Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
*
1 Background of the Invention
It has been well kno~n for quite some time to manu-
facture dlsposable drinking containers from paper products. The
sidewall of the paper ontainer is cut in an arcuate pattern,
then is formed into a frusto-conical shell. A paper bottom is
then bonded or mechanically attached to the sidewall shell to
form a cup that will handle hot or cold beverages. In recent
years paper containers such as for examnl e cups have been supple-
mented by containers manufactured of plastic material. The well
known steam-chested plastic container made of expanded plastic
beads represents a one piece container that has been manufactured
in great nu~bers.
To overcome certain inherent disadvantages of paper
containers and one piece steam-chested plastic containers, the
container industry has found it advantageous to form various
sizes of containers of plastic foam sheet material. The switch
. , ~ .
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.
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llO~S39
to containers made of plastic sheet foclm permitted exterior
decorations to be printed on the foam sheet stock by means of
high speed printing techniques. It is of course recognized that
the older steam-chested containers had to be decorated after
the containers had been formed to their final configuration.
A further advance in the art of container manufacture
occurred ~hen it was discovered that oriented foam plastic
material could be used in the manufacture of containers such
as cups. When an oriented foam sheet material is utilized it
is no longer necessary to cut the container sidewall as an
arcuate blank. The blank can be cut in rectangular form, then
~ormed into a cylinder by affixing opposite ends of the rec-
tangular blank one to the other. The cylinder thus formed is
subjected to heat, thus causing it to shrink in controlled
fashion around a properly contoured container mandrel.
~ he bottom of the plastic foam container is cut in
the form of a disc. The material for the container bottom disc
can be of foam plastic material similar to the sidewall. The
bottom discs are attached to the container sidewall by bonding
with an adhesive or are heat sealed to form an integral part
of the container. The container bottom disc can also be posi-
tioned within the lo~ler edge of a cylindrical cup shell, thus
permitting the shell to shrink around the bottom disc. Final
sealing and contouring can be attained by pressing or ironing
the container bottom subsequent to attaching the sidewall
thereto.
Heretofore it has been co~mon to form container bottoms
by punching them out of sheet material, then moving them from
the position where severing occurred to a position ~7here the
container bottom is combined ~7ith the sidewall of the container.
;5~9
The just described procedure involved several different
movements generally in a horizontal plane~ The translation of
the container bottom to a position w'nere it could be combined
with a container sidewall became the limiting factor in
increasing the speed of the overall container fabricating
machinery. Several approaches such as stacking the previously
severed container bottoms, then feeding them one by one to the
assembly line did not provide an adequate solution to the
problem.
General Description of the Invention
The present invention relates to the manufacture and
method of fabricating portions of a container. ~ore particulaxly,
this invention relates to an apparatus for cutting the bottom
discs for containers such as for example disposable cups. The
invention also is directed to a method of feeding a web of
material to and through a disc cutting apparatus.
As commented upon before, the prior art container
bottom cutting devices cut the individual discs from a web of
material then by means of a starwheel like arrangement trans-
lated the container bottoms from the direction of motion of theweb to the line that contained the container shells. The trans-
lation of the container bottoms required very accurate alignment
and delivery to the container shells.
In the present invention the line of action involving
the cutting of the container discs has been made to coincide
with the line that contains the container shells, therefore,
there is no 7ateral translation required. Consequently, the
apparatus can attain higher production speeds and maintain
tolerance accuracies more easily than heretofore t~as possible.
It will become apparent in the ensuing description of the
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S39
invention that once the container bottom has been severed from
the web of material, it does no~ mo~e relative to its resting
place until it is delivered to the container mandrel. This
method of severing container bottoms and translating them to
their final designation without actually moving them from the
surface where cutting occurred permits a more economical fabri-
cation of the finished article an~ at greater line speeds than
in the past.
A web of container bottom material such as foam sheet
stock is fed to the apparatus of the present invention. The
container bottoms are blanked out by a rotary die driven in
synchronization with a delivery wheel. The containar bottoms
are delivered to their proper position within the lower portion
of the container sidewall shell whereupon the shell is caused
to shrink around the container bottom.
