Abstract:
A machine for cutting and folding sheets of aluminum foil dispensed from a roll. The machine comprises means for mounting a roll of aluminum foil so that aluminum foil can be advanced through the machine. Two adjacent rollers can be electrically driven to advance aluminum foil by frictional force from the roll. The machine further comprises a knife mechanism for cutting off a sheet of aluminum foil after it has passed between the rollers and means for folding an edge of a cut sheet produced by the knife mechanism. A control unit for controlling the knife mechanism ensures that the aluminum foil is cut only during predetermined intervals.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to machines for cutting and folding sheets of aluminum foil.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Machines for dispensing a predetermined amount of material from a sheet roll of material are known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,918 issued Apr. 13, 1976 discloses a heavy gauge plastic film dispenser with a motor for semi-automatic dispensing. The motor of the dispenser operates for a pre-determined time interval allowing an amount of material to be dispensed. The dispensed material is manually torn off by cut-off blade on the dispenser, which is used in the packing of meat cuts.  
           [0003]    Using small sheets of aluminum foil in a hair coloring process is well known. U.S. Pat. 5,816,268 issued Oct. 6, 1998 teaches a hair highlighting method and apparatus using sheets of foil. Experts in hair coloring are familiar with how aluminum foil is used, but typically the procedure involves wrapping hair in aluminum foil. A hair coloring procedure which uses aluminum foil can be more expensive than other procedures. One cheaper method for coloring hair involves the use of a cap with holes in it.  
           [0004]    Upwards of one hundred small sheets of aluminum foil can be required for hair coloring using the foil method. Also, in this known method the sheets need to be folded along one of the edges. Edge folding prevents bleeding of the colorant and adds edge strength to the foil. It becomes readily apparent how time consuming a manual hair coloring procedure can be if many sheets have to be cut and folded manually from a roll of aluminum foil. A machine which can automatically cut and fold aluminum foil could greatly reduce the effort required to color hair by the aluminum foil method.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    According to one aspect of the invention, a machine for cutting and folding sheets of aluminum foil dispensed from a roll includes means for mounting a roll of aluminum foil so that aluminum foil can be advanced through the machine. Two adjacent rollers can be electrically driven to advance aluminum foil by frictional force from the roll. The machine further comprises means for cutting off a sheet of aluminum foil after it has passed between the rollers and means for folding an edge of a cut sheet produced by the cutting means. Means for controlling the cutting means ensures that the aluminum foil is cut only during predetermined intervals.  
           [0006]    In an alternate embodiment the invention comprises a machine for cutting and folding sheets of aluminum foil dispensed from a roll, the machine comprising a machine for folding sheets of foil, the machine comprising;  
           [0007]    (a) a means for controllably advancing a sheet of foil along a sheet feed direction through said machine;  
           [0008]    (b) a means for folding an end of said sheet such that said end including a folded part;  
           [0009]    c) a means for discharging said sheet from said folding machine such that said trailing end including a layered edge.  
           [0010]    Preferably wherein said folding means including a folding assembly for creasing or folding an end into said folded part.  
           [0011]    Preferably wherein said folded part is initially preferably an upstanding vertical section.  
           [0012]    Preferably wherein said folded part is initially preferably an upstanding vertical section connected to a downwardly disposed tail section forming an inverted V shape.  
           [0013]    Preferably said discharge means further includes a means for flattening said folded part, to form a layered edge.  
           [0014]    Preferably wherein said further folding means includes a knockdown roller for interacting with said folded part and further folding said folded part.  
           [0015]    Preferably wherein said knockdown roller is preferably made of a soft resilient material for engaging with a top edge of said folded part thereby further folding and knocking down said folded part.  
           [0016]    Preferably wherein said knockdown roller is preferably made of a resilient foam.  
           [0017]    Preferably wherein said folding assembly includes V shaped folding member and a cooperating composite blade for initially folding an end of said sheet.  
           [0018]    Preferably wherein said folding member and cooperating composite blade forms a folded part in an end of said sheet which is preferably an inverted V shape;  
           [0019]    In an alternate embodiment the invention comprises a machine for cutting and folding sheets of aluminum foil dispensed from a roll, the machine comprising;  
           [0020]    (a) a means for mounting a roll of aluminum foil so that aluminum foil can be advanced through said machine.  
