Device for shaftless winding machines

In a shaftless machine for winding a web (4) on a roll (3), the machine having a pair of carrier rollers (1,2) of which at least one is driven, means (16) for introducing a roll into the gap between said carrier rollers, an assembly (5) comprising an ejection beam (6) and cutting (8) and fastening means (7), and means (9-14) for pivoting the assembly about the axis of one of the carrier rollers so as to eject a wound roll and, after a new roll (18) is introduced, to cut the web and to fasten it to the new roll, the improvement which comprises means (11-13) for displacing the assembly transverse to the axes of the carrier rollers thereby to adjust the position of the ejecting, cutting and fastening means so as to accommodate rolls of different diameters.

The invention is a device that is intended for shaftless winding machines 
involving a pair of rotating carrier rollers and consists of a fastening 
and cutting device combined by an ejection beam into an assembly that 
pivots at an angle to the axes of one of the carrier rollers. 
Such a device is known from German OS 2 709 684. When the reels are changed 
with the known device, the full reel is lifted slightly off of one carrier 
roller and a core positioned on the carrier rollers through the resulting 
gap. The reel is then restored to its original position in the 
carrier-roller bed and subsequently ejected over the other carrier roller 
by the ejection roller after the assembly has pivoted. The fastening 
device inside the assembly that has been pivoted into the carrier-roller 
bed then fastens the web to the core and, finally, the cutting device cuts 
the web in two. 
The known device can be employed only with cores that are small enough to 
fit into the wedge between the two carrier rollers before the reel has 
been ejected and to pass through the gap between the raised reel and the 
carrier roller. The assembly consisting of the ejection beam and the 
fastening and cutting device can only be used with reels of a particular 
diameter. Its elements are rigidly positioned and its pivoting stroke 
preset. Since the wedge and gap are relatively small, machines of this 
type can only be used for winding paper, and the device known from OS 2 
709 684 is not appropriate for winding cardboard, which has to go onto 
larger cores. 
The objective of the invention is a device that can accept cores of varying 
diameter in automatic reel changing. 
The invention is a device of the type initially described and attains this 
objective because the extent of pivoting of the assembly about the axes of 
the carrier rollers is adjustable. 
A moving assembly makes it possible to adjust to cores of various sizes 
before or after the unit has been pivoted into position above the 
carrier-roller bed. It is also possible to adjust the motion of the unit 
to a desired core diameter before or after the unit has been pivoted. 
In one preferred embodiment of the invention a motor and a rack and pinion 
drive the assembly along rails on the pivoting levers, a relatively simple 
design. 
It is also preferable to mount the assembly that consists in accordance 
with the invention of the ejection beam and fastening and cutting device 
so that it can be pivoted into an operating position (the fastening and 
cutting position) in the midplane of the winding machine above the carrier 
rollers and there moved up and down. This will ensure that the fastening 
and cutting device will always engage the core at its uppermost vertical 
line even though the assembly moves in relation to the core. This is 
important when the end of the web is to be fastened precisely to a strip 
of glue or gummed tape on the vertical line on a reel of any diameter. 
It is also preferable to mount the fastening and cutting device on the 
ejection beam in the invention in such a way that it can travel 
horizontally along the rails. This allows continuous cutting of the web 
and subsequent fastening of the resulting new web end to the circumference 
of the reel.

At the stage shown in FIG. 1, a reel 3 rests on rotating carrier rollers 1 
and 2, at least one of which is powered, and is wound with a web 4 as it 
rotates. An assembly 5, which consists of an ejection beam 6, a fastening 
device 7 (represented in broken lines because it lies behind the cutting 
device in the longitudinal direction), and a cutting device 8, is mounted 
on two levers 9 that are rigidly attached to each other and pivot around 
the axis of the carrier roller 1 that the web is wrapped over. A motor 12 
and a rack and pinion 13 drive assembly 5 along rails 11 on pivoting 
levers 9 across the axis of carrier roller 1. Fastening and cutting device 
7, 8 travels horizontally, parallel to the axes of carrier rollers 1 and 2 
along guides 14 on ejection beam 6. 
When the winding machine is in operation, assembly 5 is pivoted on pivoting 
levers 9 into the rest position shown in FIG. 1. 
A core inserter 16 is mounted on arms 15 that pivot around the axis of the 
carrier roller 2 around which the web is not wrapped. At the stage shown 
in FIG. 1, core inserter 16 is in a ready position with a core 18 resting 
on its bed 17. Another core 18 with a shorter diameter and resting on a 
correspondingly smaller bed 17 is also drawn with dot-and-dashed lines. 
FIGS. 2 through 5 illustrate changing the reels. 
In FIG. 2 lever 9 has pivoted up in the direction indicated by arrow 19, 
ejecting the full reel 3 from the carrier-roller bed onto a drop platform 
20. Web 4 is pulled along behind. Upon arriving at its forward position as 
illustrated in FIG. 2, ejection beam 6 can be preadjusted to any core 
diameter by displacing assembly 5 along rails 11. Levers 9 then pivot back 
in the direction indicated by arrow 22 to retract unit 5 from the 
carrier-roller bed. Web 4 is now slackened by releasing a brake for 
example or by lowering drop platform 20 slightly with reel 3 resting on 
it. 
Core inserter 16 now pivots up on arm 15 as shown in FIG. 3 and drops a new 
core 18 into the carrier-roller bed, with web 4 resting against part of 
the circumference of the core, and returns to the ready position shown in 
FIG. 1, leaving the new core in the bed. Another core 18 can now be placed 
in the bed 17 of core inserter 16. 
As illustrated in FIG. 4, assembly 5 can, while core inserter 16 is 
pivoting back into its ready position, pivot in the direction indicated by 
arrow 19 into an operating position above the carrier-roller bed. Even 
very delicate adjustments can be made in the position of movable assembly 
5 in relation to an inserted core 18 to ensure that fastening and cutting 
device 7, 8 will precisely engage the core's upper vertical line. While 
assembly 5 is in the position shown in FIG. 5, a drive mechanism will 
slide fastening and cutting device 7, 8 along guides 14 on ejection beam 6 
across web 4 and parallel to the axis of core 18 to allow cutting device 8 
to make a smooth transverse cut in web 4 and fastening device 8 to fasten 
or glue the resulting new web end to the circumference of core 18. The 
drive mechanism for moving device 7,8 includes a driven shaft 22 
operatively connected with guides 14 which cooperate with U-shaped rail 23 
and 24. 
When web 4 has been cut and fastened, assembly 5 will pivot back out of the 
operating position illustrated in FIG. 4 and into the rest position in 
FIGS. 5 and 1, a pressure roller 21 will drop against core 18, and carrier 
rollers 1 and 2 will begin rotating to reinitiate the rotation and winding 
of core 18 with web 4. 
It is understood that the specification and examples are illustrative but 
not limitative of the present invention and that other embodiments within 
the spirit and scope of the invention will suggest themselves to those 
skilled in the art.