Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-07
2001-05-08
Osele, Mark A. (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S504000, C156S505000, C156S507000, C242S555200, C242S556100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06228205
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a web splicing apparatus and method for forming a splice between the trailing end of an advancing web of paper or other material and the leading end of a new web of material.
In the production of spirally wound composite containers and other similar products, a relatively narrow web of paper is fed at high speed from a supply roll to a tube winding machine. To permit the continuous operation of the tube winding machine upon the supply roll being emptied, the leading end of a web from a new supply roll must be secured to the trailing end of the expiring web. To facilitate this operation, a splicing machine has been previously proposed wherein the web advances through the splicing machine, and then through a festoon type accumulator, before proceeding to the tube winding machine. The leading end of the new web is fed into the machine by hand, and held in a ready position by a vacuum system, and as the supply roll is emptied, the trailing end of the expiring web is gripped and held stationary by the splicing machine. Then the leading end of a new web is moved into alignment with the trailing end of the expiring web and joined thereto by a piece of adhesive tape to form a butt splice. The advance of the joined web is then restarted, so that the new web is advanced through the festoon type accumulator and to the tube winding machine. The festoon type accumulator permits the web to be continuously supplied to the tube winding machine during the splicing operation, so that the tube winding operation can proceed without interruption.
The above described splicing machine is not completely satisfactory however, since the manual placement of the leading end of the new web in the machine presents a safety hazard, and since an accurate alignment of the leading end with the trailing end is not assured.
Several other types of butt splicing machines have been proposed for use in association with tube winding machines of the type as described above. The butt splicer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,098 is representative of these prior splicers, and it comprises a new web preparation assembly which is used to prepare the leading edge of a new web, a new web and tape holding assembly used to hold a portion of the new web and a strip of adhesive tape in preparation for splicing, a nip assembly used to clamp the expiring web, and a cutting and adhering assembly that simultaneously cuts the expiring web and causes the trailing end of the expiring web to be adhered to the leading edge of the new web.
While the apparatus described in the referenced patent is no doubt satisfactory for many production processes, it is believed that the apparatus would not be able to reliably cut and splice a damaged, wrinkled, or creased paper web.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved splicing apparatus which is able to reliably cut and splice webs of paper as they are sequentially fed to a tube winding machine or the like, and which may be safely operated.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved butt splicing apparatus and method which results in the formation of a splice having adequate strength to pass through the remainder of the manufacturing process and to maintain its integrity in the final product.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a butt splicing apparatus and method which maintains precise lateral alignment of the web segments to allow their passage through the remainder of the manufacturing process without degradation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a butt splicing apparatus and method which is able to achieve a minimal spacing between the trailing end of the expiring web and the leading end of the new web to allow it to pass through the remainder of the manufacturing process without degradation and to maintain the integrity of the final product.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a butt splicing apparatus and method which provides a clean cut and square edge for both the trailing end of the expiring web and the leading end of the new web and which invariably places the two ends at a consistent reference location on the splicer so that they may be pre-aligned and precisely joined.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved by the provision of a splicing apparatus and method which comprises a support plate having a generally flat upper surface for supporting a web of material thereon as it is advanced along a path of travel. A clamping device is provided to selectively clamp the advancing web of material onto the upper surface of the support plate to stop the advance thereof, and a web severing mechanism is mounted to the frame for transverse movement across the upper surface of the support plate to transversely sever the stopped web of material and thereby form a trailing end. A new web holding assembly releasably supports a leading end portion of a new web of material thereon, with the leading end portion of the new web of material including a leading end which is located in a predetermined initial position with respect to the assembly. The new web holding assembly is mounted for movement between a raised position wherein the leading end of the new web of material is in spaced relation above the trailing end of the stopped web, and a lowered position wherein the new web rests on the upper surface of the support plate and is linearly aligned with the stopped web. When so positioned, the trailing and leading ends of the webs may be interconnected by means of an interconnecting tape or the like.
In the preferred embodiment, the support plate includes a transverse slot along which the web severing mechanism is adapted to move, and the web severing mechanism includes a clamping wheel positioned to roll across and press the stopped web onto the upper surface of the support plate along the slot and thereby smooth and hold the portion of the stopped web adjacent the trailing end thereof. A separate cutting wheel is positioned to sever the stopped web as the web severing mechanism moves thereacross.
The apparatus of the invention preferably also includes a hand-held positioning tool for temporarily supporting the leading end portion of the new web in a predetermined orientation with respect to the tool, and the tool is adapted to be supported at a predetermined location on the frame of the apparatus wherein the leading end of the new web is in the predetermined initial position with respect to said new web holding assembly. Thus, by using the tool, the new web may be accurately loaded onto the new web holding assembly.
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Rhodes David Earl
Usher, Jr. Willis Augustus
Alston & Bird LLP
Osele Mark A.
Sonoco Development Inc.
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