Apparatus for winding a running length of thermoplastic sheeting into a series of rolls

Claim 1

A system for automatic handling a running length of thermoplastic sheeting from a processing unit to form a series of individual rolls, said system comprising in combination and positioned along the general path of movement of the sheeting an accumulator unit cooperating with the processing unit; sheet forwarding means cooperating with the accumulator; windup promotion means cooperating with the sheet forwarding means; a windup unit cooperating witH the windup promotion means, said windup unit comprising means for moving a core containing a certain length of sheeting away from the general path of movement of the sheeting and replacing said core containing a certain length of sheeting with an empty core after moving the core containing a certain length of sheeting away from the general path of movement of the sheeting thereby unwinding some sheeting from the core containing a certain length of sheeting and moving the empty core towards the general path of movement until the empty core overlaps the sheeting and is in position to engage a severing unit; a severing unit cooperating with windup unit and positioned along the general path of movement of the sheeting, said severing unit comprising in combination (a) a severing wire for severing the sheeting and heat bonding the end of the running length of sheeting to the empty core, (b) means for heating said severing wire, (c) means for moving said severing wire, (d) means for holding the severing wire in operative association with the sheeting and empty core during severing and heat bonding, (e) means for clamping said end of sheeting to said empty core, a positioning means for moving said severing unit into contact or away from the sheeting where it overlaps the empty core, and (f) means for cooling the severed end of the running length of sheeting which is heat bonded to the empty core; and control means cooperating with said accumulator, sheet forwarding means, windup promotion means, windup unit and severing unit to cause the accumulator unit to collect the sheeting from the processing unit which continues to operate while the core containing a certain length of sheeting is automatically moved from the general path of movement of the sheeting while the empty core is moved toward the general path of movement of the sheeting until it overlaps the sheeting, the sheet severed, the end of the running length of sheeting heat bonded to the empty core and the empty core moved into the general path of movement of the sheeting, said control means comprising in combination (a) a footage counting means which determines when a certain length of sheeting has accumulated on said core, (b) means for actuating the accumulator unit such that the accumulator unit begins to collect the sheeting from the processing unit when the footage counting means indicates a certain length of sheeting is on the core, (c) means for ceasing the movement of the sheet forwarding means between the accumulator unit when the footage counting means indicates a certain length of sheeting is on the core, (d) means for actuating the windup promotion means when the footage counting means indicates that a certain length of sheeting has accumulated on the core and moving the windup promotion means away from the general path of movement of the sheeting, (e) means for detecting when said moving of the windup promotion means is in position for a core change, (f) means for actuating the windup unit so that the core containing a certain length of sheeting is moved away from the general path of movement of the sheeting, unwound to a degree such that the core containing a certain length of sheeting can be moved out of the general path of movement and the empty core moves towards the general path of movement when the means for actuating the windup promotion means indicates that the windup promotion means is in position for a core change, (g) means for stopping the movement of the windup unit when the empty core is in position under the severing unit, (h) means for causing the windup unit to rotate or cease to rotate the empty core when the empty core is positioned under the severing unit, (i) means for causing the means for moving the severing wire into operative association with the empty core and overlapping sheeting to move the severing wire into operative association with the empty core and sheeting when the empty core has ceased to rotate, (j) means for holding the severing wire in operative association with the sheetIng and empty core when the severing wire has contacted the sheeting which is in contact with the empty core, (k) means for causing the means for heating the severing wire to heat when the means for holding the severing wire in operative association with the sheeting and the empty core are in position (l) means for causing the means for holding and the means for moving the severing wire to move the severing wire from operative association with said sheeting and empty core while the means for holding said severing wire in operative association with the sheeting and empty core continues to hold the sheeting to the empty core so that the means for cooling the severed end of the running length of sheeting which is heat bonded to the empty core can operate effectively when the heating means have heated the severing wire for a predetermined amount of time and the heating has ceased, (m) means for causing said clamping means to hold said severed end to the empty core when said severing wire is in operative assocation with the sheeting, (n) means for starting said means for cooling the severed end of the running length of sheeting which is heat bonded to the empty core, to cool after the means for holding and means for moving the severing wire have moved the severing wire from operative association with the sheeting and empty core, (o) means for causing the severing unit and the means for holding the severing wire in operative association with the sheeting and empty core to move away from the general path of movement and into their positions for normal winding, (p) a filling detector means which indicates the level of accumulated sheeting the accumulator unit, (q) means for causing the cooling to stop cooling when the accumulator is filled to a certain degree, (r) means for causing the means for clamping the severed end to release when the cooling is stopped, (s) means for causing the windup unit to move the empty core into normal winding position when said severing unit is in normal winding position, (t) means for causing the windup unit to rotate said empty core at least one revolution while said windup unit is moving the empty core to the normal winding position, (u) means for causing the windup promotion means to move to the general path of movement of the sheeting to the normal winding position when the empty core is in normal winding position, (v) means for causing the sheet forwarding means to commence operation when the windup promotion means is in normal winding position, (w) means for causing the windup unit to cause the empty core to rotate at a speed above normal winding speed such that the accumulated sheeting in said accumulator unit is depleted when the windup promotion means is in normal windup position, (x) means for causing the windup unit to rotate the empty core at normal winding speed when said accumulator unit no longer contains any accumulated sheeting.

