Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
O W0 96,l6888 ~ 1 8 1 7 1 ~ I l,... 5il .,
EQUIP~5ENT FOR TEiE ~OL~uo, lON OF ROILS OF WEB MAT~RTAT.
DES~ L lU3~1
The invention r elates to equipment f or the
production of rolls of web ~tPr;;~l (which eql-i L is
rlPRi~n~d for makillg prodLcts from which the ~-t-~r;:~l can
be unwound and removed as and when needed, or dPR; ~nPd
for other uses), that offers many advantages over
conventional solutions, as will be clear from the
f ollowing text .
The equipment in question h~R;~S~lly - RPC a
revolving mandrel holder capable of intermittent angular
movement about an axis t.hat is ; nr~l; nPr1 relative to the
direction of advance of the web material to be wound; on
said mandrel holder there are at least two winding
mandrels on ; n-~l; n~d or skew axes relative to the axis
about which the mandrel holder moves and arranged in such
a way that at the end of each roll winding cycle an
angular - ~ L of said mandrel holder brings a free
mandrel into the winding position, and brings the or a
mandrel with the roll fo~ med upon it into a position in
which the roll can be taken of f the mandrel that f ormed
it .
In practice, and preferably, said mandrel holder
is designed to rotate about an axis orientated at
approximately 45 to the direction of advance of the web
material .
The revolving mc~ndrel holder may possess two
winding mandrels positlon~d on opposite sides of the axis
of rotation of said mandr~1 holder, which rotates through
an angle of 180 in each c,ycle. Alternatively, said
revolving mandrel hold~3r may possess four winding
mandrels arranged square to each other, in which case the
revolving mandrel holder rotates through an angle of 90
in each cycle.
In one practical ~ L the mandrels are
actuated by a drive compl.ising members that rotate about
2181716
WO 96/16888
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an axis pAr~ l with but not crin~ lin~ with the axis
about which said mandrel holder has its intermittent
angular ~, L. In this way it is possible selectively
to turn only that mandrel on which the web material is to
be wound to form the roll, while the mandrel for which
the roll is to be llnl oA~l~d is not turned, because the
drive is engaged only with the mandrel currently in the
winding position. This drive may include a pair of
friction drive members or drive members with cyclical and
temporary engagement.
The mandrels may be tubular with perf orated
walls, in which case r~hAnn~l ~ may be provided in the
mandrel holder supporting structure, in said mandrel
holder and in its mandrels in order to create a suction
into the interior of that mandrel which is tempor2rily in
the winding position, in order to initiate winding.
Alternatively - or additionally - the equipment may
comprise means f or placing a tubular core on a mandrel
that is to initiate winding onto that core.
An advantageous feature of the equipment
according to the invention is that it may include a
plurality of production lines positioned side by side,
each having its own revolving mandrel holder: the
complete assembly o~cllrie~ little space and is such as to
facilitate the llnl OA~i n~ of the formed rolls .
A clearer understanding of the invention will be
provided by the description and A~ nying drawing, the
latter showing a practical, non-restricting example of
said invention. In the drawing:
Fig. 1 shows in plan view a diagram of ~the
equipment according to the invention with a plurality of
production lines;
Fig. 2 is a view of Fig. l from line II-II;
Fig. 3 is a view of Fig. l from line III-III;
Fig. 4 is an alternative ' -'i L in a similar
view to that shown in Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is a transverse ~ection essentially on V-V
as marked in Fig. 3 or in Fig. 4; and
0 Wo 96116888 2 1 8 1 7 1 6 P~
-- 3 --
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show an alternative to Fig. 5
and sections on VII-VII and VIII-VIII as marked in
Fig. 5.
As illustrated iln the ~r_ -nying drawing, A,
5 and C are three production lines positioned side by side
to form a multiple equiprlent a3ser~bly that can be made to
occupy very little 8pace by adopting the rrinr-;rlDc Of
the invention.
With reference tc) line A, to which lines B and C
lO are perfectly equivalent, 10 is a general reference for
an endless CullVCyUL belt system that feeds the web
material in the directiom of the arrow _ 80 that it can
be wound onto a mandrel situated at the end of the
conveyor 10. The conveying action is continuous or
15 largely continuous - that is to say in some cases it may
be intermittent - and leads to the winding up of
continuous web material or of a material made up of a
plurality of - s, that is products, that are
intended to be ~i cpDncDd and are attached for the winding
2 0 operation .
At the end of the CU11V~YUL system 10 is a mandrel
in position 12, onto whi ch the web material N is wound
until the roll R is complete. In Figs. 1 and 3, a roll in
mid-formation on the mandrel in position 12 is marked Rû,
25 while in another position the roll is marked R in its
final form. The material N may initially be wound onto
the mandrel 12 by the action of pneumatic suction through
holes in the tubular walls of the mandrel, or
alternatively a tubular core may be placed on the mandrel
30 12 and the front end of the material N to be wound onto
the mandrel may be captured by an adhesive surface
present on said core.
