Title of the invention : Apparatus for producing
paper tube assembly for nursing seedlings
Detailed explanation of the invention :
The present invention relates to an apparatus for
producing paper tube assembly for nursing seedlings, each
paper tube of which is square in cross section.
A square type paper tube assembly is formed by
cutting a paper having a given rot-proof property into
tapes of a given breadth, applying an adhesive or, one side edge
of the obtained tapes, joining both the sides of the tapes
together to cause adhesion thereof to form a tape of
- 15 flattened paper tube, applying an water-soluble paste on one
side of the said flattened paper tube or applying an water-
soluble paste along the center line of the tape, then
cutting it into a given length of pieces and piling the
pieces of a given number in layers and pasting them together
into a paper tube assembly. In this case, if the flattened
paper tubes are pasted together, then a paper tube assembly
having double-layered partition is formed and if the tapes
are applied together as they are, then a paper tube assembly
having single-layered partition is formed. Relating to the
method of producing such a paper tube assembly, various ways
have been proposed, but relating to apparatus for producing
the same, there are only disclosed in U.S.P. No.3,661,682
and No.3,837,263. These prior art apparatuses are such
ones that flattened paper tubes are overlaped and pasted
together by one-half of their breadth thereby obtaining
a strip-like body of half-feather pattern in cross section,
and this strip-like body is pasted to another similarly
formed strip-~ike body face to face thereby forming a
strip-like body having feather pattern in cross
section, and thus obtained strip-like body is cut into
pieces of a desired length, and a given number of these
pieces are pasted together one on another. Elowever, when
produced by means of such an apparatus, since there is a
slight difference in a rate of expansion and construction
and in thickness between various portions of the paper,
lS dimensional errors of said half-feather pattern
strip-like bodies become accumulated in the row direction
thereof, so that when the obtained paper tube assembly is
developed, exact square tubes can not be formed. If these
assembled paper tubes are set in a nursing flat, there may
arise troubles such that the paper tubes do not become
familiar to the seedling nursing flat or in the case of
supplying them to a transplanting machine and carrying out
the transplantation, there may arise a separation miss.
Also, in the prior art apparatus, strip-like bodies formed
from different papers must be pasted together and therefore
a paper tube assembly is formed from differently toned
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~Lhi~
papers, so that it gives a brindled pattern in appearance
resulting in reduced commercial value.
The object of the invention is to provide appa-
ratus which can overcome these drawbacks.
The present invention provides apparatus for pro-
ducing a paper tube assembly for nursing seedlings compri-
sing a paste applying device for parallel arranging tapes
or tape-like flattened paper tubes of a given breadth in
longitudinal direction thereof, overlapping said bodies by
a desired breadth thereof and pasting them together conti-
nuously pulling out the strip-like material formed into the
form of a half-feather pattern, and carrying out the appli-
cation of paste in such a way that non-paste portions of a
given length are provided at given intervals on the surface;
a device for continuously cutting the length of the provided
non-paste portions as a unit; and a direction reversing
device having rotatable carrier tables and non-rotary car-
rier tables mounted alternately for receiving and carrying
the cut pieces horizontally and adapted to rotate as a whole.
Further features of the invention will become
apparent from the following description of a preferred em-
bodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which:
Fig. 1 is a plan view of apparatus according to
the present invention;
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Fig. 2 is a side view of said apparatus ;
Fig. 3 is a side view of the paste applying
device;
Fig. 4 is a developed sectional view taken along
the line K-K of Fig. 3 ;
Fig. 5 is an explanatory view of the suction table
Fig. 6 is a partial perspective view of the
endless belt ;
Fig. 7 is a plan view of the direction reversing
device ;
Fig. 8a and 8b are explanatory viws o~ the
reversing device ; and
Fig. ~ is an explanatory view of the vacuum-
pressure distributor.
In the drawings, M is a half-feather pattern
strip-like body, which is the same as that described in
U.S.P. No.3,661,682 and formed by flattening tape-like paper
tubes and pasted them together by a half of their transverse
breadth. 1 is a machine frame, 2 is a paste applying
device mounted on the machine frame 1, which paste applying
device comprises a paste dish 3, a paste transfer roll 4,
a pasting roll 5, and a pressing body 6, and the paste
transfer roll 4 is a plain roll and transfers paste 3
within the paste dish 3 to the pasting roll 5, and the
pasting roll 5 is formed by a light material such as light
;;. . 3
metal or synthetic resln, which have a great number of
ridge lines transversely on the surface and rotates in the
arrow direction. The pressing body 6 is placed opposite
to the lower portion of the pasting roll 5 and extended
between the machine frames 1, 1 and has an arc shape in
cross section, and a strip-like body M is passed through
between said pasting roll 5 and the pressing body 6 thereby
continuously applying paste lines to the strip-like body M.
