Continuous winder for web materials

Abstract: A continuous winder for web material (W) includes two pairs of turret arms (14, 15) mounted for rotation with respect to each other on a common axis (16), and also includes a lay-on roll (30) mounted for lateral movement toward and away from the axis (16) of the turret arms (14, 15). The lay-on roll (30) maintains pressure engagement with the winding roll (R) until the interval of actual roll changing, when it moves from the wound roll (R) into pressure engagement with the new core (C) with the web (W) running therebetween, whereupon the web (W) is cut between the two rolls (R) to complete the roll change. The knife assembly (50) for cutting the web (W) is carried by another pair of pivotally mounted arms (53) and includes a clamp mechanism (80) on each arm (53) which effects rotatable clamping engagement with the adjacent turret arm (14, 15) carrying the new core (C) so that the knife arms (53) and the core-carrying turret arms (14, 15) travel together throughout the actual operation of roll changing and thereby assure that the knife (52) is held in proper relation with the core (C) before the roll change is made and while it is being made.

Description: This invention relates to the continuous winding of web materials, and particularly of thin plastics films such as stretch wrap and cling wrap films, as well as of paper, paperboard and other web type materials. In the continuous winding of such web materials, it is extremely important to maintain control of the tension in the web throughout as much as possible of the winding process, and particularly during the change from a full roll to a new core. The invention is directed to a winder apparatus of the type disclosed in co-owned US-A-3,841,577, which includes a reel or turret comprising two pairs of arms rotatable about a common axis defined by a main shaft. The two arms of each pair are axially spaced and opposed, and are adapted to releasably rotatably support a core between their radially outer ends. The two pairs of turret arms are mounted so that they may be angularly indexed independently of each other about their common axis. A single rider or pressure roll is provided, permanently located in the arcuate path along which cores are constrained to move by the turret arms. The pressure roll is movable along a path generally perpendicular to a line intersecting the common axis of the turret arms and the axis of the pressure roll. A core-loading and roll-starting location, and a final winding location, are disposed to one side of the pressure roll, i.e. to one side of the line of intersection. This enables the angular separation between these locations, which defines a roll-changing zone, to be decreased from 180° (which would be the case if the turret arms of one pair were to be fixedly diametrically opposed to the arms of the other pair), to about 105° or less, correspondingly decreasing the angular distance by which the winding roll must be indexed to its final winding location. However, with this arrangement, before a new core can be loaded, the existing winding roll must be indexed one direction, away from the pressure roll, into its final winding location to provide a space between the winding and pressure rolls. The new core is then loaded into its turret arms in this space, indexed in the opposite direction into contact with the web running around the pressure roll, and a knife mechanism is operated to sever the web and transfer the cut leading end of the web to the new core. Although, during this roll-change, the length of the free span or draw of the web which bridges the space between the pressure roll and the indexed winding-roll is relatively short, this free span must be maintained for a time sufficient to allow the new core to be loaded, and indexed into position. During this time, since the pressure roll is not pressing the web against the winding roll, there is an absence of proper tension control, and the portion of the web which becomes the outer wraps on the full roll often becomes "tail waste" due to air entrainment between the outer web wraps that produces wrinkles, bunching, telescoping or skewing in this outermost portion of the roll. It is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous winder of the general type disclosed in US-A-3,841,577, which is capable of reducing the amount of such tail waste, and of consistently reducing to a minimum the amount of web material between the cut leading end of the web and the area of the web which is adhered to the new core at the start of a new roll. