Patent ID: 7922473

Claim:
An embossing roller for processing a web material, said roller comprising a central axle and a removable and interchangeable outer sleeve, said outer sleeve having an essentially cylindrical outer surface provided with protuberances and/or cavities, wherein said central axle has a plurality of radially expandable elements to clamp the outer sleeve, said plurality of radially expandable elements being controlled by mechanical members; wherein said plurality of radially expandable elements are distributed along said central axle in a plurality of annular arrangements; and wherein means to transfer control from one of said plurality of annular arrangements to another of said plurality of annular arrangements is provided, said means to transfer control for each of said plurality of annular arrangement comprising a hollow rod connected to a set of sliding shoes with each shoe being connected to a strut which is structured to act upon a respective expandable element of one of said annular arrangements, and said shoe is structured to cause, upon sliding thereof, radial movement of said expandable element; a compression spring; an inner rod slidingly arranged in said hollow rod, and acting on an adjacent inner rod of an adjacent annular arrangement, said compression spring applying a force biasing said inner rod, said hollow rod, said sliding shoes and said strut for each of said sliding shoes towards an expanded position of said expandable elements; at least one actuator arranged at least at one end of said roller and acting on said inner rod; wherein said inner rod is in mutual contact with and is pushed by one of said at least one actuator such that said actuator is provided with axial movement which is transmitted to said plurality of annular arrangements of said radially expandable elements through said inner rod, action of said actuator causing retraction of said expandable elements of said annular arrangements against the force of said compression spring.