JP2002199999A - Wet towel preparing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple wet towel preparing device which can easily be utilized in a small-scale restaurant as well. SOLUTION: The wet towel preparing device 10 is provided with a feeding mechanism 26 for feeding a belt-like fiber substance sheet 18, a cutting mechanism 28 for cutting the fed sheet to a prescribed length, an impregnation mechanism 29 for impregnating the sheet with water or hot water, and a winding-up mechanism 30 for winding up the sheet impregnated with water or hot water. The winding-up mechanism 30 has a pair of winding-up axes 58 which advance and retreat while rotating and which is provided with a screw mechanism threaded counter-wise between right and left. The cutting mechanism 28 has a traveling member that travels in a crosswise direction of the sheet 18, a disc-like cutting edge that can be rotatably mounted on the traveling member, and a backup plate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a towel manufacturing apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a simple towel manufacturing apparatus that can quickly manufacture towels provided to customers at restaurants and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a towel provided to a customer or a visitor at a restaurant or a home is prepared by soaking a cloth such as a toweling cloth with water, squeezing the cloth, and then using a steam or a refrigerator to store the towel. Stored in a warm case such as a refrigerator. In some cases, a disposable towel using a nonwoven fabric provided by a towel delivery company may be used. The towel using such a nonwoven fabric is obtained by impregnating a relatively thick nonwoven fabric with water, folding the package, and packing it with a bag such as a synthetic resin film.

[0003]

The toweling on the toweling fabric has the advantage that the user feels good and can be reused any number of times, but it takes time for a restaurant clerk to prepare the toweling. On the other hand, towels provided by towel carriers are
It's not a hassle in a restaurant, it's hygienic, but it costs a lot for a restaurant. Further, the towel manufacturing / packaging device used by the delivery company is large-scale, and it is difficult to use it at a normal restaurant. An object of the present invention is to provide a simple towel making apparatus that can be easily used in a small-scale restaurant or home.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a towel manufacturing apparatus comprising: a feed mechanism for feeding a fibrous sheet; a cutting mechanism for cutting the fed sheet into a predetermined length; It has an impregnating mechanism for impregnating the sheet with water or hot water, and a winding mechanism for winding the sheet impregnated with water or hot water. It is characterized by having a shaft, and at least one of the winding shafts is configured to be freely retractable.

[0005] In such a towel manufacturing apparatus, the retractable winding shaft is supported via a screw mechanism.
It is preferable that the winding shaft is configured to retreat with rotation of the winding shaft (claim 2). A receiving plate for receiving the sheet, a traveling member traveling in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet extends, a pressing roller rotatably provided on the traveling member, and pressing the sheet against the receiving plate; It is preferable that the member has a cutting blade rotatably provided on the member (claim 3).

[0006]

According to the towel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention (claim 1),
The fibrous sheet continuously fed from the feed mechanism is cut, and water is supplied from the impregnation mechanism to impregnate the sheet with water. Then, the sheet or sheet piece impregnated with the water is wound by the left and right winding shafts of the winding mechanism. When the retractable take-up shaft is retracted, the sheet comes off the take-up shaft. Therefore, a towel impregnated with water or hot water can be easily supplied. If the cutting mechanism is provided downstream of the impregnation mechanism, the sheet is cut after being impregnated with water.

In the case where the winding shaft extends and retracts by the screw mechanism (claim 2), since the retracting shaft moves backward during the winding operation, the retracting operation of the winding shaft is quickened. Further, in the apparatus provided with the rotating cutting blade (claim 3), the sheet can be rapidly cut by the cutting blade.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a towel manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing an embodiment of the towel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 4b, 4c
FIG. 5 is a rear view, a side view, and a bottom view of a feed mechanism and a cutting mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a side view showing an embodiment of the cutting mechanism of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment, FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a winding mechanism according to the present invention, and FIGS. 8A to 8C are cross-sectional views showing another embodiment of the winding mechanism according to the present invention.

