JPH07205947A - Device and method to automatically remove roll wrapper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To perform an automatic roll wrapper removing step by a method wherein a cutter having a narrow leading end, an outward inclined blade and a smooth rear surface is slid into a lower side of roll of wrapper and moved in a longitudinal direction of the roll. CONSTITUTION: There is provided an apparatus in which a wrapper is cut and removed from a cylindrical roll having the wrapper including at least one wrap overlapped at a circumference of a paper roll R, wherein a blade 36 inclined upwardly and rearward to an edge 39 and having slant leading ends 38 inclined at both sides from the edge to a flat guide surface is slid from the end part of the roll R into the outer-most wrap of the wrapper, moved along a guide rail 48 to cut the outer wrapper. A cutter assembly 22 is provided with one set of gauge rails 34 for position setting the blade 36 and with an air shower pipe 13 for releasing the cut wrap. With such an arrangement as above, when the blade 36 is inserted, a piercing of the wrapper into a radial inward winding part is reduced and a possibility of damaging inner paper is reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus and method for automatically removing a wrapper from a cylindrical roll such as a roll of paper such as newsprint.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A paper roll is wrapped with a thick wrapping paper having one layer or two or more layers to protect the surface of the outer layer of the paper on the roll. Wrapped rolls usually (but not necessarily) have "heads", or
Having paperboard discs, these heads must be removed manually or mechanically in a separate process.
The remaining wrapper is called a "sleeve". For the purposes of this application, the paper on the roll will be described as newsprint, but the invention relates to all rolls protected by the wrapper. Various methods have been employed to separate the wrapper from the roll. One technique is for the operator to simply use a knife to press the blade inward against the outer surface of the wrapper at one end of the roll, cutting the wrapper across the roll. This technique can hurt workers and often even cut newsprint.
The newsprint is then discarded.

Another manual technique for cutting the wrapper is to first place a blunt beveled knife under the outer wrapper and manually push the knife across the wrapper from one end of the roll to the other. Although this technique is intended to cut newsprint more reliably, it is time consuming and can cause the cutting tool to engage the newsprint and damage the outer layers of the newsprint if the operator is not careful.

Attempts have been made to automate the wrapper cutting method. Generally, these automated techniques use motorized rotary blades that are lowered onto the wrapper and moved from one end of the roll to the other. This rotary blade often cuts through the wrapper to the newsprint and can damage the newsprint. When automated handling of rolls, it is desirable not only to save labor, but also to reduce waste generated by the incision of the manual or powered cutting tools into the newsprint. Saving a few rolls of newsprint can save tens of thousands of dollars a year. It is also desirable to remove heavy wrappers to provide a convenient form for handling and disposal. Waste is typically packaged for reuse.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to automate the process of unrolling a roll. Another object of the present invention is to automate the process of unrolling rolls while at the same time minimizing the waste that occurs when an operator-operated or power-driven wrapper cutter cuts through the wrapper to damage the newsprint. That is.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that makes the removed wrapper convenient for handling and disposal. These objectives are achieved by precisely positioning and moving the knife at a preferred depth along a predetermined cutting path under the wrapper, cutting the wrapper from inside to outside. In this way, the knife effectively cuts through only the outer wrapper. In addition to cutting the wrapper, the present invention also removes the cut wrapper and ejects the cut wrapper away from the paper roll.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a cut wrapper collecting mandrel assembly 12, an air shower tube 13 (FIG. 3) for guiding the cut wrapper to the mandrel assembly, and the cut wrapper to the mandrel assembly 12. 1 shows a main frame 10 having a trumpet removal assembly 16 for removal from it.

Main frame 10 also carries a vertically movable reciprocally mounted cutter carriage 18, as best seen in FIG. A pair of cylinders 20 raises and lowers the carriage 18 via a chain sprocket 21. The cutter assembly 22 is moved up and down by the carriage 18 by a set of hydraulic cylinders 24. The roll is rotated at half speed until the outer edge of the trumpet is positioned on the roll, as described in more detail below. This is done to position the cutter in the non-bonded area of the overlap area of the wrapper.

The carriage 18 is provided with a rider roller 30 which, when the carriage descends, moves downward together with the carriage and engages with a paper roll R positioned on a pair of rotatable turning rollers 32. To do. The roll has one or more wraps that surround the paper in the roll. The rollers can handle wrapped rolls having different diameters, such as another wrapped roll shown in phantom line R2.