           [0021]    (b) two adjacent nip rollers rotatable by a drive system to advance aluminum foil by frictional force from said roll;  
           [0022]    (c) a knife mechanism for cutting off a sheet of aluminum foil after it has passed between said nip rollers;  
           [0023]    (d) a folding mechanism for producing a folded part of a cut sheet produced by said knife mechanism; and  
           [0024]    (e) means for controlling and operating said knife mechanism so that the aluminum foil is cut only during predetermined intervals.  
           [0025]    Preferably wherein said folding mechanism including a folding assembly for creasing or folding an edge into said folded part.  
           [0026]    Preferably wherein said folded part initially is preferably an upstanding vertical section.  
           [0027]    Preferably wherein said folded part initially is preferably an upstanding vertical section connected to a downwardly disposed tail section forming an inverted V shape.  
           [0028]    In an alternate embodiment the invention comprises a method of folding sheets of foil, the method comprising the steps of:  
           [0029]    a) advancing a sheet of foil through a folding machine;  
           [0030]    b) folding a trailing end of said sheet such that said trailing edge including a folded part; and  
           [0031]    c) discharging said sheet with a layered edge from said folding machine.  
           [0032]    Preferably wherein said folded part initially is preferably an upstanding vertical section.  
           [0033]    Preferably wherein said folded part initially is preferably an upstanding vertical section connected to a downwardly disposed tail section forming an inverted V shape.  
           [0034]    Preferably further including the step after step b) of b) further folding said folded part.  
           [0035]    Preferably wherein said folding machine including a knockdown roller for interacting with said folded part and further folding said folded part.  
           [0036]    Preferably wherein said knockdown roller is preferably made of a soft resilient material for engaging with a top edge of said folded part thereby further folding and knocking down said folded part. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0037]    [0037]FIG. 1 is a top view of the machine of the present invention.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 2 is an isometric view illustrating the moving parts inside the machine.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 3 is a side view of cutting knife and folding apparatus used in the present invention, this view showing the foil strip prior to cutting.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 4 is another side view of the cutting blade and folding apparatus, this view showing the foil strip being cut and folded and showing the blade at top of its stroke;  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 5 is yet another side view of the cutting blade and folding apparatus, this view showing the cut-off sheet being pulled forwards to a knock-down roller and having a creased lagging edge;  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 6 is still another side view of the cutting knife and folding apparatus, this view showing the cut-off sheet after it has been folded by the knock-down roller.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 7  a ) through  c ) are cross sectional view of alternative embodiments for the knock-down roller used in the present invention; and  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 8 is a plan and cross-sectional view of a small aluminum folded sheet produced by the machine, of the invention.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 9 is still another side view of the cutting knife and folding apparatus, this view showing the cut-off sheet after it has been folded by the knock-down roller.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 10 is still another side view of the cutting knife and folding apparatus, this view showing the cut-off sheet after it has been folded by the knock-down roller.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 11 is an alternate embodiment and a side view of cutting knife and folding apparatus used in the present invention, this view showing the foil strip prior to cutting.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cut sheet passing under a knockdown roller.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the cut sheet as it is advancing through a knockdown roller.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cut sheet passing under a knockdown roller, with folded part knocked down.  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 15 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the cut sheet shown in FIG. 14 after it has passed through nip rollers producing a layered edge.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 16 is a schematic cross-sectional view of cut sheet further advancing through knockdown roller wherein folded part is further folded.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 17 is a schematic cross-section view of cut sheet showing folded part of sheet being further folded by nip rollers into a further layered edge. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0054]    [0054]FIG. 1 illustrates a machine  10  used for producing small aluminum foil sheets for haring coloring. The machine  10  accepts a roll of foil  14 , advances foil from the roll through the machine and chops foil dispensed from the roll into small sheets such as sheet  16  illustrated in FIG. 8. The small sheets exit the cutting device at a dispenser end  20 . Machine parts including several rollers are mounted between two machine frame sidewalls  22  and  24 . The machine parts which are rotatable are of course rotatably mounted on suitable shafts or stub shafts that extend through round holes in the sidewalls. The sidewalls  22  and  24  are made of steel or some other rigid metal. The sidewalls are also preferably rectangular in shape so that the machine  10  has a box like appearance when assembled. In a preferred embodiment, the box shaped machine  10  is relatively portable. The machine is preferably constructed so that the machine is stable on a flat surface without securing means, even during its operation. The preferred machine also has a cover (not shown) extending over the top.  
