MXPA98002525A

MXPA98002525A - High speed wire machine

Info

Publication number: MXPA98002525A
Application number: MXPA/A/1998/002525A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Winter Steven; Shallow Jerry
Original assignee: Stanley Lerner
Priority date: 1997-04-01
Filing date: 1998-03-31
Publication date: 1999-05-31

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing carrier sheets of small samples from a preprinted pattern with a repeating pattern with the small samples placed precisely in relation to the pattern of repetition using rotating cylinders having a circumferential length substantially different than a sheet length, said method comprising the steps of: continuously moving the pre-printed web at a substantially constant rate through a plurality of small sample applicator stations, each having a rotating sample applicator cylinder small to apply small samples to the traveling pattern, detect a pre-printed reference mark in the traveling pattern to locate the position of the repeating pattern traveling in relation to at least one of the rotating cylinders, equalize the rotation speed of the small sample applicator cylinders with the speed of the weft in movement at the moment of application of the small samples to the weft during a portion of speed equalization of a revolution of the small sample applicator cylinder, change the rotation speed of the applicator cylinder of small samples after the application of small samples and during a synchronous recovery portion of the revolution of the cylinder to provide a revolution profile matched with the repetition length of the sheets to be cut from the web; displace the phase of the speed equalization portion of the web; the revolution of the cylinder based on the location of the pre-printed reference mark, detected, to place the small samples accurately in relation to the pattern of repetition in the weft, and to cut the weft at repeating distances in a plurality of sheets each having an identical pattern of small samples placed precisely on each sheet in relation to the pre-impre repeat pattern

Description

HIGH SPEED FRAME MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for manufacturing sheets having small samples therein. The present invention is an improvement of the method and apparatus for the manufacture of sheets having small samples or samples therein disclosed in United States Patent No. 4,061,521, in which leaves are intermittently moved through a machine for Receiving rows of small samples on them In this patented method, the sheets are transported to a registration stop at each station where the sheets are registred while they are being applied to the same small samples from a rotating applicator cylinder. small samples Although this patented method has been extremely successful and is a great improvement over the older vacuum storage and transfer system, the patented method still has several limitations, as will be discussed below. attempts to substantially increase the production speed of this intermittent sheet feeding system by trying to Ontrolar the leaf while it is being transported. A slight displacement 5 of the adhesive carrier sheet results in a failure to register the small samples with the pre-printed material on the sheet. It is also desired to prevent the sheet from becoming jammed or failing and not being properly fed from a small sample application station to the next small sample application station; often, there may be as many as ten or more stations carrying small samples in a row. The sheets traveling downstream from the first small sample station will have rows of small samples and rows of wet adhesive on them, all of which makes it more difficult to control the sheet at higher speeds than dry leaves without having been converted. by the application of one or more rows of small samples applied to the sheet. The registration of small samples on the sheets needs to be accurate so that small samples, such as color cards, are often placed adjacent to a pre-printed description of the color of the adjacent card. The sheet should not cover or be so close to the print so that the desired appearance of the sheet or color card is affected. In some cases, the color card must be inserted in a pre-printed box; and if the chip is out of register in only a few thousandths of an inch, the chip can cover one side of the printed box. When making sheets of colored tokens, the same machine is often used for various sizes of sheets or tokens, for example 8 to 23 inches in the longitudinal feed direction of the sheet. The same machines are usually required to apply small samples to paper that is around 0.0035 to 0.004 inches thick, as well as to cardboard that is around 0.008 to 0.010 inches thick. Thus, small samples vary in area, thickness, material of the same, and the pattern of deposition on a leaf. It is a particular problem from the point of view of a loss of production and from the point of view of time fl change from one job to another work with a change of adhesive and patterns of small samples, as well as a change in the size of the sheet in the machines described in the aforementioned patent. Adhesive applicator cylinders and small samples have a fixed circumferential length associated with a particular sheet size. In some cases where the length of the blade is short, the circumference of the cylinder can be twice the length of the blade, so that a set of small samples can be applied during each half of a revolution of the small sample applicator cylinder. Of course, many sheets can not have a dimension in the direction of displacement that is an even multiple of the circumference of the cylinder., so that the applicator cylinders of adhesive and small samples must be replaced with new cylinders having an appropriate circumference for the new length of the sheet. When there are ten or more cylinders, including adhesive cylinders to be replaced, work is time consuming. Also, m cylinders typically weigh several hundred pounds each and require cranes to lift and transport them. With a change of cylinders, there is also a need to change gears and reset the timing cams to properly synchronize the cutting of chips from strips of token material and the application of tabs in appropriate register with the printed material. Also, changes of gears and other changes in the transport mechanism are needed to stop the thrust of m, the sheets for proper registration with the cylinders. The installation time of running a job for one sheet to another job, using another sheet and involving the change of cylinders and other consequent changes discussed above, can take another eight hours; and it may take another eight hours or more to finely tune the machine so that it is operating properly at high production speed. As the speed of operation increases during a fine tuning operation, problems are encountered that were not detected at lower operating speeds, and the solution to these problems usually requires stopping the machine while making adjustments. Because the adhesive is wet on the sheets, those sheets in the machine that have wet adhesive spots must be removed and discarded where the adjustment has taken so long that the adhesive dries or becomes substantially dry. This results in wastage of sheets, which becomes extremely considerable if they are taking eight to sixteen hours or more and the operation of the sheeting machine during installation and fine-tuning operations. Not only is there a considerable amount of waste during installation and fine tuning to an operation at production speed of the machine, but also during actual production at high speed waste occurs too frequently when the sheets are jammed. A common source of leaf binding is the leaf-per-leaf feeder requeri-m. to place individual sheets of a material to the process of placing small samples. When clogging occurs, the machine is stopped and the sheet jammed and often the sheets that have received adhesive and are downstream from the adhesive station have to be removed from the machine and discarded. Because leaves receive wet adhesive and travel at high speeds, leaf jams occur frequently enough so that both waste and lost production time become significant cost factors with this patented em. From the above, it will be seen that there is a need for a new and improved method of manufacturing small sample carrier sheets. Preferably, the production speed will be increased several times over the current production speed. Also, the time to get ready and the time to finely tune need to be reduced very substantially from the eight to sixteen hours that are currently used.

