GB2267281A

GB2267281A - Reel storage unit

Info

Publication number: GB2267281A
Application number: GB9310784A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Fiorenzo Draghetti
Original assignee: GD SpA
Current assignee: GD SpA
Priority date: 1992-05-26
Filing date: 1993-05-25
Publication date: 1993-12-01
Anticipated expiration: 2013-05-25
Also published as: ITBO920212A0; IT1257812B; CN1036910C; ITBO920212A1; GB9310784D0; DE4317562A1; DE4317562C2; CN1085182A; GB2267281B

Abstract

A storage unit (5) wherein a horizontal row (21) of reels (2) arranged on edge is supported on an arm (13) extending through the reels (2) in the row (21) and movable between a position wherein the reels (2) are loaded, and an operating position wherein the free end of the arm (13) is positioned facing a reel pickup member (40); the arm (13) presenting a conveyor belt (20) extending through the reels (2) so as to support the reels (2) coaxial with one another, and feed them to the free end of the arm (13). <IMAGE>

Description

z267281 REEL STORAGE UNIT The present invention relates to a reel storage

unit.

The present invention is especially suitable for storing reels of strip material in horizontal rows, wherein the reels are arranged side by side on edge with their respective axes substantially horizontal, and are withdrawn by a pickup head featuring a pickup member designed to positively engage the core of a reel at one end of the row.

on a known storage unit of the aforementioned type, the reels are normally housed inside a transportation channel, the bottom wall of which is defined by a conveyor belt designed to support the reels on edge and feed them successively to the output end of the storage unit and to the pickup head.

Such a reel arrangement poses serious problems in terms of pickup by the pickup head, on account of the reels, and consequently also the pickup member and the core of the reel, failing to be maintained coaxial at all times. Though generally similar, the reels may in fact present slightly different diameters, and, by virtue of being arranged "on edge", are subject to radial distortion resulting in normally random dimensional instability and, consequently, off-centering of the reels in relation to one another and the pickup member.

To overcome the drawbacks posed by off-centering of the reels in relation to a given f ixed axis, the current practice is to employ pickup heads featuring tapered pickup members, which, though effective, may at times result in permanent radial distortion of the reel core, thus making the reel extremely difficult to unwind.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a straightforward, relatively low-cost reel storage unit, designed to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.

According to the present invention, there is provided a storage unit for a number of reels presenting respective tubular central cores and arranged side by side on edge and substantially aligned in a row; the storage unit comprising a store designed to house the reels in said row, having an output end, and in turn comprising supporting and feed means for supporting said row and successively feeding the reels in said row towards said output end; characterized by the fact that said supporting and feed means comprise a conveyor designed to engage said cores and presenting a delivery branch designed to contact the inner surface of the cores; reversible drive means being provided for feeding said movable delivery branch towards said output end; and the delivery branch being substantially parallel to a given substantially horizontal axis.

According to a preferred embodiment of the storage unit as described above, said supporting and feed means comprise an arm parallel to said axis; the conveyor comprising transmission rollers supported for rotation on said arm. and a conveyor belt looped about said rollers.

A non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig.1 shows a partially sectioned view in perspective, with parts removed for clarity, of a user machine featuring a storage unit in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; Fig.2 shows a larger-scale longitudinal section of a detail on the Fig.1 storage unit; Fig.3 shows a larger-scale section along line III-III in Fig.2.

Number 1 in Fig.1 indicates a machine employing a succession of reels 2, each consisting of a strip 3 of wrapping material wound about a tubular, substantially cylindrical, central core 4.

In the purely indicative example shown, machine 1 is a cigarette processing machine, i.e. for producing andlor packing cigarettes.

Machine 1 comprises a storage unit 5 in turn comprising a store 6 for receiving a number of reels 2, and a device 7 f or moving store 6 between an operating position (substantially shown by the continuous line in Fig. 1) and a loading position (shown by the dotted line in Fig.1).