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for continuously winding web material into rolls on successive cores, as defined in claim 1. In the apparatus embodying the invention, the two pairs of turret arms are mounted for rotation, one pair with respect to the other, through 360° about the common axis, and which can be separately indexed about that axis. Each of these pairs of opposed arms occupies the same predetermined angular position during the majority of the period of winding a full roll on a core carried thereby. This roll-winding position for each pair of opposed arms is an intermediate position within a roll-changing zone defined by angularly spaced positions of the two pairs of arms which are on opposite sides, angularly, of the winding position and which are relatively closely spaced, e.g. less than 90°. A single pressure, lay-on or rider roll is mounted for transverse movement, i.e. movement generally radially toward and away from the common axis, within the roll-changing zone of the two pairs of arms, for the purpose of pressing the web against the new core while the roll change is being carried out, and also for maintaining that pressure as the new roll is wound into a full roll. Only during the interval of actual roll-changing does this rider roll move from the full roll into pressure engagement with the new core with the web running therebetween, whereupon the web is cut between the full roll and the new core by a knife assembly to complete the roll-change. In the apparatus embodying the invention, the knife assembly includes a pair of arms which are mounted for rotational movement on a common axis spaced from and parallel with the common axis of the turret arms, and which move through a path overlapping the path of the core-carrying spindles of the turret arms through the roll-changing zone. During roll-changing, the knife assembly arms rotate in the opposite direction from the turret arms, and the knife assembly includes a coupling or clamp mechanism on each of the knife arms which effects rotatable clamping engagement with the adjacent turret arm about the axis of the spindle and the core carried thereby. This clamping relationship between the knife arms and the turret arms is maintained throughout the actual operation of roll-changing, and this causes the knife to be held in predetermined relation with the core before the roll-change is made and while it is being made. One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view in side elevation illustrating the front side of a continuous winder in accordance with the invention, and particularly illustrating that stage of operation while a new roll is being wound on a spindle-mounted core carried by one pair of arms, and a new core has been mounted in the other pair of arms for transfer of the web thereto; Fig. 2 is a partial view looking from right to left in Fig. 1 and showing the arm assembly which supports the pressure lay-on or rider roll and associated components at the drive side of the winder; Fig. 3 is a schematic view looking from left to right in Fig. 2 and showing the drive system for the lay-on roll and the other rolls in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation taken as indicated by the line 4--4 in Fig. 6, illustrating the structure and operation of the knife assembly and its supporting structure at the back side of the winder; Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragment of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a partial view in elevation of the knife assembly and its supporting structure at the front side of the winder looking from right to left in Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section on the line 7--7 in Fig. 4 and on a larger scale; Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8--8 in Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a partial side elevation illustrating the mechanism for raising and lowering the upper knife assembly shown in Figs. 1-8; Fig. 10 is a partial view in elevation looking from right to left in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 9 showing the mechanism for raising and lowering the lower knife assembly in Fig. 1; and Figs. 12-14 are fragmentary views on a larger scale illustrating successive stages in the roll changing operation. The winder illustrated in the drawings is generally similar in construction to co-owned U.S. Patent No. 3,841,577, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. It comprises two complementary end stands 10, which are shown as formed of square steel tubing, and the web W to be wound is fed thereto by a pair of driven pull rolls 11 and wraps a roll 12 associated with a tension load cell 13 which forms a part of the drive control system as described hereinafter. Two turret arms 14 and 15, only one of each being shown, are mounted in each stand 10 for rotation with respect to each other about a common axis 16. As is fully disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,841,577, the respective turret arms 14 and 15 mounted in each end stand are coupled together in pairs through separate indexing drives, which are indicated diagrammatically at 17 and 18, and which