In addition, the sources of leaf binding need to be reduced and the very high waste rate, for example 10% or more, needs to be reduced substantially by half or less of the current waste rates. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, new and improved method and apparatus for the manufacture of small samples are provided, applying them to a web, which is usually pre-printed, and which is cut in leaves after all or the small samples have been applied to the leaf that is being cut. The use of a plot results in considerably higher production speeds and less waste or waste during production. In the preferred method and apparatus, cylinders 5 are not changed when going from one cut sheet size to another A cut sheet size, with the consequence that the time of r 0 * stop and the lost production are several times less than with the patented machine, previously described, where the cylinders are changed. Simultaneously, for this weft machine, the waste or adjustment of the production of materials during installation and the initial run of production is extremely small compared to a conventional sheet machine. The reduction in waste during installation and during a real production run of a job, allows to carry out a job with considerably less material of cards and sheets, with this resulting in a lower cost of materials for the job. Of course, the higher production speed for the screen machine of the present invention also brings a considerable reduction in labor costs for a given job with respect to the cost of doing the same work on a conventional sheeting machine. In accordance with the present invention, accurate recording of small samples with printed material on a traveling plot by using registration marks on the frame is achieved; and the detection of the registration mark and the phasing of the cylinders by shifting the angular position of the cylinder and the small samples on the cylinder so that the small samples are applied and placed precisely in relation to the mark of reference and printed material on the plot. It will be appreciated that the registration using marks on the frame is most useful when considering the factors that may cause registration failure. A pre-printed web, when unrolled and fed at high speed through a large number of small sample applicator stations, is stretched and the magnitude of the stretch is affected by the environmental conditions of humidity and temperature. The amount of wet adhesive applied and its location can also affect the weft and the stretch in the weft. By traveling the web through many stations and receiving many rows of small samples, it can be stretched further and cause a failure of registration of the last rows of small sample applications. Other factors that may affect the record, from one job to the next job, are: the frames are of different different materials; the frames are re-printed at 5 different times and rolled at different voltages by different printers; and the plot may vary greatly in the amount of pre-printed material on the plot. To compensate for these factors that may cause sample registration failure # small in the preferred machine, one or more sensors, preferably optical sensors, detect a registration mark in the printed plot and adjust the phase of a cylinder associated with registration with the mark and the printed material in the frame that they are travelling. In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, there is a sensor associated with an adhesive applicator cylinder, each small sample cylinder, and a knife cutting cylinder that cuts the sheet web. In this way, ^ é. each of these cylinders in each of these stations is shifted in phase to register accurately. Despite the use of the sensors described above, there may be times when the desired registration is not yet achieved during installation or during the course of a production; and, in such a case, the operator may wish to make a correction. In such a case, the operator can use a fine tuning control, manually operated, to advance or delay the phase of the cylinder in relation to the plot to obtain the desired registration of the small ß samples to the pre-printed material in the plot . According to the present invention, it is preferred to have the cylinders of a predetermined circumference and to profile the cylinders to equalize the speed with the operation time of the cylinders on the frame. That is, the circumference of the cylinder varies considerably from the repetition distance of the sheet size in the feed direction of the frame and the speed of the cylinder is matched with the "speed of the frame for an operation on the The frame speed is changed substantially during the rest of the revolution, for example, the speed of the cylinder is matched with the speed of displacement of the frame for the application time of a row of small samples during an equalization of The cylinder speed, and then the speed of the cylinder is increased very substantially during the rest of the revolution so that the next row of small samples is accurately positioned In the embodiment of the invention described in detail in FIG. This application, the circumference of the cylinder is about 18 inches, and the dimension of the sheet or the pre-printed pattern of r epetition is around every 8.5 inches so that there are about 9 inches of circumference that must be turned at a much higher speed during the rest or recovery portion of the revolution of the cylinder. In this way, the circumference of the cylinder is not equal to the size of j PT i sheet or the repeat pattern size (or even a multiple thereof) as in a typical printing operation. Preferably, the adhesive cylinder is also profiled, as is the blade cylinder having a blade for cutting the sheet web. When changing a sheet size to be cut from a frame, the cylinder is not changed but the profiling is changed electronically, and phasing W can also be changed electronically such that the cylinder starts its frame equalization speed at a different point on its circumference and extends through a different segment of the cylinder circumference. The circumference of the cylinder is divided into increments of 0.001 inches or smaller; and the starting point of the frame equalization speed is in any given rotational direction or point, which point can be stored electronically in a memory, or which can be electronically switched to a different point around the circumference for a different sheet length. Similarly, the termination point of the frame equalization portion of the revolution stops after a predetermined count from the starting point; and then the cylinder is accelerated at its maximum speed to recover the remaining cylinder portion until the deceleration point reaches the speed of the frame at the starting point for the next revolution. All these various location points and cylinder speeds for a given job can be stored as data in a computer memory. When a job is completed, the stored data can be moved to a permanent storage medium such as a hard disk or a floppy disk. The next time the same job is going to run, the computer can use the stored data from the permanent storage to set points and speeds for each of the cylinders. By way of ' . Similary, the computer will have stored the frame rate and the frame tension and other variables so that substanty all the previous variables obtained from the previous work, after its installation and fine tuning, are immediately available and used in the initinstallation of the work when it's starting to run again. As will be explained, only one gear for the set of small sample strips needs to be changed in the apparatus described herein when changing from work to work in contrast to the change of each cylinder, the adjustment of cams, and the multiple changes in the gear mechanism in the sheet machine. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the preferred apparatus for practicing the method of the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic view of the controls for the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a cutting station * for cutting the web into sheets of press rolls for pressing the small samples to the sheet; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a gluing station for applying glue points to the weft; Figure 4A is a diagrammatic view of the tail cylinder and the controls used to equalize the frame rate during the speed equalization portion of the tail cylinder rotation and to displace the tail cylinder phase during the portion of small samples of speed of rotation of the tail cylinder; Figure 4B is a diagrammatic view of the small sample applicator station and the controls used to provide the velocity equalization portion and the velocity equalization portion of the cylinder rotation of small samples; Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the "tail station and an adjacent station making and applying the small samples; Figure 5A is a view of the small sample station for cutting small samples from battens and applying the small samples to the frame; Figure 6 is a timing diagram showing the speed equalization and synchronization recovery portions of a cylinder's rotation; Figure 7 is a timing diagram for the beginning of a cycle of JP; work and the end of a work cycle, Figure 8 is a view showing a variable speed motor drive in the small sample applicator station, Figure 9 is a view showing a variable speed motor drive for the Weft feed rollers, anvil roller and press rolls Figure 10 is a plan view of the motor of variable speed Hr and gear reducer for the weft feed roller and the anvil roller; Figure 11 is a side elevational view of the drive for the upper web feed roller; Figure 12 is a front elevational view showing the preferred assembly of the upper frame feed roller; Figure 13 is a front elevational view of the cutting station and an assembly of the lower anvil roller to adjust its position vertically relative to the cutting cylinder; Fig. 14 is a side view of the cutting station shown in Fig. 13; and Figure 15 is a diagrammatic view of an apparatus for applying small samples on one side of the screen when traveling to the right, and for reversing the direction of travel of the screen and applying small samples to the other side of the screen. mm Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a method and apparatus for making sheet-bearing sheets or small samples 10, such as color cards, comprising a sheet or base card 10 carrying an array of chips or small samples of individual colors 12 (figure 1A) of various sizes. The small samples are laterally separated from each other by spaces 14 in a row in a transverse direction through the sheet, and these rows are spaced longitudinally from each other by longitudinal spaces 15 in the card. As will be explained in more detail, the small samples are applied to a continuous web 16 upstream of a cutting station 31, shown in Figure 3, where the web is cut into discrete, individual sheets. The number of small samples in a given row can vary substantially from row to row, and the transverse width of each small sample can vary within a row. Also, the length of the small samples in the longitudinal direction may vary from row to row. Usually, the sheet is pre-printed with printed material 18 which includes a color identification or the like for each small sample applied to the card. The small samples should be applied very closely adjacent to and aligned, usually parallel, with the printed material 18. Often, a printed box 20 or the like is pre-printed on the sheet ^ T and it is desired to place the small sample accurately within the box without covering one side of the box. Each of the small samples 12 is adhered to the sheets 10 by stitches 22 (FIG. 4) of glue or adhesive which are hereby applied to the sheets 10 in an adhesive or glue applicator station 24 where adhesive means, such as Adhesive applicator cylinder 26, rotate and apply adhesive spots to the weft 16 in a precise manner relative to the printed material • ff 18 and 20. After the adhesive spots have been applied, the small samples are pressed on these adhesive points to Adhere to the underlying plot. Preferably, there are a plurality of small sample applicator stations 30, such as six to fourteen small sample applicator stations 30 shown in FIG. 1, each of which applies a row of small samples to the sheet. Although the described embodiment includes a single adhesive applicator station 24, other embodiments may include multiple adhesive applicator stations interspersed with the small sample applicator stations. As disclosed in the aforementioned patent of the United States No. 4,061,521, to date these carrier sheets of small samples were made using discrete, pre-printed sheets which were fed by a sheet feeder to the adhesive applicator station and to the series of small sample applicator stations. The leaves were fed by conveyor chains that had push devices that pushed on the back end of each leaf. All the leaves were stopped at each station to record, and then fed at a speed to equalize the circumferential speed of the adhesive applicator and small sample cylinders. The speed of operation was limited due to the difficulty of keeping the leaves accurately recorded, particularly when they had wet glue spots on them and a first row or two rows of small samples on them. The cylinders had a circumferential dimension that was matched with the length of the sheet or, in some cases, the applicator cylinder of small samples had a length of twice the sheet length so that one row of small samples could be applied to each half of a cylinder revolution. The length of the blade and the periphery of the cylinder were thus equal to the length of the blade or an even multiple thereof. Nevertheless, it was usually required that these machines run several different sheet lengths and a separate set of cylinders for each of the various sheet lengths was stocked. To change from one sheet length to another sheet length, the heavy cylinders had to be interchanged, and the gears had to be changed in order to match the linear velocity of displacement of the new sheet with the circumferential rotational speed of the new cylinders. Enlisting for a new high-speed run with these sheet machines could take eight hours, and fine tuning to achieve a sustainable production at high-speed production could take as many as another eight hours. In addition to a change in the size of the sheet from about 8 to 23 inches, there is often a change in the thickness of the sheet of paper to about 0.0035 inches to cardboard at about 0.008 to 0.010 inches in thickness. During setup and fine-tuning operations, a large amount of waste was generated; and during J production, if a sheet was jammed, the machine often had to stop and the sheets in the machine had to be discarded. In accordance with the present invention, the small sample carrier sheets 10 are cut out of the preprinted, continuous web 16 (FIG. 1), which is fed through a series of generally designated small sample applicator stations 30 (FIG. there are six stations 30A-F, shown in the figure * 1) at a substantially constant linear velocity, where the small samples 12 are applied to the weft and adhered to it by means of the small sample cylinders 32, which are profiled in their revolution to equal the length of 0 repetition of the samples. sheets 10 between their opposite ends 10a and 10b. The weft 16 is wound on a roll 28, is unwound and travels through the various small sample applicator stations 30, and is then cut at a cutting station 31 by a blade 33 on a cutting cylinder 35. The profile 5 of revolution of these respective cylinders achieved by the use of variable speed motors, generally indicated by the reference number 34 (FIG. 1) to rotate the cylinders to have a speed equalization portion 44 (FIG. 4A) of a revolution of the cylinder, where the speed of the cylinder and the weft are the same as during the application of the small samples to the weft, and then a change in velocity during a portion of synchronous recovery 48 of the revolution of the cylinder. The synchronization recovery portion m is the velocity portion different from the revolution of the cylinder at a speed greater or less than the equalization rate. Because the circumference of the cylinder, for example 18 inches, varies substantially from the dimension of the sheet or the printed pattern of repetition, for example 8.5 inches, there must be about 9 inches where the circumference must rotate to a Higher synchronization recovery speed. In this illustrated example, the length of the sheet in the longitudinal direction is only 8.5 inches; and a row of small samples will be applied to the web once each revolution for less than 8.5 inches of a speed equalization portion 44 (Figures 4A, 4B, 6 and 7) of the cylinder revolution. In order that the next blade repeat length of the frame also receives the velocity equalization portion of the next revolution, the cylinder speed is accelerated and rotates at a much higher speed about about 9.5 inches of the cylinder revolution during the synchronization recovery portion 48 (figures 4A, 4B, 6 and 7) of the cylinder revolution. In this way, the circumference of the cylinder is not equal to a sheet length or a printed pattern size of repetition, as would be the case in a typical printing operation. In small color sample applications, the repeat length or sheet size may vary from about 8 to 23 inches, as an example. As y ~ 'mß will be explained, cylinder profiling can be performed electronically from a controller 36 (Fig. 2) when the repetition lengths are changed for new jobs without changing the cylinders, as in conventional machines. The profiling of the cylinder of small samples 32 also involves the phasing of the cylinder of small samples 32 so that the cylinder starts its velocity of ", Frame equalization at a different starting point 40 (figure 6) ™ around its circumference and extends into a different segment of the cylinder circumference. In the present, the circumference of the cylinder is divided into increments of 0.001 0 inches or less, and the starting point 40 (FIG. 6) of the speed equalization portion 44 of the cylinder revolution is given a rotational direction that can be stored in the cylinder. electronic way in a memory in the controller 36. The direction of the starting point for the speed equalization portion 5 can be switched electronically around the cylinder / r for a different repeat length or pattern length. Similarly, at a final equalization point 42 (FIG. 6) of completion of the speed equalization portion 44 of the cylinder revolution an address is given or a predetermined count is located after a 5; and then the cylinder is accelerated or decelerated (as shown by line 46 in Fig. 6) to its portion of synchrony recovery speed 48 for a given count or to a direction 49 over which the | B deceleration 49 is needed ( or acceleration) to return to the speed of 0 equalization. All these various starting points, final equalization points, synchrony points, etc. they can be stored electronically for a given job as well as electronically stored in memory the rate of equalization and the speed of recovery of synchrony. The magnitude of the installation and the fine tuning can be drastically reduced, on the conventional sheeting machine when running again? * Counts the same work, going immediately to these points and stored speeds. Some small fine tuning changes may be required due to different environmental conditions or differences in the coiled, pre-printed plot of a job to the next job. According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the adhesive applicator cylinder 26 in the adhesive applicator station 24, and the knife cylinder 33 in the small sample applicator station 31 are also profiled in the manner described in FIG. that it is the small sample application station 30, as described above with reference to figures 4A, 4B, 6 and 7. That is, the adhesive points 22 are applied in the exact positions with respect to the printed material or in relation to the sheet ends 10a and 10b because the adhesive spots are usually of the same size as the small sample to be adhered so that the excessive adhesive does not extend beyond the edges of the small samples. Conversely, the adhesive points should not be so small that the edges of the small samples do not adhere to the sheet. Similarly, in the cutting station 31 (FIG. 9), the rotation speed and the cutting position of the cutting blade 33 are profiled to accurately cut the weft sheet, the speed of the weft being substantial. mind matched to the speed of the plot at the time of , cut. If the speed of the blade varies substantially from? the speed of the weft at the time of cutting, the sheet can be torn and not cut precisely from the weft with an exact, clean cut edge. To compensate for the various factors that may cause the lack of registration of the small samples 12 on the finally cut sheet 10, one or more screen sensors, generally designated by the reference number 50, are used to detect a reference or mark. (figure 3) on the plot; and the velocity equalization portion of the cylinder 44 can be phased by moving the starting point 40 and the end point 42 of the velocity equalization portion 44 of the revolution so that the small samples are accurately positioned in the frame . In the present, it is preferred to have a weft sensor 50 associated with each adhesive cylinder 26, small sample cylinder 32, and cutting cylinder 35 and to phase shift each of these cylinders if the reference mark is detected in an out-of-phase position with the respective cylinder being controlled by its associated frame sensor. As 0 will be explained in more detail, each frame sensor 50 (FIG. 2) searches for the reference mark, which is preferably a pre-printed mark on the edge of the frame that will eventually be cut. On the other hand, the reference mark 52 can be a portion of a pattern printed in the frame 16 that is never cut from the frame. ^ The preferred sensor is an optical sensor that detects the? ^ Reference marks and sends a signal on line 54 that connects to and controls associated 56-59 controls, which are connected to associated 34A-34I variable speed servo motors. (figure 0 1 and 2) for the associated cylinder. A drum position sensor, generally designated by the reference number 60, reads the position of its associated cylinder and sends this position via line 62 to the associated controller. At the time the reference mark 52 is detected by the frame sensor, the associated controller 5 compares the position of the received cylinder * of the drum position sensor and, if necessary, adjusts the speed and / or phase of the motor of variable speed 34 and thereby of its associated cylinder so that the cylinder is accurately registered with the reference