US3805652A

US3805652A - Automatic tail cutter

Info

Publication number: US3805652A
Application number: US00249980A
Authority: US
Inventors: Londe E La; G Bartels
Original assignee: IND RES AND ENG Inc
Current assignee: IND RES AND ENG Inc
Priority date: 1972-05-03
Filing date: 1972-05-03
Publication date: 1974-04-23
Anticipated expiration: 1991-04-23
Also published as: CA978084A

Abstract

An automatic tail cutter for rapidly cutting paper, plastic, aluminum, or other material exiting from a machine for producing the material in a continuous strip or sheet, the tail cutter having a knife blade which is pivotably mounted on a carriage. The carriage is slidably mounted for movement by a fluid actuated drive means along a guide track positioned transversely of the direction of movement of the strip of paper. The carriage is connected to a chain drive mechanism contained within a housing on which the guide track is mounted, the chain drive mechanism being powered by a fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The rate of movement of the knife carriage is determined by the relative diameters of the chain sprockets of the chain drive mechanism and the rate of movement of the piston and piston rod relative to the cylinder of the fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The housing and guide track are mounted for vertical movement relative to the plane of the paper strip by a parallelogram linkage, with vertical movement of the housing being obtained by a fluid actuated support means including a second fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The supply of fluid pressure to both fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assemblies is controlled by means of an automatic electrical control circuit to cut the continuous sheet of material for winding into separate rolls.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 LaLonde et al.

[ AUTOMATIC TAIL CUTTER [75] Inventors: Earl E. LaLonde; Gerald D. Bartels,

both of Missoula, Mont.

[73] Assignee: Industrial Research & Engineering,

Inc., Portland, Oreg.

[22] Filed: May 3, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 249,980

Campbell, Leigh, Hall & Whinston [57] ABSTRACT An automatic tail cutter for rapidly cutting paper,

[ Apr. 23, 1974 plastic, aluminum, or other material exiting from a machine for producing the material in a continuous strip or sheet, the tail cutter having a knife blade which is pivotably mounted on a carriage. The carriage is slidably mounted for movement by a fluid actuated drive means along a guide track positioned transversely of the direction of movement of the strip of paper. The carriage is connected to a chain drive mechanism contained within a housing on which the guide track is mounted, the chain drive mechanism being powered by a fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The rate of movement of the knife carriage is determined by the relative diameters of the chain sprockets of the chain drive mechanism and the rate of movement of the piston and piston rod relative to the cylinder of the fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The housing and guide track are mounted for vertical movement relative to the plane of the paper strip by a parallelogram linkage, with vertical movement of the housing being obtained by a fluid actuated support means including a second fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The supply of fluid pressure to both fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assemblies is controlled by means of an automatic electrical control circuit to cut the continuous sheet of material for winding into separate rolls.

14 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FATENTEDAPR 2 IBM 3805652 SHEET 1 OF 2 1 AUTOMATIC TAIL CUTTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to automatic cutter apparatus for cutting a moving strip of sheet material, such as a tail cutter for cutting paper, plastics, aluminum, or other material which exits from a machine for producing the material in a continuous sheet form and is wound onto spools. More particularly, the invention is an automatically controlled high speed paper tail cutter adaptable for use with any width of material to be cut.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the paper industry, particularly in the paper manufacturing industry, the completed paper exits from a paper making machine as a continuous strip or sheet. The continuous strip is wound into rolls on a rotating spool, with the completed roll having diameters of approximately 7 feet.

Following the completion of the winding of a roll of paper, it is necessary to cut the continuous sheet of paper remove the completed roll from the support members, and start the winding of the severed end of the continuous sheet onto a new spool. These steps must be carried out rapidly, since the paper continues to exit from the paper machine. This operation is carried out in the conventional manner by having a worker manually drive a knife through the continuous sheet near one edge thereof and maintain the knife in this position, thus resulting in the formation of a long narrow strip of paper, or a tail between successive rolls. This tail is severed from the preceding roll by any desired method, such as by air pressure or by application of water, and substantially simultaneously placed around an empty spool, by a second worker. Immediately upon the placing of the tail around theempty spool, the first worker is requiredto rapidly pull the knife across the remaining width of the sheet of paper. This operation results in a considerable amount of wasted paper, due to the fact that the operation must be carried out manually. Also, the winding of the tail upon one end ofa new roll while the cutting operation is being carried out results in a large bulge being formed at one end of the roll, thereby causing wrinkles in the rolled paper. Furthermore, the manual movement of the knife across the width of the paper is a very hazardous job, due to the fact that the paper strip is continually moving and is very heavy.

Although various power actuated cutting means have been proposed, none of these cutting means solves the problem of coordinating the various steps required to sever the strip of paper from the preceding roll and initiate the winding onto a new spool. The prior art power driven paper cutters are rigidly mounted generally transversely of the path of paper travel and cut the strip of paper completely across its width without forming a tail. Furthermore, most of the prior art paper cutting devices cut the continuous paper strip on an angle, to compensate for the continuous motion of the paper strip in an effort to reduce waste of the initial layers wound onto a new spool.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic tail cutter which utilizes a fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly to drive a cutting knife at high speed along a track positioned transversely to the path of movement of a continuous strip of material.

The structure of the subject invention eliminates the requirement of manually cutting the continuous strip of material by automatically moving a blade guide track transversely relative to the plane of the strip to insert a cutting knife blade through the paper and then actuating a fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly to move the knife rapidly across the width of the strip, thereby reducing the hazard of an unsafe condition which exists to a worker manually severing the strip. I

Specifically, the present invention utilizes an automatic electrical control system for energizing electric solenoid valves for selectively controlling the application of fluid pressure to a first fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly for raising the cutting assembly in a vertical direction to drive a cutting knife through the continuous strip ofmaterial at the desired point and to a second fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly for moving a cutter blade at high speed across the width of the sheet. A chain drive arrangement greatly increases the speed of the cutting knife relative to the movement of the connecting rod of the second piston and cylinder assembly. The guide track of the cutter knife is maintained in parallel relationship to the plane of the sheet at all times by a parallelogram support linkage.

