Cut sheet roll supply

A roll supply for supplying cut sheets of selected length to a machine, comprising, in combination:

• (a) a housing having a sheet discharge for the discharge of cut sheets;
• (b) roll support means in said housing for rotatably supporting a roll of sheet material with said roll being free to rotate on said support means;
• (c) sheet cutting means in said housing for cutting off a selected length of said sheet material from said supply roll, said cutting means including:
• (1) a stationary knife;
• (2) a movable knife in opposed relation to said stationary knife;
• (3) means supporting said movable knife for multi-directional movement;
• (4) means for imparting substantially reciprocating movement to said movable knife to cause said movable knife to move in a first direction into and out of cutting relation with said stationary knife to cut said selected length of sheet material from said roll;
• and
• (5) biasing means urging said movable knife in a second direction substantially normal to said first direction whereby said stationary and movable knives are biased into cutting relation with one another;
• (d) first sheet feeding means upstream of said sheet cutting means for withdrawing sheet material from said supply roll and feeding said sheet material to said sheet cutting means;
• (e) second sheet feeding means downstream of said sheet cutting means for feeding said sheet material from said cutting means toward said sheet discharge;
• and
• (f) means responsive to feeding said selected length of sheet material from said supply roll through said cutting means by said first and second sheet feed means to actuate said sheet cutting means and cut off said length of said sheet material,
• said roll support means including at least two pair of spaced apart supports, each of said supports including
• (g) at least two idlers, and
• (h) a flexible belt stretched between said idlers, said idlers being separated from one another by a distance such that each of said supports provides a belt run of a length sufficient to support said roll of sheet material.

A roll supply for supplying cut sheets of selected length to a machine, comprising, in combination:

• (a) a housing having a sheet discharge for the discharge of cut sheets;
• (b) support means in said housing for rotatably supporting a roll of sheet material with said roll being free to rotate on said support means;
• (c) sheet cutting means in said housing for cutting off a selected length of said sheet material from said supply roll, said cutting means including:
• (1) a stationary knife;
• (2) a movable knife in opposed relation to said stationary knife;
• (3) means supporting said movable knife for multi-directional movement;
• (4) means for imparting substantially reciprocating movement to said movable knife to cause said movable knife to move in a first direction into and out of cutting relation with said stationary knife to cut said selected length of sheet material from said roll;
• and
• (5) biasing means urging said movable knife in a second direction substantially normal to said first direction whereby said stationary and movable knives are biased into cutting relation with one another;
• (d) first sheet feeding means upstream of said sheet cutting means for withdrawing sheet material from said supply roll and feeding said sheet material to said sheet cutting means;
• (e) second sheet feeding means downstream of said sheet cutting means for feeding said sheet material from said cutting means toward said sheet discharge;
• and
• (f) means responsive to feeding said selected length of sheet material from said supply roll through said cutting means by said first and second sheet feed means to actuate said sheet cutting means and cut off said length of said sheet material, and
• sheet guide means for guiding said sheet material from said supply roll to said cutting means and from said cutting means to said sheet discharge,
• said sheet guide means including
• a sheet guide pair adjacent said sheet discharge for releasably retaining said cut off length of said sheet material in said roll supply pending removal by the user.

A guillotine type cutter having a pair of knives relatively movable into and out of cutting relation with one another to sever a sheet material in two, in which:

• (a) one of said knives comprises a substantially flat continuous knife blade of predetermined length having a cutting edge along one side, said knife blade being formed from a flexible material;
• (b) a support for said knife blade, said support having a substantially flat blade supporting surface with a length at least equal to said knife blade predetermined length, said knife blade being adapted to rest on said blade supporting surface with said cutting edge projecting outwardly therebeyond;
• the center of said blade supporting surface lying in a plane parallel to and separated from the plane passing through the ends of said blade supporting surface whereby said blade supporting surface presents oppositely sloping surface sections leading to and from the center of said blade supporting surface;
• and
• (c) means for attaching said blade tightly against to said blade supporting surface whereby on assembly of said blade with said support, said blade is bent in conformance with said blade supporting surface.

In combination:

• (a) a first knife blade having a generally V-shape such that the ends of said first blade are in a plane parallel to and spaced from the plane passing through the midpoint of said first knife blade, one edge of said first knife blade having a cutting edge.
• (b) means supporting said first knife blade for both reciprocating type back and forth movement and for floating type up and down movement;
• (c) a second knife blade having a substantially planar surface against which said first knife blade is adapted to slide, the edge of said second knife blade facing said first knife blade cutting edge having a cutting edge so that on back and forth movement of said first knife blade, said first knife blade slides across said second knife blade surface from a retracted position in which said first and second knife blades are open to an extended position in which said first and second knife blades are closed, said first and second knife blade cutting edges cooperating to sever sheet material interposed between said first and second knife blades;
• (d) means supporting said second blade in a stationary position;
• (e) blade extensions adjacent each end of said first knife blade overlaying said second knife blade surface for supporting said first knife blade on said second knife blade while said first knife blade is retracted, and;
• (f) bias means for biasing said first knife blade against said second knife blade to maintain said first and second knife blade cutting edges in cutting relation with one another as said first knife blade slides across said second knife blade.