WO1998004487A1

WO1998004487A1 - Apparatus for repackaging in a roll a strip material such as a fabric

Info

Publication number: WO1998004487A1
Application number: PCT/FR1997/001223
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carlos Matas Gabalda; Philippe Flechon; Alain Marty
Original assignee: Icbt Macotex
Priority date: 1996-07-30
Filing date: 1997-07-07
Publication date: 1998-02-05
Also published as: FR2751952A1; FR2751952B1

Abstract

An apparatus for repackaging a fabric (10) in a roll having a predetermined length is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a temporary storage area (13) for at least one roll (5a) of material in the central portion of the machine, between a winding station (2) and a discharge station (6). Said storage area includes at least two interchangeable so-called 'cradle' assemblies (14, 15) for supporting said roll of material, and said assemblies are movable between relative positions in one of which they are alternately arranged at the same level and in the same plane as the winding (2) and discharge (6) stations, whereas in the other position(s), they are spaced away from said plane.

Description

INSTALLATION FOR RECONDITIONING IN THE FORM OF A WINDING A WEB MATERIAL, SUCH AS A FABRIC.

The present invention relates to an improvement made to the installations used to carry out packaging in the form of a winding of determined length of strip materials, such as fabrics, which during their production cycle, are generally also treated in the form of a winding which may include several hundred meters of material.

In the following description, the invention will be described for a machine for winding, cutting and possibly wrapping fabrics, but it is obvious that this is not limiting and that such an installation could be used in other sectors where similar problems arise, such as for example in the paper industry, the manufacture of nonwovens, films or the like.

In the textile industry, at the end of the fabric manufacturing stage, whether it is a fabric or a knitted fabric, a so-called "inspection" control operation is carried out in order to identify defects along the piece of material, which can reach several hundred meters, by scrolling in front of an operator or an automatic inspection system, any faults being identified.

After control, a repackaging step is then carried out, on the one hand, to make windings of determined length according to demand and, on the other hand, to separate the lengths of fabrics according to the level of quality generally 1st choice and 2nd choice. This cutting operation, which can be done online with the visit or offline from a large roller previously visited, and whose location of faults has been memorized, is traditionally done on conventional winders, by manually performing the permutations at each change in quality, and each time the metrics provided for in the manufacturing program are reached. This method causes many manipulations that are tiring for the operator due to the weight of the parts, manipulations that affect performance.

To facilitate these operations, installations have been proposed in which automatic cuts are made, which include assistance devices for handling pieces of fabric, locations for placing a roll on hold (for example 1st choice ), while the second roll is being rolled up (for example 2nd choice).

To date, the solutions proposed, in particular the subject of FR-A-1 459 660, do not however make it possible to satisfactorily resolve the difficulties linked to ergonomics, security, productivity and flexibility of use.

Now we have found, and this is what is the subject of the present invention, a particularly simple design installation, which allows not only to perform the final packaging of a fabric in the form of a winding having a length determined of product, winding which is then transferred to a packing station and which, moreover, makes it possible to carry out the permutation between windings for different types of products, namely for example 1st and 2nd choice, and this starting from a single winding station permanently accessible to the operator so that he can possibly perform certain manual or semi-automatic operations such as engaging the fabric, sewing *. . In general, the invention relates to an installation making it possible to recondition in the form of a winding of determined length a strip material such as a fabric, said installation comprising:

a winding station making it possible to form a roll comprising a determined length of material, station positioned facing the operator and directly accessible by the latter,

- Means for measuring the length of wound material and cutting it to a determined length;

means for transferring the roll of material to a discharge station located on the other side of the installation, and it is characterized in that it comprises, arranged in the central zone of the machine, between the station d winding and evacuation station, a temporary storage magazine for at least one roll of material, said magazine comprising at least two swappable assemblies capable of supporting a roll of material, the assemblies being alternately movable between several positions, one according to which they are positioned in the same plane and aligned vis-à-vis with the winding and evacuation stations, the other (s) according to which they are separated from the aforementioned position.

