2) Description of Related Art An important factor in paper web production is to maintain a relatively high production speed. Although important, production speeds for paper web production have begun to level off in recent years. This is believed to be a result of the increasing demand for high-quality paper, such as tissue paper, and the technical difficulty of generating ever higher production speeds. At higher production speeds the tissue webs tend to flutter and rupture due to their low basis weight and tensile strength.

As an alternative to increasing the production speed of the web, overall production rate can be increased by decreasing the downtime of the papermaking machine. As the paper web is being produced it is advanced downstream to a reel-up device which winds the paper web onto reel shafts to form large paper rolls for further distribution. As each roll is finished, a reel shaft changing process occurs. Reel shaft changing includes switching a completed paper roll with a new, empty reel shaft and initiating winding on the new reel shaft. Efficient reel shaft changing increases overall production speed by minimizing the length of downtime between reels and the number of failed reeling attempts.

A common way to initiate tissue web winding on a new reel shaft is by threading.

Threading entails pulling a web end along through a paper or board machine by a leader.

The leader consists of a strip of a web which may initially be only 40 cm to 50 cm wide,

but gradually becomes wider until it extends across the entire width of the web. The leader is cut out in the continuous web, starting either at one edge or somewhere at an optional distance from either edge of the web, whereas its length is determined by the time it takes for the tip to extend across the entire width of the web. Due to the high web speed the leader may be very long, such as up to 180 to 200 meters. This incurs considerable costs for the paper mill because the cut part of the paper web must be discarded for each paper reel.

Reeling problems arise when a new reel of paper is commenced with the aid of the tapered leader, since the web turns applied during winding of the innermost layers produce an uneven radial growth axially along the reel shaft so that the reel becomes carrot shaped. This is caused partly by the superelevation of the web and partly by differences in the nip pressure across the web. If the cross-sectional profile of the paper web differs with regard to thickness, web tension or elasticity, then pleating, crushing damage, defects in the web and axial forces in the reel will occur at higher nip pressures.

This may, in the worst cases, result in rupture of the web and a reduction in overall paper production rates.

As an alternative to leader threading, high speed paper web production machines may also use full-width reel changing methods. Changing"full-width"reels in the present context refers to wrapping the entire width of the web around the reel shaft when initiating a new reeling operation. This is to be distinguished from threading using a tapered leader. At high web speeds, glue is applied to the full-width leader itself before it is threaded. At low speeds, such as those used for tissue paper production, full-width methods assisted by balloon blowing are common. Balloon blowing entails creating slack across the full width of the web by somewhat retarding the rotation of the finished reel. With the aid of compressed air, the fold thus formed is then forced into the nip between the new reel shaft and the reel drum, after which the web is cut off. In order to increase the reliability of this type of reel switching, glue or tape is also applied, but only on the actual reel shaft before it comes into contact with the paper web.

Many methods of glue or adhesive application have been used such as manual application using a large brush or spray gun. Regardless of the transfer method used for switching reels, it is important that the glue is still adhesive when contact occurs between

the paper web and the reel shaft. It is thus desirable to use simultaneous glue spraying as opposed to manual methods. A range of conventional glue types have been used to ensure that the paper web adheres to the reel shaft.

Automatic glue spraying is accomplished with the aid of glue nozzles, generally placed at one side of the paper web, close to the primary arms. U. S. Patent No. 6,045, 085 discloses the use of aerosol jets for glue application. Compressed air is mixed in predetermined amounts with conventional liquid glue or adhesive as it exits a nozzle.

The nozzle is actually one nozzle inside another, one of which sprays the compressed air and the other the liquid glue. The glue is distributed in a flat and wide fish-tail pattern by several of the nozzles arranged side-by-side on a screen mounted upstream of the reel shaft.

