Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Convolute winding of material – Detector – control – or material responsive stop
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-11
2001-01-16
Nguyen, John Q. (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Convolute winding of material
Detector, control, or material responsive stop
C242S541300, C242S541500, C242S541600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06173918
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for winding or reeling a sheet of wood veneer into a roll while the sheet is being transferred to the apparatus with its fiber orientation directed perpendicularly to the direction in which the sheet is transferred.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For understanding of underlying problems of the invention, firstly reference is made to
FIG. 28
schematically showing a conventional veneer reeling apparatus which is disclosed by Publication of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application (Kokai) 57-53306 of 1982.
This apparatus has a plurality of endless belts
141
for conveying veneer sheet
140
, each trained round a driven front pulley
145
disposed swingable as indicated by double-headed arrow about a pivotal axis defined by a rear pulley (not shown) located on opposite side of the belts
141
. The reeling apparatus further includes a take-up reel
143
extending above the upper legs of the belts
141
for winding thereround veneer sheet
140
into a roll
144
and a plurality of sectional touch rolls
142
mounted on a shaft provided just below the reel
143
. Each sectional touch roll
142
is located between any two adjacent belts
141
and driven to rotate at a peripheral speed that is slightly higher than the traveling speed of the conveyer belts
141
. The shaft carrying the touch rolls
142
is resiliently supported, as indicated by double-headed arrow, and urged so as to make the touch rolls
142
to be in pressing contact with veneer roll
144
.
In the above apparatus, veneer reeling is accomplished by rotating the veneer roll
144
by frictional force from the touch rolls
142
pressed thereagainst with a force that is large enough to effect the rotation. Because the veneer roll
144
and the touch rolls
142
are engaged substantially in circle-to-circle contact and hence the length of contact therebetween as seen in veneer conveying direction is rather short, the magnitude of stress resulting from the contact and acting on a unit area between the touch roll
142
and the veneer roll
144
is disadvantageously large. Consequently, the veneer sheet
140
is subjected at the point of contact to a stress that tends to strain or deform the sheet.
On the other hand, a veneer sheet
140
as peeled by a veneer lathe (not shown) comes out therefrom inherently in such a form that the sheet is waved at short intervals. Further, veneer sheet
140
is formed in the lower surface thereof with a number of small cracks, usually called “lathe checks”, produced during peeling operation. Thus, veneer sheet generally tends to be deformed easily when it receives an external force and, because a wood veneer sheet is of heterogeneous quality, such deformation takes place variably from one location thereof to another along the line of contact between the veneer sheet and the touch rolls
142
even when it is subjected to application of the same force.
When subjected to the above straining or deforming stress at the touch rolls
142
, however, veneer sheet
140
is stretched or extended in the region upstream of the touch rolls
142
. Because this extension takes place variably from one location to another of the veneer sheet
140
across the direction in which it is moved, sheet movement tends to be deviated from a straightforward course along the belts
141
, with the result that veneer sheet
140
may collide against a frame of the reeling apparatus, thus causing a damage to veneer sheet
140
. Furthermore, any excessive extension of veneer sheet
140
causes slack in the sheet
140
as indicated by
140
a
, which may result in formation of folds. If such folds in the veneer sheet
140
are wound round the roll
144
, the sheet
140
is broken at bends of the folds, thereby affecting the veneer quality and yield.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a veneer reeling apparatus which makes possible smooth reeling operation without allowing veneer sheet to be folded or deviated from its intended course along conveyer belts so that damage to veneer sheet and reduction in veneer yield as described above are prevented.
According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for reeling or winding veneer sheet round a freely rotatable take-up reel into a roll, comprising a plurality of spaced conveyer belts extending below the take-up reel perpendicularly to the axis of the reel and driven to move in the direction that advances veneer sheet placed on the belts toward the take-up reel. The apparatus further includes means for moving the take-up reel toward and away from the belts, means for urging each of the belts toward the take-up reel to keep the belts in resiliently pressing contact with the veneer roll thereby to friction drive the latter, and also means for detecting an increment in diameter of the veneer roll during reeling operation. The detecting means is operable to generate a signal in response to detection of a predetermined amount of increment in diameter of the veneer roll. The apparatus further has a control which is operable in response to the signal from the detecting means to generate a command signal to activate the reel moving means thereby to move the take-up reel away from the belts so as to compensate for the increment.
In a preferred embodiment, the urging means includes an air cylinder operable to keep each of the belts in resiliently pressing contact with the veneer roll with a predetermined force, while the take-up reel moving means includes a pair of synchronously movable carriages removably supporting the take-up reel at its opposite end portions, gearing engaged with the carriages and a motor for driving the gearing in response to the above command from the control thereby to move the carriages synchronously upward.
In order to prevent the take-up reel from being elevated because of the presence of a debris, such as piece of veneer, which may cause a partial increase in the roll diameter, the control generates the above command signal to activate the reel moving means only when the take-up reel has continued to rotate for a predetermined length of time since the detecting means generated the signal to the control. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, this predetermined length of time corresponds to a quarter of a complete turn of the take-up reel.
The reeling apparatus of the preferred embodiment further comprises a roll member or a touch roll disposed below the take-up reel and the belts and extending in parallel relation to the reel. The roll member has a plurality of roll sections formed at locations corresponding to spaces between any two adjacent belts and urged so that these roll sections are resiliently pressed against the veneer roll. Further, the roll member is movable away from the take-up reel as the veneer roll increases its diameter during reeling operation. In case of the embodiment employing the roll member, a load cell which is operable in conjunction with the movement of the roll member relative to the take-up reel may be used as means for detecting the increment in diameter of veneer roll.
In case of an embodiment wherein the detecting means is arranged to detect the diametrical increment of veneer roll by determining a predetermined amount of movement of at least one belt from a predetermined position thereof, a limit switch may be used which is disposed to be operated by such movement of the belt.
Alternatively, according to the present invention, the take-up reel may be disposed stationary and, instead of the above reel moving means, any means for moving the belts toward and away from the take-up reel may be employed. In such a case, the control responding to a signal from the detecting means transmits a command signal to activate the above belt moving means so that the increment in diameter of the veneer roll is compensated for.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of embodiments of the veneer reeling appara
Koike Masaru
Kuno Yukinobu
Meinan Machinery Works Inc.
Morgan & Finnegan L.L.P.
Nguyen John Q.
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