The displacement of the swappable assemblies can be carried out both vertically and laterally.

In the first case, the assemblies are alternately positioned vis-à-vis with the winding and evacuation stations, then are moved above or below the aforementioned position.

In the second case, they are moved laterally relative to the aligned position vis-à-vis with the winding and evacuation stations. In the following description, the invention will be described for an installation in which the movements are carried out vertically, it being understood that this is not limiting.

Furthermore, for the sake of simplification, the swappable assemblies making it possible to temporarily support a winding of material will be designated by the expression "cradle".

Finally, the invention will be described for an installation comprising two interchangeable assemblies, but this is not limiting and it could be envisaged to produce a similar installation comprising three assemblies, or even more, when it is desired to treat a greater number qualities of materials.

According to a preferred embodiment, each cradle consists of two parallel, motorized cylinders, mounted between two lateral flanges and which can be moved vertically along fixed lateral columns disposed on each side of the installation.

Advantageously, said cradles are designed so that they can be inclined relative to the horizontal plane, both towards the winding station and towards the evacuation station.

The means making it possible to tilt can be constituted by jacks.

Furthermore, according to one embodiment, the installation also comprises, arranged between the winding station and the intermediate storage area, an assembly for transferring the winding from the storage station to the winding station and vice versa . Such a transfer assembly consists of a tilting support surface, which can take two positions, one substantially horizontal in the plane passing through the support surface of the winding and evacuation stations, the other according to which it is slightly inclined in the direction of the winding station in order to facilitate the transfer of the waiting roll into the intermediate storage area at said winding station.

The inclination of both the two support cradles of the intermediate storage magazine and of the transfer chamber is generally of the order of 15 °.

In such an assembly of particularly simple design, the manipulations of transfer transfer to the evacuation are ensured by the movements of the cradles of the intermediate stores and can therefore be done automatically, in the background, therefore safely and in masked time.

The invention and the advantages which it brings will however be better understood thanks to the embodiment described below, which is illustrated by the appended diagrams in which:

- Figure 1 is a side view showing the general structure of an installation produced in accordance with the invention;

- Figure 2 is a detail view, in perspective, showing the structure of the elementary cradles constituting the intermediate store that includes such an installation;

- Figures 3a to 3f illustrate the operating cycle of an installation according to the invention for the production of a roll of material of determined length; - Figures 4a to 4g illustrate the operating cycle of this machine during temporary storage of the material roll to make a second winding. Referring to the attached diagrams, and more particularly to FIG. 1, the installation according to the invention comprises, mounted on a support frame designated by the general reference (1):

- a winding station, designated by the general reference (2) opposite which is the operator (3);

- means (4) for cutting the material to a determined length;

- Means for transferring the roll of material (5) to a discharge station (6) located on the other side of the installation, a station which advantageously comprises conventional heads (7), making it possible to secure it from the end of the strip to be wound up using adhesive tape; possibly, in this zone, it could be envisaged to carry out the packaging of the roll.

The winding station (2) located on the front face (AV) of the machine is a conventional station essentially comprising two driving cylinders (8) which support the material roll (5) which is wound. The fabric (10), which comes from a power source not shown, is generally brought from below the installation. On the rear face (AR) of the machine, is disposed the discharge station (6) of the finished roll of material. This evacuation station has two cylinders (11,12) which support the roller (5). These cylinders (11,12) are mounted between suitable lateral holding flanges on the frame (1), these flanges preferably being associated with a jack (13) which optionally allows the roller to tip backwards after the the free end has been fixed, for example by means of an adhesive tape, so that it can be evacuated to a packing station. Optionally, it could be envisaged to carry out the packaging operation at the winding station. According to the invention, in the central zone of the machine located between the winding station (2) arranged on the front face (AV), and the evacuation station (6) arranged on the rear face (AR), is arranged a temporary storage magazine, designated by the general reference (34) and which allows to store a roll (5a), unfinished, made for example of length of second choice material. This temporary storage store essentially comprises two interchangeable assemblies (14,15), capable of supporting the roll of material (5a), these two assemblies being movable vertically between two positions, one according to which they are arranged alternately at the same level and in the same plane as the winding stations (2) and reception (6), the other that they are spaced from the above plan.

