BACKGROUND ART The present invention relates to winding and unwinding continuous rolls of fabric on cores. This invention is particularly directed to unwinding and slitting large pieces of fabric into several narrower rolls of fabric for later use by manufacturers. Fabric is normally wound on cores to aid in winding and provide improved stability of the roll. They are sometimes wound as a single"pancake"package, which comprises a single roll having a width equal to the width of the fabric. Such a roll has the disadvantage of becoming unstable at large roll outer diameters, especially if the fabric is narrow. The single roll package also limits the length of the fabric, requiring frequent stopping of the machinery for roll changes.

Another winding method for roll packages utilizes a spiral or helical winding method, similar to winding a reel of line or string. This method produces a roll package with a width greater than the fabric width and provides additional capacity of the roll package as compared to "pancake"rolls. This winding method suffers the disadvantage of instability, especially near the roll package ends. Use of spools with end discs improves the stability, but increases the complexity, cost and weight of the package. In addition, during winding of several individual spools slit from a large piece of fabric, if one spool breaks, the whole system goes down.

Finally, unwinding the spool requires the follower to continuously change position, resulting in a higher probability for system malfunction.

Some fabric providers have moved away from rolling the fabric after it is slit, to a <BR> <BR> method known as"festooning. "This method is best demonstrated by U. S. Pat. No. 5,921, 064 to O'Connor. Festooning produces a lot of bends in the material, which may lead to unacceptable finished product, particularly in hi loft materials.

Fabric is commonly rolled on cores by suppliers and shipped to manufactures in this fashion. The manufacturers, in turn, unwind the fabric to use the fabric in production. The ability to unwind material during production without the requirement of stopping to change rolls has resulted in many inventions. However, few of these inventions address the specific necessities required for unwinding fabric.

One direction in which inventors have proceeded to overcome difficulties with unwinding material involves placing one or more pancakes of material on a turntable and drawing the length of material upward to be processed. See Reissue Pat. No. 32,996 to Takahashi, U. S. Pat. No. 3,889, 891 to Walker and U. S. Pat. No. 4,022, 396 to Manchester et al.

Applicants find that the unwinding process is faster if they allow the pancakes of fabric to unroll based on a horizontal axis rather than to pull the strip of material in an upward direction. In addition, Walker and Manchester et al. utilize connection means between the pancakes that would not work when unrolling a pancake on a horizontal axis. Winter connects the outermost end of the first tape roll to the innermost end of the second tape roll. Manchester et al. teaches the pancakes connected from the inside of one pancake to the inside of another pancake and then from the outside of that pancake to the outside of another pancake, rather than each pancake connected from the inside of the one pancake to the outside of the next pancake continuously.

When material is unrolled, as is the preferred method for fabric, these means of connection between each pancake renders unrolling impossible. Finally, because the pancakes are positioned in a horizontal manner, Walker and Manchester et al. always require plates between each pancake, even during unwinding, resulting in at least twice the amount of space required than the present invention. In addition, it is this friction between the pancake and the plate that provides the unwinding mechanism for the material. This type of unwinding mechanism does not facilitate high-speed processing.

Several inventors saw the limitations with the turntable approach addressed above and developed alternative methods for providing a continuous strip of material. See U. S. Pat. No.

4,720, 054 to Hood et al., U. S. Pat. No. 4,844, 360 to Winter et al., U. S. Pat. No. 5,474, 251 to Neri, U. S. Pat. No. 5,584, 446 to Delmore et al. and U. S. Pat. No. 5,601, 252 to Draghetti. Hood et al. and Winter et al. require supports to hold the pancakes because of their horizontal orientation. The horizontal orientation of pancakes increases the possibility of telescoping. In addition, the horizontal orientation may provide a height problem for lengthy operations. Neri and Draghetti add mechanical arms to grab the pancake and place it on alternating unwinders.

Delmore et al. adds two carts containing a plurality of pancakes. These last three inventions require added parts and maintenance. Furthermore, they all splice on the fly, a process that is not always accurate and can result in significant production losses.

The patents discussed above all provide ways to supply continuous lengths of material.

