Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
-- 2
This application is divided from my copending
application Serial No. 398,850.
The invention relates to improvements in
apparatus Eor making rolled up or convoluted
adhesive-coated bands, strips, webs or similar elongated
flexib e bodies. More particularly, the inven~ion relates
to improvements in apparatus for makin~ rolls of
adhesive-coated material (hereinafter called web) which
can be utilized with advantage for the cleaning of
garments, e.g., for removal of lint.
It is already known to form a garment cleaning
roll by convoluting a web of crepe paper or an analogous
flexible strip material around a core or the like and to
provide one side of the web with a coat of adhesive. It
is also known to provide the web with transversely
extending rows of perforations which weaken the respective
portions of the web so that the contaminated or otherwise
spent portions or sections of the web can be readily
segregated from the next-following satisfactor~ or intact
portions. As a rule, the weakened portions are
equidistant from one another so that the user can
segregate sections or panels of predetermined length, as
considered in the longitudinal direction of the convoluted
material.
A drawback of heretofore known rolls of
convoluted web material one side of which is coated with
adhesive is that, when the user has completed the
separation of a preceding section or panel ~rom the
remainder of the web, the leader of the remainder adheres
to the convolution therebelow. This takes place
,. ~
.,
- ' \
irrespective of whether the adhesive coat is applied to
the inner or to the outer side of the convoluted web. In
other words, a fresh leader which is obtained on
detachment of one or more foremost or outermost sections
will tend to adhere to the section or sections which are
overlapped thereby so that the person using the roll
encounters problems in attempting to grasp the leader
preparatory to detachment of one or more additional
sections, e~g., preparatory to detachment of sections
whose outer sides are covered with lint so that they must
be removed for the purpose of exposing fresh
adhesive-coated portions of the roll. The situation is
aggravated when the web is very thin, e.g., when the web
consists of relatively thin crepe paper or extremely thin
plastic foil. As a rule, such types of rolls are sold or
furnished with operating instructions containing a
recommendation that the leader of the web be folded over,
either along its entire width or at one of the corners,
i.e. r to form a flap which can be more readily grasped by
2~ fingers when the user wishes to unwind one or more
sections preparatory to detachment of such sections from
the remainder of the convoluted web. Operating
instructions are often misplaced and/or disre~arded by the
purchaser of the roll; at any rate, the preparation of
such instructions involves additional costs for paper,
printing and shipment. Furthermore, the just discussed
making of flaps is of no help when the adhesive is applied
to the outer side of the convoluted roll because the
folded flap adheres to the ad]acent portion of the outer
side and cannot be readily grasped when the user desires
to detach one or more sections at the leading end of the
web.
The presently preferred apparatus making the roll
comprises the means for weakening spaced-apart portions of
the web transversely of the longitudinal direction of the
web so that the thus weakened portions break firs~ in
response to the application of tensional stresses to
corresponding regions of the web and such weakened
portions convert the web into a file of coherent
neighboring sections each having a leader adjacent to the
preceding weakened portion and a trailing portion adjacent
to the next-following weakened portion, and means for
applying to the inner sides of the sections transversely
extending layers consisting of a material which does not
adhere to the adhesive coat at the one side of the web.
The layers are applied to the trailing portion and/or to
the leader of each section~ and one of the aforementioned
(weakening and applying) means is located ahead of the
other means, i.e., the weakening operation can be
completed before the application of the aforementioned
layers or vice versa. The one side of the web can be
coated with adhesive prior or subsequent to completion of
the weakening and/or applying steps. The arrangement may
be such that the application of layers precedes by one,
two or more steps the making of weakened portions, i.e.~
that layers of a hardenable liquid substance (consisting
of or containing silicon, stearin, wax, wax crayon or an
equivalent material) are applied to spaced-apart portions
of the inner side of the web while the web is running
along a predetermined path, and the making of weakened
119~
portions in such layers takes place at a location or
station downstream of the locus or station for the
application of layers e.g., so that one or more layers are
disposed between the weakening tool or tools and the
station for application of liquid material and the length
of web between the two stations carries one or more
layers, depending on the speed of the web and the interval
of time which is needed to cause the material of the
non-adherent portions to set (in part or entirel~) prior
to weakening of a selected region (preferably the central
part) of a layer or a region which is immediately adjacent
to a layer (depending upon whether each weakened portion
is to be flanked by two layers of non-adherent ~aterial or
is merely adjacent to a single layer).