Despite the increases in speed of glue application using aerosol jets, and other automatic gluing methods, a problem remains as to the best manner for severing the existing continuous web from a completed roll. One automatic method that has been used for severing a web employs the use of water jets sprayed at a high velocity to rupture the paper web. However, such water jets often drip on the paper web or the roll which results in lower paper web roll quality, or even increases the risk of rupture. In addition, such water jets do not cut the web in such a manner as to promote full-width reel changing.

Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a device and method of automatically applying glue, severing a paper web and ensuring the integrity of the glued interface to facilitate a quick and effective reel change in a papermaking machine.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention addresses the above needs and achieves other advantages by providing an apparatus for winding an advancing web onto a reel shaft and separating the continuous web from the reel once completed. The apparatus includes a plurality of nozzles supported in a spaced arrangement in the cross-machine direction. The nozzles are connected to adhesive or fluid supplies and are moved generally in the cross-machine direction while dispensing the adhesive or fluid. Coupling of the machine direction advancement of the paper web with the cross-machine direction movement of the nozzles results in a saw toothed severing or adhesive pattern on the web. The nozzles may be

moved simultaneously by attachment to a single member movable by an actuator. Drip guards may be positioned at the beginning and end of the path of each of the nozzles so as to intercept drips of water or adhesive before they reach the paper web.

In one embodiment, the present invention includes an apparatus for winding an advancing web onto a reel shaft and separating the continuous web from the reel once completed so as to facilitate winding of the web on a new reel shaft. The reel shaft is supported on a support which is part of the winding apparatus. Also, a winding surface is positioned near enough to the support to be able to press the advancing web against the reel shaft and to cause the web to be wound on the reel shaft. The apparatus further includes a plurality of nozzles configured to dispense a fluid, such as water or adhesive.

Supporting the nozzles in a spaced relationship along a cross-machine direction is a nozzle support assembly. The assembly supports the nozzles sufficiently close to the web or the reel shaft so that the nozzle can dispense fluid on the web or reel shaft, or both. An actuator is connected to the nozzle support assembly and is capable of moving the nozzle support assembly in a cross-machine direction a distance equal to at least the distance between the two adjacent nozzles farthest apart. In this manner, the saw toothed pattern has a cross-machine directional component that extends the entire width of the paper web.

In one aspect of the invention, the nozzles are supported by the nozzle support assembly a fixed distance from each other. For instance the nozzle support assembly may include a rigid member extending in the cross-machine direction wherein the nozzles are fixed to and spaced along the rigid member. In such a case, the actuator includes a pneumatic cylinder connected to the support on one end and the rigid member on the other end allowing the cylinder to move the assembly in the cross-machine direction.

In another aspect, the apparatus includes an additional plurality of second nozzles that are also configured to dispense a severing fluid, such as water. Supporting the second nozzles is a second nozzle support assembly. The second nozzles are supported in a spaced relationship along the cross-machine direction and sufficiently close to the web to be able to dispense water onto the web and sever the web. Preferably, the spacing of the second nozzles corresponds to the spacing of the first nozzles in the cross-machine direction and the second nozzles are also connected to the actuator. Actuation of the first

and second nozzle support assemblies in the same cross-machine direction creates a saw toothed sever line and adhesive pattern on the web.

In yet another aspect, the apparatus can comprise a plurality of third nozzles that are configured to dispense fluid and that are supported by a third nozzle support assembly. Similar to the second nozzles, the third nozzles are supported sufficiently close to the web to be able to dispense the fluid, such as water, onto the web.

The nozzles may be arranged in alternative configurations and still generate a saw toothed adhesive or sever line pattern. For instance, the nozzles may be progressively spaced in the machine direction, forming a diagonal line above the advancing web.

Alternatively, the nozzles may be positioned on alternating sides of a common machine direction position. In another alternative, the nozzles are arranged in a pyramid shape above the advancing web.

In yet another alternative, each of the nozzles may have a drip guard positioned at the beginning and end of its path of travel. The drip guards are between the nozzles and the web to inhibit dripping of the fluid or adhesive on the web.