frame arriving during the speed equalization portion of its revolution. In this way, the tail points 22, the small samples 12, the ends 10a and 10b of the sheets will be placed precisely in relation to the printed material in the weft, which is Wm, in a similar way placed precisely with relation to the 0 reference mark. The placement of small gluing samples and the cutting of the weft are controlled by a plurality of feedback loops controlling the servo motor which receive various signals representing the position and speed of rotation of an associated drum, the position of the brand of ^ -j frame repeat, and frame rate. The turns of The feedback generally comprises a servo motor with an encoder such as the model 3200-1341 from Fenner Controls, a servo controller such as the M-Rotary by Fenner Controls, and a 0 servo-drive equalization by Fenner Controls. The control of the feedback loop is carried out in response to values stored in registers in the servo-controller. Such values can be captured by operator interaction with a keypad associated with the controller, such as the keypads 409A-409I 5 shown in Fig. 2. The loading of register values in the servo-controller by means of the keypads 409A-409I is in the manner described in detail in the Fenner M-Rotary Manual Controls. The register values required for operation are pre-loaded in the servo-controllers before the operation of the small sample placing apparatus. Although the general system and usually works automatically, as described above, there may be cases in which the desired registration is not yet achieved; and, in such a case, the operator can use the keypads 409A-409I as a fine tuning control to advance or retard the phase of the cylinder relative to the frame. Fine tuning control usually involves adding or subtracting small increments to the stored log values of the servo-controllers. For example (FIG. 4A), a stored register value, discussed below, represents the circumferential distance between a synchronous position 125 about the sizing drum 26 and the start 40 of a rotational speed equalization portion. Although the start of the rate equalization portion is found to occur very soon after the synchronization position, the stored register value can be incremented via the 409A keyboard to slightly increase the distance between the synchronization point and the start of the portion of speed equalization. Such fine tuning can also be exercised during the application of F small samples when a human observer identifies that improvements can be made in the final product. Each of the servo-controllers, for example 56, 57, 58 and 59 of the small sample applicator apparatus, is connected by a connector bar 401 to a PLC controller 403 and to a computer system 405 such as a personal computer compatible with IBM . The values are captured in the PLC controller 403 from the keyboard 140 of the computer 405. fl The outputs of the PLC controller represent open and closed switch positions for inputs of the servo controller choice. When a job is completed, the PLC controller and the servo-controllers 56, 57, 58 and 59 store all the information necessary to properly control the performance of the job. When the work is completed, the computer 405 reads via the bus bar 401 this information from the servo-controllers and the PLC controller and stores that information in a permanent storage such as a hard disk 407. If that same work were later needed , the necessary values are read from the hard disk 407 and stored in the control registers of the servo controller and the PLC controller via the connector bar 401. To aid in the registration of the small samples 12 with the repeat length of the sheet, the frame 16 is pulled through the gluing station 24 and the small sample applicator stations 30 by a set of pull line feed rollers 64 and 65 (FIG. 2), which are adjusted in terms of speed by a feed system. servo-control that responds to the frame marks 52. Frame voltage readings from a tension reader 66 (figure 2) are used by the operator to control the t rasterization. After being fixed by the operator, the frame tension is controlled automatically by a control 78 to maintain the frame at a predetermined tension, which is usually a constant voltage. fl | Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, a brief overview of the preferred method of operation of the electrical and computer system for the preferred embodiment of the invention will be explained. The weft 16 of material for receiving small samples 12 is wound on a roll 28 which is mounted to rotate about an axis 29. The weft is unrolled from the roller and fed first through a tension adjusting device 77, a raster aligner 79 and through the gluing station 24, the small sample placing stations or tokens 30, the pull roller assembly 64, 65 and the sheet cutting station 31. The screen is pulled from the roller during the placement of small samples by means of pull rollers 64, 65, which are driven by a variable speed servomotor 34H. As is known in the art, the servo motor 34H includes an encoder 81 that generates a rectangular wave signal on a conductor 83 to represent the rotation speed of the motor. The signal on the conductor 83 is j i? T applied to a frame rate servo-motor controller 58 which compares the speed of the motor received in the conductor 83 with a stored motor speed indication, previously loaded in controller 58 by an operator. As the motor 34H is fixed geared to the rollers 64 and 65, the speed of the motor is directly proportional to the speed of the frame 16. The frame rate controller 58 compares the speed of the motor in the conductor 83 with the stored speed of the motor. The motor and transmits error signals when they are not the same to a servo-drive unit 87H via a conductor 89. The servo-drive controller 58 responds to such error signals by controlling the motor speed 34H to minimize the error signal of the motor. frame rate controller 58 and maintains a substantially continuous frame rate. The preceding servo-control loop is relatively _ ^ well known and precisely controls the linear speed of the weft 16 as it unwinds from the roll 28. The tension in the weft upon unrolling is kept relatively constant by the device 77 (Fig. 2), which is under the control of a voltage control 78. The device includes two fixed rollers 91 and 93 to support the frame 16 with a movable roller 95 between the two fixed rollers. The movable roller 95 is driven up or down by a conventional chain and motor drive system, well known in the art. In balance, the tension in the web 16 is such that the movable roller 95 remains stationary. When there is too much tension in the frame, the roller 95 will be forced upwards, which is detected by the control 78, which also sends a signal on the line 96 to a brake unit 99 to reduce the braking force that is being applied. applied by the brake unit 99 to the roll 28. Alternatively, when the tension is reduced, the roller 95 moves down and the control 78 causes an increase in the braking force on the roll 28 until the roller 95 is moves your neutral position. The frame aligner 79 is a commercially available unit, which includes a photoelectric unit that detects the edge of the frame and by the operation of an alignment controller 100, moves the axis of rotation of a roller 101 to maintain the edge of the plot located within predetermined tolerances. A roller 103 of the frame aligner 79 includes a strain gauge as a voltage sensor, whose output is used to produce a visual output in the voltage reader 66 for the operator to adjust the overall voltage. When the pull rollers 64 and 65, the tension control 66 and the frame aligner 79 are operating, the frame 16 moves at a fixed speed from left to right in FIG. 2 and at a predetermined tension and speed. The positioning and gluing of the small samples 12 on the web and the separation of the web in fixed size sheets 10 are carried out while the web is moving continuously. The K? glue 24 is used to place the tail points 22 on the web and the chip setters or chip setters 32 at the small sample applicator stations are used to place the small samples on the previously applied glue spots. Figure 2 shows a single glue station 24 and a single chip placement station 30; however, multiple units thereof, such as the six or more chip applicator stations 30 shown in Figure 1, are usually employed in a production level machine. The screen is pre-printed with the markings 52 defining a recurring repetition and the carrier sheets of small samples 10 are produced of the same length as the repetition length. The chip placing unit 32 places a single row (through the screen) of small samples during small sample application cycles and such an application cycle is carried out at each repetition length. Accordingly, when six rows of small samples in a repeating length are needed, six 32-chip placing units will be used, one for each row. A single glue station 24 can be used to place all glue points for multiple chip setters or a glue can be used to place only one, two or three rows of glue dots, subsequent gluers being used to place other rows of dots of cola that are needed. Multiple gluers would be used, for example, when the glue can be dried before I? W is used to hold a small sample or when a repeat length does not allow sufficient time to place all rows of glue dots. Additional glueings can be placed between multiple chip setters. 5 The gluing station 24, as best seen in Figures 4 and 4A, includes cylinder 26 that rotates about a horizontal axis and having a tail position template 115 on its surface. The template has raised sections 116 f that are coated with glue once per revolution. The raised portions of the jig are brought into contact with the web 16 once per revolution of the cylinder 26 and deposit their glue coating on the web. When contact is made with the frame, the template-carrying part of the cylinder must be moving at the same speed as the frame and the position of the template must be in register with the pre-print on the frame. Figure 4A shows the cylinder 26 and its control apparatus to ensure that the above conditions are satisfied. Figure 4A shows the weft 16 traveling between the glue cylinder 26 and a press weft cylinder 112 which is used to hold and press the weft up against the stencil 115 when the glue is being deposited. Figure 4A also shows a position sensor 60a, a magnetic point 125 and a photoelectric frame position sensing unit 50a. The 5 magnetic point 125 is shown in Figure 4A as part of the m mw drum 26 to represent its importance; however, in the preferred embodiment, the point 125 can be placed in the traction gear 150 for the drum 26, which rotates once per rotation of the drum, as shown in Figure 4. 5 Each revolution of the cylinder glue is considered a gluing cycle and during the speed equalization portion 44, the cylinder 26 must rotate with a circumferential speed equal to the speed of the frame 16. The rest of the cycle, i.e. the tWg synchronization recovery portion 48 , the cylinder must rotate 0 at a sufficient speed to begin the next portion of speed equalization at an appropriate position with the frame. In the glue station, the controller 56 (FIG. 2) which receives feedback input signals and in response thereto controls the motor 34A which drives the cylinder 5 26 to perform an appropriate speed profile during each cycle. The controller, for example, can be an M-Rotary control by Fenner Controls. Such a velocity profile for a cycle is shown in Figure 6. An input feedback signal that is connected to a back-up synchronization input of the controller 56 is generated by the magnetic spot 125 detected by the position sensor 60. , and this identifies a synchrony start point 40 during each cycle. The sync point signal identifies an initial point from which the position of the cylinder 26 can be determined during a cycle. The intermediate positions during a cycle are determined by ftr signals of an encoder 135 (FIG. 2), which comprise a rectangular wave that identifies the rotation of the motor 34A. The speed of the frame, as represented by a coding signal in the conductor 83, is connected to an external reference input i to the splicer control 56 so that the frame rate can be a part of the control functions. Additionally, a frame sensor signal from the sizing station 50A is applied by line 54 to a * external reference synchronization input of the controller 56 0 to identify the location of the pre-printed reference mark in the frame 16. During the installation, operational parameters are captured in the glue controller 56 by a 409A keyboard (FIG. 2) to define the control points of a cycle. A parameter represents the circumferential distance between the preset tune point t 125 in the drum 26 at the start of the speed equalization portion 44 with the bottom part of the cylinder 26. This parameter can be set in a CP-93 record of a M-Rotary controller. Another parameter is the circumferential distance 0 between the synchronization point 125 and the alignment of the end 42 of the velocity equalization portion with the lower part of the cylinder 26. This parameter can be captured in the register CP-94 of an M-controller. Rotary These parameters are captured as a number from 0 to 1 transitions of the coding signal of the encoder 135. A parameter is also captured identifying the distance between the frame reference mark 52, as detected by the frame sensor 50A, and the start of the speed equalization portion of the cycle. With an M-Rotary controller, this parameter is captured in register CP-31. The controller 56 uses the rotation speed received from the encoder 135 to identify the circumferential speed of the glue cylinder 26 during frame matching and calculates the necessary speed during recovery of? synchrony 48 to return the start of the equalization portion 0 of velocity to a repeating distance of the frame. When the circumference of the cylinder 26 is greater than the pattern repetition distance, the velocity profile during a cycle is the frame equalization speed while the raised portions of the template 116 are in contact with the frame and a top speed during the sync recovery speed portion 48 to return the queue template 115 to the? fi 'frame at the appropriate time. When the machine starts the gluing operation, the profiled cycles, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, are 0 carried out, but such cycles may not synchronize with the printed pattern, including the reference marks 52 in the frame 16 The controller 56 responds to the output of the frame sensor by generating error signals to servo-drive the motor 34A to accelerate or decelerate the rotation of the cylinder 26 until the distance between the frame reference mark and the equalization point of the start 40 equals the value of the parameter captured during installation. During normal operation, the controller 56 continues to make minor corrections necessary to maintain the previous equality. Also, during work setup, it may be necessary to change the pre-loaded parameters in small quantities to achieve the desired precision of glue placement. As disclosed more fully in U.S. Patent No. 4,061,521, the adhesive is taken from a trays or tray-shaped tail tank 141 by a first roll 142 (FIG. 4), which has its inner periphery rotating through the adhesive on the tray. A metering roller 143 makes contact with the first roller 142 to dose the adhesive which is transferred by means of a transfer roller 145 to the adhesive applicator pads, "raised 116" on the template 115 in the cylinder 26. The planti- 1 115 is preferably a removable and replaceable sheet of mylar or similar material removably attached to the cylinder 26. In this way, different sheet templates can be attached to the cylinder for different jobs, to provide different spacings and sizes of adhesive spots to the frame 16 for different jobs. As best seen in Figures 4 and 4C, the adhesive applicator cylinder 26 and the applicator rolls 142, 143 and 145 are driven continuously by the variable speed motor 34a by a gear system. The tail station includes an upright frame 147, which has a vertical wall 148 having a clamp 149 which mounts the variable speed motor in a substantial horizontal position with its pinion gear engaged with a large central gear 150 fixed at one end of a cylinder arrow 151 which is mounted on the frame 147 and holds the glue applicator cylinder 26 for rotation about a horizontal axis. The large gear 150 V- is engaged with the gear 152 secured to an arrow capable of rotating 153 for the take-up roller 143. The gear 152 is engaged with a gear 155 of a one-way ratchet and rack mechanism 156 which drives the metering roller 143 in the direction shown in Figure 4. A gear 157 of the ratchet and ratchet mechanism drives a vacuum gear 158 mounted on the frame to drive a gear 159 fixed to the end of a mounting arrow 160 for the transfer roller. No. 145. Mounted on the other side of the frame member 148a of the frame 147 is a one-way ratchet and rack mechanism and a small traction motor (not shown). This small traction motor will drive the arrow 160 and the transverse gears 157, 158 and 159 will drive the rollers 142, 143 and 145 in the reverse directions when the servo-controlled servomotor 34 is stopped, so that the glue does not dry in these rollers when the frame 16 is not traveling. The one-way ratchet and rack mechanisms allow this reverse traction without turning the cylinder 26 or its attached gear 150. At the cutter station 31 (Figure 2) there is a controller 58, the servo-motor 341, the servo-drive 871 , the encoder 5 171, the frame sensor 50C and the position sensor 60, which are substantially the same as those described above for the operation of the gluing unit. With the cutting operation, the length of the speed equalization portion 44 of a cycle can • ß. reduce due to the short length that must pass through the blade 3 at frame rate to make the cut. As with the installation of the glue, the operating parameters that define the circumferential position of the speed equalization and synchronization recovery portions are initially captured by an operator via the keyboard 4091 associated with the sheet controller 58. A The general operation of the chip placing unit r ^ 32 at each of the chip applicator stations 30 is also substantially the same as the operation of the glue unit. However, there is a significant difference as a first cylinder of small samples 32 is used to cut the row of small samples 12 and transport them to a second transfer cylinder 199, smaller (Figures 5 and 5A) for placement in the frame 16 Both the small sample cylinder 32 and the transfer cylinder 199 are rotated by an associated motor of the 34B-34G motors via gears which cause the associated cylinder 32 to rotate twice as fast as the cylinder 199. The operation cycle for the chip placement unit is a revolution of the largest chip cylinder 32 so that the chip transfer cylinder 199 rotates twice per cycle. The transfer cylinder 199 has a circumference that is half the circumference of the cylinder 32 so that its circumferential velocity is the same. The chip placement cycle is made up of one revolution of the chip cylinder 32 and, consequently, two revolutions of the transfer cylinder 199. A position mark 125 (FIG. 4B) is placed in the chip cylinder 32 and read one once per revolution by a 60B position sensor. As with the glue unit, the signal from the position sensor and a coding signal from the encoder 135A representing the rotation of the motor 34B are applied by the lines 210 and 79 (FIG. 2) as inputs to. controller of the chip setter 57. The placement unit of Ü "chips also includes a frame sensor 50 which detects the pre-printed marks 52 in the frame 16 and sends signals on the line 138b to the controller 57 when the mark 52 is detected. Like 0 with the other servo-controllers, the controller 57 also receives the frame rate representing signals at the terminal 83 of the encoder 81 of the motor 79. To initialize the card placing unit 32, as best seen in FIG. 4B, the distance between the 5 position mark 125 and an initial equalization point 40 and between the position mark and a final equalization point 42 is captured in the controller 57 to define the frame matching portion 44 and the recovery portion of synchrony 48 of a cycle. The circumferential speed of the cylinders 32 and 199 is set by the controller 57 to be the same as the frame rate provided from the pull roller encoder 81 on the conductor 83. The rotation speed during the synchronization recovery period is determined by a controller 57 as an amount to return to the start point 40 of the frame rate equalization portion 44 at the appropriate time. Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 5A, the small samples 12 are preferably made and transferred to the transfer drum 199 for application to the frame 16 substantially in the same manner as that described in the patent of the .. States. United No. 4,061,521. As described in this document, each of the small color samples 12 is cut from one of the battens 248A-248F (FIG. 5), each being unwound from one of the batten reels 258A-258F. mounted on a support spindle 260 carried by the frame of the machine. The reels are separated by spacers on spindle 260. Each color strip is guided to travel from its respective reel under a rotatable, idle roller 264 and beyond a tension or pivot roller 288 (Figure 5A), which is placed on the slats to link the slat tension constant for a predetermined period of time. From the tension roller 288, the slats travel upwards beyond a guide roller 272 to a vertical guide plate 282, which has slots therein for guiding the slats along parallel paths. Then, the slats travel on the upper part of the vacuum feed roller 286 which pulls the slat against it with a suction force. The vacuum feed roller is driven by '? W- power by the variable speed motor through gears, as will be explained, to unwind a predetermined length of lath from its associated spool for each rotation of the small sample cylinder 32. The vacuum application is selectively controlled to a series of vacuum slots 286a in the vacuum feed roller. A vacuum control valve and a replaceable vacuum sheet, as described in the aforementioned patent (but not shown therein), provide custom vacuum application to each slat for each job. That is, a new vacuum sheet with pin holes suitable for grasping and feeding a given length and width of lath, will be used for each of the different jobs. The slats, when traveling downward, will be cut into chips, guided by a side edge guide plate 289 to the small sample cylinder 32, where the ends of the slats will be cut to form the individual small samples. The small samples 12 are cut from the battens 248A-248F by a stationary anvil 292 cooperating with a rotating blade 294 in the small sample cylinder 32.

