Web director

Apparatus comprising a cutoff machine having three web paths at different elevations, a discrete web support for each of said web paths, a diverter adjacent the upstream end of each web support, said diverter being adapted to direct a web to any one of said web supports, at least one of said web supports having a rigid concave surface adjacent its upstream end and a rigid convex surface to receive a web from said concave surface, each of said convex and concave surfaces having a terminal end at different elevations, at least one of said web supports being horizontally disposed, another of said web supports being at an acute angle not more than about 6.degree. with respect to the horizontal.

Apparatus comprising web support means having an inlet end and an outlet end, said inlet end being arranged to receive a web at either of first and second elevations and facilitate discharge of the web at the outlet end to either one of said elevations, said web support means including a rigid concave surface and a rigid convex surface arranged so that a web may transfer from one surface to the other, said surfaces having a radius of curvature which facilitates passage of the web without breaking, each of said surfaces having a fixed terminal end, said fixed terminal end of said concave surface being at said first elevation at the inlet end and said fixed terminal end of said convex surface being at said second elevation at the outlet end.

A method of forming a web director having plural flow paths with at least one of said flow paths having ends terminating at different elevations and without breaking a web of corrugated paperboard comprising forming said one flow path as a rigid web support preshaped to have a concave web support surface and a convex web support surface with the radius of curvature of samd surfaces being about 3 to 15 meters.