By utilizing the structure of the present invention, material, such as plastic, aluminum foil, or paper having a wide range of weight and widths may be cut by merely adjusting the control system, thereby eliminating the requirement of having an additional operator manually perform the hazardous job of inserting a cutting knife through the material and cutting the material. Furthermore, the invention eliminates the need for separate cutter assemblies to be used for strips having different widths and weights.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a vertical side view of the present invention assembled on atypical paper manufacturing machine, showing the relative relationship with the paper-and paper roll;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tail cutter assembly according to the present invention and the mounting arrangement for attachment to a paper machine;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal vertical cross-sectional view of the cutter of FIG. 2 showing the internal arrangement of the cutter drive mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the pneumatic actuating system for the present invention, including the constructional details of the air-over-oil drive piston and cylinder assembly; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the electrical control system for operating the automatic paper tail cutter according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Although the present invention may be use for cuting any type of material produced in a continuous strip, the construction of the preferred embodiment will be described as used in the environment of the paper manufacturing industry.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the automatic tail cutter assembly 20, according to the present invention, is mounted on the output side of a typical paper making machine by a mounting means including a parallelogram mounting linkage 31, which allows the cutter as-' sembly to be moved vertically toward and away from the plane of the strip of paper 12 exiting from the paper machine 10. The vertical position of the cutter assembly 20 is controlled by a fluid pressure actuated support means including a pneumatically actuated piston and cylinder assembly 54. The paper strip 12 passes out-of the machine 10 under a guide roll 17 and is wound onto a paper roll 14 formed on a spool 16, having a diameter of approximately 12 inches. The continuous paper strip 12 is pressed onto the roll 14 by means of a pressure roll 18, to maintain compression of the paper on the spool 16. A completed paper roll 14 formed on a spool 16 is moved away from the winding portion, as seen in FIG. 1, for removal to a storage area.

The construction of the paper tail cutter assembly 20 and its mounting linkage 31 will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings. The paper tail. cutter assembly 20 has an elongated housing 22 of a generally rectangular configuration longitudinally and transversely as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The housing 22 is formed with mounting brackets 23 and-24 located at each end thereof. The

mounting brackets

23 and 24 may be permanently attached to the side of the housing 22 by any suitable means, such as by bolting or by welding, or may be of a U- shaped configuration within which the housing 22 rests and is removably supported, if desired. The top surface of the housing 22 has a slot 25 formed therein along its length which forms a guide track for guiding the movement of a paper cutter knife blade 26. The cutter knife 26 is mounted on a knife holder 28, which, in turn, is pivotably mounted on a knife carriage 30. The knife carriage 30 is moved along the guide track or slot 25 by a fluid pressure actuated drive means hereafter described. If desired, the knife carriage 30 may be provided with anti-friction means, such as rollers, mounted in a vertical position for rolling engagement with the sides of the guide track 25 to reduce friction therebetween, although not specifically shown in the drawings.

The specific driving mechanism for moving the knife carriage 30 and, in turn, the cutter knife blade 26 along the track 25 in transverse relationahip to the path of movement of the paper strip 12 is accomplished by means of a stepped chain drive mechanism, shown in detail in FIG. 3. A chain passes around

sprocket wheels

41 and 42 rotatably mounted at each end of the housing 22 on

shafts

43 and 44, respectively, and is connected to the knife carriage 30 by any suitable means, such as by pivotably securing each end of the housing 22. The length of the chain 40 depends on the width of the paper machine and, accordingly, the overall length of the cutter housing 22.

One of the large diameter drive sprockets 41 has a small diameter sprocket 45 mounted coaxially therewith on the same shaft 43 for common rotation about shaft 43. The

sprockets

41 and 45 are drivingly connected together by any suitable means. For example, the

sprockets

41 and 45 may be either connected directly with each other and rotatable on shaft 43'by means of bearings, 0r secured to the shaft 43, which in turn, may be rotatably mounted on bearings in the housing 22. A second drive chain 46 passes around the small diameter sprocket 45 and another sprocket 47 rotatably mounted in housing 22 on a shaft 49. The diameter of the sprocket 47 is larger than the diameter of the sprocket 45. As with the

sprockets

41 and 45, a second sprocket 48 is mounted on shaft 49 and is drivingly connected with sprocket 47 for rotation therewith. This driving connection between

sprockets

47 and 48 may be accomplished in the same manner as the driving connection between

sprockets

41 and 45. The diameter of the sprocket 48 is less than the diameter of sprocket 47. A third drive chain passes around the small diameter sprocket 48 and a sixth sprocket 51, rotatably mounted in housing 22 on a fourth shaft 52.

The

chains

40, 46 and 50 are rotatably driven around their respective sprockets by means of an air-over-oil double piston and cylinder assembly 60, and chain 40, in turn, drives the knife carriage 30 and knife blade 26 along the guide track 25 of the housing 22. The airover-oil double piston and cylinder assembly has a cylinder 62 which is sub-divided into two separate chambers 63 and 65, with

pistons

64 and 66 being sealingly slidable within the chambers 63 and 65, respectively. Each of the

pistons

64 and 66 are secured to a piston rod 67 extending outwardly from one end of the cylinder 62. The outermost end of the piston rod 67 is connected to the third chain 50 for rotationally driving the small diameter sprocket 48, which in turn, rotates the larger diameter sprocket 47 to drive thefirst chain 40 passing around the large diameter sprocket 41 and connected to knife carriage 30.

