In the manufacture of web-shaped material on reels, it is relatively often necessary to reject a number of reels and take care of returned reels which are damaged in one way or another and which will not be accepted by customers. Such reels become broke reels and are to be emptied of the material proper which is to be recycled by, for example, being comminuted and dissolved into pulp in order later to become new paper. The core of the reel in the form of a sleeve is to be taken care of and re-used. The reason for this is that it is not desirable to comminute and dissolve the sleeve material, since this should not be included in the pulp. Prior art reel dividers or guillotines have proved to suffer from drawbacks in the form of, among other things, complex design and construction, lack of versatility, and above all high costs, as well as the fact that they often damage the sleeve (the core) so that this cannot be re-used.

The task forming the basis of the present invention is to realise a novel apparatus of the type disclosed by way of introduction.

This task is solved according to the present invention in that the apparatus described by way of introduction has been given the characterising features as set forth in the characterising clause of appended Claim 1.

The present invention realises an apparatus which is relatively simple from the design and construction point of view, and which has proved to be extremely efficient and versatile. The apparatus according to the present invention is extremely simple to adapt to different types of material varieties, e. g. fine paper, paperboard, tissue, plastic, and foils of types such as aluminium foil. The relatively simple design and construction moreover guarantee a high dependability and simple maintenance.

The present invention will now be described in greater detail hereinbelow, with reference to the accompanying Drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic, perspective view of one embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 of another embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention. Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a shuttle carriage for an apparatus according to the present invention. Fig. 4 is a schematic view of one embodiment of a part of an apparatus according to the present invention.

The embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention schematically illustrated in Fig. 1 has a frame 1 in the form of an inverted U with feet 2,3,4 and 5. Between the vertical shanks in the frame 1, a beam or boom 6 extends which is displaceable up and down in the frame 1. The beam or boom 6 carries side supports 7 and 8 which are displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the boom or beam 6 for adapting to each end of a paper reel 9 which is placed in the frame 1 and may rest on a per se conventional pallet 10. After placing of the side supports 7 and 8 against the ends of the paper reel 9, it is appropriate to lock the side supports 7 and 8 in the desired position.

A shuttle-like carriage 11 is displaceable reciprocally on the boom or beam 6 between the side supports 7 and 8. The carriage 11 supports a roller knife 12 and a plough 13 with two flaps 14 and 15. The plough 13 is double-directed and the flaps 14 and 15 are adjustable for adaptation to the direction of movement of the plough 13 and the carriage 11.

In Drawing Figure 1, the parts are shown with the roller knife 12 during cutting work on movement from left to right on the reel 9. The layers or sheets cut through during the preceding stroke have already fallen down onto the pallet 10.

The boom or beam 6 is fed progressively down towards the centre of the reel 9.

This downward movement ceases when the sleeve in the reel 9 is reached, whereafter the pallet 10 with the severed sheets is conveyed off for recycling to the process. The sleeve is taken care of for possible re-use. The beam or boom 6 is returned to its starting position, whereafter a new reel may be placed in the frame

1. The beam or boom 6 is displaceable by means of screws or the like disposed in the frame legs.

In the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Fig. 2, the frame 1 is disposed on a leg 16 on the one side of the reel 9 and a leg 17 on the other side of the reel 9. In the legs 16 and 17, there are provided pins 18 for engagement in the sleeve of the reel 9 and lifting it up towards the shuttle carriage 11 with the roller knife 12 and the plough 13. In this embodiment, the severed sheets are deposited below the reel 9 and may be transported off in any suitable manner. Possibly, a conveyor may be provided for possible continuous removal of the sheets.

Drawing Figure 3 shows the carriage 11 in greater detail with the knife 12, the plough 13 and the flaps 14 and 15. It has proved to be suitable that the roller knife 12 rotates when cutting such web-shaped material as fine paper and paperboard, while the roller knife 12 may suitably be stationary when cutting such material qualities as, for example, tissue. The carriage 11 is suitably connected to a linear prime mover, for example a pneumatic cylinder, a so-called shuttle cylinder, for reciprocal displacement between the ends of the reel 9. Suitably, the roller knife 12 is freely running, but it may be both stationary and driven, depending upon the different material qualities. Fig. 3 illustrates more closely that the flaps 14 and 15 are secured on the plough 13 with the aid of hinges 19 centrally positioned on the plough 13 and permitting pivoting of the flaps 14 and 15 from the position illustrated in Fig. 3 to the position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The roller knife 12 is mounted on a hub or shaft 20 at the end of a swing or end walls forming the shuttle carriage 11. The swing may be pivotal in the direction of the arrows thereon in Fig. 3 for angular positioning of the roller knife 12 and the plough 13 in relation to the longitudinal axis of the reel 9. The roller knife 12 may, as was mentioned above, be freely rotated, driven or locked, depending upon the material variety on the reel 9. The shuttle carriage 11 may be mounted on a shuttle piston in a shuttle cylinder. Such an arrangement is exemplified in Fig. 4 which will be described in greater detail below. The plough 13 may be suspended in bolts which extend from a plate which is connected to the shuttle carriage 11

with the aid of a carrier or stub shaft. With the aid of the bolts, it is possible to adjust the plough in relation to the roller knife 12. The flaps 14 and 15 may be switchable with the aid of pistons which are suitably of the pneumatic type.

The arrangement exemplified in Fig. 4 displays a shuttle cylinder 27 with three pistons 28,29 and 30. The piston 29 supports the shuttle 11 with the roller knife 12, while the side supports 7 and 8 are mounted on the pistons 28 and 30, respectively, the side supports 7 and 8 being urged against each end of the reel 9.

The pistons 28,29 and 30 divide the shuttle cylinder 27 into four chambers 31,32, 33 and 34. When the chambers 31 and 34 are pressurised, the side supports 7 and 8 are urged against the ends of the reel 9. A somewhat lower pressure in the chamber 32 will displace the piston 29 with the shuttle 11 and the roller knife 12 from the piston 28 towards the piston 30. When the roller knife 12 has reached or passed the end of the paper reel 9, the pressurisation is switched from the chamber 32 to the chamber 33 and the flaps 14 and 15 are switched for displacement of the roller knife 12 towards the piston 28, and thereby the other end of the reel 9. As previously, the cylinder 27 is progressively displaced towards the reel 9 in suitable cutting depths, or the reel 9 is displaced upwards towards the cylinder 27.

When cutting such a material variety as tissue, it has proved to be suitable to maintain the roller knife 12 stationary and employ air jets as the plough instead of the mechanical plough 12 with the flaps 14 and 15 described in the foregoing.

Many modifications are naturally possible without departing from the scope of the inventive concept as defined in the appended Claims.