STRAP WINDING DISPOSAL DEVICE

Abstract: A strap coiling mechanism comprising a driven roller (1) having a serrated peripheral surface, a pinch roller (4) rotatably mounted at one extremity of a pivoted crank lever (8), said pinch roller (4) being biassed towards the driven roller (1) by means of a compressions spring (6) engaging the other end of the crank lever (8) and part of a supporting frame for the mechanism. The driven roller (1) and the pinch roller (4) between them define a nip (N) into which strapping (S) to be coiled is introduced. In the event that the strapping(s) includes a Seal (S′) or any other section modulus change the pinch roller (4) will be deflected away from the driven roller (1) against the action of the spring (6) to allow the seal (S′) to pass through the nip (N). A deforming roller (3) is rotatably mounted immediately behind the nip (N) and has a serrated peri­ pheral surface which is engaged by the strapping (S) to form the strapping (S) into a self closing coil (C).

Description: This invention relates to metal strap handling and disposal. Steel strapping is widely used for packaging by many industries including: aluminium, brick, cotton, jute, manmade fibres and wool. Disposal of strap material used in such industries is a major materials handling problem in terms of the collection, storage and disposable of such strap material. Strapping is presently disposed of by placing it in waste bins and the like. Used or waste strapping invariably occupies far more space than its own volume and it is difficult to compress without the use of special compacting equipment. It is also difficult and dangerous to handle due to its springy nature. The patent literature shows that attempts have been made to alleviate the problem of steel strapping disposal by winding the strapping into coil which may be made more easily disposed of. One such example is to be found in US-A-3,910,089 which discloses a metal strapping coiling device including a driven roller, a pinch roller biased towards the driven roller to define a nip between the rollers into which the strapping to be coiled is introduced, the pinch roller being spring mounted to allow the passage of strapping seals and the like between the rollers, and deforming means positioned behind the nip between the rollers for inducing the strapping to form a self-closing coil. The most difficult problem encountered in coiling strapping having applied seals is the deformation of the short strapping element which projects from the seal and the subsequent deformation of the seal itself. Unless both the short element and the seal itself are properly deformed, the strapping will not coil properly and the strapping will not therefore feed through the coiling device. It will be appreciated that the arrangement described in US-A-3,910,089, which corresponds to the preamble of independent claim 1, does not address the above problem since the deforming means is in the form of a shaped nose member which is spring biased into engagement with the strapping as it emerges from the nip. The fact that the arrangement of US-A-3,910,089 does not properly deform the strapping seal is obvious from a consideration of Figure 4 of the drawings which shows the seal still in its original undeformed form. Reference is also made to US-A-2,179,011 which discloses a hot strip coiling machine comprising a pair of rolls located on one side of the strip to be coiled and a third roll located on the opposite side of the strip, said third roll being movable between a position in which it co-acts with one of the first mentioned rolls to form a pinch feeding combination and a position in which it presses the strip against both of the first mentioned rolls to form a bending type feeding combination for the strip. It is the object of the present invention to provide a used strap coiling mechanism which will result in the alleviation of the disposal problems referred to above in a manner which overcomes the above described deficiency of the prior art apparatus. The invention therefore provides a metal strapping coiling device comprising a driven roller and a pinch roller, said pinch roller being rotatably mounted on a pivoted arm and biased towards the driven roller by biasing means to define a nip between said rollers into which the strapping to be coiled is introduced, pivoted deforming means positioned behind the nip between said rollers for inducing the strapping to form a self-closing coil, said biasing means enabling the nip between said rollers to be enlarged against the action of said biasing means to facilitate the passage of section modulus changes which occur when strapping seals, deformed portions of the strapping or the like pass between said rollers, characterized in that said deforming means comprises a deforming roller which is driven at substantially the same surface speed as said driven roller, said deforming roller having surface gripping means to minimize slippage when engaging the strapping, said deforming roller being mounted on means which pivots about the axis of rotation of said driven roller, said means being linked to said pivoted arm so that said deforming roller is pivoted with said pinch roller when section modulus changes are encountered. Since the deforming roller is formed with surface gripping means, is driven at the same speed as the driven roller and pivoted with the pinch roller, it engages and deforms the strap projections in the area of the seal to allow better formation of said strapping into a coil. The driven roller is preferably serrated to minimize slipping between said strapping and said nip rollers. The strap coiling mechanism preferably includes a curved deflector bar which serves to guide the leading edge of the deformed strapping during initial formation of the self-closing coil. The mechanism is preferably mounted on an elevated frame so that a storage container or drum may be located below the coiling region of the mechanism. One preferred form of the coiling device will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : Figure 1 is a sectional side view of the strap coiling mechanism; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the strap coiling mechanism of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a side elevation of the mechanism in use. Referring firstly to Figure 1 of the drawings, the strap coiling mechanism will be seen to comprise a driven roller 1 having a serrated peripheral surface (Figure 2), a pinch roller 4 rotatably mounted at one extremity of a pivoted crank lever 8, the pinch roller 4 being biased towards the driven roller 1 by means of a compression spring 6 engaging the other end of the lever 8, the biasing force being adjustable by means of an adjusting screw 7. A nip N is defined between the driven roller 1 and the pinch roller 4 and the nip N receives strapping S to be coiled. In the event that the strapping includes a seal S' or other similar connecting device, the pinch roller 4 will be deflected away from the driven roller 1, against the action of the spring 6, to allow the passage of the seal S' through the nip N. A deforming roller 3 is rotatably mounted between a pair of side plates 10 which are pivoted about the axis of the driven roller 1 and linked to the pivoted arm 8 so that the deforming roller 3 is pivoted with the pinch roller 4 when seals S' pass through the nip N. The roller 3 is located behind the nip N in a position which causes the strapping S to engage the serrated surface of the deforming roller 3 to induce the strapping S to form a self closing coil C. A curved deflector bar 5 is located in a position to guide the leading edge of the deformed strapping S during the initial formation of the coil C. The deforming roller 3 is driven at the same surface speed as the driven roller 1 by means of an idler gear 2, mounted on the rearmost plate 10 and which meshes with gears attached to the shafts supporting the driven roller 1 and the deforming roller 3 and defining gear train G. The strap coiling mechanism is driven by an electric motor E through a gearbox G and a clutch C1. As shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, the driven roller 1 and the deforming roller 3 are supported in bearings carried in supporting side plates 10 while the pinch roller 4 is carried in bearings mounted at the ends of the crank arms 8. The strap coiling mechanism is preferably mounted on an elevated frame F so that a waste container W may be positioned below the exit region for the coil C when the end of the strapping S is reached. It will be appreciated that a closed coil of strapping such as hat shown in Figure 1 of the drawings will occupy far less volume within the waste container W than an uncoiled length of strapping. While in the above embodiments a deforming roller is used to induce a self-closing coil of strapping S, any suitable deforming means may be used to achieve a similar end. However, the use of a serrated surface deforming roller is preferred since it more positively engages the seal area during the formation of the self-closing coil in the strapping S. Similarly, while the pinch roller 4 has been shown as being deflectable to allow the passage of strapping seals S′, similar results may be achieved by spring biasing the driven roller 1 for pivotable or vertical movement with respect to the pinch roller 4.