The novel features which are considered as
characteristic of the invention are set forth in
particular in the appended claims. The improved apparatus
itself, however, ~oth as to its construction and its mode
of operation, together with additional features and
advanta~es thereof, will be best understood upon perusal
of the following detailed description of certain specific
embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a roll which is
produced in the apparatus of the invention; and
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of
the apparatus which can be utili~ed for the making oE the
roll.
Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a roll
~ which is mounted on an elongated handle 1 and includes a
30 hollow cylindrical core (not visible) and a supply of
i8
-- 6
convoluted web 5, e.g., a web consisting of crepe paper or
the like. The core can be made of stiff cardboard and is
rotatably mounted between two flanges 6 (only one can be
seen in FIG. 1) which are supported by the handle 1. The
diameter of the illustrated handle 1 increases in a
direction away from the respective axial end of the roll
2. The entire outer side of the convoluted web 5 is
coated with an adhesive 4 so that, when the convoluted web
is rolled along a garment (while the operator grasps the
handle 1), the adhesive at the outer side of the outermost
convolution collects lint and/or similar impurities which
tend to adhere to the textile material. It will be
appreciated that the just discussed utilization of the
roll is but one of numerous uses to which the roll can be
put.
The reference character 3 denotes the
convolutions of the web 5; such convolutions surround the
core and adhere to each other in view of the provision of
adhesive coat 4 at the outer side of the web 5. This
holds the convolutions 3 against unwinding or
clockspringing. The non-illustrated flange 6 is readily
removable so that the core of an exhausted roll 2 can be
slipped off the handle 1 and replaced with the core of a
fresh roll.
The web 5 is formed with transversely extending
elongated linear or substantially linear weakened portions
7 in the form of rows of slits, perforations, pronounced
creases or a combina~ion of such features. All that
counts is to ensure that, when the web section ahead of a
30 weakened portion 7 is subjected to tensional stresses
~4~5~
(e.g., to a pull in the direction indicated by arrow A),
the web 5 ~eadily breaks along the respective weakened
portion 7 so that the operator is capable of determining
the length of the separated part of the web as well as of
ensuring that the break is regular (the neighboring
weakened portions 7 are preferably equidistant from one
another and pre~erably extend at right angles to the
longitudinal direction of the web 5, i.e., in parallelism
with the axis of the roll 2).
In order to ensure that the leader 9a of each
section 9 between a pair of neighboring transversely
extending weakened portions 7 will not adhere to the
adhesive coat 4 at the outer side of the section or
sections 9 therebelow, the roll 2 is provided with
transversely extending strip-shaped layers 10 o~ a
material (such as a substance consisting of or containing
stearin, wax, wax crayon and/or silicon) which does not
adhere to the adhesive coat 4. The layers 10 are applied
to the inner side of the web 5 so that they face the
adhesive 4 on the convolutions 3 therebelow and they
extend all the way to the respective weakened portions 7.
This guarantees that, when the web 5 is caused to break
along a selected weakened portion 7 (e.g., along the
portion denoted by the the character 7'), the web material
which is immediately adjacent to the weakened portion 7'
does not adhere to the adjacent adhesive coat 4 but is
readily engageable by two or more fingers to allow for
removal of one or more further sections 9 when the need
for such removal arises. Moreover, it is not necessary to
fold a portion of the foremost or outermost section 9
5~
along the preceding weakened portion (i.e., along the
leader of the remainder of the web 5) as was necessary in
heretofore known rolls. This saves time and ensures that
a forgetful operator need not peel oEE the leader of the
foremost section 9 at the time when the need for removal
of one or more sections arises, e.g., while the operator
holds the handle 1 and must rapidly remove one or more
spent sections 9 in order to expose a convolution having
an intact adhesive coated outer side.
In accordance with the presently preferred mode
of making the roll, the inner side of the web 5 is
provided with additional layers 11 whose material is
preferably identical with that of the layers 10 and which
are applied to the inner sides of the trailing portions 9b
of the sections 9. This ensures that each of the weakened
portions 7 is flanked by two elongated strip-shaped layers
10, 11~ i.e., that each weakened portion is completely
surrounded by a material which does not adhere to the
adhesive coat 4. The placing of weakened portions 7 into
immediate proximity of uncoated parts of the inner side of
the web 5 (i.e., immediately adjacent to such parts which
readily adhere to the adhesive coat 4 at the outer side of
the web) could lead to smearing of some adhesive across
the weakened portions 7 and would thus interfere with
convenient access to the leaders 9a of the foremost
sections 9 preparatory to detachment of one or more
sections fro~ the remainder of the convoluted web 5. The
width of each layer 10 may approximate or match the width
of the neighboring layer 11, and the width of each such
30 layer is preferably a small fraction of the width of a
~L~.9~
section 9 (as considered in the longitudinal direction of
the web 5). At the present time, the width of a layer 10
or 11 is preferably less than one-third of the width of a
section, 9, i.e., less than one-third of the distance
between two neighboring weakened portions 7. EIG. 1 shows
that the combined width of a pair of neighboring layers
10, 11 can equal approximately one-third of the width of a
section 9, and that the width of a layer 10 or 11 can be
less than one-fourth of the width of a sectionO As will
be explained with reference to FIG. 2, two neighboring
layers 10, 11 are preferably applied in the form of a
single layer whose width matches the combined width of a
layer 10 and a layer 11, and the respective weakened
portion 7 can be applied prior or subsequent to
application of such relatively wide layers to the inner
side of the web 5.
