Coreless winder and method of use

A winder for automatically winding sections of sheet of material into a separate tubes, said winder comprising:

• a base;
• a means for supporting a supply of sheet material in roll from on said base for rotation about a first rotational axis;
• a material drive means for advancing sheet material from the supply roll towards a station on said base located remotely thereof;
• a winding means located at said station for winding a section of the sheet material about itself and about a second rotational axis such that the section of sheet material is substantially wound in a tubular condition;
• a cutting means located between said first and said second rotational axes for cutting completely through the sheet material to form a leading free edge in the material extending generally transversely of its length at points therealong corresponding to the end of one section and the beginning of the next successive section;
• said winding means including means for gripping marginal side edges of the web section to be wound adjacent said leading free edge thereof and for causing the section of web sheet material to be wound about itself as it is advanced from the supply means by said drive means and to be gripped and subsequently rotated about said rotational axis by said gripping means;
• fastening means for applying a means to said tube created on said winding means to hold the sheet material in tubular form after the created tube is released from the winding means;
• and
• control means connected to said drive means and to said winding means to cause coordinated advancement of sheet material from said drive means to said winding means, said coordinated advancement including said drive means advancing said leading free edge of said sheet material to said winding means to enable winding of the next successive section of said sheet material about itself and about said rotational axis, said control means further being connected to said cutting means and to said fastening means to cause cutting and fastening of the sheet material to be coordinated with its advancement.

A method for winding discrete sections of a continuous web of sheet material into separate tubes, said method comprising:

• advancing said sheet material along a path of travel from a supply of such material to a station disposed remotely thereof;
• providing means for winding a discrete length of sheet material bout itself and about a first axis of rotation and for allowing such winding of different discrete lengths of sheet material in this manner;
• providing means for cutting said sheet material completely through to form a leading free edge in said sheet material;
• providing said winding means with a means for gripping marginal side edges of a section of sheet material to be wound adjacent said leading free edge;
• advancing a discrete length of said sheet material to said station and winding it about itself and about said first axis of rotation to form a tube of material by gripping the marginal side edges of the web section to be wound adjacent the leading free edge thereof and thereafter winding the web section about itself;
• cutting said sheet material completely through to form a leading free edge extending generally transversely of its length at a point therealong separating the wound section from that which succeeds it and coinciding with the end of one discrete length and the beginning of another;
• fastening the tube so that it remains held in a tubular form when it is released from the station;
• and
• releasing the tube rolled on said winding means and advancing the next section of sheet material to the station by advancing the leading free edge of the next discrete length of said sheet material to said winding means to enable winding and fastening of the next discrete length of sheet material into tube form in the same manner.

A winder for automatically winding sections of sheet material to form separate tubes, said winder comprising;

• a base;
• a means for supplying sheet material;
• a material drive means on said base for advancing sheet material from said supply means towards a station on said base located remotely thereof;
• a winding means located at said station for winding a section of the sheet material about itself and about a rotational axis such that the section of sheet material is substantially wound in a tubular condition;
• a cutting means located between said drive means and said rotational axis for cutting the sheet material completely through transversely of its length to form a leading free edge at points therealong corresponding to the end of one section and the beginning of the next successive section of sheet material to be advanced to said station;
• said winding means including means for gripping marginal side edges of the web section to be wound adjacent said leading free edge thereof and for causing the section of web sheet material to be wound about itself as it is advanced from the supply means by said drive means and to be gripped and subsequently rotated about said rotational axis by said gripping means;
• fastening means for applying a means to said tube created on said winding means to hold the sheet material in tubular form after the created tube is released from the winding means;
• and
• control means connected to said drive means and to said winding means to cause coordinated advancement of sheet material from said drive means to said winding means such that said drive means and said winding means are capable of winding sections of said sheet material of different lengths into tubes, said control means further being connected to said cutting means and to said fastening means to cause cutting and fastening of the sheet material to be coordinated with its advancement;
• means for applying a means to said tube created on said winding means to hold the sheet material in tubular form after the created tube is released from its holding engagement with the winding means;
• and
• control means connected to said drive means and to said winding means to cause coordinated advancement of sheet material from said drive means to said winding means, said control means further being connected to said cutting means and to said fastening means to cause cutting and fastening of the sheet material to be coordinated with its advancement.