FIG. 2 illustrates the manner in which the cradles are mounted and moved on a machine according to the invention.

These two interchangeable assemblies (14,15) form two cradles consisting of two parallel cylinders (17,18), (19, 20), preferably motorized. These cylinders mounted between lateral flanges designated by the same reference (21) and can be moved vertically along lateral columns designated by the reference (22) arranged on each side of the installation.

This vertical movement is obtained by means of an up and down control, by strap (31) which can be wound or unwound around a storage drum (32) whose control in one direction or the other is controlled by a motor (33).

The strap acts on connecting members (16) which control the simultaneous movement of the two cradles (14,15). In addition, a tilting control system, controlled by the jacks (23,24), allows the cradle which is present in front of them to be tilted forward or backward, and this through the connecting piece. (16). These jacks (23, 24) are mounted on a plate (26) controlled by jacks (27) in order to be able to separate them during the ascent and descent phases.

Finally, the rollers of the intermediate cradles are driven by a single motor. This motor (29) is mounted at the end of a jack (30) and comes to engage on the end of the shafts (17,18) or (19,20) which are located opposite it depending on whether one must order either of the cradles (14,15).

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the lateral retaining flanges (21) are associated through the connecting members (16) with the jacks (23,24) making it possible to tilt the cradle forwards or backwards , (14) or (15), which is brought opposite the winding assembly (2) and the evacuation assembly (6), and which must be loaded or unloaded.

Thanks to such a design, when the cradle is at the same level and facing the winding station and the discharge station, it is possible to tilt the rolls of material which it can support either towards the evacuation station (6) is on the contrary towards the winding station (2) to bring the roll put on hold at this station in order to carry out an additional winding operation.

To facilitate the transfer of a roll of material from the intermediate storage area (34) to the winding station (5) and vice versa, an additional transfer assembly (25) is preferably arranged between the winding station ( 2) and the intermediate storage area (34). Such an additional transfer assembly (25) is not essential but facilitates the operation of the return of the roll from the intermediate storage station to the winding station and vice versa.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, in a simple manner, this transfer assembly is constituted by a support surface or tilting table (25) which can take two positions, one horizontal represented in solid lines in FIG. 1, l 'Another, shown in dotted lines, slightly inclined towards the winding station (2) to facilitate the replacement of a roll which has been temporarily stored on this station.

Furthermore, in known manner, the installation according to the invention also comprises a storage magazine (35) for the empty tubes around which the material will be wound.

The implementation of such an installation is shown in Figures 3a, 3f and 4a to 4f.

Figures 3a to 3f illustrate the operating cycle for transferring a finished part (5) comprising a desired yardage of fabric. The machine is therefore initially stopped (Figure 3a). After stopping, the operator pushes the finished part onto the intermediate cradle, (15) in this case, which is positioned between the winding station (2) and the evacuation station (6). The second intermediate cradle (14) is for example in the lower position of the machine and can support the start of a roller (5a) comprising for example lengths of second choice material.

The roller (5) being in the intermediate position (FIG. 3c), the cutting is carried out by means of the knives (4). The cradle (14) is inclined in the direction of the evacuation zone (6) so that the material (5) comes to be positioned on said evacuation assembly.

The operation of applying adhesive tape to immobilize the ends of the material is then possibly carried out (FIG. 3e). The finished part (5) is then removed by tilting the receiving assembly (6) outwards (fig. 3f).

During these automatic operations and as soon as the cut is made, the operator takes an empty tube from the reserve (25) (fig. 3c), then positions it on the winding system (fig. 3d) and restarts the winding of the new part (fig. 3e).

FIGS. 4a to 4f illustrate the operating process for implementing the machine according to the invention when it is desired to make a change in quality, for example winding a determined length of second choice product.

