Strip Material Dispensing Device

An apparatus for moving at least one guide arm along a frame, comprising:

• at least one crank shaft coupled to a first end of the frame, such that each crank shaft can rotate about an independent axis per crank shaft;
• at least one drive pulley, one drive pulley being fixed to each crank shaft;
• at least one tail pulley rotably coupled to a second end of the frame;
• and
• at least one cable, one cable extending around each drive pulley and a corresponding tail pulley and attached to a corresponding guide arm therebetween;
• wherein each guide arm is independently movable along the frame by rotation of the corresponding crank shaft.

An apparatus for dispensing strip materials onto a moving substrate, comprising:

• a frame extending transversally of the substrate path;
• at least one guide arm, each having a supporting means to movably attach the guide arm to the frame and a dispensing means for dispensing strip materials;
• at least one guide arm drive system, each comprising two pulleys coupled to shafts at opposite ends of the frame and a cable looped around each pulley and attached to a corresponding guide arm therebetween, such that the guide arm moves when a shaft is rotated;
• at least one brake system, each arranged to optionally restrict the motion of a corresponding guide arm;
• and
• a guide arm position feedback means for determining the transversal position of each guide arm in relation to a predetermined position and displaying the transversal positions on a display device.

A process for preparing to dispense strip materials onto a moving substrates, comprising:

• i) rotating at least one crank shaft coupled to a first end of a frame such that each crank shaft can rotate about an independent axis per crank shaft, the frame extending transversally of the substrate path, each rotating crank shaft thereby actuating a friction drive means, one friction drive means being coupled to each crank shaft and a corresponding guide arm, each friction drive means depending on frictional contact between two surfaces to transfer rotational movement of the crank shaft to linear motion of a guide arm, each friction drive means thereby moving the corresponding guide arm to a desired position along the frame, each guide arm having a supporting means to movably couple the guide arm to the frame and a dispensing means for dispensing strip materials onto the substrate;
• ii) using a guide arm position feedback means to automatically determine the transversal position of each guide arm in relation to a predetermined position and display the positions on a display device;
• and
• iii) repeating i and ii until the display device displays the desired positions of the guide arms.