As best seen in Figure 5A, the cutting blade 294 is in the form of a bar with a sharp cutting edge for cutting all slats simultaneously, which are between the rotating blade edge and the cutting blade. anvil 292.

The small sample cylinder 32 is also a vacuum drum having a plurality of vacuum slots 32A to bring the ends of the slats down, past the stationary anvil blade 292, and after being cut into small samples 12, to bring the small samples 12 cut down to the transfer cylinder 199. As explained in the aforementioned patent, the ends of the slats extending upward from the anvil blade 292 slide along the cylinder surface that rotates until a vacuum control valve (not shown) allows the suction in the slots 32A to pull the slats tightly to the peripheral surface of the cylinder and pull the slats down a short distance to allow the slats to be cut off upon arrival from new the rotating blade 294 beyond the stationary anvil blade. To provide suction for the various widths of slats and lengths, the suction slits 32A are covered with a removable and replaceable plastic sheet (not shown) having pin holes aligned with the width of the slat and extending the length of the slats by > * W cut, as disclosed in the aforementioned patent. The small cut samples 12 are held against the peripheral surface of the cylinder of small samples and are carried on this peripheral surface to a nipple formed with a transfer bar with openings 300 (FIG. 5A) in the transfer drum 199. The transfer drum is connected to a suction line (not shown) at the time the transfer bar with openings 300 is at the top of its "rotational displacement." The transfer bar extends upwards, for example, 1/8 inch on the surface of the transfer drum cylinder to make contact with the painted side of the small samples opposite the transfer bar The negative air pressure in the suction transfer is applied through the gates 301 to grip the small samples at the same time that positive air pressure is being applied to the slots 32A in the transfer cylinder for proportion A positive air blowing to help the transfer of small samples to the transfer bar. When the transfer bar with openings has rotated down by about 180 ° to bring the small samples over the tail points 22 in the frame, a transfer air valve causes positive pressure air to blow through the gates 301 in the transfer bar to eject the small samples to assist in the transfer of the small samples to the web 16. The transfer bar • m * 300 presses the small samples against the adhesive points 22 while a pressure roller, backing 305 below the frame 16 maintains the frame against the force of the transfer bar. The pressure roller is driven at the same speed as the small sample cylinder 32, as will now be described. As best seen in Figure 8, the variable speed servo motor 34B for the small sample cylinder station is mounted by a clamp 310 to a side frame 311 of the frame 148 to extend horizontally with a pinion drive gear 313 of the motor driving the vacuum gear 315, which is engaged with a large gear 317, attached to the mounting shaft 319 for the small sample cylinder 32A. The transfer drum 327, which is engaged with the large gear 317 for the cylinder of small samples. In this way, by driving the variable speed motor the small sample cylinder 32B through the speed equalizing portion 44 and the synchronous speed portion 48 at their respective speeds, the transfer cylinder is similarly driven at the same speed. Similarly, the variable speed motor 34B drives the batten feed drum 286 through gears connected to the large gear of small samples 317. When changing from one job to another, the gear for the batten feed drum 286 it is manually changed to? r1 to provide the appropriate slat feeding speed. This is the only gear that needs to be manually changed from one job to the next in the device described here. The meshing drive for the slat feeding drum is also disclosed in the aforementioned patent. As explained above, usually six to fourteen small sample applicator stations 34 are in a straight line each to apply a row of small samples 12 to? the frame 16 between reference marks 52 for each sheet. Because the weft can stretch one or more thousandths of an inch between applicator stations of successive small samples, weft sensors 50 in each station can detect the arriving mark 52 and apply the raster position signals to its associated controller 57. previously described, the controller 57 generates error signals, based in part on the frame position signals, which cause the servo motor 34B to record its small samples accurately with the pattern printed on the plot. As best seen in Figure 8, the phase of the small sample cylinder in each small sample application station is determined by its magnetic drum position sensor 125 and a piece of metal or magnet position mark 125 which is fixed to the gear 317 to rotate and drive the transducer once every revolution of the small sample cylinder 32A. Other forms of drum position sensors other than those described herein may be used.

