Abstract:
This invention provides a method and associated apparatus in which decorative ribbons of varying thickness, width, and material can be automatically produced, curled, grouped, and combined in a decorative element which is packaged for distribution. The apparatus serves to impart a helical curl to at least one of a plurality of ribbon strands, meters the strands into preselected lengths, separates the lengths from the ribbon stock, and packages the resulting coiled ribbon arrangements for distribution to customers. The apparatus includes one or more roll stands for storing rolls of ribbon stock, a feed unit for advancing the ribbon through the apparatus and imparting a tendency to curl the strands, a tension regulator unit for accumulating metered lengths of the stands and regulating the advancement of the ribbon strands through the apparatus, and a packaging unit for attaching the ribbon on a placard, to form a decorative element having a cluster of curled ribbon strands.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the automated manufacture of decorative elements for the adornment of packages and the like, and more particularly to a novel method of imparting a curl to one or more ribbon strands for incorporation in the decorative elements. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Decorative elements such as ribbons and bows are commonly affixed to packages, gifts, and the like. Often times, these decorative elements serve as a reminder of a particular holiday, event, or simply serve as a personal expression of one&#39;s thoughtfulness. Indeed, a carefully packaged, decorative gift wrapping is increasingly recognized as a desirable component of any personal, family, or holiday celebration. As such, the degree of perceived originality or creativity in the design of such packaging ornaments is a key component of the commercial appeal of these items to the buying public. 
     In response to consumer demand for increased selection and originality in ribbon designs, manufacturers have introduced hand-made ribbon arrangements. These arrangements are multicolored ribbons of varying width, thickness, patterns, and colors which are hand wound, packaged, and sold individually. The ribbon arrangement is processed by hand to impart a curl to the material, resulting in a pleasing combination of grouped sections of multicolored helically coiled ribbons. Typically, the curl in a flat ribbon is created by running the length of the ribbon materials across a sharp edge. 
     The hand-made ribbons are packaged by attaching the ribbon arrangement to a cardboard placard for positioning on a retail display. Upon purchase, the ribbon is detached from the packaging and affixed to a gift box by way of an adhesive included on the underside of the ribbon arrangement or placard, typically double face tape. 
     Yet, while aesthetically appealing, hand made ribbons are cost prohibitive for many consumers. Consumers have grown accustomed to machine produced ribbons which are less expensive due to the lack of manual labor required for their creation. Heretofore, attempts at automating the curling process have been frustrated by the varying materials, widths, and thicknesses commonly encountered in the most desirable hand-made ribbons. 
     Therefore, currently a method and associated apparatus is desired in which decorative ribbons of varying thickness, width, and material can be produced, curled, grouped, and packaged for sale automatically and cost effectively. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A method and associated apparatus in which decorative ribbons of varying thickness, width, and material can be automatically produced, curled, grouped, and packaged for sale is provided. The apparatus includes one or more roll stands, a feed unit, a tension regulator unit, and a packaging unit. The apparatus imparts a helical curl to at least one of a plurality of ribbon strands, measures the strands into preselected lengths, separates the lengths from the ribbon stock, and packages the resulting coiled ribbon arrangements for distribution to customers. 
     The method of imparting the curl to the ribbon is accomplished through the application of controlled temperature to a ribbon strand advancing along an apparatus travel path. The ribbon is wound around a mandrel or curl tube as a helix and is heated to a predetermined temperature and cooled along the ribbon travel path to impart a curling tendency to the ribbon strand. The ribbon travel path spirals about the periphery of hollow threaded curl tubes such that apertures formed therein exhaust temperature-controlled air for imparting and setting a curl to the ribbon traveling around the tube. 
     The roll stand of the apparatus provides ribbon stock for supplying the apparatus with a plurality of ribbon materials of varying dimension, styles, and colors. The ribbon is drawn off from the free spooling roll stand by the feed unit. 
     The feed unit draws the ribbon strands from the roll stand. Drive rollers of the feed unit frictionally engage the ribbon strands drawing them into the feed unit. The ribbon strands are drawn from the roll stand, and are fed by the drive rollers of the feed unit to a corresponding one of the curl tubes of the feed unit. The curl tubes put a helical curl in the ribbon strands, and temperature-controlled air is provided for setting the curl in the ribbon strands. The ribbon strands exit the feed unit passing to the tension unit. 
