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US 6,655,559 B2Granted
Curly ribbon product making machine
OwnerIra L. Lopata, Robert M. Barto, Jr. +1inventors
InventorsIra L. Lopata, Robert M. Barto, Jr., Fredric Goldstein
Life of this patent
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OwnerIra L. Lopata, Robert M. Barto, Jr. +1inventors
InventorsIra L. Lopata, Robert M. Barto, Jr., Fredric Goldstein
Estimating the term…
In one embodiment a hand operated machine for making curly ribbon products comprises a rotary drum that includes a station to attach the uncurled ribbons (more than one), a cutting station to cut the curled ribbons, and a stapling station to staple the ribbons together or to a card, ribbon, or the like. A handle is provided to rotate the drum and a fixed curling mechanism mounted downstream of the drum serves to curl the ribbon as the drum rotates to place the ribbon in contact with the curling mechanism. In another embodiment the machine is automated and includes a drum that has the same stations. The attaching station includes a pair of jaws that are sequentially movable one relative to the other and together to attain attaching the ribbons to the drum for the first cycle, detaching the ribbon during the first cycle and attaching the succeeding ribbon used in the next cycle for mass producing the curly ribbon product. The stapling and cutting are automatic and the card feeding machine is movable relative to the drum to avoid snarling the ribbon when released. The curling mechanism is adjustable to change the exit angle to select the desired curl characteristics of the curled ribbon.
A hand operated curl ribbon product making machine including a rotatable member having a peripheral surface for winding at least two different ribbons so that a portion of each of said different ribbons overlies another portion of each of said at least two different ribbons and being rotatable by an operator, at least two sources of uncurled different ribbons, a curling mechanism having a contact surface receiving said uncurled different ribbons from said sources where said at least two different uncurled ribbons are curled thereby before being attached to said rotatable member, said rotatable member including a first station, a second station and a third station, said first station providing access to the operator for attaching said at least two different curled ribbons to said rotatable member, a second station providing access for the operator to attach said at least two curled different ribbons and the overlying portions together, and said third station providing access for the operator to cut the curled ribbons to form strands of curled ribbons, whereby a curled ribbon product is made.
An automated curled ribbon product machine for the mass production of layers of curled ribbons having at least two sources of ribbons comprising a rotatable member having a peripheral edge for winding the ribbon thereon so that a portion of each of the at least two ribbons overlaps a portion of each of the at least two ribbons, said rotatable member having a first station for attaching the ribbon to the rotatable member, a curling mechanism mounted upstream of said drum wherein the ribbon is in contact with the curling mechanism before being wound on said peripheral edge, a second station for attaching the layers of the wound curled ribbons together and a third station for cutting the layers of the attached curled ribbons to form strands of curled ribbons and defining the end product of curled ribbons.
An automated curled ribbon product machine for the mass production of multi layers of curled ribbons from uncurled ribbons comprising a rotatable member, a first station for attaching the uncurled ribbons, said rotatable member having a second station for attaching the curled ribbons together and a third station for cutting the attached curled ribbons, a plurality of spools of uncurled ribbons, said first station including a clamp for accepting the number of uncurled ribbons intended for the end product for winding around said rotatable member, a curling mechanism including a contact surface, said clamp attaching said uncurled ribbon to place each of the ribbons of said intended end product on said contact surface so that the curl is imparted to each of said uncurled ribbons of the intended end product while the rotatable member rotates, an attaching mechanism at said second station attaching each of said ribbons intended as the end product and a cutter mechanism at said third station for cutting said attached ribbons.
An automated curled ribbon product machine for the mass production of layers of curled ribbons having at least two sources of ribbons comprising a rotatable drum having a peripheral edge for winding the ribbon thereon so that a portion of each of the at least two ribbons overlaps a portion of each of the at least two ribbons, said drum having a first station for attaching the ribbon to the drum, a curling mechanism mounted upstream of said drum wherein the ribbon is in contact with the curling mechanism before being wound on said peripheral edge, a second station for attaching the layers of the wound curled ribbons together and a third station for cutting the layers of the attached curled ribbons to form strands of curled ribbons and defining the end product of curled ribbons, said first station includes a clamp that clamps the ribbons to the drum, then releases the ribbons after at least the upper layer of ribbons on the drum secures the ribbons to the drum, and then re-clamps a portion of said ribbon to begin the next cycle for making the end product of curled ribbons, said clamp includes a first jaw and a second jaw, a first actuator for said first jaw and a second actuator for said second jaw to rotate said first jaw relative to said second jaw, a third actuator for said second jaw to position said second jaw axially from said first jaw and a fourth actuator for said first jaw and said second jaw to move said first jaw and said second jaw together into and out of a recess formed in the periphery of said drum, said first actuator, said second actuator, said third actuator and said fourth actuator includes an air cylinder, a source of compressed air, fluid connection from said source to said first actuator, said second actuator, said third actuator and said fourth actuator and a control for controlling the fluid connections to control the interconnection from said source to each of said actuators, a stapler for stapling the layers of ribbons together, a stapler actuator for actuating said stapler, a fluid connection interconnecting said source and said stapler actuator, a control for controlling the fluid connection to sequentially staple said ribbons together at a predetermined time in the cycle of producing a curled ribbon end product, an anvil actuator, another fluid connection interconnecting said source and said anvil actuator for reciprocating said anvil so that said anvil is in line with said stapler when said stapler is attaching said ribbons together, a ribbon cutter, a ribbon cutter actuator, a fluid connection interconnecting said ribbon cutter actuator and said source for cutting said ribbon at a predetermined time.
Apparatus for making strands of curly ribbon from uncurled ribbon comprising a rotatable member having a peripheral edge adapted for winding the curled ribbon thereon so that a portion of the curled ribbon overlaps a another portion of said curled ribbon for defining a layer of curled ribbon, said rotatable member having a station for attaching the curled ribbon to said rotatable member, a curling mechanism mounted upstream of said rotatable member adapted to receive uncurled ribbon to engage said uncurled ribbon with the curling mechanism before being wound on said peripheral edge, said rotatable member having other stations for attaching the layer of the curled ribbon together and for cutting the layer of the curled ribbon to form strands of curled ribbon and defining the end product of strands of curly ribbon.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.