Automatic slitter rewinder machine

A slitter rewinder for receiving a continuous length, elongated width sheet of web material and forming core-center rolls of the web material, said slitter rewinder assembly including:

• a feed assembly for receiving the elongated width web sheet and transporting the elongated width web sheet in a feeding direction;
• a slitting assembly positioned to receive the elongated web sheet from said feed assembly, said slitting assembly being positioned to extend across the width of the elongated width web sheet and including:
• a first guide rail positioned to extend across the width of the elongated width web sheet;
• a plurality of slitting units slidably mounted to said first guide rail, each said slitting unit having a knife for cutting the elongated width web sheet into a plurality of narrow width web sheets;
• and
• a single transfer mechanism positioned to travel across the width of the elongated width web sheet and configured to be selectively couplable to each said slitting unit so as to move each said slitting unit to a desired position along said first guide rail so that the width of the narrow web sheets cut by said slitting assembly is changed;
• two roll forming assemblies, said roll forming assemblies being located on opposed sides of said slitting assembly for each receiving at least one narrow width web sheet therefrom, each said roll forming assembly including:
• a support frame having elevated support rails that extend from a position proximal to said slitting assembly to a position distal from said slitting assembly;
• a cross rail assembly including a cross rail attached to said support frame rails to move along said support rails and a drive unit connected to said cross rail to move said cross rail along said support rails;
• at least one core holding assembly suspended from said cross rail, said core holding assembly including:
• two core holding frames mounted to said cross rail to move along said cross rail, said core holding frames being configured to rotatably support a core therebetween;
• a drive mechanism for moving said core holding frames along said cross rail so that said core holding assemblies can be positioned to hold cores of variable length;
• and a core-driving motor attached to one said core holding frame for rotating the core supported by said core holding assembly so as to wrap the narrow web sheet around the core so as to form a roll of web material;
• a fixed position touch roller, said touch roller positioned to hold the narrow web sheet around the roll being formed on said at least one core holding assembly;
• and
• a cutting head located adjacent said touch roller for selectively cutting the narrow width sheet along the length thereof;
• two roll delivery assemblies, each said roll delivery assembly being located below said support rails associated with a separate one of said roll forming assemblies so that said core holding assembly travels above said roll delivery assembly, each said roll delivery assembly including:
• a movable carriage;
• a lift unit attached to said carriage, said lift unit being configured to be selectively positioned underneath said core holding assembly so as to receive the formed roll carried by said core holding assembly;
• and
• a core feeding unit attached to said carriage, said core feeding unit including at least one selectively vertically positionable member for holding a new core and positioning the new core between said core holding frames;
• and
• sequence control means connected to said roll forming assemblies and to said roll delivery assemblies for controlling operation of said roll forming assemblies and said roll delivery assemblies, whereby, when a roll is completely formed on one of said core holding assemblies, said sequence control means is configured to:
• position said core holding assembly and said roll delivery assembly associated therewith so that the formed roll is unloaded onto said roll delivery assembly lift unit while the narrow width web sheet forming the formed roll extends from said slitting assembly;
• position said core holding assembly so that the new core is unloaded from said core feeding unit and mounted to said core holding frames;
• position said core holding assembly so that the new core is held against the narrow web sheet between said cutting head and the formed roll so that the new core serves as a cutting support for the cutting head;
• and actuate said cutting head and said core-driving motor so that the narrow web sheet is simultaneously cut from the formed roll and rolled around the new core.

A slitter rewinder for receiving a continuous length, elongated width sheet of web material and forming core-center rolls of the web material, said slitter rewinder including:

• a feed assembly for receiving the elongated width web sheet and transporting the elongated width web sheet in a feeding direction;
• a slitting assembly positioned to receive the elongated web sheet from said feed assembly, said slitting assembly being positioned to extend across the width of the elongated width web sheet and having at least one slitter knife positioned for cutting the elongated width web sheet into a plurality of narrow width web sheets;
• two roll forming assemblies, said roll forming assemblies being located on opposed sides of said slitting assembly for each receiving at least one narrow width web sheet therefrom, each said roll forming assembly including:
• a support frame having elevated support rails that extend from a position proximal to said slitting assembly to a position distal from said slitting assembly;
• a cross rail assembly including a cross rail attached to said support frame rails to move along said support rails and a drive unit connected to said cross rail to move said cross rail along said support rails;
• at least one core holding assembly suspended from said cross rail, said core holding assembly including:
• two core holding frames mounted to said cross rail to move along said cross rail, said core holding frames being configured to rotatably support a core therebetween;
• a drive mechanism for moving said core holding frames along said cross rail;
• and a core-driving motor attached to one said core holding frame for rotating the core supported by said core holding assembly so as to wrap the narrow web sheet around the core so as to form a roll of web material;
• a fixed position touch roller, said touch roller positioned to hold the narrow web sheet around the roll being formed on said at least one core holding assembly;
• and
• a cutting head located adjacent said touch roller for selectively cutting the narrow width sheet along the length thereof;
• two roll delivery assemblies, each said roll delivery assembly being located below said support rails associated with a separate one of said roll forming assemblies so that said core holding assembly travels above said roll delivery assembly, each said roll delivery assembly including:
• a movable carriage;
• a lift unit attached to said carriage, said lift unit being configured to be selectively positioned underneath said core holding assembly so as to receive the formed roll carried thereby;
• and
• a core feeding unit attached to said carriage, said core feeding unit comprising a selectively vertically positionable core holding device, said core holding device having a pair of selectively vertically positionable core-holding grips for holding a new core and positioning the new core between said core holding frames, each said grip having an upright gripping surface and a base gripping surface that extends at an obtuse angle to said upright gripping surface, said gripping surfaces of said grips forming a profile of a tangential circle that enables tangential contact of the new core placed therebetween and a guide assembly connected between said core-holding grips for causing said grips to move in parallel with lines connecting a center of the circle inscribed by said core-holding grips so that said grips secure new cores of varying diameter at a constant center position;
• and
• sequence control means connected to said roll forming assemblies and to said roll delivery assemblies for controlling operation of said roll forming assemblies and said roll delivery assemblies, whereby, when a roll is completely formed on one of said core holding assemblies, said sequence control means is configured to:
• position said core holding assembly and said roll delivery assembly associated therewith so that the formed roll is unloaded onto said roll delivery assembly lift unit while the narrow width web sheet forming the formed core extends from said slitting assembly;
• position said core holding assembly and said core feeding unit so that the new core is unloaded from said core feeding unit and mounted to said core holding frames;
• position said core holding assembly so that the new core is held against the narrow web sheet between said cutting head and the formed roll so that the new core serves as a cutting support for the cutting head;
• and actuate said cutting head and said core-driving motor so that the narrow web sheet is simultaneously cut from the formed roll and rolled around the new core.

