Patent ID: 7350740

Claim:
An unwinder device for unwinding reels of web material comprising an unwinding station with unwinding members for unwinding said reels and a splicing device for splicing together web materials coming from a first reel and from a second reel, wherein in said unwinding station at least two supports are arranged for respective reels of web material; each support is associated with a respective one of said unwinding members which supply rotary motion to a reel placed on a respective support of said supports, said supports being constructed and arranged to simultaneously support two reels being unwound, during at least one phase of unwinding, and each of said supports being arranged and constructed for loading a new reel in an engagement position, supporting the new reel during unwinding and discharging an expired reel in a release position; wherein the splicing device is arranged and controlled for splicing together a first web material unwound from the first reel carried by a first support of said supports and a second web material unwound from the second reel carried by a second support of said supports when peripheral speeds of said first reel and said second reel are substantially common; and wherein each support of said supports being moveable in a vertical direction from said engagement position to said release position, said release position being above said engagement position.