Optionally, a sole saw toothed adhesive line may be applied to the web or reel shaft and the web attached to the reel shaft. The downstream portion of the web is separated from the upstream portion of the web by the exertion of tension along the adhesive line. Preferably, a thick, sticky hot melt adhesive is used to facilitate severing of the web and firm attachment of the web to the new reel shaft.

The present invention has several advantages. The relatively short distance that the nozzles must be actuated reduces the amount of time required for web severing and adhesive application. More particularly, quicker severing avoids the waste and poor quality winding resulting from long leaders. The saw toothed shape of the sever line and adhesive pattern assures that a component of the sever line or adhesive pattern extends across the entire width of the web. Entire width coverage facilitates easy detachment of the web leader and full width attachment of the leader to the new reel shaft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING (S) Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a saw toothed glue-spreading and web severing device of one embodiment of the present invention in a reel-up of a papermaking machine; Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of racks supporting glue and water nozzles of the glue-spreading and web severing device of Figure 1; Figure 3 is another perspective view of the racks and nozzles of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a plan view of a paper web having a saw toothed glue and severing pattern of another embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 is a schematic of the paper web of Figure 4 having a leading end attached to a reel shaft and a trailing end detached from the leading end along the saw toothed glue and severing pattern ; Figure 6 is a plan view of a paper web having a saw toothed glue severing pattern of another embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 is a schematic of a plurality of independently actuated adhesive nozzles suspended above strategically located drip guards of another embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 is a plan view of the schematic of Figure 7 showing a path of travel of each of the nozzles; Figure 9 is plan view of the schematic of Figure 7 showing a resting position of each of the nozzles above a respective drip guard with adhesive dispensing turned off ; Figure 10 is a plan view of the schematic of Figure 7 showing a starting position of each of the nozzles with adhesive dispensing turned on; Figure 11 is a plan view of the schematic of Figure 7 showing an ending position of each of the nozzles with adhesive dispensing about to be turned off; Figure 12 is a plan view of the schematic of Figure 7 showing a second resting position of each of the nozzles with adhesive dispensing turned off; Figure 13 is a schematic of a saw toothed glue-spreading and web severing device of yet another embodiment of the present invention with its nozzles arranged on alternating sides of a common machine direction position;

Figure 14 is a schematic of a saw toothed glue-spreading and web severing device of still another embodiment of the present invention with its nozzles arranged in a pyramid shape; Figure 15 is a schematic side elevation view of a rotatable drip shield of another embodiment of the present invention rotated away from the glue and water nozzles; and Figure 16 is a schematic side elevation view of the rotatable drip shield of Figure 15 rotated into a position below the glue and water nozzles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present inventions now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Figure 1 shows schematically an embodiment of a glue-spreading and web severing device 10 arranged upstream of a web supporting device, such as a reel drum 11 in a reel-up 12 of a papermaking machine. The reel drum 11 supports a continuous paper web 13 during winding. Also during winding, a pair of primary arms 30 of the reel-up 12 grip an empty reel shaft 31 and hold the empty reel shaft onto the surface of the reel drum 11 to form a nip into which the paper web 13 extends as it is wound onto the reel shaft.

The glue spreading and severing device 10, which will be described in more detail below, is mounted on a stand, or support 22, of the reel-up 12. Also mounted on the support 22 are a pair of lowering arms 23, the reel drum 11 and the pair of primary arms 30. The support 22 includes a pair of rails 24 for supporting a completed paper roll 25 with opposite ends of its reel shaft 26 resting on the rails. Support 22 also includes a pair of rails 27 for supporting opposite ends of a plurality of empty reel shafts 28. The pair of rails 27 are sloped toward the upstream end of the reel-up 12 so as to urge the empty reel shafts 28 in the upstream direction. Additional detail on the support 22, and other aspects of the reel-up 12, can be found in U. S. Patent Application No. 09/723,904 entitled "Method for Winding a Tissue Web in a Reel-up in a Paper Machine"and U. S. Patent Application No. 09/723,905 entitled"Adhesive Dispenser in a Reel-up in a Paper

Machine, "both of which are commonly owned and incorporated herein by reference.

