EP2056703B1 - Anti-lock device and dynamic brake control in a machine automatically distributing cut wiping cloths - Google Patents

Abstract

This device is remarkable in that the lever (10), in its gooseneck-shaped top part (10a), has a non-circular, curvilinear internal configuration (10b) with a wide gap toward the outside and a perpendicular anchoring ridge (10c) in the widest part oriented toward the inside to work together with a span ring (13) made of an elastomer material arranged on the flask (12a) of the receiving end of the mandrel of the spool of material, and in that this counterweight device comprises a counterweight cam that works together with the lever with each turn of the drum.

Description

The invention relates to the technical sector of dispensing devices for wiping materials, cellulose wadding for example, for hand towels, toilet paper, paper towels and the like.

The dispensing apparatus (1) is of the type comprising in a housing (1a) with a protective cover (1b), inner flanges (2-3) perpendicular to the bottom wall (1e) of said housing, said flanges being parallel two to two and at different levels. The lower flanges (2) are the support of a drum (4) incorporating the cutting device (5) known in itself through various patents of the applicant. The flanges (3) located in a plane greater than the previous ones are the support of the coil of wound material. The spool (B) is not in contact with the drum. In its lower part (1d), the casing is arranged with a longitudinal opening (1e) for the passage, gripping and pulling of the strip of overflowing material. The side flanges (2) drum support are arranged with known means for the output of the cutting blade of the drum, and this towards the rear of the device. The drum has at its end axes (4a) bearing and centered in pre-established cavities on the flanges (2) above. Pressing means (6) can be supported on the drum in the manner described in the applicant's patents. A drum spin corresponds to a cut material format.

In practice and because the material spool is not in contact with the drum, it can occur depending on the pulling force (FT) exerted by the operator the appearance of strips of material forming loops between the drum and the coil, after the rotation of a drum revolution corresponding to the detachment of a piece of wiping material in the established format.

To overcome this disadvantage of the appearance of loops which can cause the device to be put out of service by a stuffing effect, the applicant has developed very specific anti-loop devices which have for example been described in French patents. 2870702 , 2860967 , 2828083 and 2778902 .

In the French patent document number 2870702 , transverse pressure rollers are arranged obliquely and come into contact with the side edge of the coil to provide a braking function. But in case of very strong and fast traction, given the inertia of the material reel (up to 2 kg of weight), the appearance of loops still exists.

In the French patent document number 2860967 , the device anti-loops and therefore of braking of the material coil is effected by means of the axis of articulation of the cover relative to the housing, acting by means of a cam mounted on this axis on a rocking lever coming into bearing contact on the material coil.

In the French patent document number 2828083 it is the spool flange that receives a tip support shaft, the tip receiving an O-ring penetrating the mandrel of the spool. Reminder means, but also gear, participate in the operation of the device, but in a complex implementation not exploited.

Another problem was the difficulty of separating the last central attachment area of the sheet gripped by the operator and the reel, due to insufficient tension of the material portion between the drum and the reel. during the cut.

The applicant thus proposed, in the French patent 2778902 , an anti-loop device from a reel of material including a mechanism acting on the reel holder blocking in position the latter and being actuated by a feeder device integrated in the drum movement and ensuring the operation or not locking the reel holder. French patent 2778902 discloses a device having the features of the preamble of claim 1.

In this implementation, the feeder device, intervenes only in case of strong traction of the drawn material strip.

In this embodiment, the locking device of the lever under the receiving disk of the tip, remains random, the locking finger does not necessarily penetrate into one of the notches formed on the receiving disk. Furthermore, it has been described in this patent, the implementation of a receiving end of the mandrel of the wiping coil arranged with a central recess forming a housing receiving two expandable half-flanges under the action of rolling means and driven by a belt acting as a brake. The spacing of said flanges causes the belt to come into contact with the inner portion of the mandrel and causes it to lock.

In practice, according to the complementary experiments of the applicant, it turned out that all the proposals, according to the prior art reported, present, during operation, deficiencies in the braking control of the spool mandrel, the support being converted into a potential slip and allowing the unwinding of the web of braked material to proceed.

In the patent FR 2778902 the belt surrounding the flanges is unreliable and has a tendency to escape when loading the roll.

The applicant's approach was therefore to reflect on a new solution partially implementing some of the means described in the previous solutions, but in different arrangements with optimization of certain configurations and components.