     The tension regulator unit is provided to regulate the tension in the exiting ribbon strands and control rotation of the drive rollers of the feed unit. At its exit end, the tension regulator unit stacks multiple strands of the flat ribbon in face-to-face contact, and passes a group of ribbon strands to the packaging unit in a single vertical stack. 
     The packaging unit clamps, automatically arranges, and secures the curled ribbon strands onto a placard for distribution to customers, dropping the packaged ribbon product to a conveyor belt for shipping. 
     Still other benefits and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the following detailed specification and related drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing summary, and the following detailed description, will be best understood when read in conjunction with the attached figures, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, showing the ribbon feed-drive in the feed unit for the uppermost strands of ribbon; 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of a curling tube of the feed and curling unit of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a plan view of a tension regulator portion of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, and 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view of the packaging unit of the apparatus illustrated in FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus is shown at  5  and comprises a ribbon supply station  10  which mounts a plurality of ribbon spools  7  containing strands of ribbon  14  for feeding to a feed unit  20 . 
     The feed unit  20  constitutes a curling apparatus having drive rollers  22  for withdrawing strands of ribbon from the supply and advancing each strand to a curling tube  30 . The ribbon is wrapped around the curling tube  30  in a helical path  38  having two parts. In the first part, the strand of ribbon is heated while in the helical configuration and in the second part, the strand is cooled while in the same helical configuration, the heating and cooling of the ribbon strand imparting a tendency for the strand to curl. 
     From the curling tubes of the curling apparatus  20 , the strands are fed to a tension regulator apparatus  42  which receives and accumulates a metered length of each strand discharged from the curling apparatus. Sufficient tension is applied to each strand in the tension regulator to resist the tendency of the strand to curl so that it travels through the tension regulator unit  42  without curling. At the discharge end of the tension regulator unit  42 , the strands are stacked in face-to-face confronting relation at the feed end of a packaging unit  65 . 
     The packaging unit  65  with a gripper  69  withdraws a predetermined length of the ribbons in the stack in two steps. At the end of the first step, a placard is fed into registry with the stack at the feed end of the unit  65  and the stack of ribbons  14  are attached to a placard. After the attachment of the stack of ribbons to the placard, the second step of the withdrawal carries the placard away from the feed end of the packaging unit so that the placard is attached to a midpoint of the predetermined length of the stack extending from the gripper  69  to the feed end of the packaging unit  65 . Thus, the stack of ribbons attached to the placard are severed from the ribbons emanating from the tension regulator unit, and the gripper is released to allow the individual strands attached to the placard to curl up and form a decorative element. The placard with the curled ribbon strands attached thereto is incorporated in a package for distribution to customers. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the ribbon supply station  10  comprises a pair of roll stands  10 A and  10 B in the form of a creel having a plurality of spindles  9  mounting individual spools  7  of flat ribbon. The roll stands  10 A and  10 B are angularly positioned on a frame  12  so as to provide unimpeded travel of the strands  14  to the feed unit  20  without tangling or chafing. Each ribbon strand  14  from the ribbon supply station  10  is threaded through the feed unit or curling apparatus  20 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the feed unit  20  has a pair of drive or feed rollers  22  for each of the strands  14 . The drive rollers have a nip engaging the flat ribbon to withdraw the strand  14  from the supply station  10  and feed it to a curl tube  30 . The feed rollers  22  are mounted on a rack  18  having guide posts  16  for directing the ribbon strands into the nip of the feed rollers. The guide posts  16  serve to separate the ribbon strands  14  and direct them to the feed rollers  22  without chafing or tangling. The feed rollers  22  are elastomeric so as to provide a firm grip of the ribbon as it passes into the nip therebetween. The number of feed roller sets  22  corresponds to the number of ribbon strands  14  so that each ribbon strand is positively fed from the ribbon supply to a curl tube. The feed rollers  22  are individually controlled by control circuits  24  under the control of the tension regulator  42 , as described more fully hereinafter in connection with FIGS. 3 and 4. 
