Apparatus for processing foam sheet material

Claim 1

An apparatus for processing elongate foam sheet material or the like to form the same into an open cushioning material adapted for use in packaging and protecting articles susceptible to damage during handling and shipment thereof, said apparatus comprising a frame, a slitting roll and an anvil roll carried by said frame along parallel axes and forming a nip therebetween through which the foam material passes, said slitting roll having a plurality of axially extending rows of spaced cutting blades projecting radially therefrom, the blades in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, and said rows being disposed along a helix such that at least three rows simultaneously contact said anvil roll, means for rotatably mounting said slitting roll on said frame and including a plurality of spaced trunnion wheels rotatably carried by said frame and bearing against the surface of said slitting roll on the side thereof opposite the nip whereby the trunnion wheels act to reinforce and prevent the flexing of said slitting roll during the passing of the foam material through the nip and thereby insure complete cutting by said cutting blades, means for rotatably mounting said anvil roll on said frame, means for operatively rotating the slitting and anvil rolls to advance the foam sheet material through said nip such that the cutting blades slit the foam sheet material passing therethrough in a pattern of spaced apart rows of spaced incisions and with the rows extending laterally across the sheet and with the incisions in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, and drawing means positioned downstream of said slitting and anvil rolls for longitudinally expanding the sheet material immediately upon leaving said nip thereof to open the incisions and thereby insure that the advancing sheet material will not be retained by the cutting blades of said slitting roll.

Claim 2

An apparatus for processing elongate foam sheet material or the like to form the same into an open cushioning material adapted for use in packaging and protecting articles susceptible to damage during handling and shipment thereof, said apparatus comprising a frame, a slitting roll and an anvil roll carried by said frame along parallel axes and forming a nip therebetween through which the foam material passes, said slitting roll having a plurality of axially extending rows of spaced cutting blades projecting radially therefrom, the blades in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, and said rows being disposed along a helix such that at least three rows simultaneously contact said anvil roll, means for rotatably mounting said slitting roll on said frame and including a plurality of spaced trunnion wheels rotatably carried by said frame and bearing against the surface of said slitting roll on the side thereof opposite the nip whereby the trunnion wheels act to reinforce and prevent the flexing of said slitting roll during the passing of the foam material through the nip and thereby insure complete cutting by said cutting blades, means for rotatably mounting said anvil roll on said frame, means for operatively rotating the slitting and anvil rolls to advance the foam sheet material through said nip such that the cutting blades slit the foam sheet material passing therethrough in a pattern of spaced apart rows of spaced incisions and with the rows extending laterally across the sheet and with the incisions in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, and drawing means positioned downstream of said slitting and anvil rolls for longitudinally expanding the sheet material immediately upon leaving said nip thereof to open the incisions and thereby insure that the advancing sheet material will not be retained by the cutting blades of said slitting roll.

Claim 7

An apparatus for processing elongate foam sheet material or the like to form the same into an open cuShioning material adapted for use in packaging and protecting articles susceptible to damage during handling and shipment thereof, said apparatus comprising a frame, first and second cylindrical rolls, one of said first and second rolls having a plurality of axially extending rows of spaced cutting blades projecting radially therefrom, the blades in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, and said rows being disposed along a helix extending between about 2* and 10* with respect to the axis of said one roll and such that at least three rows simultaneously contact the other of said rolls means for rotatably mounting said second roll on said frame to define a horizontal axis, means for rotatably and translatably mounting said first roll on said frame and along an axis parallel to and immediately above said horizontal axis to form a nip between said first and second rolls through which the foam material passes, said first roll mounting means including a carriage rotatably mounting said first roll, and means for translatably mounting said carriage on said frame for movement in a vertical direction to permit said first roll to be moved toward and away from said second roll and with the weight of said carriage and first roll being transmitted across said nip to said second roll, and means for operatively rotating said first and second rolls to advance the foam sheet material through said nip such that the cutting blades slit the foam sheet material passing therethrough in a pattern of spaced apart rows of spaced incisions and with the rows extending laterally across the sheet and with the incisions in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship.

Claim 8

An apparatus for processing elongate foam sheet material or the like to form the same into an open cuShioning material adapted for use in packaging and protecting articles susceptible to damage during handling and shipment thereof, said apparatus comprising a frame, first and second cylindrical rolls, one of said first and second rolls having a plurality of axially extending rows of spaced cutting blades projecting radially therefrom, the blades in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, and said rows being disposed along a helix extending between about 2* and 10* with respect to the axis of said one roll and such that at least three rows simultaneously contact the other of said rolls means for rotatably mounting said second roll on said frame to define a horizontal axis, means for rotatably and translatably mounting said first roll on said frame and along an axis parallel to and immediately above said horizontal axis to form a nip between said first and second rolls through which the foam material passes, said first roll mounting means including a carriage rotatably mounting said first roll, and means for translatably mounting said carriage on said frame for movement in a vertical direction to permit said first roll to be moved toward and away from said second roll and with the weight of said carriage and first roll being transmitted across said nip to said second roll, and means for operatively rotating said first and second rolls to advance the foam sheet material through said nip such that the cutting blades slit the foam sheet material passing therethrough in a pattern of spaced apart rows of spaced incisions and with the rows extending laterally across the sheet and with the incisions in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship.