The container botto~s are cut by individual dies
located circumferentially around a cutting die wheel at spaces
equal to the spacing of the container shells on their individual
carrier line. Since the cutting dies are located at a distance
one from another to properly match the container shell line, the
container blanks are positioned also along the web of material
at the same distance as the container shell line. This spacing
is considerably greater than the diameter of the container
bottom, consequently, less than the optimum number of container
blanks can be cut from the web. In other words if the web moves
at the same speed as the container shell line, there is too much
space between container bottoms, thus leading to a greater con-
sumption of web material.
The present invention permits the container bottoms
to be cut from a web of material with very little waste regard-
less of the spacing of the individual cutters on the cutting
39
die. The web of material advances with the arcuate surface
of the cutting die while actual cutting is being accomplished.
The direction of movement of the web is then reversed to posi-
tion the web so that the next die cut will be closely adjacent
to the previously cut out container bottom. The web reversing
and positioning is adjustable and can be adapted readily to
containers of different sizes and spacing on the assembly line.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention
to provide an improved delivery system for container bottoms.
More particularly, it is an object of this invention
to sever container bottoms from a web of material where the web
is aligned in a vertical plane containing the container sidewall
shells to which the container bottoms are affixed.
Another object of the invention is to deliver a
container bottom to an assembly without moving it from the sur-
face area where it was severed.
A further object of this invention is to conserve the
blanking space between individual container bottoms, thus per-
mitting a maximum number of container bottoms to be extracted
from a given web of material.
An additional object of the present invention is to
increase the speed at which a container manufacturing machine
can operate.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a
method of feeding a web of material to a disc cutting apparatus
whereby a maximum number of blanks can be cut from the web.
Still another object of the present invention is to
set forth a method of first advancing a ~7eb of material so that
a disc can be cut therefrom then reversing the direction of the
web so that the next consecutive disc is blanked from an area
closely adjacent to the area where the previously severed disc
was blanked.
Another object of this invention is to extract the cut bottom
discs from a web of material to reduce the waste to a minimum.
Thus, in accordance with the present teachings, a method is
provided of maintaining a festoon of web material which includes
the steps of advancing a web of material into the festoon from a
first side, withdrawing the web material from the festoon from a
second side, and returning the web into the festoon from the
second side on an intermittent basis.
More speci~ically, a method is provided of maintaining a
~estoon of web material which includes the steps of advancing a
web of material into the festoon from a first side and permitting
it to form an unsupported loop, stopping the movement of the web
material into the festoon from the first side, advancing the web
of material from the first side when the loop becomes minimal in
size, withdrawing the web material from the festoon from a second
side independently of the flow of web material from the first side,
stopping the withdrawal of the web material from the second side,
and returning some of the withdrawn web of material from the
festoon from the second side on an intermittent basis.
For a further understanding of the present invention and the
objects thereof, attention is directed to the drawings, the follow-
ing description thereof, the detailed description of the invention
and the appended claims.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Eig. 1 is a perspective view showing the interrelationship
between the various gears associated with the apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a top view of the delivery wheel shown part in
section taken generally along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1.
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539
Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the delivery wheel and
container shell conveyor line looking in the direction along
lines 3-3 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the web reversing rollers
taken along lines 4-4 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the feed rollers shown in
Figs. 1 and 4.
Fig. 6 is an elevational view part in section of the web
feed rollers along lines 6-6 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 7 is a plan view part in section taken along the lines
7-7 of Fig. 1 which shows the cutting action of the rotary die.
Fig. 8 is a sectioned view taken along lines 8-8 of Fig. 3
that shows a severed container bottom as positioned when
delivered to the lower portion of a container sidewall shell.
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110C~539
Detailed Descri tion of the Invention
P . .
In Fig. 1 the base and support side~?alls have been
dispensed with in order to provide a clearer view of the
various components and their interaction with one another.
