Machine for rewinding and intermediately processing thin flexible material using a conveyor

A machine for rewinding a web of thin flexible material comprising:

• (a) a frame;
• (b) a positively-driven center-rewind spindle on which the web is rewound as a roll supported relative to the frame;
• (c) a series of positively driven rolls supported relative to the frame for removing the web from a supply roll and transferring the web to said spindle, including
• i) a set of primary draw rolls for removing the web from the supply roll;
• ii) a positively driven transfer drum for carrying the web removed from the supply roll by said primary rolls to the roll of material on said spindle, said transfer drum in peripheral contact at a contact point with the roll of material on said rewind spindle to directly transfer the web from the conveyor onto the roll on said spindle at the contact point;
• iii) a positively-driven secondary draw roll for delivering the web of material from the primary draw rolls onto the transfer drum, said secondary draw roll in peripheral contact with the transfer drum to transfer the web from the secondary draw roll directly onto the transfer drum at the peripheral contact between the secondary draw roll and the transfer drum;
• and
• (d) a transmission positively driving said series of rolls and said rewind spindle in synchronous movement, said transmission controlling the relative speeds of said rolls and said spindle so that the web is transmitted by the series of positively driven rolls from the supply roll to the center-rewind spindle with the center-rewind spindle applying only sufficient tension to maintain the web in flat surface contact with the series of positively-driven rolls.

A machine for rewinding a web of thin flexible material comprising:

• (a) a frame;
• (b) positively-driven draw means supported relative to the frame for removing the web from a supply roll;
• (c) a positively-driven center-rewind spindle onto which the web of material is rewound as a roll supported relative to the frame;
• (d) a positively-driven conveyor supported relative to the frame for carrying said web from said draw means and transferring said web onto said rewind spindle, including:
• i) a positively-driven transfer drum supported relative to the frame in peripheral contact at a contact point with the roll of material wound onto said spindle so that said web is directly transferred at the contact point from the transfer drum onto said roll of material wound onto the spindle;
• ii) a positively-driven, web-carrying roll supported relative to the frame intermediate the draw means and the transfer drum for delivering the web of material from the draw means to the transfer drum, said web-carrying roll in peripheral contact with the transfer drum to transfer the web from the web-carrying roll directly onto the transfer drum at the peripheral contact between the web-carrying roll and the transfer drum;
• and
• (e) a control mechanism for controlling synchronous movement of said draw means and said spindle relative to said conveyor so that the web is carried by the conveyer from the draw means to the center-rewind spindle with the center-rewind spindle applying only sufficient tension to maintain the web in flat surface contact with the transfer drum and the web-carrying roll as the web is rewound onto the spindle.

A machine for rewinding a web of thin flexible material comprising:

• (a) a frame;
• (b) primary draw means supported relative to the frame for removing the web from a supply roll;
• (c) a positively-driven center-rewind spindle onto which the web of material is rewound as a roll supported relative to the frame;
• (d) a positively-driven transfer drum supported relative to the frame for transferring said web onto said rewind spindle;
• (e) a positively-driven, secondary draw roll supported relative to the frame intermediate the primary draw means and the transfer drum for delivering the web of material from the primary draw means to the transfer drum, said secondary draw roll in peripheral contact with the transfer drum to transfer the web from the secondary draw roll directly onto the transfer drum at the peripheral contact between the secondary draw roll and the transfer drum;
• and
• (f) a control mechanism for controlling synchronous movement of said primary draw means, said secondary draw roll, said transfer drum, and said spindle so that the web is carried from the primary draw means to the center-rewind spindle with the web in flat surface contact with the transfer drum as the web is rewound onto the spindle.

