Abstract:
A gluing mechanism incorporating a notched glue scraper and a method thereof are disclosed. A glue dispensing roller is provided adjacent to a web material traveling path where a web material is conveyed to get past, and operated to touch glue contained in a glue tank, and accordingly, a glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller is coated with the glue. A notched scraper blade, which faces the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller, scrapes the glue stayed on the portion of the glue carrying roller surface, which corresponds with the non-notched area of the scraper edge. Comparatively, the glue stayed on the rest of the glue carrying roller surface is formed a glue layer for subsequently applying to a gluing side of the web material, wherein the rest of the glue carrying roller surface corresponds with notched area of the scraper edge.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a gluing mechanism for winding a web material, and in particular to a gluing mechanism that incorporates a notched scraper blade for gluing a winding web material and a method thereof. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A conventional paper core used in a web material winding mechanism is conveyed to a location beside a first winding roller by a conveyor and is then forced into a curved guiding passage by a push plate to reach a winding nip. The paper core is wound around by a web material, such as a length of a tissue paper in the winding nip to form a web material roll, such as a tissue paper roll. During the winding process, trans-printing techniques are employed to apply an initial glue or a tail glue to the web material. Alternatively, a rotatable bar is used to touch and carry glue and the glue carried by the rotatable bar is then transferred to a web material. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     However, gluing by trans-printing techniques suffers insufficiency and irregularity of gluing. On the other hand, the rotatable bar is often rotated at a high speed and the glue attached may be easily thrown away due to the action of centrifugal force. Such thrown glue would be difficultly collected and recycled. 
     Thus, an objective of the present invention is to provide a gluing mechanism for use in a web material winding device and a method thereof, wherein the web material can be glued sufficiently and regularly under control according to the glue amount and gluing area. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a gluing mechanism for a web material winding device, which can be used for recycling the excessive glue after gluing. 
     In accordance with the present invention, a gluing mechanism incorporating a notched scraper blade is provided, comprising a glue dispensing roller, which is provided at a location adjacent to the web material traveling path and faces the gluing side of the web material, the glue dispensing roller being rotatable in a given rotation direction, the glue dispensing roller having a glue carrying roller surface; a glue tank, which is provided beside the glue dispensing roller and contains therein an amount of glue; a notched scraper blade, which extends in a direction substantially parallel with an axial of the glue dispensing roller and faces the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller, the notched scraper blade having a scraper edge that is adjacent to and in touch with the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller, the scraper edge of the notched scraper blade forming at least one notch; and a glue collection tank, which is provided below the glue dispensing roller by a given distance. The glue tank can be alternatively set below the glue dispensing roller to also function as a glue collector, whereby the glue collection tank can be eliminated. 
     When the glue dispensing roller is driven to rotate, the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller touches and carries the glue from the glue tank. The glue carried by the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller, when passing the scraper edge of the notched scraper blade, is subjected to scraping by the scraper edge of the notched scraper blade to have a portion of the glue that is at a location not corresponding to the notch scraped off from the glue carrying roller surface. Another portion of the glue that is at a location corresponding to the notch of the notched scraper blade is allowed to form a glue layer on the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller upon passing through the notch of the notched scraper blade for being subsequently applicable to the gluing side of the web material. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, at least one pushing member is further included, which is arranged by a contact side of the web material that is opposite to the gluing side. When the pushing member is driven by a driving mechanism to rotate, the web material is pushed by the pushing member to touch the glue layer on the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller so as to have the web material coated with the glue. 
