US2984427A

US2984427A - Roll winding apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2984427A
Application number: US599969A
Authority: US
Inventors: Rockstrom Leonard
Original assignee: Cameron Machine Co
Current assignee: Cameron Machine Co
Priority date: 1956-07-25
Filing date: 1956-07-25
Publication date: 1961-05-16
Anticipated expiration: 1978-05-16

Description

y 1961 ROCKSTROM 2,984,427

ROLL WINDING APPARATUS Filed July 25, 1956 .INVENTUR LEONARD EOCKJTE'OM t A BY MMJIWMMKMJIMM Hi5 ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 16, 1961 ROLL WINDING APPARATUS Leonard Rockstrom, Madison, NJ assignor to Cameron Machine Company, Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 25, 1956, Ser. No. 599,969

Claims. (Cl. 242-65) This invention relates to improvements in machines for winding web material into rolls, and more particularly to improvements in slitting and rewinding machines.

In slitting and rewinding machines, it is normal practice for the web to pass around a constant speed roll known as a platen drum, which may be power driven, and against which the slitters or cutters operate to cut the web into a plurality of small rewind widths, although slitting may be done in other locations. These small widths pass to the rewind rolls which rest against the driven platen drum, the several rewind rolls being wound upon rewind shafts, usually two in number, which are mounted near and parallel to said platen drum. The platen drum is also sometimes referred to as a. contact drum.

The present invention, by way of illustration, is embodied in a slitting and rewinding machine having two shafts, referred to as rewind shafts, for supporting two groups of rewind rolls, such machine being referred to in the art as of the duplex type because of such two shafts. However, certain features of the invention are useful in machines of other types.

In the slitting and rewinding of certain types of web material substantial disadvantages have arisen in the past, particularly with respect to stretchy materials, because of the need to control a fine degree the pressure acting on the rolls of material which are being rewound. For example, in many types of material undergoing slitting and rewinding the pressure between the periphery of the rewind roll and the periphery of the platen drum should be as small as possible commensurate with the requirement to control the density of such rewind rolls.

Apparatus has been suggested in the past for providing control to a high degree of the rewind roll-platen drum pressure, with particular reference to: (a) the counterbalancing of the static weight of the rewind shaft and its supporting means; (b) the counterbalancing of the static weight of the rewind roll as it builds up in diameter; and (c) for automatically compensating for the forces which tend to urge together or apart the rewind roll and platen drum, which forces are attributable to the tension upon the web material. Such prior apparatus has operated successfully and has satisfactorily fulfilled its objects. However, such apparatus is relatively complicated in design and costly to manufacture as compared to the present invention.

Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a greatly simplified slitting and rewinding apparatus which is relatively low in cost of manufacture.

Another object is to provide novel apparatus of this character wherein those forces which arise which tend to move the rewind shaft and which are attributable to the static Weight thereof, and to the static weight of the rewind rolls are automatically compensated thereby eliminating the need for a complicated device for measuring such forces.

, A further object is to provide a novel device of this character wherein the forces which tend to move such platen drum and rewind roll together attributable to web tension and resulting from applying torque to the rewind shaft are prevented from influencing in any appreciable degree the pressures between the periphery of the platen drum and rewind roll.

Still another object is to provide a sensitive and accurate system for controlling the aforementioned forces for the purpose of maintaining a minimum uniform pressure between the rewind roll and platen drum thereby to produce straight sided rolls of uniform density, the system being adjustable to provide a heavier pressure between said roll and drum which can be uniformly maintained where needed.

The invention, in one aspect thereof, includes in combination, a platen drum over which passes a relatively wide web. A pair of rewind shafts coact therewith on opposite sides thereof and upon which are rewound the relatively narrow rewind widths of such web after the slitting thereof. The platen drum is mounted for rotation about an axis in a selected horizontal plane. Means are provided for mounting the rewind shafts for rotation about their respective axes which also are positioned in such selected plane and parallel to the drum axis, such rewind shaft mounting means including guiding devices for permitting movement of the rewind shafts axes in such plane relative to the platen drum while parallel at all times to such drum axis. Such guiding devices include for each rewind shaft a pair of track members for opposite shaft ends which. members are straight and horizontal and which movably support thereon respectively a pair of movable rewind shaft bearing elements, one for each shaft end. There are further provided suitable anti-skewing means for holding the rewind shaft axis parallel, as aforementioned, at all times to such drum axis but allowing movement of such shaft axis relative to the drum axis, that is, toward or away. Drive motor means for each rewind shaft are provided, each motor being mounted upon its respective and pertinent rewind shaft bearing element for movement therewith. If desired, in a separate and nonanalogous form of the invention such pair of track members for each rewind shaft instead of being horizontal as aforementioned may be tilted downwardly from the drum, that is, one extremity of such pair may benear to such drum and intersect or extend into such horizontal plane, such track members tilting downwardly therefrom at an adjustable angle. Such tilt can be selected to compensate for friction arising as the weight of the rewind rolls builds up. Alternatively, such pair of track members instead of being straight and tilted down can be curved downwardly, the curve selected to compensate for friction caused by the progressively increasing weight of the rewind rolls as they build up in diameter. Also such curve or angle of tilt can be selected to compensate for driving torque acting on the rewind shaft dependent on the type of material being wound. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned track members are horizontal because such attitude is best adapted for certain types of web material, particularly of the light stretchy variety. The form of the invention employing tilted track members (instead of horizontal) can be advantageously employed for use with certain other types of web material, for example, of relatively higher density. One of the principal reasons for employing such tilted track embodiment of the invention is that such tracks can be situated in such a way that in operation two components of force are created which tend to urge the rewind shafts away from the platen drum in such a way that these forces compensate for the progressively increasing friction, for example,