During such an operation, as before, the machine is stopped (Figure 4a). The operator then pushes the unfinished part (5) onto the empty cradle, (15) for example, the lower cradle (14) supporting a roll (3a) also unfinished (FIG. 4a).

The fabric is then cut (Figure 4c) and, we then realize (Figure 4d), the permutation of the intermediate cradles (14,15), the part (5) not completed being put on hold. This causes the inclination of the lower cradle (14) which also supports an unfinished winding (5a), which transfers said piece to the intermediate table (25). This table then switches to the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 4e, which immediately causes the roll (5a) which was waiting on the winding station (2) to be replaced. The operator then engages the fabric on this part which was previously on hold (Figure 4f) and relaunches the winding (Figure 4g).

This set, of particularly simple design, therefore offers optimal operating conditions for the operator since in all cases - permutation or evacuation - said operator only has to push the part onto the empty intermediate cradle as we do naturally in a conventional winder.

The manipulations of permutation or transfer to the evacuation are moreover ensured by the automatic movements of the cradles of the intermediate store without the operator intervening. It should also be noted that the transfer operations to the evacuation are done in the background, in complete safety and in masked time, which makes it possible to obtain very high productivity gains.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the example given above, but it covers all the variants produced in the same spirit.

Thus, the cutting assembly (4) can be either single or multiple as illustrated in FIG. 1, where two cutting assemblies are provided, which makes it possible to carry out sampling. Furthermore, in addition to the post for placing an adhesive tape to fix the free end of the material, it may be envisaged to adapt a labeling system, an automatic sewing system, etc. to the installation.

Thus, in the above description, the installation according to the invention has been described with a temporary storage store comprising two swappable assemblies (cradles), it could be envisaged to make similar installations comprising more than two interchangeable cradles, three for example, if you want to wind more than two qualities of material.

Claims

1 / Installation making it possible to recondition in the form of a winding of determined length a strip material such as a fabric (10), said installation comprising:

- a winding or receiving station making it possible to form a roll (5) comprising a determined length of material (10), station positioned facing the operator (3) and directly accessible by the latter, - means making it possible to measure the length of coiled material and cut it to a determined length;

- means for transferring the material roll (5) to a discharge station (6) located on the other side of the installation, characterized in that it comprises, arranged in the central zone of the machine, between the winding station and the evacuation station, a temporary storage magazine (34) for at least one roll (5a) of material, said magazine comprising at least two sets known as "swappable" cradles (14,15) suitable for supporting said roll of material, said assemblies being alternately movable between several positions, one according to which they are positioned in the same plane and aligned opposite with the winding and evacuation stations, the others according to which they are separated from the aforementioned position.

2 / Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the displacement of the swappable assemblies (14,15) is carried out vertically.

3 / Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the displacement of the swappable assemblies (14,15) is carried out horizontally. 4 / Installation according to claim 2, characterized in that each cradle (14,15) consists of two parallel cylinders (17,18) - (19,20), motorized, mounted between two side flanges and which can be moved vertically along fixed lateral columns (22) arranged on each side of the installation.

5 / Installation according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the cradles (14,15) are designed to be able to be inclined relative to the horizontal plane, both towards the winding station (2) and towards the evacuation station (6).

6 / installation according to claim 5, characterized in that the means for performing the tilt are constituted by cylinders (22,23).

7 / Installation according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it also comprises, arranged between the winding station (2) and the intermediate storage area (34), a transfer assembly (25) of winding from the storage area (6) to the winding station (2) and vice versa.

8 / installation according to claim 7, characterized in that the transfer assembly (25) is constituted by a tilting bearing surface, which can take two positions, one horizontal substantially in the plane passing through the bearing surface winding stations (2) and evacuation (6), the other that it is slightly inclined towards the winding station (2). 9 / Installation according to one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that the inclination of both the support cradles of the intermediate storage store (13) and the transfer assembly (25), is of the order of 15 °.