tubular winding cores obtained by separating said tubes, before the latter are removed from the cutting station.

The machine with all the advantages of this rewinder, by means of the axially inserted mandrel, the bobbin is cut off immediately upstream of the winding area, but the drawback of having to withdraw the mandrel at the end of the winding process and move the withdrawn mandrel from the ejection station to the cutting station is eliminated.

Hereinafter, for the sake of clarity, the term "bobbin" denotes the tubular core before it is split in a direction perpendicular to its axis, while the term "tubular core" will mean the winding core obtained after slitting the bobbin.

Furthermore, it should be understood that the severing of the bobbin in the cutting station may be simply the creation of a physically separate tubular winding core or in the form of other perforations. This is done by making a series of circular holes or cuts on the bobbin in a plane at right angles to the axis, and then, after the web material has been wound on the tubular winding cores, the latter are separated individually. In this way, the bobbins are transferred from the cutting station to the winding cradle with a series of cuts or perforations which divide the bobbins into given lengths, each length of bobbin then becoming a respective tubular winding core when these cuts are broken into perforations. In the following, the term "cutting" generally means the action of dividing the bobbin into a series of given lengths, at any stage of the manufacturing process, so as to be a series of tubular winding cores. The term "tubular core" is used to indicate bobbins of various lengths divided by bobbins, joined together simply by a cut line or perforation defined even if these fixed-length bobbins are not separated from each other.

Further advantages of the machine or method according to the invention are pointed out in the appended claims and will be described in detail with reference to examples of specific embodiments.

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the figure:

figure 1 shows a side view illustration of a machine according to the invention; and

figure 2 shows a plan view of the cut-off zone of the tubular winding core.

With reference to the initial figure 1, the machine comprises a pair of parallel-axis winding rollers 1 and 3, arranged side by side to form a winding cradle 5. A third roller 9 is mounted on the winding carriage 5, the roller 9 being vertically displaceable as indicated by the arrow f 9. These three rollers 1, 3, 9 form a winding space in which a roll of web-like material is formed around a tubular winding core a, which is inserted into the winding cradle 5, if necessary, in a manner described later.

The web material N is fed under a nip 11 defined by two winding rollers 1, 3. Along the path of the web material is a spreader roller 13 and a series of cutting knives 14, the cutting knives 14 cooperating with annular grooves formed on the winding roller 1 to cut the web material N into strips which are narrower than the overall width of the web material N. On the side of the rollers 1, 3 is an ejection flap 15, onto which the wound roll is discharged.

In fig. 1, a series of completed rolls, axially aligned and ready to be ejected, is indicated by R1. The roll R1 is moved from the winding cradle 5 to the ejection shutter 15 by means of a pivotable arm 17, the arm 17 being articulated to the machine at 19, the pivoting of the arm being controlled by a piston/cylinder actuator 18. The pivoting arm 17 is equipped at its free end with an idler wheel 21, the idler wheel 21 acting on the surface of the roll R1 and ejecting the roll.

The ejection baffle 15 is slightly inclined and at its lower end is two rollers 23, 25 side by side. The drum 25 is on a fixed axis and the axis of the drum 23 is rotatable about the axis of the drum 25, the rotation of the drum 23 being controlled by a piston/cylinder drive 27. The roller 23 can be selected to three different positions relative to the roller 25, one of which is shown in solid lines in fig. 1 and the other two of which are drawn in dashed lines and labeled 23X and 23Y. One or both of the rollers 23, 25 is equipped with a drive motor. The function of this pair of rollers 23, 25 will be explained in more detail later.

Within the ejector stop 15 is a transverse slot along which the carriage 31 can traverse the ejector stop 15 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the log rolls over the stop 15.

Carriage 31 carries a first nozzle 33 and a second nozzle 35 which apply a suitable adhesive to the web material and to the tubular winding cores in the manner described below. The carriage 31 is also provided with a cutter 37, the cutter 37 cutting the web material when winding is completed.

On the opposite side of the machine to the ejection baffle 15 are means for feeding, cutting and inserting the tubular winding cores. These means comprise a magazine 41 comprising a plurality of bobbins T (for example, made of cardboard) which can be fed directly from the tube-making machine or from the bulk storage device from which they are made. At the lower end of the magazine 41, a pivotable dispenser 43 controlled by an actuating device 45 takes the bobbins T out of the magazine 41 one by one and places them on an inclined plate 47. At the end of the swash plate 47 are a pair of rollers 49, 51 disposed side by side with their axes parallel. The roller 51 is fixed in axis, but the roller 49 is rotatable about the axis of the roller 51. This pivoting movement is controlled by a piston/cylinder actuator 53. One or both of the rollers 49, 51 are motorized and can complete the cutting of the bobbin T to form the tubular winding cores of the desired length, in a manner that will be described in detail later.