     The technical solution adopted by the present invention is to employ the scraper edge of the notched scraper blade to scrape off portions of the glue that are not at locations corresponding to glue passing zones on the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller before the glue is applied to the web material, and only allowing portions of the glue that are at locations corresponding to the glue passing zones to be left on the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller, making the glue remaining on the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller distributed at desired sites that are determined according to the arrangement of the glue passing zones. The size and shape of the glue passing zones determine the quantity and thickness distribution of the glue left on the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller, whereby regulation of the application of glue to the glue dispensing roller can be effectively realized. Besides sufficient and uniform distribution of the glue applied to the glue dispensing roller, manipulating the size and shape of the glue passing zones is also advantageous to realize strengthening or modification of gluing strength to suit the needs of various web materials to be rolled up. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, besides controlling the distribution sites of the glue on the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller, the notched scraper blade of the present invention is also functioning to remove excessive glue from the glue carrying roller surface of the glue dispensing roller. Further, the location of the glue tank can be alternatively set below the glue dispensing roller whereby the removed excessive glue is allowed to directly flow down back into the glue tank and the additional glue collection tank can be eliminated. In this way, the overall construction is made simple by the elimination of the glue collection tank, and time and labor needed in transferring the glue from the glue collection tank to the glue tank can thus be saved. In addition, since the glue inside the glue tank can be supplemented by the removed excessive glue, the cost of the glue is reduced. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of the best mode for carrying out the present invention, with reference to the attached drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic side view of a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 3-6  are side views of various notched scraper blades having different configurations of scraper edge; 
         FIG. 7  a schematic top view showing an assembly of one of various notched scraper blades and a glue dispensing roller; 
         FIGS. 8-10  are schematic top views of various notched scraper blades forming notches of different shapes; 
         FIG. 11  is a top view of a glue dispensing roller after coating with glue; 
         FIG. 12  is a top view of a pushing member; 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic side view showing the pushing member at a pushing position; 
         FIG. 14  is a schematic side view showing the condition when the pushing member completes a gluing operation; 
         FIG. 15  is a schematic bottom view showing an assembly of a flat scraper blade and a glue dispensing roller; 
         FIG. 16  is a schematic side view showing a core entering a winding nip and a web material wound thereon; 
         FIG. 17  is schematic side view showing the core and the web material are continuously rolled in the winding nip and the web material is torn off; 
         FIG. 18  is a perspective view of a completed web material roll; 
         FIG. 19  is a perspective view of a cut segment of the roll; 
         FIG. 20  is a side view of the cut segment of the roll; 
         FIG. 21  is a schematic side view of a second embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 22  is a flow chart of the second embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to the drawings and in particular to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , which respectively illustrate a schematic side view of a web material winding device that includes a gluing mechanism and a flow chart of a method for application of glue in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, the web material winding device illustrated in  FIG. 1  is broadly designated at  100 . The web material winding device  100  is operated in such a way that a web material P 1 , such as a tissue paper sheet, is first drawn by a pair of feed rollers  1  in a given conveyance direction R into the web material winding device  100  and then passes through a perforation roller  2  that forms a perforated line at every preset distance in the web material P 1 . Thereafter, the web material P 1  is conveyed to get past a web material traveling path R 1  (referring to step  101  showed on the  FIG. 2 ) where the gluing mechanism, which is designated with reference numeral  3 , carries out localized application of glue on the web material P 1 . 
     The gluing mechanism  3  carries out gluing operation by causing glue to coat on a gluing side P 11  of the web material P 1  when the web material P 1  travels through the web material traveling path R 1 . The gluing mechanism  3  comprises a glue dispensing roller  31 , a glue tank  32 , a notched scraper blade  33 , at least one pushing member  34 , a flat scraper blade  35 , a glue collection tank  36 , and a fender  37 . 
     The glue dispensing roller  31  is provided at a location adjacent to the web material traveling path R 1  and facing the gluing side P 11  of the web material P 1 , and is rotatable according to a given rotation direction I. The glue dispensing roller  31  has a glue carrying roller surface  311 . The glue tank  32  is provided beside the glue dispensing roller  31  and contains an amount of glue g 1 . 