In the subsequent steps, the strip-like body M applied with
the paste lines is cut into pieces of a given length, and
a certain number of these cut pieces N are piled up and
pasted together under pressure to form a group unit of the said
ass3nbl~ product, and in the above application of the
paste lines to the strip-like body M, the paste lines are
continuously applied to the strip-like body M only over a
length section corresponding to the cut pieces N required
to form said one group unit of the product, and immediately
thereafter there is formed a non-paste section corresponding
to one of the cut piece N, and thereby a continuous production
of the paper tube product as one group unit is enabled success-
fully. To attain this, the pasting applying device 2 is
provided with a paste application preventing mechanism which
slightly lifts the pasting roll 5 apart from the strip-like
body M each time the pasting roll 5 causes a given rotation
as described hereinafter.
Namely, a paste transfer roll 4 is fixedly
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mounted on a paste transfer roll shaft 7 rotatably supported
on the machine frame 1, and on the othor hand as shown in fig. 4,
the pasting roll 5 is loosely fitted on the pasting roll
shaft 8 supported both sides thereof through bearings
9', 9' putting onto upward open bearing blocks 9,9 on the
machine flame 1,1. On both sides of the paste transfer
roll shaft 7, arms 10,10 are freely inserted at their one
ends, and at their other ends the pasting roll shaft 8 is
freely inserted, so that the pasting roll 5 can be lifted
about the shaft 7 as a fulcrum.
11,11 are first cams, which are fixed on both
sides of the roll shaft 8 respectively so as to rotate with
the shaft 8 in a body. 12 shows the projecting portion of
the cam 11. 13,13 show second cams which are mounted
rotatably between the machine frames 1,1 so as to engage
respectively with the first cams 11,11 associated therewith,
and fixed on the both sides of the cam shaft 14. 15 is the
projecting portion of the second camsl3, which is adapted
to slightly push up the shaft 8 and lift the pasting roll 5
from the pressing body 6 only when engaged with the
projecting portion 12. 16 is a speed change mechanism
between pasting roll 5 and cumsll comprising a set of gears
17, 18, 19, and 20. The gear 17 is fixed on the boss portion
of the first camsll fixed on the pasting roll shaft 8 and
thus rotated in the arrow direction with the camsll in a body.
The gears 18 are inserted on the shaft 8 and fixed to the
sides of the pasting roll 5 and thus rotated with the
pasting roll 5 in a body. The gears 19 are fixed on
intermediate shaft 21 so as to engage with the gears 17
respectively, said intermediate shafts 21 being freely
inserted in the arms 10, and similarly the gears 20 are
fixedly mounted on the intermediate shafts 21 on the other
side so as to engage with the gears 18 respectively, whereby
the gears 19 and 20 are rotated through the intermediate
shafts 21 in a body. 22 is a drive shaft located below the
shaft 7 and rotatably mounted on the machine frame 1, which
drive shaft has an input gear 23 fixed at its one end and
a transmission gear 24 fixed at the other end. 25 is a
gear fixed on one end of the cam shaft 14 in engagement
with the transmission gear 24, and 26 is a sprocket
similarly fixed on the other end of the shaft 14, and 27 is
a gear rotatably fixed on a short shaft 28 fixed on the
machine frame 1, which gear is in engagement with the
transmission gear 24. 29 is a gear rotatably mounted on
the roll shaft 7 in engagement with the gear 27 on one side
of the pasting roll shaft 7, these being respectively
engaged each other for rotation. 30 is a sprocket fixed
on the other side of the shaft 7, and between the sprockets
26 and 30 is stretched a chain 31. 32 and 33 are sprockets,
and the sprocket 32 is inserted on the shaft 7 and fixed on
the side of the gear 29 so as to rotate with the gear 29.
The sprocket 33 is fixed on one side of the shaft 8, and
between the sprockets 32 and 33 is stretched a chain 34.
In the above arrangement, if an input operatively
connected to a cutting device hereinafter explained is
supplied to the input gear 23 the transmission gear 24
on the other side rotates via the shaft 22 thereby driving the
gears 25, 27 engaged with the gear 24. The gear 29 and the
sprocket 32 rotate in a body, so that a rotary force is
transmitted to the sprocket 33 through the chain 34 to
rotate the shaft 8. Due to the rotation of the shaft 8
the first cams 11 and the gears 17 rotate in a body, and
this rotation is transmitted to the gears 19,20 and 18
thereby causing the rotation of the pasting roll 5.
