US2613042A

US2613042A - Splicing device

Info

Publication number: US2613042A
Application number: US38451A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr William M Dice
Original assignee: Ohio Rubber Co
Current assignee: Ohio Rubber Co
Priority date: 1948-07-13
Filing date: 1948-07-13
Publication date: 1952-10-07
Anticipated expiration: 1969-10-07

Description

Oct. 7, 1952 w. M. DICE, JR 2,613,042

SPLICING DEVICE Filed July 15, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR.

h//LL/AM N. DICE, JR.

BY cpl Oct. 7, 1952 Filed July 13, 1948 W. M. DICE, JR

SPLICING DEVICE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR. W/LL/HN MD/Cf, J6.

QTTOZZ/VE Y6.

Patented Oct. 7, 1952 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE by mesne assignments, to The Ohio Rubber Company, Willoughby, Ohio,. a. corporation of Delaware ApplicationJuly 1s, 1948;.Serial No. 33,451

Claims.

This invention relates as indicated to asplicing device and more particularly to a device adapted to attach the leading end of a tape or web drawn from a new supply roll to a tape or web in course of. being withdrawn from. a nearly exhausted supply thereof.

There are many situations wherein it is desired continuously to withdraw a length of tape or the like froma supply thereof and to advance such tape to a machine which utilizes the same. One such machine is shown and described in application Serial No. 790,384, filed December 8, 1947. of George L. Meyers et al., Method and Machine for. Making Flexible Tubing, now Patent No. 2,539,853 dated January 30, 1951. In such machine a continuous length of rubber treated tape is Wound about and adhered to a continuously advancing wire helix to form flexible tubing suitable for use as defroster hose and the like. Efiicient operation of machines of this type requires that supply of material thereto must not be unnecessarily; interrupted, and it is accordingly a primary object of my invention to provide afmethod and mechanism whereby when a supply of tape which is in course of being drawn upon is nearly exhausted the leading end of a new supply will be automatically spliced thereto without any interruption or even reduction in the speed of operation of the tubing forming machine or other machine utilizing such tape.

It is a further object .of my invention to pro vide'such mechanism which will require no supervision by an operator other than to periodically replace theexhausted rolls or spools.

Still another object is to provide such mechanism which will be of relatively simple construction requiring very little maintenance.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

" To the accomplishment of the foregoing and 7 related ends, saidinvention then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing. setting forth inf detail certain illustrative embodiments of the Fig. 4 is a wiring diagram illustratingone form of control means for such mechanism.

Referringtnow more particularly to suchdrawing, the device there illustrated comprises a backing plate I on which the various component parts of the mechanism are mounted. Two

spindles

2 and 3 are freely rotatablymountedon plate I and spaced therefrom by means of sleeves such as sleeve 4. Each of these spindles is identical and is adapted to have a roll of tape or similar web mounted thereon. Anearly exhausted roll 5 of such tape is shown onspindle 2 and a new full roll 6 is shown on spindle 3.

A rotary shear is also mounted on-plate l intermediate and laterally of

spindles

2 and 3. Such shear comprises a stationary horizontally. disposed fiat blade member 1 and a rockable member 8 provided with arcuate upperand lower blades Sand I0 respectively. With member 8 in neutral position as shown in Fig. 1, there is a certainzamount of clearance between each of blades 9 and I0 and intermediate fixed blade I.

To facilitate assembly and maintenance,

blades

9 and 10 may be. integral with a short cylindrical portion ll (Fig. 3) and member 8 may be inthe general form of a split ring clamped about such cylindrical portion by means of screw l2-. Opposed tension springs l3 and M are attached to such screw and. adjustably secured-to brackets l5 and [6 respectively. These springs serve vto maintain the shear in horizontal or neutral position, as illustrated. 1

Adjacent such shears and to the left thereof as viewed. in Fig. 1. is located the splicing mechsuch slides is secured to the piston of a respective,

pneumatic piston cylinder assembly 23. and 24; While each of such piston cylinder assemblies is provided with the. usual internal spring for returning the piston when theair pressure is released, an auxiliary spring 25 may desirably additionally be employed connecting slid -2| and bracket 11 to assist in the return of such slide against gravity.

Upper slide 2!.is providedwith a pair of flat rollers26 and zl opposed to a corresponding pair of

rollers

28 and 29 carried by lower slide 22.- A laterally projecting lug 3i) on slide 2! ,anda similar lug 3| on slide 22 is adapted to engage and rock member 8 when the corresponding slide is reciprocated.

As shown in Fig. l, a length of tape 321is in course of being drawn from supply roll 5 and,

after passing under guid roller 33, such tape fixed blade I, and the end of such tape adhered For the purto the upper surface of roller 29. poses of this description, it will be considered that the tape employed is a cotton fabric tape.

impregnated with a rubber composition which is quite adhesive in character. this invention is, however, adapted for use with many types of tapes and webs which may themselves be non-adhesive in character. In the latter The mechanism of The nearly exhausted roll of tape will then be removed from spindle 2 and replaced by a new full roll. The end of this new supply of tape will be conducted under guide roller 33, between upper blade 9 and fixed blade I of the shears and then adhered lightly to the under surface of roller 21. As soon as slide 2I is moved upwardly again, springs I3 and I4 became operative to return the shears to neutral position. When roll of tape 6 now becomes exhausted, micro-switch 50 will be similarly actuated to energize time delay relay I02, thereby operating solenoid operated three-way valve I93 admitting fluid pressure to case, the end of the tape may be lightly adhered to the upper surface of roller 29 by means of a small amount of adhesive, such adhesive being only sufficient to hold the end of the tape in place but permitting such tape to be immediately withdrawn from the roller by the exercise of a relatively light pull thereon. The upper surface of the end of such non-adhesive tape will have applied thereto a small amount of a stronger adhesive material.

