Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – With electrical controls
Reexamination Certificate
1996-11-29
2001-08-14
Mayes, Curtis (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
With electrical controls
C156S538000, C156S543000, C156S552000, C156S598000, C604S358000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273165
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a production line for the manufacture of absorbent disposable articles, such as diapers, sanitary napkins and incontinence guards, wherein the production line includes a conveyor path which functions to move a web of material through the production line, and a row of devices are arranged sequentially in the direction of web movement for carrying out different working operations included in the manufacture of the absorbent article, these devices being carried on rectangular carrier plates which are attached to vertical posts which are placed in a framework on mutually the same side of the conveyor path and sequentially in a direction which extends parallel with the direction of conveyor-path movement.
Absorbent disposable articles are typically produced by taking a web of material from a storage reel and moving the web past a number of devices which perform different operations in sequence, such as placing absorbent bodies on the web, laying-out elastic, applying glue, applying further webs of material, compressing absorbent bodies, and heat-welding or ultrasonic-welding the webs, and so on. In production of this nature, the production line has been traditionally constructed as one single unit. In recent times, production development has accelerated within this particular technical field, necessitating comprehensive reconstruction of the production lines. However, production lines of unit construction are less suitable for reconstruction and as a result, it has taken much too long to introduce new or modified products onto the market, and it has often been necessary to refrain from making small improvements to existing products, because of the radical changes in the production lines that such an improvement would incur, while, at the same time, the long non-productive times or down-time caused by such reconstruction would prevent the market demand of such products being met, resulting in loss in profits and, in the longer term, perhaps also a loss in the share of the market.
The European Patent Application No. 93850174.9 teaches a production line for the manufacture of absorbent disposable articles which overcomes these drawbacks to a large extent. The various working devices of the production line are carried by mutually identical module plates which can be mounted in any desired position in a framework that extends along the production line. This design greatly facilitates reconstruction of the production line, while enabling the production line to be extended by adding further working devices thereto, without needing to make large modifications.
The primary object of the present invention is to further facilitate restructuring of a production line and the addition of further working devices, in comparison with the aforesaid known production line. A secondary object of the invention is to facilitate mounting of the carrier plates in a production line, so that a large part of this work can be carried out by technically unqualified personnel.
These objects are achieved in accordance with the invention with a production line of the kind defined in the introduction which is characterized in that the framework includes a plurality of mutually adjacent connections which are connected to delivery lines for flowing media, such as electric current and compressed air; in that each carrier plate supporting at least one working device, which is operated or maneuvered by flowing media, also supports operating or maneuvering means and connecting elements for connecting the operating or maneuvering means concerned to a corresponding connector on the framework; and in that the connectors on the framework and the connector elements are so arranged that each connector element on a carrier plate can be connected to a connector on the framework irrespective of the position of the carrier plate on the framework. This construction greatly simplifies fitting of a carrier plate in the production line, since all that is needed is to secure the plate to the framework and to connect the connector elements to the nearest line fixed connector on the framework. This fitting operation can be carried out very quickly and with the aid of technically unqualified personnel. The downtime of such a production line will be relatively short when changing or fitting a working device.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the framework includes at least one row of sets of connectors for electric current and compressed air arranged sequentially in the direction of the conveyor path, wherein these sets of connectors are separated by a distance which is equal to a multiple of the smallest distance between the vertical posts. Each set of connectors on the framework includes a databus connector, and each carrier plate supports a working device which includes a control means which is connectable to the databus connector, and a connector-element holder which is placed in the same position on each carrier plate.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5383988 (1995-01-01), Hermann et al.
patent: 5492591 (1996-02-01), Hermann et al.
patent: 0 589 859 (1994-03-01), None
Børresen Harald
Gundersen Dag H
Johansen Odd F.
Mayes Curtis
Molnlycke AB
Young & Thompson
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