On the other hand, through the gear 25 is rotated
by engagement with the transmission gear 24 the second cams
13 fixed on the shaft 14, and thus sprocket 26 are also
rotated.
The rotation of the sprocket 26 rotates the shaft
7 via the sprocket 30, thereby rotating the paste transfer
roll 4 mounted on the same shaft. In such a way, the first
and second cams are separately rotated at different rotational
speeds, and when the projecting portions 12 and 15 are
brought into engagement, the shaft 8 is lifted up by the
arms 10 about the shaft 7 as a fulcrum. In this case,
assuming that a is the number of cut pieces N which can be
pasted by one rotation of the pasting roll 5 and Xo is the
rotational number of the pasting roll 5, the number Y of the
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cut pieces N to be pasted by X rotations of the pasting
roll 5 is given by the following formula :
Y = a-Xo ...... (I)
Since the rotation of the pasting roll 5 is trans-
mitted through the speed change mechanism 16, now assumingthat Xl is the rotation of the first cams 11, and the
numbers of teeth of the gears are respectively A (17), D (18),
B (19) and C (20), the ratio Of number R between
these gears is R =AB D ~ the rotation Xo of the pasting roll
5 resulting from the rotation Xl of the first cams 11 is
given by the following formula :
Xo = X1-R ..... .(II)
Accordingly, from the above formulas (I), (II) the
numbers of teeth A, B, C and D can be determined, so that
the pasting roll 5 and the first cams 11 can be rotated at
a desired ratio of rotation.
In the above example, the explanation is done in
relation to the speed change mechanism by means of gears,
but it is possible to use a mechanical or electrical stepless
speed change mechanism instead of a set of gears.
Relative to the first cams 11 thus rotated, the
rotation X2 of the second cam 13 rotated corresponding to
said first cams 11 is selected so as to meet the formula
X2 = Xl i 1, so that the projections 12 and 15 of both the
cams abut together each time the first cams 11 rotate by X
rotations and the second cams 13 rotate by X2 rotations,
g
thereby lifting the pasting roll shaft 8. In this case,
the arc length of the projecting portions 12 and 15 of the
first and second cams is selected so as to correspond to
the peripheral face length of one cut piece N of the
attaching face of the pasting roll 5, so that the pasting
along the section of the length of the one cut piece can
be avoided. Practically, an allowable maximum rotational
number of the rotation Xl of the first cam 11 is a value of
an integer portion of the product of the number of cut
piecesaand the ratio of tooth number R between said gears
by the limitation of the interference of the cam projections
12 and 15, and the number Y of cut pieces N obtained from
said formula (I) and (II) can be freely selected in the
range of Xl<a-R in formula Y = a Xl R. With respect to this,
in the prior art device, both the first cam 11 and the
pasting roll 5 are fixed to the pasting roll shaft 8, and
therefore assuming that T is the number of projection of cam,
the maximum rotational number which is able to be taken by
X0 = Xl becomes a/T by the limitation of the interference
of the projections, so that the rotational numbers X0, Xl
are determined by XO<a/T and Y = a X0, and thus subjected
to a remarkable limitation compared with the apparatus of
the present invention.
Next, there is provided with a suction conveyor
device for transferring said strip-like body M to a cutting
device, and said strip-like body M is applied with paste
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under tension such that the nonpaste sections are formed
more effectively. The suction conveyor device 35 comprises
a suction table 36, guide rolls 37, 37', a drive roll 38, and
an endless belt 39 stretched therebetween. The suction
table 36 is a plate-like body having a flat or arc-shaped
surface which is placed adjacent below the strip-like body M,
and the upper surface of said plate-like body has a plurality
of groove-like suction ports 36a formed therein, said
suction ports being parallel to or perpendicular to the
progress direction of the strip-like body M, and one side
of a communicating hole 36b opens to the bottom portion of
the suction port 36a, and the other side thereof opens to
an air collecting hole 36c provided in the suction table 36.
36d is an exhaust pipe, one end of which communicates with
the air collecting hole 36c and the other side communicates
with a suction device (not shown). The endless belt 39 is
stretched between the guide rolls 37, 37' and the drive roll
38, and a number of draft hole 39a corresponding to the
suction ports 36a are formed therethrough. As the endless
belt 39 any construction may be used which has a similar
function as the above provided with such draft holes 39a, and
for example it is possible to use a net body formed from a
material having an adequate strength and abrasion resisting
property. The drive roll 38 rotates by an input corresponding
to the feed velocity of the strip-like body M, and the linear
velocity of the endless belt 39 is slightly larger than the
-- 11 --
runnlng linear velocity of the strip-like body M so that
the strip-like body M is pulled. 40 is a belt-tension
adjusting device in which guide rolls 37 are movably
mounted on the left and right to adjust the tension of the
belt 39. In such an arrangement, the strip-like body M
on the endless belt 39 is attracted to the suction table
36 as it is supplied forwards.