After having passed through all the small sample applicator stations, the weft and the small samples on it travel to the nipple of pull rollers 64 and 65 (Figures 9-12). The lower pull roller 65 is driven by a variable speed motor 34H which, by a series of gears, also rotates an anvil roller 37 (FIG. 10) in the cutting station 31 and three sets of pressure rollers 351a, 351b and 351c mounted downstream of m the cutting station 31. As best seen in Figure 9, all the drive for the feed line is located below the frame 32 and on one side of the machine; while all variable speed motors for the glue station 24, the small sample applicator stations 30 and the cutter station 31 are located on the frame 16 and on the other side of the machine frame. As best seen in Fig. 10, the line feed motor 34H is mounted on a bracket 343, and its pinion 344 is driving a fixed gear 345 to an input shaft 346 of a right angle gear unit 347 that it has an output shaft 348 that carries a traction gear 349, which is engaged with the nipple roller gear 350 fixed to an arrow 351 carrying the lower feed roller 65. The traction gear 349 is also engaged with an gear 352 fixed to an arrow 353 for the cutter anvil roller 37. In this way, the variable speed line feed motor 34H drives both the roller of the lower friction 65 as the Anvil roll cutter 37 at the same speed, which is the line speed of the frame. As best seen in Figure 11, the gear 350 driving the lower feed roller 65 meshes with an upper gear 358 fixed to an arrow 359 carrying the upper nipple feeding roller 64. In this way, both feed rollers line 64 and 65 are driven together at the same speed by the feed motor of * ß line 34H. As best seen in Figure 12, an upper feed roller 64 is slidably mounted for vertical movement relative to the lower feed roller 65 to adjust the nipple size for the thickness of the weft 32 and / or small samples in it and to move to a higher non-effective position of liberation. The mounting arrow 359 i_ for the upper feed roller is mounted on a vertically slidable yoke 360 that has bearings 361 carried on vertical anvil arms 362 fixed by bolts 362a to a horizontal cross bar 363 of the yoke. The yoke slides 362 are guided for vertical sliding movement in the stationary sliding blocks 364 carried by the vertical frame members 357 and 358. Through the upper part of the vertical frame members 357 and 358 is a frame bar horizontal 365, which holds a fluid cylinder 366 having a dependent piston rod 366a? ^ - connected by a pin 366b to a device 365 attached to the yoke crossbar 363. The fluid cylinder 366, which preferably it is a pneumatic cylinder, of double action, it is operated to push the upper feeding roller 64 against the upper part of the weft with a force that can be varied by the machine operator, and to raise the feeding roller upper 64 to open the nipple after a job is completed or when it is desired to release the grip in the frame, ^ In the cutting station 33, it is the lower anvil roller 37 which is vertically adjustable relative to the upper cutting cylinder 35. As best seen in Figures 13 and 14, the height of the anvil roller is adjusted by turning either of the two manual wheels 372, one of which is subject to a worm gear arrow left 370 to raise anvil cylinder 37; and the other hand wheel is fixed to the right hand worm gear arrow 371 to lower the anvil roller 37 relative to the cutting cylinder.

