Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
56~3
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING THE OUTER
PERIPHERY OF A METAL SHEET COIL
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for
wrapping the outer periphery of a metal sheet coil.
For example, in a steel mill, a rolled thin steel
sheet is wound into a coil which is packaged with a sheet
of packaging paper for shipment. The various steps required
to complete a coil are highly automated, but the final
packaging step relies totally upon human hands. This
involves two operations, one wherein a sheet of packaging
paper which is wider than the coil width is wound once
about the outer periphery of the coil and forward and rear-
ward ends thereof are superposed and adhered to each other,
after which the cylindrical packaging sheets extending
from the ends of the coil are tucked in towards the end of
the coil, and the other wherein the inner periphery of the
coil is also covered with a separate sheet of packaging
paper. The present inventor has already proposed an
invention for mechanizing the aforementioned tucking-in
operation of the cylindrical packaging sheet. The present
invention proposed herein relates to the operation for wind-
in a sheet of packaging paper once about the outer peril
phony of a coil. Normally in this operation, two operators
are present to cut a wide sheet of packaging paper with
right and left tuck-in portions thereof added to the coil
width into a rectangular shape, though depending on the
size of the coil, and one end thereof may be horizontally
pulled and stretched by two operators to wind it about the
coil without making twist or distortion. Since the width
- 1 ~;~
sty
of the packaging paper is much greater than that of the
coil, this is a cumbersome operation wherein it is
difficult to accurately wind and adhere the packaging
paper to the coil. However, as this is not a continuously
carried out operation, it is not by nature suitable for
mechanization, and therefore the packaging of the outer
periphery of the coil has been done manually by skilled
operators.
SUMMARY OF THE Invention
It is a primary object of the present invention to
provide an easy and accurate method in which a sheet of
packaging paper is wound once about and fixed to the outer
periphery of a metal sheet coil.
It is a further object of the present invention to
provide a novel wrapping method which comprises winding a
sheet of packaging paper of required length for the outer
periphery of a metal sheet coil about a winding shaft,
winding the packaging paper about the coil while unwinding
the same from the winding shaft, and superposing and ad-
honing the forward and rearward ends of the packaging paperweight each other.
It is another object of the present invention to
provide an automated device in which a sheet of packaging
paper which is wider than the coil width is wound about the
coil so that cylindrical packaging sheets project prom the
ends of the coil, and the full lengths of the forward and
rearward ends of the packaging paper are positively super-
posed and adhered to each other.
To attain these objects, the present invention provides
a method and apparatus for wrapping the outer periphery of
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a coil, characterized in that a metal coil is passed over
a horizontal supporting shaft to raise and support it
thereon; a winding shaft with a sheet of packaging paper
of required length wound thereabout is placed along the
peripheral surface of said coil and the rearward end of
said packaging paper is temporarily fixed at a position
slightly apart from the peripheral surface of the coil;
said winding shaft is passed once around the coil so that
the packaging paper is wound about the outer periphery of
said coil while unwinding the same from the winding shaft
and a portion in the vicinity of the forward end of the
packaging paper is restrained on the coil surface by said
winding shaft; and a keep member is advanced along the
peripheral surface of the coil to superpose and adhere said
temporarily fixed rearward end of the packaging paper to
said forward end of the packaging paper.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate various stages of the packaging
method in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a front view of one embodiment of the
packaging apparatus in accordance with the present
invention.
FIG. 6 is a front view for explanation of the operation
of principal parts of the apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the lower half portion of the
apparatus shown in FIG. 5.
FIGS. 8 and 9 are respectively a front view and a side
view of the winding shaft supporting arm, and the rotating and
stopping mechanism.