can be operated independently of each other. The arms 14 and 15 in each pair are also coupled mechanically by the core shafts that carry the successive cores on which the web material W is wound. As shown in Fig. 6, each such core shaft 20 is keyed or otherwise drivingly connected at each end to the spindle 22 which is mounted in each of arms 14 and 15. In addition, at least one of the arms in each of the resulting pairs is provided with a drive 23 for effecting controlled rotation of the spindles 22 in these arms, each of which is also axially movable in a cylindrical housing 25 on the associated arm in conventional manner to release and grip the ends of the successive core shafts 20. As described above, and in more detail hereinafter, Fig. 1 shows the arms 14 in the preferred main winding position wherein they are horizontal and support a winding roll R with its axis in the 9 o'clock position as viewed in Fig. 1, while the arms 15 are in the preferred 3 o'clock position for unloading a full roll R prior to replacing it with an empty core C. As also described above and hereinafter, the roll changing zone Z is defined by relatively closely spaced angular positions of arms 14 and 15 on either side of 9 o'clock as illustrated in Fig. 4. A lay-on, pressure or rider roll 30 is mounted for relative transverse movement within the winding zone Z towards and away from the successive winding rolls to apply yieldable pressure thereto. This roll 30 is carried by the lower ends of a pair of generally C-shaped arms 32, which are mounted for pivotal movement in brackets 31 depending from a cross beam 33 connecting the end frames 10. A guide roll 34 is rotatably mounted in the arms 32 coaxially with the pivot axis 32' of arms 32, and an additional guide roll 35 is rotatably mounted in the lower ends of arms 32. Each of these arms 32 is continuously biased in counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 about its pivotal mounting in the frame by a fluid pressure cylinder 36 connected between it and the cross beam 33 to move the pressure roll 30 toward the axis 16 of the turret arms. The proportions of the arms 32 are such that the axis about which the roll 30 swings is sufficiently long --e.g. 101.6 cm (40 inches)--that the movement of the roll 30 in operation, which corresponds to the thickness of each fully wound roll R, does not significantly vary from a straight line. The movements of the pressure roll 30 are therefore confined to the roll-changing zone Z and are essentially toward and away from the turret arm axis 16. A limit position of its movement toward axis 16 is established by a pair of adjustable stops 37 on the cross beam 33 which limit counterclockwise movement of the support arms 32. The pressure roll 30 is provided with a separate drive which, as shown in Figs. 1-2, comprises a reversible motor 38 mounted at the back side of the winder on the upper of two cross ties 39 connecting the arms 32. The drive sprocket 40 on motor 38 is connected through a series of three timing belts 41, intermediate sprockets 42 and a tensioning sprocket 43 with a sprocket 44 on the adjacent journal of roll 30. If it is desired for a given use to drive the roll 30 with the web rather than directly, any one of the belts 41 may be removed, but normally the roll 30 will always be driven with enough power to overcome inertia. The arms 32 also carry a pair of spreader rolls 45 of the bowed type rotatably mounted at the opposite ends of a pair of brackets 46, which are rotatably adjustably secured to the respective arms 32 by a locking bolt 47. The rolls 45, as well as the rolls 12, 34 and 35, may be free-running rolls driven by the web W of material to be wound, but preferably the spreader rolls are driven by the guide rolls 34 and 35, by belts 48 as shown in Fig. 2. The winder is illustrated in Fig. 1 as capable of operation with the turret arms 14 and 15 and the successive winding rolls moving in either clockwise or counterclockwise direction. It is accordingly equipped with two knife assemblies indicated generally as 50 and 50′, the upper assembly 50 being utilized when the turret arms and rolls rotate counterclockwise, and the lower knife assembly 50′ being used when the turret arms and rolls rotate clockwise. Except for the fact that they operate in opposite directions, the knife assemblies 50 and 50′ are identical, and the following description is therefore directed to the upper knife assembly 50. The knife assembly 50 is mounted on the end stands 10 for movement of a knife blade 52 into and out of cutting position between a full roll and a new core carried by the respective pairs of arms 14 and 15. Referring first to Fig. 4, the knife assembly 50 includes a pair of arms 53, only one of which is shown, which are connected by a cross tie 54 and each of which is mounted for pivotal movement through a limited angular range on the