05/147064

03/20/1973

05/26/1971

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Silk City Textile Machinery Co. (Paterson, NJ)

242/523.100

242/541, 242/532.300, 242/527, 242/532.200, 242/542.300, 242/533.200, 242/533.100

D06H7/02; D06H7/00; B65H19/20

242/56R,67.1R,67.2,67.3R,74

1979334	Machine for winding material of ribbon like form into rolls	November 1934	Lyth
3610545	APPARATUS FOR WINDING CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCED LAYER MATERIAL ON ELONGATED CORE	October 1971	Reifenhauser

Mautz, George F.

Mccarthy, Edward J.

What is claimed is

1. Apparatus for controlling the preparation of rolls of sheet material generated from an input source, comprising a core for receiving said material from said source, driving means for rotating said core to cause said material to be accumulated on said core, and cutting means for making a shear cut in said material transverse to the direction of advancement of said material at a severing location in the apparatus, said cutting means including a blade carriage, a first cutting member mounted on said blade carriage, a second cutting member mounted on the body of said apparatus at said severing location with the sheet material which is to be cut moving adjacent thereto, and means for moving said blade carriage to bring said first and said second cutting members together with a sheet of said material therebetween to perform said shear cut.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said driving means includes a first roller for driving said core at a first material build-up location and a second roller for driving said core at a second material build-up location, means for transferring said core from said first to said second material build-up locations, and wherein said severing location is between said first and said second material build-up locations.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, including catching means at said second material build-up location for receiving said core upon transfer from said first material build-up location, said second roller being mounted on said catching means, and further including means for moving said catching means between said second material build-up location and a third location spaced from said second location in a direction away from said first location.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said second roller continues the build-up of said material at said third location, and wherein said catching means includes means for removing said core from said apparatus at said third location when said build-up has been completed.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 including clamping means for yieldably securing said core against said first roller, first control means for detecting a predetermined build-up of quantity of said material on said core at said first location to initiate a transfer cycle, first positioning means for moving said catching means from said third location to said second location at the commencement of said transfer cycle, second control means responsive to the movement of said catching means from said third to said second locations for withdrawing said clamping means from said core and for energizing said transferring means, third control means responsive to said transferring means for securing said core in said catching means at said second location, fourth control means responsive to the completion of said transfer cycle for causing said first positioning means to move said catching means from said second to said third location, second positioning means responsive to said second control means detecting the movement of said catching means from said second to said third locations for causing a blank core to be brought into position adjacent to said first roller, means for initiating a cutting cycle when said material has built up on said core at said third location, including means for causing said clamping means to yieldably secure said blank core against said first roller, fifth control means responsive to the securing of said blank core by said clamping means to activate said cutting means, and third positioning means for applying the leading edge of said material after it is cut to said blank core.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 including in addition a bracket pivotable between a first rest position and a second activated position in response to said second positioning means, a supply ramp for delivering said blank cores to said apparatus, said bracket including a substantially straight edge surface for dislodging one of said blank cores from said supply ramp when said bracket moves from said first to said second position and a curved edge surface adjacent to said straight edge surface for retaining said blank core after said dislodging, and wherein said second positioning means moves said bracket from said second position to said first position during said cutting cycle to release said one of said blank cores from said curved edge surface to be secured against said first roller by said clamping means.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said blank core includes a shaft projecting from the ends thereof, and wherein said substantially straight edge surface forms a guide ramp for said shaft at the ends of said blank core when said bracket is in said second position and said blank core moves down said guide ramp to a location suspended above said first roller when said blank core is retained by said curved edge surface.

8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said bracket includes at least one rear flange for preventing any additional ones of said blank cores from being transferred from said supply ramp to said bracket while said bracket is in said second position.

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein said first cutting member includes a blade having a beveled forward surface, said second cutting member includes a stationary blade having a substantially flat upper cutting surface, said material passing over said cutting surface between said first and said second rollers, and said blade carriage is rotatable from a first inactive position to a second cutting position at which at least a portion of said beveled forward surface of said blade contacts said material on said cutting surface to shear said material transversely to its direction of movement from said first roller to said second roller.

10. Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 wherein said portion of said beveled forward surface of said blade has a substantially square lower corner which bears against said material on said cutting surface at the time said shear cut occurs, and said blade makes angular contact with said cutting surface to achieve said shear cut.

11. Apparatus in accordance with claim 10 wherein the acute angle between said blade and said cutting surface at the time of said shear cut is approximately 30°.

12. Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 wherein said blade is slightly bowed towards one end thereof, and said shear cut performed by said blade commences at a side edge of said material corresponding to said bowed end of said blade and proceeds transversely across the width of said material.

13. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein said first positioning means includes a fluid-driven cylinder having a main body portion affixed to said apparatus and a responsive piston extending from said main body portion and coupled to said catching means, said piston being drawn into said main body portion to move said catching means from said third location to said second location at the commencement of said transfer cycle and said piston being expelled from said main body portion to move said catching means from said second location to said third location at the conclusion of said transfer cycle.

14. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 wherein said cylinder is pneumatically controlled.

15. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said second positioning means includes a fluid-driven cylinder having a main body portion affixed to said apparatus and a responsive piston extending from said main body portion and coupled to said bracket, said piston being expelled from said main body portion to cause said bracket to pivot from said first rest position to said second activated position to move one of said blank cores from said supply ramp and said piston being drawn into said main body portion to cause said bracket to pivot from said second activated position to said first rest position to release control of said one of said blank cores from said bracket to said clamping means during said cutting cycle.

16. Apparatus in accordance with claim 15 wherein said cylinder is pneumatically controlled.

17. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein said core includes a central shaft, and said clamping means includes a fluid-driven cylinder having a main body portion affixed to said apparatus, a responsive piston extending from said main body portion and a bifurcated yoke connected to said piston, said piston being urged in a direction expelling it from said main body portion to cause said yoke to engage said shaft of said core during said material build-up at said first location, said piston being drawn into said main body portion to disengage said yoke from said shaft during said transfer cycle and said piston being expelled from said main body portion to cause said yoke to engage the shaft of said blank core during said cutting cycle.

18. Apparatus in accordance with claim 17 wherein said first control means is operative in response to the movement of said piston to a first predetermined point in a direction towards said main body portion as said material builds up at said first location, and said fifth control means is operative in response to the movement of said piston to a second predetermined point in a direction away from said main body portion when said piston is expelled therefrom.

19. Apparatus in accordance with claim 17 wherein said cylinder is pneumatically controlled.

20. Apparatus in accordance with claim 18 wherein said cylinder further includes an arm which follows the movement of said piston, and wherein said first control means includes a normally released microswitch adapted to be operated by contact with said arm, and said fifth control means includes a microswitch normally operated by contact with said arm and adapted to be released when said arm moves out of contact therewith when said piston reaches said second predetermined point.

21. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein said third positioning means includes an air manifold disposed beneath the travel path of said material between said first and said second locations and a source providing air under pressure through said manifold to force said severed leading edge of said material around and against said blank core.

22. Apparatus in accordance with claim 21 wherein said manifold extends for substantially the width of said material and includes a perforated plate for distributing said air under pressure against said leading edge, and wherein said blank core is provided with at least one adhesive band therearound for securing said edge to said blank core.

23. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein said catching means includes a pair of pivotable arms each having mounted thereon retaining means for receiving and securing said core during at least said transfer cycle, said second control means being mounted on said apparatus in a position to be contacted by one of said arms in its movement from said third to said second location and to be disengaged from said one of said arms by its movement from said second to said third location.

24. Apparatus in accordance with claim 23 wherein said retaining means includes a fluid-driven cylinder having a main body portion, a piston extending from said main body portion and a bifurcated yoke connected to said piston, said piston being drawn into said main body portion when said arms are at said second location and said piston being urged in a direction expelling it from said main body portion to cause said yoke to engage the shaft of said core during said material build-up at said third location.

25. Apparatus in accordance with claim 23 wherein said second control means comprises a microswitch adapted to be operated by said one of said arms in moving from said third to said second location and to be released when said one of said arms moves from said second to said third location.

26. Apparatus in accordance with claim 24 wherein said piston is expelled from said main body portion when said arms reach said second location and said transferring means activate said third control means.

27. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein said transferring means includes a fluid-driven cylinder having a main body portion, a piston extending from said main body portion and a drive plate connected to said piston, said piston being normally drawn into said main body portion with said drive plate proximate to said core at said first location and said piston being expelled from said main body portion to cause said drive plate to transfer said core from said first location to said second location during said transfer cycle.

28. Apparatus in accordance with claim 27 wherein said third control means is contacted by said drive plate when said piston is expelled to transfer said core to said second location, and said fourth control means is contacted by said drive plate when said piston is drawn back into said main body portion at the conclusion of said transfer cycle.

This invention relates to material handling devices, and more particularly, to apparatus which efficiently and neatly severs continuously generated sheet material to permit accumulation of specified quantities of the material, generally in roll form.

Currently, there are numerous industries which are exhibiting demands for better and more efficient processing and handling of sheet material. Perhaps the most notable of these are the textile and thermoplastic fields. Many segments of these and other industrial environments call for the generation of continuous sheets of material which require separation into convenient or standard lengths, which are then stored on inexpensive and reusable core members and which ultimately are shipped in this same form. It is quite common in both textiles and thermoplastics to accumulate the material directly from the manufacturing or other intermediate process during which the material is moving relatively fast, with the material being wound on a rigid core or roll on which the material builds up to predetermined diameters.

In one phase of the textile industry, merely by way of example, printed fabric must be built up and stored on cores. One printing technique involves fabric which is silk-screened and then heated to promote drying of the dyes while on a continuously moving belt in a heat tunnel. As the fabric emanates from the heat tunnel at relatively high speeds of perhaps 95 yards per minute, it must be received on driven mandrels which are periodically replaced after predetermined lengths of fabric have been wound up thereon. As these mandrels rotate at correspondingly high speeds to receive the fast-moving fabric, the material builds up fairly rapidly, and at appropriate times (e.g., when a predetermined amount of fabric has built up, or a joining seam between fabric lengths is detected), a cut must be made to sever the fast-moving fabric transversely to its direction of advancement. This severing allows for the built-up roll to be fully wound up, unloaded and stored, and for an empty mandrel to be moved into position to commence receiving the still fast-moving fabric from the heating tunnel. The building up, severing, unloading, and re-commencement of build-up (known collectively as "batching") all must be carried out without any halt in production of the printed fabric (or other sheet material) -- any stoppage at the batching end of the process will cause not only the obvious delays in plant output, but will also necessitate perhaps even costlier delays at the fabric-generating or printing end which acts as the input to the batcher.

What has proven to be the most critical step in the batching process is the cutting of the fast-moving fabric. The prior art has devised a variety of techniques to effect the cut, all of which have certain drawbacks. One prior art approach has been to utilize a cutting element quite similar to a saw blade, i.e., one which has a plurality of discrete cutting teeth. The use of this type of serrated blade generally leads to the creation of a ragged cut edge (on both the leading and trailing ends of the fabric), particularly when it is recognized that the cut can only be made because the sheet material is highly tensioned, thus creating some resistance against which the blade can act. These arrangements do achieve a crude cut, but only by pulling the fabric out of position and stretching it, in addition to frequently creating jagged rips and tears covering several yards of the fabric. For example, it is not unusual for a prior art cutting device to rip and thereby render useless perhaps two yards of material with each cut. If it is assumed that a cut is made every 100 yards of material, then in 100,000 yards of fabric, 2,000 yards of fabric must be discarded or cut off. Such a 2 percent waste factor has been tolerated heretofore only because no improved alternative has been arrived at -- but a 2 percent waste factor cannot be considered acceptable.

It has also been common heretofore to employ double-roll winding frames, with one build-up roll and one spare roll. When build-up is substantially complete, the frame rotates to bring the blank roll into the material-receiving position, with the sheet material passing to the build-uproll under a cutting position. The blade then pivots down, and by either tensioning the unsupported sheet material or purposely stretching and distorting the fabric to provide resistance to the knife edge, the cut is made. Thus, the prior art also suffers from designed-in defects which must, of necessity, distort and tear the fabric and thus result in a wasteful and unreliable cutting technique.

These prior art devices are unsatisfactory not only for the reasons already indicated, but because they share the common failing of attempting to make a precise cut in rapidly-advancing fabric by applying cutting pressure essentially to only one surface of a material which is in tension. Although the application of sufficient pressure may ultimately produce some sort of rough cut, this can only occur with the attendant fabric distortion and tearing, which is becoming increasingly unacceptable where cost economies must be effected and waste avoided. One other significant disadvantage of prior art cutters is their inability to cut certain "slippery" or stretch materials, such as polyester knits and nylon tricots. Since these fabrics and other smooth and relatively frictionless fabrics are quite fashionable and likely to remain so, this restriction in the prior art is also intolerable.

Prior art batching machines have failed to contemplate the incorporation of reliable cutting techniques, partly because of the basic nature of the drive systems in conventional batchers. The design of such batchers provides only for transfer of moving fabric from rear drive rollers to forward ones, with no supporting structure underlying the "suspended" fabric between those positions. Where such structure has been included, it only acts on one surface (e.g., the bottom) of the moving fabric. Thus, the precise shearing achieved with the present invention's utilization of two mating cutting elements on opposite sides of the moving fabric has just not been feasible with prior art batchers.

