Roll unwinding cradle
AssigneeBrown LLC
InventorsVictor L. Chun, Robert Abel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for unwinding a roll of material includes an unwinding roller, an idle roller, and a motor. The unwinding roller is for supporting the roll of material. The idle roller is spaced apart from the unwinding roller so that the roll of material can be supported on the idle roller and the unwinding roller. The motor is in mechanical communication with the unwinding roller and is configured to axially rotate the unwinding roller.
Claims20
An apparatus for unwinding a roll of plastic or paper material, the apparatus comprising:
- an unwinding roller for supporting the roll of material;
- an idle roller spaced apart from the unwinding roller so that the roll of material can be supported on both the idle roller and the unwinding roller;
- a first motor in mechanical communication with the unwinding roller and configured to axially rotate the unwinding roller;
- a pull roller operable to rotate to pull material from the roll of material;
- a second motor in mechanical communication with the pull roller and configured to cause the pull roller to rotate;
- a pinch roller operable to rotate with the pull roller;
- a biasing element configured to maintain pressure between the pinch roller and the pull roller;
- and
- a controller configured to send a first control signal representative of a desired rotational speed to the first motor and a second signal representative of a desired torque to the second motor.
A system for unwinding a roll of material, the system comprising:
- an unwinding roller for supporting the roll of material;
- an idle roller spaced apart from the unwinding roller so that the roll of material can be supported on the idle roller and the unwinding roller;
- a first motor in mechanical communication with the unwinding roller and configured to axially rotate the unwinding roller;
- a pull roller operable to rotate to pull material from the roll of material;
- a second motor in mechanical communication with the pull roller and configured to cause the pull roller to rotate;
- a pinch roller operable to rotate with the pull roller;
- a biasing element configured to maintain pressure between the pinch roller and the pull roller;
- and
- a controller configured to send control signals representative of a desired rotational speed to the first motor, and send control signals representative of a desired torque to the second motor so that a constant linear speed of the material is achieved.
A method of unwinding a roll of plastic or paper material defining a central core channel, the method comprising:
- directing, via a controller, a first motor to operate at a predetermined speed so that first motor causes an unwinding roller to rotate axially, the unwinding roller being spaced apart from an idle roller with the roll of material positioned on the idle roller and the unwinding roller without being supported at the central core channel of the roll of material;
- and
- directing, via the controller, a second motor to operate at a desired torque so that the second motor causes a web tensioner to pull the material from the roll of material so that a constant linear speed of the material is achieved.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.