The towel manufacturing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped case 11 in which
The frame is divided into three rooms by frames 12 and 13 formed of two metal plates serving also as guides arranged in the vertical direction. The frames 12, 13 stand on the base 14 as shown in FIG. 2, and the frames 12, 13 are parallel to each other. Of the three rooms partitioned by the frames 12 and 13, the rear part of the center room 15 in FIG.
This is a space in which a roll 16 of a water-containing sheet, such as a nonwoven fabric, a woven fabric, or paper, which is a towel material, is detachably accommodated by a support roller 17. Further, the front side of the center room 15 is a space where the seat 18 travels while being guided by the frames 12 and 13.
A roller, a cutting mechanism, and a motor for driving them, which directly handle the paper, are housed. Room 1 in the upper part of FIG.
In 9, a water tank 20 for storing water is detachably accommodated. Also, in the lower room 21 of FIG.
2 are accommodated.

As shown in FIG. 2, a feed mechanism 26 having a pair of feed rollers 23, 24 and a guide roller 25, and a disk-shaped cutting blade 27 are provided at the upper portion on the front side of the frames 12, 13. A cutting mechanism 28 is attached.
Further, an impregnation mechanism 29 for impregnating the sheet 18 with water supplied from the water tank 20 is attached slightly below the middle. Further, a winding mechanism 30 is attached to a lower portion. Further, guide plates 31 for guiding the sheet 18 back and forth are provided from the feed mechanism 26 or the cutting mechanism 28 to the impregnation mechanism 29. Further, a similar guide plate 31 may be provided from the impregnating mechanism 29 to the winding mechanism 30.

The case 11 is a molded product of, for example, a synthetic resin, and is configured such that an upper portion or a rear portion (right side in FIG. 2) can be removed for replacing the roll 16.
An openable / closable lid for taking out the towel is also provided at the lower part on the front side. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the support roller 17 includes a cylindrical main body 17a and a support shaft 17b protruding from both ends thereof. The support shaft 17b is freely retractable and is urged by a spring (not shown) so as to always protrude. Therefore, the support shaft 17b is connected to the frame 12,
13 can be removably attached to the hole 32 formed. The support shaft 17b is rotatably supported by the hole 32 in the attached state. The support roller 17 is used for the frame 1
After detaching from the sheets 2 and 13 and attaching the roll 16 of sheets, the sheet is attached to the frames 12 and 13.

The feed mechanism 26 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of feed rollers 23 and 24 arranged in a somewhat oblique front and rear direction, and a guide roller 2 for guiding the sheet 18 coming obliquely downward from between them, downward.
5 and left and right brackets 33 for rotatably supporting the shafts of the rollers. Rear feed roller 24
A pulley 34 is coaxially attached to the shaft end of the roller. The pulley 34 is connected to an idle pulley 35 fixed coaxially with the guide roller 25 by a belt 36. The pulley 34 and the idle pulley 35 are disposed outside the left and right brackets 33, 33, respectively, and the left and right idle pulleys 35 are connected by a shaft 37.

Further, a second shaft is coaxial with the idle pulley 35.
Of the motor M1 is connected to a pulley 40 attached to the output shaft of the motor M1 by a belt 39. Motor M1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. When the motor M1 rotates, a pair of feed rollers 2
The sheet 18 is fed downward with the sheet 18 interposed therebetween at 3 and 24, and the belt-shaped sheet 18 is continuously pulled out from the sheet roll 16. Instead of the belts 36 and 39, a timing belt, a chain or a gear may be used. The feed rollers 23 and 24 are preferably rubber rollers having a rubber coating. It may be coated with a soft synthetic resin or the like. Note that the sheet may be provided with embossing projections for embossing. The front feed roller 23 may be urged by a spring so as to contact the rear feed roller 24 with a predetermined pressure. Reference numeral 41 in FIG. 4A is a mounting seat for mounting the case 11 in FIG.

The cutting mechanism 28, as shown in FIG.
A receiving plate 43 that supports the sheet 18 from the back side, a traveling member 44 that runs along the receiving plate 43, and the above-described disk-shaped cutting blade 27 that is rotatably provided on the traveling member 44.
And a pressing roller 45 for pressing the sheet 18 against the receiving plate 43 above and below the cutting blade 27. Press roller 4
5 is preferably a rubber roller whose peripheral edge is coated with rubber, for example. A groove, for example, a V-shaped groove 46 is formed in a portion of the receiving plate 43 that comes into contact with the cutting blade 27. Cutting blade 2
7 and the upper and lower pressing rollers 45 are fixed to one shaft 47, and the shaft 47 is rotatably mounted in front of the traveling member 44.

