Patent ID: 8915460

Claim:
A device for feeding a quasi-endless material web to a manipulation device, said device comprising: a freely movable manipulation device about which the material web is received; a rotatable dispenser roll upon which the material web is received, said dispenser roll coupled to a dispenser roll motor, said dispenser roll motor operable to drive said dispenser roll in a first direction of rotation and in a second direction of rotation opposite said first direction of rotation; and a feed tension unit arranged between said dispenser roll and said manipulation device, said feed tension unit comprising: at least two fixedly arranged fixed rolls; at least one swivel-mounted floating roll; an angle sensor responsive to an angular position of said floating roll; and a control unit connected to said angle sensor and said dispenser roll motor, said control unit operable responsive to a deviation by said floating roll from a reference angular position to operate said dispenser roll either in said first direction of rotation to feed the material web to said manipulation device or in said second direction of rotation to retract the material web from said manipulation device.