associated end stand 10. The mechanism for moving the arms 53 about their common axis is described hereinafter in connection with Figs. 8-9. The knife blade 52 is carried by an angle shaped support 55 to which the blade 52 is clamped by bolts and a retainer bar 56. The knife support 55 includes a cylindrically curved boss or bar portion 57 which extends over the major part of its length and serves as a guide for the web in some positions of the parts, and it also includes a bracket portion 58 at each end which has a slot 59 therein. The knife support 55 is in turn adjustably mounted at each end on an arm 60 by a plate 61 and clamp bolts 62 in slots 59 for the purpose of adjusting the operating position of knife blade 52 for cores of different diameters. Each arm 60 is mounted for pivotal movement on a shaft 63 of generally T-shape having a head 64 which is bolted to the end of the associated support arm 53. Also mounted for pivotal movement on the shaft 63 is a plate 65 which has a relatively deep slot (see Fig. 6) in its upper portion. A freely rotatable short shaft 66 extends across this slotted portion of plate 65 and includes a radially extending arm 67 at its inner end. A link 68 is pivotally connected at its opposite ends to this arm 67 and to the adjacent knife support arm 60. A clamp-type collar (69 in Fig. 7) on the outer end of shaft 66 secures it to the plate 65. Movement of the knife arms 60 to advance and retract the knife blade 52 on the arms 53 is effected by a pair of fluid pressure cylinders 70, one of which is mounted on the side edge of each of the plates 65. Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, the piston rod 71 of cylinder 70 has mounted on its outer end a rack 72 of rectangular section which is movable lengthwise in a pair of guides or gibs 73 set in the slotted portion of the plate 65. This rack 72 engages a fragmentary pinion 75 keyed on the shaft 66 so that linear movement of the rack 72 causes rotational movement of the shaft 66, which movement is translated through the arms 67 and links 68 into pivotal movement of the arms 60 on the shafts 63. A satisfactory range for this rocking movement of the shaft 66 has been found to be approximately 93°. The knife assembly 50 also includes means for effecting a rotatable clamped connection between each of the arms 53 and the associated turret arm 14 or 15 which is carrying a new core during the roll changing operation. More specifically, each plate 65 carries a pair of rollers 80 at opposite corners on its lower side, and for preferred results, the rollers 80 should be anti-friction bearings. An additional similar roller 81 is mounted for free rotation on the end of each of the knife arms 60. The arrangement and spacing of these rollers 80 and 81 is such that when the knife arms 60 are extended, by the cylinders 70, to locate the knife blade 52 in cutting position, the three rollers 80 and 81 will engage in rotatable clamped relation with the spindle housing 25 on whichever one of the associated arms 14 and 15 is carrying the new core to which the web is to be transferred. In other words, the knife arm 60 and plate 65 at each end of the knife blade will form a clamped connection to the associated turret arm 14 and 15 in concentric relation with the new core carried by those turret arms, so that during indexing movement of the turret arms in the course of the roll changing operation as described hereinafter, the knife assembly will be moved by the turret arms. Since the spindles 22 and the shaft 66 swing about respective axes which are mutually displaced and fixed, and since the turret arms 14 and 15 and the knife assembly arms 53 are traveling in opposite angular directions, it is necessary that provision be made to adjust the knife assembly while it is clamped to the turret arms. This provision is made by rollers 80 and 81 which enable the plate 65 to rotate around the spindle housing 25. In order to stabilize the knife assembly during such movement, an air spring is connected between each plate 65 and the associated support arm 53 to provide for controlled pivotal movement of each plate 65 on its supporting shaft 63. More specifically, each air spring comprises two air cylinders 83 and 84 arranged in opposed relation, with the piston rod 85 of cylinder 83 connected to a bracket 86 on the arm 53 while the piston rod 87 of cylinder 84 is pivotally connected to a bolt 88 set in the upper end of the plate 65. Thus, while these opposed air cylinders will normally counterbalance each other and thus hold the associated plate 65 in a predetermined position about its supporting shaft 63, they will yield as required when movement of the turret arm to which the plate 65 is clamped requires that the plate 65 pivot in either direction from that predetermined position while the rollers 80 and 81 roll around the surface of the spindle housing 25 to which they are clamped. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, each of the knife support arms 53 has a total range of 40° of pivotal movement about its mounting on the associated end stand 10, and Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate the mechanism for effecting and controlling this movement. Each arm 53 is bolted at its pivoted end on the inner end of a shaft 90 rotatably mounted by suitable bearings 91 in the associated end stand 10. A pivot arm 92 is keyed or otherwise fixed on the shaft 90 inside each end stand, and it projects through a slot in the end stand wall and is pivoted to one end of a link 93 having its other end pivoted to one end of a bell crank lever 95 which is keyed on the end of a torque shaft 96 rotatably mounted by bearings 97 in a top portion of the end stand 10. The other end of the lever 95 is pivotally connected to the piston rod 99 of a fluid pressure cylinder 100 pivotally connected to the top portion of the end stand 10. Fig. 9 shows the component parts of this mechanism and the positions which they occupy when the knife assembly 50 is in its uppermost position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. When the cylinder 100 is operated to retract its piston rod, the lever 95 will rotate counterclockwise, thereby depressing the link 93 and causing the pivot arm 92 to rotate in clockwise direction and thereby to lower the associated knife assembly support arm 53. At the limit of its counterclockwise movement, the lever 95 will engage a stop 101 mounted on the top portion of the end stand 10, and also the pivot arm 92 will actuate a limit switch 102 mounted on the end stand 10. Associated with this knife assembly adjustment mechanism is a guard for shielding the knife blade 52 when the knife assembly is in its raised and therefore inoperative position. This guard includes an angle 105 which extends the full width of the winder and is secured at each end to one of a pair of plates 110, each of which is mounted for rocking movement on a pin 111 carried by a bracket 112 depending from the cross beam 33. The guard plate 110 is normally biased to pivot downward, in clockwise direction, by gravity and by a coil spring 113 connected between it and the bracket 112, with the limit retracted position of plate 110 established by engagement of an arm 115 thereon with a pin 116 set in the bracket 112. The plate 110 is raised, in counterclockwise direction, by the projecting outer end of the shaft 63 in the knife assembly 50, which engages a block 117 on the plate 110 as the knife assembly support arm 53 is raised to its uppermost position. In the resulting positions of the knife assembly and the guard plate 110, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9, the angle 105 underlies the edge of the knife blade 52 to minimize the possibility of accidental contact with the knife by operating personnel. As previously noted, the winder shown in Fig. 1 includes a lower knife assembly 50′, and Fig. 11 shows the mechanism for moving that knife assembly into and out of operating position. That mechanism is an upside down version of the mechanism shown in Figs. 9 and 10, and the components thereof are accordingly similarly designated as 90′, 92′ and so forth. This mechanism operates in the same way as described in connection with Fig. 9 except that the spring 113′ lifts the guard plate 110′ against gravity to its retracted position for operation of the knife assembly, and it is forced down into its knife-protecting position by the end of the shaft 63' as the knife assembly 50′ is moved to its lower, inoperative position. The operating sequence of the winder is illustrated in Figs. 1, 4 and 12-14. As previously noted, Fig. 1 illustrates that while a new roll R is being wound on a core supported in the arms 14 with those arms in the horizontal, 9 o'clock position, the arms 15 are moved to the 3 o'clock position where the previously wound roll R is unloaded by a pair of roll lowering arms 120. A new core C is then mounted on the spindles 22 in the respective arms 15, and this is a "prepared" core in that it is provided with a strip 121 (Fig. 13) of pressure sensitive adhesive extending lengthwise thereof. During this part of the operation, both of the knife assemblies 50 and 50′ are held in their retracted or rest positions wherein they are out of the path of the roll carried by the turret arms 15. When the winding roll R supported by the turret arms 14 is nearing completion, the arms 15 are indexed to a predetermined angular position wherein the spindle housings 25 thereon are centered between the arcuate paths of the rollers 80 on the plate 65 at each end of the knife assembly 50. This angular position, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, is 70° above the horizontal or approximately 11 o'clock, and is the intermediate position shown in Fig. 4, but