While shear cutting has, of course, been generally known for some time, it has not been previously considered applicable to batchers for receiving high-speed fabric or other material, and it had been thought that shear cutting was limited to longitudinal cuts, i.e., along the axis of movement of the material, which is for the most part useless in the batching operation. Finally, also because of space and structural limitations, no apparatus was devised to use shear-cutting to perform a precise transverse cut of fast-moving material.

It is therefore an object of this invention to obviate one or more of the aforesaid difficulties.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a precise and reliable technique for transversely severing a continuous sheet of fast-moving material.

It is a further object of this invention to furnish an integrated control system for accumulating continuously moving sheet material, precisely cutting such material after a given length has been collected and commencing a new accumulation cycle.

It is still another object of this invention to cut a sheet of moving material in a manner such that the cutting members do not rely on any substantial tension attributable to the material itself or the advancing system therefor.

Additional objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent when considered in conjunction with one particular illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein a batcher apparatus performing a shear cut on fast-moving fabric generated, for example, from the heating tunnel of a fabric printing process, is disclosed. (It should be recognized that the invention is applicable to any of a wide variety of movable webs of material in a number of different processes, and that the present description is merely illustrative of the invention's principles.) The overall design of the batcher system includes a plurality of underlying drive rollers over which the fabric passes at various stages of the batching cycle. Although the fabric is moving rapidly at the input end to the batcher, based upon the output production rate from the prior printing process, the drive rollers of the batcher itself are also required to continue the rapid advancement of the fabric and to permit its build-up at a sufficiently rapid rate to keep pace with the input.

At the commencement of build-up a blank cylindrical mandrel or core is initially held in position by a pair of suitable pressure cylinders (e.g., pneumatic or hydraulic), one such cylinder being present at each side of the machine; each cylinder's piston includes a yoke which engages the solid central shaft of the blank core. The downward pressure by the cylinders urges the core into contact with a rear driving roller while fabric passes between the drive roller and the core -- fabric thereby builds up on the core. As the diameter of the fabric on the built-up core increases, the cylinder arms are gradually forced up-ward because of the contact between the building-up fabric layers and the stationary drive roller.

In order to establish a pre-cutting position for the moving fabric and to 29 for the introduction of a new blank core into the preliminary build-up position, the system's controls are arranged to detect when the built-up core reaches a predetermined diameter of accumulated fabric. Thus, when the cylinder arms have been elevated a predetermined distance, a suitable responsive switch is contacted, thus activating a forward-thrusting cylinder arm which drives the built-up roll forward, where it is captured between a pair of catch vertical at the front of the machine.

After the forward catch arms, in a substantially vertical orientation, have securely received the core during the transfer step, the forward-thrusting cylinder arms return to their normal position and build-up continues on the transferred core. As with the initial position of the core, it is again held by a downwardly biased cylinder yoke, associated with each of the catch arms, which bears against the solid central shaft of the core at either end thereof. A separate drive roller mounted at the lower portion of the catch arms is driven in a direction to continue build-up of the fabric, which is nipped between the drive roller and the built-up roller. The path now followed by the fabric from the production area (such as the printing apparatus), is over the rear drive roller and to the forward drive roller on the catch arms by means of an auxiliary guiding drive roller. The rear drive roller and the auxiliary drive roller are spaced apart sufficiently to permit the under-carriage of the machine to include a support bed on which are mounted an air manifold (adjacent to the rear drive roller) and a cutting anvil on which is supported a stationary shear blade member. This anvil is located directly beneath a suspended blade carriage which is rotatable into a mating cutting position with respect to the stationary blade when the shear cut is made.

Following the return of the forward-thrusting cylinder arms to their normal position, the catch arms are swung to a forward unloading position to prepare the machine for subsequent severing of the fabric and unloading of the completely built-up roll. However, the initial pivoting of the catch arms into the inclined position is only a preparatory step, and build-up of the fabric on the partially built-up core held by the catch arms continues. A substantially similar path as described previously is followed by the moving fabric, i.e., over the rear drive roller and, guided by the intermediate auxiliary drive roller, to the point where it is nipped between the catch arm drive roller and the built-up core. As fabric build-up continues the pistons of the downwardly biased cylinders on the catch arms are gradually urged upward against their normal bias (thus permitting auxiliary control apparatus to detect a predetermined diameter of built-up fabric on the catch arms if that parameter needs to be measured). As the catch arms move toward their forward inclined position from their substantially vertical position at which the built-up core was initially received, a microswitch on the machine body is released to initiate the introduction of a new blank core into position to receive the free end of the fabric after the cut is made.

Normally, one or more blank cores are stored for subsequent use along a slightly inclined ramp at the rear of the machine. The cores are permitted to slide down the ramp to a stop position at the forward end thereof, where they remain until moved into position to receive the fabric. These blank cores can be either manually or automatically placed on the storage ramp, and occupy a position elevated above the moving fabric until a new blank core is called for. At that point, another pressure cylinder is activated to pivot an irregularly-shaped bracket into a position which lifts the forwardmost stored blank core over the stop at the edge of its storage ramp, and permits it to slide down an arm of the bracket, with the core coming to rest in a hooked portion of the arm. The position of the bracket is such that following its pivoting, the hooked portion of the arm is positioned just above the rear drive roller of the machine. Accordingly, when the blank core slides down the arm into the hooked area, the core will come to rest substantially over the rear drive roller and spaced slightly upward therefrom. Its shaft is therefore in position to ultimately receive the cylinder-controlled yoke for the next build-up cycle after the cut is made, but it does not yet participate in advancing the fabric because of the space between the core and the underlying rear drive roller.

The cutting cycle is initiated either automatically, for example in response to a machine-counted predetermined length measurement or a seam detector, or can also be initiated manually by an operator who visually determines the end of a particular run of cloth, printing color, pattern or the like. When the cutting cycle is commenced, the blank core is clamped into position in contact with the rear drive roller -- the action of the cylinder arm in achieving this clamping activates a switch which causes an overhead blade carriage having a blade supported thereon to begin its 360° rotation. When the blade carriage comes to approximately the 180° point in its rotational cycle, the blade on the carriage is brought into sliding angular engagement with the upper surface of the stationary blade anvil, and a shearing of the fabric between the two blades takes place. The rotational cycle of the blade carriage is not affected by the occurrence of the cut and continues its rotation back to its normal overhead position; this control of the blade carriage also serves to make an extremely neat and even cut along the entire width of the fabric.