Several inventions have been created to help wind several smaller strips of material cut from one large piece of material.

Fordham, in U. S. Pat. No. 6,283, 402, discloses a rewinder method and apparatus for rewinding reeled webs of material, particularly a multi-function slitter rewinder for slitting and rewinding reeled webs. Fordham addresses climbing problems by winding adjacent slits of material on separate axes. This solution requires the need for additional parts to maintain and space to perform the task.

Several inventors have addressed the transition from full pancakes to new pancake rolls.

See U. S. Pat. No. 4,175, 713 to Jores and U. S. Pat. No. 5,620, 151 to Ueyama et al., which automate this transition. Both inventions utilize parallel rewinding shafts on which to alternate rewinding.

Other people have attempted to address some of the above-mentioned drawbacks. Two particularly relevant pieces of prior art are U. S. Pat. Nos. 6,007, 016 and 6,138, 934 to Helton, which disclose a multi-roll segment package for plastic tape. Several segments of tape are rolled on one core, one segment at a time. This provides multiple roll segments of tape with no cuts or breaks from the beginning to the end of the roll. However, winding has to be stopped between each segment to enable folding of the tape between segments. This is clearly not a very efficient manufacturing process. In addition, any flaw in any segment renders the whole roll un-useable.

Helton does not even address the potential for climbing inherent in winding the side-by-side segment rolls. Finally, the source of the tape is not clear. Where does Helton get one continuous length of tape? This process would not work for the manufacturer of fabric, which is usually produced in 2.7 meter and 5 meter rolls, because it would be necessary to create several of Helton's multi-roll segments from one piece of fabric, a process that would require many stops during processing to begin each new segment and many laborers to perform the task.

Clearly, the large amount of prior art demonstrates the need for quick and efficient means by which to roll and unroll material. The present invention provides a highly efficient means to process wide webs of fabric into several narrower webs of fabric. The present invention minimizes operator intervention and allows the rolling of several segments simultaneously. In addition, the present invention provides a mechanism to utilize current manufacturing methods with minor adjustment. Finally, the present invention allows suppliers to suit the ordering needs of each customer.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention improves over the prior art by allowing manufacturers of fabric to easily slit the wide web of material into narrower strips for the end users.

The present invention improves over the prior art by allowing rapid winding of multiple segments of slit fabric and then splicing the segments together to form continuous coils of fabric for processing.

The present invention improves over the prior art by allowing a manufacturer to dispose of one defective segment of fabric among several that are not defective.

The present invention improves over the prior art by allowing segments of fabric to be moved co-axially after winding to facilitate filling customers orders, transportation and manufacturing.

The present invention provides a roll package for fabric comprising multiple roll segments simultaneously rolled and spliced, one to the other, to produce a continuous roll of fabric on one core.

A further object of the invention is to provide a multi-segment roll of fabric that is stable during rolling and unrolling.

A further object of the invention is to allow winding of multi-segment rolls of fabric wherein each roll of fabric is prone to climbing.

A further object of the invention is to allow winding of multi-segment rolls of fabric wherein each roll of fabric is prone to telescoping.

A further object of the invention is to provide a multi-segment roll of fabric wherein the fabric has a high amount of loft, or bounce, wherein the fabric is thick.

A further object of the invention is to provide a multi-segment roll of fabric that is comprised of two different sides, such as Velcro@.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for rolling multiple rolls of fabric simultaneously.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of creating a single multi- segment roll of fabric from several individual rolls of fabric.

A further object of the invention is to provide cores that are able to both be locked and to move on a rewinder shaft.

The term fabric, as used throughout this disclosure and in the claims, refers to any material including, but not limited to, cloth, silk, nylon, canvas, ribbon, natural fibers, synthetic fibers, two-sided materials, wovens, non-wovens, toilet tissue, film, paper, plastic, air-laids, and the like.

The term narrow or narrower, as used throughout this disclosure and in the claims, describes the fabric after it is fed through a slitter and is only meant to convey that the material that comes out of the slitter has a smaller width than the material that was fed into the slitter. It is not meant to convey that only narrow material can benefit from this invention, because any width of material can benefit from the present invention.