Device 7 comprises a fixed slideway 8 with an axis 9; and a slide 10 moved along slideway 8, to and from a reel pickup station 11, by a motor 12 supported on slide 10 and presenting an output pinion (not shown) meshing in known manner with a rack (not shown) extending along slideway 8.

Store 6 comprises an arm 13 designed to fit through cores 4 of reels 2, and connected integrally and in projecting manner to a head 14 forming part of device 7 and connected in rotary manner to a sleeve 15, integral with slide 10, so as to rotate in relation to slide 10 and about avertical axis 16. Head 14 is rotated about axis 16 by a motor 16f mounted on sleeve 15, and which provides for rotating head 14 between a first position, wherein the longitudinal axis 17 of arm 13 coincides with a fixed horizontal machine axis 18 parallel to axis 9, extending through station 11 and intersecting axis 16; and a second position (shown by the dotted line in Fig. 1) wherein axis 17 of arm 13 is perpendicular to axis 18.

As shown in Fig. s 2 and 3, arm 13 is def ined by an elongated, C-shaped, tubular body 19 with its concavity f acing upwards, and supports, via the interposition of a conveyor 20, a horizontal row 21 of reels 2 coaxial with longitudinal axis 17.

When axis 17 coincides with axis 18, conveyor 20 provides for successively feeding reels 2 to pickup station 11, and comprises a conveyor belt 22 looped about two guide rollers 23 and 24, the first of which is step-operated by a motor 26. Rollers 23 and 24 are fitted on to respective shafts 25 mounted for rotation on arm 13 and each perpendicular to axis. 17 and to the Fig.2 plane. Each roller 23, 24 comprises a central cylindrical portion 27, and two lateral substantially truncated-cone-shaped portions 28f each defined laterally by a convex surface 29 having substantially the same curve radius as the inner surface 30 of cores 4. Rollers 23 and 24 divide belt 22 into a delivery branch 31 extending over body 19 and having lateral portions 32 surrounding portions 28 contacting surface 30 of cores 4, and into a return branch 33 extending inside body 19.

Again with reference to Fig.s 2 and 3, conveyor 20 also comprises an elongated plate 34 integral with body 19 and extending between rollers 23 and 24 and parallel to axis 17 so as to close body 19. Plate 34 is defined outwards by a convex surface 35 extending tangent to the inner surface 36 of branch 31, and presenting a flat intermediate longitudinal portion 37 aligned with portions 27 of rollers 23 and 24, and two convex lateral longitudinal portions 38 aligned with and having the same curve radius as respective portions 28 of rollers 23 and 24.

As shown in Fig.1, machine 1 comprises a known pickup head 39 for successively picking up reels 2 fed towards station 11, and which in turn comprises a cylindrical pickup member 40 having an axis 41 parallel to axis 18.

Head 39 is supported on an operating device 42 comprising a fixed slideway 43 perpendicular to slideway 8, and a slide 44 fitted in axiallysliding manner to slideway 43 and moved to and from station 11 by an electric motor 45 fitted to slide 44 itself and presenting an output pinion (not shown) connected in known manner to a rack (not shown) integral with slideway 43. Device 42 also comprises an upright 46 extending along a substantially vertical axis 47, fitted on the top end with head 39, and the bottom end of which engages in rotary manner a sleeve 48 integral with slide 44. Upright 46 is rotated about axis 47 and in relation to slide 44 by a motor 49 integral with sleeve 48.

Operation of storage unit 5 will now be described commencing from the condition in which slide 10 is backed up away from station 11 (Fig. 1); arm 13 is set to the loading position perpendicular to axis 9 (as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 1); store 6 is empty; and pickup head 39 is positioned in station 11 with axis 41 coincident with axis 18.

As of the above condition, motor 26 is operated so as to reverse delivery branch 31 of belt 22 in steps towards head 14 and load a row 21 of reels 2 on to arm 13; and motors 161 and 12 are operated so as to f irst set arm 13 to the operating position coaxial with axis 18, and then move it forward until its free end is located in station 11. At this point, motor 26 is operated forwards so as to move belt 22, which feeds row 21 of reels 2 one step forward along axis 18 and towards station 11, so as to set the first reel 2a in row 21 to a position wherein it is engageable by pickup member 40.

