US2563071A - Method of and machine for packaging adhesive strips - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 7, 1951 L. L. SALFISBERG 2,553,071 METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS Filed Nov. '7, 1946 12 Sheets-Sheet l wi zz Aug. 7, 1951 L. 1.. SALFISBERG 2,563,071

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS Filed Nov. 7, 1946 l2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 7, 1951 L. L. SALFISBERG METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS l2 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 7. 1946 Aug. 7, 1951 L. L. SALFISBERG 2,563,071

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS l2 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. '7, 1946 Aug. 7, 1951 L. L. SALFISBE RG 6 METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS Filed Nov. 7, 1946 12 Sheets-Sheet 5 71%2/222Zr: Zer y Z. er

Aug. 7, 1951 1.. SALFISBERG METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS l2 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Nov. 7. 1946 Aug. 7, 1951 L. SALFISBERG METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS Filed Nov. 7, 1946 12 Sheets-Sheet 7 Aug. 7, 1951 L. 1.. SALFISBERG FOR PACKAGING 'ADHESIVE STRIPS METHOD OF AND MACHINE l2 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed NOV. 7, 1946 Aug. 7, 1951 L. SALFISBERG METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS Filed Nov. 7, 1946 12 Sheets-Sheet l0 7 l l L L L J rzvenf z- Zy LjZzf arzz y.

L. L. SALFISBERG METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS Aug, 7 1951 12 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed Nov. 7, 1946 Aug. 7, 1951 L. SALFESBERG 295634371 METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACKAGING ADHESIVE STRIPS Filed Nov. 7, L946 12 Sheets-Sheet l2 g9? 6 9/ ff4 I a g E III W ay%gii;/e

Patented Aug. 7, 1951 METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR PACK- AGING ADI-IESIVE STRIPS Leroy L. Salfisbe'rg, South Orange, N. .L, assignor to Ivers-Lee Company, Newark, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application November '7, 1946, Serial No. 708,242

Claims.

This invention relates in general to the pack- "aging of sheets or strips of material that have an adhesive composition at least partially exposed on one side thereof; and more particularly the invention contemplates the enclosing of :small adhesive "bandages in wrappers or envelopes, both to maintain the bandages in sanitary condition and to facilitate marketing thereof. Such bandagesusually comprise a pad of soft absorbent material secured to the adhesive 'side of adhesive tape which serves to secure the bandage on the body over a wound, there being one or more layers of coarsely woven or large mesh textile gauze overlying said pad and said adhesive and removably held in position by the "latter, so that the pad is protected by said gauze during handling of the bandage, accidental adhesion of the adhesive to objects with which the bandage may contact is prevented, and yet the and apparatuswhereby the adhesive on the stripsshall be utilized in a novel and improved way to facilitate the insertion of the strips into the wrappers or envelopes.

A further object is to provide a machine of the general character described which shall include novel and improved means for feeding continuous webs of packaging material such as paper, cellophane, metal foil, etc., into opposed spaced relation to each other, means for depositing the adhesive strips to be packaged into predetermined spaced relation to each other between said webs, and means for securing said webs together so as to enclose said adhesive strips between them.

* -;Another object is to provide in such a machine novel and improved means for temporarily pressing limited areas of the adhesive strips into contact with one of the webs of packaging material,

so as to at least temporarily locate the adhesive strips in predetermined fixed relation to said web.