. Each of these worm gear arrows is flipped by a manual wheel 372 fixed to a respective arrow, and these arrows extend between the side, stationary frame members 376 and 376A of the machine. Each of the arrows has a worm gear 373a and 373 (Figure 14), respectively in it, in each of a pair of worm gear units 374a and 374b. The worm gears 373a and 373b are engaged with a central gear 375 on the vertical shaft 377 in the worm gear units to flip their central vertical shaft 377 which is threaded into a threaded nut portion 378 in a roller holder 380. The latter carries, at each of its opposite ends, a pair of supporting bearing rollers 381 capable of rotating (FIG. 14), the lower portion of the anvil roller 37 being straddle there and held for rotation. The arrow 353 for the anvil roller 37 is mounted on bearings 383 carried in sliding blocks # 385 that slide on vertical guides 386 (figure 14) in the side frame members 376 and 376A. In this way, the spacing of the anvil roller, relative to the rotary blade 33 for cutting, can be easily adjusted to ensure a clean, clean cut of the weft to form sheets with appropriate edges for the various thicknesses of the weft. TO Often, the adjustment is made while the machine is operating to produce the cut, clean, proper edges 10a and 10b for the sheets. As best seen in Figure 13, the variable speed motor 341 for rotating the cutting cylinder 35 is mounted 0 in a horizontal position by a clamp 390 attached to the side frame of the machine with its meshed gear of the motor 391 engaged with a gear 392 fixed to the cutting cylinder arrow 393. The bearings 394 mount the arrow for rotation on the opposite, stationary, side frame members 376 5 and 376a. The blade 33 is a straight steel blade which is maintained in a notch 35A in the cylinder by fixed screws 395. As described above, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4B, the gear 391 may bear the marking of position 125 instead of the cutting cylinder 35 to be detected by the position sensor 60. The cylinder position signal is sent by the line 29 to the blade controller 59. The detection of the reference marks 52 by the frame sensor 50 is transmitted via line 54 to the blade controller 59, which has a keyboard 4091. The operation of the blade controller is synchronized, as described above, with the controllers for the tail station and the chip station to ensure that the sheet is cut to the appropriate length and in relation to any printed material and small samples on the sheet. As best seen in Figures 3 and 9, the line feed drive for the lower line feed roller 65 drives the lower anvil roller 37 and drives the upper and lower pressure rollers 352 and 352a. The meshing drive of the anvil roller gear 352 includes three vacuum gears 348a, 348b and 348c driving adjacent gears 349a, 349b and 349c, each of which is mounted on and fixed to a lower pressure roller 352a. In this way, just after a sheet 10 of the weft 32 is cut at the cutting station, the cut sheet passes through the nipples of three sets of the pressure roller assemblies ^^ 351a, 351b and 351c, the which press the small samples tightly to adhere closely to the sheet. The upper pressure rollers 352 in each roller assembly 351a, 351b and 351c are mounted on vertical slides 353 to be vertically moved in slides to adjust the nipple for the thickness of the sheet and the small samples being pressed between the rollers. of upper and lower pressure 352 and 352a. ^ p; After leaving the pressure roller assemblies 351a, 351b and 351c, the sheets are fed to a groove (not shown) that cuts the edge of the sheet bearing the registration mark 52. If desired, a bending machine can be provided afterwards. of the router to fold the leaves. To fix the controllers, such as the controllers 56-59, implies writing in their respective memory parameters? which define the operation cycle of each servo system along the length of the frame. The memories of the controllers and PLCs describe in a complete way the control process for a given job. At the conclusion of a job and before the next job begins, the computer connects each controller by the RS422 401 type busbar and reads each parameter stored in the computer's memory 407. If the same work is needed in the future, the parameters stored in the computer 407 can be loaded into the appropriate register of the various controllers by the bus bar 401.