Each of the reel shafts is either a metal shaft with a rubber or polyurethane cover on which the paper is directly wound, a metal shaft having a paper core tube sleeved over it, or a paper or polymer tube with no metal shaft.

The lowering arms 23 comprise hook-shaped plate structures 29 that are connected to fluid pressure actuators, such as hydraulic or pneumatic actuators, of a hydraulic system (not shown). The hook-shaped structures are pivotally mounted to the support 22 adjacent empty reel shafts 28 supported by the supporting rails 27. The empty reel shafts 28 are retrieved from the supporting rails 27 by the lowering arms 23. The lowering arms rotate upwards until the hook shaped plate structures 29 engage the nearest empty reel shaft 28 that has been urged toward the upstream end of the rails 27. Once the empty reel shaft has been engaged, the lowering arms 23 lower the empty reel shaft by rotating downwards. The pair of primary arms 30 grippingly receive the lowered reel shaft 31 with a drive device (not shown) to rotate the shaft to a peripheral speed matching that of the reel drum 11. The empty reel shaft 31 is then engaged with the reel drum 11.

The reel drum 11 is rotatably journalled to a pair of support members 32 fixed relative to, and disposed adjacent to, the rails 24. Over the surface of the reel drum 11 runs the continuous web 13 coming from a production stage of a papermaking machine.

The reel drum 11 can be directly driven by a drive motor (not shown) operably coupled to the reel drum. In addition, the reel drum can have either a solid or a flexible surface. The use of the reel drum 11 in the illustrated embodiment is not meant to be limiting as support for the web 13 could be provided by other types of supporting devices. For instance, the reel drum 11 could be replaced by a moving belt on which the web 13 can be supported and fed onto the reel shaft 31. In another alternative, a foil may be used as a web supporting device. The foil has a downstream edge that forms a nip with the reel shaft 31 through which the paper web is guided onto the paper roll. In other embodiments, the foil does not form a nip with the paper roll, in which case there can be a very short free draw between the downstream edge of the foil and the paper roll.

The pair of primary arms 30 support the reel shaft 31 through at least an initial part of the winding process. The primary arms 30 comprise a reel shaft gripper 33 operable to hold reel shaft 31 against the reel drum 11 to form a nip 34. The reel shaft

gripper 33 is driven by an actuator (not shown) comprising a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder. The actuator adjusts the radial position of the reel shaft gripper 33 to allow for increasing diameter of the reel shaft 31 during wind-up.

The pair of primary arms 30 also comprise a pivot unit (not shown) journalled in the support 22 allowing primary arms 30 to cooperate with the reel shaft 31. The primary arms 30 are rotated about the axis of the pivot unit by an actuator (not shown) comprising a pneumatic or hydraulic piston cylinder. Rotation of the primary arms about the pivot unit allows the reel shaft 31 to be moved along the surface of the reel drum 11 during wind up so that the building reel can be delivered into a secondary unit (not shown) which then takes over the winding process. The primary arms 30 and secondary units are common in the art of papermaking machines, and therefore are only described in limited detail herein. The secondary unit completes the winding onto reel shaft 31 to form a completed paper roll 25 after which the completed paper roll is transferred along the pair of rails 24 to a further station.

A more specific description of the glue spreading and web severing device 10 will reveal its advantages over conventional reel changing systems. The spreading and severing device 10 includes a series of glue applicator nozzles 14 mounted on a first rack 15, a series of water nozzles 16 mounted on a second rack 17 and another series of stationary water nozzles 18 mounted on a third rack 19 wherein each of the racks extend in a cross-machine direction, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Attached to the first and second racks 15,17 is an actuator 20 configured to move the glue and water nozzles 14, 16 in the cross-machine direction.