Further, a rear portion of the traveling member 44 is guided by a guide 48, and a female screw screwed with a screw shaft 49 is formed. The screw shaft 49 extends in the width direction of the sheet 18 as shown in FIG. 4C, so that the cutting blade 27 cuts from one end to the other end of the sheet 18. Around the both ends of the screw shaft 49 is a bearing 5 provided on the bracket 33.
It is rotatably supported by 0 and 50. Screw shaft 4
One end of 9 protrudes from the bearing 50 and is driven to reciprocate by the motor M2.

The cutting mechanism 28 rotates the motor M2 to rotate the screw shaft 49 in one direction.
Travels from one end to the other end of the seat 18. Along with the travel, the pressing roller 45 rotates, and the cutting blade 27 fixed to the same shaft 47 also travels along the V groove 46 while rotating. Thereby, the sheet 18 is cut. Note that, instead of the rotating cutting blade 27, a knife-shaped cutting blade that moves without rotating along the V-shaped groove 46 can be used.
The cut lower sheet piece is the guide plate 3 shown in FIG.
1 and 31, and the sheet 18
Has a waist and will not fall.

FIG. 6 schematically shows another embodiment of the pressing roller 45 and the cutting blade 27. In this embodiment, four pressing rollers 45 arranged in front, rear, left and right,
And a rotary cutting blade 27 disposed at the center thereof. The shaft 47a of the cutting blade 27 and the shaft 47b of the pressing roller 45 are separate shafts. The shafts 47a and 47b need not rotate. Although the traveling member 44 is omitted in FIG. 6, the same member as that of FIG. 5 can be employed. In this embodiment, the cutting blade 27 is not forced to rotate, but rotates naturally by friction with the sheet 18.

The traveling member 44 travels on the screw shaft 49 as described above, and a pair of pulleys rotatable around an axis extending in the vertical direction are provided on the outside of the bracket 33, for example. A belt or a wire may be wound around, the traveling member 44 may be attached to the belt or the wire, and one of the pulleys may be rotated by a motor or the like to circulate the belt or the wire, thereby causing the traveling member to travel. Good. Further, in addition to the one that allows the cutting blade to travel, a cutting mechanism of a clipping type may be employed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the impregnating mechanism 29 has trays 52, 52 for receiving water supplied from the water tank 20, and a pair of lower portions immersed in the water of the trays 52, 52. And the impregnating rollers 53 and 54 are provided. Receiving tray 52 accommodating each impregnating roller 53, 54
May be connected at the ends. One impregnation roller 54
Is, as shown in FIG. 2, a motor M3 via a belt 55.
Is driven to rotate. The rotation direction is a direction in which the sheet 18 passing between them is sent downward. Impregnating roller 53,
Reference numeral 54 denotes, for example, a roller obtained by coating the surface of a metal or synthetic resin roller with a foamed material such as urethane foam, or a roller obtained by winding a fibrous hydrated sheet around the surface of a metal roller and fixing the same. That is, the water in the tray 52 is
3, 54, and then to the sheet 18.

The reference numeral 56 in FIG.
4 is a plate material pressed by a spring,
An effect of adjusting the water content of the impregnating roller is obtained by removing excess water impregnated in 3, 54. Reference numeral 56a is an adjusting screw for adjusting the pressing force of the plate member 56 by adjusting the spring force. A roller may be used instead of the plate material. The supply liquid 20a of the water tank 20 does not leak even if it faces downward, as in a kerosene tank of an oil stove, for example.
It is preferable to provide a valve that communicates with the outside by pushing the valve stem. As a result, when the water tank 20 is installed upside down, the valve stem comes into contact with the tray 52 and
Open a. Then, some water is supplied to the tray 52, and when the supply port 20a is closed with water, the water stops flowing at atmospheric pressure.
When the water in the tray 52 decreases, the water is supplied from the water tank 20 accordingly. Instead of using the receiving tray 52, water may be dripped from above the impregnating rollers 53, 54 with a water supply tube, or water may be supplied with a pump. In the impregnating mechanism 29, when the motor M3 rotates, the impregnating rollers 53 and 54 rotate in directions opposite to each other, and the feed rollers 23 and 24 and the guide roller 2 described above.
5 is fed to the impregnating rollers 53, 54
It is sent downward by being sandwiched between. In the meantime, a suitable amount of water is contained, and the water passes through the space between the trays 52 and falls downward.

