GB1579824A - Delivery apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(54) DELIVERY APPARATUS (71) We, BRITISH STEEL CORPORA~ TION, a Corporation incorporated and existing under the Iron and Steel Act 1967 whose principal office is at 33 Grosvenor Place, London, S.W. 1 do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: - This invention relates to apparatus for the delivery of sheet material from a roll thereof and is particularly but not exclusively related to the packaging of coils of sheet metal.

One operation in the packaging of coils of sheet metal strip includes wrapping paper around the outer cylindrical surfaces of the coil. The paper wrap is usually made wider than the axial dimension of the coil so that axially overhanging portions of paper at each end of the coil can be folded down on to the end faces of the coil and tucked into the eye.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a new or improved apparatus for the delivery of sheet material which will obviate at least some of the disadvan tages associated with known methods of sheet delivery. It is a more specific object of the invention to provide such apparatus for use in the packaging of coils of sheet metal.

In accordance with this invention there is provided apparatus for the delivery of sheet material comprising means for receiving two rolls of sheet material and delivering them in an overlapping relationship, including a set of rollers on a first axis and an opposed roller on a second axis cooperating therewith to provide a nip between which the leading edge of the sheet material is fed, the said opposed roller or each roller in said set having a flat along its periphery and being selectively driven and arrested whereby, when said flat is disposed in juxtaposition to the roller(s) on the other axis a space is afforded between them to permit the relaxation, and the free passage therethrough, of said material.

With such an arrangement the sheet material may be delivered intermittently, or "inched", from the apparatus upon rotation of the co-operating rollers. Also when these rollers are stationary with the flats in juxtaposition as described the sheet material may be withdrawn freely from the apparatus through the space between the rollers.

Such apparatus may conveniently be utilised for the delivery of wrapping paper from a roll thereof supported in the apparatus to the exterior of a coil of sheet metal being packaged by means of apparatus and method described in British patents Nos. 1275602, 1,434,014 and 1,492,934.

The apparatus conveniently includes means for receiving two rolls of sheet material for delivery from the- apparatus in substantially parallel overlapping relation; the overall width of the two overlapped sheets being adjustable by means operable to move the two rolls of sheet material axially relative to one another on their support meahs within the apparatus.

The support means for each roll may comprise a channel shaped receptacle and the means operable to move the rolls axially may comprise fluid pressure actuated rams bearing axially upon the outer ends of the rolls.

Other features of the invention will become apparaent from the following description given solely by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure l is an end elevational view of sheet delivery apparatus in accordance with the invention utilised, in this embodiment, for the delivery of wrapping paper to a coil of sheet metal; a differing diameter of coil to be wrapped being shown in chaindot outline; Figure 2 is a more detailed end elevational view, to an enlarged scale, of the delivery apparatus of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line III-III of Figure 2.

The specific embodiment of delivery am paratus 10 illustrated in the drawings is adapted to receive two rolls 12 and 14 of a standard width paper for delivery in parallel overlapping relation to a coil 16 of sheet metal; the degree of overlap being adjustable to provide an overall width of wrapping paper co-related to the axial dimension of the coil to be wrapped. The wrapping operation may form part of a coil packaging process as described in British patent 1275602 or British patent 1,492,934 and the coil to which the wrapping paper is delivered may be supported for rotation by means of apparatus described in British patent 1,434,014.

The delivery apparatus 10 comprises a tandem pair of paper roll supports in the form of open-topped troughs 18 and 20 having respective gaps 22 and 24 at their lower forward faces, as seen in the figure, permitting emergence of wrapping paper from the respective rolls 12 and 14. Forward of the troughs are provided two cooperating lower and upper rollers 26 and 28 defining a nip therebetween for withdrawing the wrapping paper from their respeetive rolls. The rollers are conveniently formed of, or covered by, a high friction material such as rubber, and as illustrated, the lower one comprises a single cylindrical roller 26a extending substantially the full width of the troughs 18 and 20 whilst the upper one is in the form of a set comprising a plurality of axially spaced narrow width rollers 28a.Each roller 28a in the upper set is formed with a flat 30 on a portion of its circumference, all of the roller flats being in radial alignment whereby, -when- the flats 30 are disposed in juxtaposition to the lower roller 26a, a space is afforded between them through which-the wrapping- paper may be delivered.

One or botch of the rollers 26 and 28 are driven whereby paper from the rolls 12 and 14 is delivered intermittently from the apparatus 10, the paper being withdrawn when the circular circumferential parts of the driven upper-rolls 28a are gripping the paper against the lower roller 26a and withdrawal ceasing intermittently when the flats 30 on the upper rollers are in juxtaposition to the lower roller. When the rollers are stationary, with the flats 30 of the upper set in juxtaposition with the lower roller 26a, paper may be withdrawn freely through the space as described below.

Within each trough 18 and 20 which supports a respective roll of paper 12 and 14 there are positioned yokes 32 attached to pneumatic rams 34 actuated by control valves in such manner that- either roll 12 and 14 may be bodily moved in an axial direction relative to the other roll for varying the degree of overlap of the two sheets of wrapping paper delivered from the apparatus. It will be appreciated that the paper lying between the roller sets 26 and 28 will also be moved laterally upon any actuation of the rams 34, but that such movement is only carried out when the upper roller flats 30 are juxtapositioned to the lower roller 26a.