The solution provided by the applicant thus makes it possible to optimize the operation of the apparatus by creating a total and instantaneous blocking of the coil of wiping material, at each revolution of the drum, without the possibility of sliding, as a result of a contact of uncertain support and this in the case of any traction force of the operator on the strip of material to be taken. This solution is also advantageous during a continuous and slow tensile force to cut the strip of material.

The applicant's approach has thus been to propose a simple design device that is particularly efficient in its results with respect to the various solutions previously proposed and whatever the nature of the wiping material used, whose diversity of implementation and characteristics is real according to the origins of manufacture of the coils of wiping material.

According to a first feature, the braking assistance device of the wiping material coil in a wipe material dispensing apparatus comprises the features of claim 1.

These and other characteristics will be apparent from the rest of the description.

• la figure 1 est une vue à caractère schématique d'un appareil distributeur de matériau d'essuyage à coupe automatique susceptible d'intégrer le dispositif de l'invention.
• la figure 2 est une vue partielle montrant l'intérieur de l'appareil intégrant le dispositif anti-boucle selon l'invention dans une première mise en oeuvre.
• Les figures 3A et 3B sont des vues complémentaires à la figure 2 montrant, en particulier, dans la mise en oeuvre préférée, le guidage de la came masselotte par des moyens complémentaires avant son contact avec le levier pour actionner la fonction anti-boucle.
• les figures 4A et 4B sont des vues illustrant le dispositif anti-boucle de l'invention dans la première mise en oeuvre de configuration du levier, et en phases successives de non sollicitation puis de sollicitation.
• la figure 5 est une vue en perspective éclatée montrant les différents composants de l'embout pénétrant dans le mandrin de la bobine de matériau.
• les figures 6A et 6B sont des vues, selon la figure 5, des composants de l'embout avant et après montage.
• la figure 7 est une vue partielle du dispositif anti-boucle, selon l'invention, illustrant une variante du dispositif anti-boucle avec le levier positionné et conçu différemment, et de l'embout dans sa fonction complémentaire d'arrêt ou freinage de la bobine.
• la figure 8 est une vue de la came masselotte seule.

For fixing the object of the invention illustrated in a nonlimiting manner to the figures of the drawings where:

• the figure 1 is a schematic view of an automatic cut wiping material dispensing apparatus capable of integrating the device of the invention.
• the figure 2 is a partial view showing the inside of the device incorporating the anti-loop device according to the invention in a first implementation.
• The Figures 3A and 3B are complementary views to the figure 2 showing, in particular, in the preferred embodiment, guiding the weight cam by complementary means before contact with the lever to actuate the anti-loop function.
• the Figures 4A and 4B are views illustrating the anti-loop device of the invention in the first implementation of configuration of the lever, and in successive phases of non-solicitation and solicitation.
• the figure 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the various components of the tip penetrating the mandrel of the material spool.
• the Figures 6A and 6B are views, according to the figure 5 , components of the tip before and after mounting.
• the figure 7 is a partial view of the anti-loop device according to the invention, illustrating a variant of the anti-loop device with the lever positioned and designed differently, and the nozzle in its complementary function of stopping or braking the coil.
• the figure 8 is a view of the cam only flyweight.

In order to make the subject of the invention more concrete, it is now described in a nonlimiting manner illustrated in the figures of the drawings.

The dispensing apparatus is of the type described above, in the essential components that may be concerned by the invention shown. figure 1 . For the sake of clarity, we have limited ourselves to this statement to stick to the implementation of the invention. Of course, the dispensing apparatus may be equipped with other complementary devices which are, for example, described in the applicant's various patents.

The optimized anti-loop device according to the invention implements two particular means, namely a lever (10) and a counterweight cam (11) which allow, by their relation, a self-locking action of the material reel, to each drum revolution, that the traction of the strip of material is strong, fast or slow, eliminating any possibility of sliding. These two means (10) and (11) interact between the drum (4) which integrates the cutting device of the material reel and the braking device of the reel. More particularly, the two means (10) and (11) are described below.

Referring to figures 2 , 4A , 4B and 7 the lever (10) can be positioned by presenting its gooseneck-shaped head (10a), either from the rear of the housing of the apparatus, that is to say from the rear inside of the carrier flange the tip (12) integrating into the mandrel of the reel of material, or in front of said tip. Said endpiece (12) thus comprises a flange (12a) in the form of a disk arranged on its periphery with a groove (12b) receiving a rod (13) of elastomeric material intended to be in contact with the lever (10), under conditions which will be specified later.