The term climbing refers to the phenomena that occurs during winding when the material being wound catches on anything that causes it to re-orient the winding around a different axis.

The term telescoping refers to the phenomena that occurs after material is wound and the outer diameter of the material shifts, resulting in a segment that has an inner diameter in a different location than the outer diameter, with the material bridging the two. The end result looks like an extended telescope.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is one embodiment of the separator used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is one preferred embodiment of the movable and lockable core.

FIG. 3 is a second preferred embodiment of the movable and lockable core.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of one preferred embodiment of the system and its components.

FIG. 5 is the system after the pancakes have been wound, with the separators in place.

FIG. 6 is the system after the pancakes have been wound, with the separators removed, but prior to sliding the pancakes together.

FIG. 7 is a schematic of the second preferred embodiment of the system and its components.

FIG. 8 is the system after the pancakes have been wound, with the axis and hollow core in place.

FIG. 9 is the system after the package has been wound, the separators removed and the pancakes slid together.

FIG. 10 is the system after the package has been wound, the separators removed, the pancakes slid together and the ends of the pancake rolls prepared for splicing.

FIG. 11 is the system after splicing.

FIG. 12 is one embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a close up view of the slitting and rewinding process.

FIG. 14 is the system being unwound.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Fabric is often supplied by the manufacturer in wide rolls, typically 2.7 or 5 meters wide.

This converts to approximately 9 feet or 16.4 feet respectively, taller than average room height.

This is much wider than an end user needs. Therefore, it is well known to slit the wide roll of fabric into narrower strips of fabric. This division is also common in the metal industry, as demonstrated by U. S. Pat. No. 4,191, 318 to Rogers. Rogers does not thoroughly slit his material, but instead adds intermittently spaced tabs formed of residual web material bridging the interstice between adjacent strips. This allows the material to be rolled without the possibility of climbing or telescoping. Yet, it also requires the addition of another invention to separate the strip from the body of material.

The present invention winds the slit fabric in a manner similar to that depicted in the patent to Rogers. However, instead of tabs of residual material, the present invention places dividers between each strip of fabric. The divider serves three functions; it allows any fabric to be wound without the possibility of climbing, it allows the fabric to be wound without telescoping and it provides a location on which to secure a leader strip of fabric. When the proper diameter of fabric is wound, the divider is removed and the leader strip of one segment can be spliced to the outer diameter of the subsequent segment, resulting in a continuous length of fabric for further processing.

FIG. 1 displays one embodiment of the detachable divider 1 of the present invention. In this embodiment, the detachable divider 1 is comprised of two parts, 2 and 3. The two parts, 2 and 3, join together around the shaft. The two parts, 2 and 3, may be joined by ways known in the industry, but should not separate during the winding process. Furthermore, the detachable divider 1 could be made of one piece that slides onto the shaft.

An aperture, not visible, is provided in one part of the detachable divider 1. This aperture allows the manufacturer to place the leader strip of the fabric to be wound in the detachable divider 1. As will be evident from the following Figures, the leader strip of fabric is eventually attached to the end of the outer diameter of a subsequent roll of fabric. To enable the leader strip of fabric and the end of the outer diameter of fabric to have sufficient material for being spliced together, it is preferred that the leader strip of fabric be longer than the diameter of the finished product. To enable the multi-roll package of fabric to smoothly unwind, the leader strip of fabric will have a fold in the fabric at the beginning of the actual roll, similar to the fold demonstrated at the splice in FIG. 11. The aperture in the detachable divider 1 protects the leading edge of the material during the winding process. The aperture can be a narrow channel in the detachable divider 1 or an indentation. Instead of a narrow channel or indentation, the leading strip of fabric can be taped to the detachable divider 1 with a piece of tape that does not catch the fabric as it is wound. Preferably, the detachable divider 1 is made from a material that allows the fabric to slide over it, such as stainless steel or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). If a piece of tape is used to attach the leading strip of fabric to the detachable divider, the tape should also be made from a material that allows the fabric to slide over it. If the fabric does not slide over the detachable divider, it may get caught on the detachable divider during winding and result in an improperly wound roll.

