Slitting mechanism for paper making machines

June 4, 1935

C. W. VALENTINE

2,003,404

SLITTING MECHANISM FOR PAPER MAKING MACHINES

Filed Sept. 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

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June 4, 1935.

C. W. VALENTINE

2,003,404

SLITTING MECHANISM FOR PAPER MAKING MACHINES

Filed Sept. 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US2003404A_D0002.tif" />

Patented June 4, 1935

2,003,404

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,003,404

SLITTING MECHANISM FOR PAPER MAKING MACHINES

Charles W. Valentine, Watertown, N. Y., assignor to The Bagley and Sewail Company, Watertown. N. Y., a corporation of New York

Application September 16,1931, Serial No. 563,017

Claims. (Cl. 164—65)

This invention relates to certain improvements in slitting mechanisms for slitting the webs coming from paper machines into webs or strips of desired width.

e Modern high-speed paper making machines, such as the Fourdrinier machines used in making news print, are capacitated to produce webs of paper which are much wider than the web rolls used in printing and other arts requiring 10 web roll material. It is necessary that these webs be divided or slit into webs or strips of usable width and it is desirable that the slit edges of these webs be clean and smooth so as to produce a desired product.

It is an especial object of the present invention to provide a slitting mechanism in which the wide web is slit into narrow webs by a cutting or slitting knife which engages, during the cutting operation, only the web, so that a cle&amp;n cut Is 20 produced as distinguished from the shear cuts produced by two cooperating cutting blades, the edges of the slit webs being smooth and even, the web being forwarded over a slotted support with which the cutting or slitting knives cooper25 ate to produce this clean cut.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved slotted table or support, over which the web travels, which is connected with a suitable suction means so that the paper dust 30 or chips formed during the cutting operation may be readily removed and not interfere with the action of the cutting knives.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a. slitting mechanism employing a plurality 35 of- slitters which may be independently driven and which are so supported in the machine that they can be elevated away from the table over which the web passes for the purpose of permitting the web to be readily threaded through the 40 mechanisms.

It is another object of the invention to provide a construction in which there is provided a master switch common to the motors by which the slitters are driven and an individual switch 45 for each motor so that any individual slitter mechanism can be moved out of engagement and its switch cut off.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a limit switch so arranged that when the 50 slitting knives are thrown up out of position the circuit to their motors is broken, so that movement of the slitters is automatically stopped.

With these and other objects not specifically referred to in view, the invention consists in cer55 tain novel parts, arrangements and combinations which will be fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings and the novel features pointed out in the claims hereunto annexed.

In these drawings, e

Figure 1 is an end elevation, partly broken away, of a web cutting or slitting mechanism embodying the invention in its preferred form;

Figure 2 is a side view of the construction shown in Figure 1, the view being taken in the 10 direction of arrow 2 of that figure;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the broken line 3—3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged, partly broken away and partly sectional view of one of the slitting 15 mechanisms shown in Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a detail view, partly in section, showing the construction of the table or support over which the web travels during the slitting oper^ ation. 20

Referring to these drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, the operative parts of the machine are supported in side frames I, 2, of any suitable or desired construction. 25

The number of cutting or slitting mechanisms employed may, of course, be varied but in the particular machine illustrated there are three such mechanisms, indicated generally by the numerals 3, 4 and 5, the specific construction of 30 these mechanisms being more fully hereinafter referred to.

These slitting mechanisms cooperate with a web support or table indicated generally by the numeral 6, the specific construction of which will 35 be hereinafter fully described.

In constructions embodying the invention in its best form, means will be provided for elevating or lifting the cutting mechanisms away from the table or support 6 so that a web can be readily 40 threaded through the machine. While various expedients may be adopted for this purpose, in the particular construction illustrated, there are secured to the side frames 1,2, before referred to, a pair of bracket arms 7, 8. Mounted in these 45 bracket arms, in suitable bearings, indicated at 9, 9', is a movable member shown in the form of a rock shaft 10, this rock shaft being rotated or rocked by an operating lever 11. This rock shaft acts as a support for the cutting mechanisms 50 through connections which will presently be described. By operating this lever downward the cutting mechanisms are lifted from the position shown in full line in Figure 1 to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 so as to leave a good 55

2,003,404 clearance for threading the web into the machine.

