Patent Document

TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for cleaning the cores of rolls of sheet form material. After the sheet form material is unwound from the core, remaining scrap sheet form material is removed and the used core is inspected. Good cores are returned to be re-used and rejected cores are disposed of. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Many products are manufactured from elongated sheet or stock material that is shipped and stored in the form of a roll or coil. Continuous strips or webs of thin, flexible material are commonly provided wound on cores to provide rolls of sheet material. The rolls of sheet material are subsequently unwound for production of items made from the materials. Examples of these materials are plastic film, metal foil, tissue and paper. 
     During the manufacture of products using the sheet material, the sheet or stock material is unwound from the core. If the outer surface of the roll of sheet material is damaged or unusable, the outer surface of material must be removed to expose fresh new material. After the sheet material is unwound, remnants of material remain on the cores of the rolls. In order to properly recycle and use the cores, the remnants of material must be cleaned off the core and the core must be inspected for any damage which would make the core unusable. 
     Such cores are valuable, particularly, if they can be recycled or reused. In paper product manufacturing, it is commonplace for there to be a large number and variety of cores containing various types of sheet materials. If the cores were to be disposed of instead of recycled, they would create costly, both economically and environmentally, waste. Thus, the sheet material manufacturing industry is searching for a way to quickly and inexpensively clean and recycle used cores. 
     One common methodology employs operators, located at a core cleaning station or at the end of the manufacturing line yielding a sharp cutting blade to cut the remaining sheet material from the core. This practice is unacceptable on multiple levels. If care is not used, the sharp cutting blades will score the surface of the core, turning it into scrap. Further, there have been numerous incidents of operators injuring themselves and others with the sharp cutting blades. 
     Another solution is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,173. The &#39;173 patent discloses an apparatus for unwinding a material web wherein the leading edge of the web is grabbed by nip rollers which serve to unwind the remaining web from the core as the core is being rotated. The remaining web is then disposed of for further processing and the core is sent to a core storage area. It has been observed that apparatus such as that shown in the &#39;173 patent demand continuous operator interface to ensure the remaining material web is successfully removed from the core. 
     Another proposed solution for the cleaning of cores of rolls of material is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,717,147. The &#39;147 provides an apparatus having a stripper means comprising rollers for rotating the cores and nip rollers for catching a free end of the remaining material on each used core and a pull means for pulling the remaining material off each used core. The apparatus further includes a cleaning means for cleaning the used cores after it has been treated by the stripping means and an adhesive applicator for applying adhesive to the used cores whereby the used cores are then ready for reuse as refurbished cores for new rolls of material. The &#39;147 apparatus suffers from the same deficiency as the &#39;173 apparatus in that it requires operator interface to ensure that the remaining material is freely and clearly cleaned off each used core. 
     The present invention provides an apparatus for the robotic and automatic cleaning of used cores. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides an apparatus for automatically removing stock remnants from unwound cores without damaging the surfaces or ends of the cores, thus providing used cores capable of reuse. The core cleaning apparatus includes a frame that carries an overhead bridge crane and a cutter frame supporting a movable cutting blade. The overhead crane includes a pair of opposed plugs designed to engage the open ends of a spent core or core roll. The opposed plugs are carried by clamp arms that are supported on a spreader bar. The clamp arms move horizontally on the spreader bar thus moving the plug members into and out of engagement with the open ends of the cores. The horizontal movement on the spreader bar allows for the apparatus to adapt to cores of varying lengths. 
     The spreader bar is carried by a pair of lifting tubes designed to provide vertical movement to the plug members. Thus, the plug members can be lowered to engage a spent core or core roll and lift the core roll or spent core thus allowing it to freely turn. The lifting tubes are carried by a bridge crane that is designed to travel across the top of the apparatus frame on linear rails. 
     The cutter frame includes a cross brace carrying a cutter assembly. The cutter assembly is automatically driven horizontally the length of the cross brace. The cutter assembly includes a pair of rotationally driven cutter blades separated by a slide plate. 
     In operation, the spent core or core remnant is carried by the overhead crane toward the cutter assembly. As the cutter assembly engages the surface of the remaining web material, the slide plate forces the material into the cutter blades thus providing a slice across the remaining web material. After the web material has been sliced across the length of the core, the core is rotated to allow the sliced material to fall to a collection conveyor or bin. The cutter assembly then makes another cut on the surface of the web material. This slicing operation continues until the clamp arms engage electromagnets located on the cutter assembly. The cutting blades and slide plates are then placed into engagement with the web material to provide a final finishing cut. The slide plate is designed to not damage the surface of the core. The removed web material is then transported for recycling. 