Downstream of the pair of rollers 49, 51 is an insertion device 55, the insertion device 55 rotating about the axis of the winding roller 3, this pivoting movement being controlled by a piston/cylinder actuator 57.

Located above the pair of rollers 49, 51 is a beam 61, the beam 61 having a dovetail-shaped track 63 which moves relative to the web material N in a crosswise direction. Slides 63 are positioned along the rails 63 at this point and are locked, each with its own cutting tool 67, which in the form of a cutting disc can be raised and lowered as indicated by the double arrow 67. Each cutting disc is free-wheeling on its own axis of rotation.

The machine then operates in the following manner: the dispenser 43 takes off one bobbin T from the bobbin stock 41 and discharges it onto the inclined plate 47; the bobbin T is self-positioned on the carriage between the rollers 49 and 51, in which position a cylindrical spindle 71 (visible in figure 2) is inserted into the bobbin T by means of an actuating device 73. The diameter of the mandrel 71 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the bobbin T so that the mandrel can be easily inserted into and withdrawn from the bobbin.

Once the mandrel 71 is inserted into the bobbin T, the cutting tool 67 is lowered and pressed against the bobbin so that it can penetrate the thickness of the cardboard/wooden board (or other suitable material, for example plastic) forming the bobbin T, the rollers 49, 51 are made to rotate so as to turn the bobbin T with the mandrel inside, for which purpose the mandrel is positioned in cantilever fashion on a support bearing so as to be easily rotated about its own axis.

The bobbin T is then cut by the tool 67, the cutting tool 67 acting together with the mandrel 71 dividing the bobbin into a plurality of tubular winding cores a of shorter length, the length of which is the same as the axial length of the desired bobbin. The presence of the mandrel inside the bobbin T allows a quick and accurate cut without deforming the tubular material.

As previously mentioned, the cutting tool 67 may effect an annular perforation, rather than a complete cut, which is located on the broken line of the bobbin T. The perforations slit the bobbin into tubular winding cores, which are however still connected to each other in an apertured manner, and which are separated from each other once the web material is wound on them.

In addition to the above-mentioned cutting, the cutting tool 67 may also perform a two-sided cut to remove the bobbin head and tail trimmings, which are removed by, for example, a suction device (not shown).

Once the bobbin T is divided into a series of tubular winding cores a (separated from each other or joined together by a perforation produced by the cutting tool 67), the mandrel 71 is axially withdrawn by means of the actuating device 73 so as to enable the tubular winding cores a to be unloaded. These tubular winding cores are unloaded onto the insertion device 55, the insertion device 55 being shown in this position by the solid lines of figure 1. The unloading of the winding cores a on the insertion device 55 is carried out by the rotation of the drum 49 about the axis of the drum 51, by means of the actuating device 57.

Once the severed tubular winding core has reached the position a1 shown on the insertion device 55, the latter is rotated by the actuating device 57 to the position indicated by the broken line and marked 55X, where the tubular winding core a is discharged onto the position a2 on the carriage 5 between the rollers 1, 3, at which stage the rollers 1 and 3 are temporarily halted and the roller 9 is in the 9X lifting position shown by the broken line in fig. 1. The web material N is wound around the peripheral portion of the winding roller 1 so that the winding core a comes into contact with the web material when the tubular winding core a is discharged onto the carriage 5.

The cutting blade 14 and the cutting tool 67 are positioned so that the tubular winding core a can wind thereon a respective one of the strips obtained by cutting the web material N by the cutting blade 14.

When the tubular winding cores a are in position a2, they are subjected to the adhesive sprayed by the nozzles 35 mounted on the carriage 31, and to do so, the carriage 31 is moved transversely along the slots of the shutter 15. A series of nozzles 16 in the ejector baffle 15 emit jets of air which wind the terminal edge of the upper web material around the tubular winding core when the latter reaches the position a 2. The roller 9 is then lowered and brought into contact with the surface of these tubular winding cores, which are thus in contact with the rollers 1, 3, 9. When the three rollers 1, 3, 9 start to rotate in the same direction as one another, the tubular winding core a is brought into rotation and the adhesive acting on the tubular winding core then comes into contact with the web material, thus starting to wind on the winding core.

With the continued rotation of the winding rollers 1, 3, 9, a series of rolls R1 are formed, which are all formed around their own tubular winding core a. After the formation of the bobbins on the winding cores a wound in the winding cradle 5, the new bobbins T are discharged onto the drums 49, 51 and then divided into a new series of tubular winding cores a to be inserted in the winding cradle 5 in the next winding cycle.