30 . FIG. 10 illustrates the forward end of a horizontal
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supporting shaft in the embodiment.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
The construction and working mode of the present
invention will now be described with reference to the
accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 to 4 illustrate the wrap-
ping method in accordance with the present invention. The
solid line of FIG. 1 shows two states, one wherein a metal
sheet coil C is passed over and supported on a horizontal
supporting shaft 1 in a floating condition, and the other
wherein a winding shaft 2 about which a sheet of packaging
paper S of required length is wound is brought near the
peripheral surface of the coil C, and if an adhesive 3 has
not yet been applied to the rearward portion of the packaging
paper S, the adhesive is applied thereon and the rearward
end So thereof is temporarily fixed at a position slightly
away from the peripheral surface of the coil C. The
temporarily fixing operation is in this case achieved by
nipping rollers 4, 4. A lower tray 9 is in the position
to which it is returned after the coil C has been raised
to the level of the horizontal supporting shaft I
The phantom outline in FIG. 1 shows the state wherein
the winding shaft 2 is being rotated so as to wind the
packaging paper S about the outer periphery of the coil C
while unwinding the packaging paper S therefrom. Before
long the winding shaft 2 make a pass about the coil C and
reaches a position in the vicinity of its starting point,
and the forward end So of the packaging paper is also disk
engaged from the winding shaft 2 and turned down on the
peripheral surface of the coil C as shown in FIG. I
When the winding shaft 2 has come to retain and restrain a
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portion in the vicinity of the forward end So on the
peripheral surface of the coil C, the rotation of the
winding shaft 2 is stopped.
Then, a keep member 5 which has been withdrawn before-
hand so as not to impede the rotation of the winding shaft
2 is moved upwardly of the coil C. The temporary fixing
of the packaging paper by the nipping rollers 4, 4 is
loosened as shown in FIG. 3, and the rearward end So of the
packaging paper is moved forward by means of a tip roller
pa of the keep member 5 which is moved along the peripheral
surface of the coil C and the rearward end So is superposed
on and adhered to the forward end So of the packaging paper
as shown in FIG. 4.
If the winding shaft 2 is a hindrance when the rear-
ward end So of the packaging paper is superposed on and
adhered to the forward end So of the packaging paper on the
coil C by the tip roller pa of the keep member 5, the
winding shaft 2 can be moved away therefrom along the
peripheral surface of the coil C. It will be of course
understood that with respect to the position at which
adhesive is applied, there is a suitable superposing
allowance at a forward portion of the packaging paper S
which makes a pass about the outer periphery of the coil C
and an adhesive is precoated thereon.
The term "application of the adhesive" used herein
includes not only normal coating with an adhesive but also
spraying of a paste, applying of a one-sided adhesive tape
to the outside at the rearward end of the sheet of packaging
paper, and applying of a double-sided adhesive tape to the
inside at the rearward end of the packaging paper as shown.
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Also, the term "temporarily fixing the rearward end
So of the packaging paper" used herein includes not only
the use of the nipping rollers 4, 4 but also the use of
other nipping means, attracting means, pins, etc. In fact,
any means can be used so long as it can fix the rearward
end of the packaging paper during the winding operation of
the packaging paper by the winding shaft 2, and human hands
can be also used to this end as the case requires.
Also, the tip of the keep member 5 for urging forward
the rearward portion of the packaging paper along the outer
periphery of the coil C need not necessarily be the roller
pa but, instead, can be a pressure end such as a mere plate
edge.
It should be noted that when the rearward end So is
superposed on the forward end So of the packaging paper as
shown in FIG. 3, they are not superposed on each other
properly if the forward end So is curled. To prevent this,
it is necessary to avoid storing that packaging paper S as
wound in a small diameter coil as this will cause curling.
In practice, a sheet of packaging paper S of required
length is wound in a relatively large diameter coil and when
used, a rod is inserted there through so as to function as
a winding shaft. It is preferred however that a sheet of
packaging paper from an original sheet of packaging paper
be wound on the winding shaft in a direction opposite the
curling direction at a position upwardly of the coil C.
In this manner, the forward end So of the packaging paper
extending beyond the winding shaft 2 does not curl up from
the outer periphery of the coil C as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3
because the curling tendency of the original sheet of
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~;~15~3
packaging paper remains.
Next, the packaging apparatus in accordance with the
present invention, which is an apparatus embodying the
aforementioned wrapping method, will be described with
reference to FIGS. 5 to 10.
FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of the packaging apparatus,
which is designed to be adoptable to a metal sheet coil C
of any size. Original packaging sheets SO of three dip-
fervent widths are preluded at upper locations, and a
required amount of packaging paper may be drawn out of any
one or any combination of the original sheets. This embody-
mint involves a method previously developed by the present
inventor and incorporates therein creasing rollers 8 for
delivering a sheet ox packaging paper while propelling
accurate creases to the left and right edges (tuck-in
portions) thereof, which however have no direct relation to
the present invention.