A lever 31 pivotally mounted at 38 on plate I carries a roller 39 at its free end adapted to be held against the outer periphery of tape roll 5 through the action of weight 40 on the end of angle arm 4I rigidly secured to lever 31. A finger 42 on lever 31 to the other side of pivot 38 is positioned to engage and operate micro-switch 43 when lever 31 has been rocked sufliciently in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. l. A similar lever 44 pivoted at 45 on plate I carries a roller 46 at its free-end adapted to bear against the outer periphery of roll of tape 6. A weight 4'! on the end of angle arm 48 serves to hold such roller in engagement with the tape roll. Finger 49 will engage and operate micro-switch 50 when roller 46 has moved sufficiently to the left as viewed in Fig. 1.

' Theoperation of the above-described mechanism may now be understood as follows, reference being also had to the typical wiring diagram illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing. When substantially all of the tape has been withdrawn from roll 5, finger 42 operates micro-switch 43 which in turn, through a time delay relay I09,

actuates a conventional solenoid operated threeway valve IOI to admit air pressure to the cylinder of piston cylinder assembly 23. Slide 2I thereupon descends and lug 39 engages member 8 to rock blade 9 to sever tape 32 in cooperation with fixed blade 1. Immediately after the severing of tape 32, rollers 26 and'Z'I engage corresponding

rollers

28 and 29 with the tape of course therebetween. The trailing end portion of the severed tape which is still moving to the left as viewed in Fig. 1 is pressed against the leading end portion of tape 35 by the interaction of rollers Hand 29. The two lengths of tape are thereby adhered together and the overlapping splice moves (to the left in Fig. 1) between

pressure rollers

26 and 28 before the above-mentioned time delay relay causes the air pressure to be released from piston cylinder assembly 23 and

rollers

26 and 21 to be againelevated. In normal operation the period of time during which the opposed rollers are held together may be only a fraction of a second. There is not the slightest interruption in the supply of the tape or web to the machine utilizing the same, the splice being made by the brief impact of roller 21.

the other end of piston-cylinder assembly 24 to cause piston cylinder assembly 24 to move slide 22 upwardly' Lug 3i on such slide will engage member 8 to rock shear blade II] in a clockwise direction to sever tape 35. Roller 29, continuing upwardly, forces the trailing end portion of such tape 35 against the leading end portion of the tape adhered to the under surface of roller 21, thereby splicing the two together. As above pointed out, such initial splicing is achieved by a momentary sharp impact rather than by merely squeezing the two tapes together. Instead of lightly adhering the end of the tape to the under surface of roller 21, if such tape is not very tacky, it may simply be allowed to rest on the upper surface of moving tape 35 beneath roller 21. Similarly, the end of a new supply of tape from roll 6 need not necessarily be adhered to roller 29 but may merely rest thereon. The sharp impact between the rollers serves to join the treated tapes even when they are not superficially sticky.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. Means for providing a continuous supply of adhesive tape comprising two spindles adapted to have tape supply rolls mounted thereon, a r0- tary shear comprising a fixed central blade and two arcuate blades respectively to either side of said fixed blade adapted to cooperate therewith when rocked about the axis of such arcs, two opposed pneumatic piston-cylinder assemblies ade jacent said shears, a pair of rollers carried by the piston of each said assembly adapted forcibly to engage-the other pair upon actuation of the corresponding piston-cylinder assembly, a lug on each said piston adapted to engage and rock said shears in a corresponding direction, resilient means adapted to return said shears to neutral position with each said arcuate blade spaced from said fixed blade, and control means for said piston-cylinder assemblies comprising rollers adapted to bear against the respective outer peripheries of such rolls of tape on said spindles, switches operative to control actuation of said respective piston-cylinder assemblies, and means responsive to movement of said last-named rollers toward said respective spindles adapted to actuate said corresponding switches.

2. Means operative to splice two adhesive webs together comprising two pneumatic piston-cylinder assemblies having their respective pistons axially opposed, a pair of rollers carried by each said pistons adapted to be brought into engagement with the opposed pair thereof, and a, shears adjacent thereto adapted to sever a travelling web in timed relation to actuation of said pistoncylinder assemblies whereby the leading end portion of a web placed between said opposed rollers may be adhered to the trailing end portion of a blade, resilient means normally operative to hold said mount with said two arcuate blades spaced respectively above and below said intermediate blade to permit the passage of two webs respectively therebetween, and means selectively operable to rock said mount to sever the desired web.

4. A rotary shears selectively operative to sever one of two webs passing therethrough comprising a fixed intermediate blade, a rockable mount, two spaced arcuate blades carried by said mount to either side of said intermediate blade end opposed thereto for respective shearing cooperation therewith when said mount is selectively rocked in opposite directions, whereby said two webs may respectively pass between a different one of said respective arcuate blades and said fixed blade, and means selectively operable to rock said mount to sever the desired web.

5. A rotary shears selectively operative to sever one of two webs passing therethrough comprising a fixed intermediate blade, a rockable mount, two spaced blades carried by said mount to either side of said fixed blade respectively and adapted alternately to cooperate therewith in shearing relation when said mount is rocked in opposite directions; whereby such two webs may respectively pass between different rockable blades and said fiiied blade, and means selectively operable to rock sa id mount in opposite directions.

WILLIAM M. DICE, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The'following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 80,531 Bennettet a1. Aug. 4, 1868 1,758,176 Scott May 13, 1930 1,899,185 Di Ianni Feb. 28, 1933 2,035,682 Wikle Mar. 31, 1936 2,097,053 Zalesak Oct. 26, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 19,883 Great Britain Aug. 27, 1898 of 1897 5 Sweden July e, 1937 399,780 Great Britain Mar. 19, 1932