         [0055]    In FIG. 1, roll  14  is rotatably mounted in the machine  10  on roll mount  26 . This roll  14  preferably has a width of  5  inches, being the width used for hair coloring. Typically a 5 lb. Roll of foil is suitable for this machine. The roll mount  26  is attached at its respective ends to the sidewalls  22  and  24 , and the mount includes a spring loaded pinch mechanism which engages two roll apertures centrally located on the ends of the roll. Referring to FIG. 2, foil web or sheet  30  should unwind smoothly and evenly with minimal constant tension. The sheet  30  is advanced from the roll  14  through two rear nip rollers  32  and  34 . The nip rollers frictionally engage and position the sheet so that it advances properly into a knife cutting  37  and folding assembly  36 . Ensuring contact between the roller  32  and the sheet  30 , as well as contact between the sheet and the roller  34  requires that the two rollers be positioned closely together. The preferred nip rollers  32 ,  34  have a series of spaced apart grooves  35  formed therein.  
         [0056]    The web is then cut and folded in a process described hereinafter and illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 6. The cut sheet  16  will advance out of the assembly  36  and onto a stationary knock-down table  38 . Shaft support  39  keeps the table relatively fixed in place. The table  38  is inclined to properly direct the sheet  16  so that it will advance through two front nip rollers  40  and  42 .  
         [0057]    The nip rollers  40  and  42  can be constructed in a manner similar to the rollers  32  and  34 . Although all rollers rotate together, nip rollers  40  and  42  rotate slightly faster than the rear nip rollers  32  and  34 . This speed difference allows the leading edge of foil to stay ahead of the lagging web leading edge as they travel through the machine web path and out. It also keeps the web taught between front and back rollers before cutting as illustrated in FIG. 3. The rollers  32 ,  34 ,  40  and  42  are spring tensioned in order for them to apply some pressure to the foil surface. Reference is made to U.S. Pat. 3,949,918 which teaches rollers similar in principle to these i.e. pairing two rollers and passing a sheet of material between them.  
         [0058]    As the sheet  16  advances out of the assembly  36  (FIG. 5), it also passes under a knock-down roller  44 . A preferred diameter for the roller  44  is 1.25″. The roller has a transverse, centrally extending bore which could be 0.75″ in diameter. Protruding members  43  which are evenly spaced apart by transverse grooves  100  should preferably be made of open cell foam which is a soft material and which allows the members  43  to be easily deformed. In a preferred embodiment, the roller  44  including its members  43  is made of a single piece of foam.  
         [0059]    The roller  44  is positioned approximately an eighth of an inch above the table  38  to work effectively. As illustrated in FIG. 5, folded part  45  of the sheet  16 , has an inverted V shape and will come in contact with the surface of the roller  44 . The folded part  45  interacts with the roller  44 . In particular, the soft open cell foam or one of the grooves  100  catches the part  45 . The folded part is rolled forward by the knock-down roller which is rotating at a faster rate than the speed at which the web sheet is advancing. The interaction further folds the sheet  16  as FIG. 6 illustrates. Now past the roller  44 , the sheet  16  has a folded edge  150  which can be folded two or more times. The folded edge  150  will be flattened when it passes through the rollers  40  and  42 .  
         [0060]    In FIG. 1, motion control assembly  45  controls the advancement of foil in the machine  10 . The assembly  46  includes a number of spur gears  50 ,  52  and  54  and timing pulleys  56  and  58 . A timing belt  50  passes over the pulleys ensuring that the rollers rotate together. The front rollers  40 ,  42  preferably rotate slightly faster than the rear nip rollers allowing the leading sheet of foil to stay ahead of the lagging web leading edge. In one preferred version of the machine, the spur gears provide a 3:1 turning in ratio between the front rollers  40 ,  42  and the knockdown roller  44 . One skilled in the art will appreciate that there are various means from controlling and synchronizing rotational motion, and that the assembly  46  could be modified in various obvious ways which would still achieve the disclosed motion requirements.  
         [0061]    Advancement of foil through the machine  10  is controlled by a standard electric tuning circuit which is not illustrated. In one version of the machine, an Electromatic Timing Relay (No. 5110166-120) was used. The electric circuit operates an electric motor  64 , the motor  64  in turn rotating the rollers  32  and  34 . The motor  64  can be rigidly mounted on the sidewall  24 . Jam detectors of known construction can be provided in the machine to stop advancement in the case of a foil jam. There is also a motor for the operation of the knife cutting and folding assembly  36 . The two motors preferably do not operate simultaneously. Rather a repeated cycle exists in the machine  10 , including a foil advancing period and a shearing period. Although not illustrated, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that there is a suitably programmed microprocessor (which can be a standard microprocessor) for controlling operation of the machine. The timing circuit is energized by turning on a main electrical power switch (not shown).  
