Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – Means joining flexible indefinite length or endless bodies...
Reexamination Certificate
1994-04-07
2001-06-12
Osele, Mark A. (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
Means joining flexible indefinite length or endless bodies...
C156S159000, C156S505000, C083S553000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244321
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic belt-shaped material connecting apparatus.
In tobacco binding operation of a cigarette manufacturing machine, for example, a paper web should be supplied without a break. To attain this, a number of reels each wound with a paper web are provided so that a reel with a new or virgin paper web can be set in position before the remainder of a paper web on a reel in service is reduced to zero, that is, before the in-service reel is emptied. In this case, the leading end of the virgin web is connected to the in-service web by means of a paper web connecting unit, and the in-service web is cut off. Thus, the used and virgin paper webs are connected. Generally, a paper web feeding apparatus can be fitted with two reels so that when the remainder of a paper web on one reel becomes insufficient, a virgin paper web can be fed from the other reel. After connecting the virgin web to the in-service web, the paper web connecting unit cuts off the latter. When the remainder of the new paper web becomes insufficient after the replacement, another virgin paper web is supplied from another reel which is set in place of the empty reel in the feeding apparatus. The new virgin web is connected to the in-service web by means of the connecting unit, and the in-service web is then cut off. This operation is repeatedly performed so that the paper web can be continuously supplied to a winder. Packaging materials are connected in like manner in a packaging material feeding apparatus which is used to feed packaging materials, such as paper, to a packaging machine, in a cigarette manufacturing machine.
In connecting and cutting the paper webs or other belt-shaped materials alternately supplied from the two systems as described above, the one paper web is fed through its corresponding feed path, an the other paper web through another feed path. Each feed path is defined by upper-course feed rollers, guide roller, feed belt, and lower-course feed rollers. Each paper web is cut by means of a cutter which is formed of a stationary knife and a rotating knife, arranged between the upper-course feed rollers and the guide roller.
In connecting the virgin paper web to the paper web in service, the leading end of the virgin web is delivered to the lower-course feed rollers in a manner such that it is retained on the feed belt by suction, while the in-service web is cut, by means of the cutter, in a position where its trailing end overlaps the leading end of the virgin web. Thereupon, the leading end of the virgin paper web is connected to the in-service paper web between the lower-course feed rollers. Paper web cutting mechanisms of this type are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,898,900 and 3,847,046 (corresponding to Japanese Provisional Patent Publication Nos. 49-77280 and 49-77282, respectively).
In these conventional cutting mechanisms, however, the paper web feed paths are provided individually with the cutters. Accordingly, these mechanisms are subject to drawbacks including complicated construction and increased components, as well as low operating efficiency.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been contrived in consideration of these circumstances, and its object is to provide an automatic belt-shaped material connecting apparatus which enjoys high operating efficiency and compact construction.
An automatic belt-shaped material connecting apparatus according to the present invention comprises a pair of blocks arranged so as to be able to move relatively and be pressed against each other in the direction to cross a feed path for a first belt-shaped material and a feed path for a second belt-shaped material, retaining means for retaining the first and second belt-shaped materials on the respective opposite faces of the pair of blocks, cutting means, associated with the pair of blocks, for cutting a desired one of the first and second belt-shaped materials, and driving means for relatively moving the pair of blocks, whereby the desired one belt-shaped material is cut by means of the cutting means while the blocks are moving relatively to each other.
Preferably, the automatic belt-shaped material connecting apparatus further includes first and second guide rollers, spaced at a distance from each other, and a third guide roller for defining the feed path for the first belt-shaped material in conjunction with the first guide roller and defining the feed path for the second belt-shaped material in conjunction with the second guide roller.
Preferably, moreover, each of the pair of blocks is movable.
Preferably, moreover, the driving means includes a pair of connecting rods, each having one end connected to a corresponding one of the pair of blocks, and a cylinder actuator having a rod connected with the respective other ends of the connecting rods. Furthermore, the cutting means includes a rotating body rockable between the feed paths for the first and second belt-shaped materials on the upper-course side of the pair of blocks, first and second knives fixed individually to the pair of blocks, a third knife fixed to the rotating body, and actuator means for rotating the rotating body between a first rotational position in which the third knife faces the first knife and a second rotational position in which the third knife faces the second knife. The desired one belt-shaped material is cut by means of the third knife and one of the first and second knives selected depending on the rotational position of the rotating body.
An advantage of the present invention is that one of the two belt-shaped materials supplied separately from two systems can be selectively cut by means of a single cutter mechanism, so that the operating efficiency for cutting the materials can be improved, and the components of the apparatus can be reduced in number. Moreover, a belt-shaped material in service can be cut, and at the same time, the leading end of a virgin belt-shaped material can be connected to the trailing end of the in-service material, by only moving the pair of blocks relatively to each other. Thus, the connecting operation can be speeded up, and the connecting apparatus can be made compact.
These and other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from an understanding of the preferred embodiments described below with reference to the following drawing figures.
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Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Japan Tobacco Inc.
Osele Mark A.
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