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US 4,374,447 AGranted
Six-wheel spinning shirring head
AssigneeTeepak, Inc.
InventorThomas W. Martinek
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeTeepak, Inc.
InventorThomas W. Martinek
Estimating the term…
A shirring head wherein there are a plurality of shirring wheels spaced about the circumference of a shirring mandrel and so mounted that the shirring wheels may be individully driven in unison with one another while at the same time the faces of the shirring wheels opposing the shirring mandrel extend substantially continuously about the shirring mandrel. The shirring wheels are carried by a supporting head which is mounted for rotation so as to rotate the shirring wheels about the axis of the shirring mandrel in addition to the rotation of the shirring wheels about their own axes. A differential drive is provided wherein the speed of rotation of the shirring wheels is modified in accordance with the speed and direction of rotation of the supporting head. The differential drive provides for an input to the drive for the shirring wheels from the drive for the supporting head.
A right angle drive and support assembly for a rotatable element unit comprising a housing, means on said housing for mounting said housing on a supporting head, bearing means within said housing supporting a drive shaft for rotation within said housing, a support shaft carried by said housing, said drive shaft and said support shaft having axes lying in a common plane with said support shaft axis being at a right angle to said drive shaft axis, said support shaft projecting from said housing and having rotatably mounted thereon a rotatable element including a driven gear, a drive gear carried by said drive shaft and mating with said driven gear in driving relation, a mounting collar fixed with said driven gear, a separately formed shirring wheel, and means for securing said shirring wheel to said mounting collar in angularly adjusted relation, and an anchor pin carried by said housing and extending through said support shaft fixing said support shaft relative to said housing, said anchor pin being coaxial with said drive shaft and said drive shaft having a terminal bore receiving an end of said anchor pin in journalled supported relation.
An apparatus for shirring a tubular film on a shirring mandrel, said apparatus comprising a supporting head, said supporting head including a head plate, a plurality of right angle drive and support assemblies extending from one side of said head plate, drive means for said assemblies on the other side of said head plate, and bearing means supporting said supporting head for rotation about a fixed axis, said bearing means being generally coplanar with said head plate.
A machine apparatus for shirring a tubular film comprising a machine component including a head plate, means for mounting said machine component for rotation about an axis, a unit carried by said machine component and including driven elements, said driven elements include means for feeding a film casing, first drive means for rotating said machine component about said axis in a selected direction, second drive means coupled to said unit for driving said driven elements independently of the rotation of said machine component, first and second drive units for driving said first and second drive means, respectively, and a differential drive unit interposed between said drive units and said drive means for modifying the speed of said second drive means in accordance with the speed and direction of drive of said first drive unit.
A machine apparatus for shirring of tubular film comprising a machine component, means mounting said machine component for rotation about an axis, at least one drive shaft, carrying means for feeding a film casing, carried by said machine component and having an axis disposed parallel to the first mentioned axis, a planetary gearing carried by said machine component and coupled to said drive shaft for rotating said drive shaft independently of the rotation of said machine component about the first mentioned axis, and a differential drive unit coupled to said machine component for the selective rotation of said machine component and the rotation of said drive shaft with the direction and speed of rotation of said machine component being variable while automatically maintaining the speed of rotation of said drive shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.