Patent ID: 7976233

Claim:
A sheet winding apparatus comprising: a pair of winding units arranged about a common winding axis and opposing each other, each winding unit including, a core member configured to wind a sheet therearound; a fixing means configured to fix a leading end of the sheet to the core member, wherein the fixing means comprises a gripper which is biased so that a grip surface is pressed against a periphery of the core member; a releasing unit, disposed inside of the core member, configured to release the sheet from the fixing means, wherein the releasing unit moves along the common winding axis to generate a gap between the grip surface and the periphery of the core member; a rotating unit configured to rotate the core member to wind the sheet around the core member, wherein the rotating unit comprises a driven gear formed around the core member and a drive gear meshed with the driven gear to rotate the core member; and a moving unit configured to move the core member to remove the core member from a sheet roll of the sheet wound around the core member, wherein the core member from one of the pair of winding units is disposed proximate one side of the sheet, while the core member from the other one of the pair of winding units is disposed proximate on the other side of the sheet, wherein the moving unit for each of the pair of winding units retracts its respective core member internally into its respective winding unit along the winding axis, and wherein the sheet roll falls after the core members are retracted.