Patent Publication Number: US-11027941-B2

Title: Slabbing machine

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a slabbing machine for removing material wound around a reel. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In many industries web material is used and provided on reels around which the material is wound tightly. The producer of such reels is often encountered with reels of material where either the material is defective due to poor printing, poor coating, wrinkles or other issues. In these cases, in order to allow recycling or disposal to landfill the web material must be removed from the reel, which can also be recycled if it is not defective, i.e. in the case of paper. 
     Removing the web material from the reel is tedious if carried out manually, because the web material is wound tightly in many layers and is often too thick to be cut in one go. An operator seeking to remove the web material from the reel has to cut a small number of layers at a time and repeat the operation many times. In addition to cutting through the layers of web material, the operator may also have to actively pull these off the reel, especially if the different layers stick together, and deal with the web material cut off as it may crowd the working area. Altogether, the manual process is slow, laborious and there is an inherent risk of injury for a number of reasons. Commonly injuries occur due to the manipulation of a sharp knife or due to repeated use of a hand knife, which often results in wrist, elbow or shoulder muscular or skeletal problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main object of the present invention is to provide an improved slabbing machine for removing material wound around a reel easily, efficiently and automatically, without any manual interaction. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1 a    Slabbing machine, perspective view 
         FIG. 1 b    Slabbing machine with bin, perspective view 
         FIG. 1 c    Blade holder, side view 
         FIG. 2  Blade holder, perspective view 
         FIG. 3 a    Blade holder, close-up perspective view 
         FIG. 3 b    Blade holder during a cut, close-up side view 
         FIG. 3 c    Blade holder, close-up exploded view 
     
    
    
