US3025014A

US3025014A - Liner removal attachment for tape dispeners

Info

Publication number: US3025014A
Application number: US484973A
Authority: US
Inventors: James H Casey
Original assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: 3M Co
Priority date: 1955-01-31
Filing date: 1955-01-31
Publication date: 1962-03-13
Anticipated expiration: 1979-03-13

Description

March 13, 1962 J. H. CASEY 3,025,014

LINER REMOVAL ATTACHMENT FOR TAPE DISPENSERS Filed Jan. 51, 1955 United States Patent Ofilice 3,025,014 Patented Mar. 13, 1962 3,625,014 LINER REMGVAL ATTACHMENT FOR TAPE DliSPENERS James H. Casey, Roseville Township, Ramsey County,

Minn assignor to Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 31, 1955, Ser. No. 4s4-s73 8 Claims. (Cl. 242 e7.a

Normally tacky pressure-sensitive adhesive tape was originally commercially available in forms wherein the coating of adhesive was on only one side of the backing, the other side, or back side, being non-tacky. Forms of the tape are available however, wherein both sides of the backing or carrier sheet are coated, such forms being frequently referred to as double-coated pressuresensitive adhesive tape.

Double-coated pressure-sensitive adhesive tape has a variety of uses, one important use being to employ it as a substitute for a coating or layer of ordinary glue, mucilage or paste where two articles are to be adhered to each other. Where two sheets of paper are to be adhered together in laminated form, for example, the doublecoated tape may be employed by placing a cut length or a plurality of cut lengths of the tape on a surface of one of the sheets and then bringing the surface of the second sheet into contact with the exposed surface of the tape in the desired position. The tape, being normally tacky on both sides, will adhere to both of the sheets of paper and hold them permanently together.

Tape is customarily put up for use by the consumer in rolls. 'In order to enable the present commercial forms of double-coated tape to be unwound easily, it is customary to insert a liner between the convolutions of the tape when the tape is being wound into rolls by the tape manufacturer, the liner being a strip of sheet material of such character that it delam-inates easily from the adhesive coated surfaces of the tape when the roll is unwound. The liner is necessarily of the same length as the tape in any given roll, and is ordinarily of no use to the consumer after being removed from the tape roll. Thus, in using double-coated tape, the disposal of the liner is a problem.

An automatic removal and disposal of the liner is of course preferable to manual. Dispensers for liner-wound pressure-sensitive adhesive tape with automatic liner removal and disposal are shown in the Hoover United States Patent No. 2,325,400 issued July 27, 1943 and in the Polster, Aldrich and Berlin United States Patent No. 2,708,076 issued May 10, 1955. The dispenser shown in the latter is a multi-roll dispenser wherein a liner-wound roll of doublecoated tape and a linerless roll of singlecoated tape are simultaneously available.

Such dispensers however, are relatively new and less in demand than the numerous types of dispensers and dispensing mechanisms for the conventional single-coated tape that are being made and that have been made over a long period of years, and an objective of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive attachment for existing dispensing assemblies of the conventional type whereby the latter may be converted into dispensers for liner-wound double-coated tape with automatic liner removal.

A further objective is the provision of a simple guide means for lateral retention of the liner take-up roll as it builds up, that will be adjustable to fit the different widths of tape that are dispensed at dilierent times.

These and other objectives are successfully achieved by the present invention which provides a conversion attachment characterized by an anchoring element for mounting the attachment on the tape dispensing assembly, a

liner take-up arm pivotally mounted on the anchoring element and a liner take-up drum mounted on the free end of the take-up arm.

The conversion attachment of the present invention is particularly suitable for the desk or counter type tape dispenser that consists essentially of a base having a tape roll cavity, a means for mounting a tape roll, and a severing means spaced from the tape roll. An example of one form of this class of dispensing assemblies is shown in the Reinecke United States Design Patent No. 169,989 issued July 7, 1953.

An illustrative embodiment of the present invention is described below and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a previously known type of desk or counter type dispenser;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser of FIGURE 1 with a conversion attachment made according to the present invention, mounted thereon;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the converted dispenser of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a rear elevation; and

FIGURES 5 and 6 show two forms, respectively, of the liner roll drum and guide plate assembly.