It is designed so that a sheet of packaging paper
delivered from any of the original sheets So may be moved
20 down vertically between guide rollers 7, between rollers 6
with cutting edges and between nipping rollers 4 and then
wound in the required length about the winding shaft on
Principal parts provided on the apparatus include a
coil supporting mechanism 11 wherein the axial hole of a
25 metal sheet coil C is slipped on a horizontal supporting
shaft 1 to raise and support the coil C, a winding shaft
supporting arm 12 wherein the winding shaft 2 and a rotating
and driving portion therefore are attached to an arm end so
that the winding shaft 2 is parallel with the horizontal
supporting shaft 1, said winding shaft supporting arm being
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swung and stopped within a plane at right angles to the
horizontal supporting shaft 1, a mechanism for swinging
and stopping said winding shaft supporting arm 12 (FIGS. 8
and 9), a mechanism 14 for adjusting the swinging radius of
the winding shaft 2, a mechanism for winding a required
length of packaging paper about the revolving winding
shaft 2 without adherence of the paper thereto, that is, a
winding and guide belt mechanism 15, nipping rollers 4, 4
as a mechanism for temporarily fixing the rearward end of
the packaging paper, means for applying an adhesive on the
required surface of a rearward portion of the packaging
paper, which is in this case a paste injection device 16,
an urging mechanism 18 for thrusting a tip roller pa as a
pressure end out of a vertically adjustable and pivotal
guide mechanism 17, etc.
The coil supporting mechanism 11 is a well known
mechanism, in which in the illustrated embodiment, two such
mechanisms are opposed to each other and two horizontal
supporting shafts 1 confront each other to support a single
Jo coil C there between, as shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 10 shows an
example in which the diameter of the horizontal supporting
shaft 1 may be enlarged while being adjusted to the axial
hole of the coil. When a threaded rod 19 with symmetrical
right and left threads is rotated, opposed tops 20, 20 are .
moved towards or away from each other to protrude or no-
tract four radially movable members 21. Each of the
movable members 21 has a ring 22 formed from a coiled spring
retained in an outer peripheral groove thereof to impart a
returning force thereto.
The winding shaft 2 in the illustrated embodiment is
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journal led between two opposed winding shaft supporting
arms 12 as shown in FIG. 7 and is rotated with a suitable
winding torque by means of a motor 23 mounted on one
supporting arm 12, a magnetic powder clutch 24 and a trays-
mission mechanism. It will be noted that the magnetic
powder clutch 24 not only serves as a torque control
mechanism when a sheet of packaging paper is wound but as
an unwinding brake when the packaging paper is passed
round while winding it about the outer periphery of the coil
C to produce a suitable unwinding resistance.
The winding shaft supporting arm 12 is brought into
sliding engagement with a stepped groove formed in the front
surface of a turret disc 25 whose axis is common with the
horizontal supporting shaft 1, and a rack portion of the
winding shaft supporting arm 12 is driven by the pinion of
a gear motor 26 for relative movement. This relative move
mint causes adjustment of the swinging radius of the winding
shaft 2 so that the latter may assume a suitable position
adjusted to the outside diameter of the coil C.
The turret disc 25 with the winding shaft supporting
arm 12 may be rotated and stopped my means of a gear motor
27 mounted on the top of a mount of the coil supporting
mechanism 11. Thereby, the winding shaft 2 may be swung
about the outer periphery of the coil C and stopped.
The guide belt mechanism 15 for winding the packaging
paper S moved down from above as shown in FIG. 1 about the
winding shaft 2 revolved by the motor 23 is a well-known
mechanism, which is swung, when not in use, about the
supporting shaft 28 to a waiting position shown in FIG. 6.
The nipping rollers 4 for temporarily fixing the rear
issue 5~33
ward end So of the packaging paper upwardly of the coil C
are supported on the forward ends of a pair of right and
left pivotal arms 30 which swing about the pivot 29 in the
illustrated embodiment, and the clearance between the
rollers is opened and closed by means of a hydraulic
cylinder. During the time the packaging paper S passing
down from above is being wound about the winding shaft 2,
the clearance of the nipping rollers 4, 4 is brought to
the position shown in FIG. 5 towards which the packaging
paper S moves directly down. When winding is completed,
the winding shaft 2 is moved down to a position near the
outer periphery of the coil C by the movement of the
supporting arm 12 thereof and starts rotating, whereas the
pivotal arm 30 is moved down and swung as shown in FIG. 6
by the operation of the hydraulic cylinder 31 and the
nipping rollers 4, 4 also stop at a position slightly
apart from the peripheral surface of the coil C.