     Preferred embodiments of the slabbing machine are described according to the drawings. These preferred embodiments are to be understood as exemplary embodiments and any detailed description shall not be interpreted as limiting. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The slabbing machine comprises a frame  3  and a structure  4  connected to the frame  3  for firmly holding a reel R, around which a material M is wound, in a way preventing any movement of the reel R relative to the frame  3  ( FIGS. 1 a - b   ). A beam  2  is connected to the frame  3  and is displaceable along the frame  3  in a radial direction y, from one end position to the other end position and back. A blade holder  1  is connected to the beam  2  and displaceable along the beam  2  in a longitudinal direction x perpendicular to the radial direction y (in both ways). A blade  6  is mounted on the blade holder  1  for cutting the material M down to a cutting plane p ( FIG. 1 c   ). This cutting plane p is perpendicular to the radial direction y and located at the farthest end  61  of the blade  6  in radial direction y, i.e. the end  61  of the blade  6  which is the nearest to the reel R and which will cut the material M. The structure  4  holds the central longitudinal axis A of the reel R in the plane defined by the longitudinal and radial directions x, y. This way, the blade holder  1  is displaceable in both directions in the longitudinal direction x parallel to the central longitudinal axis A of the reel R and in the radial direction y towards and away from the central longitudinal axis A of the of the reel R. 
     The blade holder  1  is affixed to the beam  2  with attachment means  5 , preferably to one or more longitudinal guides  21 . The blade  6  is arranged on the blade holder  1  parallel to the longitudinal direction x ( FIG. 2 ). In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the blade  6  is circular and may rotate (freely or forcibly, e.g. with a motor) or not during the cut depending on the type of material M to be removed from the reel R. 
     In order to remove the material M from the reel R, the blade holder  1  is first placed near the material M in a first starting position. In the first starting position, the blade  6  is placed beside the material M (in longitudinal direction x) and the cutting plane p is below the surface of the material M. Then, the blade holder  1  is moved along the beam  2  in the longitudinal direction x from the first starting position to a first ending position at the other end of the material M. The blade  6  thereby cuts a certain number of outer layers of material M down to the cutting plane p across the whole length of the reel R. These outer layers of Material M are then free to fall off on either side of the cut. Before starting another cut, the blade holder  1  is moved further towards the center of the reel R in radial direction y from the first ending position to a second starting position. The longitudinal cuts are repeated and the blade holder  1  is driven incrementally towards the center of the reel R until the cutting plane p is tangential to the outer circumference of the reel R. After this final cut, all the layers of material M have been cut and can fall off the reel R. 
     In one embodiment of the slabbing machine, the structure  4  is a V-shaped plate  4  on which the reel R, around which the material M is wound, is placed. The V-shape of the plate  4  prevents the reel R from rolling away, thus effectively securing it in place and holding the central longitudinal axis A of the reel R in the plane defined by the longitudinal and radial directions x, y. The plate  4  may be movable in direction y along the frame  3 . 
     In order to prevent accidental rotation of the reel R, in a preferred embodiment of the slabbing machine, the structure  4  consists of two arms  4  with conical ends  41  pointing towards the center of the slabbing machine, arranged on each side of the frame  3 , which can be extended into the reel R, effectively securing it in place ( FIG. 1 b   ). The conical shape of the ends  41  of the guides  4  allow to secure reels R whose central openings have different diameters. Preferably, the structure  4  is movable in direction y along the frame  3 . Besides, the location of the structure  4  on the frame can be such that it allows the placement of a bin or container  8  underneath the reel R. The layers of the material M removed from the reel R fall into the bin or container  8  which can be easily transported to the disposal or recycling site as soon as the material M is completely removed. For heavy material M, the bin or container  8  can be placed on a pallet allowing it to be removed with a pallet jack or forklift. In a preferred embodiment the container  8  is a tipping dumpster allowing the container to be moved with a forklift and easily emptied into a larger container or a truck for further transport. 
     It often happens that the outer layers of material M which have been severed don&#39;t fall off spontaneously as a result of a tight winding or because the layers of material M stick together. It has been found that the outer severed layers of material M fall off more easily when an air cushion is formed between the already cut layers and the underlying layers still wound around the reel R. Preferably, the air cushion is formed between the last outer severed layer M 2  and the first layer M 1  which has been left uncut by the blade  6  ( FIG. 3 b   ). The air cushion lifts the outer severed layers, separates them from the underlying layers and allows them to fall off spontaneously due to gravity. The air cushion is formed by blowing air towards the center of the reel R on one or both sides of the blade  6 . This is done by providing the blade holder  1  with air outlets  722  arranged on one or both sides of the blade  6  and directed towards the cutting plane p for blowing air towards the cutting plane p ( FIGS. 3 a - b   ). In a possible embodiment of the invention, one or several air outlets ( 722 ) are oriented parallel to the plane defined by the longitudinal and radial directions (x, y). 
     The air outlets  722  may have different sizes and shapes depending on the size of the reel R, the type and thickness of the material M, the size of the blade  6  and their position on the blade holder  1 . For example, there could be one or several rows of circular air outlets  722  arranged along the longitudinal direction x or one or several air outlets  722  with an elongated shape in longitudinal direction x. Preferably, the air outlets  722  are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the blade  6  and located on the blade holder  1  as close as possible to the blade  6  and the cutting plane p. However, in order not to contact the material M during a cut, the air outlets  722  are preferably positioned at a distance from the cutting plane p. This distance corresponds to at least the cutting depth of the blade, but can be larger to prevent contact with the material M already cut, if this has not yet fallen off the reel R. The air outlets  722  may also be arranged only behind or in front of the blade  6  in longitudinal direction x in order to better inject air between the layers of material M which have been cut from the reel R either in the current cut or the previous one. Ideally, the air outlets  722  are arranged symmetrically around the center of the blade  6  in the longitudinal direction x, allowing them to work in the same manner independent of the moving direction of the blade holder  1 . 
     In a preferred embodiment the air outlets  722  are arranged in at least one row on each side of the blade  6  and directed towards the cutting plane with varying orientations away from the blade and/or in the longitudinal direction x. To enable this the air outlets  722  can be equipped with set screws with openings of different sizes and orientations, allowing adjustments depending e.g. on the type of material M, the size of the reel R, the depth of the cut and the speed with which the blade  6  is moved in longitudinal direction x during a cut. In one special embodiment the air outlets  722  are equipped with rotating air nozzles, enabling the air flow to be in multiple directions for each air outlet  722 . Ideally the air nozzles are suitable for creating ionized air flow preventing the layers of the material M from sticking together due to static electricity. 
     The air blown by the air outlets  722  may be pressurized and blown at different pressure or speed depending e.g. on the type of material M, the size of the reel R, the depth of the cut and the speed with which the blade  6  is moved in longitudinal direction x during a cut. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a substantially flat inner part  71  of the blade holder  1  is arranged in close vicinity of and parallel to the lower half of a side of the blade  6  ( FIGS. 3 a - c   ). The inner part  71  follows the circular contour of the blade  6 , albeit with a smaller radius in order not to contact the material M during a cut. A groove  72  is arranged on a face of the inner part  71  not facing the blade  6  and has channels  721  leading to the air outlets  722  ( FIG. 3 c   ). The groove  72  is closed by an outer part  73  which is mounted on the inner part  71 . The face of the outer part  73  facing the groove  72  may be flat or feature a corresponding groove. An inlet  731  is arranged in the outer part  73 , allowing air to be brought to the groove  72  and blown out of the air outlets  722 . The described arrangement of the inner and outer parts  71 ,  73  for providing the air outlets  722  on the side of the blade  6  is compact and robust. In particular, the system providing the air to the air outlets  722  would not be damaged should material M or other objects contact the inner or outer parts  71 ,  73  during the normal operation of the slabbing machine. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the air outlets  722  are advantageously located in the region of the inner part  71  which is the farthest from the center of the circular blade  6  in radial direction y. In the plane defined by the longitudinal and radial directions (x, y), the air outlets  722  may be oriented in radial direction y towards the central longitudinal axis A of the reel R and/or radially with respect to the center  62  of the circular blade  6  as shown in  FIG. 3 c   . Additional air outlets may be arranged on different parts of the blade holder  1  and oriented in other directions.