     The notched scraper blade  33  is provided in parallel with the axial of the glue dispensing roller  31  and faces the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31  (referring to  FIG. 7  also). The notched scraper blade  33  has a scraper edge  331  that is used to touch the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31 . Referring to  FIGS. 3-6 ,  FIGS. 3-6  are side views of various notched scraper blades having different configurations of scraper edge are illustrated. As shown in these drawings, although in the first embodiment of the present invention, the scraper edge  331  of the notched scraper blade  33  has a cross-sectional configuration of single-side tapered awl-shape, it is feasible to make the scraper edge  331  other shapes, such as a double-side tapered awl-shaped scraper edge  331   a  of a notched scraper blade  33   a , a rectangular scraper edge  331   b  of a notched scraper blade  33   b , or a rounded scraper edge  331   c  of a notched scraper blade  33   c  ; the scraper edge  331  can be of any desired shape to suit various needs. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 7-10 ,  FIG. 7  is a schematic top view showing an assembly of one of various notched scraper blades and a glue dispensing roller and  FIGS. 8-10  are top plan views of various notched scraper blades forming notches of different shapes are illustrated. The notched scraper blade  33  is with the scraper edge  331 , which has at least one notch  332  that is provided on the corresponding determined area of the web material P 1  which is glued. In the first embodiment of the present invention, the notch  332  is a recess having a curved shape and forms the notched area, while the area without the notch is the non-notched area. However, it is also feasible to adopt a notched scraper blade  33   d  having a scraper edge  331   d , wherein the scraper edge  331   d  is with V-shaped notches  332   a , a notched scraper blade  33   e  having a scraper edge  331   e , wherein the scraper edge  331   e  is with trapezoidal shape notches  332   b , or a notched scraper blade  33   f  having a scraper edge  331   f , wherein the scraper edge  331   f  is with rectangular shape notches  332   c  ; the notches  332  may alternatively be of other shapes. The shape and size of the notches can be properly determined in accordance with the amount of glue to be applied. 
     Referring to  FIG. 11 , a top view of the glue dispensing roller after coating with the glue is illustrated. When the glue dispensing roller  31  is in rotation, the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31  touches the glue g 1  contained in the glue tank  32  to have a portion of the glue g 1  coated thereto (referring to  FIG. 13  and referring to step  102  showed on the  FIG. 2  also). The glue g 1  coated on the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31 , when passing the scraper edge  331  of the notched scraper blade  33 , is subjected to scraping by the scraper edge  331  of the notched scraper blade  33  to have portions of the glue g 1  that are at locations not corresponding to the notches  332  scraped off from the glue carrying roller surface  311  (see the  FIG. 7  also), but leaving the portions of the glue g 1  that are at locations corresponding to the notches  332  of the notched scraper blade  33  to form a pattern or layer of glue g 2  on the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31  (referring to step  103  showed on the  FIG. 2 ). 
     Referring to  FIGS. 12-14 ,  FIGS. 12-14  respectively illustrate a top view of the pushing member, a schematic side view showing the pushing member at a pushing position, and a schematic side view showing the condition when the pushing member completes a gluing operation. The pushing member  34  is provided at a location close to the web material traveling path R 1  and faces a contact side P 12  of the web material P 1  that is opposite to the gluing side P 11 . The pushing member  34  is coupled to a shaft  341  and is driven by a driving mechanism  342  to rotate with the shaft  341  as a rotation center. When the pushing member  34  is rotated to a pushing position A (see  FIG. 13 ), the web material P 1  is pushed by the pushing member  34  to touch the glue layer g 2  that is formed on the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31 , whereby the gluing side P 11  of the web material P 1  is locally coated with a tail glue g 21  (referring to the  FIG. 14  and referring to step  104  showed on the  FIG. 2  also). 
     The web material P 1  that is with the glue coated continues to advance. If necessary, the pushing member  34  may make a second turn to have the gluing side P 11  of the web material P 1  locally coated with an initial glue g 22  at a location distant from the tail glue g 21 . The distance can be changed by adjusting the rotational speed of the pushing member  34 . Although the first embodiment of the present invention demonstrates application of the tail glue g 21  and the initial glue g 22  to the web material P 1 , it is practically possible to apply only the tail glue g 21  or the initial glue g 22  to the web material P 1  according to practical needs. Practically, a predetermined area of a core P 2  can be applied with the initial glue thereon (not shown) while the core P 2  is conveyed by a core carrier  41  of a conveyor. 
     Referring to  FIG. 15 ,  FIG. 15  is a schematic bottom view showing an assembly of the flat scraper blade and the glue dispensing roller. The flat scraper blade  35  is parallel with the axial of the glue dispensing roller  31  and faces the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31 . The flat scraper blade  35  has a scraper edge  351  touching the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31 . The scraper edge  351  of the flat scraper blade  35  is flat, and without notches, serving to scrap excessive or residual glue g 3  (see  FIG. 1 ) off from the glue carrying roller surface  311  after the web material P 1  is applied with the glue. The excessive glue g 3 , after being scraped off, drops down to the glue collection tank  36  that is provided below the glue dispensing roller  31  by a given distance for collection and reuse (referring to the step  105  showed on the  FIG. 2 ). 
