Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Unwinding – With supply coil replenishment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-22
2003-03-18
Rivera, William A. (Department: 3654)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Unwinding
With supply coil replenishment
C242S563000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06533213
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for unwinding web materials. More particularly, the invention pertains to methods and apparatus for unwinding web materials having a plurality of narrow lanes.
The manufacture of products such as disposable absorbent articles involves the use of narrow webs of flexible material. Such flexible materials can include, by way of illustration, nonwoven materials, elastic materials, adhesive tapes, polymeric films, release paper, mechanical fastening materials or the like. Due to their narrow widths, these flexible materials and others of this type present special handling difficulties.
For example, narrow web materials are sometimes processed in the form of planetary wound rolls, often called “cookie rolls” or “cookies” where the narrow web material is wound directly upon itself to form a narrow roll. Given the width of the web material, however, these very narrow rolls can be unstable and tend to warp or fall apart when lifted. Support members can be used to protect the cookie from distortion or damage, but that introduces a new structure and increases the processing cost of the web material and the cost to change rolls. Moreover, individual cookie rolls have a relatively short run time, which undesirably leads to frequent roll changes.
To circumvent these difficulties, narrow web materials can be level wound. By oscillating the narrow web material back and forth across the roll during winding, the level winding process yields a stable roll form that resists damage. Again, however, the level winding process can add significant expense to the web material.
Certain web materials such as molded hook fasteners have been formed into wide intermediary tapes. These wide tapes include strips of hook material separated by splitting channels or perforations. Processing of such wide tapes has to date required simultaneously separating the strips of hook material using specialized equipment such as splitting combs or slitting blades. Not only is such specialized equipment expensive to obtain and operate, but its use is practical only for converting operations that can accommodate simultaneous processing of multiple strips.
In view of these deficiencies and limitations with conventional manufacturing operations, it would be desirable to have improved methods and apparatus for unwinding narrow web materials.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In response to the above-referenced deficiencies and limitations, a new method of unwinding a web material has been discovered. The method includes providing a roll of web material that defines a plurality of integral lanes with a separator disposed between the lanes, and tearing the web material along the separator to disconnect at least one lane from at least one other lane. The selected lane is unwound from the roll while continuing to tear the web material along the separator and maintaining the other lane on the roll.
With this method, the parent roll can contain a relatively wide web of material that consists of a plurality of lanes of web material. The parent roll can provide a high degree of roll stability to minimize damage to the material during handling and storage operations. The individual lanes of web material can be unwound sequentially from the parent roll. In this way, only the number of lanes that are required for immediate processing need to be unwound. The remainder of the lanes can remain wound on the parent roll. This method can provide a stable roll form for delivering narrow lanes of material, without requiring an additional slitting operation and without the added expense of level winding or support members.
It is especially significant that the web material includes separators that enable the web material to be torn into individual lanes or groups of lanes. The terms “torn” and “tearing” in the context of this application mean that at least one lane of the web material can be or is separated from at least one other lane of the web material without using a cutting or slitting device. Separators can comprise any structure or treatment that causes the web material to tear into distinct lanes. In particular embodiments, suitable separators can comprise perforated regions, intermittently cut or slit regions, score marks, reduced thickness or reduced integrity regions, including splitting channels, creased regions, added elements or treatments that direct or limit tearing to a defined area, molded or embossed indentations, or the like. Perforation or scoring devices can be incorporated into the web production process or as a later converting step for the web material. The perforation or scoring devices can continuously or intermittently perforate, cut, or indent the web material. Alternatively, for molded web materials the material can include integral, molded-in splitting channels. The splitting channels can comprise generally longitudinal regions that have a relatively lower basis weight or less durable structure, so that the lanes can be separated along the splitting channels. Forming the web material so that it can be torn without the use of a cutting or slitting device simplifies the unwinding operation and reduces equipment and maintenance costs.
The manner in which the remaining lanes of web material are maintained on the parent roll will depend to some extend of the nature of the web material. In most cases, it may be sufficient to hold the leading ends of the remaining lanes of web material against the roll. Various means can be used to hold the remaining lanes in place, including but not limited to items such as tape, clips, clamps, bands, adhesives, cords, covers, or the like.
The present method is particularly suited for narrow webs of flexible material. The individual lanes can have any desired width, such as about 5 cm. or less or about 2 cm. or less. The parent roll on the other hand can be relatively wide and can contain any number of lanes depending upon the width of the lanes. For lane widths on the order of 2 cm., for example, the web material on the parent roll can comprise 2 or more lanes, particularly 4 or more lanes, more particularly 8 or more lanes, such as 10 to 60 lanes or more.
The present method can be used for unwinding a variety of flexible materials, such as nonwoven materials, elastic materials, adhesive tapes, polymeric films, release paper, mechanical fastening materials, or the like. Mechanical fastening materials can comprise interlocking geometric shaped materials, such as hooks, loops, bulbs, mushrooms, arrowheads, balls on stems, male and female mating components, buckles, snaps, or the like. In particular embodiments, the mechanical fastening materials comprise hook-and-loop fastening elements. Loop type fasteners typically comprise a fabric or material having a base or backing structure and a plurality of loop members extending upwardly from at least one surface of the backing structure. The loop material can be formed of any suitable material, such as acrylic, nylon or polyester, and can be formed by methods such as warp knitting, stitch bonding or needle punching. Suitable loop materials are available from Guilford Mills, Inc., Greensboro, N.C., U.S.A. under the trade designation No. 36549. Another suitable loop material can comprise a pattern un-bounded web as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,515 issued Jan. 12, 1999 to Stokes et al.
Hook type fasteners typically comprise a fabric or material having a base or backing structure and a plurality of hook members extending upwardly from at least one surface of the backing structure. In contrast to the loop type fasteners which desirably comprise a very flexible fabric, the hook material advantageously comprises a more resilient material to minimize unintentional disengagement of the fastener components as a result of the hook material becoming deformed and catching on clothing or other items. The term “resilient” as used herein refers to an interlocking material having a predetermined shape and the property of the interlocking material to resume the predetermined shape after
Chapple Scott Gerald
Clemens David Michael
Durrance Debra Hartley
Lohoff Michael Lee
Primeau Larry Dean
Gage Thomas M.
Kimberly--Clark Worldwide, Inc.
Rivera William A.
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