Patent GB-1308665-A (GB)
Title: Method and apparatus for supplying a continuous stream of pieces of sheet material
IPC: A24C5/20
Filed: 1970-05-19
Abstract: 1308665 Feeding sheets and webs HAUNIWERKE KORBER & CO KG 19 May 1970 [26 June 1969] 24204/70 Heading B8R In a method and apparatus for supplying an uninterrupted stream of portions of material from continuous webs of material for use in the tobacco industry said portions are severed from webs of material and means are provided for automatically changing over the supply of material from an expiring web, as its expiry approaches, to a new web so that the stream of portions is not interrupted. A web 61 from a reel 6 is fed by a driving roller 79 and presser roller 82 of a feeder 8 and is guided by roller 73 to a rotating cutter drum 29 having peripheral apertures 37 which co-operate with a control duct 41, continuously connected to a source of vacuum, to grip the web which is cut at A into sheets 11 by a cutter 32 on the drum 29, the sheets thereafter being attracted to the apertures 13 of a rotating suction drum 1 having vacuum control ducts 18, 19. The sheets 11 are thus supplied to a turret 2, e.g. having holders for wrapped cigarette formations. Near the expiry of reel 6 a second cutter drum 31 is rotated, the apertures 36 over its vacuum control duct 48 attracting a web 62 which is, however, not fed onwards since the associated presser roller 83 is not in contact with the driving roller 81. When reel 6 has nearly expired a feeler 63 activates switch 71 which urges presser roller 83 against the driving roller 81 thereby feeding web 62 from a new reel 7. At the same time suction is applied to vacuum control duct 47 of the cutter drum 31 so that sheets 11 cut from the web 62 are held against drum 31 and removed by a collecting device 59. After a time delay feeder 8 is cut off and suction is applied to vacuum control duct 39 of the cutter drum 29 so that the last sheets cut from web 61 are removed by a collecting device 58. Simultaneously suction drum control duct 19 and cutter drum control duct 47 are cut off so that no sheets are held on suction drum 1 in the region A-B and new sheets from web 62 are supplied to the drum 1. The cutter drums rotate faster than the web feed speed to keep the web taught. To ensure sheets of the correct length are severed, photodiodes 77 or 78 detect the normal print or printed register marks on the webs and the timing of signals from this source is compared with signals from a Hall generator in a timing signal source 89 or 91 rotated via the suction drum 1, any difference in timing resulting in activation of a register motor 87 or 88 which alters the speed of feeders 8 or 9 respectively. In an alternative embodiment, Fig. 7, a tin foil web 206 from a reel 211 is intermittently fed by rollers 217 through a cutter 224, severed into a sheet 204 and vacuum is then applied via ducts 238, 239 to a double suction belt conveyer 208 which indexes the sheet 204 to the next position opposite ducts 221a, 222a &c. until each sheet reaches position C where the lowermost container 234 of cigarette formations is moved by pusher 236 causing the tin foil to wrap around the container. When reel 211 has nearly expired, as detected by a photo-electric cell 213, reel 212 takes over after three indexing cycles of the conveyer. In case of faulty feed, a lever 219 can be manually operated to cause the reels to be changed.