on the rewind shaft bearing elements, caused by the.

build-up of static weight of the rewind rolls as their diameter increases, this situation being accentuated in the case of high density web materials. Such two components of force are: that component urging the rewind shaft away from the platen drum due to web tension, and that component tending to urge the rewind shaft away from the drum due to force of gravity. In the tilting track embodiment of the invention, the location of the initial and final points of tangency of a rewind roll are significant in that they determine the effect of the horizontal tension component of force upon the rewind shaft. Excluding those constructions where horizontal tracks are employed, the horizontal plane containing the axis of the drum, and also excluding those constructions where horizontal tracks are employed, the horizontal plane being above or below the horizontal axis of the platen drum, the location of the initial and final points of tangency are a function of track inclination and hence effect the directions of the web tension component which urges the rewind shaft either toward or away from the platen drum. Hence by governing: (a) the inclination of the tracks (with the aforementioned exceptions); and (b) the point of first tangency of the rewind roll and the platen drum, there can be controlled the effect of the horizontal web tension component of force, that is, the strength and direction of action of such component either toward or away from the platen drum. Hence the roll tension can be controlled in so far as it is effected by such horizontal web tension component of force.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example, one form of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a schematic perspective representation of one form of apparatus embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of certain of the parts of apparatus shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the supporting means for a rewind shaft shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, the apparatus comprises a device for slitting a single relatively wide web 10a into a plurality of relatively narrow ribbons or strips 10b by means of slitter wheels 10c acting against a platen drum and rewinding such strips into rewind rolls Ne and 10 respectively upon a pair of

rewind shafts

11 and 12, which are respectively the front and rear rewind shafts of the machine.

The

rewind shafts

11 and 12 are mounted for movement in cooperation with such platen drum herein designated 13 having a supporting shaft 14, the axis 140! of which is preferably horizontal.

Such slitting can be accomplished either by the slitter wheels 100 of the score cut type acting against the platen drum 13 as shown, or by other types of cutting means for effecting, for example, shear cut or razor blade cut. Alternatively the slitter wheels 100 may bear against a drum other than platen drum 13.

The

rewind shafts

11 and 12 are mounted for movement parallel to one another, parallel to the platen drum 13, and thus parallel to shaft 14 and axis 14a thereof. Such rewind shafts also are mounted for movement in the horizontal plane which passes through the axis 14a. The reasons for so disposing the mounting means for the

rewind shafts

11 and 12 will appear more fully hereinafter.

Consider, for example, the mounting for the rewind shaft 11 which will now be described, it being understood that an analogous mounting is provided for the other rewind shaft 12. Such mounting for shaft 11 comprises suitable means for supporting same in a horizontal attitude and for permitting same to move towards oraway from theplaten drum 13all the while in a horizontal plane and parallel to such drum. This is accomplished by means of a pair of parallel track members, 15 and 16, one of which, namely, 15, is partially shown in perspective in Fig. 3, and which comprises a pair of parallel

grooved rails

17 and 18 which are rigidly held in spaced relation by any suitable means, and which are provided with grooves 17a and 18a respectively for receiving tongues 19 and 20 of a movable shaft bearing element 21, the latter being provided with a bore 22 into which one end of said shaft 11 extends and is therein supported preferably by suitable antifriction bearings. Shaft bearing element 21 is slidable along the track member 15, there being interposed between such track member and bearing element suitable antifriction means, such as ball bearings, four of which 21a, 21b, 21c and 21d are shown in Fig. 3 on one side of element 21.