Still another object is to provide novel and improved means for sealing continuous webs of packaging material together and severing the web s at predetermined spaced points in the length r thereof into sections in a continuous operation, in combination with means for continuously feeding said webs to said sealing and severing means, so as to ensure that the leading end of the webs shall be properly fed to and grippedby the sealing means.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompany.- ing drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a machine embodying my invention;

. Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the machine, from approximately the plane of the line 2--.-2 of Figure 1;

'Figure 3 is a plan View, taken on the plane of the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view, on approximately the plane of the line 11-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view, on approximately the line 55 of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a further enlarged fragmentary elevational view similar to Figure 4 and showing the strip-positioning mechanism during the strippositioning operation;

Figure '7 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view, on the line 1-4 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view, approximately on the plane of the line 88'of Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a similar View, approximately on the plane of the line 9-9 of Figure 6;

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 6, showing the strip-positioning mechanism in normal position;

Figure 11 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, on the plane of the line |lll of Figure 10;

line l5-l5 of Figure 3;

Figure 15a is a fragmentary sectional perspective view through portions of the sealing and severing rollers, showing the severing mecha nism;

Figure 16 is a plan view, approximately on the 3. plane of the line 16-46 of Figure 15, with portions of the frame of the machine omitted for clearness in illustration;

Figure 17 is a horizontal sectional view, on the plane of the line l'!-ll of Figure 15, with portions of the frame of the machine omitted;

FigurelS is'a fragmentary transverse'vertical sectional view, on the plane'of the line [8-18 of Figure 1;

Figure 19 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, on the line l9! 9 of Figure18;

Figure 20 is a fragmentary schematic top plan view of a modified form of the strip-severing and positioning mechanism;

Figure 21 is a fragmentary front elevational view thereof, showing the parts during the strippositioning operation;

Figure 22 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, on the plane of the line 2222 of Figure 21;

Figure 23 is a view similar to Figure 22, showing the positions of the parts at the end of the strip-positioning operation;

Figure 24 is a view similar to Figure 22, showing the severing mechanism and the strip-positioning mechanism in normal position;

Figure 25 is an enlarged view partially in end elevation and partially in transverse section, of a portion of one of the multiple package units shown in Figure 17, and

Figure 26 is a vertical sectional view, approximately on the plane of the line 2525 of Figure 24.

For the purposes of illustrating the principles of the invention, I have shown it as embodied in a machine specifically designed for the packaging of adhesive bandages, and in the drawings the reference character A designates a known type of machine for producing a continuous length of adhesive bandage material B which comprises a main or backing tape I, one side of which is coated witha layer of normally tacky or pressure-sensitive adhesive composition 2 on which is secured substantially along the longitudinal center of the length of bandagematerial,

a soft absorbent pad 3 which is overlaid by two tion on the tape and serve both to protect the r pad 3 against contamination and to prevent accidental adhesion of the adhesive composition to surfaces with which the bandage material may come into contact. rollers 6 and l for continuously feeding the length of bandage material B to mechanism C for severing the length of bandage material transversely into bandage strips. As shown in Figures 1 to 14, inclusive, the bandage material B is fedwith the adhesive layer 2 facing upwardly, the rollers 6 and 1 being driven by any suitable means to rotate in opposite directions, as shown in Figure 5.

The severing mechanism C comprises a lower blade 8 which is mounted on a slide 9 that is vertically reciprocable in a guide frame I!) which has trunnions ll journaled in the side pieces I2 of the frame of the machine A, so that said guide frame may oscillate about a horizontal axis intermediate its ends. The slide 9 is reciprocated vertically and the frame In is oscillated by an eccentric l3 mounted on a drive shaft M which is journaled in the side pieces [2 of. the frame, said eccentric l3 having connected thereto an eccentric strap i5 which is fastened by bolts 16 The machine A includes 4 to the slide 9. The blade 8 cooperates with a relatively fixed upper blade I! which is mounted in the guide frame Ill for adjustment relatively to the lower blade 8.