     In operation, the cleaning apparatus of the present invention can remove up to 4″ of web material with a given slice. A spent roll usually carries 0 to 7″ of remaining web material and a used core roll may contain up to 140″ of material. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the core cleaning apparatus of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the cutter assembly as used with the core cleaning apparatus of the presenting invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a detailed view of the support bar and drive mechanism for the cutter assembly of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the cutting head of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the cutting head of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of the cutting head of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 8  is a side view of the overhead crane and plugging assembly as used with the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the overhead crane as used with the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the plugging apparatus as used with the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a front view of the plugging apparatus of  FIG. 10 . 
         FIG. 12  is a partial side view of the top portion of the plugging apparatus of  FIG. 10 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the core cleaning apparatus of the present invention includes a frame  10  carrying a cutter assembly  12  and an overhead crane and plugging assembly  14 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3  the cutter assembly  12  includes a slide frame  16  which is mounted on the apparatus frame  10 . A drive motor  18  is positioned at one end of the slide frame  16 . The drive motor  18  drives drive shaft  20  through sprocket  22 . An idler shaft  24  is located at the opposed end of the slide frame  10  and a timing belt  26  is engaged between the idler shaft  24  and the drive shaft  20 . The timing belt is positioned underneath the slide frame  16 . Opposed electromagnets  28  are positioned on magnet mounts  30  for movement on linear slides  32 . Linear slide  34  extends along the bottom edge of the slide frame  16 . The linear slide  34  is designed to carry the cutting head  36 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  7 , the cutting head  36  is shown. The cutting head  36  includes a slide plate  38  which carries cutting blades  40 , drive motor  42  and, linear slides  46 . A carry plate  48  supports pneumatic cylinder  44  and horizontal linear bearings  50 . The horizontal linear bearings  50  engage with the linear slide  34  located on the slide frame  16 , thus allowing the cutting head  36  to move horizontally on the slide frame  16 . The carry plate also supports linear slide  52  which engages with linear bearings  46 . The pneumatic cylinder  44  is engaged with anchor  54  which in turn is fixed to the slide plate  38 . Movement by pneumatic cylinder  44  against the anchor  54  causes the slide plate  38 , cutting blades  40  and drive motor  42  to move in a perpendicular direction to the horizontal slide movement of the carry plate  48 . The drive motor  42  engages sprocket  56  which imparts movement to drive belt  58 . The drive belt  58  engages and drives the cutting blades  40  through cutting blade drive shafts and pulleys  60  and other idler pulleys  62 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6  a close up of the cutting blades  40  and engagement face  64  of the slide plate  38  is shown. The engagement face  64  includes bumpers  66 . It can be seen that the bumpers  66  extend slightly beyond the outer periphery of the cutting blades  40 . The bumpers  66  will engage the surface of the core thus preventing the cutting blades from engaging the surface of the core and damaging it. The engagement face  64  further includes sharp engagement points  68  which drive into the soft surface of the web material as the cutting head  36  is moving across the surface of the web material and forces the web material into contact with the cutting blades  40 . The cutting blades  40  are rotated in a direction determined by the direction of movement of the cutting head so as to provide a “nip” between the cutting blade  40  and the web material as the material crosses the engagement face  64 . The slide plate  38  further has grooves  70  located on the interior surface proximate the cutting blades  40  which envelop the outer edge of each cutting blade  40 . The grooves  70  allow material to be lifted off of the core and be cut by the blade  40 , thus preventing the build up of material between the slide plate  38  and the cutting blade  40 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 8 , the frame  10  of the core cleaning apparatus is shown with the overhead crane and plugging assembly  14  carrying a core roll. Referring now to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the overhead crane portion of the overhead crane and plugging assembly  14  is shown in detail. The overhead crane assembly includes a bridge frame  72  which carries a lift drive frame  74 . Positioned on the lift drive frame  74  is drive motor  76 . The drive motor  76  is engaged with drive shaft  78  through a chain and sprocket  80  combination. The drive shaft  78  in turn is engaged with drive wheels  84  which engage the lift tubes  86 . Idler wheels  88  surround opposed sides of the lift tubes  86  to provide stability when the lift tubes  86  are being driven vertically by the drive wheels  84 . The bridge frame  72  transverses the top of the apparatus frame  10  by means of drive wheels  90  powered by drive motors  92 . Attachment plates  94  are used to attach the lift arms  86  to the spreader bar  96  of the plugging assembly. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 10 ,  11  and  12 , the plugging assembly is shown in detail. The plugging assembly includes a spreader bar  96  which is engaged through engagement members  98  with the attachment members  94  of the lift tubes  86 . The spreader bar  96  carries a linear rail  100  which extends the length of the spreader bar  96  on its undersurface. Engaged with the linear rail  100  are clamp arms  102 . Clamp arms  102  are driven in opposed directions on the spreader bar  96  by means of drive motors  104  and a drive belt  106  combination. Probes  108  are positioned at the bottom of the clamp arms  102  and are engaged with drive motors  110  for rotation about drive shafts  112 . 