~ig. 1 is comprised of ~wo parts~ The general cutting appa-
ratus identified broadly by numeral 10 occupies most of the
Fig. 1. At the very top of Fig. 1 the conveyor line carrying
container sidewall shells is depicted at 200. The container
co~veyor 200 is a complex apparatus in its own right, however,
only a s~all portion is shown to illustrate the coaction between
conveyor 200 and cutting apparatus 10. The conveyor 200 moves
in the direction of arrow 201.
- Cutting apparatus 10 is powered with, for example, a
high torque motor 11. ~ connecting shaft 12 connects motor 11
with an adjustable right angle gearbox 13 Gearbox 13 can be
adjusted ~y means of handwheel 14 to either advance or retard
the speed of cutting apparatus 10 with respect to the speed of
container conveyor 200. This adjustment is particularly impor-
tant when starting up or when different types of containers are
being manufactured. The rotational torque generated by gearbox
13 is delivered through gear 15 which is attached to shaft 16.
Gear 15 meshes with gear 17, it being understood that the
reaction forces of the gears are taken out by the frame which
is not shown for the most part. Gear 17 is the beginning of
the gear train that delivers power to the various components
o~ cutting apparatus 10. &ear 17 is positioned on the right-
hand end of shaft 18. The left-hand end of shaft 18 contains
gear 2Q which in turn meshes with first idler gear 21. It is
understood that gears such as gear 21 does have a shaft cen-
trally located and properly journaled, however, it is
539
purposely not shown in the drawings for the sake of clarity.
A second idler gear 22 contacts the first idler gear 21 and
delivers its rotational torque to main drive gear 23. The
main drive gear 23 is affixed to the left-hand end of main shaft
24. A transfer wheel 25 i5 attached near the right-hand end
of main shaft 24. The transfer wheel is an important feature
of the present invention and will be discussed and described
more fully later.
The main drive gear 23 meshes with gear 26 which in
turn is immobilized on the left-hand end of cutter drive shaft
27. The rotary die 28 is attached to the right-hand end of
cutter drive shaft 27. Thus, rotary die 28 is driven in synch-
ronism with transfer wheel 25.
Returning once again to ~ain drive gear 23 it can be
observed that gear 30 is positioned toward the lower peripheral
extent of gear 23. Gear 30 can be considered as a secondary
drive gear since it has a multipurpose function. &ear 30 first
meshes with gear 31 which in turn is coupled to gear 32. Gears
31 and 32 are respectively attached to the ends of drive shafts
33 and 34. A segmented roller 35 is fixed to the right-hand
end of drive shaft 33. A coacting segmented roller 36 is placed
in juxtaposed relationship to segmented roller 35. Segmented
roller 36 derives its rotational power by means of drive shaft
34 to which it is firmly attached. The pair of segmented
rollers 35 and 36 perform an important function which will he
discussed more fully infra.
Main drive gear 23, through secondary drive gear 30,
supplies power to gear 37. Gear 37 interacts with gear 38 which
is fixed to the left-hand end Gf drive shaft 40. A small gear
41 is attached toward the right-hand end of drive shaft 40.
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ll(~G539
Drive shaft 40 extends through small gear 41 and terminates
with feed roller 42 which is affixed to the right-hand terminal
of drive shaft 40. Small gear 41 meshes with a similar sized
gear 43 which is positioned beneath small gear 41. Gear 43 is
coupled to shaft 44 and shaft 4a has feed roller 45 fixed to
the right-hand end thereof. Feed rollers 42 and a5 work to
gether in a manner to be described later.
A web of material 46 such as by way of example foam
plastic is shown as it enters the cutting apparatus 10. The
direction of movement of web 46 is shown by arrow 47. Web 46
passes between feed rollers 42 and 45 whereupon it comes under
the influence of gravity and drops into a festoon. Since the
resiliency of web 46 is quite high and its mass is minimal, the
festoon is not inclined to have a very sharp curvature at its
lowermost extent 48. From the lower extent 48 of the festoon,
the web 46 passes through segmented rollers 35 and 36. ~eb 46
then encounters the periphery of transfer wheel 25. The web 46
then proceeds arcuately upward and through the bight formed
between transfer wheel 25 and rotary die 28. The circular con-
tainer bottoms 50 are severed from web 46 and the scrap portion
of web 46 exits from cutting apparatus 10.
