Patent Publication Number: US-2006000940-A1

Title: Installation for feeding paper reels to a reel stand and method for its operation

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention relates to an installation for feeding paper reels to a reel stand, as used in reel cellars of printing works, and a method for its operation.  
     PRIOR ART  
      WO 98/12 131 A1 discloses an installation of the generic type which is evidently intended for the reel cellar of an offset printing works having a number of reel stands in succession in the longitudinal direction. In each case a feed track and a removal track parallel thereto, whose distance from the feed track is smaller than the maximum diameter of the reels used and which is therefore suitable only for removing residual reels, leads to the feed side of the pit in which in each case the moving platform coordinated with a reel stand is displaceable. Arranged on the opposite side, as a continuation of said tracks, are stub tracks, but, owing to the small distance, only one of them can be used as a storage track and temporarily receives a carriage with an unpacked reel provided with an adhesion point.  
      The storage capacity in the immediate vicinity of the reel stand is therefore only small and is not sufficient for receiving all reels required for a print run. A complicated separate intermediate store with a feed means which is likewise complicated is therefore provided for the row of reel stands.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is the object of the invention to provide an installation of the generic type in which sufficient intermediate storage capacity is ensured by means which are as simple as possible. This object is achieved by the features in the characterizing clause of Claim  1 .  
      The installation formed according to the invention is intended in particular for gravure printing. It offers the possibility of setting up, in the immediate vicinity of the reel stand, an intermediate store which can be operated with very little effort by means of the moving platform and the carriage, i.e. parts which are in any case necessary. The intermediate store permits breaks for the personnel who are responsible for supplying the reel stand with paper reels.  
      In addition, it is intended to provide a suitable method for operating an installation according to the invention. This object is achieved by the features of Claim  7 . 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Below, the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the figures which show only an embodiment.  
       FIG. 1  shows a plan view of an installation according to the invention and  
       FIG. 2  shows a section along II-II in  FIG. 1 .  
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The gravure printing installation according to the invention which is shown in figures comprises two symmetrically arranged unwinding devices  1   a ,  1   b . Leading to both is a centrally arranged straight supply track  2  which follows a longitudinal direction and passes a ramp  3  where a clamp stacker  4  sets down paper reels  5  whose diameter as a rule corresponds to a maximum diameter of, for example, 1.5 m and in any case does not exceed it. A plurality of paper reels may be stored side by side on the ramp  3 , the lowermost of which, if required, is rolled onto a carriage  6  on the supply track  2 . The supply track  2  leads via an unpacking station  7  to a first turntable  8  and via this to a second turntable  9 , where in each case feed tracks  10 ,  11  which lead to the unwinding devices  1   a ,  1   b  branch off, following a transverse direction at right angles to the longitudinal direction.  
      The unwinding device  1   a —the further unwinding device  1   b  is a mirror image and is therefore not described separately below—comprises a reel stand  12  having two unwinding axes extending in the transverse direction. A crane  13  which serves for disposing of reel cores is arranged just in front of the reel stand  12 . Present on the same side is a rectangular pit  14  which reaches below the reel stand  12  and extends in the longitudinal direction and in which a moving platform  15  is arranged so as to be displaceable in the longitudinal direction. It carries a track section  16  which is continuous in the transverse direction.  