Next, the winding mechanism 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. The winding mechanism 30 is the frame 1
Bearings 57 mounted on the outside of the members 2 and 13, a winding shaft 58 provided therein so as to be movable and rotatable in the axial direction, and rotating means for driving the winding shaft 58 to rotate and moving the winding shaft 58 in the axial direction. An axial driving means. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the bearing 57 has a pipe shape, and a female screw 59 is formed on the inner surface thereof. The female screws 59 of the left and right bearings 57 are reverse screws. That is, when one is a right-hand thread, the other is a left-hand thread. On the surface of the base 58a of the winding shaft 58, a male screw 60 to be screwed with the female screw 59 is formed. Further, a hole 61 is formed in the base portion 58a, and a drive shaft 62 is fitted into the hole 61 so as to be able to transmit torque and to be movable in the axial direction.

Such a mechanism is, for example, a rectangular hole 6.
1 is formed on the base 58a, and the drive shaft 62 having a rectangular cross section may be fitted into the hole 61. Serrations may be used. The rear end of the drive shaft 62 is
The motor M4 shown in FIG. The left and right friction wheels 63 are connected so as to be synchronized by a shaft 65. A gear may be used instead of the friction wheel 63. In addition, at the tip end portion 58b of the winding shaft 58,
A slit 66 for passing the sheet 18 is formed. The slit 66 has an open end, and the winding shaft 58
Is configured to be able to protrude and retract from the frames 12 and 13.

In such a winding mechanism 30, when the motor M4 is rotated, the left and right winding shafts 58 move the sheet 1
8 to wind them onto their surface. At this time, since the left and right male screws 60 are respectively screwed along the female screws 59 of opposite threads, the winding shafts 58 move in a direction away from each other while rotating. That is, their tips 58b are retracted from the frames 12, 13. On the other hand, when the motor M4 rotates in the reverse direction, the tip portion 58b projects from the frames 12, 13.

Therefore, after the leading end of the sheet 18 is inserted into the slit 66 of the winding shaft 58 with the leading end 58b protruding, and the motor M4 is rotated, the leading end 58b of the left and right winding shafts 58 is rotated. A sheet (sheet piece) 18 cut by the above-described cutting blade is wound around the surface. At the same time, when the leading end portion 58 b is retracted into the frames 12 and 13, the sheet 18 is pushed to the leading end side by the frames 12 and 13, and finally comes off from the leading end of the slit 66.
Therefore, the spirally wound sheet 18 comes off the winding shaft 58 and falls downward. Thereby, the sheet 18 containing water and spirally wound, that is, "towel" is completed. After that, the user may open the lid in front of the case 11 and take out the towel.

In the above-described embodiment, the rotation operation of the winding shaft is converted into the movement operation in the axial direction using the screw mechanism. Therefore, there is an advantage that only one drive source for the rotation and the movement in the axial direction is required, and the operations of both are naturally synchronized with each other. However, in addition to the screw mechanism, the drive in the axial direction may be performed by a linear actuator 68 such as an air cylinder indicated by an imaginary line or a solenoid actuator. In this case, the rotation and the axial tuning may be performed electrically. Further, both the movement in the axial direction by an air cylinder or the like and the conversion of the rotation by the screw mechanism into the axial direction can be adopted in combination.

In the winding mechanism shown in FIG. 8A, a male screw 59a is formed on the surface of the bearing 57. Winding shaft 58
The base 58a is formed in a pipe shape, is put on the outer periphery of the bearing 57, and has a female screw formed on the inner surface thereof.
7 with the male screw 59a. Left and right bearings 5
The 7 male screws 59a are reverse screws. The friction wheel 63 is in contact with the surface of the base 58a of the winding shaft 58. A gear may be used instead of the friction wheel. In this case, similarly to the case of FIG. 7, the rotation of the winding shaft 58 and the movement in the axial direction are simultaneously performed by the action of the screw.

