GB2281736A

GB2281736A - Feeding wound rolls to an unwinding unit

Info

Publication number: GB2281736A
Application number: GB9416475A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Fulvio Boldrini
Original assignee: GD SpA
Current assignee: GD SpA
Priority date: 1993-09-14
Filing date: 1994-08-15
Publication date: 1995-03-15
Anticipated expiration: 2014-08-15
Also published as: GB9416475D0; GB2281736B; ITBO930376A0; DE4428786A1; IT1264215B1; ITBO930376A1; CN1109440A

Description

2281736 A device for taking up and transferring rolls from a magazine to a

decoiling unit The present invention relates to a device by which rolls of material are transferred from a magazine to a decoiling unit.

In the art field embracing automatic machines, and in particular, machines for wrapping products with a strip material procurable in rolls, use is made conventionally of a magazine by,which a plurality of reserve rolls, disposed one alongside another, can be supported and advanced in succession toward a take-up position where they are picked off singly by devices of suitable embodiment and transferred to a station or unit from which the strip material is decoiled.

Conventional take-up and transfer devices of the is type in question generally comprise a transfer arm, anchored pivotably at one end and equipped at the free end with a pin designed to engage axially and slidably in the core of the leading roll currently occupying the magazine; the transfer arm is capable of angular movement in a plane transverse to the 2 direction followed by the rolls advancing along the magazine, between a first or take-up position in which the pin is disposed coaxial with the axis of the magazine, and a second position in which the pin is disposed coaxial with a spindle destined to receive the new roll from the pin in readiness for decoiling.

In other devices of similar type, the free end of the transfer arm is equipped with a gripper head consisting in three radial members, each fitted at the outermost end with a roller directed toward the magazine and translatable along the relative member by which it is supported. In this instance the roll is gripped between the three rollers, contracting is radially to the point of engaging in direct contact with its peripheral face, and rotated thus by the transfer arm through a trajectory transverse to the axis of the magazine into a position of alignment with a decoiling spindle, whereupon the spindle is introduced axially into the core of the roll.

Naturally, in bringing about the movement of the arm between the take-up and release positions in transfer devices of the type in question, there is a need to ensure that the pin or the gripper head is in correct coaxial alignment, at both of the two 3 positions, respectively with the roll and with the spindle destined to receive the roll. Consequently, such devices require position sensing and control means of sophisticated and costly embodiment.

To obviate the necessity for a rigorous alignment control system, at least in the position from which the rolls are released, use is made of centreless decoiling units; in this type of unit the decoiling roll is supported by a cradle consisting in a belt looped around a set of rollers of which at least one is power driven. The belt is disposed with one branch offered in direct contact to a peripheral portion of the roll, and besides affording a stable support to the roll while decoiling, also allows a is greater freedom of movement to the transfer device and a less exacting control of its position as the roll is released. In this regard, however, it will be observed that when the roll is transferred from the take-up position to the release position by a movement in a direction transverse to that of the passage of the rolls along the magazine, the device must necessarily be of the basic type consisting in a pivoted arm, which must be faultlessly controlled at least in the take-up position and tends also to be bulky and somewhat impractical.

4 The object of the present invention is to provide a transfer device of the type in question,-such as will be free of the drawbacks described above in connection with the prior art.

The stated object is realized in a device according to the invention for taking up and transferring rolls from a magazine to a decoiling unit, the magazine comprising first conveying means by which the rolls are supported and advanced in succession along a first path toward a position at which a leading roll is taken up, characterized in that it comprises second conveying means interposed between the first conveying means and the decoiling unit, by which the rolls are accommodated singly, a first transfer device operating at the take-up position, by which the rolls are transferred singly from the first to the second conveying means, and a second transfer device, operating at a release position, by which the rolls are transferred singly from the second conveying means to the decoiling unit.

The invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:

-fig I illustrates the transfer device according to the invention, schematically and in perspective; -fig 2 illustrates the device of fig 1 in a front elevation, with certain parts omitted and others shown for greater clarity.

With reference to the drawings, 1 denotes a device, in its entirety, by which rolls 2 of strip material are taken up from a magazine 3 and transferred to a decoiling station or unit 4.