         [0062]    [0062]FIG. 3 through  6  illustrate stages during which the sheet  30  is cut and folded. The sheet  30  is cut at a point indicated at  68  (FIG. 3) on the rear side of blade housing  70 . Specifically the sheet is cut when composite blade  72  rises past the cutting point  68 . Two oval cams  74  (only one being in view in FIG. 3) cyclically raise and lower the blade  72 . Any other suitable means to raise and lower composite blade  72  can be utilized. Roller  73  guides the blade through its vertical motion. Cam shaft  75  is offset from a central axis  76  of the cams extending perpendicular to the plan of view. In the illustrated embodiment, the cams  74  rotates in a counterclockwise direction. In another embodiment of the machine, the action of lifting and lowering the blade would be achieved by electromagnetic solenoid use. One skilled in the art and familiar with electromagnetic solenoids will appreciate how this minor modification can be made.  
         [0063]    Note that the preferred blade  72  is a two part composite blade with one part  79  preferably being made of steel (for cutting purposes) and the other part  81  being made of a non galling material such as ultrahigh molecular weight (UHMW) plastic material or brass or other suitable material. The cams  74  can also be made of UHMW plastic or other material.  
         [0064]    After the aluminum foil is cut, the folding process proceeds. A stationary folding member  80  is attached to a holding bracket  82  by a shaft  84 . As an alternative to the illustrated shaft  84 , the folding member  80  and the shaft could be a single member as shown in FIG. 11. The bracket  82  is attached to house  86 . The pointed shape of member  80  facilitates the folding process. As illustrated in FIG. 4, folding of the aluminum foil can occur at an edge  90  and at composite blade edge  92 . The edge  90  is designed to create an approximately 90° fold as illustrated. The angle for the fold created by the edge  92  is acute (about 30°).  
         [0065]    The composite blade is lowered, and the cut sheet as well as the sheet  30  are advanced as illustrated in FIG. 5. When the blade is lowered towards its normal rest position, it engages a micro switch that indicates when the blade has reached the rest position and signalling to the microprocessor to shut off power to the knife motor. The blade motion is then stopped. At this time also the microprocessor engages power to the roller motor. The folding member is opened at a predetermined time as explained below. As the cut sheet is advanced, the crease if folded over by the knockdown roller as it passes under it. The cut sheet is pressed by the nip rollers  40  and  42  as it advances out through a discharge opening.  
         [0066]    One skilled in the art will appreciate that it would be possible to design the machine so that folding step is omitted. This would be achieved by not having the blade come in close proximity to the folding member as illustrated in FIG. 4. The machine can also be designed with a lever allowing two modes of operation. In one mode the cut sheet would be folded, and in the other the cut sheet would not be folded. Accordingly, this optional feature is intended to fall within the scope of the invention.  
         [0067]    [0067]FIG. 7( a ) through ( c ) illustrates alternative embodiments for the knockdown roller  44 . The transverse grooves in these embodiments are less deep than the transverse grooves  100 . Roller  120  has twelve transverse grooves  122 . Circumferential spacing between groove centers is 0.324″. Rollers  126  and  132  have sixteen and eight transverse grooves  128  and  134  respectively. The circumferential spacing for the grooves  128  and  134  are 0.245″ and 0.36″. Again only the protruding members can be foam, or the entire roll can be a single foam piece.  
         [0068]    [0068]FIG. 8 illustrates the small aluminum foil sheet  16  produced by the machine. The length of this sheet will vary; however the sheet width should be about 5″. The layered edge  150  is preferably about three layers of aluminum foil. The dimensions of the edge  150  are about 5″ by ⅛″. The sheet length can be controlled by adjusting the cycle so that the sheet advances for a longer or shorter period of time. It will be appreciated that the sheet  16  will be longer if this period of time is longer.  
         [0069]    In one version of the machine, the upper moving components are mounted on a separate pivoting frame so that these components can readily be raised from their working position in order to feed the aluminum foil to the front nip rollers  40 ,  42 . Thus the top front and back rollers, the knockdown roller, the blade housing and fold guide are mounted on this upwardly pivoting frame. The operator can then grasp the leading edge of the foil and pull it to a point just past the front nip rollers. After ensuring that the web is centered, the upper frame can be closed to a spring locked position and the machine is ready to operate by pushing the start switch.  