The present invention also provides a movable and lockable core on which to wind the material. The movable and lockable core allows the detachable dividers to be removed and the pancake segments to slide closer together, after the winding process is complete, resulting in a smaller amount of area taken up by the pancakes. In addition, the movable and lockable cores prevent the rolls from rotating in reference to the other rolls of the entire package, particularly after the splices are in place. The number of rolls a customer requests can be removed from the movable and lockable core and shipped to the customer. Any number of ways can easily be provided for moving and locking cores on a shaft. The following examples are not meant to limit the scope of the present application to only these embodiments.

FIG. 2 provides one preferred embodiment of the movable and lockable core. In this embodiment, the cores are independent cores 20. The independent core 20 has a round hole 21 in the middle that allows the independent core 20 to be placed on a standard rewinder shaft.

Surrounding the round hole 21, in an axial direction, is a rotary locking mechanism 22. The rotary locking mechanism 22 comprises a male portion 23 and a female portion 24. The male portion 23 of one independent core 20 is matched to the female portion 24 of a second independent core 20, whose male portion 23 is matched to the female portion 24 of a third independent core 20, and so on. The male portion 23 matches the female portion 24 at more than one distance, so that dividers can be added between the independent cores 20 for the rewinding process and removed for shipping.

If the end user desires six segments of fabric, a core can be prepared having six independent cores 20. In the alternative, if the end user desires six segments of fabric, the manufacturer can produce as many segments as needed to benefit from a manufacturing run.

When the fabric segments are complete, the manufacturer can detach six independent segments onto six independent cores 20 for delivery to the end user.

FIG. 3 provides a second preferred embodiment of the movable and lockable core. Once again, as in FIG. 2, the cores are independent cores 30. As in FIG. 2, the independent core 30 has a round hole 31 in the middle that allows the independent core 30 to be placed on a standard rewinder shaft. Surrounding the round hole 31, in an axial direction, is a rotary locking mechanism 32. The rotary locking mechanism 32 comprises a male portion 33 and a female portion 34. The male portion 33 of one independent core 30 is matched to the female portion 34 of a second independent core 30, whose male portion 33 is matched to the female portion 34 of a third independent core 30, and so on. The independent core 30 of FIG. 3 includes an aperture 35.

The independent core 30 of FIG. 3 can be used with materials that do not experience problems with climbing or telescoping. The independent core 30 of FIG. 3 save manufacturing space by not requiring the inclusion of the dividers 1. The mechanism, not visible, contained in the aperture 35 will be described in further detail in FIG. 8.

One of the primary reasons FIGs. 2 and 3 provide the preferred embodiments of the invention relates to the operation of the present invention. Most rewinder shafts utilize a core that has a diameter only slightly larger than the diameter of the rewinder shaft. As fabric is unwrapped from these rewinder shafts, the angular speed at which the fabric travels accelerates as the fabric approaches the inner diameters of the system. When the fabric moves from one pancake to the next, there is a rapid deceleration in the fabric due to the change in diameter. This deceleration is more pronounced with the typical rewinder shafts than when the preferred embodiment of FIGs. 2 & 3 is used. The independent cores 20 of one preferred embodiment of FIG. 2 and the independent cores 30 of the second preferred embodiment of FIG. 3 both add to the diameter of the system, resulting in a slower angular speed at the inner diameter of the system and therefore a less abrupt change in speed from the inner diameter of one pancake to the outer diameter of the next pancake. This problem can be addressed when using the typical rewinder systems by allowing sufficient fabric to be collected in an accumulating device between the apparatus of the present invention and the processing line during unwinding.

FIG. 4 shows an exploded schematic of the independent cores of FIG. 2. The independent core 20, with fabric 40 already wrapped around it, is separated by detachable dividers 1. Two locking pins 41 maintain the vertical positioning of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows the same view as FIG. 4, except unexploded. Fabric 40 surrounds the independent cores 20, which are no longer visible. The detachable dividers 1 and the two locking pins 41 are in place. The leader strip of fabric 42 extends between the fabric 40 and the detachable dividers 1. The severed end of fabric 43 extends from the pancakes.