Following the shear cut, the trailing edge of the cut fabric is wound up by the catch arm drive rollers. The new leading edge of the fabric, which is still being introduced at the same relatively high production speeds, is momentarily free of any wind-up control, and comes under the influence of an air manifold located between the blade anvil and the rear drive roller. The air manifold is generally idle and is only activated to expel air under pressure shortly before the cut cycle is commenced. Thus, after the cut has been made, the new leading end of the fabric is subjected to upwardly directed air pressure from the manifold, causing the end of the fabric to be blown up and around the blank core which has been forced downward into contact with the rear drive roller by the control cylinder yoke. The action of the air manifold wraps the new leading end of the fabric around the blank core (which may have adhesive bands attached thereto for more certain gripping of the blown fabric ends), and build-up on the new blank core commences.

Since the catch arms are in their forward inclined position, removal of the completely wound-up fabric core can be readily accomplished by an attendant, who disengages the control cylinder on the catch arms and either stores the full core or places it into position for the next step in the fabric finishing process, if any. This unloading step occurs while the initial build-up on the new core is continuing. After fabric build-up on the new core has proceeded toward its predetermined limit, allowing ample time for the attendant to disengage the completed core from the catch arms and to remove it as indicated above, the catch arms are drawn into their substantially vertical position where they are again ready to capture the fabric core upon its transfer after the predetermined diameter of fabric thereon has been built-up. The cycle of the machine then continues as indicated above.

It is therefore a feature of an embodiment of this invention that a material handling apparatus employs a shear-cutting technique to precisely sever material traveling continuously at high speeds.

It is another feature of an embodiment of this invention that a batching apparatus transports moving fabric across spaced drive rollers to define therebetween a fixed fabric cutting location below the fabric, which receives a mating blade member from a rotatable overhead blade carriage to thereby shear-cut the fabric.

It is also a feature of an embodiment of this invention that movable and stationary cutting elements are periodically brought together to shear a fabric passing between them.

It is still a further feature of an embodiment of this invention that a control device processes continuously moving sheet material by accumulating the same in multiple build-up positions, shearing said material transversely to the direction of movement at predetermined times, commencing new build-up cycles and permitting unloading, with said shearing being accomplished without any substantial tension on the sheet material by cutting members on opposite surfaces of the material.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent when considered in conjunction with a presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiment of the invention as explained in the following detailed description and as shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a machine incorporating the invention, showing the catch arms in their forward inclined position and with a core being built up to a first predetermined diameter at the rear drive location;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the machine of the invention showing portions thereof broken away and in section for clarity, illustrating the overhead blade carriage, the drive rollers and the rear build-up core;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the machine taken from the perspective of the line 3--3 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows, illustrating the relationship between the built-up core, drive rollers, blank core, controlling cylinders, forwardly inclined catch arms and the overhead blade carriage, all at a time when build-up has commenced;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the machine, similar to the view of FIG. 3, but illustrating the forward transfer of the built-up core to the catch arms in a substantially vertical position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side view of the machine, similar to the view of FIG. 4, at a time when the catch arms have been inclined to their forward pre-unloading position and a new blank core is moved into position prior to the cut;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the machine, similar to the view of FIG. 3, illustrating the moment just after the cut has been made by the rotating blade carriage, and indicating by the various arrows the directions of movement of, the fabric sheets, controlling cylinders, blade carriage and the air-driven leading edge of the fabric; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the machine, taken along the line 7--7 of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrows and illustrating the rear and auxiliary drive rollers, with the fabric passing between the rear drive roller and the built-up core (not shown), with the air manifold and blade anvil positioned between these drive rollers.

The Elements of the Machine

An overall perspective view of a machine incorporating this invention is given in FIG. 1. The machine 10 includes a side drive box 12 on which is mounted a control panel 14. Various regulatory controls and switches, such as a switch to manually initiate the cutting cycle, can be mounted on control panel 14. Drive box 12 can include various power supplies, gear drives, motors and the like, all of which are generally conventional and well-known. The machine 10 is bounded at either side by plates 16 through which the various drive and control mechanisms are mounted for rotation, reciprocal movement and the like, as will be explained below.

The material to be accumulated, cut and ultimately removed from the machine is fed thereto from the rear (not shown in FIG. 1), and is generated in a continuous web or sheet from any one of a number of industrial processes. One common process of this type involves fabric emanating from a heating tunnel through which silk-screened fabric passes after the printing has occurred. This is one typical process in which fabric is expelled at a relatively rapid rate, for example at the speed of 95 yards per minute; the machine of the invention must have the wind-up and storage capacity to accommodate speeds at least this great in order to avoid backups in the system, or even total stoppages. The description herein will cover this particular illustrative process, although those skilled in the art will appreciate the applicability of the invention to numerous other comparable processes.

The drive system of the invention includes a rear drive roller 18, driven from within drive box 12, and also has an auxiliary drive roller 20 towards the front of the machine. An additional drive roller 22 is held between catch arms 24 and is provided with its own separate drive system from drive box 12 to maintain the appropriate driving force on a fabric core when the core is transferred to catch arms 24. It may be noted from FIG. 1 that catch arms 24 are mounted for pivotal movement toward and away from the machine proper about shaft 24a (within housing 25) which is journaled into appropriate receiving holes in each of plates 16. In the space between rear drive roller 18 and auxiliary drive roller 20 are air manifold 26 and stationary blade 28, which is mounted on anvil 30 supported between the plates 16. The upper surface of blade 28 contributes to the shear-cutting of the fabric when contacted by the edge of a similar blade member moving past blade 28 towards the rear of the machine during the cutting cycle.

The view of FIG. 1 is taken as of the moment when a core 32 is receiving fabric 34 from the input equipment (e.g., the heat tunnel of the printing process) and is building up successive layers on core 32. Build-up proceeds by fabric 34 passing between previously built-up layers on core 32 and the underlying rear drive roller 18, which is being driven in a direction to promote build-up and to keep pace with the rapidly moving fabric input. Core 32 is driven by underlying roller 18, which is in contact with the fabric layers as they accumulate on the core. The driving of core 32 by roller 18 is achieved by virtue of downwardly biased control cylinder 36, which may illustratively take the form of a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder well known in the art. Pressure from cylinder 36 biases its yoke member 36a downwardly to bear against shaft 32a of core 32. Accordingly, core 32 remains in driven contact with drive roller 18 regardless of the diameter of the built-up fabric on core 32. For example, when the build-up cycle has just begun, yoke 36a will occupy a position lower than that illustrated in FIG. 1, since only a few layers of fabric 34 will at that time be wound around core 32. However, as fabric 34 builds up on core 32, yoke 36a gradually rises to accommodate this build-up, moving upward against the pressure of cylinder 36.

