Patent ID: 6895845

Claim:
An apparatus for continuously cutting a web moving in a plane into predetermined lengths and removing trim strips therefrom, said apparatus comprising: a cutting shaft mounted for rotation about an axis which is generally perpendicular to the direction of the moving web; means for rotating said cutting shaft at a predetermined speed; means for feeding said web to the cutting shaft; at least one knife means mounted on said cutting shaft for continuously cutting, in a cutting area, said web transverse to its direction of movement for forming trim strips having a predetermined width; a cylinder mounted for rotation about an axis which is generally perpendicular to the direction of the moving web, said cylinder having a hollow bore communicating with a low pressure source and an opening formed in the surface of said cylinder communicating with said bore for providing said low pressure at said opening; and means for rotating said cylinder at a predetermined speed such that said opening is positioned in said cutting area immediately downstream of said knife means each time said knife means cuts said web for forming a trim strip and said opening is rotated away from said cutting area immediately thereafter; whereby as each trim strip is cut the ambient air in the cutting area creates an air flow toward the lower air pressure within said hollow bore cylinder for sweeping said cut trim strip through said opening into the bore of said cylinder.