Zero tension web unwinder apparatus and method

US5709352A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY · US

Inventors

• Jeffery Kane Rogers · Winston-Salem, US
• Gary Micheal Jackson · Winston-Salem, US
• Wallace R. Lassiter · Winston-Salem, US
• Carl Carlton Greene, Jr. · Winston-Salem, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 29, 1996
• Grant date: Jan 20, 1998
• Expiry date: Jul 29, 2016

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B65H2557/512
• WIPO field: Handling
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

An apparatus and method for the tensionless unwinding of a gossamer web of material from a bobbin uses a servo control system connected between the servomotors of a web handling apparatus and a bobbin unwinder for controlling the unwinding speed of the bobbin unwinder in relation to the take-up speed of the web handling apparatus. A pulsed infrared sensor is used to sense the web position in a loop between the unwinder and the web handling apparatus and supply a feedback signal to the servo control system for maintaining the web in a substantially untensioned state. A flow of air is impinged upon the web adjacent the sensor to prevent unwanted web movement due to ambient air currents and other transitory forces on the web.