Flange for a roll

Details Flange for a roll Flange for a roll

1998-12-22

2001-02-06

Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)

Winding, tensioning, or guiding

Coil holder or support

Spool or core

C242S118610

Reexamination Certificate

active

06182921

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the attachment of a flange to a core.
More specifically the invention is related to the attachment of a flange to a core on which a roll of material is wound.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Light-sensitive strip material, e.g. photographic film or paper, a polyester printing plate, or another light-sensitive strip material, can be packaged light-tightly by winding it as a coil on a hollow supporting core, and by attaching a rigid, opaque flange to each end of the core, thus forming a light-tightly packaged roll. The diameter of the flanges is preferably larger than the diameter of the coiled material. A flexible circumferential cover may be secured to the coiled strip material and may cover the coiled strip material by a few complete coils. Preferably, the circumferential cover has a width in excess of the coiled strip material. The side ends of the circumferential cover may slope slightly upwards where they touch the flanges. In this way, a few coils of the circumferential cover shield the light-sensitive strip material from light. It is not required to secure the circumferential cover to the flanges: the package as described above is reliably light-tight. Such a package is used e.g. for recording film marketed by Agfa-Gevaert N.V.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, the flanges
20
in such a package have a slightly conical hub
23
having outside ribs
24
approximately parallel to the axis
26
of the flange
20
. The flanges
20
are pressed into the hollow core
10
and remain attached to the core
10
because of a press fit, i.e. the outside diameter of the hub
23
including the ribs
24
is larger than the inside diameter of the core
10
. The ribs
24
serve two purposes: keeping the flanges
20
attached to the core
10
on the one hand, and preventing the flanges
20
from rotating with respect to the core
10
on the other hand. The latter is required because the roll is driven via the flanges
20
in some cooperating apparatuses in which the roll is placed. Usually, these cooperating apparatuses dispense light-sensitive strip material from the roll.
The attachment of the flanges to the core described above, however, presents a problem of reliability. The attachment is not reliable because the dimensional tolerances of the flanges and the core are critical. A flange may become detached from the core due to shocks during shipping, or due to relaxation of the core (the core is usually made of cardboard) or by someone lifting the roll by one of its flanges, etc. If a flange becomes detached, the light-sensitive strip material is exposed, whereby the roll is wasted.
Patent FR-A-1 236 361 discloses a coupling part that supports a roll of strip material; the coupling part will be referred to as “flange” below. As shown in
FIG. 2
, the flange
20
has in the direction of its axis
26
a number of triangular protrusions
25
that are slightly inclined at the side of the centre of the roll and steeply inclined at the side of the end of the roll. In this way, the flange
20
can be inserted into the hollow, cardboard core
10
of the roll, and, once attached, cannot be removed from the core without damaging the core. Because of the protrusions
25
, the core
10
, and thus also the roll, cannot rotate with respect to the flange
20
.
While this attachment may solve the problem concerning reliability, and while it may also allow the roll to be driven via the flanges, it still presents a problem. The flanges cannot easily be removed from the roll; removal damages the core.
Usually, such flanges are made of plastic, e.g. of polystyrene. Because of environmental considerations, it is highly desirable that the flanges can be removed easily from the roll, so that they can be re-used or recycled after the use of the roll.
In document DE-U-73 26 402, flanges are disclosed that are used during shipping of rolls of e.g. textile fabric or material for carpets. First, the fabric is wound onto a core, that is made of cardboard. Then, two identical flanges are inserted, one flange into each end of the core. Subsequently, the roll is shipped; when the roll is handled, e.g. by a forklift truck or another machine, it can now be handled by means of the flanges, so that damage to the roll is avoided; this is the purpose of the flanges. Subsequently, before the roll is put onto the equipment on which it is to be used, the flanges must be removed from the core, since the core is put directly onto the equipment.
FIGS. 3
a
and
3
b
show a flange
20
as disclosed in this document;
FIG. 3
a
is a side view, partially showing a section, and
FIG. 3
b
is a top view. The flange
20
has a disc portion
21
and a hub portion
23
. The hub portion
23
contains screw thread
30
in the hub area near the disc portion
21
; the screw thread has a steep slope (which corresponds to a small angle &lgr; in
FIG. 4
) so that a very large force is required to pull a flange out of the core in which it is inserted. The end
27
of the hub portion
23
that is away from the disc portion
21
has a sharp chamfer. The disc portion has either protruding elements
28
or holes
29
.
A flange
20
is inserted into a core
10
(not shown in
FIGS. 3
a
and
3
b
) as follows. First, the chamfered end
27
of the hub portion
23
of the flange is pressed into the core and then the rest of the hub portion
23
, as far as the start of the screw thread
30
. Then, the remaining portion of the hub portion
23
, i.e. the portion containing the screw thread
30
, is screwed into the core by means of a tool. The tool includes a lever, so that a high torque can be applied; the tool either has holes that fit into the protruding elements
28
of the disc portion
21
or has protruding elements that fit into the holes
29
of the disc portion
21
. The core does not contain screw thread; when screwing the flange
20
into the core, a screw thread is cut or pressed into the core that corresponds to the screw thread
30
of the flange
20
.
To remove the flange
20
from the core, the same tool is used to screw the flange out of the core.
This system presents the disadvantages that large forces have to be applied and that a special tool is required to insert a flange into the core and to remove it from the core.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide flanges for a roll, that reliably remain attached to the core during shipping, handling and use of the roll.
It is a further object of the invention to provide flanges that can easily be removed from the core—preferably without damaging the core—after use of the roll.
It is another object of the invention to provide flanges that can be used to drive the roll in a cooperating apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above mentioned objects are realised by a method for attaching a flange having a helical protrusion to a core having a smooth inner surface. The method includes inserting the flange into the core so that the inserted flange is manually removable from the core by exerting a pure torque upon the flange.
The above mentioned objects are realised by a composition having a core and a flange. The core has an inner diameter d, a smooth inner surface, a centre, and an end. The flange has a disc portion having a first outer diameter and a hub portion for fitting in the core. The hub portion has a second outer diameter D and a helical protrusion, which has a height h. The first outer diameter of the disc portion is larger than 40 mm and smaller than 200 mm. The inner diameter d of the core, the second outer diameter D of the hub portion, and the height h of the helical protrusion are such that the flange is manually removable from the core by exerting a pure torque upon the flange A specific feature of the method is that the flange is manually removable from the core by turning the flange by at most two complete revolutions.
Another method includes inserting first and second flanges into opposite ends of the core, each flange having a helical protrusion. The first flange can be removed manually from the cor

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