The particular means by which the cutters and their driving motors are supported by the rock shaft may, of course, be varied. In construc6 tions embodying the invention in its preferred form, however, the cutting mechanisms are so mounted that they may have longitudinal adjustment widthwise of the member and also may have an individual vertical adjustment to and 10 from the table or support 6 before referred to. In the particular construction illustrated there is provided a bar 12 preferably having a curved inner face, indicated at 13, which is rigidly secured to the rock shaft 10 by means of set screws 15 14 passing through the bar and screwed into the walls of the rock shaft as clearly shown in Figure 3. This bar is provided with upper and lower inclined surfaces IB, 16, which form tracks on which the cutter and its driving mechanism can 20 be moved longitudinally of the bar 12, so that the cutters may be positioned widthwise on the bar as desired for cutting webs of different widths. While the specific mechanism for securing the cutters on the bar may be somewhat varied, this 25 will be the same for each cutter and only one will, therefore, be described. Referring to the center cutter marked 4 in Figure 2 and shown in section in Figure 3, the construction includes a two-part block, the parts of which are marked 30 17,13, these parts being held together in any suitable maimer as by bolts 19. The block is held in position on the bar by set screws 20, by loosening which the block and various mechanisms carried thereby may be moved sidewise or laterally 35 of the bar 12. Part of the block 17 is held against vertical motion by the tracks 15, 16, referred to before, but the block 18 has a vertical movement in guides in the part 17 so that the block 18 may be given this vertical movement. This is readily 40 effected by providing an extension 21 on the part 18 of the block through which is threaded a set screw 22 which abuts against the upper surface of the part 17 of the block so that by adjusting this screw the part 18 is moved upwardly or down45 wardly.

The part 17 of the block may be given a slight adjusting movement laterally or widthwise of the bar 12 by means of a set screw 23 which passes through an ear 24 formed on the part 17 of the 50 block, this set screw finding a thrust bearing in a member 25 provided with an ear 26, a thrust nut 27 being provided for holding the parts in adjusted; position. This member 25 is also adjustably held in position on the member 12 end 55 also has a sliding movement on the tracks 15, 16, before referred to, the securing means illustrated being a set screw 28. It will be apparent that by loosening the set screws 20 and 28, the cutting mechanism, as a whole, may be adjusted to any 60 desired position on the bar, so that a web of the desired width may be slit by this mechanism.

In the particular machine illustrated, each of the cutting mechanisms 3, 4, 5, is driven by an independent motor and these motors are so con65 structed that any of them may be cut out so that only the desired number of the slitting mechanisms may be employed at any one time. These motors are supported from the vertically movable block 18, before referred to. In the con70 struction illustrated, this block 18 has, below the block 17, an extension 29 having a shoe 30 bolted to the outer casing of a driving motor 31.

In accordance with the invention, a cutting knife is employed which will slit the web with a 75 clean cut, above referred to, which cut may be termed a sabre cut. This clean cut is effected by cutting the web as it passes over the table in such a manner that the cutting knife engages only with the web and with no abutment or the like behind the web and such cut may conven- 5 iently be termed a sabre cut. .To effect this cut, therefore, there is provided a cutting knife in the form of a disc 32 which is mounted on the end 33 of the armature shaft of the motor. The cutting edge of this disc knife is, as best shown 10 in Figure 4, V-shaped, as indicated at 34, and this knife is arranged so as to cut against the web only, such for instance, as drawing a knife across the face of a drumhead, there being no abutment or the like behind the knife, this con- 15 struction having been found in practice to produce the desired clean cutting or slitting of the web.

As before stated, this knife cooperates with a web support or table over which the web is drawn by the pull of a winding mechanism of any suit- 20 able character (not shown) and, in the best constructions, means are provided for feeding the web or drawing the web across this table or support under tension. Furthermore, in the best embodiment of the invention, this table or support 25 is hollow and Is connected with a suitable source of moving air so that the table is kept free of paper chips, dust or the like, which would act to interfere with the action of the cutting mechanism. ₃₀

While the specific construction employed for this purpose may be somewhat varied, in the machine illustrated, the web marked W comes from the paper machine over a roll 35, across the table 6, to and over a roll 36, and under a 35 tension roll 37. The rolls 36 and 35 are suitably mounted in bearings 38, 38' supported by the side frames of the machine 1,2, before referred to, and are so arranged that their upper surfaces are in the same horizontal plane so that the web ₄₀is drawn across the table or support 6 in a substantially straight line, and, under the tension provided by the tension roll 37. This tension roll 37 is mounted to be adjustable to vary the tension on the web in any suitable manner, as by ₄₅being carried in brackets 39 carried by standards 40 suitably supported on the side frames I, 2, before referred to, these brackets being vertically adjustable by means of a hand wheel 41.

With this construction, the web is carried across ₅₀the slitting table or support substantially flat and under tension so that the cutting knife can produce the clean cut which is desirable.

The slitting table or web support may be of various characters. In the particular construetion illustrated, it comprises a hollow casing which may be of any suitable material, such as resilient metal, this casing having side walls 42, 43, a bottom 44, which may, if desired be strengthened by a web 45. The top wall of this table is formed ₆₀with inwardly extending flanges 46, 47, which, at their inner ends, are spaced apart to form a horizontal groove indicated at 48. The inner ends 49, 50, of these flanges are cut away vertically to form seats for blocks 51, and these blocks, as best shown in Figure 5, have their adjacent end faces inset, as indicated at 52, 53, to form slots, indicated at 54. The cutting knives 32 will, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, enter these slots slightly, just sufficient to effect the cutting or slitting of the 70 paper and, it will be observed that there is no backing with which these knives contact, the knives simply entering the slot and severing the paper or other material during the cutting operation. 75

2,003,404

Hie casing is, as above stated, preferably of resilient metal, and the resilient side walls.42, 43 may be adjusted toward and from each other by means of a screw-rod 55. This construction permits the walls to be sprung apart and brought together, thus facilitating the positioning and removal of the blocks 51, a pair of which cooperate to form a slot.

As before stated, in the preferred constructions, there is a motor 31 for driving each of the slitting mechanisms and there is provided for each motor an independent switch marked 56, as best shown in Figure 3, by which each individual motor may be actuated, and the motor lifted or raised clear of the cutting support or table through the connections hereinbefore referred to.

There will, however, preferably be provided a master switch, indicated at 57, common to all of the motors, through which circuits are provided, by which all the motors may be run simultaneously. There will be provided, also, in the particular machine illustrated, a limit switch 58 common to all the motors, which is operated by the lever 11, before referred to, when the lever is moved downwardly to lift the cutting mechanisms out of engagement with the table or support, so that when the cutting mechanisms are so moved the motors are cut o.ut and the rotation of the cutting knives is stopped.

In accordance with the invention, means are provided for keeping the table or support 6 clear of chips, dust or the like. While these means may be of various kinds, they will be such that a current of air may be developed inside the table or support 6. In the particular construction illustrated, these means will be a suction device, such as a pipe 59 which is, as shown in Figure 2, connected to one end of the hollow table, this pipe being in communication with any suitable vacuum or suction devices, not illustrated. This acts through the opening 48 in the table 6 to remove any paper dust or chips which may accumulate, these being removed through the hollow of the table.

The various circuits to the motors, the master switch 57 and the limit switch 58 have not been illustrated as various circuits may be employed for carrying out the functions of these mechanisms and such circuits have been omitted for sake of brevity.

In mechanisms embodying the invention in its best form, provision is made for protecting the operator in addition to that described by which the slitting knives are raised well above the surface of the slotted table. These means in the construction illustrated comprise guards which enclose the slitting knives except for that portion of the knife which projects through the slot in the table, these guards being dimensioned to extend over the knife on each side and downwardly closely adjacent to the table surface. One such guard construction is shown in Figures 3 and 4, marked 6 f, this guard being conveniently carried by the sleeve 62 secured to the motor housing.

While three cutting mechanisms have been shown, it will be understood that as many may be used as desirable, the cutters at the ends being used to trim the side edges of the paper web and the intermediate cutter or cutters slitting the web into the desired widths.

The foregoing specification describes a preferred embodiment of the various features of the invention. It will be understood, however, that changes and variations may be made in the par ts ticular constructions and arrangement of the parts shown without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.