Attention is now directed to Fig. 2 which shows more
detail associated with the overall view of the transfer wheel 25
shown in Figr 1~ Transfer wheel 25 is attached to main drive
shaft 24 which is journaled in side support frames 51 and 52.
Transfer wheel 25 has a hollow interior and the view shown in
Fig. 2 shows that interior from just above the major diameter
downward. The transfer wheel 25 has a planar surface 53 situ-
ated on the right-hand side thereof. The periphery 54 is a
cylindrical surface of revolution. The left-hand side of
11(~C~539
transfer wheel 25 has a flange 55. The interior sidewall 56
of flange 55 is frusto-conical in configuration with the small-
est diameter centrally located. A wall 57 meets with the small
end of frusto-conical sidewall 56. Wall 57 is perpendiculax to
the axis of main drive shaft 24. A cylindrically shaped inter~
ior surface 58 joins with the radially inward extent of wall 57.
Interior surface 58 is concentric with peripheral surface 54
and provides an inside working surface for transfer wheel 25.
The interior surface 58 contains a series o~ radially aligned
bores 60. Each one of the bores 60 contains an essentially
identical mechanism and hereafter only one such bore 60 and its
associated parts will be described. The bore 60 can be seen in
the lower portion of Fig. 2. An ejector rod 61 is contained
within bore 60. Ejector rod 61 can move in a radial direction
within the confinement of bore 60. Ejector rod 61 moves under
the influence of cam follower 62. Cam follower 62 fits into
cam groove 63 of stationary cam support 64. Stationary cam
support 64 is mounte~ in fixed relationship to the main frame
65 as shown in Fig. 1. The main drive shaft 24 passes through
stationary cam support 64.
In the right-hand of Figs. 1 and 2 is shown a station-
ary vacuum manifold 66. The vacuum manifold 66 is stabilized
by main drive shaft 24 which passes therethrough. Vacuum mani-
fold 66 is pxevented fro~ rotating by being affixed to a
cantilevered arm 67. Arm 67 has attached to its extremity a
bifurcated clevis 68. (See Fig. 1.) Clevis 68 terminates at
its lower extent with threaded shaft 70. A handwheel 71 is
fixed to frame 65. An adjustment supplied through handwheel 71
rotates stationary vacuum manifold 66 either clockwise or
counterclockwise as desired. The just described connection
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S39
also prevents stationary vacuum manifold 66 from rotating
freely with transfer wheel 25.
The interface 72 between transfer wheel 25 and
stationary vacuum manifold 66 is maintained in an airtight
S manner by the thrust generated through springs 73. Springs 73
are biased between vacuum manifold 66 and backup plate 74.
Since the springs 73 do not provide a satisfactory method for
delivering of the adjusting torque attained through handwheel
71, a pin 75 in the orm of a detent fits into a recess in
vacuum manifold 66. This arrangement permits an adjusting
torque to be applied to vacuum manifold 66 yet does not inter-
fer with the biasing effect gained through springs 73.
A vacuum line attachment is shown at 76 as depicted
at the lower portion of Fig. 2. The vacuum line attachment 76
communicates with the hollow interior 77 of the vacuum manifold
66. The vacuum cavity within vacuum manifold 66 extends to
interface 72 by arcuate grooves 78 and 80 positioned in manifold
66. The grooves 78 and 80 can be seen in section in Fig. 2.
Vacuum supply groove 78 communicates with vacuum port 81 which
in turn is connected ~ith the interior of ejector xod 61. In
a similar manner vacuum port 82 is in communication with a series
of holes 83 in the periphery of transfer wheel 25.
Reference is not~ made to Fig. 3 which shows several
features of the invention in and around the transfer wheel 25.
The container conveyor 200 is shown at the uppermost area of
Fig. 3. The containers move in the direc.ion of arrow 201.