A machine for rewinding a web of thin flexible material comprising:

• (a) a frame;
• (b) supply roll support means on the frame for supporting a supply roll for rotation on the frame;
• (c) a pair of positively-driven primary draw rolls supported relative to the frame for removing the web from the supply roll, the primary draw rolls causing the supply roll to rotate as the web is drawn from the supply roll by the primary draw rolls;
• (d) retarding means supported relative to the frame to resist rotation of said supply roll during withdrawal of the web of material from said supply roll by the primary draw rolls;
• (e) a positively-driven center-rewind spindle onto which the web of material is rewound as a roll supported relative to the frame;
• (f) a positively-driven conveyor supported relative to the frame for carrying said web from said primary draw rolls and for transferring said web onto said rewind spindle, said conveyor having a transfer drum and a positively-driven secondary draw roll for delivering the web of material from the primary draw rolls onto the transfer drum, said secondary draw roll in peripheral contact with the transfer drum to transfer the web from the secondary draw roll directly onto the transfer drum at the peripheral contact between the secondary draw roll and the transfer drum, and the transfer drum in peripheral contact with the roll of material wound onto said spindle so that the web of material is transferred directly from the transfer drum onto the roll of material wound on the spindle at the peripheral contact between the transfer drum and the roll of material;
• and
• (g) a control mechanism for controlling synchronous movement of said primary draw rolls and said spindle relative to said conveyor so that the web is carried by the conveyer from the primary draw roll to the center-rewind spindle with the web in flat surface contact with the transfer drum as the web is rewound onto the spindle.

A machine for rewinding a web of thin flexible material comprising:

• (a) a frame providing at least a pair of linear slots;
• (b) primary draw means supported relative to the frame for removing the web from said supply roll;
• (c) a positively-driven center-rewind spindle onto which the web of material is rewound as a roll supported relative to the frame, said rewind spindle including a floating shaft mounted in the linear slots on said frame, said shaft being movable within said linear slots in a direction transverse to the axis of rotation of said spindle as the diameter of the roll of material on said spindle increases;
• (d) a positively-driven conveyor supported relative to the frame for carrying said web from said primary draw means and for transferring said web onto said rewind spindle, said conveyor having a positively-driven transfer drum and a positively-driven secondary draw roll for delivering the web of material from the primary draw means onto the transfer drum, said secondary draw roll in peripheral contact with the transfer drum to transfer the web from the secondary draw roll directly onto the transfer drum at the peripheral contact between the secondary draw roll and the transfer drum, and the transfer drum in peripheral contact with the roll of material wound onto said spindle so that the web of material is transferred directly from the transfer drum onto the roll of material wound onto the spindle at the peripheral contact between the transfer drum and the roll of material;
• and
• (e) a control mechanism for controlling synchronous movement of said primary draw means and said spindle relative to said conveyor so that the web is carried by the conveyor from the primary draw means to the center-rewind spindle with the web in flat surface contact with the transfer drum as the web is rewound onto the spindle.

A machine for rewinding a web of thin flexible material comprising:

• (a) a frame;
• (b) a pair of positively-driven primary draw rolls supported relative to the frame for removing the web from a supply roll;
• (c) a positively-driven center-rewind spindle onto which the web of material is rewound as a roll supported relative to the frame;
• (d) a positively-driven conveyor supported relative to the frame for carrying the web from said primary draw rolls and for transferring said web onto said rewind spindle, said conveyor having a positively-driven transfer drum with circumferential grooves and a positively-driven secondary draw roll supported relative to the frame intermediate the primary draw rolls and the transfer drum for delivering the web of material from the primary draw rolls to the transfer drum, wherein said secondary draw roll is in peripheral contact with the transfer drum at a contact point to transfer the web from the secondary draw roll directly onto the transfer drum at the contact point between the secondary draw roll and the transfer drum, the web of material maintaining continuous surface contact with the transfer drum from the contact point between the secondary draw roll and the transfer drum until the web is transferred to the roll of material wound onto the spindle, and wherein the transfer drum is in peripheral contact at a predetermined contact point with the roll of material wound onto said spindle so that the web of material is transferred directly at the predetermined contact point from the transfer drum onto the roll of material wound onto the spindle;
• (e) slitting means supported relative to the frame proximate the contact point between said transfer drum and the roll of material wound onto said spindle, said slitting means coacting with the circumferential grooves in said transfer drum to slit the web while the web is contacting said transfer drum, the web of material maintaining continuous surface contact with said transfer drum until the web is transferred to the roll of material wound onto the spindle;
• and
• (f) a control mechanism for controlling synchronous movement of said primary draw rolls and said spindle relative to said transfer drum so that the web is carried by the transfer drum from the primary draw rolls to the center-rewind spindle with the web in flat surface contact with the transfer drum as the web is rewound onto the spindle.