Each of the racks 15,17, 19 includes a support sleeve 35 and a pair of support clamps 36. The support sleeve 35 has a cylindrical shape with an inner, cylindrical opening extending between its ends. The sleeve 35 also defines a slot 37 extending along its length in the cross-machine direction and at the bottom of the sleeve. The clamps 36 are spaced apart in the cross-machine direction and embrace respective ends of the sleeve 35. Each of the clamps 36 has a disk shape that defines a center opening sized to receive the sleeve 35 and also defines a lower slot that is coincident with the slot 37 of the sleeve.

Each clamp also includes a top end shaped for connection to a portion of the support 22, such as a mounting bar 38 extending in the cross-machine direction above the paper web

13, as shown in Figure 1. The mounting bar 38 shown in Figure 1 is adapted to provide spraying directly onto the web 13, although it could be repositioned to provide spraying onto the reel shaft 31 directly (while rotating in the lowering arms or when fully lowered) or into the nip formed between the reel shaft and the reel drum 11. Spraying onto the reel shaft 31 avoids the problem of adhesive and dirt buildup on the reel drum as a new reel shaft is used with each cycle. The spraying could also occur when a reel shaft is supported on the rails 24.

Extending through the opening in each sleeve 35 is a fluid supply pipe or tube 39 having a pair of ends 40 each with an opening defined therein. Surrounding each open end is a clamp 41 which secures a fluid supply conduit (not shown) onto the open end.

The fluid supply conduit supplies adhesive, water or other fluid as desired or as compatible with the type of nozzles 14,16 and 18. In certain applications, individual conduits (not illustrated) may be used for the water nozzles or the glue (which may be required, for example, to ensure heated glue is maintained at the proper temperature).

The individual nozzles and conduits may themselves be heated to maintain the temperature of the glue, which avoids clogs. Supported along the length of the fluid supply tube 39 is a respective one of the pluralities of nozzles 14,16 and 18. The nozzles are spaced along the tube 39 and extend downwards therefrom through the slot 37 in the sleeve 35. Each of the nozzles is in fluid communication with the inside of the fluid supply tube 39, which, in turn, establishes the nozzle's communication with the fluid supply conduit secured thereto. Each tube is exchangeable with other tubes to promote easy maintenance of the nozzles supported thereby. Nozzles fixed to a movable rack without the sleeve may also be used and such an assembly does not require clearance on the side of the reel-up 12 for tube exchange. The nozzles may have a spacing of between 10 to 50 mm in the cross-machine direction.

The actuator 20 includes a pair of actuator plates 42 each defining a pair of spaced circular openings passing therethrough. The actuator plates are spaced apart in the cross- machine direction, one of each having its circular openings sleeved over adjacent ends 40 of the supply tubes corresponding to the glue and water nozzles 14,16. One of the plates includes a mount 43 to which the actuator 20 is pivotably attached. The other end of the actuator 20 is pivotably fixed to the support 22. Various types of actuators may be used

to motivate the nozzles including a servomotor having a pulse transducer and a tooth-belt transmission, a pneumatic cylinder or cylinders or a linear bearing driven by a screw and a servomotor. A hydraulic cylinder could also be used provided sufficient traversal speed could be achieved. The actuator may be a dual-action actuator positioned on a single side of the machine, or include two single-action actuators, one on each side of the reel-up 12.

Generally, the dual-action actuator will be preferable due to space reasons.

During web reeling, the continuous paper web 13 travels over a guide roll 44 and into the nip 34 formed between reel shaft 31 and reel drum 11. Web severing and glue spreading device 10 is positioned in this embodiment on the upstream side of the nip 34 to spray glue and water on web 13 just before it enters the nip 34. Nozzles 14,16 and 18 are supported by their respective racks 15,17 and 19 so as to point in a downward direction towards the web 13. In the illustrated embodiment, the glue nozzle 14 is furthest upstream and the water nozzles 16 and 18 are further downstream, respectively.