With this construction, with the shaft 14 driven by any suitable source of power, the lower blade 8 is reciprocatedto sever adhesive strips l8 successively from the length of bandage material B which is continuously fed in the direction of the arrows on Figures 5, 7 and 11; and simultaneously, with the reciprocation of the lower blade, the guide frame in and consequently both of the blades 8 and I! are oscillated forwardly and backwardly with respect to the direction of feed of the bandage material. During the up ward movement of the lower blade and the sever ingv of the bandage material by the two blades, the blades are swung forwardly substantially synchronously with the direction of feed of the bandage material, and after each strip l8 has been severed and duringthe descent of the lower blade 8, the blades are swung rearwardly in the direction opposite to that of the feed of the bandage material. In this way, the adhesive strips; l8 of the desired width may be produced and there is a minimum. of. possibility. of the leading edge of the bandage material B being fouled on or impeded in its feeding movement by the blades. It will thus be seenthat durin each upward and forward movement of the lower blade 8, one of theadhesive strips l8 will be severed from the. length of the bandage material B.

In accordance with the illustrated form of the invention, these adhesive strips iii are individually packaged, and for this purpose a continuous web. !9 of packaging material, such as paper, cellophane, metal foil, etc., is fed from a supply roll 29 around idler rollers 2| and around a combined guide. and presser roller. 22, and thence horizontally outwardly to feeding and sealing mechanism generally designated E and F, respectively. The guide and presser roller 22 is journaled on a bracket 23 which is adjustably mounted by cap screws 24 on a supporting plate 25 by which the upper blade I! is mounted in the guide frame [I], so that the roller is in such position that the horizontal reach 26 of the web l9 which leads outwardly from said roller is in approximately a commonhorizontal plane with the cutting edge of the lower blade 8. A second web 21 of packaging material is fed from a roll 28 upwardly around idler rollers 29 and from an idler roller 30 horizontally around a combined platen and guide 3|, said web passing from the platen andguide 3| to form a horizontal reach 32 in closely spaced relation to and below the reach 26 of the web [9, The roller 22 and the platen 3| ar so closely related to the lower blade 8 that each severed adhesive strip [8' as it is severed will be disposed between the reaches 25 and 32 of the packaging webs, as best shown in Figures 7 to 9, inclusive; and the platen is so related to the roller 22 that when the slide 9 and lower blade 8 are elevated to their uppermost position, the last severed strip l8 will be pressed between the platen and the roller 22. The platen 3| has a cut-away portion 33 to provide a clearance for the pad on. the adhesive strip 18 so that only the portions of the adhesive strip between the pad and the end margins of the strip will be subjected to pressure between the platen 3! and the roller 22. During the pressing operation, some of the adhesive composition will be pressed through the interstices of the gauze strips 4 and 5 and into contact with the underside of the reach 26 of the packaging web, asbest shown by Figures '7, 8, 12 and 13, whereby the adhesive strip will be at least temporarily fixedly attached to and held by the reach 26 of the web. It will be noted that due to the curvature of the roller 22, there will be only substantially a line contact pressure between the adhesive strip and the packaging web, as shown at 34 in Figure 13. Accordingly, only a small amount of the adhesive composition is displaced. The web is continuously moved longitudinall around the roller 22 by the feeding means E so that each severed adhesive strip I8 is pulled from between the roller 22 and platen 3|"ir'nmediate1y after the pressing operation and shortly before the severing of the next adhesive strip |8 from the length of bandage material B, the speed of travel of the web being greater than that ofthe bandage material B. These operations being repeated, it will be seen that the adhesive strips II! will be attached to the web I9 in predetermined spaced relation longitudinally of the web, and some of the weight of the adhesive strips willbe sustained by the reach 32 of the lower web 21 of packaging material. Y

The mechanism E comprises two similar rolls 35 mounted on shafts 36, the upper one of which is journaled in bearing blocks 31 which are in turn mounted on vertical rods 38 that are slidable in the side pieces 39 of the auxiliary'frame G. The lower shaft 36 isjournaled directly in theframeG. I I

