Expansion system for improved handling and avoidance of damage and/or crushing of expandable slit sheet paper
OwnerDavid Paul Goodrichinventor
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Abstract
In some illustrative embodiments of the present invention, a novel expandable slit paper expansion device design is provided that, among other things, avoid complications of prior systems and eliminates the crushing effect of the rollers. Among other things, the preferred embodiments provide a unique structure that provides a novel “S” shape path of the expandable slit sheet paper, such that the expandable slit sheet paper is tortuously weaved between at least two expansion rollers without being compressed there-between, in a manner that the expandable slit sheet paper follows along surfaces of the expansion rollers without pinching or compression that occurs in the background art.
Claims38
A system having an expander for expanding and feeding an expandable slit sheet material with reduced damage to the expandable slit sheet material, comprising:
- a) at least one first roller for feeding the expandable slit sheet material, said at least one first roller being adapted to rotate to move said expandable slit sheet material downstream at a first reduced rate;
- b) at least two expansion rollers located downstream from the at least one first roller which receive the expandable slit sheet material from the at least one first roller, said at least two expansion rollers being adapted to rotate to move said expandable slit sheet material further downstream at a second rate that is faster than said first reduced rate, such as to cause said expandable slit sheet material to expand due to the second rate being faster than said first reduced rate;
- c) said at least two expansion rollers including two adjacent expansion rollers arranged to adjacent one another, at least one of said two adjacent expansion rollers including a plurality of hooks distributed around a periphery thereof which are configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet material;
- d) said two adjacent expansion rollers being separated from one another by a distance greater than a thickness of said expandable slit sheet material in an expanded state, such that the said two adjacent expansion rollers do not concurrently press against opposite sides of the expanded slit sheet material at a same longitudinal position of the expanded slit sheet material so that said two adjacent expansion rollers avoid damaging the expanded slit sheet material;
- wherein said two adjacent expansion rollers are arranged, wherein a portion of the path of the expanded slit sheet material passing around said two adjacent expansion rollers is S-shape, with the path curving in a first direction around a periphery of one of said two adjacent expansion rollers and then in a second direction that is away from said first direction around a periphery of the other of said two adjacent rollers;
- wherein said two adjacent expansion rollers are arranged, wherein the path of the expanded slit sheet material passing around each of said two adjacent expansion rollers includes the expanded slit sheet material contacting each of said two adjacent expansion rollers around respective arcs of at least 40 degrees around each of said adjacent expansion rollers.
A system having an expander for expanding and feeding an expandable slit sheet material with reduced damage to the expandable slit sheet material, comprising:
- a) at least one first roller for feeding the expandable slit sheet material, said at least one first roller being adapted to rotate to move said expandable slit sheet material downstream at a first reduced rate;
- b) at least two expansion rollers located downstream from the at least one first roller which receive the expandable slit sheet material from the at least one first roller, said at least two expansion rollers being adapted to rotate to move said expandable slit sheet material further downstream at a second rate that is faster than said first reduced rate, to cause said expandable slit sheet material to expand due to the second rate being faster than said first reduced rate;
- c) said at least two expansion rollers including two adjacent expansion rollers arranged to adjacent one another, at least one of said two adjacent expansion rollers including a plurality of hooks distributed around a periphery thereof which are configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet material;
- d) said two adjacent expansion rollers being separated from one another by a distance greater than a thickness of said expandable slit sheet material in an expanded state, such that the said two adjacent expansion rollers do not concurrently press against opposite sides of the expanded slit sheet material at a same longitudinal position of the expanded slit sheet material, wherein said two adjacent expansion rollers avoid damaging the expanded slit sheet material;
- wherein said two adjacent expansion rollers are arranged such that a portion of the path of the expanded slit sheet material passing around said two adjacent expansion rollers is S-shape, with the path curving in a first direction around a periphery of one of said two adjacent expansion rollers and then in a second direction that is away from said first direction around a periphery of the other of said two adjacent rollers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.