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US 4,437,369 AGranted
Sheet material cutting method and apparatus
AssigneeOpelika Manufacturing Corporation
InventorsCharles E. Brocklehurst, Bruce H. Cooper
Life of this patent
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AssigneeOpelika Manufacturing Corporation
InventorsCharles E. Brocklehurst, Bruce H. Cooper
Estimating the term…
Sheet material 14, such as a continuous supply of terry cloth towel 16, is moved along its length through a path and toward a cutting station 15 where it is cut into lengths 139. The sheet material is formed with bands 166 extending across its length, such as bands of reduced thickness, and the sheet material is cut in these bands. The bands are detected by rollers 144, 145 at opposite edges of the sheet material as the bands approach the cutting station 15, and each edge portion of the sheet material is fed by feed rollers 51, 52 independently of the other edge portion into the cutting station so as to cause one side of the sheet material which may lag the other side to be properly located at the cutting station prior to cutting the sheet material. The sheet material is pulled taut across its length by cylinders 155, 156 at positions straddling the cutting station and on opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline of the sheet material so that the filler threads of the sheet material are induced to extend at a right angle with respect to the longitudinal centerline of the sheet material, and the cut is then made across the sheet material.
A method of cutting sheet material across its length, the sheet material having bands of varying thickness extending across its length comprising the steps of advancing the material from a supply along its length through a predetermined path toward a cutting station;
A method of cutting sheet material having a plurality of spaced bands extending across its length comprising the steps of advancing the sheet material at its opposite edge portions along its length through a predetermined path toward a cutting station, detecting a band in the sheet material at opposite edge portions of the sheet material as the band approaches the cutting station, in response to detecting the band at opposite edge portions stopping each edge portion of the sheet material independently of the other edge portion at the cutting station with the opposite edge portions of the band aligned with the cutting station, stretching the sheet material at the cutting station in a direction extending across the length of the sheet material to align the filler threads of the sheet material with the cutting station, and cutting across the sheet material at the cutting station.
Apparatus for cutting sheet material across its length, the sheet material having bands extending across its length comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.