Patent ID: 7017855

Claim:
A method in reeling up machine reels successively from a paper web comprising the steps of: removing an empty reel spool from a set of storage rails with a transfer device which provides vertical movement, to which a center wind assist is mounted for motion with the transfer device, and the transfer device is mounted for horizontal motion on a second set of rails spaced below the storage rails; causing the empty reel spool to rotate about a spool axis by means of the center wind assist mounted to the transfer device; transporting the empty reel spool downwardly on the transfer device to engage a fixed reeling cylinder so that the empty reel spool is positioned between the reeling cylinder and a machine reel which is becoming full; transferring the paper web as it is moving over the reeling cylinder to the machine reel on to the empty reel spool so as to begin to form a new machine reel which engages the reeling cylinder at a first reeling nip; engaging the new machine reel with a device forming a second reeling nip; moving along the second set of rails the new machine reel mounted on the transfer device, in the downstream machine direction to a stationary final reeling station, the device forming a second reeling nip moving in a synchronized manner with the new machine reel; engaging a second fixed center wind assist to the reel spool about which the new machine reel is forming; and disengaging the transfer device from the reel spool about which the new machine reel is forming and moving the transfer device to be positioned to remove a second empty reel spool from the set of storage rails.