In the winding mechanism shown in FIG.
8 is provided with a friction wheel 58c.
Are in contact with the driving friction wheel 63. The width of the driving friction wheel 63 is increased so as to correspond to the movement of the winding shaft 58 in the axial direction. This also has substantially the same operation and effect as the winding mechanism of FIG. Note that a gear may be used instead of the friction wheel.

FIG. 8C shows a case in which the rotary motion is performed by a motor and the axial linear motion is performed by a linear actuator 68. The bearing 57 is rotatably provided on the frame 12 and is rotationally driven by a friction wheel 63 abutting on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The bearing 57 and the base 58a of the winding shaft 58 are connected to each other so as to be able to transmit torque by means of serrations and to be slidable in the axial direction.

In the above embodiment, the cutting mechanism 29 is provided together with the feed mechanism 26, but may be provided between the impregnation mechanism 29 and the winding mechanism 30. In this case, since the end of the remaining cut sheet is stopped while being sandwiched between the impregnating rollers 53 and 54 of the impregnating mechanism 29, the sheet can be stably held until the next towel production. Cutting a wet sheet is relatively troublesome. Therefore, the sheet is cut by the first cutting mechanism provided together with the feed mechanism 29 while leaving a part of both ends and the like.
A second cutting mechanism may be provided so as to be finally separated below the impregnation mechanism 29. In that case, in each of the cutting mechanisms, the cutting blade travels within a predetermined range of the sheet.

The manufactured towel is usually stored in a refrigerator in winter and stored in a refrigerator in summer. However, if desired, the towel can be switched to an outlet for the towel to provide a refrigerator and a refrigerator. It may be provided. Such a dual-purpose storage box can be realized by, for example, a storage box using a Peltier element. Further, hot water or cold water may be stored in the water tank 20 in advance. Further, water used in normal toweling, such as adding alcohol or a citrus flavor to the water, can be used. Further, a drug such as a bactericide may be contained.

In the above embodiment, the left and right winding shafts 58
Are retracted together, but only one may be retracted. In that case, the user may remove the towel remaining on the other winding shaft.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing an embodiment of a towel manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

4a, 4b and 4c are a rear view, a side view and a bottom view, respectively, of a feed mechanism and a cutting mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an embodiment of the cutting mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing another embodiment of the cutting mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a winding mechanism according to the present invention.

8a, 8b and 8c are cross-sectional views each showing another embodiment of the winding mechanism according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Towel manufacturing apparatus 11 Case 12, 13 Frame 14 Base 15 Center room 16 Sheet roll 17 Support roller 17a Main body 17b Support shaft 18 Sheet 19 Upper room 20 Water tank 21 Lower room 22 Control board 23, 24 Feed roller Reference Signs List 25 guide roller 26 feed mechanism 27 cutting blade 28 cutting mechanism 29 impregnation mechanism 30 take-up mechanism 31 guide plate 32 hole 33 bracket 34 pulley 35 idle pulley 36 belt 37 shaft 39 belt M1 motor 40 pulley 41 mounting seat 43 receiving plate 44 running member 45 holding roller 46 V groove 47 shaft 48 guide 49 screw shaft 50 bearing M2 motor 47a, 47b shaft 52 tray 53, 54 impregnating roller M3 motor 55 belt 56 adjusting screw 20a supply port 57 bearing KE 58 Take-up shaft 58a Base 58b Tip 59 Female screw 60 Male screw 61 Hole 62 Drive shaft 63 Friction wheel 64 Belt 65 Axis 66 Slit 68 Air cylinder 59a Male screw 58c Friction wheel

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A feed mechanism for feeding a fibrous sheet, a cutting mechanism for cutting the fed sheet into a predetermined length, an impregnation mechanism for impregnating the sheet with water or hot water, and an impregnation with water or hot water And a winding mechanism for winding the let-down sheet, wherein the winding mechanism has a pair of left and right winding shafts that rotate left and right in synchronization, and at least one of the winding shafts extends and retracts. Freely configured,
Towel manufacturing equipment. 2. The towel making apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the winding shaft which is protruded and retracted is supported via a screw mechanism, and is configured to retreat with the rotation of the winding shaft. 3. A receiving plate for receiving a sheet, a traveling member traveling in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the sheet extends, and a retainer rotatably provided on the traveling member for pressing the sheet against the receiving plate. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a roller and a cutting blade rotatably provided on the traveling member.