In peeling the two foremost sections 9 off the
roll 2, the operator grasps the layer 10 which is
immediately adjacent to the leading edge 3 of the web 5
(i.e., to the destroyed or broken foremost weakened
portion 7) and pulls the foremost section 9 tangentially
of the roll. A selected weakened portion 7 will readily
break in response to the application of a twisting force
in the region of the selected weakened portion or in
response to the application of a pronounced tensional
stress in the longitudinal direction of the web; such
stress suffices to destroy a weakened portion 7 but does
not result in tearing of a section 9 between the
respective weakened portions. Since the foremost layer 10
does not adhere to the adhesive coat 4 therebelow, it can
-- 10 --
be readily lited by one or more ~ingernails preparatory
to exertion of a pull in a direction tangentially of the
roll 2, i.e., prior to detachment of the central
portion(s) of one or more sections 9 from the
adhesive-coated outer side of the convolution 3 therebelow.
The layers 11 are optional; however, they are
desirable and advantageous because they reduce the
likelihood of adherence o-E the web 5 in the region of
weakened portions 7 to the adhesive coat 4 therebelow.
Furthermore, and as will be explained in connection with
FIG. 2, the application oE layers 11 simultaneously with
the application of layers 10 simplifies the coating of the
inner side of the web S with a material which does not
adhere to the coat 4.
As mentioned above, the roll can be put to a
number of different uses, not only in connection with the
cleaning of garments or the li~e. It is further possible
to apply the layers 11 and/or 10 as well as the adhesive
coat 4 to one and the same side of the web 5, namely; to
~he inner side of the web. In such rolls, the layers 11
and/or 10 are applied to the inner side first and the
adhesive coat is thereupon applied to the entire inner
side whereby such coat adheres to the web portions between
the neighboring layers (i.e., to the major central
portions of the inner sides of the sections 9) but not to
the layers 11 and/or 10. The aorementioned substances
which can be used for the making of the layers 11 and/or
10 ensure that such layers do not adhere to the outer side
of the web when the latter is convoluted to orm a roll as
well as that the adhesive which is applied thereover does
i8
not adhere to the layers during coating of the inner side
of the webO
Stearin or a substance which contains stearin is
one of the presently preferred materials for the making of
the layers 11 and/or 10. Stearin exhibits the advantage
that it can be readily liquefied and its viscosity is then
sufficiently low t~ allow for convenient and uniform
application to selected portions ~namely, to the trailing
portions and/or leaders) of the sections 9O Furthermore~
once the liquefied stearin sets, it adheres to the web 5
and its exposed surface does not accept and does not
adhere to adhesive coats at normal temperatures (such as
room temperature). It has been found that layers of
stearin readily repel an adhesive coat which is applied
thereover and that such layers also fail to adhere to the
adhesive-coated side of the web.
The exact composition of the adhesive coat 4
forms no part of the invention~ It can be the same as or
similar to that at the inner side of Scotch Tape.