Balls

21a, 21b bear on surface 18b of rail 18, and

balls

21c, 21d act on surface 17b of rail 17. Two other pairs of ball bearings (not shown) are provided on the other side of element 21, analogously situated, for bearing on surfaces 180 and respectively.

The opposite extremity of shaft 11 rests in a movable shaft bearing element 23 analogous in construction to element 21.

Suitable means are provided for preventing shaft 11 from becoming askew in its mounting wherein it would be non-parallel to the axis 14a of the platen drum, such antiskewing means comprising, in the form shown, a pair of

parallel arms

24 and 25 which are rigidly secured to respective opposite extremities of a shaft 26 which is mounted for angular movement in suitable bearings 27 and 28. The upper extremities of the

arms

24 and 25 are bifurcated to form two pairs of

parallel subarms

24a, 24b and 25a, 25b adapted to receive in close engagement respective opposite extremities of the rewind shaft 11 as shown and thus to maintain such shaft parallel to the axis of

shafts

14 and 26, the latter of course being parallel to such shaft 14.

The bearings at 27 and 28 preferably are made to high precision standards with a small tolerance, for example, one ten thousandths of an inch.

The tolerances between the

bifurcated subarms

24a, 24b and 25a, 25b with the shaft 11 are of a similar order. Such close tolerances are desirable to minimize any movement of shaft 11 out of parallelism with axis 14a. Shaft 12 is in similar relation to its anti-skewing means (not shown).

Analogous means generally and partly shown at 29 are provided for the rewind shaft 12.

The torques for driving

rewind shafts

11 and 12 are provided each by its respective and separate power means mounted upon its respective pertinent shaft bearing element, for example,

element

21 or 23 for shaft 11, and analogously for shaft 12. The motor for driving shaft 13 is shown at 35'. Regarding shaft 11 such power means comprises, illustratively, an electric motor 35, the housing for which is suitably secured to the traveling shaft bearing element 23. There are thus eliminated those forces tending to shift the axis of shaft 11 (or 12) which heretofore have been attributable to torque transmission to such shafts via gear trains from torque sources located relatively remote from such shaft. The platen drum 13 in turn is driven by its respective electric motor 36. The motor 36 drives the platen drum 13 preferably at a constant angular velocity, although the invention is not limited thereto. The drive motor 35 for shaft 11, and the analogous motor 35' for shaft 12 are operatively associated with the motor 36 for the purpose of driving

rewind shafts

11 and 12 each at an angular velocity which progressively diminishes as a function of the increase in diameter of the rewind rolls thereupon. This can be effected by any suitable speed control means 37 for such drive motors for

shafts

11 and 12, for example, as shown and described in U.S. Patent 2;650,'039 granted August 25, 1953 to Thomas M. Carter. 'By virtue of the particular mounting of the

rewind shafts

11, 12 aforementioned, it will be seen that during the operation of the machine, that is, during the slitting and rewinding, there is no force acting upon either of such rewind shafts which tends to move same relative to the platen drum 13 due to:

(a) Static weight of either of such shafts and its mounting means. This is true because the only component of force acting upon such shafts and their respective mounting means occurs in a vertical direction;

(b) The static weight of the web material as it builds up during rewinding. This is true for the same reason given in (a) above because of the horizontal nature of the track means, such as 15 and 16, which support the rewinding shafts; and

(c) The tension of the web materials. This is true because the components of forces attributable to web tension, and which ordinarily would tend to urge the

rewind shafts

11 and 12 towards or away from the platen drum 13, act in a vertical direction, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2. That is, the resultant of the force vectors acting upon, for example, the rewind shaft 11 and attributable to web tension (resulting from application of center rewinding torque by motor 35) acts at the point of tangency 38 of the rewind roll 39 (of the roll group 102) and platen drum 13. Since the point of tangency 38 occurs in a horizontal plane in which are positioned the axes of the rewind shafts and of the platen drum shaft 14, such resultant is positioned as shown at 40 acting upwardly in a vertical direction through the moment arm 41. It is clear that such resultant 40 cannot urge shaft 11 either towards or away from the platen drum 13.

In order to achieve a fine degree of control of the pressure between such rewind rolls e and platen drum 13, a pair of pneumatic power devices 42 and 43 are provided having

pistons

44 and 45 respectively within cylinders 46 and 47. Fluid under pressure is directed into

righthand chambers

46a, 47a in such cylinders for the purpose of urging the rewind shaft 11 towards the platen drum 13, such fluid being, for example, air from a main conduit 43 which is conducted to such

righthand chambers

46a, 47a by means of a conduit 49 under the control of a hand valve 50. Also, the lefthand chambers 46b, 47b within such cylinders 46, 47 respectively are subject to counter-fluid pressures under the control of a hand valve 51 which is interposed in a conduit 52 connected to both of said lefthand chambers and to such main conduit 48. By controlling the pressure differential on opposite sides of the pistons 44 and 45 (by means of valves 50, 51), a very fine degree of control can be obtained over the aforementioned pressure of the rewind rolls 10:: upon drum 13.