The containers are positioned in spaced apart relationship by
means of a conveyor (not shown~. Transfer wheel 25 is shown
immediately beneath conveyor 2Q0. The stationary vacuum mani-
fold 66 is shown in front of transfer wheel 25. The arcuate
~10~539
grooves 78 and 80 contained within vacuum manifold 66 areshown in dotted li~es. The vacuum ports 81 and 82 contained
within transfer wheel 25 are also shown in dotted radially
extending lines. It can be observed that a vacuum can be
S applied selectively to web 46. Web 46 contacts transfer
wheel 25 toward the bottom as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 1.
Web 46 is immobilized against the peripheral surface of
transfer wheel 25 as web 46 moves arcuately toward rotary die
28. The vacuum afforded through ports 82 and arcuate groove
80 is effective only so long as the ports 82 remain coupled
to groove 80. As shown, the web is no longer held to the out-
side face of transfer wheel 25 once the container bottom 50
has been severed by rotary die 28. Note there is a circum-
ferential overlap afforded by arcuate grooves 78 and 80. As
the foam material is about to be released from the influence
of vacuum supplied by vacuum ports 82, additional vacuum is
centrally supplied to ejector rods 61. This vacuum force is
applied directly to the newly severed container bottom S0. The
container bottom 50 is thus held in position until it is
finally delivered to the containers aligned along conveyor 200.
Fig. 3 also shows, in dotted lines, the interior
surface 58 of transfer wheel 25, Cam groove 63 is positioned
just radially inward from interior surface 58. Cam groove 63
is shown in dotted lines. ~t the zenith of the cam groove is
shown a departure or radially protruding section 84 of cam
groove 63. When the cam follo~,7er 62 meets the protruding sec-
tion 84 of cam groove 63 the cam follower and the ejector rod
61, which is attached thereto, are thrust radially outward.
This outward movement of ejector rod 61 lifts container bottom
50 away from the surface of transfer wheel 25 and toward the
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539
bottom of the container sidewall blank carried by conveyor
200. The container bottom is thus attached to the container
and moves away from cutting apparatus 10.
- While it is not considered to be a part of the
present inventi~n, it is believed necessary to describe the
conditions under which container bottoms 50 are taken from
apparatus 10. Conveyor 200 contains a plurality of container
mandrels spaced equidistant from one another. The mandrels
can be equipped with vacuum ports positioned in the bottom to
facilitate the pickup of the container bottoms from the enas-
- of ejector rods 51. The sidewall shells of the containers can
be folded or attached to the container bottoms. If material
such as oriented plastic foam material is utiliæed, heat can
be applied to the container shell, thus causing it to shrink
around the bottom of the mandrel and the containex bottom that
has been positioned against the mandrel by the apparatus of
the present invention.
Fig. 4 is a view taken along the lines 4-4 shown in
Fig. 1. Segmented rollers 35 and 36 are shown along with the
bottom of transfer wheel 25. Web 46 enters as shown at the
bottom of Fig. 4 and exits at the top left side. Rollers 35
and 36 share the same peripheral configuration, therefore, the
geometry associated with only one roller will be described
next. As previously mentioned, segmented roller 35 recei~es
its rotational torque from gear 31 which moves with a constant
angular velocity. The external contour of roller 35 varies
from a maximum radius at land 85 to a minimum radius at groove
86. There are two raised lands 85 on each roller 35 as shown
in the drawing. The lands 85 are diametrically positioned and
each one has a circumferential extent of approximately 90
"" ll(~S39
degrees. Thus, it can be Seen roller 35 is roughly divided
into quadrants with the lands $5 and grooves 86 being alter-
natively disposed. Segmented roller 36 shares the same
geometry as roller 35; the rollers 35 and 36 are oriented such
S that the lands 85 of each roller meet and share a common tan-
gent. Likewise, the grooves meet two times each revolution.
It is of course understood that it is possible to use only one
land 85 per roller and vary the angular velocity and the roller
diameter to achieve the same result as set forth in the pre-
I0 ferred embodiment shown in the drawings.
A stationary guide 87 is positioned adjacent tosegmented xoller 3~. The work surface 88 of guide 87 is con-
voluted in the form of a spiral. The leading edge 90 of work
surface 88 receives web 46 as it exits from segmented rollers
35 and 36. Web 46 is guided over work surface 88 and is
deposited against the periphery of transfer wheel 25. A clamp
bar 91 is positioned so that it will move against ~lork surface
88 of stationary guide 87. Clamp bar 91 is positioned on the
front end of an adjustable rod 92. The adjustable rod 92 and
the movable arm of air cylinder 93 are one and the same. Air
cylindex 93 is mounted to the frame 65 in a conventional manner.