Considering FIGS. 1 and 3, when a predetermined diameter of fabric 34 has been reached on core 32, switch 37 is contacted by shaft 36d as yoke 36a moves up; this initiates the transfer of core 32 to a forward position, where it will be held by catch arms 24, which have moved to the substantially vertical position (see FIG. 4) in response to the operation of switch 37. The transfer of core 32 from its position in contact with rear drive roller 18 to that at catch arms 24 is achieved under the control of forward-thrusting cylinder 38, which is activated when switch 37 operates. Cylinder 38, which may also be of the hydraulic or pneumatic type, includes a drive plate 38a which normally rides loosely against shaft 32a of core 32. When, however, the predetermined diameter of fabric 34 has been reached on core 32 and switch 37 is activated by cylinder 36, plate 38a of cylinder 38 provides a forward thrust against shaft 32a at both sides of the machine. This will drive core 32 forward to the front of the machine, where it will be captured by catch arms 24 which have moved to the substantially vertical position. As cylinder 38 reaches its forward position, it operates switch 39a mounted on plate 16. This causes catch arm drive cylinder 24c to rapidly lower and clamp core 32 into position for continued build-up. Thereafter, cylinder 38 returns to its normal position.

The machine of the invention also includes an overhead blade carriage 40 which may illustratively be constructed of the A-frame type. Normally, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, carriage 40 is held in its vertical position; the carriage is rotatable about shaft member 40a journalled into each of side plates 16. Mounted on top of blade carriage 40 is transverse blade 42 which is adapted to mate at an appropriate angle with stationary blade member 28 during the cutting cycle when blade carriage 40 rotates through 360°, thereby performing a shear cut on fabric passing between blade members 28 and 42 (see FIG. 6).

From the front end view of FIG. 2, illustrating the machine at the same moment as that given in the perspective view of FIG. 1, portions at the right-hand side of the drawing have been broken away for clarity. For example, the right-hand portion of blade carriage 40 and the right arm 24 are broken away to reveal the vertically mounted cylinder 36 which rides upwardly as fabric 34 builds up on core 32. Specifically, shaft 32a of core 32 rides within yoke 36a of cylinder 36, being captured at either side of the machine between respective pairs of freely rotatable discs 36b coupled to yoke 36a. As fabric builds up on core 32, the downward bias of cylinder 36 is gradually overcome, and piston 36c of cylinder 36 is driven upward into the cylinder body; shaft 36d of cylinder 36 is moved upward concurrently with piston 36c. The activation of switch 37 (FIG. 3) when shaft 36d reaches a predetermined height on its upward travel starts the transfer cycle, during which fabric core 32 is transferred to the forward position, to be described in greater detail below.

As also revealed by FIG. 2, fabric 34' is wound up on core 32 to form layers 34, and is supplied from the rear input between core 32 and rear drive roller 18. Drive roller 18 is rotated in a direction opposite to the desired wind-up rotation direction of core 32, and the pressure maintained by cylinder 36 on core 32 as noted above is sufficient to keep core 32 in driving contact with underlying drive roller 18 as the latter is rotated by the drive mechanism. A portion of this arrangement is also shown in the fragmentary sectional view of FIG. 7 in which the spaced relationship of rear and auxiliary drive rollers 18 and 20 respectively is indicated. The sectional view of FIG. 7, taken along the line 7--7 of FIG. 3, cuts through moving fabric 34' which passes over rear drive roller 18 and is built up around core 32 (not shown in FIG. 7). Auxiliary drive roller 20 is located towards the front of the machine and is spaced sufficiently from rear drive roller to accommodate there-between stationary blade member 28 resting on anvil 30, and air manifold 58, the function of which will be described below. After the transfer of built-up core 32 to the front of the machine, fabric 34' will be transported continuously over both of rollers 18 and 20 to drive roller 22 mounted between catch arms 24, where build-up will continue. At that time, rollers 18 and 20 will merely act as driven guide rollers for fabric 34'. The fabric will then be passing directly over air manifold 58 and blade element 28, to permit subsequent severing of the fabric and the attachment of the severed leading end of fabric 34' around a new core 32.

The pressure cylinder 24c for each of catch arms 24 is shown in association with the left catch arm 24 in FIG. 2. This cylinder's piston 24d will gradually be driven upward into the body of cylinder 24c as shaft 32a moves up in contact with yoke 24e following transfer. Finally, also indicated at the left of FIG. 2 are: bracket 52, which moves a new blank core into position for a subsequent build-up cycle; cylinder 54, which controls the movement of bracket 52; and cylinder 56, which controls the pivoting of arms 24 about shaft 24a. The specific functioning of these elements will be described below in connection with the explanation of the complete operating cycle of the machine.

THE CYCLICAL OPERATION OF THE MACHINE

The operation of a typical cycle of the machine will be readily understood from a consideration of FIGS. 3-6. These figures illustrate the operation of the machine at sequential periods of time at which various steps are being taken with respect to the incoming fabric from the previous processing step, such as the heat tunnel referred to above.

A. The Build-Up Step

The side view of FIG. 3 illustrates core 32 as fabric 34 is built-up thereon. Specifically, fabric 34' is supplied, in the direction given by the arrow at the left of the drawing, at a relatively high speed from the prior processing step. The fabric sheet passes between rear drive roller 18, driven clockwise in FIG. 3, and core 32, which is held in position on top of roller 18 by cylinder 36. Core shaft 32a is held, at both sides of the machine, by yoke 36a and coupled discs 36b, both of which move vertically with piston 36c which is biased downwardly by cylinder 36. Accordingly, core 32 is free to rotate in any direction, and under the influence of underlying drive roller 18, rotates counterclockwise to gradually build up fabric layers 34 thereon. As this build-up continues, piston 36c and coupled shaft 36d move upwards against the cylinder bias as shaft 32a rises and bears against yoke 36a and discs 36b.

At this time, blade carriage 40 is in its suspended overhead position, held in place, for example, by suitable braking means applied to its shaft 40a in drive box 12. Similarly inoperative at this time are stationary blade member 28, resting on support bracket 28a, which in turn is supported on underlying anvil 30.

The view of FIG. 3 also indicates the manner of providing subsequent blank cores to the machine from ramp 48 -- a typical blank core 32' is illustrated at the far end of ramp 48, having come to rest when its shaft contacted stop ledge 50 of ramp 48. The introduction of new core 32' into the machine, which will be explained below in connection with FIG. 5, is achieved by the operation of irregularly shaped bracket 52 which is currently being held in its idle position by controlling cylinder 54. Ultimately, bracket 52 will pivot clockwise about its mounting shaft 52a to position new core 32' above drive roller 18 until the cutting step is initiated.