The sealing mechanism F includes two rolls 4|] and 4| which are mounted on hollow shafts '42 and 43, respectively, the former of which is journaled in bearing blocks 44 that are carried by rods 45 which are-reciprocably mounted in the frame G. The lower shaft 43 is journaled in said frame. The periphery of the upper roll 35 is held in yielding contact with the periphery of thelower roll by a spring 48 which is interposed between the bottom of the auxiliary frame G and a cross plate 41 to which-the lower ends of .therods 38 are connected. Similarly,-the upper roll 4|] is held in yielding contact with the roll 4| by a spring 48 interposed between the bottom of the auxiliary frame G and a cross plate 49 to which the rods are connected. The rolls and may be temporarily moved away from their cooperating rolls by the respective cams '56 formed on shafts 5| which are journaled in bearings 52 in the auxiliary frame G said cams being connected to blocks 53 at the ends of pull rods-54 which pass loosely through; openings 55 in the respective cross plates 41 and 49 and have heads or A As shown, the

This is particularly important in connection with the crimping and sealing rolls 40 and 4|, because the spring .48 causes the roll 40 to exert substantially uniform pressure on the roll 4| through out the lengths of the rolls and thereby ensures a substantially uniform seal of the packaging layers. With this construction, when the cams 51] are in one position, as shown in Figures 18 and 19, the springs 46 and 48v press the upper rolls 35 and 4|! into contact with their corresponding rolls, while when the shafts 5| are rotated to move the cams 56 upwardly, the pull rods 54 will pull the plates 41 and 49 upwardly against the springs 46 and 41 to move the upper rolls from the latter.

the corresponding lower rolls. Handles 51 may be provided on the cam shafts 5| for rotating rolls the webs will be pulled away from the blades 8 and I1. The peripheries of the rolls 35 have circumferentially spaced longitudinal grooves 60 to provide clearances for the adhesive strips as the latter" pass between the rolls, and between said grooves the rolls have ribs 6| which exert a feeding action on the webs.

Similarly, the rolls 40 and 4| have recesses 62, but each recess is bounded by a sealing surface 63 for sealin together the webs of packaging material in zones 64. that surround the respective adhesive strips I8. Preferably, these sealing zones are serrated so as to crimp or interdigitate the webs of packaging material.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the webs of packaging material may be sealed together in any suitable manner; for example, the juxtaposed surfaces of the webs may have a thermoplastic coating, or the webs themselves may be of thermoplastic material, or adhesive might be applied to the Webs in any suitable manner.- Where the webs are secured together thermopla'stic'ally, the shafts 42 and 43 preferably will be hollow, and suitable electrical heating elements 65' 'are inserted into the shafts to heat the rolls.

-With this construction, it will be observed that each adhesive strip IB will be enclosed between the webs of packagingmaterial to form an individual package 66, all of the packages being integrally connected'together in a chain-like formation'. It is desirable to sever the webs so as to .60 springs impart an equalizing effect upon the rolls.

provide multiple package units with the webs between the packages in some way treated to facilitate'separation of th individual packages from each other. Accordingly, one of the sealing rolls, in the present instance the roll 40, is formed with a plurality of notched blades 61, one between each two adjacent packages, to cooperate with platen bars 68 in the other roll. Thus, as the rolls rotate, the webs of packaging material are perforated to form a plurality of spaced slits which provide tear lines for separating the individual packages. One of the blades is unnotched or, continuous, so that it will completel sever the webs to form the multiple package units. As shown, each multiple package unit includes twelve individual packages, there being twelve blades includingthe continuous severing blade.

It will be observed that the leading end of the package chain is freed when the package unit is severed, so that without some means for causing it, the leading end would not be picked up or gripped by the rolls 40 and 4|. Accordingly, I utilize the ribs 6| on the rolls 35 for pushing the leading end of the package chain between the peripheries of the rolls 4|] and 4|, and this operation. can best be seen in Figure 15 of the drawings. Itwill, of course, be understood that the rolls 35, Land 4| will rotate in proper timed relation to each other to cause uniform movement of the package chain without buckling or stretching thereof. Y

