US2086006A - Marking stacks of sheets or the like - Google Patents

Description

O. T. THOMPSON MARKING STACKS OF SHEETS OR THE LIKE July 6, 1937.

Filed April 19, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 0, 1937. o. T. ITHOM-PSON- 2,086,006

MARKING STACKS OF SHEETS OR THE LIKE Filed Ap ril'19, 1935 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @272250'7 Gaga/ 177207 0307; /@5=M F Patented July 6, 1937 MARKING STACKS 9F SHEETS OR. THE LIKE Gscar T. Thompson, Nsenah, Wis, assignor to International (lellucotton Products Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application April 19, 1935, Serial No. 17,213

3 Claims.

This invention relates to marking stacks of sheets or the like, particularly to indicate groups or sets of sheets embodying a predetermined number of the sheets to facilitate separation of the stack into such groups for packaging purposes.

The main objects of the invention are to provide a marking arrangement for the purpose indicated which may be employed without inter" rupting the operation of the mechanism for forming the stack of material; to provide a marking arrangement which will not damage or injure any of the stacked material; to provide an arrangement which will avoid the necessity for special or colored marking sheets or slips; to

provide an arrangement for marking which is readily adaptable to various forms of stacking mechanism; and in general, it is the object of the invention to provide an improved arrangement for marking stacks of sheets or the like to indicate divisions thereof containing a predetermined number of sheets.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawings (2 sheets), wherein there is illustrated a winding mechanism such as employed in the production of facial or cleansing tissues for eflecting stacking of folded sheets, one form of the invention being applied to such winding mechanism.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a plan of the improved windingmechanism;

Fig. 2 is a and Fig. 3 is a cross section on an enlarged scale on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the winding section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l,

mechanism there disclosed is generally similar in to the type illustrated in the patent to Campbell No. 1,905,899, and includes a tubular shaft 5 which is suitably jour'naled for rotation in bearings formed in side frame members 8, 8. The tubular shaft is also axially slidable in its bearings to a limited extent for a purpose which will presently appear.

Suitably supported on the tubular shaft 5, are groups of radially extending arms or spokes l which, at their outer ends, carry shoes or plates 8.

59 The rotary device embodying the shaft 5, the spokes l and shoes 8, is adapted to be rotated at any desired speed of rotation through suitable driving means, in this instance illustrated as including bevel gear connections 9 and Ill with a driven gear H, the latter being suitably driven by other gears as indicated at H or other- Wise.

On the machine illustrated in the said Campbell patent, a web or webs of crepe tissue paper may be slitted into strips of narrower Width than sue material in this instance are designated M,

l4, there being four such strips. It will, of course, be understood that the numberof strips into which a web is divided or whether a web is divided at all, is not material'to the present application. The disclosure of four strips is merely selected as illustrating one application of the invention.

The strips M, H! are suitably attached to one of the shoes 8 and the winding mechanism then rotated so as to cause the strips or web to be Wound to form multi-ply rolls on the winding mechanism.

To facilitate separation of the roll into groups or sets of any given number of plies or turns, it has been more or less customary to interpose a colored sheet of paper or other material between appropriate turns when the desired number is wound on the winding mechanism. This method is objectionable, because in high speed winding mechanism it is difilcult to insert a colored markor in the proper place, and because the use of such colored markers adds expense not only in respect of the cost of the marker but also in the cost of disposing of the markers after use and the incidental problem of such disposal.

According to the present invention, colored marking slips or the like are dispensed'with and marking effected by causing relative shifting of the web feeding and winding devices to cause the sheet material wound up after a shift to be wound in offset relation to the material wound up prior to the shift.

In Fig. 1, the mechanism for effecting such shifting is shown as including a flanged collar l5 7 suitably secured to the shaft 5, and a lever l5 pivoted at one end as indicated at ll on a bracket extending from the adjacent frame 5. Thelever l6 intermediate its ends carries a roller it for operative engagement with the collar 15 (between its flanges), and the free end of the lever is pivoted as indicated at I9 to an operating handle 20. It will be apparent that by rocking the lever it through the agency of the handle 29, the shaft 5 and the Winding mechanism carried thereby will be shifted axially relative to the feeding means comprising the rolls i2, i2.

To permit shifting of the shaft 5 without interfering with the driving engagement of the gears 9, the shaft may be splined as indicated at 2! to the gear 9 on the end of the shaft thereby permitting the shaft to slide through the gear with out effecting axial movement of the gear. The gear on the shaft 5 may be held in fixed relation to its cooperating gear by suitable bracket and collar means as indicated in the drawings.

It being understood that the webs M are normally fed by the feeding rolls I2, l2 in a substantially fixed path of movement, it will be seen that if the rotary winding mechanism is shifted, the described offsetting will be effected. If for instance it is desired to provide for separation of the wound up sheets in groups of 50 plies, the rotary winding means, after attachment of the Webs thereto, will be permitted to turn 50 complete revolutions, whereupon the winding device will be shifted axially and permitted to turn another 50 revolutions. When the second set of 50 turns is completed, the winding device is again shifted axially, this time being brought back to its initial position and a thirdset of 50 layers wound thereon. The number of shifts which may be utilized is, of course, without limit and is governed only by the capacity of the Winding device. In the present instance, sheet counting mechanism of any suitable type may be provided as indicated at 2!, such device being driven in any suitable manner by connection to the shaft of the winding mechanism. In this instance the counter 2| is illustrated as being driven by a chain 22 which engages sprockets such as indicated at 23 which are carried by the operating shaft of the counter and the shaft 5.