The conventional dispenser (without the liner removal attachment) shown in FIGURE 1, consists essentially of a base or body portion 10, a drum 11 for holding a supply roll 12 of tape mounted for free rotation in the upper mid-portion of the base 10, a tape roll cavity or well 13 in the base to accommodate the drum 11 and the tape roll 12, and a severing means 14 at the forward end of the base.

Referring now to the conversion attachment which is mounted on the dispenser, as shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, an anchoring means is here shown in the form of a vertically disposed anchoring arm 20 at the rear of the dispenser base 10. The arm 20 is removably fixed to the base 10 by a tongue 21 which extends downwardly into the tape roll cavity 13 from the upper end of the arm, and by a lip 22 which extends forwardly from the lower end of the arm along the under surface of the base 10 and into engagement therewith. The arm is mounted by first inserting the tongue into the cavity and then positioning the lip.

A liner take-up arm 25 is pivotally mounted on the anchoring arm 20 by means of a normally horizontally disposed shaft 26 which is journaled in the upper end of the arm 20, the lower end of the arm 25 being fixed to the left end (FIGURE 4) of the shaft 26. A cylindrical torsion spring 27 surrounds the shaft 26, the right end of the spring being fixed to the shaft, the left end bearing against the inner wall of the anchoring arm 20. The spring is loaded to impel the liner take-up arm clockwise (FIGURE 3) toward the tape supply roll drum 11.

A liner take-up drum 30 is rotatably mounted on the upper or free end of the liner take-up arm 25 by means of an axle 31. The left end (FIGURE 4) of the axle is fixed in the arm 25. The drum 30 is journaled on the axle. Axial movement of the drum 30 to the left is limited by the arm 25, and to the right by a head 32 that is fixed on the axle.

The axis of the shaft 26 (the axis of oscillation of the liner take-up arm 25) and the axis of the liner take-up drum 36 are parallel; and these in turn are parallel with the axis of the supply roll drum 11, and the take-up drum 30 is aligned with the supply roll drum 11, when the anchoring arm 20 is in position on the dispenser.

Thus when a roll 12' of liner-wound double-coated tape 35 is mounted on the supply roll drum 11, the spring 27 causes the liner take-up drum 30 to bear against the tape roll 12 in peripheral contact therewith, so that when the tape 35 is manually withdrawn from. the roll 12 toward the knife 14, the resulting rotation of the tape roll 12' in the direction of the arrow 36 causes the liner takeup drum 30 to rotate in the direction of the arrow 37. When a fresh roll 12' of the liner-wound double-coated tape 35 is mounted in the dispenser and the leading end of the tape is manually drawn forwardly toward the knife 14, the leading end of the liner is simultaneously manually withdrawn from between the convolutions of tape on the roll 12 and trained around the liner take-up drum 30, so that as the drum 30 rotates, it takes up the liner and forms a roll 38 thereof. After the first convolution of the roll 38 has been formed, it is the liner roll 38 that is in peripheral contact with the tape roll 12, as shown in FIGURE 3, and not the liner take-up drum 30.

The pressure of the liner take-up arm 25 against the tape supply roll 12 through the drum 30 and liner roll 38, in response to the spring 27, exerts an upward pull on the anchoring arm 20, thereby holding the lip 22 in a more secure engagement with the under surface of the base 10.

An important feature of the invention is the liner roll guide plates 40, the construction of the liner take-up drum 30 and the relationship between the plates and the drum.

The convolutions of the liner roll 38 are susceptible to lateral slippage and movement relative to one another as the roll increases in size, in the absence of a lateral confining means, sometimes to the extent that the roll collapses, particularly with liners of relatively narrow widths, such as A, and /2 inch..

To prevent this, the guide plates 40 are provided; and to permit changing the position of the plates to accommodate different widths of liner and tape, the liner roll drum 30 is specially constructed, two illustrative forms being described below and shown in FIGURES and 6.

The liner roll drum is primarily characterized by a plurality of spaced-apart circumferential grooves 41 into which the plates 40 are inserted.