Cutter assembly 22 is best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 and has a set of gauge rails for positioning blades 36. The cutter carriage 18 stops moving downward when the rider roller engages the roll R. Photocapacitive sensor 37 then detects the presence of roll R on roller 32 and activates air cylinder 24 to move the cutter assembly until gauge rail 34 is positioned directly on the surface of wrapper W on the roll. Lower it. The gauge rails are spaced so that the tips of the blades 36 are 0.011 to 0.016 inches below the outer radial surface of the wrapper into the outer wrap of the wrapper. Blade 36
Is an oblique tip 3 which is inclined upwards and backwards towards the edge 39 and is inclined on both sides from the edge to the flat guide surface 40.
8 (FIG. 10). Thus, the blade is adapted to slide from the end of the roll into the outermost wrap of the wrapper and tear the wrapper by pushing from the inside out. In this way, the flat guide surface 40 does not penetrate beyond the wrap when the blade is inserted, and further movement of the blade from one end of the roll to the other does not cause the next radial direction of the wrapper. It doesn't penetrate into the winding.
In this way, there is very little risk of more than the top wrap of the wrapper, i.e. the first two laps, being torn by the blade and the newsprint does not engage the blade. The spacing of the gauge rails 34 is such that the curvature of the rolls is slightly above the bottom surface of the guide rails in the gap between the guide rails and the blades are installed at the exact dimensions described above. Of course, this position can be adjusted for different types of wrappers if desired.

Blade 36 passes through a wrapper from one end of the roll to the other endless cable drive 42 (FIG. 4).
Driven by. Endless cable drive 42
Is driven by an air cable cylinder 44. The cable is fixed to a trolley 46 with a plurality of guide wheels 47, which guide wheels 47 move on a guide track 48. Thus,
By actuating the air cylinder 44, the blade moves along the guide track 48 the entire length of the roll.

When the roll wrapper has been cut over its entire length, the blade is retracted to its original position at a distance from the roll, the cutter carriage 18 is lifted and the rollers 32 are rotated to 2. The roll R is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG. Air shower tube 1
3 ejects a substantially horizontal airflow to the left as shown in FIG. As air flows towards the cutting free end of the wrapper, the free end is lifted by the air flow and guided into the guide slot 62 (Fig. 5). The free cutting end of the wrapper is moved to the left in FIG. 5 by the counterclockwise rotation of the roll R and the air flow from the air flow tube 13 and also beyond the support bar 60 towards the surface of the guide bar 61. Be lifted. After passing through the slots 62, the free end of the wrapper penetrates the gap between the spaced forks 72 of the cut wrapper collecting mandrel assembly 12.

A web detect light sensor 79 signals the presence of the wrapper just before it enters the coiled mandrel 12. After a short delay, the mandrel will start spinning. As best shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the mandrel has a motor 70, which rotates a pair of forks 72 supported by a spindle 74. The spindle 74 is driven by a drive belt 76 driven by a motor. The cut wrapper is then fed through the gap or nip 78 between the forks,
As the fork rotates, the wrapper is coiled around the fork. When the mandrel motor accelerates and reaches its final speed, the speed is set to start decelerating slowly immediately. This prevents the wrapper winding from being overwhelmed by the forks. The deceleration curve is in the range of 50 seconds.

When the wrapper is completely unwound from roll R, it should be released from the adhesive holding the inner end of wrapper W against the roll, the inner end of the innermost winding being stretchable. Should be. When the inner edge of the wrapper is fed past the web detect light sensor 79, the sensor opens the circuit and stops the turning roller 32,
Thus, the rotation of the roll R is stopped and a short time delay is initiated. After this delay, the mandrel motor slows to a very slow indexing speed and then stops with the mandrel forks aligned vertically, as shown in FIG.

Cylinder 83 swings the motor and fork counterclockwise away from the roll, as shown in FIG. 6, and raises it in alignment with collecting roller assembly 16. The collection roller assembly 16 is best shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 and is pivotally attached to the pivot rod 84 and the belt 86.
It includes a set of upright rollers 82 that are driven to rotate at. The belt has a grooved pulley 8 attached to the pivot rod 84.
It has been passed over to 7. The pivot rod is a motor 88
Is rotated by. The cylinder 90 is connected to link mechanisms 92 and 94 so as to rotate the rollers toward each other. One roller 82 is driven such that when the rollers are moved toward each other, the wrapper is caught in the nip between the two rollers. Thus, the wrapper is pulled out of the mandrel fork. The coil is flattened and ejected from the machine for receipt in a cart or container for disposal.