When the roll iY f; n; ch~-l it is important to
remove the formed roll as fast and as compactly as
35 possible and bring in a mandrel ready to receive the
f ront end of the material N as it again advances in the
direction of arrow f, in order to begin making the new
roll as soon as a winding mandrel has been moved into
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WO 96116U8 1
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position. The means by which these operations are
performed must also be such as to occupy a limited amount
of space in order that a plurality of production lines
~uch as A, 8 and C can be installed very close togethAr.
5 ~nother ~nn~irlAr;ltir~ is the convenience of being able to
unload and reve the rolls easily as they are formed.
As illustrated in the Al-- -nying drawing, the
h~nt~l i nrJ of the ~; n; F:hA~l roll and the presenting of a
mandrel in the winding position at the end of the
0 C:ullvt~yuL system 10 is :-f - , ~ hPd by means of a mandrel
holder 16 capable of rotating about an axis X-X that is
; nrl; n~ relative to the axis of the mandrel in position
12, in the plan view, and also relative to the direction
f of advance of the web material to be wound. The mandrel
15 holder 16, which is dA~;snAcl for intermittent rotation
about its axis X-X, may be made up of _ Ants 16A, 16B
and 16C; this last - L 16C is a sleeve mounted for
rotation about a fixed tubular support 18 which is
integral with f ixed supporting means bearing the general
20 reference 20. Teeth 22 receive an intermittent -- v~ L
of rotation in the direction indicated by arrow f22 about
the axis X-X f or the purposes indicated below; this
intermittent rotation in accordanoe with the example of
Fig. 3 is an angular v. t of 180 in each cycle,
25 whereas in the alternative ~ shown in Fig. 4 the
intermittent angular v~ L is of 90. The mandrel
holder 16 in the example shown in Fig. 3 is fitted with
two mandrels, one of which is the mandrel 12 already
ref erred to and the other a mandrel 12A which is mounted
30 in a ~y LLical position opposite the mandrel 12
relative to a plane passing through the axis X-X. The
axis of the mandrel in position 12 in the drawing lies at
45 to the axis X-X and is at right angles - as already
noted - to the direction of advance of the web material N
35 in the direction of arrow f; in the same way the mandrel
in position 12A is ;nrl;nAcl at 45 relative to the axis
X-X. The axes of the mandrels may in principle and as an
alternative be skew relative to the axis X-X, provided
o W096,l6888 ~1 8 1 7 1 6 .~
-- 5 --
they are in such positi~ns that the 180 rotation brings
each mandrel into the position in which the other had
been previously. Each of the mandrels 12, 12A is
supported by the mandrel holder 16 and rotates in
5 h.cz~rinqs 24, 24A, whicll are ~kP~r h~d in in Fig. 5. A
shaft 26 rotates inside the tube 18 ; nrl~rF-n~ ntly of the
tube 18 and receives its motion through a gear co~l in~
28; said shaft 26 may ~e slightly out of Al i ~ t. with
the axis X-X 80 that it will only turn the mandrel
present in position 12, via a conical friction wheel 30
and that one of the two conical friction pinions 32 and
32A which is i nte~r~l with the mandrel present in
position 12. An axial thrust means bearing the general
reference 34 ensures ~lhPc;~n between the drive members
30 and 32 (or 32A) for the purpose of turning the mandrel
in position 12. The members 30, 32, 32A may also be
toothed, in which case the thrust means acts as a shock
~r and facilitates the initial engagement.
In the example shown in Fig. 5, each of the
mandrels i5 ri~ci~n~d to attract the front end of the web
material N pneumaticall~. To this end the mandrels, such
as 12, 12A, are of tubular construction with suction
apertures 12X and a fixed connection 36 is provided to
the support 20 where t}le mandrel is in position 12; in
turn, this connection ~6 is connected to a manifold 38
formed within the revolving mandrel holder 16 leading
away f rom the cavity o E the tubular mandrel present at
position 12; in this way only the mandrel in position 12
is subjected to a partie~l vacuum by a source connected to
the connection 36, with the result that the front end of
the web material N is captured in the initial forming of
the roll RO that is being f ormed on the mandrel in
position 12 with the f eed as rl~srr; hl-rl . When a mandrel
moves f rom position 12 l:o position 12A the suction action
ceases because the connection 36 and the r~-nifold 38 are
separated f rom each other . When a mandrel reaches
position 12A, this manifold 38 may be in line with a
connection similar to the connection 36 but fed with
.. _ . . . ... ... .. _ .. . . , , _ , .. .