When the winding of sheets is completed, the rolls may be removed'from the winding mechanism by slitting the same transversely. One method of doing so is indicated in Fig. 2, wherein a circular saw 24 is driven by an electric motor 25 which is carried by a base plate 26. The base plate 26 is slidably mounted on a track 21 which is suitably supported by the frames 6, 6. The shoes 8 and spokes i may be suitably grooved or forked as indicated in Fig. 2, to permit the saw to out through the Webs Wound thereon or if desired, the cutting may be accomplished between adjacent shoes thereby avoiding the provision of grooves such as indicated at 28. It appears preferable however, to provide the grooves in that the wound up sheets are better supported adjacent the line of cutting than if the cutting is done intermediate adjacent shoes. When the rolls are cut transversely in the manner indicated, the rolls become elongated stacks of sheets in groups of predetermined number, the groups being indicated by the offset relationship thereof. This relationship is clearly indicated in Fig. 3, an examination of which will indicate clearly the distinct separation of the predetermined groups. For example in Fig. 3, the entire thickness of the stack indicated by the arrows 28 may embody 200 turns or plies, whereas each of the offset groups designated 29 embody 5O plies. Each group of webbing such as 28 may be severed transversely to form individual stacks of predetermined lengths, and such individual stacks may be then of the shoes 8 separated into separate sets of 50 sheets or whatever number is determined upon in advance.

For holding the winding mechanism in its shifted position, any suitable form of locking arrangement may be provided. In this instance there is illustrated a spring-pressed plunger device designated 3! the plunger 3i thereof being adapted successively to enter notches 32 and 33 provided in the operating handle 2E]. The handle 25 is of course suitably guided in brackets such as indicated at 3 3 carried by the frame member 6.

In the above described arrangement, the shaft 5 was described as being a tubular shaft. In the mechanism contemplated the winding device is of a type commonly called a collapsible Winding device. Such a Winding device is so arranged that for each turn of webbing applied thereto, the shoes 8 are moved inwardly approximately the thickness of the turn of Webbing applied there-to. This is for the purpose of maintaining a substantially constant outer diameter of the roll of webbing to avoid the formation of beveled ends which must be wasted when the rolls are cut from the winding mechanism. The mechanism which effects such inward movement is controlled by a shaft 35 disposed within the tubular shaft 5 and gearing housed Within a casing 35 and operating on rack bars or the like formed on the inner ends of the spokes 7 which enter said casing 36. The shaft 35 is controlled by suitable gear mechanism contained in a housing 31 at one side of the mechanism, such mechanism being adapted to be adjusted by a hand wheel 38 whereby the shoes 8 may be reset to their starting position after completion of a winding operation. The adjustable Winding mechanism arrangement just referred to forms no part of the present invention and hence need not be more specifically described. Such mechanism is, however, well known in the art.

The described arrangement for marking stacked sheets may be employed in connection with other stacking devices and it is not restricted in its use to winding stacking devices such as herein described. Also, it is not intended, by reference to crepe tissue paper in the foregoing description to restrict the invention to association with such material since it is equally applicable to marking stacks of other kinds of sheets. r

Changes in the described construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention the scope of which should be determined by reference to the following claims, the same being construed as broadly as possible consistent with the state of the art.

I claim:

1. In a machine for visibly marking continuously Wound superposed stacks of sheets or the like, the combination of means for continuously feeding a web of sheet material, rotating means for receiving the web and winding the same upon itself to form a multi-ply roll, and means for effecting relative shifting of said feeding means and said rotating means alternately in opposite directions laterally of said web at selected inter vals, the extent of said shifting being less than one-half the width of the web, whereby the complete roll indicates divisions each embodying a predetermined number of turns or plies of the material.

2. In a machine for visibly marking continuously wound superposed stacks of sheets or the like, the combination of means for continuously feeding a web of sheet material, rotating means for receiving the web and winding the same upon itself to form a multi-ply roll, and means for shifting said winding means alternately in opposite directions laterally of said web at selected intervals, the extent of said shifting being less than one-half the width of the web, whereby the several superposed sections of the complete roll are wound in laterally staggered relation.

3. In a machine for visibly marking continuously wound superposed stacks of sheet material, the combination of a rotatably driven reel on which to wind a web of sheet material, means for guiding the. web to the reel, and means for efiecting relative movements between said reel and said guiding means alternately in opposite directions lengthwise of the reel axis and during the rotation of the reel, thereby to effect winding of the. web upon itself in sidewise offset and superposed relation to the material wound on the. reel immediately before each movement, the extent of each movement being sufiicient to cause a substantial offset of the plies wound after said movement relatively to the plies wound before said 10 'movement.

OSCAR T. THOMPSON.

Images