Cutting – Rotatable disc tool pair or tool and carrier – Tool element selectively operative
Reexamination Certificate
2002-11-20
2004-04-20
Goodman, Charles (Department: 3724)
Cutting
Rotatable disc tool pair or tool and carrier
Tool element selectively operative
C083S305000, C083S341000, C083S555000, C083S595000, C083S678000, C083S911000, C493S022000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06722243
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing discontinuous cuts in a weblike material fed continuously through said apparatus. The invention also relates to a method for making discontinuous transverse cuts in a continuously fed weblike material through said apparatus.
More particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to a cutting device for cutting transversely at selectable points or portions a web of board fed to a slitter/scorer for the manufacture of slit and scored sheets of board.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In many industries there is a need to cut a weblike material, e.g., a web of board, paper, fabric, plastic or other—fed continuously along a longitudinal path of forward travel—in predetermined and selectable portions or points along the width of the weblike material—often without interrupting the material, i.e., without generating two completely separate pieces of material.
This requirement occurs particularly in the industry of the manufacture of slit and scored sheets of corrugated board for the manufacture of boxes. In installations for slitting and scoring corrugated board webs for the manufacture of sheets from which boxes or the like will be made up, a web of corrugated board is fed continuously to a slitter/scorer, where the web is slit and scored longitudinally in predetermined positions and the slit and scored web is fed to a transverse cutting system to produce the individual sheets. Transverse cutting is performed in some cases by two (or more) cutters arranged at different heights or levels, in which case it is necessary to divide the path of the board web downstream of the slitter/scorer so that separate portions of board are fed to the separate levels at which the cutters are located. The longitudinal slitting of the board is performed by the blades of the slitter/scorer.
When one job is terminated and the next job is to begin, the position of the longitudinal slitting and scoring lines produced on the board is altered so that the transverse dimensions of the pieces of board fed to the different heights or levels at which the transverse cutters are situated change. Where the job changeover occurs, a transverse cut must be made in order to connect up the two longitudinal slits of the new job and the old job, ensure that the board does not tear at this point, and achieve uniformity in the tensile force applied to the weblike material.
The position in which the transverse cut line is effected is variable. Moreover, the transverse cut line must be short enough not to interrupt the strips of boards in the transverse direction as these would otherwise suffer skidding and loss of alignment during their conveyance.
A variety of different systems have been investigated in order to solve these problems either wholly or partly. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,461 discloses a transverse cutting apparatus in which a cutting cylinder comprising a continuous blade extending all the way along the length of the cylinder acts in combination with an opposing cylinder carrying opposing pads whose angular positions around the opposing cylinder can be selected by an angular movement about the axis of the opposing cylinder. By this means one or more of the opposing pads can be brought selectively into position such as to act in combination with the cutting blade. At the points at which the pads act in combination with the cutting blade the board is cut, whereas at points at which there is no pad underneath the cutting blade the board is not cut.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,205 discloses a system similar to the previous system in which the blade mounted on the system, cutting cylinder acts in combination with a series of lower pads that can be selectively raised or lowered in defined locations of the width of the board where the cut lines are produced.
The resulting cut is not accurate and there is a risk that the board may also be cut in locations where the cutting blade does not act in combination with an opposing lower pad. Furthermore, with these systems there is no way to select the locations to be cut with sufficient accuracy, nor to prevent transverse interruption of the strips of board.
European patent application No. 98 830 449.9 (publication No. EP-A-O 894583) and the corresponding U.S. application Ser. No. 09/124,017 by the same applicant, disclose an improved system in which a blade mounted on a rotating cutting cylinder acts in combination with a backing consisting of a pad mounted on an opposing cylinder. The pad can be moved longitudinally and angularly with respect to the axis of the opposing cylinder and also is so shaped that it is possible to produce, in combination with the blade, cut lines of the desired length and position. In addition, in this system the cutting tools of the slitter/scorer can be operated independently of each other. In this way it is possible to interrupt all the longitudinal slit lines of the old job and new job with the exception of the two central lines which in both jobs divide the board into the two portions which must be directed to the two levels where the cutters are located. As a result a job changeover region is generated containing only the two central slit lines which are joined by a cut approximately at right angles to the direction of forward travel of the board. This ensures the continuity of all the strips into which the board is divided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,652 discloses a system in which the two intermediate longitudinal slit lines that divide the board into the two portions fed to the two separate levels where the transverse cutters are located are joined together by an inclined cut produced by a water nozzle traversing at right angles to the feed direction of the weblike material. The same solution is disclosed in EP-A-O 607 084. The use of a water nozzle for the inclined transverse cut has some advantages, including that of avoiding the complete transverse cut through one or more of the strips into which the board web is divided. This apparatus, however, has the disadvantage of high cost and requires a high level of attendance during operation because of the criticality of the water cutting system.
EP-A-0 737 553 discloses a system in which water nozzles are used to cut the lateral trimmings, the purpose being to obtain a continuous trimming along both sides of the board.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes a rotating cutting cylinder and an opposing member, wherein the cutting cylinder is fitted with a plurality of blade segments distributed along the length of the cutting cylinder and connected to one or more actuators for producing a movement of selective extension and retraction of said blade segments with respect to said cutting cylinder.
Depending on the positions of the central slit lines to be joined by the transverse cut, the actuators extend one or more blade segments in the desired position to effect the selective localized cut through the weblike material. The cut may preferably be at right angles to the direction in which the weblike material is fed, or slightly inclined, e.g., as a consequence of a slightly helical arrangement of the blade segments on the cutting cylinder. However, cuts inclined relative to the feed direction are not ruled out.
In the following description and in the appended claims, reference will frequently be made to a pair of central lines that are joined by the transverse cut produced by the blade segments mounted on the cutting cylinder. It should however be noted that the term “central” is to be understood here as meaning exclusively a position which divides the weblike material into longitudinal pieces intended to be fed to transverse cutters located at different levels. In light of this, the so-called central lines may be in any intermediate position relative to the widths of the weblike material, and may for example be much closer to one longitudinal edge than to the other. Also it should be realized that, although the remainder of the text will refer primarily to a system in which the weblike material
Fosber S.p.A.
Goodman Charles
Michael & Best & Friedrich LLP
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