Abstract:
A device for routing and redirecting a continuous web of sheet type material under tension, such as an endless roll of paper, from one processing or handling device to another, comprises a series of upright supports defining a polygon such as a square, and one or more generally horizontal tumbar members. When the web passes about a turnbar, the web&#39;s path is redirected in the vertical and/or horizontal planes toward the other web processing device.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/176,981, filed Jan. 19, 2000, and herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to apparatus that guide or redirect a continuous web of material, such as paper, fabric and the like. It relates more particularly to guiding and redirecting sheet type or web material between processing stations, such as a paper web under tension between printers and web winding machines, or other web processing machines such as cutters, slitters, mergers, or folders, for example. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The paper printing industry has undergone substantial changes over the past decade. Faster and more specialized equipment has allowed even moderately sized print shops to satisfy a wide variety of commercial printing needs. However, this equipment is almost always heavy, bulky, and very expensive. Rolls of paper weighing several hundred or even a thousand pounds are used by large commercial operations as a source of paper for their sizeable and numerous print jobs, with processing equipment positioned near or around the paper roll handling machines to minimize necessary movement of machinery. Tumbars have been employed to redirect a continuous paper web toward one machine or another, but have traditionally been mounted on the machines themselves. While alleviating some of the problems in moving and aligning heavy and sensitive equipment for high speed print runs, mounting turnbars on the associated equipment has been time consuming, has not alleviated the need for somewhat precise alignment of these heavy machines, and has not eliminated the need to physically move them from time to time to assemble differing printing process lines or for machinery maintenance. 
     What is needed in the art is an apparatus to reduce or eliminate the above shortfalls, one that would also allow reconfiguration of printing process lines by adding or omitting certain process machinery from the line without physically moving expensive and heavy equipment. The art has been recently enhanced by co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,616, wherein paper from alternate sources may be fed into a printer. The web control matrix disclosed herein is much more flexible and adaptable than the web feeding apparatus of the aforementioned patent, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The web control matrix of the present invention manipulates the path of web material among three axes so that machinery need not be moved to reconfigure a printing operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, a matrix frame work is disclosed that provides a plurality of alternative paths for one or more paper webs to move from one web processing device to another web processing device, such as an unwind machine, printer, folder, and the like. The webs move under tension imposed by web tensioning means provided in at least one of the processing devices. The matrix framework comprises at least three uprights arranged in a polygon shape or pattern. Any two of the uprights can support at least one generally horizontally oriented turnbar, whereby the paper web under tension can be redirected by the horizontally oriented turnbar to provide a change in direction of the web. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Applicant submits in this application the following drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the matrix of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2A is an overhead block view of the matrix of FIG. 1 imposed between three other paper processing devices. 
     FIG. 2B is an overhead block view similar to FIG. 2A but having a different floor layout of machinery. 
     FIG. 3 is an overhead block view showing optimized layout of paper processing equipment by use of the matrix. 
     FIG. 4A shows three paper webs crossing paths at two matrices, and associated paper processing equipment. 
     FIG. 4B shows an identical equipment layout of FIG. 4A except the matrices define two paper processing paths for more intricate print jobs. 
     FIG. 5A shows two paper webs undergoing different processes based on their routing through the matrix. 
     FIG. 5B shows the identical equipment of FIG. 5A but the webs undergo identical processes based on their routing through the matrix. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Turning now to the drawings in greater detail, FIG. 1 shows the web control matrix  10  comprising a series of upright supports  12  spanned by tumbars  14 ,  16  that lie in a generally horizontal plane. Turnbars that span adjacent upright supports are referred to hereinafter as straight turnbars  14 . Turnbars that span non-adjacent upright supports are referred to hereinafter as diagonal tumbars  16 . While the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1 indicates four upright supports defining the corners of a square when viewed from above, the invention is not so limited. A paper web  18  (shown in FIGS. 2 through 5) under tension is routed or threaded around one or more of these tumbars  14 ,  16  through the matrix  10  to redirect the paper web from its original path. Tension in the web is maintained by one or more paper procesing machines, or other tensioning means, independent of the matrix  10  itself. The advantages of such a matrix  10  are evident in the description of the following figures. 
     FIG. 1 shows the matrix frame schematically, and with turnbars  14  and  16  that are tied into the upright supports  12 ,  12  so as to provide a rigid framework even without any cross braces or even a base. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that with rotating tumbars some cross braces and at least a base for the uprights would be required, and also required would be means to rotatably support the tumbars. Such trunbar support bearings could also be adjustably mounted to the uprights without such a feature requiring any detailed description herein. Finally, the tumbars might also include an air cushion to reduce friction between the paper web and the turnbar. A hollow turnbar would communicate with a source of air under pressure so that selectively placed openings in the tubular turnbar could provide such an air cushion for the paper web. 
     FIGS. 2 through 5 indicate various paper web processing machinery by way of example to describe the operation and advantages of the matrix. FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate how the matrix  10  of the present invention allows a single continuous paper web  16  to pass through it twice in the same process line, allowing machinery to be spatially oriented to optimize available floor space. These drawings show a block diagram wherein PRE refers to a pre-processing apparatus, such as an unwind machine  20  for unrolling virgin paper to be processed. Similarly, POST refers to post-processing apparatus, such as a rewind machine  22  for winding paper web  18 , on which printing has been completed, back onto a roll. FIG. 2A shows the unwind  20  and rewind  22  machines aligned such that a paper web  18  may travel directly from one to the other in a straight line. With the matrix  10  inserted between them, a paper web  18  may be redirected 90° from its path out of the unwind machine  20  to exit out the side of the matrix  10  adjacent to the side by which it entered. This is accomplished by passing the web  18  about one of the diagonal turnbars  16 . The paper web  18  may also pass about one or more of the straight turnbars  14  (shown in FIG. 1) to properly align it with the unwind machine and/or the desired diagonal turnbar. The paper web  18  exits the side of the matrix  10 , and passes through a printer  24  which redirects the paper web back toward the matrix  10 . The paper web  18  then re-enters the matrix  10  and passes about a different diagonal tumbar  16  which re-directs the web to exit toward the re-wind machine  22 , also a 90° turn of the web. As before, straight turnbars may be employed to align the web in the proper horizontal plane for the desired diagonal turnbar and/or rewind machine. 