FIG. 2 shows a presently preferred form o an
apparatus which can be utilized for the making of rolls of
the type shown in FIG. 1. The apparatus comprises a
source of supply 12 of web 5 (the illustrated source is a
supply reel which pays out the web in the direction
indicated by arrow 5a). The web 5 is caused to advance
along a predetermined (substantially U-shaped) path to a
takeup reel 16 whose shaft 16b is driven to rotate in the
direction of arrow 16a~ The adhesive coat 4 can be
applied to the outer side of the web 5 prior to placing of
~he supply reel 12 onto its shaft 12b or subsequent to
- 12 -
convolution of the web 5 onto the core of the reel 16, for
example, d~ring rewinding of the web 5 from the reel 1~
onto the reel 12. To this end, the motor M which drives
the shaft 16b in the direction of arrow 16a can be a
reversible motor which can Eurther serve to drive the
shaft 12b of the reel 12 counter to the direction
indicated by arrow 12a~
A heated vessel 18a contains a supply of a
hardenable or settable liquid material 18 which is the
material of the layers 10 and 11. The means for applying
layers 10, 11 to selected portions of the running web 5
comprises a rotary roller-shaped applicator 13 which is
driven in synchronism with the reels 12, 16 (for example,
by the running web 53. A portion of the peripheral
surface 13a of the applicator 13 dips into the liquid
material 18 in the vessel 18a so that the entire
peripheral surface 13a is coated with a film of material
18 when the web 5 is in motion to advance toward the reel
16. The applicator 13 cooperates with a cruciform rotary
web contacting or engaging element 14 having four
equidistant radially extending arms 19 whose radially
outermost end surfaces or countersurfaces are shown at
22. The width of each such surface matches the combined
width of a layer 10 and a layer 11, as considered in the
longitudinal direction of the running web 5. The central
portion of the element 14 can be driven by a discrete
prirne mover in synchronism with the applicator 13 so that
the speed of the surfaces 22 matches the speed oE the
surface 13a, or in response to forward movement of the web
S. The surfaces 22 of the arms 19 cooperate with a rotary
web-weakening device lS having four equidistant radially
extencling tools in the Eorm of knives 20 with edges 21
extending transversely of the web 5 and designed to form
weakened portions of the type shown at 7 in FIG. 1. Thus,
each of the edges 21 can have two or more spaced-apart
cutting portions, depending on the number of perforations
or slits in a weakened portion 7. The devices 14 and 15
respectively rotate in the directions indicated by arrows
14a and 15a and at such speeds that the speed of the edges
21 (which travel along a first circular path~ is identical
with the speed of surfaces 22 (which travel along a second
circular path). The two paths contact each other at a
location L which is the station for the making of weakened
portions 7. The orientation of the device 15 relative to
the element 14 is such that each edge 21 engages the web 5
substantially midway between the longer sides of the
oncoming surface 22 (namely, midway between those sides
which extend at right angles to the plane of FIG. 2) to
thus ensure that each weakened portion 7 is formed between
two layers 10, 11 of at least substantially identical
width (as considered in the longitudinal direction of the
web 5).
The distance between the location or station I,
and a station T (where -the arms 19 engage the web 5 and
cause the application of layers 1~ 11 thereto) depends on
a number of parameters, such as the nature of the ~aterial
18, the speed at which the web 5 is transported, the
configuration of the edges 21 and/or others. The axis of
rotation of the element 14 is preferably parallel to the
3~ axis of rotation of the device 15, i.e., the axes of these
~3L9~5~
- 14 -
components are preferably located in a common plane, and
such plane preferably further includes the axis of the
roller-shaped applicator 13. The material 18 in the
vessel 18a is assumed to be liquid stearin; however, it is
equally possible to employ one or more of the
aforementioned additional suitable materials in lieu of or
in combination with stearin.
The operation:
The motor M is started to drive the takeup reel
16 in a counterclockwise direction (arrow 16a) whereby the
web 5 begins to advance in the direction of arrow 5a to
set the supply reel 12 in rotary motion in a
counterclockwise direction (arrow 12a). The element 14
and the device 15 are also set in rotary motion so that
the surfaces 22 travel at the speed of the edges 21 and at
the speed of the web 5. This causes successive surfaces
22 to move the adjacent portions of the web 5 (namely the
trailing portion of one of the future sections 9 and the
leader of another of the future sections 9) into contact
with the liquid-coated peripheral surface 13a of the
applicator 13 which is rotated at the speed of the web 5.
The edges 21 thereupon form successive weakened portions 7
after the corresponding arms 19 (which constitute anvils
or back supports for the edges 21) complete an angular
movement through 180 degrees (namely, from the station T
to the station L). The diameter of the circle along which
the surfaces 22 travel and the width of these surfaces can
be readily selected in such a way that the length d of a
web portion between two neighboring web-engaging surfaces
3~ 22 greatly exceeds the width of a surface 22, i.e., that
- 15 -
the ratio of the width of the layers 10 or 11 to the width
of sections 9 will be within the aforediscussed range
(preferably less than one-third of the distance between
two neighboring weakened portions 7).
It will be noted that the making of weakened
portions 7 follows the making or application o~ the layers
10, 11. However, it is clear that the operation can be
reversed by the simple expedient of adjusting the motor M
so that it rotates the reel 12 in a clockwise direction,
as viewed in FIG. 2. The reel 12 is then a takeup reel
and the reel 16 constitutes a supply reel. In such
apparatus, the making of weakened portions 7 precedes the
application of layers 10 and 11. It is further clear that
the device 15 can be installed to the left of the element
14 so that the arms 19 which assume the three o'clock
positions (as viewed in FIGo 2) cooperate with successive
edges 21 in order to form the weakened portions 7.