The rearward end So of the packaging paper wound about
the winding shaft 2 is temporarily fixed by the nipping
rollers 4, 4, after which the winding shaft 2 is passed
along the outer periphery of the coil C while unwinding
the packaging paper and stops with the forward end So of the
packaging paper held on the upper surface of the coil C as
shown in FIG. 6, then the urging mechanism 18 having a
pressure means similar to the tip roller pa of the keep
member in FIGS. 2 to 4 functions.
The right and left guide mechanisms 17 of the urging
mechanism 18, which are cylindrical in the illustrated
embodiment for guiding the tip roller pa between the tips
of the right and left keep members 5, are placed in sliding
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12156~33
engagement with the keep members 5. The right and left
cylindrical guide mechanisms 17 are vertically pivotal
movably mounted by pivots 32 on right and left lifting
members 33, which are synchronously moved up and down along
a column 35 by the associated rotation of respective lift-
in drive screws 34.
The level of the tip roller pa of the keep member is
preadjusted by turning the screw I When the tip roller
pa is moved to ride on the upper surface of the coil C as
shown in FIG. 6, the keep member 5 and guide mechanism 17
are slightly pivotal moved and the guide mechanism 17 is
lightly pressed down by the fluid pressure cylinder 36 in
such a manner that the upper surface of the coil may be
pressed down by a suitable force.
The forward and rearward ends of the packaging paper S
are effectively urged (bonded) by the tip roller pa of the
urging mechanism when the superposed packaging papers are
supported from below. The forward and rearward ends of the
packaging paper which rest on the upper surface of the coil
C are bonded by pressure of the tip roller pa but edge
portions of the packaging paper extended from the end of
the coil C towards both sides, that is, the portion So of
FIG. 7 cannot be pressed and bonded.
Since said edge portions are tucked in towards the
center along the end of the coil, the forward and rearward
ends sometimes do not require bonding. However, in the
illustrated embodiment, after the edge portions have been
completely bonded to finish the outer peripheral packaging
paper into a cylindrical configuration, the edge portions
are orderly tucked in by the precise tucking process
~2~5~i33
developed by the present inventor.
Therefore, the forward and rearward ends of the edge
portion So of the packaging paper are also urged by means
of the tip roller pa similarly to the portion on the coil.
That is, backing plates 37 may be inserted and retracted
from the right and left upwardly of the edge portion So,
and directly below the position at which the forward and
rearward ends of the packaging paper are superposed as
shown in FIGS. 5 - 7. The backing plates 37 rest on a
movable blocks 38 which move parallel to the horizontal
shaft 1 and are moved close to each other from their with-
drawn positions until they come close to both ends of the
-coil C, and the backing plates are returned after urging
of packaging paper by the tip rollers pa and can also be
pivotal moved up and down by the pivots of the movable
blocks 38 and the hydraulic cylinders 39. The movable
blocks 38 are fitted on a beam 40 between the lifting
members 33 and are moved towards and away from each other by
the rotation of the threaded rod 41 which is formed
I symmetrically right and left. When the winding shaft 2 is
passed about the outer periphery of the coil C, the backing
plate 37 is placed in a nearly vertical withdrawn attitude.
Next, the apparatus in the illustrated embodiment
operates as follow:
The metal sheet coil C is placed on the tray 9, which
is then raised, and the opposed horizontal supporting
shafts 1, 1 are inserted into the axial hole of the coil.
The winding shaft supporting arms 12, 12 on both sides are
interlocked and the winding shaft 2 there between is
positioned directly below a packaging paper feeding opening
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l56~3
(FIG. 5). Subsequently, the guide belt mechanism 15 is
transferred from the waiting position of FIG. 6 to the
position at which the winding shaft 2 is embraced as shown
in FIG. 5.