Fig. S shows a perspective view of the segmented rollers
35 and 36. Web 46 can be seen as it traverses rollers 35 and
36 and as it passes over stationary guide 87 and beneath clamp
bar 91. A pair of guide bars 94 and 95 are fixed to the surface
of stationary guide 87. The guide bars 94 and 95 prevent web 46
from moving in a lateral direction just prior to its pickup by
transfer wheel 25. The guide bars 94 and 95 guarantee a symmet-
rical delivery of the web 46 to transfer wheel 25. ~he coaction
of the clamp bar 91 and the segmented rol~ers 35 and 36 will be
S39
discussed in greater detail later.
Fig~ 6 is an elevational view, part in section,
showing the arrangement utilized to advance the ~leb 46 from a
supply roll (not shown) to the cutting apparatus 10. Feed
5 roller 42 is sho~ mounted in a position above feed roller 45.
Web 46 is shown between the feed rollers 42 and 45. Drive
shaft 40 furnishes rotational power to small gear 41 ~hich
meshes with gear 43. Thus, feed rollers 42 and 45 are opposite
from one another in rotation. Web 46 is advanced between feed
rollers 42 and 45 in a continuous manner since shaft 40 is con-
tinually rotating. To halt the flow of web 46 through feed
rollers 42 and 45, a means has been provided to separate rollers
42 and 45 so that web 46 will no longer be advanced. An air
cylinder 96 is mounted on frame 65. When pressure is delivered
to air cylinder 96, connecting cylinder arm 97 moves upward,
thus also biasing shaft bushing 98 upward. When feed rollers
42 and 45 approach each other the frictional force on the sur-
~ace of web 46 will increase and web 46 will begin to move
through the rollers 42 and 45. As the pressure in air cylinder
96 is relaxed, rollers 42 and 45 will move apart slightly, thus
causing web 46 to stop its forward advance. Small gear 41 and
the gear 43 to which it is coupled do not disengage, but con-
tinue to each rotate. The movement achieved through air cylinder
96 is not great enough to disengage the teeth of gears 41 and
43, however, the movement afforded through air cylinder 96 does
stop the feeding of web 46.
Attention is once again directed to Fig. 1 and the
incoming web 46 as shown at the bottom of Fig. 1. Web 46
passes through feed rollers 42 and 45 as heretofore described.
The web then forms a festoon with a lower extent ~8. A
ll(;~a~S39
photoelectric sender-receiver combination 102,103 is positioned
near the bottom of the festoon formed by web 46. A similar
photoelectric sender-receiver combination 104,105 is positioned
toward the upper extent of the festoon. The feed rollers 42
and 45 overcome the inextia of the web supply roll (not shownj
and deliver web 46 at a velocity greatex than the tangential
velocity between the transfer wheel 25 and rotary die 28. There-
fore, it is possible to create a festoon with the extra length
of web 46. When the lower extent of web 46 interrupts the light
beam associated with photoelectric cells 102,103, an electrical
signal is delivered to a solenoid which in turn deactivates the
supply of air to air cylinder 96. Rollers 42 and 45 then sep-
arate and the movement of web 46 into the festoon is stopped.
~hen the stored web 46 in the festoon diminishes, continuity
will be established within the photoelectric combination
104,105. This reestablishment of the light beam and its recep-
tor generates an electrical signal that once again activates
air cylinder 96. The flow of web 46 into the festoon is thus
resumed. While the actual electrical and pneumatic coupling is
not shown in detail, it is believed to be well within the capa-
bilities of those skilled in the art to understand how the above
described system operates.