It is further apparent from FIG. 3 that during this initial portion of the build-up step, catch arms 24 are at their forward inclined position, following the removal of a core on which the fabric had previously been fully built-up. With arms 24 held in their inclined position by cylinders 56, the respective cylinders of catch arms 24c are also in their raised positions, preparatory to receiving the core 32 when it is transferred from the position illustrated in FIG. 3. Catch arm drive roller 22, as well as auxiliary drive roller 20, are both adapted to be rotated clockwise by the drive mechanism; such rotation can be initiated at the same time as that of rear drive roller 18, or, the rotation may commence when the transfer step occurs.

Forward-thrusting cylinder 38 is also idle at this time, although it is in position to immediately initiate the transfer step upon receipt of a suitable command from the control apparatus. Cylinder 38 is mounted along a front-to-back horizontal axis of the machine at both sides thereof, and has respective drive plates 38a which normally occupy a position adjacent and to the rear of shaft 32a of core 32. When transfer occurs, cylinder 38 will be driven to the right in FIG. 3, thus shifting the position of core 32 towards that of catch arms 24.

B. The Transfer Step

In order to prepare for the cutting and unloading steps in the cycle of the machine, the built-up core is transferred from its initial built-up position to a forward position. This transfer can be initiated either manually or, as will be more likely, automatically in response to the build-up of a predetermined diameter of fabric 34 on core 32. For example, a convenient transfer point can be when the overall diameter of fabric roll 34 reaches approximately 12 inches, but obviously any other suitable diameter of fabric on core 32 may also be selected as the transfer point.

The initial position of cylinder 36 at the very beginning of build-up will be with its piston 36c extended downward from the position illustrated in FIG. 3 (such as is shown in FIG. 6) -- thus, when fabric core 32 is initially moved into position over rear drive roller 18 and has no appreciable fabric accumulation thereon as yet, the farthest downward excursion of piston 36c is established. When piston 36c has moved upward, against the bias of cylinder 36, a distance corresponding to the increase in overall diameter of fabric layers 34 to 12 inches (the distance which piston 36c moves upward will be somewhat less than 6 inches, since the diameter of core 32 itself must be taken into account), switch 37 is engaged by shaft 36d which moves up with gradually rising piston 36c. This initiates the transfer step. Illustratively, this switch may be a microswitch which is contacted by the upper surface of shaft 36d of cylinder 36.

Prior to initiation of the actual transfer, arms 24 are brought into their catching position closer to the machine, as illustrated at the right of FIG. 4. This is done to permit the transferred core to be accurately "caught" by the arms, and also to require the core to be transferred over a somewhat shorter distance, thereby minimizing errors in the transfer step. The movement of arms 24 is achieved by the activation, in response to the operation of switch 37, of cylinder 56, one of which is mounted to each of side plates 16 by mounting brackets 56a. When cylinder 56 is energized, its piston 56b will be drawn in towards the main body of the cylinder, which transfers its pulling force to sleeve 56c coupled to plate 24b on catch arms 24. This direction of motion is indicated generally by the arrow to the right of cylinder 56 in FIG. 4, ultimately bringing catch arms 24 to the substantially vertical position shown in FIG. 4.

Upon being drawn into their substantially vertical position as shown in FIG. 4, one of catch arms 24 activates switch 44, mounted at the top of side plate 16, by depressing its spring-loaded plunger 46. This is an indication to the control circuitry that catch arms 24 have assumed the substantially vertical position illustrated in FIG. 4. The operation of switch 44 occurs prior to the transfer of core 32 and is a necessary prerequisite therefor -- unless plunger 46 on switch 44 has been depressed by contact with the inside edge of arm 24, the transfer step should not be initiated, since catch arms 24 will not be in a proper position to receive the shifting core 32.

When the elevation of piston 36c of cylinder 36 indicates that the proper diameter of fabric 34 on core 32 has been reached (see FIG. 3), switch 37 operates and catch arms 24 are drawn into their substantially vertical position. The resultant activation of switch 44 causes cylinder 36 to be elevated to release core 32 and operates forward-thrusting cylinder 38. Its piston 38b is driven to the right in FIG. 4 as indicated by the directional arrow, forcing core 32 in that same direction because of the contact between drive plate 38a and core shaft 32a. Cylinder 38 is arranged to expel its piston 38b at a relatively high rate, so that core 32 will be shifted to the position illustrated in FIG. 4 relatively quickly. As this shift takes place, core 32 is driven to the right, and moves from the position illustrated in FIG. 3 to that shown in FIG. 4. The forward movement of cylinder drive plate 38a contacts switch 39a, which results in the rapid operation of catch arm cylinder 24c -- yoke 24e is thus driven down to receive core 32. Accordingly, when core 32 arrives at catch arms 24, its shaft 32a passes under the left branch 24e ₁ and comes into contact with right branch 24e ₂ of yoke 24e. Shaft 32a then resides, throughout the remainder of the cycle, in the recess between these two branches of yoke 24e. Downward bias to urge core 32 into contact with catch arm drive roller 22 is thereafter supplied by catch arm cylinder 24c, and piston 24d transfers the force of cylinder 24c to yoke 24e.

Core 32, after having been transferred to catch arms 24, is therefore urged downwardly into driving contact with clockwise rotating catch arm drive roller 22. The build-up of fabric 34 on core 32 then continues, as core 32 rotates counterclockwise in response to the clockwise rotation of drive roller 22. The increasing diameter of fabric 34 on core 32 is accommodated by the gradual elevation of piston 24d of cylinder 24c as core shaft 32a bears upwardly against yoke 24e. The securement of transferred core 32 by the downward travel of yoke 24e operates a switch (not shown) which causes piston 38b of cylinder 38 to return to its normal position, shown for example in FIG. 5. In so doing, switch 39b is contacted by returning cylinder plate 38a. The operation of switch 39b results in the release of cylinder 56, whose piston 56b is then withdrawn from the cylinder body to allow arms 24 to pivot to their forward inclined position.

The driven transfer of core 32 from its position in contact with drive roller 18 to its position in catch arms 24 is achieved in a very brief period of time, for example approximately 3 seconds. While core 32 is being shifted, fabric sheet 34' is still being introduced into the machine at its relatively high rate of speed. However, the transfer step and the continuous fabric input are compatible with each other, since the transfer of core 32 will act to take up any slack which would otherwise be present because of continued introduction of fabric sheet 34'. Should fabric core 32 be transferred too rapidly (i.e., more rapidly than fabric 34' can be introduced), then tension along the fabric sheet 34' will result in the slight unrolling i.e., clockwise rotation) of fabric 34 on core 32 to accommodate the transfer step. In either of these cases, core 32 will be captured by yoke 24e of catch arms 24 without any interruption of fabric introduction at the input. Moreover, the release speed of cylinder 56 is controlled so that catch arms 24 rotate forward slowly to absorb any shock or slack in the running web of fabric 34'. When transfer is completed, the normal fabric build-up on core 32 can continue in response to the driving of fabric 34' between drive roller 22 and fabric roll 34 on core 32.