     The fender  37  is provided above the glue dispensing roller  31  by a given distance and used to lightly touch the gluing side P 11  of the web material P 1  so as to maintain a small gap between the web material P 1  and the glue layer g 2  formed on the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31 . After the web material P 1  is pushed by the pushing member  34  to touch and is thus applied with the glue by the glue layer g 2 , the web material P 1  that is separated from the glue layer g 2  according to the web material P 1  is subjected to a returning force applied from the fender  37 , and accordingly, a small gap is maintained between both again. 
     On the other hand, the core P 2  is conveyed by a core carrier  41  of the conveyor and is further forced into a passage  43  by a push plate  42 . The passage  43  is delimited between a core support plate  44  and a first winding roller  51 . When the core P 2  enters the passage  43  and is adhered to the web material P 1 , the core P 2  is moved to a winding nip  5 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 16 , a schematic side view showing the core entering the winding nip and the web material wound thereon is illustrated. The winding nip  5  is defined among the first winding roller  51 , a second winding roller  52 , and a rider roller  53 . In the winding nip  5 , the core P 2 ′ is adhered to the web material P 1 , and the web material P 1  are continuously wound around the core P 2 ′ and forms a web material roll P 3  (also see  FIG. 17 ). 
     When the winding operation of the web material roll P 3  is almost finished, a next core P 2  is conveyed to a pinch roller  46  in the passage  43 , wherein the web material P 1  is pinched between said next core P 2  and protuberances  451  of severing arms  45  and is thus torn off. After finishing the web material roll P 3  winding operation, the web material roll P 3  is discharged along an inclined chute  62  and a belt  61 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 18-20 , a perspective view of the completed web material roll, a perspective view of a cut segment of the roll, and a side view of the cut roll segment are illustrated. As shown, the web material roll P 3 , which can be as a toilet paper roll, a tissue paper roll, or a kitchen towel roll alternatively, has a tail end that is sealed or fixed by means of the tail glue g 21 ′ during the gluing operation. When the web material roll P 3  is provided to user, the web material roll P 3  is cut into a plurality of short roll segments P 4  having a width W. 
       FIGS. 21 and 22  respectively illustrate a schematic side view and a flow chart in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. The web material winding device of the second embodiment, which is designated with reference numeral  100 ′, has a construction substantially identical to that of the previously discussed first embodiment, so that similar parts/components are labeled with similar reference numerals for simplicity and correspondence therebetween. 
     A gluing mechanism  3 ′ of the second embodiment is comprised of only a glue dispensing roller  31 , a glue tank  32 ′, a notched scraper blade  33 , at least one pushing member  34 , and a fender  37 . The glue tank  32 ′ is provided below the glue dispensing roller  31  by a given distance. A notched scraper blade  33  can be fixed by any known means and is positioned at a side of the glue dispensing roller  31 . The notched scraper blade  33  has a scraper edge  331  that is with at least one notch  332  (also see  FIG. 7 ). Similar to the previously discussed first embodiment, a web material P 1  is conveyed to get past a web material traveling path R 1  (step  201 ) and the glue dispensing roller  31  is set in rotation to have a glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31  touching and carrying the glue g 1  from the glue tank  32 ′ (step  202 ). Excessive or residual glue g 3  is scraped off when passing through the scraper edge  331  of the notched scraper blade  33 , and the portions of the glue g 1  that correspond in position to the notches  332  of the notched-scraper blade  33  are left on the glue carrying roller surface  311  of the glue dispensing roller  31  to form a glue layer g 2  (step  203 ). By means of pushing by the pushing member  34 , the glue is applied to a gluing side P 11  of the web material P 1  (step  204 ). 
     Compared to the first embodiment, the second embodiment eliminates the glue collection tank  36  of the first embodiment. The excessive glue g 3 , after being scraped off by the scraper edge  331  of the notched scraper blade  33 , drops down into the glue tank  32 ′ that is provided below the glue dispensing roller  31 , rather than the glue collection tank  36  of the first embodiment. In this way, the collected glue g 1  in the glue tank  32 ′ can be used after collecting for recycle, and accordingly, the glue collection tank  36  is no longer needed. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to the best mode for carrying out the present invention, as well the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.