FIG. 6 is the next step of the method of the present invention, using the independent cores 20 of FIG. 2. The two locking pins 41 are removed. Then the detachable dividers 1 are removed from between the independent cores 20. All that remains are the independent cores 20 surrounded by fabric 40 with the leader strip of fabric 42 extending in one direction and the severed end of fabric 43 extending in a different direction.

FIG. 7 demonstrates the ease with which the independent cores 20 are slid together after removal of the dividers. The fabric 40 now occupies half of the area it occupied in the diagram of FIG. 6. Because of the mechanism by which the independent cores 20 are joined, the fabric 40 will not rotate independently by core. Therefore, in the finished product, after the pancakes of fabric 40 are spliced, none of the resulting splices will be subject to any rotational stress or friction that may cause the splice to separate.

FIG. 8 shows an exploded schematic of the independent cores of FIG. 3. The independent core 30 is shown with fabric 40 already wrapped around it. FIG. 8 displays a cut-away view of the rotary locking mechanism 32, providing more detail to the mechanism 36 contained within the aperture 35. Because of this cut-away view, the male portion 33 and the female portion 34 of the independent core 30 are not visible in this figure or in FIG. 9. The mechanism 36 of the independent core 30 contains a hollow core 37 on which the leader strip of fabric 42 is wound.

An axis 38 turns the leader strip of fabric 42 around the hollow core. When a sufficient quantity of leader strip of fabric 42 is wound, the axis 38 is secured to the end independent cores 30. The hollow core 37 is the same width as the independent core 30. The axis 38 is slightly longer than the rewinder shaft. Because the axis 38 is secured to the outside of the independent cores 30 located at both ends of the rewinder shaft, the hollow cores 37 cannot unwind during the pancake winding process. The axis 38 also acts as a locking pin for the independent cores 30, maintaining the vertical position of the invention.

FIG. 9 shows the same view as FIG. 8, except unexploded. Fabric 40 is already wrapped around the independent cores 30. Both the axis 37 and hollow tube 38 are in place.

FIG. 10 displays the severed end of the fabric 43 being trimmed prior to splicing to the leader strip of fabric 42. FIG. 10 displays the use of the independent core 20 of FIG. 2.

However, it is to be understood that this figure and the following figures apply to any of the cores taught by the present invention.

FIG. 11 displays the finished product of the present invention, with the leader strip 42 of each pancake of fabric 40 spliced to the severed end of fabric 43 of the subsequent pancake of fabric 40. Splicing can be accomplished by any known methods in the industry, including, but not limited to, sewing, taping, ultrasound and thermal bonding. The leader strip of fabric 42 is folded 44 to allow the fabric 40 to be unwound later without tangling.

FIG. 12 provides the apparatus of the present invention. The wide roll of fabric 40 is placed on an unwinder 51. The wide roll of fabric 40 is fed through a tension control system 52 to a slitter 53 to a twisting/spreading unit 54 and finally to the rewinder 55. A stand-by rewinder 56 is shown adjacent to the rewinder 55, already prepared to perform a quick changeover once the proper diameter of fabric is reached on the rewinder 55.

FIG. 13 focuses on the slitter 53, twisting/spreading unit 54, rewinder 55 and stand-by rewinder 56 of FIG. 12. The independent cores 20 and half of the detachable dividers 1 are visible on the stand-by rewinder 56.

FIG. 14 displays the finished product of the present invention being unwound for further manufacturing. FIG. 14 provides ten (10) pancakes of fabric 40 to the end user. The present invention allows the manufacturer to provide as many pancakes of fabric 40 as the end user requires because each pancake of fabric 40 is independently wrapped, allowing the manufacturer to splice as many or as few pancakes of fabric 40 as the end user requires.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for any industries that utilize rolls of fabric in manufacturing. This invention is also useful with difficult fabrics, such as two-sided materials and high-loft fabrics, which require more rolls to be supplied to manufacturers because of the inherent thickness of the material. Finally, the present invention is useful for suppliers, allowing them to supply the specific quantity desired by their customers.