Claims: Metal strapping coiling device comprising a driven roller (1) and a pinch roller (4), said pinch roller (4) being rotatably mounted on a pivoted arm (8) and biased towards said driven roller (1) by biasing means (6) to define a nip (N) between said rollers (1, 4) into which the strapping (S) to be coiled is introduced pivoted deforming means (3) positioned behind said nip (N) between said rollers (1, 4) for inducing said strapping (S) to form a self-closing coil (C), said biasing means (6) enabling said nip (N) between said rollers (1, 4) to be enlarged against the action of said biasing means (6) to facilitate the passage of section modulus changes which occur when strapping seals (S'), deformed portions of said strapping (S) or the like pass between said rollers (1, 4), characterised in that said deforming means (3) comprises a deforming roller (3) which is driven at substantially the same surface speed as said driven roller (1), said deforming roller (3) having surface gripping means to minimize slippage when engaging said strapping (S), said deforming roller (3) being mounted on means (10) which pivots about the axis of rotation of said driven roller (1), said means (10) being linked to said pivoted arm (8) so that said deforming roller (3) is pivoted with said pinch roller (4) when section modulus changes are encountered. Coiling device of claim 1, wherein said driven roller (1) has a serrated peripheral surface to minimize slippage between said strapping (S) and said rollers (1, 4). Coiling device of claim 1 or 2, wherein said surface gripping means on said deforming roller (3) are in the form of serrations. Coiling device of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising means (5) remote from said rollers (1, 3, 4) for further ensuring the formation of said self-closing coil (C) of said metal strapping (S). Coiling device of claim 4, wherein said remote means comprises a stationary curved deflector bar (5) positioned to guide the leading edge of said deformed strapping (S) during the initial formation of said self-closing coil (C).

Inventors: NAPPER, GREGORY JOHN, RODER, EDWARD ALEXANDER
Applicants: AUSTRALIAN WOOL CORPORATION
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B65H18
IPC codes: B65H18