However, sequential timing of the firing of the nozzles allows the nozzles to be positioned anywhere along the web or at the nip and still create the desired severing and glue pattern.

As the web 13 is advanced into the nip 34, the first and second racks 15,17 are actuated in the cross-machine direction while jets from the respective glue, water, and stationary water nozzles 14,16, 18 are fired onto the paper web 13, which results in a saw toothed sever line 100 and adhesive pattern 101 on the web, as shown in Figure 4. A delay is incurred before firing of the stationary water nozzles 18 to complete the portion of the sever line 100 extending in the machine direction.

The simultaneous operation of the nozzles 14,16 and 18 and the short stroke of the nozzles mounted on respective first and second racks 15 and 17, allows for rapid glue application and web severing in the cross-machine direction. Advantageously, rapid severing of the web avoids the problems associated with long leaders and the saw toothed pattern ensures that the web is fully severed in the cross-machine direction.

The jets emitted from the glue nozzles 14 can be dispersed in a narrow diameter or in a large diameter, such as in a flat fan, or fishtail-like, spray as desired. Generally, larger diameter glue jets are desired to facilitate easy attachment to the new reel shaft 31.

However, the timing of glue jet firing and the spacing of the glue nozzles 14 from the

other nozzles may have to be adjusted for adhesive lines 101 that are wide in the machine direction to prevent overlap. Alternatively, use of wide glue jets, such as the fishtail-like spray mentioned above, reduces the amount of actuation of the glue nozzles 14 in the cross-machine direction necessary to achieve to achieve full-width glue application.

As illustrated in Figure 5, the web 13 is advanced through nip 34 where the applied glue line 101 on the top side of web 13 encounters the outer surface of reel shaft 31. The glue sticks to the outer surface of reel shaft and the web 13 becomes secured to the reel shaft. Advantageously, glue application to the web may occur prior to its contact with the reel shaft so as to sever the web and then bind the web to the reel shaft. Glue- only severing is preferred for paper webs with relatively low cross-machine tensile strength (such as tissue papers) which are generally more easily severed. Additional advancement of the web 13 begins to introduce tension into the web and an upstream portion 13A of the web that is upstream from the adhesive line 101 continues to wind along the reel shaft 31 and a downstream portion 13B of the web that is downstream from the adhesive line folds backwards. As the adhesive line 101 rotates away from the previously completed paper roll, the tension in the downstream portion of the web 13 increases. The web 13 then completes severing along the sever line 100. Once severed, the downstream portion becomes the tail end that winds onto the previously completed paper roll. In an embodiment wherein the web is entirely severed along the sever line by the water jets, the tension application step is not necessary.

Optionally, the adhesive could also be sprayed upon the reel shaft 31 which wets the paper web 13 as it is wound thereon, effecting attachment and promoting severing using tension. The sole use of adhesive in severing is preferable for paper web types having a low cross-machine direction tensile strength, i. e. , relatively weak paper webs.

Such properties can be found, for instance, in a through-air-dried (TAD) bathroom tissue with a basis weight of 20 grams per square meter and having a cross-machine tensile strength of 2 Nm/g (newton meter/gram). The cross-machine tensile strength can also be expressed as 40 N/m (newton/meter), the product of 20 g X 2 Nm/g. Water severing is more preferred for heavier web types, such as towels, newsprint or paperboard.

It is also possible to control spraying of the nozzles 14,16 and 18 so that the saw toothed sever line 100 and adhesive pattern 101 are varied. For instance, the amount of

cross-machine direction actuation of the nozzles or the speed of the web may be adjusted to generate sawtoothed patterns of varying dimensions. In another alternative, certain nozzles may be selectively fired to generate only portions of the sawtoothed sever and adhesive lines 100,101. In yet another example, the water nozzles 16,18 are not fired and the web 13 is severed along the adhesive line 101, as shown in Figure 6. Singular application of the saw toothed adhesive pattern is particularly advantageous when employed with soft tissue type paper webs as the glue itself may sever the web.

