Devices for transporting reels of material

A device for transporting reels of material comprising:

• a ree receiver adapted to receive and to store full reels of material;
• a reel preparation station adapted to receive ones of said full reels of material from said reel receiver and to prepare said full reels of material to form prepared reels of material;
• first and second laterally spaced web-processing machines, each including at least one web-processing station and a reel changer having an uploading and unloading position, said at least one web-processing station and said reel changer in each of said first and second laterally spaced web-processing machine being arranged sequentially in a longitudinal direction of web travel through the respective ones of said web-processing machines, said reel preparation station being a shared reel preparation station positioned between said first and second web-processing machines and being usable to provide said prepared reels of material selectively to both of said first and second laterally spaced web-processing machines from said reel receiver;
• a separate intermediate reel storage area for each one of said first and second laterally spaced web-processing machines with each said intermediate web storage are being adapted to receive and to store a plurality of said prepared reels of material received from asaid shared reel preparation station, each of said prepared reels of material having a reel width in a axial direction of each said reel of material and a reel diameter;
• a plurality of primary transport carriages, each said primary transport carriage being adapted to support one of said full reels of material in said shared reel preparation station and during movement of each one of said prepared full reels of material directly from said shared reel preparation station to a selected one of said separate intermediate reel storage areas and also in said selected intermediate reel storage area associated with each one of said first and second laterally spaced web-processing machines;
• a single, straight transport route extending directly from said intermediate reel storage area for each one of said and second laterally spaced web-processing machines to each said reel changer in each said respective web-processing machine, each said single, straight transport route being aligned with said longitudinal direction of web travel through said associated one of said laterally spaced first and second web-processing machines;
• at least one secondary transport carriage supported for movement along each said single, straight transport route for each of said first and second web-processing machines, said at least one secondary transport carriage for each said single, straight transport route being adapted to receive one of said primary transport carriages and its supported one of said prepared reels of material, directly from said shared reel preparation station and to transport each said primary transport carriage and its supported one of said prepared reels of material directly to said separate one fo said intermediate reel storage areas for each of said first and second web-processing machines, from said shared reel preparation station and along said single, straight transport route of each of said first and second web-processing machines and further being adapted to transport each said primary transport carriage, and its supported one of said prepared reels of material, directly between said intermediate reel storage area, along said single, straight transpor route to said uploading and unloading position of said reel changer for each of said first and second web-processing machines;
• a plurality of reel storage spaces in each said intermediate reel storage area for each of said first and second laterally spaced web-processing machines, each of said plurality of reel storage spaces for each of said first and second laterally spaced web-processing machines including a first group of reel storage spaces located ona first side of said single, straight transport route for each of said first and second web-processing machines and a second group of said plurality of reel storage spaces located on a second, opposite side of said single, straight transport route, at least two of said reel storage spaces in each of said first and second groups of said reel storage spaces for each of said intermediate storage areas being aligned directly one in front of the other in said longitudinal direct of each said web processing machine, said at least two longitudinal aligned ones of said plurality of reel storage spaces in each of said first and second groups of reel storage spaces in each of said intermediate storage areas each having a storage space width, in a direction transverse to said longitudinal direction of web travel, to each store at least one of said prepared reels of material transported directly to each said reel storage space from said reel preparation station and to be transported directly from each said reel storage space to said reel changer of a respective one of said first and second web-processing machines by one of said primary transport carts loaded onto said secondary transport carriage for each said web processing machine;
• a separate branch transport line eitending perpendicular from said single, straight transport route for each of said first and second laterally spaced web-processing machines and into each of said plurality of reel storage spaces in each of said first and second groups of each of said intermediate reel storage areas, a spacing between adjacent one of said branch transport linesin said aligned reel storage spaces in each of said first and second groups in each of said intermediate reel storage areas being greater than said reel diameter, at least two of said adjacent ones of said reel storage spaces in each of said first and second groups in each said intermediate reel storage area being adapted to each store said at least one of said prepared reels of material received from said reel preparation station and each supported on a separate one of said primary transport carriages;
• and
• a primary transport carriage drive means in at least a majority of said at least two of said reel storage spaces in each of said first or second groups of said reel storage saces in each of said intermediate reel storage areas.