Patent ID: 6634269
Filing Date: 2003-10-21
Classification: B26D,B65H,Y10T

Abstract:
A rotatable vacuum roll for receiving a moving web, for guiding the web, and for transferring pieces cut from the web in timed relationship with a moving carrier web that passes over a portion of the periphery of the roll, said vacuum roll having an axis of rotation and comprising:a. a cylindrical shell having a plurality of substantially longitudinally-extending rows of apertures extending therethrough to define an apertured vacuum roll peripheral surface, a pair of axially-spaced end walls secured to the shell and that define shell ends, wherein one end wall is an apertured end wall that includes a plurality of ports that extend through the apertured end wall and that are in fluid communication with respective rows of apertures in the shell; and b. a stationary vacuum manifold in surface contact with the apertured end wall, the manifold having at least one elongated slot facing the apertured end wall for applying vacuum to selected groups of adjacent rows of apertures in the shell through respective end wall ports as the roll rotates relative to the manifold to provide a circumferentially-moving vacuum zone on the roll peripheral surface, wherein the vacuum manifold includes a first, continuous, arc-shaped slot facing and contacting the apertured end wall and having a predetermined width in the radial direction of the roll, wherein the radius of a centerline of the first, arc-shaped slot varies from a first radius at a point adjacent the shell to a second, smaller radius at a point radially inward of the shell.