Upon member 40 engaging core 4 of reel 2a, motor 45 is operated to withdraw head 39 from station 11 and feed reel 2a into the operating position (not shown) on machine 1; at which point, head 39 is again moved back into position, coaxial with axis 18 in station 11, to enable the next reel 2 to be transferred to head 39.

Upon the last reel 2 in row 21 on arm 13 being transferred, slide 10 is backed up along axis 18, and head 14 is rotated about axis 16 to set arm 13 once more to the loading position.

Consequently, in addition to reels 2 undergoing no external distortion as they are fed to station 11, arm 13 also provides for maintaining them, along axis 18, substantially coaxial with one another as well as with head 39 in the pickup position.

As regards device 7, it should be pointed out that row 21 of reels 2 may in some cases be loaded on to arm 13 by simply backing up slide 10 along axis 18, in which case, head 14 may be connected integral with slide 10, and motor 16f dispensed with.

Claims

1) A storage unit (5) f or a number of reels (2) presenting respective tubular central cores (4) and arranged side by side on edge and substantially aligned in a row (21); the storage unit (5) comprising a store (6) designed to house the reels (2) in said row (21), having an output end, and in turn comprising supporting and feed means (13, 14, 20) for supporting said row (21) and successively feeding the reels (2) in said row (21) towards said output end; characterized by the fact that said supporting and feed means (13, 14, 20) comprise a conveyor (20) designed to engage said cores (4) and presenting a delivery branch (31) designed to contact the inner surface (30) of the cores (4); reversible drive means (26) being provided for feeding said movable delivery branch (31) towards said output end; and the delivery branch (31) being substantially parallel to a given substantially horizontal axis (17).

2) A storage unit as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by the fact that said supporting and feed means (13, 14, 20) comprise an arm (13) parallel to said axis (17); the conveyor (20) comprising transmission rollers (23, 24) supported for rotation on said arm (13), and a conveyor belt (22) looped about said rollers (23, 24).

3) A storage unit as claimed in claim 2, characterized by the fact that said arm (13) presents a supporting surface (35), and said delivery branch (31) mates in axially- sliding manner with said supporting surface (35), and is designed to mate with the inner surface (30) of each said core (4).

4) A storage unit as claimed in Claim 3, characterized by the fact that said supporting surface (35) presents a convex transverse profile with substantially the same curvature as the inner surface (30) of said cores (4).

5) A storage unit as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims from 2 to 4, characterized by the fact that said supporting and feed means (13, 14, 20) also comprise a supporting head (14) fitted integral with said arm (13); and actuating means (12, 161') for moving the supporting head (14) between an operating position wherein said reels (2) are transferred to a pickup device (39), and a loading position wherein a row (21) of said reels (2) is loaded into the store (6).

6) A storage unit as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims from 2 to 4, characterized by the fact that it also comprises movable transportation means (10) supporting said supporting and feed means (13, 14, 20); said movable transportation means (10) comprising first actuating means (12) for moving said transportation means (10) to an from an operating position (11) wherein said reels (2) are transferred to a pickup device (39).

7) A storage unit as claimed in claim 6, characterized by the fact that said movable transportation means comprise a slide (10) mounted so as to slide along a slideway (8) by virtue of said f irst actuating means (12); said slideway (8) extending between said operating position (11) and said position wherein a row (21) of said reels (2) is loaded into the store (6).

8) A storage unit as claimed in any one of the foregoing claims from 2 to 7, characterized by the fact that it also comprises movable transportation means (10) supporting said supporting and feed means (13, 14, 20), which also comprise a supporting head (14) fitted integral with said arm (13); said head (14) being mounted on said movable transportation means (10) so as to rotate about an axis (16) perpendicular to said arm (13); and second actuating means (161) being provided for rotating said head (14) about said axis (16) and to and from an angular position wherein said arm (13) is aligned with an operating position (11) wherein said reels (2) are transferred to a pickup, device (39).

9) A reel storage unit, substantially as described and illustrated herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.