The diameters of the

sprockets

51, 45, 47 and 48 are selected to provide the desired rate and distance of travel of the knife carriage 30 and knife blade 26 in response to the stroke of piston 66 and piston rod 67. By selecting the relative diameters of the sprockets in the manner illustrated in the drawings, a very rapid rate of movement of the knife blade 26 along the entire length of the housing 22 may be obtained by a short movement of the piston rod 67 upon the application of pneumaticpressure thereto. i

As shown in FIG. 3 and more particularly in FIG. 4, the air-over-oil double piston and cylinder assembly 60 includes a double chamber cylinder 62 having a first chamber 63 and a second chamber 65, with each of these chambers having a

piston

64 and 66 slidably contained therein, respectively. The first chamber 63 is selectively connected to a pneumatic pressure supply source through conduit 86 to drive the carriage 30 and cutter knife 26 along the track 25 to the left in FIG. 3 to cut the paper strip 12. Pneumatic pressure is supplied to conduit 87to return the carriage 30 and knife 28 to the starting, or right-hand position, inFIG. 3.

The second chamber is filled with oil, with opposite ends of the chamber 65 being connected with each other by conduit means 72 and a flow control system consisting of a manually operated flow adjusting valve means 73 and a one-way check valve means 74, shown only schematically in FIG. 3. The oil-filled second chamber 65 and piston 66, in conjunction with valve means 7'3 and 74, form a speed regulating system for the cutter knife 26, as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the first chamber 63 of the air-over-oil piston and cylinder assembly 60 has the space on the left-hand side of the piston 64 connected to a source of pneumatic pressure in conduit 90 by a conduit 86 connected to port 70 through a first threeway solenoid valve 100, while the space on the righthand side of piston 64 is connected to the supply conduit 90 through a second three-way solenoid valve 101 and conduit 87, connected to port 71. Both of the

solenoid valves

100 and 101 are of the three-way type which will connect the supply source conduit 90 with conduits 86 and 87, respectively, when the solenoids of the valves 100.and 101 are energized and will block communication of pneumatic pressure supply conduit 90.with the conduits 86 and 87 when the solenoids are de-energized, with the conduits 86 and 87 being exhausted to ambient atmosphere. By selectively controlling the energization and de-energization of the solenoids of the three-

way valves

100 and 101, the direction of movement of the piston 64 and connecting rod 67 and, accordingly, the driving of the knife carrier 30 and cutter blade 26, may be controlled.

As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the manually operated flow adjusting valve means 73 of FIG. 3 consists of two manually operated

valves

79 and 80 connected in separate passages of the conduit means 72. The one-way check valve means 74 of FIG. 3 includes first and second one-

way check valves

77 and 78 for allowing flow in opposite directions through the two passages of the conduit means 72. Each of the one-

way check valves

77 and 78 are used in conjunction with the manually operated

valves

79 and 80 respectively, to control the flow through each of the passages of the hydraulic conduit means 72 connecting

ports

75 and 76 located at opposite ends of the second chamber 65. By using this arrangement of one-way check valves and manually operated flow control valves, the speed at which the connecting rod 67 travels may be controlled by adjusting the

manual valves

79 and 80 to allow a pre-set fluid flow from one side of the piston 66 to the other. If rapid movement of the knife blade 26 in the cutting direction is desired, with a slow return speed, the manual valve 79 may be opened to allow maximum flow therethrough from the right side of piston 66 to the left side thereof, as seen in FIG. 4, with one-way .check valve 77 opening to allow flow in the prescribed direction. The manually adjustable valve 80 may be adjusted to obtain a predetermined restricted fluid flow from the left-hand sideof piston 66 to the right-hand side thereof on the return stroke of the piston rod 67, with the one-way check valve 78 being opened to allow restricted flow in the return direction, while check valve 77 is closed to block flow through the open valve 79.

A two-way electrically controlled solenoid valve 102 is connected in the conduit which allows flow from port 76 to port 75, for obtaining a hydraulic braking action of the cutter blade 26 and carriage 30 as will be explained in detail hereinafter.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the paper tail cutter assembly 20 is supported on the paper machine for vertical movement by means of a parallelogram mounting linkage 31, with the vertical positioning being carried out by means of a pneumatically actuated piston and cylinder assembly 54 mounted between the cutter assembly 20 and a support base or the floor. The parallelogram mounting linkage 31 has a pair of mounting

brackets

32 and 33 which are attached to the frame of the paper machine 10. Two supporting connecting

bars

34 and 35 extend horizontally between the mounting parallel connecting links, 36 and 37 on the left end and 38 and 39 on the right end, are pivotablyconnected between each mounting

bracket

23 and 24 on the tail cutter housing 22 and the horizontal supporting

bars

34 and 35 adjacent each mounting

bracket

32 and 33. By using such a parallelogram supporting linkage, the paper tail cutter assembly 20 is maintained in a vertical position at all times regardless of the height to which it is adjusted by means of the pneumatic piston and cylinder assembly 54.

The pneumatic piston and cylinder assembly 54 for adjusting the vertical position of the paper tail cutter assembly 20 includes a cylinder 55 which is secured to a base or to the floor by means of a mounting plate 56. A piston connecting rod 57 extends out of the opposite end of the cylinder andhas its external end attached to the bottom of the tail cutter assembly 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the pneumatic piston and cylinder assembly 54 for adjusting the vertical position of the paper tail cutter assembly 20 includes a piston 58 slidably contained with the cylinder 55 and connected to the end of the piston rod 57 extending into the interior of the cylinder 55. The cylinder 55 has a port 82 located on the bottom end thereof which is connectedto the pneumatic pressure supply line 90 by conduit 83 through a solenoid'operated three-way valve 103. A second port 84 in cylinder 55 connects the opposite side of piston 58 with the ambient atmosphere.

If desired, a pressure relief valve 88 may be connected in the pneumatic pressure supply line 90 to regulate the pressure supplied to

conduits

83, 86 and 87 through the three-

way solenoid valves

103, 100 and 101, respectively, although the use of such a valve located in the position shown in FIG. 4 is optional. In addition to the optional pressure relief valve 88, a manually adjustable shut-off valve 104 is shown as being connected in conduit 87 between the solenoid operated three-way valve 101 and the pneumatic pressure supply line 90 for adjusting the flow of pneumatic pressure to the piston return port 71 for providing an

additional brackets

32 and 33, as seen in FIG. 2. Two equal length control for adjusting the rate of return of the cutter knife 26, since the return speed of the cutter knife 26 is considerably less than the cutting speed of the knife.