The supplied strip-like body M is cut into pieces
of a given length by means of rolls 41-a, 41-b of a rotary
type cutter 41. 42 is a transfer device for further transfer
the cut pieces N, which device comprises a pair of transfer
belts 46, 47 which are stretched between a drive roll 43
and follower rolls 44, 45 mounted on the machine frame 1
with an interval narrower than the cut piece N, a supply
belt 49 stretched between a drive roll mounted between
said belts 46, 47 and a follower roller 48', and projections
49' attached on said belt 49, thereby receiving and trans-
ferring said cut pieces N. The belts 46, 47 have a faster
velocity than that of the belt 49, so that the projections
49' always bear against the cut pieces N for the transfer.
The transferred cut pieces N are directionally reversed for
every other piece by means of a direction reversing device
50. This direction reversing device 50 i opratably
connected with the roll 41-b through sprocket wheels 51, 48"
of the rolls 43, 48,chains 52, 52' and sprocket wheel 55
and has a three-joint linkage construction. Namely, as
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,
shown in Figs. 7 and 8, a shaft 53 supported on one side of
the machine frame l perpendicularly thereto and a shaft 54
supported on the other side are mounted on the same
horizontal plane with their axes offset each other, and a
sprocket wheel 55 is fixed on the shaft 53 and a chain 52'
is stretched between said sprocket wheels 55 and 48' for
the drive. On the shafts 53 and 54 rotary discs 56 and 56'
are respectively fixed vertically opposite to each other
with an interval between the discs narrower than that between
said belts 46 and 47. The rotary discs 56 and 56' are
respectively provided with a number of pairs of opposed arms
57 and 57' and at the ends of said arms pairs of shafts 58
and hollow shafts 58' are mounted perpendicularly inward
such that the shafts 58 are fixed and said shafts 58 and
58' are arranged parallel each other, and the locus of
rotation of said hollow shafts lies between said belts 46
and 47. In this case, between the shafts 58, 58' of pair
of odd number order a carrier table 59 for the cut piece N
is bridged and bearings Jl ~ J4 are fixed on the inside of
said table, and rotatably mounted on the shafts 58, 58'.
Thus it is communicated via a pipe 67' with a hollow shaft 62
which passes vertically through the end portion of the shaft
58' and the center of the non-rotary carrier table 59, and
opens to its upper face at opening 65. On the other hand,
on the shafts 58, 58' of pair of even number order, instead
of said carrier table 59, a gear box 59' is mounted similarly
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?~?~r"~
to the above, and at the center portion of the shaft 58 a
gear 60 is fixed, and the gear box 59' accommodates a gear
61 mounted vertically therein such that this gear 61 meshes
with said gear 60 at right angles each other. The shaft 62
of the gear 61 is hollow, and extends upward through the
gear box 59' and fixes the center of a rotary carrier table
63 slidably contacting with the upper face of the gear box
59' and opens at the upper face at opening 65. The ratio
of rotation of gear 60 and 61 is 1 : 1. Accordingly, when
said rotary disc 56 is driven by the chain 52', the arm 57
and the shaft 58 rotate and the carrier table 59 and the
gear box 59' pull the shaft 58', so that the arm 57' rotates.
In this case, the shafts 53 and 54 of the rotary
discs 56 and 56' have axes offset from each other so that a
three-joint linkage is formed, and thereby the carrier
table 59, the gear box 59' and the rotary carrier table 63
rotate while maintaining their horizontal postures. Also,
since the shaft 58 at the even number order has the gear 60
fixed thereon, the gears 60, 61 are caused to rotate once
for every one rotation of the rotary disc 56, and thereby
the rotary carrier table 63 is rotated once correctly.
In order to transfer the cut piece N positively
during said rotation, outside the rotary disc 56' a vacuum-
pressure distributor 64 is mounted in close contact therewith.