In Figures 1 and 2, the weft is shown extending from the roll 28 to cut sheets in a substantially linear manner. This is not required, and certain advantages can be achieved by departing from such a linear frame. Fig. 15 depicts a small sample placing apparatus for placing small samples on both sides of a continuous web 16. In Fig. 15, individual drum controlling units, such as pull rolls, sheet devices, glued - * and chip setters, are represented by rectangles placed on a moving plot. The pull rolls 513 provide the movement of the frame 16, as in the preceding discussion. However, the weft is unwound from the running roll 28 through, for example, the gluer 501 and the chip setters 503, 505 and 507, then changing the direction by means of a pair of idler rollers 517 and 519 .

# This change of direction exposes the previous lower side of the weft to a second splicer 509 and the chip setter 511. Finally, the weft is cut into sheets by the sheet device 515. With the embodiment of Fig. 15 , the cards can be applied to both sides of a frame. By observing the description of the one-sided positioning control architecture, the frame includes a repetitive reference mark on both sides of the frame, so that appropriate control and phase placement can be exercised. Each station, for example station 501, will still receive frame rate information from the pull rolls, for example rollers 513, and will operate in a servo-spire of the disclosed type to properly consummate this chip placement process. As will be evident from the foregoing description, the glue unit, each chip placing unit, and the cutting unit are each modular units that are connected electronically; and each unit has its own variable speed servo- ^ P drive motor. In this way, modular units (such as chip unit) can be added, replaced or removed to provide a system that can be increased in size and length, or conversely reduced in the number of stations by adding or replacing a modular unit. It is also possible to add a die cutting unit to die cut small samples in shapes other than the rectangular one. For example, if small samples of round or oval shape 12 are desired, adhesive dots of round or oval shape 22 can be applied to the weft 16 in the glueing station 24; and after applying the small rectangular samples to these tail points in the small sample applicator stations 30, the weft can be fed through a modular die cutting cylinder having circular or oval dies that will cut the outer portion of the die. small samples leaving only small circular or oval samples in the weft that are the same size as * tail points. Then, the wefts can be cut into sheets at a cutting station 33. m