The guide and drive rollers 7 are rotated to receive
a sheet of packaging paper from the original sheets So
suitable for the coil C. The forward end of said packaging
paper is moved down between the open nipping rollers 4, 4
and wound about the winding shaft 2 driven by the motor 23
while being assisted by the guide belt mechanism 15. After
the packaging paper has been wound through the required
length about the winding shaft 2, the packaging paper is
cut by the rollers 6 with a cutting edge in response to a
signal from a detector (not shown), the cut end is fed to
the nipping rollers 4 and the rearward end thereof is held
and temporarily fixed. One surface of the packaging paper
directly below the nipping rollers 4 is applied with a
paste by the paste injection device 16.
After the guide belt mechanism 15 has been returned
to the waiting position, the winding shaft supporting arms
12 on both sides are moved down responsive thereto to lower
the winding shaft to the vicinity of the peripheral surface
of the coil C. At the same time, the pivotal arms 30 on
both sides are moved down, and the nipping rollers 4 with
the rearward end of the packaging paper at the forward end
thereof held there between are stopped at a position slightly
apart from the upper surface of the coil C and through which
the tip roller pa may be passed.
When the turret disc 25 is rotated to pass the winding
shaft 2 along the outer periphery of the coil C, the pack-
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:~2:15~33
aging paper with the rearward end So temporarily fixed is
unwound and wound about the outer periphery of the coil I
At this time, the magnetic powder clutch 24 produces a
predetermined braking force to impart an unwinding nests-
lance.
When the winding shaft 2 is returned to the top of thickly C, the packaging paper is wholly unwound and the
rotation of the winding shaft 2 is stopped in the state
wherein the forward end So of the packaging paper is held
by the winding shaft 2 (FIG. 6). Then, the backing plates
37 on both sides are turned from their withdrawn attitude
to a position lower than the upper surface of the coil C,
and both the threaded rods 41 are turned so that the backing
plates 37 may be moved close to each other until the inner
ends thereof come to light contact with the end of the coil
C. Thereafter, the upper surface of the backing plate 37
can be brought into contact with the inner periphery of the
edge portion 37 of the packaging paper. -It is, however,
better if said upper surface is inserted into the upper
position partway of winding of the packaging paper since
this produces neater winding.
Next, when the push rod 5 which is preadjusted in level
is advanced towards the upper surface of the coil C, the
tip roller pa forces forward the packaging paper between the
nipping rollers 4 and the peripheral surface of the coil C
to disengage the rearward end So of the packaging paper from
the loosened nipping rollers 4, after which the rearward end
So is pressed and superposed on and adhered to the forward
end So of the packaging paper on the coil C. The forward
and rearward ends of the packaging paper are simultaneously
- 14
sly
bonded over the full width by the presence of the backing
plates 37. The description of the returning-operation for
the various parts will be omitted.
The wrapping method in accordance with the present
invention can eliminate the customary manual operation in
which a sheet of outer periphery packaging paper cut into
the required size is spread and passed over the coil, and
provides easy and accurate packaging since the sheet of
packaging paper may be wound without deflection or twist.
Further, the rearward end of the wound packaging paper is
temporarily fixed and allowed to make a pass about the
winding shaft and therefore, the packaging paper is
naturally unwound from the winding shaft and wound about
the outer periphery of the coil, thus providing wrapping
without looseness.
In addition, the bonding operation between the forward
and rearward ends of the packaging paper which has been
heretofore cumbersome becomes easy and positive since said
forward end is held on the peripheral surface of the coil
by the winding shaft whereas said rearward endearing an
adhesive is forced to be disengaged by the keep member which
enters between the temporarily fixed position slightly
apart from the peripheral surface and the peripheral surface
of the coil and then superposed and pressed on the forward
end of the packaging paper. Momentarily when the forward
end of the packaging paper wound about the winding shaft is
disengaged from the winding shaft, said forward end is
linearly stretched by its own elasticity and positioned along
the peripheral surface of the coil, and therefore, the rear
end of the packaging paper may be superposed thereon. If
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the winding shaft is a hindrance, it can be also moved
while holding the packaging paper.
Moreover, the wrapping apparatus provides, in addition
to those advantages noted above with respect to the alone-
said method, an arrangement wherein a sheet of packaging paper can be wound on the spot and immediately permitted to
make a pass about the outer periphery of the coil while
unwinding the same, as a consequence of which curling caused
by the winding shaft does not develop and the aforementioned
method can be carried out in an ideal manner. Insofar as
the required sheets of packaging paper are present, coils
of various sizes can be wrapped in a fully automated fashion.