If the inner edge of the wrapper adhered to the newsprint is not pulled freely, the presence of the newsprint in the mandrel assembly is detected by the bright and dark light sensor 97 (FIG. 5). The sensor then closes the circuit and activates a conventional trailing cutter that disconnects the newsprint. The end cutter uses a cylinder 92 (FIG. 2) connected to a guide bar 60 that carries an elongated wire 99. The wire extends the length of the roll and is a conventional paper cutting wire.
When the piston rod of the wire cutting cylinder is lowered, the wire goes down through the guide slot 62 and cuts the newsprint.

The operation of the present invention will now be described. A roll such as newsprint roll R enters the turning roller 32,
The movement is stopped by hitting the stop in the conventional way. The bracket 200 supports the light source 103 and the optical sensor 102, and is rotated by the cylinder 201 toward the roll. Light 103 is directed onto the surface of the wrapper. Roll is
It is rotated in the unwinding direction at a low speed. Outer edge 108 of the wrapper
When passes under the light, the outer edge creates a shadow. This shadow is detected by the optical sensor 102. When the optical sensor 102 finds the outer edge of the wrapper, the turning roller 32 is stopped and the cutter assembly 22 is lowered onto the roll.

The cutter carriage 18 is then lowered by the cylinder 20 and finally the downward movement of the cutter carriage is stopped by the rider roller 30 contacting the roll of newsprint. A capacitive proximity sensor 37 (FIG. 3) on the cutter carriage detects a roll of newsprint and raises the cutter assembly 22 relative to the carriage 18 by means of a cylinder 24. When the cutter assembly 22 is raised to its upper position, the cutter assembly activates the optical sensor 100. The sensor 100 then gives a signal to slowly rotate the roll counterclockwise to ensure the desired overlap area in the cutting path.

As the gauge rails 34 of the cutter assembly hit the roll, the tips 38 of the blades 36 will be determined by the gauge rails beyond the bond area as determined by the position of the outer edge of the wrapper by the sensor 102. Positioned under the outermost wrap of the roll. The lowered position of the cutter assembly 22 is detected by the sensor 104, which operates the cable cylinder to activate the trolley 46.
And drive the blade. The blade then runs along the top of the roll to slit the wrapper. When you complete the disconnect
The cutter assembly is lifted and the air shower is ejected from tube 13. The roll is then turned in the unwinding direction. The air shower flows over the front cutting edge of the wrapper,
Pull the cutting edge upwards to bring it into the wrapper guide slot 6
Guide to 2. Then, the web detection optical sensor 79 detects the presence of the wrapper immediately before entering the fork 72 of the collecting mandrel 12. After a short delay, the mandrel begins to rotate, as explained earlier.

When the wrapper is completely unwound from the roll, it should be released from the adhesive holding the wrapper to the roll, leaving the ends of the wrapper free to pull. The end of the wrapper is
When passed past the web detect photosensor 79, the photosensor opens a circuit to stop the turning roller 32 and initiate a short delay. After this delay, the mandrel motor slows to the indexing speed and stops with the mandrel forks vertically aligned.

As mentioned above, when the wrapper cannot be pulled freely, the newspaper is fed through the wrapper guide and detected by the light / dark light sensor 97. The optical sensor lowers the wire 99 and drives the newsprint cutter cylinder 99 that cuts the newsprint. When the newspaper is cut, the turning roller 32 is stopped and the timer is started, as described above. After a time delay, the mandrel motor is rotated to the index position and stopped. The turning roller is reversed to wind the free end of the newsprint onto roll R.

After the mandrel motor is stopped, the cylinder 83 swings the mandrel upward. The ends of the coiled wrapper tube, which extends beyond the mandrel fork 72, are fed between discharge rollers 82. The discharge roller 82 is closed at the end of the wrapper tube. Newspaper roll R is a turning roller 32
Removed from. After the discharge roller 82 is closed, the discharge roller motor 88 is started. A discharge roller pulls the wrapper tube away from the mandrel fork and flattens the wrapper tube as it is fed through the roller and discharges the flattened wrapper tube into a bottle or receiver. While the wrapper tube is being ejected, the next roll R of newsprint enters the turning roller 32 and the same sequence is repeated thereafter.