The flange (12a) has a central hole (12c) for the passage of a connecting means (14) and a cap (15) having a hollow cylindrical surface (15a) capable of penetrating into said central hole (12c) . The flange (12a) has an inner cavity (12d) circular in the center of which is a circular bearing (12e) of smaller section. This range is arranged with at least two interior curvilinear gaps (12f) if they are two, or evenly distributed if there are three. Interior clearances (12f) are large. At least two rolling means (16), in the form of fingers, are arranged in abutment with the bottom of the flange, facing said interior clearances. The number of fingers is a function of the number of clearances mentioned above. At least two half-rings (17) forming jaws having a substantially oval and non-circular configuration, in the form of a ramp, are thus integrated and arranged around the aforementioned circular bearing (12e) and rolling means (16). These two half rings at least are interconnected by a resilient retaining means (18) of the spring type allowing their connection and their radial spacing according to the stresses that will be specified later. At the periphery, the two half-rings, or each of the ring parts, if there are several, have projections (17a) capable of penetrating into the support mandrel of the material coil and being in contact with the internal bore of this last. The cap (15) is fixed above the half-rings and bears against the front face of the circular bearing (12e) which extends substantially beyond the plane of the two half-rings, so that they can rotate. The two half-rings are presented opposite the clearance portions of the circular bearing (12e), to allow a perfect fit by surrounding the rolling means (16). It is thus understood that the half-rings will have a particular effect of locking in rotation of the support mandrel of the coil.

It is then necessary to expose the particular configuration of the lever (10). This lever (10), in its head portion (10a) shaped gooseneck, has a non-circular curvilinear inner configuration (10b) but, on the contrary, with a certain amplitude gradually diverging outwards with respect to the rod (13) disposed on the end piece (12) and around which is positioned the head (10a) of the lever (10).

According to the invention, the lever has, in the zone of maximum amplitude of the curvilinear configuration (10b), a projection (10c) oriented towards the rod (13) of the tip. This projection is located in a perpendicular plane oriented internally to the part facing the rod, when the lever is actuated, to come to anchor in the thickness of the ring and cause the rotation stop of the flange (12a) of the mouthpiece (12). In this situation, the half-rings, which can partially turn on a few degrees of the order of 10 to 20 °, under the pulling effect of the strip of material, are thus locked in position by the effect of their spacing radial against fingers (16) by their displacement which is offset from the bottom of the recesses (12f) allowing the spacing of the rings. Thus, if in a normal situation of traction of the strip of material, the end piece is rotated, in its entirety, there are on the other hand successive differentiations of stop in rotation of the flange support of the ring, then half-rings which in turn pull apart in the mandrel.

The anchor projection (10c) may be near the end of the lever head, as shown figure 2 , or near the base of the lever head, as shown figure 7 . In both cases, the position of this protrusion is very particular to allow the proper functioning of the device. The pivot axis (19) of the lever on the flange (3) support is established at the base of the head of the lever when the anchor projection is at the end of the head, and conversely near the end of the head when the projection is near the base of the lever head. In addition, if we consider the axis XX passing through the axis of pivoting of the lever and the axis of rotation of the tip and the line YY between the pivot axis of the lever and the end of the projection anchoring, the angle α between the two axes XX and YY is of the order of 20 to 40 degrees, and preferably 30 °, which allows the self-locking until the separation of the strip of material after what the lever is released.

It is also possible that the end of the lever head, in the case where the anchoring projection is disposed at this point, said head is profiled (10d) to overflow the thickness of the flange (3), from which the tip (12) has been positioned to provide a guiding effect, by a U-shaped configuration.

The elastic return of the lever, in position, is effected by a return means (14) which is fixed, on the one hand, to the lever (10) and, on the other hand, to the flange (3) or the flange ( 2), according to the implementations described above. In the first case, this corresponds to the presence of the anchoring protrusion at the base of the lever head and, in the other case, the anchoring projection is located at the end of the head of the lever.

The lower end (10f) of the lever has an extra thickness to be opposite the weight cam.