     FIG. 2B shows paper processing equipment identical to that of FIG. 2A but oriented in a more compact floor layout. The unwind  20  and rewind  22  machines are side-by-side and the printer  24 , matrix  10 , and re-wind machine  22  are in a striaght line. A standard 45° turnbar  26  mounted on the unwind machine  20  directs the paper web  18  into the matrix  10 . The web  18  passes about a diagonal tumbar  16  to redirect the web  18  toward the printer  24 . The printer  24  prints on and redirects the paper web  18  back toward the matrix  10 , which passes the web  18  toward the rewind machine  22 . Each time the paper web  18  enters or exits the matrix  10 , it may pass about straight turnbars to change the horizontal plane in which the paper web  18  lies. 
     FIG. 3 shows how a paper web  18  from a single printer  24  may be redirected via the matrix  10  to either a rewind machine  22 , a cutter  28 , or a folder  30  without having to move any equipment. A paper web originating in an unwind machine  20  passes through a printer  24  and then enters one side of the matrix  10 . Aligned with the remaining three sides of the matrix  10  are various post-processing machinery  22 ,  28  and  30 . The post processing machine employed for a particular print job is selected merely by changing the path of the paper web  18  through the matrix  10 . Diagonal turnbars  16  redirect the paper web  18  to exit either side of the matrix  10  at 90° from its entry path, and straight turnbars  14  (FIG. 1) pass the web  18  safely through the matrix  10  by changing its horizontal plane. Machinery need not be relocated to adapt to a different print job that requires different post processing machinery, and a wide variety of post processing machines can support a single printer without the inefficiencies of moving equipment to assemble a process line for the job at hand. 
     FIG. 4A shows three sets of paper processing equipment comprising unwind machines ( 20   a,    20   b,    20   c ), a first printer ( 24   a,    24   b,    24   c ), a second printer ( 32   a,    32   b,    32   c ), and a folder ( 30   a,    30   b,    30   c ) for each wherein each lowercase letter a, b, c represents equipment in a single paper processing line. Two matrices  10  are imposed to each intersect two processing lines a and c or b and c, and a standard 45° tumbar  26  is placed near the end of processing line c. As displayed in FIG. 4A, when the paper webs cross paths through the matrices  10 , each processing line a, b, and c passes through two printers prior to being folded. When the routing through the matrices is changed as in FIG. 4B, two processing lines are formed wherein each paper web passes through three printers (either  24   a,    32   a,  and  24   c,  or  24   b,    32   b,  and  32   c,  in order) prior to entering the folder  30   b  or  30   c.  Thus a more complicated print job may be run through the process lines defined in FIG. 4B without rearranging machinery from those process lines of FIG.  4 A. 
     FIGS. 5A and 5B are conceptually similar to FIGS. 4A and 4B but show how two paper processing lines intersecting at one matrix  10  can define identical or different process lines without moving equipment. FIG. 5A depicts the paper webs following two different processing paths. One path passes from an unwind machine  20   a  through a printer  24   a,  a basic color machine  34   a,  and two enhanced color machines  36   a,    36   b,  ending at a folder  30   a.  Two standard 45° turnbars  26  are also included in this processing path. The opposing path passes only from an unwind machine  20   b  through a printer  24   b  and a basic color machine  34   b,  ending at the folder  30   b.  Re-threading the paper webs  18  through the matrix  10  as in FIG. 5B makes the two processing paths identical, each passing from an unwind machine ( 20   a  or  20   b ) through a printer ( 24   a  or  24   b ), a basic color machine ( 34   a  or  34   b ), and an enhanced color machine ( 36   a  or  36   b ) before the folder ( 30   a  or  30   b ). 
     One or more matrices may also be used to add auxiliary processing machines to a printing operation, such as slitting, ink jet printing, label application, and the like, or to temporarily reroute paper web around a machine requiring repair, replacement, or inspection. The matrix may also be adapted such that multiple matrices may be stacked one on top of the other, expanding the vertical component so that paper may be fed from one floor of a building, printed on another, and returned elsewhere for packaging and shipping. It may also be adapted such that one or more external turn bars extend outside the matrix and redirects web into the matrix. This particular adaptation allows a web stream to be temporarily redirected while a single piece of equipment is removed from the process line, such as for inspection or repair, without the need to reposition the remaining operational equipment. 
     The turnbars of the web control matrix are readily adjusted so that the matrix is easily adaptable for varied applications. For example, a smaller print operation may employ the matrix for its space saving functions, allowing print related equipment to be placed within a minimal floor area. Alternatively, a larger print operation may employ the matrix for its ability to connect numerous pieces of equipment, allowing rapid changes between printers, unwind rolls, cutters, and the like. As is evident from the variety of examples above, the web control matrix is highly adaptable to many applications not enumerated above. 
     While the preferred embodiment has been shown and described, additional various modifications and substitutions will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The embodiment described above are hereby stipulated as illustrative rather than exhaustive.