Fig. 7 is a part sectional view taken along lines 7 7
of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 shows the interaction between transfer wheel
25 and rotary die 28. Fig. 7 is an enlargement of the smaller
view that can be seen in Fig. 2. ~otary die 28 contains two
spaced apart cylindrical sections 106 and 107~ Cylindrical
sections 106 and 107 press against the peripheral surface 54 of
transfer wheel 25. The cutting edge 108 has a radial extent
complementary to the radial extent of cylinder sections 106 and
-16-
53~
107. Cylindrical sections 106 and 107 may be brought to bear
against the peripheral surface 54 in such a manner that there
is no resulting flash attached to the severed disc that forms-con-
tainer bottom 50. The adjustment utilized to move cylindrical
sections 106 and 107 against surface 54 of transfer wheel 25
is considered to be of conventional desi~n, hence i5 not shown.
The cutting edge 108 has a geometry that permits a circular
container bottom 50 to be cut. The edges of web 46 axe accom-
modated by an area 110 of reduced radial extent. Likewise, the
central section confined by arcuate cutting edge 108 is relieved
so that container bottom 50 will not be crushed by the transfer
wheel 25 and rotary die 28.
Fig. 7 also shows in detail the ejector rod 61.
Ejector rod 61 is slidably positioned within a bushing 111 that
in turn is fitted into bore 60 of transfer wheel 25. Bushing
111 is in two cylindrical lengths with an air space 112 situated
therebetween. Air space 112 is in direct communication with
vacuum port 81, thus a reduced air pressure zone can be created
within ejector rod 61. Additional hoIes 113 permit a vacuum to
be applied at a plurality of locations on the surface of con-
tainer bottom 50.
Ejector rod 61 moves under the influence of cam fol-ower
Ç2. Cam follower 62 is cantilevered from slide block 114 which
is attached to ejector rod 61. Slide bloc~ 114 moves radially
inward and outward along an enlarged portion 115 of bore 60. A
compression spring 116 is positioned within bore 117. Spring
117 serves as a safety feature should a foreign object be
encountered by ejector rod 61 when in an extended position.
Thus, through the discussion supra it can be understood how
transfer wheel 25 carries severed container bottoms 50 to
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1~0C~539
container conveyor 200.
Fig. 8 is a part sectional view taken along the lines
8-8 of Fig. 3. This view is quite similar to the view afforded
in Fig. 7 except that the ejector rod 61 is in its fully ex-
tended position. The ejector rod 61 reaches its extended
position when it arrives at the top o~ transfer wheel 25. Con-
tainer bottom S0 is held to the end of ejector rod 61 by the
vacuum supplied through holes 113. As container bottom 50 moves
into final position, the vacuum supply is cut off as vacuum
port 81 becomes disconnected ~Jith arcuate groove 80 in s~ationary
vacuum manifold 66. The container bottom 50 is positioned in
the proper position where it can be adhered to the bottom of
container shell 118. The bottom 50 can be positioned and incor-
porated into a completed container in a variety of ways, some
of which have been commented upon briefly, that are considered
to be outside the scope of the present invention.
Reference is now made to Figs. 1, 4 and 5 where the
segmented rollers 35 and 36 are shown. ~ig. 4 in particular
shows web 46 as it exits the festoon arrangement previously
described. Rollers 35 and 36 receive their rotational power
from gears 31 and 32 as previously set forth and shown in Fig. 1.
Since the power connection is not intermittent, rollers 35 and
36 rotate with a constant angular velocity. Gear 32 receives
its power from gear 31, consequently, its rotation is opposite
to gear 31. As segmented rollers 35 and 36 rotate, they inter-
mittently mal-e contact with both sides of web 46. The direc~ion
of rotation is such that web 46 is reversed in its travel toward
transfer wheel 25 arrows 120 and 121, Fig. 4, depic. the direc-
tion of rotation of rollers 35 and 36. When grooves 86 of
rollers 35 and 36 are immediately opposed, web 46 can be
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1~0~539
advanced ~hrough rotary die 28 and transfer wheel 25. When
lands 85 of rollers 35 and 36 are opposed, web ~6 is reversed
in direction and once again adds to the web stored in the
festoon. The frictional contact produced by lands 85 contact-
ing the surface of web 46 is great enough to overcome the force
of the vacuum which has been applied to web 46 as it moves
around the circumfexence of transfer wheel 25. Consequently,
web 46 slides in a reverse direction along the surface of
transfer wheel 25. Since there are two sets of lands on seg-
mented rollers 35 and 36, there will be t~o occurrences each
revolution of xollers 35, 36 when the direction of web 46 is
actually reversed.