Although many types of adhesive can be used with the present invention, the glue used for severing can be provided with some unique characteristics that distinguish it from other types of glues or adhesives. The glue at room temperature can be solid or <BR> <BR> semi-solid (e. g. , gel-like), but when heated its viscosity becomes much lower so that it can be sprayed from the glue nozzles 14. These characteristics are advantageous for several reasons. The nozzles are less likely to clog or suffer from build up and contamination because heating of any residual glue in the system renders the glue flowable. The invention thus reduces down time for maintenance. Once the glue application is completed and the heating of the glue discontinued, the glue returns to its solid or semi-solid state, and hence is less likely to drip or run compared with conventional liquid adhesives. This minimizes dripping of glue onto the web which could result in sequential turns of web in a completed roll being stuck to each other, leading to a waste of paper.

In order to effect the adhesive severing embodiment, the fluid supply tube 39 connected at one end to the glue nozzles 14 is preferably connected at its other end to an adhesive heating hopper (not shown). The adhesive heating hopper advantageously can comprise a Dynatec heated adhesive application system available from ITW Dynatec of Hendersonville, Tennessee. The adhesive heating hopper includes a heated hopper grid for heating the adhesive to make the adhesive flowable. A driving device is connected to, or incorporated in, the hopper for pressurizing the adhesive supply. The driving device can be an internal piston pump in the hopper for pumping the flowable adhesive, or can be a source of pressurized air coupled with the hopper.

The adhesive is activated by heating the adhesive (e. g. , Swift Adhesives C968/103) in the adhesive heating hopper to about 75° C, or to a temperature sufficient to

reduce the viscosity of the adhesive to a point enabling the adhesive to be pumped to the nozzles 14. After the glue exits nozzles 14, it immediately begins to cool, gaining viscosity and stickiness. Once the glue reaches room temperature, it returns to its original (e. g. , semi-solid, or gel like) state that is resistant to runs and drips. Thus, its spray pattern is even, consistent and sticky, which facilitates tearing along the adhesive pattern 101.

It should be noted that the movement and dispensing patterns of the glue and/or water nozzles can be coordinated with controlled advancement of the web 13 in many ways in order to achieve a saw toothed dispensing pattern. For example, in several alternative embodiments shown schematically in Figures 7-14, glue or water dispensing nozzles 50 are positioned over (or adjacent to) the advancing paper web before or at the nip 34, above the reel drum 11. Other actuators could also be used, such as a chain drive connected to an electrical motor controlled by a programmable logic controller.

Preferably, the actuators are capable of moving the nozzles from start to stop position in about 2 seconds or less to minimize the"broke"or wasted paper at high paper machine speeds. For the highest machine speeds, movement from the start to stop positions should be about 0.2 to 1.5 seconds. However, the speed of nozzle movement is generally less important during the reverse stroke as completion of the roll elapses (over about 15 or 30 minutes) before another gluing and severing cycle. Alternatively, the return stroke may also be used for gluing and severing for the next turn up operation, requiring fast movement in both directions.

The nozzles 50 are spaced in both the cross-machine and machine directions. As described above, spacing in the cross-machine direction minimizes the necessary stroke of the nozzles for their spray patterns to overlap and have a total cross-machine component extending the full width of the web 13. Spacing of the nozzles 50 in the machine direction ensures that the individually actuated nozzles clear each other during cross-machine actuation. Also, spacing of the nozzles allows the use of a plurality of drip guards 52 that extend under the beginning and end of the paths of the nozzles 50. More particularly, the machine direction spacing avoids the pairs of drip guards 52 corresponding to each of the nozzles 50 from obstructing jet spray from other ones of the

nozzles. The drip guards may be interconnected in order to be easily removable when cleaning is necessary.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 7-12, the nozzles 50 are progressively spaced in the machine direction to form a diagonal line. Referring to Figures 7 and 8, the nozzles are shown more specifically as nozzles A through E wherein each nozzle has a starting point, and the nozzle is shown in solid lines, and an ending point wherein the nozzle is shown in broken lines. Notably, the beginning and end of the actuation path of each of the nozzles overlaps in the cross-machine direction.