C. Introduction of New Core and Pre-Cutting Preparation

After the transfer step illustrated in FIG. 4 has been completed, build-up is still continuing on core 32. Piston 38b of cylinder 38 has returned to its normal position within the cylinder body, withdrawing drive plate 38a from its previous position adjacent to core shaft 32a and returning it to the position shown in FIG. 5, as indicated by the arrow to the right of drive plate 38a. Throughout this step and the end of the previous step, cylinder 36 remains in its suspended position as illustrated in both FIGS. 4 and 5. Similarly, blade carriage 40 remains fixed in its overhead position at this point.

Catch arms 24 have moved back to their forward inclined position in response to the operation of switch 39b when cylinder 38 returned to its unextended position. This occurs approximately 11/2 seconds following the transfer of core 32 to catch arms 24 and as briefly noted above, cylinder 56, mounted to side plates 16 at respective brackets 56a, drives its piston 56b to the right as indicated by the arrow adjacent thereto in FIG. 5. The coupling between sleeve 56c and bracket plate 24b attached to catch arms 24 serves to pivot catch arms 24 about their shaft mounting 24a. Accordingly, catch arms 24 pivot in the clockwise direction about shaft 24a indicated by the arrow adjacent to the left of catch arm 24 in FIG. 5. When the maximum stroke distance of piston 56b has been reached, arms 24 are brought to a halt and remain in that position throughout the remainder of the cycle.

Fabric build-up continues on core 32 held by catch arms 24. As before, the build-up of fabric 34 on core 32 results in the gradual upward movement of shaft 32a, which bears against yoke 24e, driving piston 24d (visible through slot 24f in FIG. 5) upward into the body of cylinder 24c. The downward bias supplied by piston 24d keeps fabric roll 34 in driving contact with roller 22, thus insuring continuous rotational build-up on core 32. As was described above concerning the transfer of core 32 to its initial position held by catch arms 24 (see FIG. 4), the pivotal movement of catch arms 24 shown in FIG. 5 does not interrupt any of the build-up of fabric 34 on core 32. Since fabric roll 34 is continuously in driving contact with drive roller 22 while catch arms 24 are pivoting in the clockwise direction shown in FIG. 5, fabric sheet 34' will continuously be wound up on fabric roll 34 as the pivoting of catch arms 24 occurs.

In preparation for the cutting step, a blank core 32' is introduced into the machine so that it will be ready to be placed into driving relationship with rear drive roller 18 after the cut is made. It will be recalled that spare blank cores were stored on slightly inclined ramp 48, the frontmost one of such cores 32' resting against ledge 50 at the right end of ramp 48. When catch arms 24 pivot forward, plunger 46 of switch 44 releases. This activates cylinder 54, and its piston 54b is driven upward in the direction indicated by the arrow to the left of piston 54 in FIG. 5. Piston sleeve bracket 54c is pinned to leg 52e of irregularly shaped bracket 52, and the upward movement of piston 54b thereby causes the clockwise rotation of bracket 52 about its mounting shaft 52a. As bracket 52 pivots in this direction, its upper surface 52c and rear flange 52f come in contact with the ends of shaft 32a and lift new core 32' from its rest position against ledge 50. Bracket 52 then pivots to the position illustrated in FIG. 5, and in so doing, causes shaft 32a' of empty core 32' to be placed on downwardly inclined upper edge 52c of bracket 52. Accordingly, edge surfaces 52c of the brackets (one at each side of the machine) act as ramps for core 32', which slides down surfaces 52c into recess 52d under the influence of gravity. At this point, core 32' comes to rest, spaced slightly (e.g., one inch) upward from drive roller 18 and therefore remaining idle until brought into actual driving contact with roller 18. Drive rollers 18, 20 and 22 continue to be rotated clockwise throughout this introduction of a new core 32', with rollers 18 and 20 merely serving as driven guide rollers to direct fabric 34' to its wind-up position between drive roller 22 and fabric roll 34, on catch arm 24.

For the remainder of the build-up of fabric on core 32, the position of the components of the machine remains as shown in FIG. 5. Blank core 32' must be brought into contact with underlying drive roller 18 immediately before the occurrence of the cut which will be made in fabric 34'. It is therefore necessary that cylinder 54 maintain the position illustrated in FIG. 5, thus keeping bracket 52 in the position shown, with core 32' residing in arch 52d immediately above roller 18. Another function of maintaining the position of bracket 52 as shown in FIG. 5 is to prevent the introduction of any other blank cores into the machine proper at this time -- thus, although new cores may be loaded onto the rear portions of ramp 48 (not shown in FIG. 5), the presence of flanges 52f and 52g prevent the forward movement of such cores so that they will not even be able to reach ledge 50. However, subsequently, when bracket 52 is returned to its normal position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a new core will be able to roll into position down ramp 48, coming to rest when its shaft comes into contact with ledge 50.

D. The Cutting and Unloading Steps

Subsequent to the introduction of a new core 32' as shown in FIG. 5, fabric build-up continues on core 32 held by catch arms 24. As previously noted, both cylinders 36 and 38 have their respective pistons withdrawn into the cylinder bodies and play no further role until cylinder 36 is activated during the cutting step. Fabric 34 continues to build up on core 32 as shown in FIG. 6, gradually driving piston 24d upward into the body of cylinder 24c by virtue of the engagement of shaft 32a within yoke 24e.

The actual cutting step may be initiated either automatically or manually. In the case of an automatic mode of operation, suitable detecting equipment, well known in the art, can be utilized to initiate the cut after a predetermined length of fabric has been wound up on core 32, or else when a seam between two joined lengths of fabric (e.g., every 100 yards of fabric as it comes from the mill) is detected. Manual operation can similarly be initiated when an attendant visually observes the movement towards the input end of the machine of either a seam between fabric lengths or else the commencement of a new printing or color pattern on the same length of fabric. In either event, it is desirable to sever the fabric as close as possible to the seam or border between patterns. Such manual initiation can be achieved by the throwing of a suitable switch, such as switch 14a on control panel 14, shown in FIG. 1.

When the cutting cycle is initiated, cylinders 36 and 54 are energized to place the new core 32' into driven relationship with rear drive roller 18 to establish a new build-up cycle. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 6, cylinder 36 drives its piston 36c downward (see arrow in FIG. 6), thus causing its yoke 36a and coupled discs 36b to engage shaft 32a' of blank core 32', which had been riding freely and without rotation in arch 52d of bracket 52 until this time.