Referring specifically to Fig. 1, it can be observed
that container bottoms 50 are arcuately spaced at a distance
equal to the linear spacing of the container shells arrayed on
container conveyor 200. If web 46 was fed directly through
rotary die 28 with no retardation or reverse flow of web 46,
the rotary die would cut a container bottom out of web 46 with
a spacing equal to the spacing of the containers on conveyor
200. This procedure would create widely spaced apart holes in
web 46, thus causing a less than optimum utilization of the
material contained in web 46. Segmented rollers 35 and 36 are
so synchronized with the rotary die 28 to cause a reverse flow
of web 46 just after a blanking operation has been performed.
Web 46 is repositioned with respect to the cutting edge 108 of
rotary die 28 so that the next container bottom 50 is removed
from web 46 quite close to the previously removed container
bottom 50. Through the reversing of web 46 it is possible to
utilize all of web 46 and blank out container bottoms with a
minimum of leftover material. Fig. 1 shows ueb 46 as it exits
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fxom bet~leen transfer wheel 25 and xotary die 28; note the
closely spaced blanks 122. In contrast, container bottoms 50
are spaced quite some distance from one another as they pro-
gress around the arcuate path of transfer wheel 25.
Attention is once again direc~ed to Fig. 5 and the
clamp bar arrangement briefly commented upon before. From
time to time it is desirable to stop the delivery of container
bottoms 50 to conveyor line 200 without actually stopping the
entire apparatus 10. Consequently, it is possible to stop the
movement of weh 46 to rotary die 2~. The movement of web 46
is stopped by causing actuator 128 (Fig. 4) to contract arm
130. Arm 130 is connected to the support of segmented roller
36 and can cause it to move slightly away from adjacent coacting
segmented roller 35. When segmented roller 36 has moved away
from roller 35, the web 46 is no longer affected by the rollers.
The clamping action afforded by clamp bar 91 immobilizes web 46
against stationary guide 87. The clamping action of clamp bar
91 is great enough to overcome the vacuum caused force applied
to web 46 by transfer wheel 25, consequently, web 46 slides
with respect to transfer wheel 25 which continues to rotate.
Fig. 1 also shows an alignment device 123 in the
upper right-hand part of the drawing. The alignment device
moves in oscillatory fashion under the influence of rod 124
and crank 125. Crank 125 is attached to drive shaft 126 and
shaft 26 is fixed to gear 127. Gear 127 is driven by main
~ drive gear 23 as shown in the drawing. Alignment device 123
; can perform functions such as centering containers on conveyor
200 and the device can also assure that container bottom is
securely affixed to the container shell.
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S39
The present invention does provide a method of
feeding a web of material to a cutting device so that a
maximum number of cut articles can be removed from the web.
In the ordinary web feed device, the ~Jeb is continually
advanced so that each cut will be quite close to the previously
made cut. The advancing direction of the web may be of
intermittent nature, however, it does not reverse itself.
The web feed mechanism of the present invention causes the
web to advance, a cut is made, then the web is reversed in
direction so that the next cut occurs adjacent the previous
cut ~lith a minimum of material existing between cuts.
As has been set forth in conjunction with the
description of the apparatus of the present invention, a
festoon arrangement is provided for storing web material just
prior to articles being cut therefrom. The festoon arrange-
ment permits the ~7eb to be fed without incurring the large
and variable inertia load caused by the mass of the feed xoll
itself. The festoon size varies since web material is always
being fed into it from the feed roll side and material is inter-
2Q mittently fed into the festoon from the side adjacent thecutting die. Thus, at certain times the festoon is increasing
in size because material is being fed into it from both sides.
With the preceding detailed description and
discussion of the invention, it can be readily ascertained
just how the rotary concept of the invention can be used to
attain greater production speeds on a container manufacturing
line.
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