     In operation the core cleaning apparatus performs as follows. A used core roll or spent core arrives at the apparatus via a conveyor or other mode of transportation. Information pertaining to the core size and remaining webbing is gathered as the core roll is transferred to the controller. The controller then uses the information to instruct the apparatus in processing the spent core or core roll. This operation is fully automatic. The programmable controller signals the drive motors  104  to space the clamp arms  102  in such a position that the probes  108  are positioned outside the opposed ends of the core ( FIG. 11 ). Drive motor  76  is activated to lower the lift tubes  86  carrying the spreader bar  96  and clamp arms  102  to a position proximate the open ends of the core. The programmable controller then activates the drive motors  104  to move the clamp arms  102  into position proximate the ends of the core, thereby inserting the probes  108  into the core. Drive motor  76  is then activated to raise lift tubes  86  and remove the used core roll from engagement with the conveyor belt or mode of transportation. Drive motors  92  are then activated to motivate drive wheels  90  to move the bridge frame  72  along the apparatus frame  10  until the outside surface of the used core roll or spent core is positioned proximate the cutter assembly  12 . The cutting head  36  is positioned to one extreme side of the slide frame  16 . The drive motors  92  continue to move the bridge frame until the web material presses into the engagement face  64  of the cutting head. Motor  42  is activated to operate the cutting blades  40  and drive motor  18  is activated to move the engagement face  64  and engagement face points  68  into engagement with the web material as the cutting blades  40  rotate opposite the direction of travel of the cutting head across the face of the web material. After the cutting head  36  has traveled from one end to the other of the core of web material, the drive motors  110  are activated to rotate the probes  108 , thereby rotating the used core roll or spent core and dropping the cut web material off of the core. The drive motors  92  are again activated to move the bridge frame  72  closer to the cutter assembly  12  thereby placing remaining web material into engagement with the engagement face  64  of the cutting head. The cutting step is then initiated again. The cutting and rotating steps are continued until the programmable controller senses the outside surface of the core is coming to a point proximate the cutting head  36 . The electromagnets  28  are activated to attach to the clamp arms  102 , thereby fixing the used core roll in place for one last finishing cut. The pneumatic cylinder is activated to press the engagement face  64  of the cutting head into engagement with the remaining web material. The cutting head is activated for one final finishing cut. The bumpers  66  of the engagement face  64  slide across the surface of the core while the cutting blades  40  operate to remove whatever remaining web material there is. Once the final cut is made on the core, the core is inspected by a camera (not shown) to ensure a clean surface and the lack of any structural damage to the core, such as mushrooming or distortion of the ends of the core. If the core passes inspection, motors  92  will move the bridge frame  72  into position proximate an unloading conveyor and the lift tubes  86  will be lowered by the drive motors  76  until the clean core is placed in the exit conveyor or similar mode of transport. 
     Of particular note in this invention, the bridge frame  72  can be adjusted in its position every time the drive motors  110  are activated to rotate the probes  108  and drop discarded web material to allow for the discarded web material to accumulate horizontally as well as vertically, thereby allowing for more discarded web material to be placed in an exit conveyor as the exit conveyor is filled up. 
     The above detailed description of the present invention is given for explanatory purposes. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the whole of the foregoing description is to be construed in an illustrative and not a limitative sense, the scope of the invention being defined solely by the appended claims.

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