It is then necessary to expose the characteristic of the second means, the cam masellotte, which participates in the actuation of the lever. For this purpose, the lever has an arm (10e), of great length, coming along the flange (2) bearing the drum opposite the weight cam (11) which is pivotably mounted relative to a support piece ( 15), provided with an axis (15a) integral with the end flange (4a) end of the drum (4) or molded directly with the flange. The positioning of the support piece (15) is located downstream of the longitudinal slot formed on the drum and allowing the passage of the cutting device (5). The counterweight cam (11) has a particular illustrated profile figure 6 . Thus, it comprises a base (11a) with a transverse recess (10b) for the passage of the fixing pin (15a) formed on the support piece (15). Holding washers provide the exit prevention of the counterweight cam on the axis (15a). This base extends outwardly to provide a hook configuration (11c) with an outer curvilinear end portion (11d) forming a ramp and cam. This weight cam (11), during the tensile force and the centrifugal force inherent in the rotation of the drum, will remain freely deported outwards and abut against the lever (10) causing, in turn, tilting said lever and anchoring it in the rod (13) disposed on the tip.

The shape of the flyweight is set so that its center of gravity (G) is shifted rearwardly with respect to a line (ZZ) which would pass between its axis of rotation and the axis of the drum, which allows it to remain "standing", from the end of the section of the previous strip of material to its arrival facing the lever (10) for the next cut.

The contact of the counterweight cam on the lower arm portion (10f) of the lever is effected on the edge facing it, and it is provided the addition of a damper pad (20) of noise during contact between the counterweight cam and the arm part of the lever. The abutment (21) secured to the flange (3) limits the movement of the lever forward. The stop (22) is disposed under the passage zone of the lower arm of the lever and serves to support the flywheel cam when it has escaped the control of the lever after complementary rotation of the drum. Thus, according to the implementation of the invention, the combination of the particular configuration of the lever head and the counterweight cam, causes, at each drum revolution, as soon as there is a contact between them, the stop in immediate rotation of the reel of material and thus the desired anti-loop effect. This phase is of course punctual because the relaxation of the tension force due to cutting, causes the tilting of the weight cam in the initial position of rest with pivoting in non-extension position. The lever resumes its position.

Referring now to Figures 3A and 3B , the anti-buckle device includes a complementary means (23) for guiding the weight cam and ensuring perfect holding thereof at each revolution of the drum so as to automatically allow projection of the counterweight cam on the lever arm ( 10) and control the coil locking function and avoid loops. This complementary means comprises at least one fixed component (23a) formed or attached to the flange (3). This component ensures the fixing of a leaf spring (23b) profiled cocked hat by one (23b1) of its ends. The other end (23b2) is free and is oriented on the lever side (10). This leaf spring has a flat section to be facing, on the one hand, the ramp profile (11d) of the counterweight cam and, on the other hand, under the lower edge of the fixed component (23a).

Thus, in this optimized implementation, the central portion of the spring blade of the spring blade is located in the passage path of the counterweight cam when rotating the drum on a lathe. As it appears to Figures 3A and 3B during the rotation of the drum, the counterweight cam is in a standing position, as explained above, opposite the spring blade. By the partial complementary rotation of the drum, said flyweight cam will lift the leaf spring (23b) and cause a slight deformation thereof. This will cause a certain tension on the spring blade which will have the effect of ensuring a pressure on said cam feeder which will thus be maintained in a firm position without tilting tendency by its counterbases given by its support axis (15a) of rotation and the contact with the spring blade (23b). Thus, this pressure action continues according to the angular rotation of the drum a few additional degrees, then the feeder cam escapes the spring blade (23b) to automatically come to bear on the lever (10) and cause it to tilt. By this complementary arrangement, the weight cam is necessarily maintained in "standing" position until it comes into contact with the lever (10) which causes the blocking and stopping of the material coil with the desired anti-loop function at each turn. rotation of the drum for cutting a strip of wiping material. This complementary arrangement is of simple design. As a preventive measure, and to avoid any contact or loading of the coil with this means (23), provision is made to provide a transverse protection plate (24).

The solution provided by the invention appears extremely effective, ensuring instantaneous blocking of the reel of material and a simplified implementation compared to the prior art and each drum revolution, which was not the case according to the prior art.

Furthermore, the particular configuration of the tip including the ovalized shapes of the half rings and curvilinear forms established on the internal clearances formed on the cylindrical seat allows the reversibility of position of the coil of material is unwinding from the front or unwinding from behind, with an auto-blocking effect in both cases.