Claims

* CLAIMS 1. A method of manufacturing small sample carrier sheets from a preprinted pattern with a repeating pattern with the small samples placed precisely in relation to the repeating pattern using rotating cylinders having a substantially different circumferential length to a sheet length; said method comprising the steps of: ^^ continuously moving the pre-printed web at a substantially constant velocity through a plurality of small sample applicator stations, each having a rotating cylinder applicator of small samples to apply samples small to the plot in displacement; detecting a pre-printed reference mark in the traveling pattern to locate the position of the repeat pattern traveling in relation to at least one of the rotating cylinders; equalizing the rotation speed of the small sample applicator cylinders with the speed of the moving pattern at the moment of application of the small samples to the frame during a revolution equalization portion of one revolution of the small sample applicator cylinder; change the rotation speed of the small sample applicator cylinder after the application of small samples and during a synchronous recovery portion of the cylinder revolution to provide a revolution profile matched with the repeat length of the sheets per cut out of the plot; 5 displace the phase of the speed equalization portion of the revolution of the cylinder based on the location of the pre-printed reference mark, detected, to place the small samples accurately in relation to the pattern of? W repetition in the plot; and cutting the screen at repeating distances into a plurality of sheets each having an identical pattern of small samples placed accurately on each sheet relative to the pre-printed pattern.
2. A method according to claim 1, which 15 comprises the step of applying adhesive to the weft by rolling contact from an adhesive applicator cylinder in a m? * Adhesive station to the weft which travels continuously in precise positions relative to the pre-repeating pattern. printed in the plot.
3. A method according to claim 2, including the steps of: equalizing the rotation speed of the adhesive applicator cylinder and the speed of the weft traveling at the time of adhesive application during a portion of equalization of 25 speed of one revolution of the adhesive applicator cylinder; * and changing the rotation speed during a synchronous recovery portion of the revolution of the adhesive applicator cylinder to provide a profile matched to the repeat length for the sheets.
A method according to claim 3, including the step of displacing the phase of the velocity equalization portion of the revolution of the adhesive applicator cylinder based on the location of the printed pre-0 reference mark, detected.
A method according to claim 3, including the steps of: applying the adhesive in a predetermined pattern from the surface of the rotating adhesive applicator cylinder; 5 provide the adhesive applicator cylinder a ^ circumference greater than the repetition length of the sheets; and changing the speed of the adhesive applicator cylinder during the synchronous recovery portion of revolution 0 by increasing its velocity to be greater than the velocity of the traveling frame; and reduce the speed at the time of the application of adhesive to equalize the speed of the weft;
6. A method according to claim 1, wherein each of the small sample cylinders has a circumference that is substantially greater than the repeat length of sheets; and including the step of increasing the speed of each cylinder of small samples over the speed of the moving frame during the synchronous recovery portion of each revolution of each cylinder of small samples; and detect the reference mark in each small sample application station and change the position of the * portion of speed equalization during a revolution based on the location of the detected reference mark.
7. A method according to claim 1, including the steps of: detecting the reference marks in a cutting station; and cutting the weft at precise locations determined by reference marks to provide each sheet with repetitive patterns at precise distances from the cut edges for each sheet.
A method according to claim 7, including the steps of: cutting the frame with a rotating blade traveling around a circumferential path substantially different in distance from the repetition distances; varying the rotational speed of the rotating blade during each rotation; e? substantially equalizing the speed of the rotary blade with the speed of the weft at the moment of cutting the weft so as not to tear the weft when the weft is cut.
A method according to claim 8, including the steps of: rotating the anvil roller for cooperation with the rotating blade to cut the weft; and move an axis of rotation for the anvil roller to # change its position relative to an axis of rotation for the rotating blade to adjust the differences in thickness of the weft and / or small samples on the weft.
A method according to claim 1, including the steps of: varying the repeat length of sheets from one job to the next job while maintaining the same small sample applicator cylinders; and changing the lengths of the respective first and second synchronization recovery portions of a revolution to provide a different length of application time of small samples to the moving frame of a job to the next job.
11. A method according to claim 1, including the steps of: pressing the small samples to the web with opposing press rolls; and W varying a nipple distance between the opposing pressure rollers to accommodate different thicknesses of small and plot samples from one job to another job.
12. A method according to claim 1, including the steps of: unrolling the weft of a roll; exerting a pull force on the weft with line feed rollers to pull the weft from the iP roll and pull the weft through the plurality of small sample applicator stations; and measuring the tension in the weft that travels upstream of the line feed rollers.
A method according to claim 1, including the steps of: applying the small samples to one side of the web when traveling in a first direction of travel; invert the direction of travel of the frame from the first direction of travel; and apply small samples to an opposite side of the weft to produce leaves having small samples on both sides of the leaves.
14. A method according to claim 1, including the steps of: for a given job, storing in a memory the frame rate, the profiling data for the respective applicator cylinders of small samples for the same sheet length of repetition, and the pattern of small samples; and use this stored data to install the de for a subsequent run of the same job.
15. A method according to claim 1, including the steps of: detecting reference marks in the moving frame in an adhesive application station; changing the angular phase position of an adhesive applicator cylinder with respect to when applying adhesive to the moving weft, - equalizing the speed of the adhesive applicator cylinder and the speed of the weft moving at the time of adhesive application to the plot; detect the reference marks in a cutting station; changing the angular phase of a rotary cutting roller having a blade, to phase shift the location of the cut to a specific position based on the detected reference marks; and substantially equalizing the speed of the rotating blade with the speed of the weft moving at the moment of cutting the web that moves in sheets.
16. A method of finely adjusting the location of fr adhesive spots and small samples relative to preprinted material in a moving web to be cut into sheets; said method comprising the steps of: applying small samples with a rotating cylinder to a frame traveling at a constant speed through a small sample application station, the cylinder speed equalized with the speed of the frame during a portion of Speed equalization of a revolution of the cilin¬ # dro; 10 changing the speed of the cylinder substantially during a synchronous recovery portion of the revolution of the cylinder to provide a profile matched with the speed of the frame; and detect a reference mark in the frame that is 15 shifts and changes an angular phase position of the application of small samples based on the detected location of the '^? reference mark to record the small samples with the pre-printed sheet; and providing the operator with manual control to manually offset the phase position to more accurately record the small samples with the pre-printed material.
17. A method of manufacturing from a screen a plurality of sheets that carry color chips adhered to the sheets in precise positions on the sheets, the method comprising the steps of: unrolling a preprinted screen in an unwinding station having a tension device to provide a substantially constant tension force on the unwound web and feed the web forwardly at a substantially constant velocity; apply rows of adhesive dots to the weft moving from a rotating cylinder having a circumference substantially different from that of a repetition distance and equalizing the speed of the cylinder with the speed of the weft during the application of the adhesive points to the a weft moving during a speed equalization portion of the cylinder revolution, then changing the speed of the rotation movement of the cylinder substantially through a remaining portion of the revolution of the cylinder; cutting color strips into colored tokens at a plurality of chip applicator stations and transferring the chips cut through each of the chip cylinders to a row of adhesive dots aligned over the continuously moving web, each chip cylinder having a speed equal to the speed of the frame during the transfer of the chips and their adhesion to the adhesive points during a rate equalization portion of the chip cylinder revolution, then changing the speed of the chip cylinder substantially during a portion of synchronous recovery of its revolution; and cutting the weft at repeating distances in a plurality of sheets, each having an identical pattern of color tokens placed precisely on each sheet.
18. A method of forming and applying small samples to a plot and cutting the plot into sheets, each having small samples placed precisely on the sheet; said method comprising the steps of: moving a frame to move at a velocity of f substantially constant displacement; 0 rotating an adhesive applicator roll having adhesive applicators thereon at a rate equalized with the constant displacement speed of the weft to apply an adhesive pattern to the weft for a one revolution speed equalization portion of the adhesive applicator roll and 5 changing the speed for another portion of the revolution to provide a profiled application of adhesive to the weft; rotating at least one applicator cylinder of small samples at a rate equalized with the velocity of the weft during a rate equalization portion of revolution 0 of the cylinder of small samples and adhering the small samples to the adhesive by rolling contact; changing the speed for another portion of the revolution of the small sample applicator cylinder to provide a profiled repeating application of small samples to the frame; and rotating a cutting blade at a speed substantially equal to the frame travel speed at the moment of cutting and changing the speed of the cutting blade over another portion of a revolution of the cutting blade to provide a profiled displacement of the cutting blade for cutting the weft in sheets, each having a predetermined repetition length.
19. A method according to claim 18, # including the step of: 10 detecting reference marks printed on the moving frame; and changing the angular position of the start or stop of the adhesive application, the application of small samples, and the cut, based on the position of the reference marks 15 detected.
20. A method according to claim 19, ??? including the step of: detecting the printed reference marks in each of the adhesive, small sample and cut station, and changing the respective rotation positions of each one of these respective operations of adhesive application, application of small samples and cutting during the portion of speed equalization of a revolution based on the detected reference signals.
21. An apparatus for applying adhesive and small samples to a moving weft, the apparatus comprising: an adhesive applicator cylinder in an adhesive station for applying adhesive by rolling contact with the moving frame in locations predetermined and 5 accurate in the web that moves during each revolution of the adhesive applicator cylinder; a variable speed motor connected to and driving the adhesive applicator cylinder to rotate this cylinder at a circumferential speed equalization speed or equalized with the speed of the frame at the time bearing contact occurs with the moving frame, during a portion of speed equalization of its revolution; and to change to a substantially different synchronous recovery speed during a synchronization recovery portion 5 of its revolution to provide a velocity profile for each revolution of the adhesive applicator cylinder; a small sample applicator cylinder in a small sample station to apply small samples to the adhesive on the weft that travels by rolling contact during each revolution of the small sample applicator cylinder; a variable speed motor that drives the small sample applicator cylinder at the circumferential rate of speed equalization during the 5 speed equalization portion of the cylinder revolution, and to change substantially at a different speed of synchronization recovery during a synchronous recovery portion of its revolution to provide a velocity profile for each revolution of the adhesive applicator cylinder; and 5 a controller for operating the respective variable speed motors in their respective profiles.
22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein a rotating blade has a profile with a speed of 'AJ equals velocity equalization with the frame rate at 0 when cutting the plot in sheets, and with a speed of synchronization recovery during a portion of synchronous recovery of the revolution.
23. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein a sensor detects reference marks on a printed pre-5 screen and is connected to the controller to cause the controller i to change the phase of the small sample applicator roller to change the start or the end of the rolling contact between the small samples and the frame.
24. An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein a sensor associated with the adhesive station detects the reference marks on the weft and adjusts the phase of the adhesive cylinder to position the adhesive precisely relative to the reference mark and to the printed material on the plot that moves.
25. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein a sensor is associated with the rotating blade for detecting a printed reference mark on the moving frame, and the sensor is connected to the controller to adjust the phase of the rotating blade to cut the weft in a way 5 precise in relation to the printed material on the plot that moves and the small samples adhered to the plot that moves.
26. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein: a plurality of small sample applicator cylinders, and additional, small sample applicator stations are provided to sequentially apply arrays of small samples to the moving plot; and a sensor in each of the 5 small sample applicator stations detects the position of reference marks printed on the pattern in a repeating pattern, and the controller adjusts each small sample applicator cylinder in each station to accurately position each row over the frame that moves relative to a given reference mark 0 over the frame.
27. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein: a plurality of small sample forming cylinders and a knife are provided in each of the plurality of small sample applicator stations for cutting a plurality of sample slats. small in discrete small samples; a rotating cutter cylinder having a cutting blade cuts the wefts that move in sheets in a weft cutter station; line feed rollers pull the web to travel through the respective adhesive application stations, applying small samples and cutting at a substantially constant velocity; and a sensor in the respective stations of application of adhesive, application of small samples and cutting is connected to the controller to adjust the phase of the respective cylinders applicator of adhesive, applicator of small samples and cutting with respect to the marks of reference to be these 15 in each of these respective stations. -
28. An apparatus for forming and arranging a plurality of small samples at specific locations on a moving plot at a speed, said apparatus comprising: a supply of small sample batten material 20 to travel to a cutting station; a feeding roller to feed the slats to the cutting station; a rotating cylinder, forming small samples in the cutting station to receive the slats and carry the 25 slats to a rotating blade to simultaneously cut a small sample from each slat; a transfer cylinder capable of rotating to transfer the small samples cut by rolling contact to the moving frame; 5 a variable speed motor connected to the small sample forming cylinder and to the transfer cylinder to provide a profile of rotational speeds to these respective cylinders during each revolution thereof, including a "velocity equalization speed profile that equals the 0 frame speed at the moment of the transfer of bearing from the small samples to the moving frame and a synchronous recovery speed during each revolution, and a controller connected to the variable speed motor 5 to control the profile of the respective speeds during each revolution of the small sample and transfer cylinders
29. An apparatus according to claim 28, including a sensor for detecting reference marks in the moving frame, and an electrical circuit between the sensor and the controller to input the position of the reference mark to the control to make the controller change the profile and to place the small samples on the frame precisely in relation to the reference marks.
30. An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the controller changes the start and end of the equalization rate with a change in the length of the small samples being applied.
31. An apparatus according to claim 28, 5 where the plot is pre-printed, and the reference mark is printed on the plot; and the sensor is an optical sensor for detecting the mark to operate the controller to accurately position the small samples relative to the printed material on the moving plot.
32. An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein a manual operator control is connected to the controller and is operable by the operator to change the position of the small sample applicator cylinder slightly to allow the operator to adjust the position of the samples. small with 5 relation to the printed material on the plot that moves.
33. An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the controller comprises a computer; and storage capacity is provided to the computer to store the parameters of the profile and the phase for the small samples that are being applied to a given preprinted plot so that the same work can run again with the computer adjusted. the device to the stored parameters for a subsequent work run.