An automatic slitter rewinder machine comprising:

• a feed-off apparatus for guiding and taking off a wide web sheet;
• a slitting apparatus for slitting lengthwise the wide web sheet in a given slit width into a plurality of narrow web sheets;
• split guide rollers for guiding the narrow web sheets in separate paths in the machine;
• a plurality of pairs of core-holding frames for releasably supporting a core between each pair of core-holding frames and facilitating a winding up of the narrow web sheets onto the cores, the pairs of core-holding frames being disposed on upper frames on the machine that are oriented in spaced relation to a support floor for the machine, the core-holding frames being supported in a suspended manner from the upper frames for independent slidable movement thereon in both a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction;
• a plurality of touch rollers for abutting the respective narrow web sheets being wound onto the cores;
• automatic delivery means for cooperating with the pairs of core-holding frames after the cores have been wound to full rolls to thereby conduct automatically a series of roll changing steps of (1) releasing the full rolls from the pairs of core-holding frames, (2) supplying the pairs of core-holding frames in unoccupied state with new cores, (3) positioning the core-holding assemblies with the new cores against the narrow web sheets while the narrow web sheets are connected to the full rolls, (4) cutting the narrow web sheets away from the full rolls and simultaneously encircling the leading ends of the narrow web sheets around the new cores, wherein the cutting of the narrow web sheets forms trailing ends that extend from the full rolls, (5) transferring the full rolls to a location outside of the machine, (6) wrapping the trailing end of each full roll around the full roll, and (7) discharging the full rolls, the automatic delivery means being disposed below the pairs of core-holding frames on the support floor for the machine, and including a roll delivery carriage for receiving, conveying and discharging thereon the full rolls and a core-feeding lift for new cores, the roll delivery carriage and the core-feeding lift each including drive means for effecting an ascending and descending movement thereof independently of each other;
• lateral rails mounted on the upper frames of the slitter rewinder machine for facilitating the aforesaid lateral movement of the pairs of core-holding frames, the pairs of core-holding frames being movable on the lateral rails in the lateral direction in conformity with the given slit width;
• longitudinal rails mounted on the upper frames of the slitter rewinder machine for facilitating the aforesaid longitudinal movement of the pairs of core-holding frames, the pairs of core-holding frames gradually moving longitudinally thereon during winding, and during a build-up in roll diameter while retaining the abutting state of the touch rollers thereon and, after the core has been fully wound, the pairs of core-holding frames move longitudinally to a first position above the roll delivery carriage, a second position above the core-feeding lift, and a third position abutting the new cores on the touch rollers, wherein the pairs of core-holding frames move from the first position to the second position to the third position in sequence;
• cutting devices having traverse knives positioned adjacent the touch rollers in a nip area between the touch rollers and new cores to facilitate a cut widthwise of the narrow web sheets, with the new cores serving as a cutting support for the traverse knives;
• sequence control means for sequentially controlling the automatic delivery means while interlocking with the movement of the pairs of core-holding frames so that at the longitudinal first position of the pairs of core-holding frames the delivery carriage is elevated to receive the full rolls from the pairs of core-holding frames, at the longitudinal second position of the pairs of core-holding frames the core-feeding lift is elevated to supply the pairs of core-holding frames with new cores, and at the longitudinal third position of the pairs of core-holding frames the new cores abut the touch rollers and the narrow web sheets extending between the touch rollers so that the full rolls are cut by the cutting devices wherein the new cores serve as cutting supports;
• the roll delivery carriage including a carriage for transferring the full rolls outside of the machine in the lateral direction, a carrying conveyor for carrying thereon the full rolls thereby to discharge them, a lifter mounted below the conveyor adapted to elevate and lower the conveyor, and a wrapping device for securing the trailing ends of the full rolls to the full rolls, the wrapping device being disposed at top of the delivery carriage to be swingingly movable above the carrying conveyor;
• and
• the core-feeding lift including a horizontal member supported for ascending and descending movement, air cylinders, interlinked with the horizontal member, for raising and lowering the horizontal member, and core-holding devices for the new cores, the core-holding devices having travelers slidably movable on the horizontal member.