      The two feed tracks  10 ,  11  abut at right angles the longitudinal edge of the pit  14 , on its feed side facing the supply track  2 . Also arranged on the feed side is a plurality of storage tracks  17  which, in the example, are in the form of three stub tracks extending in the transverse direction and emanating from the longitudinal edge of the pit  14 , one of which storage tracks is present between the feed track  10  and the reel stand  12  and the remaining are present between the two feed tracks  10 ,  11 . Arranged on the opposite side of the pit  14  are a further five storage tracks  17  in the form of stub tracks emanating from the corresponding longitudinal edge, each of which storage tracks is aligned with one of the feed tracks  10 ,  11  or with one of the three storage tracks  17  on the feed side. A carriage  6  with an unpacked paper reel  5  provided with an adhesion point can be parked on each of the storage tracks  17 . For this purpose, each of the storage tracks  17  is laterally separated from each adjacent storage track or feed track, in each case from middle to middle by a distance which is greater than the maximum diameter, so that mutual hindrance is ruled out.  
      For constantly supplying the unwinding devices  1   a,b  with paper reels  5 , e.g., six paper reels are prepared for each of the reel stands  1   a,b , before a break of two hours during work, and are clamped in the reel stand or temporarily stored. The paper reel  5  is transferred in each case from a main store by means of the clamp stacker  4  to the ramp  3 , where it rolls downwards towards the supply track  2 . Usually, a plurality of paper reels is present side by side on the ramp  3 , the lowermost being prevented by a retaining member from rolling off the ramp  3 . For transporting a reel further, a carriage  6  is moved to the ramp  3  and the retaining member is briefly deactivated so that the lowermost paper reel rolls onto the carriage  6 . This is then moved to the unpacking station  7 , where the paper reel is raised and is manually unpacked and provided with an adhesion point.  
      The carriage with the paper reel then travels, for example, directly via the turntable  8  to the turntable  9 , which is then turned, for example, 90° to the left, whereupon the carriage travels via the feed track  10  to the pit  14  and onto the moving platform  15 , which is positioned so that its track section  16  is aligned with the feed track  10 . Thereafter, either the moving platform  15  is moved to the reel stand  12  and the paper reel  5  is mounted or, if the reel stand  12  is already equipped, the carriage is moved further onto the storage track  17  aligned with the feed track  10 , or the moving platform  15  is first moved so that it is aligned with one of the other storage tracks  17  and then the carriage  6  with the paper reel  5  is moved onto it. The moving platform  15  is then moved back to its starting position. In this way, via the feed track  10  and also the feed track  11 , all storage tracks  17  or as many of them as required are filled with carriages  6  carrying prepared paper reels  5 . Further such carriages can be parked on the two feed tracks  10 ,  11 , if required also two in succession.  
      During the printing, the reel stand  12  can be continuously provided with fresh paper reels by moving the moving platform  15  to a position in which it is aligned with two storage tracks  17  opposite one another or with one of the feed tracks  10 ,  11  and the respective opposite storage track  17  and moving a carriage  6  with a paper reel  5  from one of the tracks onto the moving platform  15 , whereupon it is moved under the reel stand  12  where the paper reel  5  is picked up directly from the carriage  6  by the empty unwinding axis—the reel core was removed beforehand by means of the crane  13 . It is also possible to remove a residual roll  5 ′, i.e. a partly used-up reel, from the reel stand  12  by bringing a carriage  6  with a residual reel base under the unwinding axis of the reel stand  12  and placing the residual reel on the latter. The carriage  6  with the residual reel base  18  and the residual reel  5 ′ can then ( FIG. 2 ) be parked on one of the storage tracks  17  or one of the feed tracks  10 ,  11 .  
      Various modifications of the installation described are of course possible. Thus, it is possible to provide any desired number of storage tracks if the length of the pit permits this. In gravure printing installations, where usually the reel stands are not arranged in rows, the pit can generally be relatively long so that there is space for many storage tracks. The storage tracks may also be longer so that they can receive more than one carriage. This, too, is a question of space.  
     List of Reference Symbols  
     
         
           1   a,b  Unwinding devices  
           2  Supply track  
           3  Ramp  
           4  Clamp stacker  
           5  Paper reel  
           6  Carriage  
           7  Unpacking station  
           8 ,  9  Turntables  
           10 ,  11  Feed tracks  
           12  Reel stand  
           13  Crane  
           14  Pit  
           15  Moving platform  
           16  Track section  
           17  Storage track  
           18  Residual reel base