A preferred form is illustrated by the drum 30 shown in FIGURE 5. The drum 30 is made up of a plurality of discs 42 of equal diameter mounted for free rotation and free axial movement on the axle 31. As previously described, the left end of the axle 31 is fixed in the liner take-up arm 25, and a head 32 is fixed on the right end of the axle. The distance between the arm 25 and the axle head 32 is equal to the combined thickness of the discs 42 and the two guide plates 40, plus a slight amount for clearance to permit free rotation of the discs. The spaces between the discs provide the drum with the circumferential grooves 41. When the two plates are insorted into two respective grooves, i.e., into two respective spaces 41 between the discs, as shown, the discs are held close together and their combined peripheries form the periphery of the drum 3% on which the liner is wound.

Inasmuch as the widths of most commercially available liner-wound tapes are multiples of A; inch, the discs each preferably have a width or thickness of Va inch.

The plates 44 are held in place by a slot 45 in each plate into which the axle 31 fits.

The liner roll take-up drum 30' of FIGURE 6, an alternative form, is a cylinder cut with deep spaced-apart grooves 41 to accommodate the plates 40 and mounted, like the discs 42 of the drum 30, on the axle 31. For such a drum, the slots 45 in the plates 40 must be large enough to accommodate the diameter of the drum at the bottom of the grooves 41', which is slightly greater than the diameter of the axle 31.

Each plate 40 is preferably elongate, and of the configuration shown in FIGURE 3, with an upper end 40a extending at least as far as the radial extent of a full liner roll 38, and a lower end approximating bifurcation with a downwardly extending lobe 40b to provide lateral confinement for the tape supply roll 12 and a rearwardly extending tail 400 to rest on the upper end of the anchoring arm 20 and to provide a grasping means when inserting or removing the plate. The slot 45 extends inwardly from the under edge of the plate for a distance and thence at an angle to form an L-shaped slot, the base of the L being approximately coincident with the plates axis and pointing toward the upper end 40a of the plate.

A relatively narrow liner removal attachment on a relatively wide dispenser permits a roll of linerless tape and a roll of liner-wound tape both to be placed in the one dispenser side by side and made simultaneously available, and an operator may use as much or as little of each as is desired.

The liner removal attachment is suitable for tape dispensing assemblies other than those commonly known as tape dispensers.

The assembly of liner take-up drum and guide plates is suit-able for liner take-up mechanisms other than the liner removal attachment.

There are numerous alternatives and equivalents. All embodiments within the scope of the invention described and/or claimed herein, are contemplated.

I claim:

1. A liner removal device suitable for attachment to a previously constructed conventional tape dispensing assembly; the said assembly comprising a base having a tape roll cavity and a means for rotatably mounting a supply roll of liner-wound tape; the said liner removal device comprising an anchoring element, a liner take-up arm mounted on the anchoring element for oscillation of a free end of the take-up arm about an axis, a liner take-up drum mounted on the free end of the take-up arm for free rotation about an axis that is parallel with the said axis of oscillation, and spring means for impelling the free end of the take-up arm toward the supply roll mounting means to bring the take-up drum to bear on the tape supply roll when the anchoring element is mounted on the tape dispensing assembly in a position such that the take-up drum axis and the axis of the tape supply roll are parallel and the take-up drum is aligned with the tape supply roll; the said anchoring element comprising an anchoring arm which is vertically disposed when mounted on the dispenser, a tongue on the upper end of the anchoring arm for insertion into the cavity, and a lip at the lower end of the anchoring arm for engagement with the under surface of the base, the liner take-up arm being pivoted on the upper end of the anchoring arm.

2. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein the liner take-up drum comprises a cylinder having a plurality of spaced-apart circumferential grooves, a liner roll guide plate held in one of the grooves, and a second liner roll guide plate held in another groove, the plates being parallel with each other and extending outwardly from the cylinder for lateral confinement of a liner being wound on the take-up drum from the supply roll of linerwound tape.

3. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein the liner take-up drum comprises an axle, a plurality of discs of equal diameter mounted for free rotation and free axial movement on the axle, and means for limiting the axial movement of the discs, a liner roll guide plate between two of the discs, and a second liner roll guide plate between two of the discs, the plates being parallel with each other and having at least one disc between them, the plates extending radially outwardly from the discs for lateral confinement of a liner being wound on the take-up drum from the supply roll of liner-wound tape.

4. An attachment according to claim "1 wherein the liner take-up drurn comprises a cylinder having a plurality of spaced-apart circumferential grooves, a liner roll guide plate held in .one of the grooves, and a second liner roll guide plate held in another groove, the plates being parallel with each other and extending outwardly from the cylinder for lateral confinement of a liner being wound on the take-up drum from the supply roll of liner-wound tape; and wherein each liner roll guide plate is elongate,

one portion extending upwardly above the liner take-up drum, the opposite portion extending downwardly below the take-up drum, the said downwardly extending portion having a downwardly extending lobe to provide lateral confinement for the tape supply roll and a rearwardly extending tail to bear on the upper end of the anchoring arm.

5. An attachment according to claim 4 wherein each liner roll guide plate has a slot which extends inwardly from an edge of the plate and then at an angle to form an L-shaped slot, the base of the L being approximately coincident with the plates axis.

6. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein the liner take-up drum comprises an axle, a plurality of discs of equal diameter mounted for free rotation and free axial movement on the axle, and means for limiting the axial movement of the discs, a liner roll guide plate between two of the discs, and a second liner roll guide plate between two of the discs, the plates being parallel with each other and having at least one disc between them, the plates extending radially outwardly from the discs for lateral confinement of a liner being wound on the take-up drum from the supply roll of liner-wound tape; and wherein each liner roll guide plate is elongate, one portion extending upwardly above the liner take-up drum, the opposite portion extending downwardly below the take-up drum, the said downwardly extending portion having a downwardly extending lobe to provide lateral confinement for the tape supply roll and a rearwardly extending tail to bear on the upper end of the anchoring arm.

7. An attachment according to claim 6 wherein each liner roll guide plate has a slot which extends inwardly from an edge of the plate and then at an angle to form an L-shaped slot, the base of the L being approximately coincident with the plates axis.

8. A liner removal attachment for a tape dispenser that comprises a base having a tape roll cavity and a means for rotatably mounting a supply roll of linerwound tape, the said attachment comprising an anchoring arm which is vertically disposed when mounted on the dispenser, a tongue on the upper end of the anchoring arm for insertion into the cavity, a lip on the lower end of the anchoring arm for engagement with the under surface of the base, a liner take-up arm pivotally mounted on the upper end pf the anchoring arm for oscillation of a free end of the take-up arm about an axis, a liner takeup drum mounted on the free end of the take-up arm for free rotation about an axis that is parallel with the said axis of oscillation; the take-up drum comprising an axle, a plurality of discs of equal diameter mounted for free roation and free axial movement on the axle, and means for limiting the axial movement of the discs; an elongate liner roll guide plate between two of the discs, a second elongate liner roll guide plate between two of the discs, the plates being parallel with each other and having at least one disc between them, one portion of each plate extending upwardly above the take-up drum, the opposite portion extending downwardly below the take-up drum, the said downwardly extending portion having a downwardly extending lobe to provide lateral confinement for the tape supply roll and a rearwardly extending tail to bear on the upper end of the anchoring arm, and each plate having a slot which extends inwardly from an edge of the plate and then at an angle to form an L- shaped slot, the base of the L being approximately coincident with the plates axis, and spring means for impelling the free end of the take-up arm toward the supply roll mounting means to bring the take-up drum to bear on the tape supply roll when the anchoring arm is mounted on the dispenser in a position such that the takeup drum axis and the axis of the tape supply roll are parallel and the take-up drum is aligned with the tape sup ply roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,604,794 Sutton Oct. 26, 1926 2,111,054 Paul Mar. 15, 1938 2,297,525 Anheuser Sept. 29, 1942 2,594,800 Ranney Apr. 29, 1952 2,660,381 Friedl et al Nov. 24, 1953 2,686,013 Christian Aug. 10, 1954 2,708,076 Polster et a1 May 10. 1955