WO96116888 2 1 3 1 7 1 6 1~.,1.. . ~
-- 6 --
_ _ -essed air to facilitate removal, that is axial
wi~h~lrA~-cl from the mandrel in po3ition 12A "by
r~lrr~nC;nn~ of the roll formed upon it, a6 is indicated by
arrow fA in the case of roll RA in the process of being
taken of f ( see Fig . 1 ) .
Each of the mandrels 12 and 12A when placed in
position 12 is spun in the manner indicated by the drive
26, 30, 32 ~or 32A) by the pinion 28 which receives its
motion from a fixed structure. The gear 22 brings about
the intermittent , c of the mandrel holder 16 about
the axis X-X in such a way that in each cycle a mandrel
in position 12 is brought into position 12A following the
arrow f22 to enable the formed roll to be llnlnAf~r~r3~ while
the mandrel with no roll, currently in position 12A, i5
moved into position 12 to - - ~ the f orming of a new
roll . With this arrangement it is p ~sihl ,~ to remove the
newly formed roll from the mandrel that has formed it and
is now moving to position 12A; the roll is withdrawn in
direction fA, i.e. axially, rather than in the same
direction as the direction of advance of the web material
N, i.e. in the direction of arrow f, or axially from the
mandrel still in position 12, because both of these
rossihilities are very lir~ted; the f~rr;~n, L
illustrated is also f ast when it comes to putting a new
mandrel in position 12 to begin forming a new roll. The
arrangement of the mandrel holder 16 with the mandrels
such as 12, 12A moving in succession into the two
positions not only has the advantages indicated above but
also saves space transversely relative to the advancing
VG t of the web material in direction f on the
advancing systems lO. This means that many lines ~uch a,s
A, B, C may be arranged very c}ose together and parallel
with each other to allow parallel operation, while the
amount of f loor space required is ver~ small .
In the ArrA-, L illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3
~nd 5 only two mandrels 12, 12A are provided: these take
the place of each other every time the mandrel holder 16
makes ~ its intermittent angular ~, L into the two
~ WO96/16888 2 1 8 1 7 1 6 ~ A -
positions illustrated, ~ith an angular stroke of 180. In
the alternative versiorl shown in Fig. 4, not only are
there two mandrels in positions 12 and 12A, but also two
other mandrels in posi tions 12B and 12C in a square
5 arrangement relative to mandrels 12, 12A, f orming a cross
in the axial view shown in Fig. 4. In this ~ ; t the
inter_ittent angular ~, - L in the direction of arrow
f22 i5 just 90 rather than 180.
With the "revol~er cylinder~-like ~ v~ --t of the
mandrel holder 16 throu~h angular strokes of 180 or 90
it is possible to achieve very fast repl ~ L of the
mandrel in position 12, that is in front of the advancing
system 10. The angular r- ~ Ls of the mandrel holder 16
can be synchronized with both the operation of suitahle
means f or cutting the web material N when a roll has been
~ully wound, and apE)ropriate interruptions to the
advancing or activating of a~ tnr means (festoons)
f or temporarily interrupting the wincling by means of
devices already known per se.
In the direction of arrow fA, means will be
provided for collecting and forwarding the already formed
rolls, and si ilar arr~-n~ s will be provided at each
of the other production lines such as B and C indicated
in Fig. 1 for the rolls ~ormed there.
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show an alternative ~mhc~li L
in which the mandrels ~uch as 12 and 12A are replaced
with mandrels 112 and 112A. Each of these mandrels
comprises a perforated box section 114 which, like the
mandrel 12, can apply both partial ~acuum and extra
pressure; fitted around this section 114 are two opposite
channel sections 116 that are secured by pins 118 through
slots 120 slanting in opposite directions and that have
slanting ends 116A. A centre 122 can engage with the
mandrel in position 112: by advancing axia}ly in the
direction fl22, this centre acts on the edges 116A and
pushes axially on the se~tions 116 which expand radially;
the result is to form the reel RO, as in the previous
case. ~hen the mandrel holder 16 is to be turned, the
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . . .. . , . . _ _ , .. _ _ . .. . .. .. . .
2 1 8 1 7 1 6
WO 96116m 1
-- 8 --
centre 122 is withdrawn axially and the two sections 116
can close together again; the result i8 that when the
mandrel 112 reaches po6ition 112A, the reel RA can easily
be slid off in the direction fA.
A5 an alternative to the system of suction
capture by the mandrel in position 12 in front of the
~lV~y~L system 10, the roll can be formed around a
tubular core, in which case an adhesive surface will be
provided for the front end of the web material when the
material begins to be wound around a roll. If this
approach is adopted, a core can be fitted either onto the
mandrel as it arrives in position 12 or onto the mandrel
as soon as its roll is removed in position 12A, or yet
again - in the case o~ Fig. 5 - onto the mandrel waiting
in an in~ te position between position 12A and
position 12, f or example in the downward-pointing
position .