In operation the degree of overlap of the two sheets of paper from the rolls 12 and 14 is adjusted upon a visual assessment by the operator of the desired overall width of the wrapping paper and therollers 26 and 28 are actuated for rotation whereby the paper is delivered intermittently from the apparatus. It will also be appreciated that any tendency for the wrapping paper to track off sideways is reduced with this apparatus because, as the paper is released once during every revolution of the flatted rollers 28a, the natural tendency for the paper to spring back to its original central position ensures that the paper is delivered straight.

After passing between the rollers 26 and 28 the paper passes adjacent a guilotine 36 and finally over a support roller 38 for delivery to the item to be wrapped. Thus, if a coil 16 of sheet metal is being packaged in accordance with the patents hereinbefore referred to, the wrapping paper will be delivered intermittently from the rolls 12 and 14 to the coil 16 and attached thereto by adhesive tape. The rollers 26 and 28 are then stopped with the flats 30 on the upper rollers 28a juxtapositioned to the lower roller 26a and the coil 16 of sheet metal is rotated withdrawing wrapping paper freely from the delivery apparatus until sufficient is wrapped around the coil to envelope it. Rotation of the coil 16 is then ceased and the guillotine 36 is actuated to free the wrapping paper from the delivery apparatus. As illustrated herein the guillotine 36 comprises a rotary knife which traverses across the width of the paper by means of a motorised pully arrangement 36a, but it will be appreciated that any suitable design of guillotine can bd utilised. The wrapped paper is then secured around the coil buy further adhesive tape and the reinainder of the coil packaging operation is completed.

To facilitate loading the delivery ap paratus with rolls 12 and 14 of paper the whole base 40 of the apparatus may pivot downwardly uppon pivot pin 42 taking with it the lower roller 26a. When fresh rolls of paper are placed in the troughs 18 and 20 a leading portion of the paper in each roll 12 and 14 may be allowed to hang downwardly through the respective outlet gap 22 and 24 at the forward bottom end of each trough whereby, when the base 40 of the apparatus is closed being pivoted upwardly, the paper is automatically threaded between the rollers 26 and 28.

In order to prevent any tendency for the leading edges of the paper to bend upwardly when they first emerge from between the rollers 26 and 28, a plurality of downwardly directed ai~jets are provided in an air manifold 44 extending across the width of these rollers for deflecting the wrapping sheets downwardly towards the coil 16.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Apparatus for the delivery of sheet material comprising means for receiving two rolls of sheet material and delivering them in an overlaping relationship, including a set of rollers on a first axis and an opposed roller on a second axis cooperating there with to provide a nip between which the leading edge of the sheet material is fed, the said opposed roller or each roller in said set having a flat along its periphery and being selectively driven and arrested whereby, when said flat is disposed in juxtaposition to the roller(s) on the other axis a space is afforded between them to permit the relaxation, and the free passage therethrough, of said material.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said set of rollers is provided with the fiats, and only this said set is driven, the rollers in the set being spaced apart from one another along a common spindle.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first axis lies above the second axis on the same vertical plane, the said opposed roller being mounted on a frame pivotal downwardly to expose and permit free access to said rolls of sheet material.

4. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising a further roller mounted on the delivery side of the cooperating rollers the nip between which is substantially aligned horizontally with the upper surface of said further roller, and a cutter mechanism operable to sever the sheet material at a position between said further roller and the said cooperating rollers.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the overall width of the two overlapped sheets is adjustable by means operable to move the two rolls of sheet material axially relatively to one another.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein each roll of sheet material is supported in a channel shaped receptacle and the means operable to move these rolls axially comprises fluid pressure actuated rams bearing axially upon them.

7. Apparatus for the delivery of sheet material substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (7)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. paratus with rolls 12 and 14 of paper the whole base 40 of the apparatus may pivot downwardly uppon pivot pin 42 taking with it the lower roller 26a. When fresh rolls of paper are placed in the troughs 18 and 20 a leading portion of the paper in each roll 12 and 14 may be allowed to hang downwardly through the respective outlet gap 22 and 24 at the forward bottom end of each trough whereby, when the base 40 of the apparatus is closed being pivoted upwardly, the paper is automatically threaded between the rollers 26 and 28. In order to prevent any tendency for the leading edges of the paper to bend upwardly when they first emerge from between the rollers 26 and 28, a plurality of downwardly directed ai~jets are provided in an air manifold 44 extending across the width of these rollers for deflecting the wrapping sheets downwardly towards the coil 16. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Apparatus for the delivery of sheet material comprising means for receiving two rolls of sheet material and delivering them in an overlaping relationship, including a set of rollers on a first axis and an opposed roller on a second axis cooperating there with to provide a nip between which the leading edge of the sheet material is fed, the said opposed roller or each roller in said set having a flat along its periphery and being selectively driven and arrested whereby, when said flat is disposed in juxtaposition to the roller(s) on the other axis a space is afforded between them to permit the relaxation, and the free passage therethrough, of said material.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said set of rollers is provided with the fiats, and only this said set is driven, the rollers in the set being spaced apart from one another along a common spindle.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first axis lies above the second axis on the same vertical plane, the said opposed roller being mounted on a frame pivotal downwardly to expose and permit free access to said rolls of sheet material.

4. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising a further roller mounted on the delivery side of the cooperating rollers the nip between which is substantially aligned horizontally with the upper surface of said further roller, and a cutter mechanism operable to sever the sheet material at a position between said further roller and the said cooperating rollers.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the overall width of the two overlapped sheets is adjustable by means operable to move the two rolls of sheet material axially relatively to one another.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein each roll of sheet material is supported in a channel shaped receptacle and the means operable to move these rolls axially comprises fluid pressure actuated rams bearing axially upon them.

7. Apparatus for the delivery of sheet material substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.