     From the feed rollers  22 , the ribbon strands are fed to curl tubes  30  having a fin  32  forming a helical guide path, such as a groove or channel  38  (see FIG. 5) around the external cylindrical periphery of the curl tube. As shown in FIG. 4, the curl tubes  30  are arranged in pairs, one of the tubes having a clockwise-wound fin  32  and the other having a counterclockwise-wound fin. The ribbon is directed onto the clockwise-wound tube over the top as shown in FIG.  4  and to the counterclockwise-wound tube to the underside. The helical curls set in the strands by the two tubes are of opposite hand, so as to cause their separation in the decorative element when activated in the packaging unit. Each ribbon strand is threaded within the guide path  38  (see FIG. 5) in contact with the outer cylindrical surface of the tube  30 . After traveling the length of the helical path  38  formed between the fins  32 , the ribbon strand is withdrawn into the tension regulator unit  42 . 
     Preferably, the spacing between the fins  32  corresponds to the width of the widest strand of ribbon which is to be fed through the helical guide path  38 . The maximum spacing of the fins will accommodate ribbons of any width up to the maximum. Inasmuch as the feed and curling unit accommodates  12  ribbon strands, if the supply of ribbons requires that the unit handle a predetermined arrangement of widths, the spacing between the fins may be accommodated to the individual widths of the ribbons. The ribbons have at least one flat face to ride on the cylindrical exterior surface of the curl tube  30  so as to maximize the heat transfer between the traveling ribbon and the curl tube. 
     When the ribbon travels in the helical path wrapped around the tube  30 , it is subjected to first heating and then cooling, so as to create a tendency for the ribbon to curl into a helix conforming to the path. In the present instance, the heating and cooling of the ribbon strand is accomplished through the application of temperature-controlled air to the strand as it is advanced through the ribbon path  38 . 
     As shown in FIG. 5, the curling tube  30  is hollow and has a central plug  36  dividing the hollow interior of the tube into a lefthand and righthand chamber designated  39 A and  39 B respectively in FIG.  5 . The tube is provided with apertures  34  between the fins  32  affording fluid communication between the hollow bores  39 A and  39 B with the helical path  38  defined between the fins  32 . The plug  36  divides the helical path  38  into a first part overlying the bore  39 A and a second part overlying the bore  39 B. The bores  39 A and  39 B are supplied with temperature-controlled air by feed tubes  92  from an air heater  26  which directs heating air into the bore segments  39 A of the plurality of curling tubes  30  in the feed and curling unit  20 . Cooling air is supplied to the other end of the curling tubes in the bores  39 B through feed tubes  93  so as to exhaust cooling air through the apertures  34  in the second part of the helical path. Thus, as the ribbon is advanced in the helical path around the cylindrical circumference of the tube, the ribbon is first subjected to heating by the heating air exhausted from the bore  39 A and then is subjected to cooling air exhausted from the bore  39 B, the flat ribbon being wrapped with its face in engagement with the cylindrical surface of the tube so as to assume a helical configuration. In the first part of the helical path, the ribbon strands are heated to a sufficiently high temperature to allow the ribbon to assume a helical set without destruction of the continuity of the ribbon. The helical set is fixed in the ribbon by the passage through the cooling part of the path  38 . Air is supplied to the tube  93  and the heater  26  and tube  92  through an air supply having suitable filters as indicated at  28  in FIG.  2 . 
     The ribbon strands  14  exiting from the remote ends of the curl tubes are advanced into the tension regulator unit  42  which serves to maintain sufficient tension on the ribbon to overcome the tendency of the ribbon to curl imparted by the curl tubes  30 . To this end, as shown in FIG. 6, each ribbon strand is directed into a separate tension path  43 . In the present instance, each tension path is disposed at an angle of 45° to the longitudinal axis of the tension regulator unit  42 . The tension path  43  is defined by an elevated entry guide  46 , an elevated exit guide  48  and a weight roller therebetween. The strand is guided over the entrance guide  46  under the roller and over the exit guide  48  and then is allowed to advance longitudinally of the unit  42  to the exit end  50  at the righthand end of the tension unit frame  45 . The weight roller suspended on the loop of the stand between the entrance guide  46  and exit guide  48  maintain sufficient tension on the strand to overcome its tendency to curl, avoiding tangles of the strands in the tension regulator unit  42 . 