The electrical circuit of FIG. 5 shows solenoid coils a, 101a, 102a and 103a for actuating

solenoid valves

100, 101, 102 and 103, respectively, relay coils 119, 123, 141 and 142, and their respective normally I open

relay contacts

119a and 119b, 123a and 123b, 141a, and 142a, respectively. An optional set of normally closed relay contacts l23c may be provided on the relay 123 for controlling solenoid a of a solenoid valve (not shown) to control the supply of water to an optional water spray system to be described hereinafter. The electrical control circuit also includes

manual switches

110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 121, 122, 136, optional water control switch 152, and automatically actuated

switches

130, 132, and 134. The

switches

114 and 116, 118, 121 and 122 are of the pust-button type for momentary actuation only. These switches are not held in position, but are merely pressed once to energize the coil of the corresponding relay and when released, return to the position shown in FIG. 5. An optional electrically disengaged brake 140, which is operatively connected to the chain drive mechanism, is also connected into the electrical control circuit and is disengaged by energization of relay coils 141 and 142, which'close contacts 141a and 142a, respectively. The switch 110 connects the control circuit to a power supply, while switch 112 controls either manual or automatic operation of the paper tail cutter and is shown in the manual position.

The'manual operation of the control system will be described initially. Initially, none of the relays and none of the solenoid coils are energized. Switch 1 10 is closed to supply electrical power to the two-position switch 112. The switch 112 supplies electrical power to switches 114 and l 16 when placed in the manual position. The forward switch 114 is momentarily closed to energize solenoid coils 100a and 102a and relay coil 141 to close relay contacts 141a, thus disengaging the brake 140 and causing the carriage 30 to move, or jog in small increments along track 25 to obtain the desired position of the cutter knife 26 relative to the longitudinal edge of the paper strip 12 prior to initiating a cutting operation. The manual reverse switch 116 may be momentarily depressed to energize solenoid coil 101a for actuating solenoid valve 101 and to energize relay coil 142 to close contacts 142a to disengage brake 140 to jog the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife 26in the reverse direction along track 25. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the solenoid coil 103a cannot be energized when the switch 112 is in the manual position, thereby preventing the actuation of solenoid valve 103. Accordingly, the pneumatically operated piston and cylinder assembly 54 cannot be actuated to raise the paper tail cutter 20 relative to the plane of travel of the paper strip 12.

I When the switch 112 is in the automatic position, switch 118, may be momentarily depressed to supply electrical current to relay coil 119 to close relay contacts 119a and 119b. The closing of contacts 119a maintains energization of the relay coil 119. Simultaneously, with the energization of relay coil 119, solenoid coil 103a is energizedto operate solenoid valve 103 to raise the paper tail cutter assembly 20. The first automatically actuated switch 130, mounted along the track 25 and actuated by the knife carriage 30, as shown'in FIG. 2, is connected in series with the relay coil 119 to de-energize the relay coil 119 and the solenoid coil 103a when the cutter knife carriage 30 reaches the pre-set limit of its travel along track 25. The manual switch 121, also connected in series with the relay coil 119 provides for emergency lowering of the cutter assembly 20. With switch 112 in the automatic position electrical current is also supplied to manual switch 122, connected to relay coil 123 through the second set ofrelay contacts 11% of 'relay- 119. The energization of. the relay coil 123 by momentary depression of the manual switch 122 closes the first set of relay contacts 123a connected in parallel with the manual switch 122 to maintain the energization of the relay coil 123, follow in g energization of the relay coil 1 19 by momentary depression" of the manual switch 118. The second set of relay" contacts [23b are also closed to complete the electrical circuit to the solenoid coils 100a and 102a for operating

solenoid valves

100 and 102 to supply pneumatic pressure to piston and cylinder assembly 60 and release the hydraulic brake to drive the knife carriage 30in the forward, or cutting direction, and simultaneously energize relay coil 141 to close contacts 141a to disengage the brake 140.

The second automatically actuated limit switch 132 is connected in series with the solenoid coils a and 102a and relay coil 14] and is mounted along the path of travel of the knife carriage 30 to be actuated thereby when the carriage 30 reaches the pre-set limit of travel, as seen in H6. 2. The actuation of the second limit switch 132 by the knife carriage 30 de-energizes the solenoid coils 100a and 1020 to stop the forward travel of the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife 26 and engages the mechanical brake 140.

The third automatically actuated limit switch 134 is positioned at the bottom limit of the path of vertical movement of the tail cutter assembly 20 and is connected in series with the-third set of normally closed relay contacts 1190 of relay 119, manual switch 136, and the solenoid coil 1010 to actuate the three-way solenoid valve 101 for return of the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife 26 to their original, or start positions, when the tail cutter assembly 20 is lowered below the plane of the paper strip 12. The relay coil 142 is connected in parallel with the solenoid coil 101a to close the relay contacts 142a when energized to disengage the brake duringthe return motion of the knife carriage 30.

The 'use of the electrically disengaged brake 141 is an optional feature of the present invention and may be used in addition to the hydraulic braking action provided by the electrically operated two-solenoid valve 102. Although shown only schematically in FIG. 5, the mechanical brake 140 may be mounted on

shaft

43 or 44 in housing 22 of the tail cutter assembly 20 and operatively connected with either of the

sprockets

41 or 42 for braking the rotation thereof when movement of the carriage 30 is desired to be stopped,

A further optional feature which may be adapted to the subject invention and controlled by the control circuit shown in FIG. 5 is a water spraying system for applying water to the initial layers of paper wound onto spool 16 to reduce wrinkles in the first layers of paper. Although not shown in the drawings, the water spray mechanism may be located in the general vicinity of the spool 16 for application of water thereto at scribed time.