As shown in Figure 9, prior to actuation each of the nozzles A through E is positioned over its respective starting one of the drip guards 52 with its glue or water supply turned off. As shown in Figure 10, the nozzles A through E are moved off of the drip plates to a starting position and the fluid supply to each nozzle is turned on.

Referring to Figure 11, each of the nozzles is then actuated in the cross-machine direction while dispensing fluid until reaching about the same cross-machine position as the starting point of the adjacent nozzle. As each nozzle completes its run, the fluid supply from the nozzle is shut off. Finally, each nozzle is moved over its respective ending drip guard, as shown in Figure 12.

Figure 13 shows yet another embodiment, wherein the nozzles A through E are shown positioned on alternating sides of the same position in the machine direction.

Similar to the embodiment immediately above, fluid is sprayed from each of the nozzles when they are not above their respective drip guard and the cross-machine distance of travel of the nozzles overlaps. This arrangement can be particularly advantageous when spraying glue on a core or a reel spool. Figure 14 shows a further embodiment, wherein the nozzles A through E are arranged in a pyramid shape.

As shown schematically in Figures 15 and 16, a rotatable drip shield 53 could be used as an alternative to the drip guards 52. The drip shield includes an arcuate sheet member 54 extending in the cross-machine direction and defining an opening slot also extending in the cross-machine direction. Along one edge, the arcuate sheet member is attached to a rotatable rod 55 that is actuated to swing the arcuate sheet member between open and closed positions. In the open position, shown in Figure 15, the nozzles 14,16 and 18 are free to spray onto the web 13 and/or the reel shaft 31. In the closed position,

as shown in Figure 16, the arcuate sheet member 54 captures drips and other leakage from the nozzles. Alternatively, the arcuate sheet member 54 may be fixed and the nozzles may be rotatable into position above the arcuate sheet member.

The present invention has several advantages. The relatively short distance over which the nozzles 14,16 and A through E must be actuated reduces the amount of time required for web 13 severing and adhesive application. More particularly, quicker severing avoids the waste and poor quality winding resulting from long leaders. The saw toothed shape of the sever line 100 and adhesive pattern 101 assures that a component of the sever line or adhesive pattern extends across the entire width of the web. Entire width coverage facilitates easy detachment of the web leader and full width attachment of the leader to the new reel shaft 31.

Other embodiments of the spreading and severing device 10 are possible and may be tailored to different factors, such as different paper grades. For instance, heavy paper grades may benefit from a device that employs only spaced water nozzles that are solely used for severing. Lighter paper grades, such as bathroom tissue, may be severed solely by the use of glue nozzles due to the weakness of the paper. For instance, a pair of spaced glue nozzle racks, similar to the racks holding nozzles 14 described above, could be employed for simultaneously severing and gluing leading and trailing ends of a light- grade paper web. Heavier paper grades, such as towel, newsprint and board, may be simultaneously severed and glued to form a leader end using a pair of racks, one with water nozzles and the other with glue nozzles. In yet another embodiment, a pair of glue nozzle racks could be employed with a water nozzle rack between them to simultaneously separate and glue a leader and trailer ends of the heavier paper grades. In still another embodiment, the glue nozzles could be positioned to dispense glue onto the empty reel shafts 28 as they are retrieved from the rails 27 by the lowering arms 23, or as one of the shafts is lowered into the primary arms. Generally, those embodiments having water nozzles dispense water onto the web, while adhesive can be dispensed onto the web or the reel shaft, or both.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. For

instance, it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the reeling of any type of specific web, and could be used for reeling of other paper grades such as newsprint or paper board, or even non-paper webs, instead of tissue paper webs.

Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.