Claims (10)

1. Device to assist braking of the reel of wipe material in a wipe material dispensing machine, the machine being of the type comprising, in a housing (1a) with a protective cover (1b), lower end pieces (2) that support drum (4) including its cutting device (5) and upper end pieces (3) that support the reel (B) of material on its spool, the machine also comprising a device to prevent looping of the material obtained from reel (B), this device including a lever (10), the upper gooseneck-shaped part (10a) of which partially surrounds the stub (12) that accommodates the spool of the reel (B) and the bottom of which has a counterweight device that is integrated into the movement of rotating drum (4), thereby ensuring operation and locking of reel (B), lever (10) being designed with additional means that cooperate with the support stub (12) for the spool of the reel of material, characterised in that the upper gooseneck-shaped part (10a) of lever (10) has a non-circular curved internal configuration (10b) with an outwardly flaring amplitude and, in its area of maximum amplitude, has an inwardly oriented perpendicular anchoring hook (10c) in order to cooperate by catching in a bead (13) of elastomer material located on end piece (12a) of the stub (12) that accommodates the spool of the reel (B) of material,
   and in that the counterweight device comprises a counterweight cam (11) which cooperates with lever (10) during each rotation of drum (4), said counterweight cam (11) being articulated on a support part (15) fixed on one end piece at the end of drum (4).
2. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that lever (10) has a swivel axis (19) on end piece (3) that supports the wipe material reel,
   and in that centre line X-X that passes through the swivel axis (19) of the lever and the rotation axis of the stub and line Y-Y that passes between the swivel axis (19) of the lever and the end of the anchoring hook (10c) jointly define an angle α of the order of 20 to 40°.
3. Device as claimed in claims 1 and 2, characterised in that stub (12) comprises an end piece (12a) in the form of a disc having a peripheral groove (12b) that accommodates a bead (13) of elastomer material, said end piece (12a) having a central hole (12c) allowing room for means of connection (14) and a cap (15) having a hollow cylindrical bearing surface (15a) that fits into said central hole (12c), said end piece (12a) also having a circular internal cavity (12d) in the centre of which there is a circular bearing surface (12e) of smaller cross-section,
   and in that said bearing surface (15a) is designed with at least two curved internal openings (12f) of large size and means of rolling (16) in the form of rollers located so that they rest against the bottom of the end piece (12a) facing said internal recesses (12f).
   and in that half thrust flanges (17) forming jaws having an oval non-circular configuration surround circular bearing surface (12e) and means of rolling (16), said half thrust flanges (17) being linked by means of retention (18) of the split spring type,
   and in that the half thrust flanges (17) have peripheral ridges (17a) capable of penetrating into the reel (B) support spool when the half thrust flanges (17a) are radially moved apart.
4. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the counterweight cam (11) comprises a base (11a) with a central opening (11b) providing clearance for fixing shaft (15a) formed on support (15) of counterweight (11), said support (15) being fixed on the outer end piece (4a) of the drum.
5. Device as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that support (15) of counterweight cam (11) is located downstream from the longitudinal slit formed in the drum that allows movement of the cutting device.
6. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that it includes additional means (23) intended to guide counterweight cam (11) and ensure perfect performance of the latter with each revolution of the drum in order to allow the counterweight cam (11) to be moved automatically onto the leg of lever (10) thereby triggering the reel (B) locking function and avoiding kinking.
7. Device as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that additional means (23) comprises at least one fixed component (23a) formed or separately mounted on end piece (2) ensuring attachment of a spring blade (23b) shaped like a policeman's hat at one (23b1) of its ends.
   and in that the other end (23b2) is unattached and faces the lever (10) side, and in that spring blade (23b) has a flat cross-section and faces, firstly, the ramp profile (11d) of counterweight cam (11) and, secondly, the underneath edge of fixed component (23a),
   and in that the central policeman's hat shaped part of spring blade (23b) is located on the path of counterweight cam (11) when the drum rotates one revolution and is therefore elastically deformed when counterweight cam (11) moves,
   and in that deformation of spring blade (23b) has the effect of ensuring pressure against said counterweight cam (11) which is thus firmly held in its upright position without any tendency to swivel due to the back thrust provided by its rotation support shaft and contact with spring blade (23b).
8. Device as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that means (23) comprises a transverse guard plate (24).
9. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that a sound absorbing cushion (20) is fitted on the edge of the lower part (10f) of the leg of lever (10).
10. Device as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that a limit stop (21) attached to end piece (3) limits forward travel of lever (10) and a limit stop (22) located underneath the area through which the lower leg of lever (10) moves is used as a support for counterweight cam (11) once it has escaped control by lever (1)) after rotation of the drum.

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