In those instances where the friction upon the rewind shaft bearing elements progressively increases to a significant degree with the build-up of rewind roll weight, I have found it advantageous to increase progressively the force acting on the

pistons

44 and 45 for the rewind shaft 11 (and acting upon analogous pistons for rewind shaft 12), such pistons as aforementioned tending to urge the rewind roll away from the platen drum. This can be done automatically by automatic control means for the

valves

50, 51 and hence for the

pistons

44, 45. For example, a cam 53 (Fig. l) operatively connected to the pivot shaft 26 is also operatively connected to the

valves

50, 51 by suitable valve control means 54 having a cam follower 55 whereby the above result can be attained.

A similar device (not shown) is provided for con trolling the pressure of the other group of rewind rolls 10 upon drum 13, rolls 107 being wound upon shaft 12.

Such pressure between

rolls

10a, 10 and drum 13 can thus be reduced to an extremely low value, and can be made as small as possible commensurate with a desired density of the rewind rolls.

What is claimed is:

1. In a winding machine, the combination of a pair of-rewind shafts; a platen drum; means for mounting such platen drum for rotation about an axis which is positioned in a substantially horizontal plane; and means for mounting said rewind shafts near to said drum for rotational movement about their respective axes located in such plane and parallel to such axis of said drum whereby a substantially straight line normal to all of said axes is horizontal; such mounting means for said rewind shafts including guide means for guiding the movement of such shafts in such plane relative to said drum while holding such shafts parallel to the axis of said drum, and also including a pair of shaft bearing elements; and a pair of element mounted drive motors drivably connected to respective of said shafts.

2. In a winding machine, the combination of a pair of rewind shafts; a platen drum; means for mounting said platen drum for rotation about a horizontal axis; means including movable shaft bearing elements for mounting said rewind shafts also for rotation about respective horizontal axes in a horizontal plane containing said firstnamed axis and for movement relative to said platen drum while such respective axes are horizontal, such mounting means for said shafts including guide means for holding said shafts parallel to the axis of said platen drum and parallel to one another during movement of such shafts relative to such drum; and a pair of drive motors drivably connected to respective of said shafts and each mounted upon a respective shaft bearing element of the aforementioned mounting means of said shafts for movement toward or away from said platen drum in response to the respective movement of such rewind shafts toward or away from said platen drum.

3. In a winding machine, the combination of a pair of rewind shafts; a platen drum; means for mounting said platen drum for rotation about a horizontal axis; means for mounting said rewind shafts also for rotation about respective horizontal axes in the horizontal plane containing said first-named axis and for movement relative to said platen drum while such respective axes are horizontal, such mounting means for said shafts including means for holding said shafts parallel to the axis of said platen drum and parallel to one another during movement of such shafts relative to such drum and further including horizontal track members and movable shaft bearing elements for each such shaft, such track members horizontally guiding the movement of said elements; and a pair of drive motors mounted upon the respective aforementioned shaft bearing elements of said rewind shafts for movement toward or away from said platen drum in response to the respective movement of such rewind shafts toward or away from said platen drum.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a platen drum; a pair of rewind shafts; mean for mounting said platen drum for rotation about a horizontal axis in a selected horizontal plane; two pairs of horizontal track members, one pair for each of such rewind shafts; two pairs of movable shaft bearing elements, one pair for supporting each rewind shaft upon its respective pair of track members, each track member in turn supporting its respective shaft bearing element whereby said shafts are horizontal and in said selected plane; guide means for holding said shafts parallel to said drum axis; and a pair of shaft drive motors for driving respective of said two rewind shafts, said motors being mounted upon their respective shaft bearing elements of respective of said shafts.

5. In apparatus of the class described, a platen drum; a pair of rewind shafts; means for mounting said platen drum for rotation about a horizontal axis in a selected horizontal plane; two pairs of track members, one pair for each of such rewind shafts; two pairs of movable shaft bearing elements, each pair for supporting its re spective rewind shaft, each track member in turn supporting its respective shaft bearing element whereby said shafts are held horizontal; linkage means for holding said shafts parallel to said drum axis during relative movement of said drum and shafts toward and away from one another;

an'd'a pair of shaft drive motors for driving respective of said two rewind shafts, each of said motors being mounted upon its respective shaft bearing element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hoe Feb. 3, 1914 Church Apr. 21, 1914