- As will be seen from FIG. 5, the solenoid a of a water control valve is connected to the source of power supply through the set of normally closed relay contacts 1230 on relay 123, manual switch 152 and a time delay relay controlled switch 154 when the manual switch 1 12 is in the automatic position. If desired, the time delay relay controlled contacts 154 may be provided as a part of the cut relay 123.

Having described the structural details of the present invention, the operation thereof will now be set forth in detail. As the continuous strip of paper 12 exits from the paper machine 10, it passes under a guide roll 17 and is wrapped onto a spool 16. When the prescribed amount of paper is wound into the paper roll 14 on the spool 16, the paper strip 12 must be severed, with a narrow strip remaining along one edge of the paper strip 12 to initiate the wrapping of the paper strip continuing to exit from the paper machine 10 onto the next spindle. This narrow strip of paper is referred to as a tail in the paper industry. When the cutting of the paper tail and the strip 12 is to be commenced by the paper tail cutter assembly 20, the cutter knife 26 and carriage are in the initial, or start position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The main switch 110 is switched to the On position the prepiston 64 and connecting rod 67 in the forward direction, or to the left as seen in FIG. 3. Simultaneously, the

coil 102a of two-way solenoid valve 102 is energized to allow fluid communication between

ports

76 and 75 of the second chamber 65 to enable the piston 66 to move in the right-hand direction as seen in FIG. 4. The operation of the Forward jog switch 114 is intermittent and is used to position the knife blade 26 approximately inches in from the side edge of the paper strip 12 to cut the desired width of paper tail. The knife holder 28 is pivotable on the knife carriage 30 to enable the cutter knife blade 26 to cut in both a longitudinal and a transverse direction of the paper strip 12.

When the knife carriage 30 is positioned in the proper location relative to the side edge of the continuous paper strip 12, the operator then switches the twoposition switch 112 to the automatic position to supply electrical current to the vertical positioning switch 118 and the cut operation initiating switch 122. At the prescribed moment, the operator momentarily closes the normally open switch 118 to supply current to the coil of the relay 119, which, in turn, closes contacts 119a to maintain energization of the coil. The actuation of the switch 118 also energizes the coil 103a of the threeway solenoid valve 103 to supply pneumatic pressure from line 90 to port 82 of the vertical height adjusting pneumatic piston and cylinder assembly 54 through conduit 83. Since port 84 is open to the ambient atmosphere, the piston 58 of the piston and cylinder assembly 54 will be raised causing the piston rod 57 to raise the housing 22 of the paper tail cutter assembly in a vertical direction on the parallelogram mounting linkage 31. This vertical motion causes the cutter knife blade 26 to be driven through the paper, thereby initiating the cutting of the narrow strip or paper tail.

When the tail is cut to the desired length, the operator then momentarily closes the cut start switch 122. Since switch 122 is connected in series with contacts 11% on relay 119 which are closed by the previous energization of the coil of the relay 119, electric current is supplied to the coil of the cut relay 123. The energization of the cut relay 123 closes a first set of contacts 123a connected in parallel with the switch 122 to maintain the supply of current to the relay 123. Simultaneously, a second set of contacts 123b are closed to en ergize the coil 100a of the Forward three-way solenoid valve 100 to convey pneumatic pressure from the supply line 90 to Forward port 70 of the air-over-oil piston and cylinder assembly 60 through conduit 86. At the same time, the coil 102a of the two-way solenoid valve 102 is energized to open communication between

ports

76 and 75 to allow passage of the oil contained in chamber 65 therebetween. Accordingly, the

pistons

64 and 66 and connecting rod 67 will be moved to the left, as seen in FIG. 3 at a rate depending upon the amount of opening of the manual valve 79.

The movement of the connecting rod 67 to the left in FIG. 3 causes the chain 50 to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction. The rotation of the sprocket 48 in a counter-clockwise direction, in turn, drives the larger diameter sprocket 47 in a counter-clockwise direction and imparts a linear rate of travel to the chain 46 which is greater than the linear rate of travel of the chain 50. The chain.46 drivesthe smaller diameter sprocket 45 in a counter-clockwise direction and, do to the operative connection between

sprockets

45 and 41, the larger diameter sprocket 41 is also driven in a counterclockwise direction, thereby imparting a linear rate of travel to the large chain 40 substantially greater than the linear rate of travel of either of the

chains

46 or 50.

The movement of the sprocket 41 in the counterclockwise direction causes the chain 40 to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 3, thereby moving the knife carriage 30 and the cutter blade 26 to the left, or transverse to the path of movement of the paper strip 12 at a high rate of speed. The rate at which the cutter blade 26 travels is determined by the manual adjustment of the flow control valve 79.

When the knife carriage 30 has reached the left limit of its movement, as determined by the specific location of the

limit switches

130 and 132, depending upon the width of.the paper strip 12 to be cut, the

limit switches

130 and 132 are tripped to open the contacts thereof. As will be seen from FIG. 5, the opening of limit switch 130 will de-energize the relay coil 119 to open contacts 119a and 119b, and simultaneously, de-energize the coil 103a of the three-way solenoid valve 103 to shut off the supply of pneumatic pressure from conduit 90 to conduit 83. The conduit 83 will be exhausted to the ambient atmosphere through the three-way valve 103, thereby causing the paper tail cutter assembly 20 mm lowered from its cutting position due to the weight of the assembly acting on the piston rod 57.

The opening of the second set of contacts 119!) on the Up relay 119 will shut off current to the coil of the Cut relay 132, thereby causing the two sets of

contacts

123a and 123b to open. The opening of the contacts 123a and l23b will interrupt the supply of current to the solenoid 100a of the Forward three-way solenoid valve 100, which will block communication between the pneumatic line 90 and the port of the first chamber 63 in the air-over-oil piston and cylinder assembly 60 and will exhaust the port 70 and conduit 86 to the ambient atmosphere. The coil 102a of the two-way solenoid valve 102 will also be de-energized to interrupt hydraulic communication between ports 76 and of the second chamber 65, thereby resulting in the braking of the movement of the piston 66 contained therein and, accordingly, the movement of piston rod 67 to brake the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife 26.