as noted hereinafter, this angular dimension is subject to variation. While the arms 15 are in this position, knife assembly 50 is lowered until the rollers 80 engage the spindle housings 25, after which the cylinders 70 are actuated to rotate the knife arms 60 until the rollers 81 thereon complete clamping of the spindle housings 25 by rollers 80 and 81, as shown in Fig. 4. For the balance of the roll changing operation, therefore, the knife assembly 50 remains rotatably clamped to the turret arms 15 as the latter are indexed to and through the roll changing zone Z. Up to this point, the roll R continues to wind, and the pressure roll 30 continues to be pressed against its outer surface by the fluid pressure cylinder 36, with the roll 30 being continually pushed away from the winder axis 16 as the diameter of the winding roll R increases. Before further movement of either of the pairs of turret arms, the drive to the spindles in the pair of arms 15 is actuated to bring the core C up to the same surface speed as that of the web and the winding roll R. The indexing drives for the two pairs of turret arms are then actuated to cause the two pairs to move together. During this stage, the pressure roll 30 will in effect move around the surface of the winding roll R toward the winder axis 16 until the roll R moves out of engagement with roll 30. At this point, the roll 30 will move inwardly of the roll changing zone Z to the limit position established by the stops 37 for arms 32 wherein it extends into the arcuate path of the new core C on arms 15 and waits for engagement by the core C, as illustrated in Fig. 12. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the pressure roll 30 first contacts the core when the turret arms 15 are 7° above the horizontal, and the arms 15 are therefore 63° below the horizontal. With the parts in these relative positions, the edge of the knife blade 52 extends almost to the nip formed by the pressure roll 30 and core C and is therefore only a fraction of 2.54 cm (an inch) away from the surface of the core, as shown in Fig. 13. The web is continuing to travel from the pressure roll to the winding roll R, but as soon as rotation of the core C brings the adhesive strip 121 thereon through the nip with the pressure roll 30, the web will adhere to the core, and will thereby be drawn across the edge of the knife blade, as illustrated in Fig. 14. The web will therefore be severed, with its leading end adhered to the new core, and while the cut tail extending from the winding roll R is then free, it is so short--e.g. 30.5 to 45.7 cm (12 to 18 inches)--that it will immediately wind onto the full roll while the latter continues to rotate on the arms 14 as the two pairs of arms continue to index until movement of the arms 15 is stopped when they reach the horizontal position. The arms 14 continue to move, however, to the roll unloading position for the removal of the full roll and its replacement with a new core. Also, the cylinders 70 are reversed to withdraw the knife blade and release the clamping rollers 81, which has to be done very promptly to avoid contact of the new winding roll with the knife. The knife assembly 50 is then raised to its retracted position where it remains until the next roll changing operation. It will now be seen that in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the outer limits of the roll changing zone Z are set by the angular relation of the arms 14 and 15 in the position of the upper pair of those arms wherein it becomes attached to the knife assembly 50. A practical factor affecting the angular dimension of the zone is provided by the size of the rolls R to be produced, because it is essential that during the interval of roll changing, there be sufficient space between the full roll and the new core for unclamping of the knife support from the spindle housings 25 as soon as the web has been transferred to the new core and before there has been significant increase in the diameter of the new roll. This factor is illustrated in Fig. 4 by showing the winder set for production of the largest rolls of which it is capable. In the illustrated embodiment, this maximum diameter is 61 cm (24 inches), while the core C is shown as only 8.9 cm (3.50 inches) in diameter, yet the length of the free span of web running from the pressure roll 30 to the roll R immediately prior to roll changing will be only about 45.7 cm (18 inches). If the rolls R are to be smaller, the angular spacing between the arms 14-15 at the instant of roll changing could be correspondingly less, provided only that there be sufficient space between the full roll and the newly started roll in which the knife blade and arms 60 can be moved to release the knife assembly from the turret arms and move the knife blade away from the new roll as soon as the web has been cut. For any roll size within the