The rolls 2 are disposed seriatim in the magazine 3 one sideways onto the next, their centres coaxially aligned on an axis 5 parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the magazine 3 itself, and advanced in succession toward a take-up position 11 occupied by the leading roll 2 in sequence, which is denoted 2a in f ig 1.

is The magazine 3 illustrated in fig 1 comprises first conveying means 7 serving to support and advance the rolls 2, consisting for example in a looped belt 6 extending in a direction parallel to the aforementioned axis 5.

The top branch of the belt 6 runs over a supporting plate 8 rigidly associated with a frame, not shown, and is looped around a front pulley 12 occupying a position coinciding with the take-up position 11 and beneath the leading roll 2a. The rear end of the belt 6 will be looped around a further pulley, 6 power driven, which is conventional in embodiment and therefore not illustrated in fig 1.

The rolls 2 are flanked by further belts 25 (one only of which is indicated in fig 1), serving to feed and also to restrain the rolls 2 laterally in their movement toward the take-up position 11.

Still referring to fig 1, the device 1 disclosed comprises first transfer means 10 interacting with the leading roll 2a, disposed and operating forward of the magazine 3 and near the take-up position 11; as will become clear in due course, such means 10 include actuating means designed to displace the leading roll 2a from the position occupied in the magazine 3 to a lowered release position. In the is example of fig 1, the first transfer means 10 are composed of the aforementioned pulley 12, which is mounted rotatably to a pivot 26 disposed at right angles to the axis 5 of the rolls, and a bracket 27 substantially of L-shape supporting the pivot 26.

The bracket 27, which is mounted rotatably at its elbow to a pivot 27' associated rigidly with the plate 8 (in a manner not illustrated) and parallel to the pivot 26 of the pulley, can be made to rock on the relative pivot 271, through the agency of an actuator 28, between a raised position (indicated 7 by phantom lines in fig 1) in which the forwardmost portion of the belt 6 is disposed in contact with the peripheral face of the leading roll 2a, and a lowered position in which the selfsame portion of the belt 6 is distanced from the peripheral face of the roll 2a and the roll allowed thus to settle in - a seating 9' afforded by second conveying means 9, which comprise a carriage denoted 17.

More exactly, the seating 9' which accommodates the leading roll 2a is compassed between the divergent upper ends 20a and 21a of a pair of substantially vertical plates 20 and 21.

The seating 91 is positioned at a level lower than that of the magazine 3, whilst the plates 20 and 21 on either side of the seating 91 form a part of the carriage 17, with which the one plate 20 is rigidly associated, and the remaining plate 21 associated hingedly by way of a pivot 22.

No contact is made between the seating 91 and the peripheral face of the rolls 2 until such time as the single roll 2a reaches the take-up position 11 and is released onto the plates 20 and 21 by the descent of the pulley 12.

The device 1 also comprises second transfer means or release means, denoted 24 in their entirety, by 8 which the vertical plates 20 and 21 can be spread apart in order to discontinue the support offered to the leading roll 2a at an opportune moment. To this end, the hinged plate 21 is associated with the carriage 17, by way of the pivot 22, in such a way as to allow its rotation, through the agency of an actuator 241 interconnecting the plate and the carriage, between a position in which the divergent upper end 21a is disposed nearer the corresponding end 20a of the fixed plate 20 so as to create the seating 91, and a position in which these same two ends 21a and 20a are distanced one from the other.

In this second or spread position, the roll 2a is bound to fall by gravity and released thus onto a is decoiling unit 4 toward which the plates 20 and 21 are traversed by the carriage 17. More exactly, the carriage 17 is rendered capable of movement through the agency of guide means 18 and drive means 19 by which it is translated in a direction parallel to the axis 5 of the rolls 2, alternating between a first limit position coinciding substantially with the position 11 at which the leading roll 2a is taken up from the magazine 3, and a second limit position, denoted 14, at which the selfsame roll 2a is released onto the decoiling unit 4.

9 As discernible in both fig 1 and fig 2, the unit 4 by which the rolls 2 are decoiled is of centreless design, comprising a decoiling cradle 13 equipped with a plurality of freely revolving pulleys 15 and a power driven pulley 16 (coupled to a motor not illustrated) compassed by a belt 141 of which one branch, following the release of the roll 2a by the seating 91, is breasted in contact with a portion of the peripheral face of the roll 2a in such a way as to support the roll while decoiling.