Since the second stroke limit switch 132 is positioned along the path of movement of the cutter carriage 30, the opening of the contacts of the limit switch 132 can also serve to tie-energize the solenoid coils a and 102a of

solenoid valves

100 and 102. Therefore, by positioning the limit switches and 132 in such a position that the cutter carriage 30 will contact the stroke limit switch 132 before the limit switch 130, the motion of the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife 26 will be stopped prior to the opening of the contacts of the first stop limit switch 130. By positioning the

limit switches

130 and 132 in this manner, the paper tail cutter assembly 20 will be maintained in its uppermost vertical position until the operator manually depresses the normally closed switch 121 to de-energize the coil of the Up relay 119.

assembly 20 is lowered to the predetermined verticalposition for actuation of the normally open automatic limit switch 134, the contacts of the switch 134 are closed to apply electric current to the normally closed third-set of contacts 1190 of the 'Up relay 119. Since current supplied to the energizing coil of the Up relay 119 has been interrupted, either by the opening of the contacts of the first limit switch 30 by contact with the cutter carriage 30 or by the manual opening of the normally closed switch 121 by the operator, the third set of contacts 119c return to their normally closed position to allow electric current to flow through switch 136 when it is positioned in the automatic Return position as shown in FIG. 5, to energize the solenoid coil 101a of the three-way carriage return solenoid'valve 101.

Energization of the coil 101a of solenoid valve 101 communicates pneumatic pressure from line 90 to the return port 71 of the first chamber 63 of the air-over-oil piston and cylinder assembly 60 through conduit 87 to move piston 64 in the left-hand direction, as seen in FIG. 4, or to the right, as seen in FIG. 3. The speed at which the piston and connecting rod 67 moves due tothe. application of pneumatic pressure to port 71 is controlled by the adjustment of manual adjusting valve 80 connected in the second passage of the passage means 72 between the

ports

75 and 76 of the oil filled second chamber 65.

Return flow through they first manual valve 79 is blocked by the first one-way valve 77, with fluid passage from port 75 to port 76 through the second manual valve 80 being allowed by the second one-way valve 78, as seen in FIG. 4. By adjusting the second manual valve 80 to regulate the flow of hydraulic fluid from port 75 to port 76, the speed at which the knife carriage 30 and cutter blade 26 returns to its initial position is greatly reduced. If desired, a further manually adjustable valve :104 maybe inserted inpneumatic conduit 87 between the pneumatic pressure supply line 90 and the three-way solenoid valve 101 to restrict the flow of pneumatic pressure therethrough to control the return speed of carriage 30.

i As described previously, the disengagement of the brake 140 will occur whenever the coils 100a 101a of the Forward or

Return solenoid valves

100 or 101 are energized, since the coils of the two brake disengaging relays 141 and 142 are connected in parallel with the solenoid coils 100 a and 101a, respectively, for closing normally open contacts 141a and 142a, respectively.

The operation of the optional water spray system will now bedescribed with reference to FIG. 5. When the with a set of normally closed contacts 1230, which are maintained in their open position while the coil 123 is energized. Each of the sets of contacts 154 and 123C, as well as the manual switch 152, are connected in series with the energizing coil 150a of a water supply solenoid valve (not shown).

Immediately upon the completion of the cutting movement of the cutter blade 26 across the width of the paper strip 12, an operator will wrap the narrow paper tail onto a new spool 16. Simultaneously, the normally closed contacts 1230 will be closed due to the de-energization of the relay 123 coil in response to the opening of the contacts of limit switch with the contacts 154 being maintained in their closed position for a predetermined short period of time of approximately 3 seconds, by the time delay relay operatively connected therewith, thus completing the electric circuit to the coil of the water solenoid valve 150.

Energization of the coil a of the water solenoid valve will cause water to be supplied to a spray device for spraying water onto the paper being wound on the new spool 16, which will cause the wrinkles in the first few layers of paper to be eliminated. Since the time delay relay maintains the contacts 154 closed for a very short periodof time, the timingout of this relay will open the contacts 154 to interrupt the water supply to the spray device. 3

Although the present invention has been described with regard to the preferred embodiment thereof using the automatic operation provided by the control system, the above-described cutting operation performed by the cutting device of the subject invention may also be carried out by manually operating the various switches, if so desired. However, the use of the automatic control system greatly reduces the time and effort involved in operating the subject device.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic strip cutter apparatus comprising, an elongated housing adapted for mounting transversely relative to a path of movement of a continuous moving strip of sheet material to be cut, a guide track provided on said housing, a cutter knife carriage mounted for movement along said track, said carriage having a cutting knife operatively'attached thereto, fluid pressure actuated drive means for moving said carriage along said track and stopping said movement, mounting means for movably supporting said elongated housing for 'movement toward and away from said continuous strip, fluid pressure actuated support means for adjusting the position of said housing, said track and said cutter knife toward and away from said strip, and a control means for energizing and de-energizing said support means and said drive means in a predetermined order for operating said cutter apparatus.

2. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a cutter knife holder pivotably mounted on said knife carriage, said cutter knife being attached to said knife holder, whereby said cutter knife is free to pivot and cut in a plurality of directions, depending on the direction of force being applied against the cutter knife.

3. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 1, further comprising water spray means operatively connected to said control means and adapted to spray water onto material being wound onto rolls, said control means including a time delay energizing means, said control means actuating said water spray means at the end of a cutting operation of said knife of said tail cutter, said time delay energizing means maintaining operation of said water spray means for a pre-selected time period following the end of the cutting operation and de-activating said water spray at the end of said pre-selected time period.

4. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mounting means comprises a first and a second support bracket attached to a paper machine in spaced-apart relationship to each other, said housing being movably attached to said support brackets by two equal length parallel supporting links connected at each end of said housing, said parallel supporting links and each of said support brackets and said housing forming a parallelogram'linkage for maintaining said housing in a vertical position during vertical movement of said housing.

5. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a first and a second horizontal bar positioned parallel to each other and having their ends pivotably supported by said support brackets, each of said two equal length parallel supporting links at each end of said housing having one end rigidly attached to one of said first and second horizontal bars adjacent said support brackets.

6. An automatic strip cutter in accordance with claim 1 in which the drive means and the support means are cylinder means connected to a source of fluid pressure through electrically controlled valve which are selectively operated by said control means.

7. An automatic paper tail cutter as claimed in claim 6, wherein said electrically controlled valves comprise a first and a second solenoid operated control valve connected in a fluid passage means between a fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressure actuated drive means, said first and second solenoid operated valves being operatively connected to said control means, said first solenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drive means to move said knife carriage in a cutting direction, said second solenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drive means to return said knife carriage to the start position, and a third. solenoid operated valve connected in said passage means between said fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressure actuated support means which includes piston and cylinder means to selectively raise and lower said housing in response to signals from said control system.

8. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 7, wherein said control means includes a first and second sensing means for sensing the position of said knife carriage, said first sensing means causing said first solenoid operated valve to be de-energized when said knife carriage reaches a predetermined position of travel along said guide track, said second sensing means causing said third solenoid operated valve means to be deenergized to lower said housing from its upraised vertical position, and athird sensing means located along the path of vertical travel of said housing to sense the pre-set lowermost vertical position of said housing, said third sensing means being operatively connected to said third solenoid operated valve and adapted to energize said second solenoid operated valve to return said knife carriage to the initial starting position when said housing reaches its pre-set lowermost vertical position.

9. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a chain drive means contained within said housing, said chain drive means being operatively connected between said fluid pressure drive means and said cutter blade carriage.

10. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 9, wherein said chain drive means comprises a first and a second sprocket wheel rotatably supported within said housing adjacent each end thereof, a first chain passing around each of said first and second sprockets, said first chain being drivingly connected to said carriage, a third sprocket rotatably supported in said housing coaxially with said first sprocket and drivingly connected thereto, said third sprocket having a smaller diameter than said first sprocket, a fourth sprocket rotatably supported within said housing between said first and second sprockets, said fourth sprocket having a diameter greater than the diameter of said third sprocket, an endless chain drivingly connected around said third and fourth sprockets, a fifth sprocket rotatably supported in said housing coaxially with said fourth sprocket and drivingly connected thereto, said fifth sprocket having a diameter smaller than said fourth sprocket, a sixth sprocket rotatably supported in said housing between said fourth and fifth sprockets and said second sprocket, an endless chain drivingly connected around said fifth and sixth sprockets, said fluid pressure actuated drive means being operatively connected to said endless chain connected around said fifth and sixth sprockets to drive said cutter blade carriage at a predetermined rate along said guide track, said rate of travel of said carriage being determined by the ratios of the diameters of thesprockets and the rate of said fluid pressure actuated drive means. i

11. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 9 further comprising an electrically disengaged brake means operatively connected to said knife carriage and to said control means, said electrically disengaged brake means being selectively supplied with electrical current by said control means to disengage said brake means during movement of said knife carriage along said guide track and to de-energize said brake means to stop movement of said knife carriage. v

12. An automatic tailcutter as claimed in claim 6, wherein said fluid pressure actuated drive means comprises an air-over-oil piston and cylinder assembly, said assembly having a cylinder divided into a first and a second chamber, a first and a second piston slidably contained in each first and second chambers, respectively, said first and second pistons being attached to a piston rod, the end of said piston rod extending out of said cylinder being operatively connectedto said knife carriage, said first chamber being operatively connected to said fluid pressure supply source through said conduit means and one of said electrically controlled solenoid valves, said second chamber having a fluid passage port located at each end thereof, a conduit means connected between said ports at each end of said second chamber, a manually adjustable flow control means and a check valve means connected in said conduit means between said ports, said second chamber being filled with a viscous fluid, said fluid control means being adjustable to control the rate of movement of said first and second pistons and said piston rod in response to fluid pressure supplied to said first chamber through said conduit means.

13. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 12, wherein said conduit means connected between the ports of said second chamber comprises two passages,

said manually adjustable valve means includes a flow control valve connected in each 'of said passages, and said check valve means comprises a one-way check valve connected in each of said passages, each one-way check valve blocking fluid flow in a direction opposite the other, and an electrically actuated solenoid valve connected in the passage allowing fluid flow when the piston rod is being extended from said housing, said solenoid valve being operatively connected to said control means and energized thereby to open said valve and allow flow therethrough when said piston rod is being operatively extended from said cylinder by application of fluid pressure to said first chamber and blocking said flow when de-energized to act as a hydraulic brake for said piston rod. 14. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 13 wherein said electrically controlled valves comprises a first and a second solenoid operated control valve connected in said passage means between said fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressure actuated drive means, said first and second solenoid operated valves being operatively connected to said control system; said first solenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drive means to move said knife carriage in a cutting direction, said second solenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drive means to return said knife carriage to the start position, and a third solenoid operated valve connected in said passage means between said fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressure actuated support means which includes piston and cylinder means to selectively raise and lower said housing in response to signals fromsaid control system.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CI lJR'lIFI(IA'IE OF CORIHCC'IION Patent No. 3,805 ,652 Dated April 23 1974 Inventor) Earl E. LaLonde and Gerald D. Bartel It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2 line 64, "use" should be -usedand "outing" should be --cutting;

Column'l0, lin.e 11, before "rotate" insert --also-;

Column 10, line 37, "132" should be --123--;

Column 13, claim 6, line 29, "valve" should be -valves--;

Column l4, claim 12, line 64, "said fluid" should be -said flow--.