In order to permit core 32' to be positioned against drive roller 18, bracket 52 itself is pivoted out of the way. The operation of cylinder 54 causes bracket 52 to pivot from its supporting position with respect to core 32' as cylinder yoke 36a drops down to clamp shaft 32a'. In operating, cylinder 54 is energized to draw its piston 54b back into the cylinder body, thereby causing bracket 52 to pivot counterclockwise about its shaft 52a mounted in each of plates 16. In moving from the position illustrated in FIG. 5 to that shown in FIG. 6, the coupling between piston 54c and leg 52e of the bracket causes upstanding leg 52h of bracket 52 to slide down and to the left, past shaft 32a', therefore removing bracket 52 from its previous engaging position with respect to shaft 32a'. As leg 52h slides down past 32a', the downward bias supplied by cylinder 36 continues to urge core 32' downward, ultimately placing the core in driving contact with underlying rear drive roller 18 as illustrated in FIG. 6. Subsequently, bracket 52 pivots down to its rest position as shown in FIG. 6, where it will remain until the next blank core is to be placed in readiness prior to the next cutting cycle.

When cylinder 36 drives its piston 36c to its maximum downward position as shown in FIG. 6, the actual cutting step may proceed. Thus, only when new core 32' is firmly clamped into position and held against drive roller 18 by yoke 36a, will severing of the fabric web be possible. This control is achieved by switch 41, which is normally kept operated by contact with shaft 36d rigidly connected to piston 36c. However, when shaft 36d reaches the position shown in FIG. 6, corresponding to the clamping of new core 32' against drive roller 18, shaft 36d permits switch 41 to release and the cutting step is initiated. This control insures that no cut in fabric 34' will occur without a blank core being in the proper position to receive the new leading edge of the fabric once the cut is made. Interruption in fabric build-up and costly "down-time" for servicing the machine are thereby avoided.

In response to the release of switch 41, the drive mechanism in drive box 12 begins to rotate blade carriage 40 about its shaft 40a -- as viewed in FIG. 6, the rotation takes place in a clockwise direction about shaft 40a. However, since carriage 40 is initially in its suspended overhead position, it must travel through 180° before it reaches the actual cutting point. When the blade carriage 40 arrives at its 180° position as shown in FIG. 6, the edge of its blade 42 brings fabric sheet 34' into contact with the upper surface of stationary blade member 28. The "cutting" edge of blade member 42 need not be especially sharp, and in one illustrative embodiment of the invention, can actually be a slightly squared off corner in cross-section. This edge of blade 42 contacts the upper surface of blade member 28 at an angle such as that shown in FIG. 6, which may illustratively be approximately 30° from the horizontal (measuring the acute

A transverse shearing action is thereby set up across the width of fabric sheet 34', with the edge of blade 42 performing the actual cut through fabric sheet 34', whose lower surface is in contact with the upper surface of blade member 28. (In order to insure the proper initiation of the shear cut, blade member 42 may have its cutting edge bowed out, for example towards the left at the near side of the machine as illustrated in FIG. 6 -- thus, fabric sheet 34' will initially be cut at such near side and the shear cut will progress transversely across the width of fabric sheet 34' or in other words, "into the paper" as illustrated in FIG. 6. This progressive shear cutting will occur almost instantaneously and will probably not even be visible to the naked eye.) Following the actual cut, blade carriage 40 continues its clockwise rotation about shaft 40a, ultimately returning to its suspended overhead position shown in FIGS. 1-5. Thereafter, the blade carriage 40 plays no further role in the batching operation until the next cut is initiated.

The newly created trailing edge 34a of fabric roll 34 continues to be wound up on full core 32 by virtue of the continuous driving action of catch arms drive roller 22. Catch arms 24 continue to operate in normal fashion to wind up fabric 34' regardless of the occurrence of the cut. Accordingly, fabric roll 34 accumulates the last few yards of fabric between catch arms 34 and trailing edge 34a, and an attendant then arranges for the removal of completely built-up core 32. This is readily achieved by disengaging cylinders 24c on each of catch arms 24, thereby permitting the manual elevation of yoke 24e from its engagement position with shaft 32a. As yoke 24e is raised, core 32 will drop away from catch arms 24 onto a dolly or other suitable vehicle or storage device. Cylinders 24c are then reactivated, with pistons 24d again controlling the position of yokes 24e such that catch arms 24 will be able to capture a core 32 when it is transferred from its rear build-up position to the forward area as described below.

With regard to the leading edge 34b of fabric sheet 34', it is immediately placed under the brief driving of air manifold 58 as soon as the cut has been made. Thus, upon the creation of free leading edge 34b, air (indicated by the arrow at 62 in FIG. 6) is expelled under pressure through illustrative apertures 60 (FIG. 7). This forces the undersurface of sheet 34' adjacent to edge 34b up and around new blank core 32', which is now already rotating in response to the driving action of roller 18. Thus, because of the nipping contact between core 32' and roller 18, the application of upward air pressure 62 against the lower surface of sheet 34' essentially causes the segment of the fabric sheet between the nipping point and edge 34b to "pivot" about the nipping point. As air pressure 62 continues to be applied, the free end of fabric sheet 34', which is gradually lengthening as the fabric is introduced from the input, is blown up and around in a substantially counterclockwise direction (see arrow adjacent to edge 34b in FIG. 6), coming into wrapping engagement with core 32'. This wrapping relationship may be enhanced by the presence of one or more adhesive bands (e.g., double-faced tape) wound around core 32' at multiple locations along the core -- one of these bands is illustrated at 32c in FIG. 1.

As edge 34b and the portion of the fabric sheet immediately adjacent thereto is wrapped around core 32', the edge will ultimately be brought down and around core 32' and will be driven, wrapped around the core, between core 32' and drive roller 18. This wrapped segment is the first layer of fabric on new core 32', following which additional layers of incoming fabric 34' will accumulate as before. Fabric will gradually build up on core 32', thereby resulting in the gradual elevation of piston 36c of cylinder 36 as previously described. When a new blank core for the subsequent build-up cycle is placed into position along ramp 48, coming to rest at ledge 50, the position illustrated in FIG. 3 is once again arrived at, and the entire cycle can commence anew.

The machine of the invention thereby has made a substantially straight transverse shear cut along the width of a continuously generated and rapidly-moving fabric sheet, without ripping or tearing the material and with no need for a slow-down or halt attributable to the batching process. Moreover, because of the certainty and reliability of the shear cut, previously unavailable in batching machines, a wide variety of previously difficult-to-sever materials can be operated upon effectively. It is also contemplated that even materials such as fiberglass, to which previous batching machines have been considered totally inapplicable, will also be severable on the machine of the invention.

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of this invention. Numerous variations may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.