Thedriving mechanism may be of any suitable form, but is shown as comprisin a pinion .63 on the drive shaft I4 with which meshes a gear .apeaon ID on a countershaft II on which is also a pinion I2 which meshes with another gear I3 on a countershaft F4 on which is a pinion which meshes with an idler pinion l6 thatin turn mesheswith an idler H which drives one. of the gears, 5.8v oi the feeding rolls 35. Said gear- 58 meshes with an idler pinion I8 which drives therpiniorr 58 on the sealing roll 4 I. 1

It may be desirable to permit yielding of the platen 3| or roller 22 during the pressing-operation, and any suitable means may be, provided for that purpose. However, I have shown the platen in the form of an L-shaped lever one arm 19 of which is fulcrumed. intermediate its length at 88 on one end of a support lever 8I which ispivotally mounted intermediate its ends at 8,2 ona bracket 83 secured upon the slide 9,. A compression spring 84 is interposed betweenthe other end of said lever 8| and an abutment 85, on, said bracket. The free end of the arm I9 is; pivotally connected at 86 to one end of a guide-lever 81, the other arm of which ispivoted at '88 on the bracket 83. With this construction, the spring 84 normally swings the platen lever upwardly until. the support lever 8'! strikes an abutment screw 89, and at the same time the platen lever is swung, toward the blade 8 until an abutment surface 98, on the lever contacts with the blade. Consequently, when the platen is pressed, upwardly against, the roller 22, it may slightly yield against the infiuence of the spring 84.

A modification of the invention is shown in Fi ures to 24, inclusive, where the adhesive strip SM is initiall secured to the upper side of the lower web 92 of two webs of packaging; ma,- terial, the upper one 93 of which is, fed from a suitable supply roll around an idler roller. 94' and thence to the feeding and sealing mechanism. E and F.

In this form of the invention, the, upper blade 95 is reciprocable relatively to the. lower blade 96 which is fixed on the frame 9"! of the machine, the blade 95 being mounted on a slide-98-which is reciprocable in guides 99 by any suitable mechanism, such asan arm I80 connected to the slide 28 and having a follower roller. IIlI which follows a box cam I82 driven from any suitable source of power, such as the drive shaft I4.

The platen I83 is carried by the slide 98 and cooperates with a rollerlil l which is journaled in bearings Its on theframe 9'! and, is driven by a pinion it which may have a driving connection with a suitable train of gearing IJJ'I which maybe connected to the drive, shaft I4} The roller IM is driven at a peripheral speed greater than the lineal speed of feeding of the bandage material B which may be fed by any suitable mechanism, such as the rollers 6 andv v'I. If desired, the rollerst and I may be rotated intermittently instead of continuously, in, whichcase the upper blade 95 will otcourse be operated in proper timed relation to the feeding of the bandage material. Y

In operation, the adhesive, strips 9 I are severed from the length of bandage material" in sucrcession, one each time the upper blade 95 descends, and the strips drop on the web 92. As the blade 9,5 moves downwardly, the severed strip is pressed by th platen I03 onto the web 92,

of the slide 98 and to which the lever I09v is pivotally connectedv at H2. The platen lever is influenced, by a; compression spring II 3 which corresponds to the spring 34, and immediately after; the platen engages the adhesive strip 9|, as shown in Figure 22, the continued motion of the Web 92 under, the influence of the roller I84 will cause the platen lever to swing outwardly against the influence of the spring I I3, as shown in Figure 23. Thereafter, the platen lever and the upper blade are moved upwardly into normal position, as shown in Figure 24, and the platen lever is swung about the pivot back to its normal position in contact with the blade 95, as shown in Figure 22.