The carriage 17 can be traversed parallel with the axis 5 of the rolls, as already intimated, and to this end is coupled prismatically on the one hand, with guide means consisting in a slide way 18, and is threadedly on the other with a lead screw 191 which extends parallel to the slide way 18; the screw 191 is set in rotation about its own axis by a geared motor 23, with which it combines to establish the drive means 19 aforementioned. The slide way 18, the screw 191 and the geared motor 23 are mounted to a frame denoted 29.

The operation of the device will now be described.

The rolls 2 are advanced along the magazine 3, through the agency of the belts 6 and 25, toward the end coinciding with the take-up position 11; the advancing movement is indexed, synchronously with the movement of the first transfer means 10.

Once the leading roll 2a comes into the take-up position 11, the belts 6 and 25 will stop and the actuator 28 is operated. The L-shaped bracket 27 rotates, the pulley 12 descends from the raised position (phantom lines in fig 1) to the lowered position and the roll 2a drops into the seating 91, currently motionless at the take-up position 11, hence to a level below that occupied by the rolls 2 during their passage along the magazine 3.

At this point the carriage 17 is set in motion by the geared motor 23 and the lead screw 191, thereby traversing toward the release limit position 14 and bringing the roll 2a into vertical alignment with the decoiling belt 141 (see fig 2). The carriage 17 stops on gaining this position 14, and the hinged plate 21 will be rotated outward by the relative actuator 241 with the result that the respective upper end 21a is distanced from the end 20a on the opposite side of the roll 2a. The roll 2a is thus released and can drop under its own weight onto the belt 141 of the decoiling unit 4. With the roll 2a supported freely in the cradle 13, the belt 141 is set in motion by the pulley 16 to decoil the strip.

11 The transfer device 1 is now returned to its former configuration of readiness to take up a roll 2a, a further roll in the meantime having been advanced along the magazine 3 into the take-up position 11, and the cycle is repeated.

It will be evident from the foregoing specification that the stated object of the invention is realized in a simple and functional device.

12

Claims

Claims 4

1) A device for taking up and transferring rolls from a magazine to a decoiling unit wherein the magazine comprises first conveying means by which the rolls are supported and advanced in succession along a first path toward a position at which a leading roll is taken up, characterized in that it comprises: -second conveying means interposed between the first conveying means and the decoiling unit, by which the rolls are accommodated singly; -a first transfer device operating at the take-up position, by which the rolls are transferred singly from the first conveying means to the second conveying means; and, -a second transfer device operating at a release position, by which the rolls are transferred singly from the second conveying means to the decoiling unit.

13 2) A device as in claim 1, wherein second conveying means comprise a seating by which the rolls are accommodated singly and in succession.

3) A device as in claim 2, wherein the decoiling unit is positioned on a level lower than that of the second conveying means, and the second transfer device comprises release means by which the roll is allowed to drop gravitationally from the seating to the decoiling unit.

4) A device as in claim 3, wherein the seating of the second conveying means is compassed between a pair of upwardly divergent plates positioned to interact with the cylindrical face of the roll, and release means consist in means by which the two divergent plates can be distanced one from another in such a way as will allow the roll to drop gravitationally onto the decoiling unit.

5) A device as in preceding claims, wherein second conveying means comprise a carriage embodied in such a way as to support the seating and capable of reciprocating movement between the take-up position and the release position.

14 6) A device as in claim 1, wherein second conveying means are positioned at a height between that of the first conveying means and that of the decoiling unit.

7) A device as in claim 2 to claim 6 wherein first conveying means comprise means by which to support the rolls, and the first transfer device comprises actuating means by which the supporting means can be lowered in the take-up position to the point at which the leading roll of the magazine is brought to rest in the seating.

8) A device as in claim 2, wherein at least one plate of the pair is associated pivotably at one end with the carriage, in such a way that the free end of the one plate can be rotated and distanced from the corresponding end of the remaining plate, through the agency of actuator means.

9) A device as in claim 1, wherein the first transfer device and the second transfer device are capable of movement transversely to the axis of the leading roll.

is 10) A device for taking up and transferring rolls from a magazine to a decoiling unit, substantially as described with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings.