Search

EP-3762193-B1 - WEB MATERIAL APPLICATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS

EP3762193B1EP 3762193 B1EP3762193 B1EP 3762193B1EP-3762193-B1

Inventors

  • NASH, JORGE A.
  • CAVINS, ORION A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20190305

Claims (14)

  1. A system (10) for applying a web material (11) on a substrate (13), the system (10) comprising: a feed roll (16; 35) defining a feed roll surface (17; 37) and configured to advance a web material (11) along a predetermined path along the feed roll surface (17; 37); an anvil roll (18) defining an anvil roll surface (19) and configured to receive the web material (11) from the feed roll (16; 35) along the anvil roll surface (19) and provide a section (12) of web material (11) having a defined length; and a cutting element (20) configured to cut the web material (11) along the anvil roll surface (19) to form the section (12) of web material (11); wherein the anvil roll (18) is configured such that the anvil roll surface (19) advances at an anvil roll surface speed; and characterized in that the system (10) further comprises a first drive element (150) configured to drive the feed roll (16; 35) and a first control element (152) configured to control the first drive element (150), a second drive element (156) configured to drive the anvil roll (18) independent of the feed roll (16; 35) and a second control element (158) configured to control the second drive element (156) independent of the first control element (152), and a system controller (200), which operates the first control element (152) and the second control element (158), wherein the feed roll (16; 35) is configured to rotate at a first feed roll surface speed that is slower than the anvil roll surface speed and a second feed roll surface speed that is within 95% to 105% of the anvil roll surface speed when the cutting element (20) cuts the web material (11).
  2. The system (10) of claim 1, wherein the feed roll (16; 35) is configured to control a feed rate of the web material (11) from the feed roll (16; 35) to the anvil roll (18) such that the web material (11) is substantially free of elastic deformation along a portion of the web material (11) extending between the feed roll (16; 35) and the anvil roll (18) as the cutting element (20) cuts the web material (11).
  3. The system (10) of claim 1, wherein the first feed roll surface speed and the second feed roll surface speed are configured such that the web material (11) is substantially free of elastic deformation along a portion of the web material (11) extending between the feed roll (16; 35) and the anvil roll (18) as the cutting element (20) cuts the web material (11).
  4. The system (10) of claim 1, wherein the feed roll (16; 35) is configured to control a feed rate of the web material (11) from the feed roll (16; 35) to the anvil roll (18) such that the feed roll (16; 35) controls the defined length of the section (12) of web material (11).
  5. The system (10) of claim 1, further comprising an applicator roll (22) configured to receive the section (12) of web material (11) from the anvil roll (18) and apply the section (12) of web material (11) to a surface (14) of a substrate (13) wherein preferably the anvil roll (18) is configured to control a distance between consecutive sections (12) of web material (11) delivered to the applicator roll (22) by controlling a delivery of the sections (12) of web material (11) from the anvil roll (18) to the applicator roll (22).
  6. The system (10) of claim 1, wherein the feed roll (16; 35) is configured to be driven independent of the anvil roll (18) and is configured to cooperate with the anvil roll (18) to provide sections (12) of web material (11) having a defined length.
  7. The system (10) of claim 1 configured to apply a web material (11), wherein the web material (11) is elastic, the system (10) further comprising: an applicator roll (22) configured to receive the section (12) of web material (11) from the anvil roll (18) and apply the section (12) of web material (11) to a surface (14) of a substrate (13); wherein the feed roll (16; 35) is configured to advance the web material (11) between the feed roll (16; 35) and the anvil roll (18) such that a portion of the web material (11) extending between the feed roll (16; 35) and the anvil roll (18) is substantially free of elastic deformation as the cutting element (20) is cutting the web material (11).
  8. The system (10) of claim 7, wherein the anvil roll (18) controls a distance between consecutive sections (12) of web material (11) delivered to the applicator roll (22).
  9. The system of claim 7, wherein the feed roll defines an outer surface, and wherein the feed roll is configured to control a feed rate of the web material from the feed roll to the anvil roll by controlling a tangential speed of the outer surface of the feed roll.
  10. The system (10) of claim 7, wherein the feed roll (16; 35) is configured to control a feed rate of the web material (11) from the feed roll (16; 35) to the anvil roll (18) such that the portion of web material (11) extending between the feed roll (16; 35) and the anvil roll (18) is substantially free of elastic deformation as the cutting element (20) is cutting the web material (11).
  11. The system (10) of claim 7, wherein the feed roll (16; 35) and anvil roll (18) cooperate to control a distance between consecutive sections (12) of web material (11) by controlling a delivery of the sections (12) of web material (11) from the anvil roll (18) to the applicator roll (22) while the feed roll (16; 35) controls a feed rate of the web material to the anvil roll (18).
  12. The system (10) of claim 7, wherein the system (10) is configured to cut an elastic web material into sections (12) of elastic web material (11) having a defined length without the elastic web material (11) separating from the predetermined path.
  13. A method of applying a web material (11) to a substrate (13) using the system (10) as defined in any one of claims 1 to 12, the method comprising: feeding a web material (11) along an outer surface (17; 37) of a feed roll (16; 35) to an outer surface (19) of an anvil roll (18); cutting the web material (11) as the web material (11) is positioned along the outer surface (19) of the anvil roll (18), to form a section (12) of web material (11); advancing the section (12) of web material (11) from the outer surface (19) of the anvil roll (18) to an outer surface (23) of an applicator roll (22); and applying the section (12) of web material (11) to a surface (14) of a substrate (13) with the applicator roll (22); the method being characterized in a further step of controlling a speed of the outer surface (17; 37) of the feed roll (16; 35) between a first feed roll surface speed that is slower than a first anvil roll surface speed and a second feed roll surface speed that is within 95% to 105% of the first anvil roll surface speed during the step of cutting the web material (11), wherein the controlling step includes increasing a feed rate of the web material (11) from the feed roll (16; 35) to the anvil roll (18) from a first feed rate to a second feed rate before the step of cutting the web material (11) by increasing the speed of the surface (17; 35) of the feed roll (16; 35) from the first (slower) feed roll surface speed to the second (faster) feed roll surface speed.
  14. The method of claim 13, wherein the controlling step includes increasing the speed of the outer surface (17; 35) of the feed roll (16; 35) from the first feed roll surface speed to the second feed roll surface speed before the step of cutting the web material (11) such that a portion of the web material (11) extending between the feed roll (16; 35) and the anvil roll (18) is substantially free of elastic deformation during the step of cutting the web material (11); and/or wherein the controlling step includes reducing a tension along a portion of the web material (11) extending between the feed roll (16; 35) and the anvil roll (18) such that the web material (11) is maintained along a predetermined path from the feed roll (16; 35) to the anvil roll (18).

Description

FIELD The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for applying web material to a substrate. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for applying defined sections of web material to a substrate. BACKGROUND Various methods and systems exist for applying web material to a substrate. One problem with certain methods and systems is the inability to cut sections of web material, and then apply the sections of web material at a desired location on the substrate as part of a repeated process. Another possible problem is the need to stop production on the system in order to adjust or reconfigure the system to change the sizes or lengths of sections that are to be cut or to reposition the location where the sections are to be placed on the substrate. A further shortcoming is the difficulty of operating such systems with the substrate moving at high speeds relative to the system, such as greater than 600 feet per minute (about 182 meters per minute), while maintaining control of the web material as it is cut and applied to the substrate. US 2004/094263 describes an apparatus for feeding and cutting lengths of tape and advancing the lengths to a vacuum wheel applicator, the feed section of the apparatus comprising a feed roll, an anvil vacuum roll, and a rotary knife adjacent to the anvil vacuum roll, and means for adjusting the speed of the feed roll and the speed of the anvil vacuum roll to vary the length of the tape advanced to the applicator, and a tape roll splicing assembly to provide a continuous supply of tape to the apparatus. There is a need for a system and/or method for cutting a length of web material into sections having a defined length and then applying the sections to a substrate while maintaining control of the web material as it is cut and applied to the substrate. SUMMARY Disclosed herein is a system (10) for cutting a web material (11) and applying the web material (11) on a substrate (13). The system (10) comprises a feed roll (16; 35) defining a feed roll surface (17;37). The feed roll (16; 35) is configured to advance a web material (11) along a predetermined path along the feed roll surface (17; 37). The system (10) includes an anvil roll (18) defining an anvil roll surface (19). The anvil roll (18) is configured to receive the web material (11) from the feed roll (16; 35) along the anvil roll surface (19) and provide a section (12) of web material (11) having a defined length. The system includes a cutting element (20) configured to cut the web material (11) along the anvil roll surface (19) to form the section (12) of web material (11). The anvil roll (18) is configured such that the anvil roll surface (19) advances at an anvil roll surface speed. The system (10) further comprises a first drive element (150) configured to drive the feed roll (16; 35) and a first control element (152) configured to control the first drive element (150), and a second drive element (156) configured to drive the anvil roll (18) independent of the feed roll (16; 35) and a second control element (158) configured to control the second drive element (156) independent of the first control element (152), and a system controller (200), which operates the first control element (152) and the second control element (158). The feed roll (16; 35) is configured to rotate at a first feed roll surface speed that is slower than the anvil roll surface speed and a second feed roll surface speed that is within 95% to 105% of the anvil roll surface speed when the cutting element (20) cuts the web material (11). In some aspects, the system is configured to cut a web material and apply the web material on a substrate as a repeated process. In some aspects, the feed roll (16; 35) is configured to control a feed rate of the web material (11) from the feed roll (16; 35) to the anvil roll (18) such that the web material (11) is substantially free of elastic deformation along a portion of the web material (11) extending between the feed roll (16; 35) and the anvil roll (18) as the cutting element (20) cuts the web material (11). In some aspects, the first feed roll surface speed and the second feed roll surface speed are configured such that the web material (11) is substantially free of elastic deformation along a portion of the web material (11) extending between the feed roll (16; 35) and the anvil roll (18) as the cutting element (20) cuts the web material (11). In some aspects, the feed roll (16; 35) is configured to control a feed rate of the web material (11) from the feed roll (16; 35) to the anvil roll (18) such that the feed roll (16; 35) controls the defined length of the section (12) of web material (11). In some aspects, the system (10) further comprises a first detector configured to detect a position of the surface (14) of the substrate (13). In some aspects, the system (10) further comprises an applicator roll (22) configured to receive the section (12) of web material (11) from t