The distributor 64 is shown in Fig. 9 in detail, in which a
manifold 68 is fixed to the rotary disc 56' and has the same
number of through holes69 as the arms 57', and said manifold
communicates with openings 65 of the carrier table 59 and
the rotary carrier table 63 through a pipe 67, a hollow shaft
58' and the pipe 67'. Moreover, in the manifold is fitted
a distributing valve 70 which is fixed on the machine
frame 1. Said distributing valve 70 is centrally divided
into upper and lower arc-shaped space chambers 71 and 72,
which have respectively a through hole 73 and 74, and the
hole 73 communicates with an suction pipe 91, and the hole
74 with a compressed air supply pipe 92. Between the central
division slide faces are inserted separating pieces 75, 76,
and the distributing valve 70 and the manifold 68 are adapted
to rotate relative to each other in sliding contact with
their contacting faces so as to maintain airtight against
the outside. As a result, with rotation of the face having
through holes 69 formed in the manifold 68 the suction and
exhaust are successively repeated and in turn the opening
65 of the carrier table 59 and the rotary carrier table 63
communicating with said through holes 69 also repeat the
suction and exhaust. Accordingly, the cut piece N is
attracted to the carrier table 59 and the rotary carrier
table 63 under the suction condition, so that it is positively
transferred without causing any lateral shift etc. When the
direction reversing device 50 turns and reaches the opposite
side which is 180 degrees angle opposite to the receiving
side, the openings 65 of the carrier table 59 and the rotary
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carrier table 63 communicate with a compressed air supply
pipe 92 and is freed from the suction and it is provided
to the side of the sticking device 77. On the other hand,
the sticking device 77 comprises feed belts 82, 83 mounted
on both sides of the rotary path of the carrier table 59
in the same horizontal plane as said belts 46, 47, rolls
80, 80', 81 and 81' for supporting said belts 82, 83, an
alignment belt 86 between the drive roll 78 and the feed
belts 82, 83, a drive pulley 79 for the belt 86 and a
follower pulleys 84, 85. The drive pulley 79 and the drive
roll 78 are fixed on a shaft 90 both ends of which are
freely inserted in the machine frame 1, and on the shaft 90
is fixed a sprocket wheel 93 which is operatively connected
with said sprocket 55 through a chain 52". The diameter
of the drive pulley 79 is smaller than the drive roll 78,
so that the feed belts 82, 83 rotate faster than the align-
ment belt 86. 86' is a projection provided on the belt 86.
On the shaft 88 is fixed a serrated pressing wheel 87 and
a sprocket 94 which is operatively connected with the
sprocket 93 through a chain 52"', and on the opposite side
of the belt 86 which feeds the cut piece N to the wheel 87
a cut piece aligning table 89 is fixed to the machine frame
1, and the pressing wheels 87 are allowed to be inserted in
the front end of the aligning table. The cut pieces N on
the carrier tables 59 and the rotary carrier table 63 are
received by the belts 82, 83 at their left and right
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extended portions, and then fed onto the belt 86 and
moved forward while bearing against the projections 86',
and then inserted into the inside of the saw teeth of the
serrated pressing wheel 87 and directionally turned through
90 angle, thereby arranged into the table 89. ~.t this
time, the back portion of the saw teeth of the pressing
wheel 87 pushes the cut piece N so that the cut pieces
N are adhered together through the pasted portions. The
obtained adhered material is a feather pattern-like adhered
material because the half-feather pattern-like cut pieces
are arranged so that they are alternately reversed in
direction. Accordingly, when this adhered material is
developed, it becomes square shape, thereby ideal seedling
: nursing containers are continuously obtained.
As described above, the present invention is such
an apparatus for producing paper tubes for nursing seedlings
by continuously applying paste lines on a strip-like body
and using a paste applying means which allows to provide
nonpaste sections on the strip-like body at every desired
number of rotations without limitation that hitherto non-
paste sections had to be provided at every integer number
of rotations of the pasting roll, and after the application
of paste, continuously cutting this strip-like body and
making a half-feather pattern-like cut pieces N, continuous-
ly receiving these pieces by the carrier table 59 and therotary carrier table 63 which are alternately arranged, and
during the transfer, turning the rotary carrier table 63
through 180 angle to arrange the pieces, and sticking them
together by means of the sticking device 77, and therefore
said direction reversing device 50 is not limited to the
means using the three-joint linkage as shown in the drawing,
and instead of it is possible to arrange so as to transfer
the pieces on the same plane, cause a rod body mounted
below the rotary carrier table to bear against a cam thereby
pushing it up while turning through 180 angle, and after
the turning, push it down into the same plane to again
arrange them, and it is also possible to use a cam or rack
for the turning of the rotary carrier table, instead of
using gears.
As described above, according to the apparatus
of the present invention, it is possible to produce the
paper tube assembly for nursing seedlings, and also, because,
in the lamination pasting of the half-feather pattern-like
cut pieces, the adjacent portions of the similar paper materials
are pasted together, the errors by expansion and contraction
between the cut pieces are very small, so that the develop-
ment accuracy of the products is improved and also it is
possible to continuously produce good paper tube assembly which
have almost no difference of color tone.
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