Signed and sealed this 17th day of September 1974,

(SEAL) Attest:

MCCOY M. GIBSON JR. C. MARSlIALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents ORM FO-lOSO (10-69) USCOMM-OC 60376-0" I u S sovznnnznr vnmnuc OFFICE we) o-1s6-1

Claims

1. An automatic strip cutter apparatus comprising, an elongated housing adapted for mounting transversely relative to a path of movement of a continuous moving strip of sheet material to be cut, a guide track provided on said housing, a cutter knife carriage mounted for movement along said track, said carriage having a cutting knife operatively attached thereto, fluid pressure actuated drive means for moving said carriage along said track and stopping said movement, mounting means for movably supporting said elongated housing for movement toward and away from said continuous strip, fluid pressure actuated support means for adjusting the position of said housing, said track and said cutter knife toward and away from said strip, and a control means for energizing and de-energizing said support means and said drive means in a predetermined order for operating said cutter apparatus.

4. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mounting means comprises a first and a second support bracket attached to a paper machine in spaced-apart relationship to each other, said housing being movably attached to said support brackets by two equal length parallel supporting links connected at each end of said housing, said parallel supporting links and each of said support brackets and said housing forming a parallelogram linkage for maintaining said housing in a vertical position during vertical movement of said housing.

7. An automatic paper tail cutter as claimed in claim 6, wherein said electrically controlled valves comprise a first and a second solenoid operated control valve connected in a fluid passage means between a fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressure actuated drive means, said first and second solenoid operated valves being operatively connected to said control means, said first solenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drive means to move said knife carriage in a cutting direction, said second solenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drive means to return said knife carriage to the start position, and a third solenoid operated valve connected in said passage means between said fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressure actuated support means which includes piston and cylinder means to selectively raise and lower said housing in response to signals from said control system.

8. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 7, wherein said control means includes a first and second sensing means for sensing the position of said knife carriage, said first sensing means causing said first solenoid operated valve to be de-energized when said knife carriage reaches a predetermined position of travel along said guide track, said second sensing means causing said third solenoid operated valve means to be de-energized to lower said housing from its upraised vertical position, and a third sensing means located along the path of vertical travel of said housing to sense the pre-set lowermost vertical position of said housing, said third sensing means being operatively connected to said third solenoid operated valve and adapted to energize said second solenoid operated valve to return said knife carriage to the initial starting position when said housing reaches its pre-set lowermost vertical position.

10. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 9, wherein said chain drive means comprises a first and a second sprocket wheel rotatably supported within said housing adjacent each end thereof, a first chain passing around each of said first and second sprockets, said first chain being drivingly connected to said carriage, a third sprocket Rotatably supported in said housing coaxially with said first sprocket and drivingly connected thereto, said third sprocket having a smaller diameter than said first sprocket, a fourth sprocket rotatably supported within said housing between said first and second sprockets, said fourth sprocket having a diameter greater than the diameter of said third sprocket, an endless chain drivingly connected around said third and fourth sprockets, a fifth sproket rotatably supported in said housing coaxially with said fourth sprocket and drivingly connected thereto, said fifth sprocket having a diameter smaller than said fourth sprocket, a sixth sprocket rotatably supported in said housing between said fourth and fifth sprockets and said second sprocket, an endless chain drivingly connected around said fifth and sixth sprockets, said fluid pressure actuated drive means being operatively connected to said endless chain connected around said fifth and sixth sprockets to drive said cutter blade carriage at a predetermined rate along said guide track, said rate of travel of said carriage being determined by the ratios of the diameters of the sprockets and the rate of said fluid pressure actuated drive means.

11. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 9 further comprising an electrically disengaged brake means operatively connected to said knife carriage and to said control means, said electrically disengaged brake means being selectively supplied with electrical current by said control means to disengage said brake means during movement of said knife carriage along said guide track and to de-energize said brake means to stop movement of said knife carriage.

12. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 6, wherein said fluid pressure actuated drive means comprises an air-over-oil piston and cylinder assembly, said assembly having a cylinder divided into a first and a second chamber, a first and a second piston slidably contained in each first and second chambers, respectively, said first and second pistons being attached to a piston rod, the end of said piston rod extending out of said cylinder being operatively connected to said knife carriage, said first chamber being operatively connected to said fluid pressure supply source through said conduit means and one of said electrically controlled solenoid valves, said second chamber having a fluid passage port located at each end thereof, a conduit means connected between said ports at each end of said second chamber, a manually adjustable flow control means and a check valve means connected in said conduit means between said ports, said second chamber being filled with a viscous fluid, said fluid control means being adjustable to control the rate of movement of said first and second pistons and said piston rod in response to fluid pressure supplied to said first chamber through said conduit means.

13. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 12, wherein said conduit means connected between the ports of said second chamber comprises two passages, said manually adjustable valve means includes a flow control valve connected in each of said passages, and said check valve means comprises a one-way check valve connected in each of said passages, each one-way check valve blocking fluid flow in a direction opposite the other, and an electrically actuated solenoid valve connected in the passage allowing fluid flow when the piston rod is being extended from said housing, said solenoid valve being operatively connected to said control means and energized thereby to open said valve and allow flow therethrough when said piston rod is being operatively extended from said cylinder by application of fluid pressure to said first chamber and blocking said flow when de-energized to act as a hydraulic brake for said piston rod.

14. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 13 wherein said electrically controlled valves comprises a first and a second solenoid operated control valve connected in said passage means between said fluid pressure sUpply source and said fluid pressure actuated drive means, said first and second solenoid operated valves being operatively connected to said control system, said first solenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drive means to move said knife carriage in a cutting direction, said second solenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drive means to return said knife carriage to the start position, and a third solenoid operated valve connected in said passage means between said fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressure actuated support means which includes piston and cylinder means to selectively raise and lower said housing in response to signals from said control system.