     As shown in FIG. 1, each strand  14  is directed from its associated curling tube to a tension path  43  in the unit  42 . As a strand  14  is paid out through the feed rolls  22 , it travels into the tension regulator unit  43  where its tension is maintained by the weight of the roller. The height of the guides  46  and  48  above the floor of the unit  42  is sufficient to allow an accumulation of a length of approximately twice the height of the unit within each tension path  43  of the tension regulator unit. In order to meter the desired accumulation of the individual strands in the unit  42 , the weight roller is coupled to a sensor unit which senses the vertical position of the weight roller between the guides  46  and  48 . The sensor, in turn, is coupled to the control circuit  24  for the feed rollers controlling the feed of the strand to that particular tension path so that when the weight is raised by the discharge of the strand to the exit end  50  from the tension path  43 , the feed rollers for that strand will be activated when the weight roller reaches an upper limit position  55  (see FIG.  1 ). Activating the feed rollers  22  for that strand will cause an additional length of strand to be paid out into the tension path  43  from the associated curl tube  30 , thereby causing the weight roller to fall to accommodate the longer length of ribbon between the entry and exit guides  46  and  48 . When the accumulation of the ribbon strand in the tension path  43  is sufficient, the weight roller drops to its lower limit position  57  and the sensor associated with the weight roller signals the controller  24  to arrest the advance of the feed rollers  22 . Thus, the tension regulator unit  42  meters the accumulation of a sufficient length of each strand within the unit  42  at all times. 
     The angular orientation of the tension path  43  in the unit enables the plurality, in the present instance twelve strands  14  to be fed to the entry guides  46  in spaced parallel array, as shown in FIG.  1 . The strands exiting the tension path  43  at the exit guides  48  are advanced from the exit end of the tension regulator unit and are stacked one upon the other in face-to-face confronting relation in a stacker shown diagrammatically at  51  in the packaging unit  65 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, a single stacker is shown diagrammatically at  51  which will stack all twelve ribbons to form a twelve-layer stack. However, additional stackers may be added to form plural stacks of less than twelve strands. The stacker  51  is at the entrance end of the packaging unit  65  and includes a clamp to immobilize the stack with the leading ends of the ribbon strands projecting into the packaging unit. 
     The packaging unit  65  operates to withdraw a first part of a predetermined length of the stacked ribbons from the stacking unit  51 , attach a placard to the stack of ribbon strands in the middle of the predetermined length, and then to withdraw the remaining part of the predetermined length of the stack and release the same to allow the ribbon strands in the stack to curl up and form a decorative element. To this end, as shown in FIG. 7, the packaging unit has a roll of placard material  75  journaled for rotation on a spindle  89  in the lower part of the unit  65 . The placard material is guided at  79 ,  79  from the roll  75  into a placard feed mechanism  80  associated with a stapler  77  having an anvil for attaching a placard to the stack. The stack of ribbon strands  14  is fed past the anvil of the stapler  77  over the placard material fed thereto, and the stacker  51  clamps the stack in place with the free leading end of the stack of exposed. 
     A gripper arm  69  is provided to grip the free end of the stack of ribbon strands and to withdraw the stack of strands past the anvil through the mouth of the stapler. The gripper arm  69  is designed to withdraw a predetermined length of the stacked ribbon strands past the anvil of the stapler  77  and the operation is accomplished in two stages. In the first stage, the gripper withdraws approximately one half of the predetermined length of the stacked ribbons past the anvil of the stapler and is arrested while the stapler  77  is actuated to attach the ribbons to the placard which has previously been fed to the stapler. The clamp of the stacker  51  is operated in timed relation to the gripper arm  69  to release the stack when the gripper withdraws the stack from the stapler  77 . After the stapling operation, the gripper  69  withdraws the remainder of the predetermined length past the stapler anvil, and a cutter mechanism  73  operates to separate the predetermined length of stacked ribbons from the continuous length of ribbons projecting from the stacker. Prior to the severing, the predetermined length of stacked strands extends from the stapler  77  to the withdrawn gripper  69  at the righthand end of the packaging unit. When the predetermined length is severed, the gripper  69  releases its grip on the stacked strands and the individual strands in the stack stapled to the placard are then free to curl upon themselves and form a decorative element stapled to the placard. 
     The longitudinal displacement or throw of the gripper  69  corresponds to the predetermined length of the strands in the decorative element formed in the packaging unit, which in turn correspond to the metered length strands accumulated in the tension regulator  42 . When the gripper releases its grip on the strands concurrently with the severing of the opposite end of the stack, the placard with the ribbons attached may drop onto a conveyor for incorporation in packaging for the consumer. 
     Although a single embodiment has been described and illustrated in this application, it is not intended to limit the invention as disclosed, but changes and modifications may be made therein and thereto within the scope of the following claims.