         [0070]    Referring now specifically to FIGS. 12 through 17 inclusive, which shows schematically how a cut sheet  16  interacts schematically with knockdown roller  44 . In other words, we are showing schematically how folded part  45  of cut sheet  16  interacts with knockdown roller  44 . FIG. 12 roughly corresponds with the position shown in earlier FIG. 5 of cut sheet  16 .  
         [0071]    A trailing end  250  of cut sheet  16  has been folded by folding assembly  36  leaving an upstanding folded part  45  in trailing end  250  of cut sheet  16 .  
         [0072]    Folded part  45  preferably is an inverted V shaped section  228  and includes the following major portions, namely in an upstanding vertical section  224  which is folded at top edge  232  and connected to a downwardly disposed tail section  222  which ends at tail end  230 .  
         [0073]    More specifically and to the best of the inventors knowledge, although it is not totally certain how folded part  45  interacts with knockdown roller  44 , by stopping the machine at various points of the cut sheet  16  interacting with knockdown roller  44 , FIGS. 12 through 17 illustrate, how folded part  45  interacts with knockdown roller  44 .  
         [0074]    One will note that the cut sheet  16  is fed along a sheet feed direction  236  as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 12. One will also note that knockdown roller  44  is rotating in rotation direction  220  and thereby as cut sheet  16  is fed into rotating knockdown roller  44 , the soft foam  226  roller of knockdown roller  44  will interact with top edge  232  of folded part  45 .  
         [0075]    When top edge  232  impinges onto the outer diameter of knockdown roller  44 , the soft foam  226  engages a top edge  232  of the upstanding vertical section  224  of the folded part  45 . By engaging with top edge  232  of the folded part  45 , it would continue to fold, folded part  45  about bottom edge  234  as shown in FIG. 13.  
         [0076]    As cut sheet  16  is further fed in sheet feed direction  236  into knockdown roller  44 , it would eventually completely fold the vertical section  224  and the tail section  222  onto itself and onto the cut sheet  16  producing a layered edge  150  as shown in FIG. 14.  
         [0077]    The finished product has a layered edge  150  once the sheet feed exits through nip rollers  40  and  42 . Layered edge  150  is three layers thick as shown in FIG. 15.  
         [0078]    Preferably, as shown in FIG. 16 if the conditions of knockdown roller  44  and the spacing and the rate of rotation is adjusted accordingly, knockdown roller  44  will again interact with tail end  230  of tail sections  222  when in the knockdown position  150  shown in FIG. 14. This will further rotate and fold, folded part  45  as shown in FIG. 16 until one obtains a layered edge  160  as shown in FIG. 17. Layered edge  160  is obtained by passing knockdown folded part shown in FIG. 16 through the front nip rollers  40  and  42 .  
         [0079]    One skilled in the art will see that there are three layers in layered edge  150  as shown in FIG. 15 and that there are a total of  4  layers in layered edge  160  shown in FIG. 17.  
         [0080]    Furthermore, through trial and error it has been found out that it is not absolutely necessary to have a tail section  222 , however preferably tail section  222  is roughly half the length of vertical section  224 , in order to obtain the best results. Furthermore, there is no necessity to have a certain number of folds or layers within layered edge  150  or layered edge  160 . When the machine is run without a tail section  222 , in other words when the folded part  45  only consists of a vertical section  224 , it is possible to have only a two layered, layered edge not shown in the diagrams.  
         [0081]    Preferably, however a four layered, layered edge  160  as shown in FIG. 17 is produced, thereby providing for a strong layered edge which is best suited for the purpose of cut sheets  16 .  
         [0082]    Once folded part  45  is formed as shown in FIG. 16, cut sheet  16  is further fed through nip rollers  42  and  40  which can completely flatten out layer edge  160 , thereby producing the layered edge as depicted in FIG. 8 and  17 .  
         [0083]    Furthermore, it has been determined that grooves  100  in knockdown roller  44  are not necessary and that a one piece knockdown roller  44  made of a soft resilient foam material (such as opened celled foam) will produce the necessary results for obtaining a layered edge  150  or layered edge  160 .  
         [0084]    It will be appreciated by those skilled in the arts that various modifications and changes can be made to the machine of this invention without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.