Claim 2

A system for automatic handling a running length of thermoplastic sheeting from a processing unit to form a series of individual rolls, said system comprising in combination and positioned along the general path of movement of the sheeting an accumulator unit cooperating with the processing unit; sheet forwarding means cooperating with the accumulator; windup promotion means cooperating with the sheet forwarding means; a windup unit cooperating witH the windup promotion means, said windup unit comprising means for moving a core containing a certain length of sheeting away from the general path of movement of the sheeting and replacing said core containing a certain length of sheeting with an empty core after moving the core containing a certain length of sheeting away from the general path of movement of the sheeting thereby unwinding some sheeting from the core containing a certain length of sheeting and moving the empty core towards the general path of movement until the empty core overlaps the sheeting and is in position to engage a severing unit; a severing unit cooperating with windup unit and positioned along the general path of movement of the sheeting, said severing unit comprising in combination (a) a severing wire for severing the sheeting and heat bonding the end of the running length of sheeting to the empty core, (b) means for heating said severing wire, (c) means for moving said severing wire, (d) means for holding the severing wire in operative association with the sheeting and empty core during severing and heat bonding, (e) means for clamping said end of sheeting to said empty core, a positioning means for moving said severing unit into contact or away from the sheeting where it overlaps the empty core, and (f) means for cooling the severed end of the running length of sheeting which is heat bonded to the empty core; and control means cooperating with said accumulator, sheet forwarding means, windup promotion means, windup unit and severing unit to cause the accumulator unit to collect the sheeting from the processing unit which continues to operate while the core containing a certain length of sheeting is automatically moved from the general path of movement of the sheeting while the empty core is moved toward the general path of movement of the sheeting until it overlaps the sheeting, the sheet severed, the end of the running length of sheeting heat bonded to the empty core and the empty core moved into the general path of movement of the sheeting, said control means comprising in combination (a) a footage counting means which determines when a certain length of sheeting has accumulated on said core, (b) means for actuating the accumulator unit such that the accumulator unit begins to collect the sheeting from the processing unit when the footage counting means indicates a certain length of sheeting is on the core, (c) means for ceasing the movement of the sheet forwarding means between the accumulator unit when the footage counting means indicates a certain length of sheeting is on the core, (d) means for actuating the windup promotion means when the footage counting means indicates that a certain length of sheeting has accumulated on the core and moving the windup promotion means away from the general path of movement of the sheeting, (e) means for detecting when said moving of the windup promotion means is in position for a core change, (f) means for actuating the windup unit so that the core containing a certain length of sheeting is moved away from the general path of movement of the sheeting, unwound to a degree such that the core containing a certain length of sheeting can be moved out of the general path of movement and the empty core moves towards the general path of movement when the means for actuating the windup promotion means indicates that the windup promotion means is in position for a core change, (g) means for stopping the movement of the windup unit when the empty core is in position under the severing unit, (h) means for causing the windup unit to rotate or cease to rotate the empty core when the empty core is positioned under the severing unit, (i) means for causing the means for moving the severing wire into operative association with the empty core and overlapping sheeting to move the severing wire into operative association with the empty core and sheeting when the empty core has ceased to rotate, (j) means for holding the severing wire in operative association with the sheetIng and empty core when the severing wire has contacted the sheeting which is in contact with the empty core, (k) means for causing the means for heating the severing wire to heat when the means for holding the severing wire in operative association with the sheeting and the empty core are in position (l) means for causing the means for holding and the means for moving the severing wire to move the severing wire from operative association with said sheeting and empty core while the means for holding said severing wire in operative association with the sheeting and empty core continues to hold the sheeting to the empty core so that the means for cooling the severed end of the running length of sheeting which is heat bonded to the empty core can operate effectively when the heating means have heated the severing wire for a predetermined amount of time and the heating has ceased, (m) means for causing said clamping means to hold said severed end to the empty core when said severing wire is in operative assocation with the sheeting, (n) means for starting said means for cooling the severed end of the running length of sheeting which is heat bonded to the empty core, to cool after the means for holding and means for moving the severing wire have moved the severing wire from operative association with the sheeting and empty core, (o) means for causing the severing unit and the means for holding the severing wire in operative association with the sheeting and empty core to move away from the general path of movement and into their positions for normal winding, (p) a filling detector means which indicates the level of accumulated sheeting the accumulator unit, (q) means for causing the cooling to stop cooling when the accumulator is filled to a certain degree, (r) means for causing the means for clamping the severed end to release when the cooling is stopped, (s) means for causing the windup unit to move the empty core into normal winding position when said severing unit is in normal winding position, (t) means for causing the windup unit to rotate said empty core at least one revolution while said windup unit is moving the empty core to the normal winding position, (u) means for causing the windup promotion means to move to the general path of movement of the sheeting to the normal winding position when the empty core is in normal winding position, (v) means for causing the sheet forwarding means to commence operation when the windup promotion means is in normal winding position, (w) means for causing the windup unit to cause the empty core to rotate at a speed above normal winding speed such that the accumulated sheeting in said accumulator unit is depleted when the windup promotion means is in normal windup position, (x) means for causing the windup unit to rotate the empty core at normal winding speed when said accumulator unit no longer contains any accumulated sheeting.