capability of the winder, the important advantageous fact is that during the interval wherein the two pairs of arms are indexing simultaneously from the middle position of the upper pair of arms shown in Fig. 4 to the position wherein the core carried thereby first contacts the pressure roll 30, the roll 30 is out of engagement with the winding roll R for an angular interval of only about 35° or less. This represents a time interval of one second or less and a correspondingly short length of tail on the roll R which was not wound under controlled tension and pressure. In the operation of the winder as described above, the surface of the web W which, is on top as it approaches the winder is on the inside as each roll R is wound. If it is desired to have this surface on the outside, then the direction of rotation of the turret arms 14 and 15 is reversed so that they rotate clockwise, the web is led from the guide roll 35 to pass under the pressure roll 30 rather than over it as shown in Figs. 4 and 12-14, and the knife assembly 50' is utilized during roll changing. The operation of roll changing will take place in the same way as already described, except that the rotational movements of key moving parts will be in the opposite directions from those shown in Figs. 1, 12-14 with the winding rolls rotating clockwise, the arms 14 and 15 indexing in clockwise direction, the pressure roll 30 rotating counterclockwise, and the web-severing position of the knife being above the nip of roll 30 with the new core. In addition to the mechanical advantages provided by the winding apparatus embodying the invention as described above, the invention provides winding apparatus having great versatility from the standpoint of the selection and maintenance of optimum tension control conditions for whatever particular web material is being wound, by appropriate interrelation of the separate drives for the pull rolls 11, the spindles 22 and the lay-on or pressure roll 30. For example, in one mode establishing center wind tension control, the web speed will be established by the drive to the pull rolls 11, each winding spindle will be driven at a constantly decreasing angular speed to maintain the winding roll thereon at a constant surface speed which is modulated by the load cell 13 to provide proper winding tension for the web, and the roll 30 will be driven primarily by surface contact with the winding roll, supplemented by only so much of its own drive as is needed to overcome its inertia. For surface center tension winding conditions, the relationships of the drives for the spindles and lay-on roll will be interchanged, with the roll 30 driven at the proper surface speed modulated by the load cell 13, while the drive to the successive spindles 22 is utilized only to overcome their inertia.

Claims: Apparatus for continuously winding web material into rolls on successive cores, comprising: a base structure including a pair of spaced opposed end stands (10); first and second turret arms (14, 15) mounted in each end stand (10) for rotation with respect to each other about a first common axis (16), the first and second turret arms mounted in one end stand being coupled to the first and second turret arms mounted in the other end stand in axially spaced opposed pairs, the turret arms including support means (22) for releasably rotatably supporting a core between the turret arms of each axially opposed pair; a rider roll (30) mounted for movement along a predetermined path relative to the common axis (16) of the turret arms (14, 15); yieldable means (36) arranged to bias the rider roll (30); means (34, 35) for guiding the web material (W) towards the rider roll (30); indexing means (17, 18) for selectively indexing each of the pairs of turret arms about the common axis (16); and means (50) to sever the web material at a position between the full roll and the new core and to transfer the cut leading end of the web material to the new core, thereby to effect a roll change in a roll-changing zone (Z); characterised in that: (a) the predetermined path of the rider roll (30) is directed toward and away from the common axis (16) of the turret arms (14, 15); (b) the roll-changing zone (Z) is defined by predetermined angularly spaced positions of the pairs of opposed turret arms on opposite sides of the rider roll path wherein the web material (W) is severed from a full roll (R) supported by one pair of turret arms and transferred to a new core (C) supported by the other pair of turret arms; (c) the yieldable means (36) is arranged to bias the rider roll (30) toward the common axis (16), with the web material being guided between the rider roll (30) and the common axis (16), thereby to press the web material (W) against the winding roll (R) or a new core (C) supported within the roll-changing zone (Z) by one of the pairs of turret arms; and (d) the indexing means (17, 18) cooperates with the yieldable means (36) to move both pairs of turret arms simultaneously in the same direction and thereby to move a full roll (R) supported by one pair of turret arms out of engagement with the rider roll (30) and concurrently to move a new core (C) supported by the other pair of turret arms into engagement with the rider roll (30) with the web material (W) therebetween while maintaining both pairs of turret arms within the roll-changing zone (Z). Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the severing means comprises: (a) a web cutting knife assembly (50) including a pair of third arms (53) mounted for rotational movement on the base structure about a second common axis parallel with and spaced from the common axis (16) of the turret arms; (b) the knife assembly (50) including a knife blade (52) mounted for movement on the pair of third arms (53) between a retracted position and an advanced cutting position; (c) the knife assembly (50) including means (60, 65, 80, 81) on each of the third arms (53) responsive to movement of the blade (55) to the advanced position thereof for effecting a relatively rotatable connection between the third arm and adjacent the turret arm, which connection is coaxial with a new core (C) supported in the turret arms, whereby the connected pairs of third and turret arms are constrained to move together in angularly opposite directions through the roll-changing zone; and (d) means (70, 121) for causing the knife to sever the web material at a position within the roll-changing zone between the full roll and new core and causing the cut leading end of the web material to wind on the new core. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the new core (C) has an adhesive surface portion (121) extending lengthwise thereof, the rider roll (30) being operable to urge the web material (W) into contact with the adhesive surface so that the web material will adhere to the core and thereby be drawn into engagement with the blade and severed thereby as said connected pairs of arms move through the roll-changing zone. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 or 3, further comprising a pivotal mounting (63) by which the rotatable connection means (60, 65, 80, 81) on each third arm (53) is mounted to its associated third arm on the axis of the pivotal mounting (63), which axis is parallel with but laterally offset from the axis of the new core to compensate for said movement of the connected pairs of third turret arms in arcuately opposite directions. Apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein the rotatable connection means includes a knife arm (60) connected by the pivotal mounting (63) to each of the third arms, means (50) on the third arm supporting the knife blade (52) for swinging movement therewith about the pivotal mountings (63) thereof between the retracted and advanced positions, and means (81) carried by the third arms for swinging movement therewith into and out of connected relation with the adjacent turret arm (14, 15). Apparatus as defined in any of claims 2 to 5, wherein each turret arm (14, 15) includes a cylindrical portion (25) coaxial with the associated means (22) for rotatably supporting a new core, and wherein the rotatable connection means (60, 65, 80, 81) comprises means (80, 81) for forming a rotatably clamped connection between the knife assembly and the outer surface of the cylindrical portion of the associated turret arm. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein the means forming the clamped connection comprises a plate (65) mounted for pivotal movement on each third arm (53), a pair of rollers (80) mounted in spaced relation on each plate (65) for movement with the third arm into engagement with the cylindrical portion (25) of the adjacent turret arm (14, 15), and a third roller (81) mounted adjacent each end of the knife blade (52) for movement therewith to and from a position cooperating with the adjacent pair of rollers (80) to effect the rotatable clamped connection with the cylindrical portion (25) of the turret arm. Apparatus as defined in any preceding claim, further comprising a pair of rider roll arms (32) pivotally mounted at one end on the end stands, means on the other end of each rider roll arm (32) for rotatably supporting the rider roll (30), a motor (38) mounted on one rider roll arm (32), and transmission means (40, 41, 42, 43, 44) on said one rider roll arm forming a driving connection from the motor for rotating the rider roll. Apparatus as defined in any preceding claim, wherein the angularly spaced positions of the turret arms which define the roll-change zone (Z) are less than 90° apart.

Inventors: MOELLER ROBERT F, MOELLER, ROBERT F.
Applicants: BLACK CLAWSON CO, THE BLACK CLAWSON COMPANY
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B65H19
IPC codes: B65H19