Claim 12

An apparatus for processing elongate foam sheet material or the like to form the same into an open cushioning material adapted for use in packaging and protecting articles susceptible to damage during handling and shipment thereof, said apparatus comprising means for slitting an advancing sheet of elongate foam sheet material in a pattern of spaced apart rows of spaced incisions and comprising a pair of cylindrical rolls forming a nip therebetween through which the foam material is adapted to pass, one of said rolls having a plurality of rows of spaced cutting blades projecting radially therefrom and with said rows of cutting blades being disposed along a helix extending between about 2* and 10* with respect to the axis of said one roll and with the blades in adjacent rows being staggered, means for advancing the foam sheet material through said nip of said pair of cylindrical rolls, and drawings means positioned downstream of said slitting means for longitudinally expanding the sheet immediately upon leaving the nip of said pair of rolls to open the incisions and thereby ensure that the advancing sheet will not be retained by the cutting blades of said one roll.

Claim 13

An apparatus for processing elongate foam sheet material or the like to form the same into an open cushioning material adapted for use in packaging and protecting articles susceptible to damage during handling and shipment thereof, said apparatus comprising means for slitting an advancing sheet of elongate foam sheet material in a pattern of spaced apart rows of spaced incisions and comprising a pair of cylindrical rolls forming a nip therebetween through which the foam material is adapted to pass, one of said rolls having a plurality of rows of spaced cutting blades projecting radially therefrom and with said rows of cutting blades being disposed along a helix extending between about 2* and 10* with respect to the axis of said one roll and with the blades in adjacent rows being staggered, means for advancing the foam sheet material through said nip of said pair of cylindrical rolls, and drawings means positioned downstream of said slitting means for longitudinally expanding the sheet immediately upon leaving the nip of said pair of rolls to open the incisions and thereby ensure that the advancing sheet will not be retained by the cutting blades of said one roll.

Claim 19

An apparatus for processing elongate foam sheet material or the like to form the same into an open cushioning material adapted for use in packaging and protecting articles susceptible to damage during handling and shipment thereof, said apparatus comprising a frame, a slitting roll and an anvil roll carried by said frame along parallel axes and forming a nip therebetween through which the foam material passes, said slitting roll having a plurality of axially extending rows of spaced cutting blades projecting radially therefrom, the blades in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, means for rotatably mounting said slitting roll on said frame and including a plurality of spaced trunnion wheels rotatably carried by said frame and bearing against the surface of said slitting roll on the side thereof opposite the nip whereby the trunnion wheels act to reinforce and prevent the flexing of said slitting roll during the passing of the foam material through the nip and thereby insure complete cutting by said cutting blades, means for rotatably mounting said anvil roll on said frame, means for operatively rotating the slitting and anvil rolls to advance the foam sheet material through said nip such that the cutting blades slit the foam sheet material passing therethrough in a pattern of spaced apart rows of spaced incisions and with the rows extending laterally across the sheet and with the incisions in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, drawing means positioned downstream of said slitting and anvil rolls for longitudinally expanding the sheet immediately upon leaving the nip thereof to open the incisions and thereby insure that the advancing sheet will not be retained by the cutting blades of said slitting roll, said drawing means comprising a pair of drawing rolls rotatably carried by said frame and forming a nip therebetween through which the foam material passes, and means for operatively rotating said pair of drawing rolls at a surface speed substantially greater than that of said slitting and anvil rolls, and take-up means positioned downstream of said drawing means for forming the advancing foam material into a wound roll, said take-up means including a spindle about which the foam material is adapted to be wound, a drive drum rotatably mounted on said frame, means for rotating said drive drum, and means for rotatably and pivotally mounting said spindle on said frame such that the spindle and wound roll may be pivoted into frictional contact with said drive drum to rotate the spindle and wound roll and wherein the spindle pivots away from said drive drum as the size of the wound roll increases.

Claim 20

An apparatus for processing elongate foam sheet material or the like to form the same into an open cushioning material adapted for use in packaging and protecting articles susceptible to damage during handling and shipment thereof, said apparatus comprising a frame, a slitting roll and an anvil roll carried by said frame along parallel axes and forming a nip therebetween through which the foam material passes, said slitting roll having a plurality of axially extending rows of spaced cutting blades projecting radially therefrom, the blades in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, means for rotatably mounting said slitting roll on said frame and including a plurality of spaced trunnion wheels rotatably carried by said frame and bearing against the surface of said slitting roll on the side thereof opposite the nip whereby the trunnion wheels act to reinforce and prevent the flexing of said slitting roll during the passing of the foam material through the nip and thereby insure complete cutting by said cutting blades, means for rotatably mounting said anvil roll on said frame, means for operatively rotating the slitting and anvil rolls to advance the foam sheet material through said nip such that the cutting blades slit the foam sheet material passing therethrough in a pattern of spaced apart rows of spaced incisions and with the rows extending laterally across the sheet and with the incisions in adjacent rows being in staggered relationship, drawing means positioned downstream of said slitting and anvil rolls for longitudinally expanding the sheet immediately upon leaving the nip thereof to open the incisions and thereby insure that the advancing sheet will not be retained by the cutting blades of said slitting roll, said drawing means comprising a pair of drawing rolls rotatably carried by said frame and forming a nip therebetween through which the foam material passes, and means for operatively rotating said pair of drawing rolls at a surface speed substantially greater than that of said slitting and anvil rolls, and take-up means positioned downstream of said drawing means for forming the advancing foam material into a wound roll, said take-up means including a spindle about which the foam material is adapted to be wound, a drive drum rotatably mounted on said frame, means for rotating said drive drum, and means for rotatably and pivotally mounting said spindle on said frame such that the spindle and wound roll may be pivoted into frictional contact with said drive drum to rotate the spindle and wound roll and wherein the spindle pivots away from said drive drum as the size of the wound roll increases.