Stratified roll positioning apparatus

A manual tool for rolling and positioning a mass of material. More particular, for use with rolls of stratified materials having a central core. The tool when inserted into the central core of such stratified rolls articulates in a manner so as to allow a cleat member to grip the outer perimeter of the roll and thereby allows the workman to apply leverage to the mass causing rotation. Repeated articulated movements allows the tool to be operated in a ratcheting manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to specialty tools and, more particularly, to 
tools used to manually manipulate and position heavy tubular goods or 
large stratified rolls of material having an open center core. 
2. General Background 
Hand tools are widely used to multiply the power of a man's strength. 
Levers are most often used to provide such multiplication. Leverage can be 
increased again by using pivots. Thus, fulcrums in the form of cant hooks 
or jack levers have been developed and are used to manually move and 
position large bodies, such as trees, power poles, etc. Pry or pinch bars 
are sometimes used to skid or roll very heavy bodies. Hand tools have been 
used to tighten or loosen caps and every conceivable type of fastener 
devised by man. However, there does not seem to be anything that combines 
these principles. 
Man often expresses his superior intellect by his ability to make and 
utilize tools to satisfy a need of his own making. When man finds a task 
to be inefficient, from an energy standpoint, he will set about trying to 
correct the problem, especially if the energy source is his own body. 
During the course of manufacturing sheet materials, they are, by necessity, 
stratified onto spindles. Such stratified materials are then removed from 
the spindles leaving a hollow axial core. Such materials include paper, 
cloth, plastics, carpeting, foam and ceramic sheets. Other products too 
are often stratified onto reels, for example wire, rope, and rubber 
belting etc. 
Products manufactured in the above manner must be moved about within the 
supplier's manufacturing facility onto commercial transport vehicles, 
removed from such vehicles and then often moved several times within a 
manufacturing facility before an end product is finally produced. In many 
cases mechanized moving equipment is not available or cannot be utilized 
in tight, confined spaces such as inside vehicle's cargo containers, etc. 
In such instances sheer manpower must be relied upon to move and position 
the rolls of stratified materials, some having great bulk and weighing 
several hundreds of pounds. 
In most cases, the object of a hand tool used to move such stratified rolls 
is to skid, roll or rotate the mass by prying or otherwise torquing. 
However, no attempt is made to control the mass once it is in motion. 
Further complications occur when the mass is round, offering no means of 
attachment for the tool or the tool itself may cause serious damage to the 
material being moved. 
The use of air or hydraulic tools are employed in many cases to handle such 
goods. However, such tools are expensive, subject to frequent failure, 
awkward to use, take considerably more time to use, and are seldom 
available when and where they are needed. 
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
Although the present invention may be utilized in several industries, 
disclosure will be limited to a single example. 
The manual rolling movement and positioning of stratified rolls or any 
other circular mass having a hollow central core or, at least, having a 
partial central bore could be simplified with the present invention, thus, 
reducing personal injury and muscle fatigue. 
A particular application for the tool described herein would be the Kraft 
paper and corrugated box industry. The Kraft paper rolls must be moved 
manually and by mechanized equipment at the paper mill, placed in shipping 
containers and transported to a bag or box plant where they are moved to a 
warehouse and again to the gluing or corrugating machines which convert 
the Kraft paper into bags or laminated boards for paper boxes. Gluing 
and/or corrugating machines are usually continuous feed machines, 
comprising multiple roll stands which roll in and out of the machine at 
each of several stations, which allow for the automatic gluing and slicing 
of the paper. The various gauge paper rolls are placed near each station 
by forklift. The operators must then position the rolls which measure 
approximately 58 inches in diameter and between 48 to 88 inches long, onto 
the roll stands, usually maneuvering them over a distance of several feet 
on uneven flooring. When the machines are running at maximum capacity, the 
operators are often required to be maintaining as many as five roll stands 
at a time. Thus, there is little time to be spent securing, moving and 
positioning bulky handling equipment such as air or hydraulic rolling 
tools. Thus, the rolls are usually moved manually. Mechanized equipment is 
used only when absolutely essential. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
lightweight hand-manipulated tool for positioning and rolling 
large-diameter stratified rolls of material. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tool, pivotal 
about the center core of a stratified roll or diametrical body, for 
rotating the body over a flat surface or about a central axis. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a tool for 
rolling large-diameter bodies without significantly marring their outer 
surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As seen in FIG. 1-3, the roll positioning tool 1 comprises an articulated 
bar assembly 3 with a perpendicular member 5, 7 at each end, a handlebar 9 
protruding from the uppermost perpendicular member 7 and a rotatable 
shoulder stock 11. The perpendicular member 5 located at the articulated 
bar assembly's 3 lower longer portion is configured in a manner that will 
accommodate the roll core's 13 requirement for a slip fit. The 
perpendicular member 7 located at the articulated bar assembly's 3 upper 
shorter portion may be configured to fit the curvature of the mass or roll 
15 and fitted with detachable rubber cleats 72 as seen in FIG. 2a or the 
like or simply utilize a pair of right angle corners along its lower edges 
as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The upper portion 17 and lower portion 19 of 
the articulated bar should be of the same size in order to provide a 
smooth transition across the articulated joint 25 which is pivotal about a 
flat headed shoulder pin 27 secured by a castle nut 29. Thus, there are to 
sharp edges to hang on the ends of stratified rolls 15. The lever or 
handlebar 9 extending from the upper portion's 17 perpendicular member 7 
should be of sufficient length to provide the leverage required to move 
and position the mass 15. It is important to note that the handlebar 9 is 
offset from the center line of the articulated bar 3 to provide stability. 
It is often desirable to install a padded 10 rotatable shoulder stock 11, 
whereby the user can apply his whole body force to the handle or lever 9. 
The user can control the rotation of the mass 15 by simply applying force 
in the opposite direction if necessary. If the roll is exceptionally long, 
two tools 1 may be employed, one on each end. From time to time, it may 
become necessary to switch the tool 1 to the opposite end of the roll or 
mass 15 being moved. Therefore, the tool 1, being reversible, is simply 
moved to the opposite end, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, and the shoulder 
stock 11, if used at all, is rotated to the opposite side, as seen in FIG. 
3, by releasing the lock pin 21. The articulation joint 25 of the 
articulate bar assembly 3 should be devoid of excess slack to reduce the 
chance of shear and warpage. Therefore, bearing washers 23 made of such 
material as nylon or the like are often employed within the joint 25. All 
components with the exception of the clevis joint portion 25 of the 
articulated bar assembly 3 may be constructed of hollow structural shapes, 
provided they are of sufficient cross section to prevent bending when 
applied to the load mass 15. 
The tool 1 provides a handy means for rolling such stratified materials 15. 
It is weight and economical. Therefore, it can be supplied in large 
numbers so that it is readily accessible to the workman. The tool 1 is 
used by inserting the insertion member 5 into the central core of the mass 
15. By doing so, the upper portion cleat 7 is automatically arranged to 
engage the outer perimeter of the mass 15, as seen in FIG. 4, when the 
articulation joint 25 is rotated. The tool's 1 handle/lever 9 is used to 
rotate the mass 15 by a series of ratcheting movements. 
While only the best-known embodiment of the invention has been illustrated 
and described herein, it will be understood that the invention is not 
limited thereto or thereby. Reference should be made to the appended 
claims in determining the true scope of the invention.