The placing of weakened portions 7 midway between
the longer sides of the respective surfaces 22 is not
critical, i.e., the width of the layers 11 can exceed the
width of the layers 10 or vice versa. The use of
relatively wide surfaces 22 is desirable and advanta~eous
because this renders it even less likely that an edge 21
will strike the web 5 somewhere close to the one or the
other longitudinal edge of the respective surface 22,
i.e., that each weakened portion 7 will not be di~posed
between a pair o layers (10, 11).
In the apparatus of FIG. 2, the RPM of the
element 14 is identical with that of the device 15 because
the diameters of the circular paths of the edges 21 and
QS~
- 16 -
suraces 22 are identical. However, this is not critical
because the number o~ arms 19 can be reduced to three or
increased to more than four without departing from the
spirit of the invention, as lon~ as one ensures that each
edge 21 meets a surace 22 at the time it forms a weakened
portion 7.
Once the transfer of the web 5 from the reel 12
onto the reel 16 is completed, the reel 16 can be unwound
and converted into a desired number of rolls 2, depending
on the desired length of convoluted web stock on each roll
2. The diameters o~ successive rolls 2 may but need not
be identical, and the application of the adhesive coat 4
can take place while the reel 16 is converted into a
succession of rolls 2.
It is equally possible to replace the reel 16
with a cylindrical core which is placed onto the shaft 16a
to support or to form part of a roll 2. ~uch modè of
operation is desirable and advantageous when the adhesive
coat is applied between the station or location L and the
~ locus of the reel 16 shown in YIG. 2 or between the reel
12 and the applicator 13. Furthermore, and as already
mentioned above, the reel 1~ can constitute a ~upply reel
and the reel 12 then constitutes a takeup reel; this is
desirable if the manufacturer wishes to form the weakened
portions 7 prior to the application of layers 11 and~or 10.
The improved apparatus exhibits the important
advantage that it allows for continuous application of
layers 11 and 10 to selected portions of the inner side of
the web 5 and also that it allows for the making of
weakened portions 7 at least substantially midway between
,
the boundaries of a composite layer including a layer 10
and a layer 11, i.e., substantially midway between the
longer sides of the respective surface 22. This reduces
the likelihood that the weakened portions 7 would be
applied outside of the material 18 which does not tend to
adhere to the adhesive coat 4. Furthermore, the improved
apparatus is ~ery simple, compact and inexpensive. As
explained in connection with FIG. 2, the means for
applying the layers 11, 10 merely includes the simple
roller-shaped applicator 13 and the equally or relatively
simple cruciform or similarly configurated element 14.
A further advantage of the improved apparatus is
that the roll need not be sold with any instructions,
i.e., a person utilizing the roll will readily comprehend
that the leaders of successive sections 9 can be peele~
off by the simple expedient of engaging such leaders and
pulling them in a direction substantially tangentially of
the roll. Absence of adhesive at the inner sides of such
leaders is of advantage on the additional ground that the
adhesive is not likely to contaminate the hands of the
user and/o~ to penetrate beneath the fingernail or
fingernails in the course of removal of one or more
sections when the adhesive-coated outer side is not suited
for its intended purpose, e.g., when such exposed or outer
side has accumulated a large amount of contaminating
substances from garments in a cleaning establishment, in a
home, in a military establishment, in a seminary, in an
academy, in a correctional institution or another
establishment whose occupants or inmates are likely to
employ such types of rolls or the purpose of cleanin~ or
~' -
5~
- 18 -
analogous purposes. Since the adhesive coat 4 is
preferably applied to the outer side of each convolution
of the web 5, and since the layers 11 and/or 10 are
applied to the inner side of the web, the entire exposed
su~face of the roll ~ is provided with a coat of adhesive
so that the roll can be put to use in any angular position
while, at the same time, permitting rapid engagement of
the leader of the foremost section 9 (at the leading edge
8) by the fingers of the operator.
The method which can be practiced with the
improved apparatus and the roll which can be produced in
such apparatus are protected by the claims of the
aforementioned copending patent application Serial No.
39~,850.
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so
fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others
can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for
various applications without omitting features that, from
the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential
characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of my
contribution to the art and, therefore, such adaptations
should and are intended to be comprehended within the
meaning and range of equivalence of the appended claims.