The platen has a cut-away portion II4 corresponding tothe cut-away portion 33 to provide aclearance for the pad on the adhesive strip, sothat when the platen is moved downwardly the portions of the platen at opposite sides of the cut-away portion II will grip the adhesive strip between itself and the web 92 on theroller I84.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 19, inclusive, especially when the machine is running at high speed, it may be desirable to provide means for compensating for the swinging movement of the roller 22. and the platen 3I about the axis of the trunnions II to prevent breaking of, the webs of packaging material I9 and: 21. Such means may comprise a springinfiuenced roller II5 for the upper web I9, and a similar spring-actuated roller I It for the lower web 21, these rollers maintaining an excess of the webs between the supply rolls and the respective roller 22' and platen 3| which is taken up as said, roller and, platen move rearwardly or away, from thefeeding and sealing mechanisms E and F. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that instead of using a roller and platen for pressing the adhesive strips on the packaging web, two rollers could be used.

As above indicated, any suitable means may be, utilizedv for driving the rollers 6 and I, but I have shown the rollers geared together by intermeshing gears II! and the roller I driven by a chain and sprocket or belt and pulley connection II8 from the drive shaft I4.

While I have shown and described the method and machine as comprising certain steps and certain details of construction, respectively, it

should be understood that the steps of the method and the construction of the machine may be modified and changed, and the invention may be employed for packaging other types of adhesive articles and in other machines, all within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

" 1. In a method of packaging pieces of material that have a layer'of a normally tacky adhesive composition on one side thereof and a perforate sheet overlying and temporarily secured to said adhesive composition to prevent accidental adhesion of said composition to surfaces which it may contact, the step of pressing said side of each piece of material against one side of a layer of packaging material and squeezing said adhesive composition through said perforate sheets into separable adhesive contact with'said layer for positively locating and temporarily holding said pieces in fixed relation to said layer, and securing another layer of packaging material to the first-mentioned layer in overlying relation to said pieces.

2. A machine of the character described, comprising means for feeding a length of material, means including a fixed blade and a relatively movable blade for severing pieces in succession from the leading end of said length of material, means for advancing a web of packaging material into juxtaposition to said leading end of said length of material, a pair of devices one movable with said movable blade and in proximity to the cutting edge thereof and the other device being fixed relatively to and adjacent the cutting edge of said fixed blade, said devices to receive said web and said lpieces between them, and means for actuating said movable blade and said device thereon in timed relation to the severing of said pieces to press each piece into contact with said web.

3. The machine as defined in claim 2, wherein one of said two devices is a roller and the other is a platen.

4. The machine as defined in claim 2 wherein the last-named means includes parts for moving said blades together in the same direction as and in the opposite direction to the feed of said length of material when said movable blade moves toward and away from the fixed blade respectively.

5. A machine for packaging pieces of material that have a normally tacky adhesive composition exposed on one side thereof which will separably adhere to another surface upon simply being pressed there against, said machine comprising means for continuously feeding a length of such material past an applying station, means for longitudinally moving a web of packaging material in juxtaposition to the leading end of said length of material, means for severing pieces from said length of material in succession at said station, two devices normally spaced apart and receiving said web and said pieces between them, said devices constituting a roller and a platen respectively and said web passing around and partially encircling said roller and travelling at a higher speed than said length of material, means for reciprocating at least one of said devices to move it toward the other device substantially simultaneously with the severance of said pieces so that said devices will press the adhesive composition on said pieces of material into contact with one side of said web for locating and temporarily and separably adhesively holding said pieces in fixed relation to the web.

LEROY L. SALFISBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 623,081 Evans Apr. 11, 1899 943,629 Ferry Dec. 14, 1909 1,818,714 Anderson Oct. 14, 1919 1,485,141 Macdonald Feb. 26, 1924 1,546,999 Rose July 21, 1925 1,850,493 Brewer Mar. 22, 1932 1,861,530 Hayden et al. June 7, 1932 1,986,180 Bauch Jan. 1, 1935 2,027,434 Jurgens et al Jan. 14, 1936 2,051,491 Lockett et al Aug. 18, 1936 2,208,951 Tamassey July 23, 1940 2,232,783 Haushur Feb. 25, 1941 2,254,394 Ratley et a1 Sept. 2, 1941 2,257,823 Stokes Oct. 7, 1941 2,376,899 Bulatkin May 29, 1945

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