After winding is completed, the rollers 1, 3 and 9 stop moving and the rotating arm 17 rotates clockwise as indicated by the arrow f17, the rotation of which is driven by the actuating means 18, the purpose of which is to push the series of rolls R1 onto the ejection shutter 15. The rolls R1 roll on the stop 15 and when they encounter the rollers 25, 23 they stop on the edge of the stop 15, which for this purpose is in the position 23Y, and when the roll has completed its roll on the ejection stop 15, the R2 takes up the position of the roll R2.

When the reel reaches this position, the web material N is still connected to the reel R2 and the web material must be cut so that winding can start on the next row of tubular winding cores a, which are introduced to the winding cradle 5 in the manner previously described.

To this end, the carriage 31 performs a transverse movement, the purpose of which is to perform three actions simultaneously:

1. by means of the nozzle 33, the adhesive is applied in a straight line to the area of web material situated between the path of the carriage 31 and the reel, which is situated at the position R2.

2. Transversely severing the web material by a cutter 37, and

3. by means of the nozzle 35, the adhesive is applied in a straight line to the new tubular winding core, which is simultaneously placed on the carriage 5 at position a2 in the manner previously described.

After the web material is cut by the cutter 37, the roll R2 is rotated to wind the tail end of the web material due to the cutting action of the cutter 37. The rotation of the rolls R2 also causes the ends of the rolls to stick and seal as the tail end is applied with adhesive by the nozzle 33.

For this purpose, the drum 23 is moved to a 23X position in which the axes of the drums 23, 25 are substantially raised in a horizontal plane. The roll R2 is then supported solely by the rollers 23, 25 rather than by the ejection baffle 15, which means that rotating the rollers 23, 25 counter-clockwise will close the free end of the roll R2.

The completed roll and sealed log is now discharged onto a conveyor or other suitable device (not shown) by moving the drum 23 to the solid line position shown in figure 1. Alternatively, unloading can also be achieved by pushing the roll axially with a pusher that passes transversely through the rollers 23, 25 and is parallel to their axes, in which case the distance between the rollers 23, 25 can be slightly increased.

If a relatively long winding time is required to form a large diameter roll R, the winding operation of the roll at the free end of the R2 position and the cutting of the bobbin T take place in the cradle 5 at the position where the roll is wound edgewise.

It should be understood that: the drawings show only one example of a practical demonstration of the invention, which may vary in shape and arrangement without thereby departing from the spirit of the invention. Any reference numerals in the appended claims are provided for the purpose of facilitating reading of the claims with reference to the description and to the drawing, and do not limit the scope of protection represented by the claims.

Claims (5)

1. Rewinding machine for producing reels of web material comprising: a pair of winding rollers (1, 3) forming a winding cradle (5); -feeding means (13) for feeding the web material (N) towards said tray (5); a cutting device (14) for cutting the web material (N) in the longitudinal direction; -insertion means (55) for inserting a plurality of axially aligned tubular winding cores (a) into said winding cradle (5); and a cutting station (49, 51) located upstream of said winding rollers (1, 3), having a plurality of cutting means (67) which divide the long bobbin (T) into tubular winding cores (A) of determined length in a direction at right angles to the axis thereof; characterized in that said cutting station (49, 51) comprises a mandrel (71), the mandrel (71) having means for inserting said mandrel (71) into said bobbin (T) and for withdrawing the mandrel from the tubular winding cores obtained by dividing said bobbin.

2. Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that in said cutting station said spindle is supported by support means, non-operatively.

3. Machine as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said cutting station comprises a pair of parallel-axis rollers (49, 51), at least one of which is driven by a motor, the two rollers together forming a cradle on which the bobbin (T) to be cut is placed.

4. A machine as in claim 3, wherein the track (63) on which the cutting tool (67) is positioned is located above said rollers (49, 51).

5. Method for producing a plurality of rolls of web-material wound on a tubular winding core (a), comprising the following steps:

a pair of winding rollers (1, 3) arranged side by side to define a winding cradle (5),

inserting a series of axially aligned tubular winding cores (A) into said winding cradle,

-winding a partially elongated web material (N) onto each of said winding cores,

after winding a series of rolls (R1) around the tubular winding core (A) in said cradle, ejecting the completed rolls and inserting a series of new tubular winding cores,

and an axial mandrel (71) is inserted into a bobbin (T) of great length, a series of cutting tools (67) cut said bobbin in a direction at right angles to the axis of said bobbin, so as to produce said series of tubular winding cores (A), these cutting tools acting together with said mandrel inserted into said bobbin,

characterized in that said mandrel is extracted from the tubular winding cores produced by cutting said bobbin before said tubular winding cores are inserted in the winding cradle.