The method of the present invention is best illustrated schematically in FIGS. 11-14. Such a method involves rotating a roll wrapped by the wrapper with one or more wraps until the outer edge of the wrapper is in place, guided by gauge rails on the roll along a predetermined cutting path. Automatically moving a blade with a beveled tip to push it under the outer wrap at a predetermined circumferential distance from the outer edge of the wrapper detected, from one end of the roll to the other, Through the blades, tearing the wrapper open from the inside to the outside, and rotating the roll while guiding the cut and cut ends to the collecting position. In the collecting position, the wrapper is coiled and the coiled wrapper is removed from the collecting position for ejection. The method of the present invention includes the steps of detecting the presence of newsprint associated with the cut wrapper and cutting the newsprint, if it happened to be associated with the wrapper.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes can be made without departing from the principles of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the form shown in the drawings.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an apparatus for cutting and removing a wrapper.

FIG. 2 is an end view.

FIG. 3 is an end view of a portion of the device showing a wrapper cutting blade positioned on a roll.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the wrapper cutting device.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detailed view of the cutting and wrapper removing device.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detailed view of the wrapper removing device.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the device shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an apparatus for removing a wrapper from a wrapper collection mandrel.

9 is a side view of the device shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of a blade.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing a step of removing a wrapper.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing a step of removing a wrapper.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a step of removing a wrapper.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a step of removing a wrapper.

FIG. 15 is a partial schematic view of a sensor for positioning the outer edge of the wrapper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Main frame 12 ... Cut wrapper collecting mandrel assembly 13 ... Air shower tube 16 ... Cutter carriage 22 ... Cutter assembly 30 ... Rider roller R ... Paper roll 32. ..Turning roller 34 ... Gauge rail 36 ... Blade 37 ... Optical capacitive sensor 42 ... Endless cable drive 46 ... Trolley 47 ... Guide wheel 48 ... Guide track 72 ...・ Fork 74 ・ ・ ・ Spindle 79 ・ ・ ・ Web detection optical sensor 82 ・ ・ ・ Upright roller 97 ・ ・ ・ Light / dark light sensor 98 ・ ・ ・ Newspaper cutter cylinder 99 ・ ・ ・ Wire 102 ・ ・ ・ Optical sensor 103 ・ ・・ Light source 108 ・ ・ ・ Wrapper outer end 200 ・ ・ ・ Bracket

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for cutting and removing a wrapper from a cylindrical roll having a wrapper with at least one overlapping wrap around the roll, the roll for rotating the wrapped roll about its axis. A supporting roller, a blade means having a single fixed blade with a narrow tip and an outwardly sloping blade, and said blade means so that the tip is under the winding of the outer wrapper of the material of the roll. An apparatus comprising: means for positioning, means for moving the blade means along the length of the roll to cut the wrapper, and means for removing the cut wrapper. 2. The blade means locating means includes a guide track having spaced gauge members for engaging a wrapper on a roll, the gauge member moving below the outer wrap of the wrapper. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tip of the blade means is held so as to be spaced inward from the gauge member by a predetermined distance so as to do so. 3. The outer edge locating means of the wrapper results from a light source directed to impinge on the outer edge of the wrapper and light impinging on the outer edge of the winding at a location where the outer edge of the wrapper is adjacent to the next inner winding. Apparatus according to claim 1, including detection means for detecting shadows. 4. The wrapper removing means includes a pair of spaced forks for winding the cut wrapper in a roll state, and a means for removing the wrapped wrapper from the fork. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising: 5. A method of cutting and removing a wrapper from a cylindrical roll having a protective wrapper around it, wherein the cylindrical roll having the wrapper is positioned at a wrapper removal station, the outer end of the wrapper having the predetermined cutting path. At the removal station, rotating the roll about its longitudinal axis until it is positioned against, moving the blade under the wrapper along a predetermined cutting path at one end of the roll, and along the predetermined cutting path. Cutting the wrapper by passing a blade along the length of the roll and removing the cut wrapper. 6. The wrapper includes at least one overlapping wrap, the blade having a narrow tip that slopes upward along a cutting edge, and moving the blade under the wrapper comprises: The method of claim 5 including inserting a blade tip under an overlap of the wrapper and cutting the wrapper by moving a cutting edge through the wrapper over the blade tip. 7. A step of collecting the cut wrapper, the step of collecting the cut wrapper includes wrapping the wrapper on a fork when all of the wrapper has been collected, and collecting the wrapped wrapper. The method of claim 5, including withdrawing from the fork. 8. The step of positioning the outer end of the wrapper comprises:
The method of claim 5 including detecting shadows caused by light illuminating the outer edge of the wrapper.