US3377001A - Metering and dispensing device for viscous liquids - Google Patents

Description

J. E. HAZARD April 9, 1968 METERING AND DISPENSING DEVICE FOR VISCOUS LIQUIDS Filed Feb. 2, 1967- INVENTOR JAMES E. HAZARD ATTORNE? United States Patent Ofi ice METERING AND DISPENSING DEVICE FOR VISCOUS LIQUIDS James E. Hazard, Swarthmore, Pa., assignor to Scott Paper Company, Delaware County, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 2, 1967, Ser. No. 613,521 8 Claims. (Cl. 222-263) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE -A device for separating predetermined amounts of viscous liquids from a supply reservoir and for transferring them to a remote point for application to a surface. The device includes a specially designed housing having an opening sealed by flexible lips through which a tongue member may be moved after separating a predetermined amount of viscous liquid from the reservoir. Alternative arrangements are disclosed for facilitating transfer of the separated viscous liquid to a surface such as that of a moving paper web. The shape of the tongue member can be altered to apply adhesive in a variety of patterns such as intermittent or wavy lines. Uses include tail tying in web winding.

Background the invention (1) Field 07 the in vention.-This invention relates to a liquid metering and dispensing device and, more particularly, to a new and improved device for separating predetermined or metered amounts of relatively viscous liquid from a supply reservoir and for transmitting them to a remote point for application to a surface.

(2) Description of the prior art.-In the past, there has been a problem in many industries of applying measured amounts of relatively viscous liquid to a surface. For example, this function is a critical part of many processes in the fiberboard container making and packaging art where a liquid such as glue is to be applied to a surface in a measured amount and at a predetermined time and area. It is often desirable to regularly dispense and apply measured amount of other liquids such as lubricants or relatively viscous oils, to a surface.

For purposes of this invention, the term viscous liquid has been used to designate, and is intended to encompass,

all relatively viscous liquids including glues, cements, ad-

hesives, mixtures of glutinous substances, lubricants, heavy oils, etc. In other words, as become evident from the following description, the apparatus of the invention can be employed to dispense predetermined amounts of any relatively viscous liquids and to transfer such amounts 'to a remote position. The viscosity of the liquids used can vary depending on the speed of operation of the apparatus as employed. They should generally be more viscous than Water and should demonstrate some temporary tendency to resist fiow or change in shape or arrangement.

Different devices have been conceived which employ a variety of means to separate measured amounts of viscous liquids such as glue from a supply reservoir'and apply them to a surface. For example, one method employed has been that of separating a measured amount of glue from a supply and impinging it against a surface.

'One means for doing this operates as a glue gun and in- 'volves the application of a blast of compressed air to an amount of glue disposed within a feedout tube from a glue reservoir.

Although some control can be achieved in this method, it is desired in most casesto more accurately determine the amount of a viscous liquid applied. It is also desired :to more accurately control the area of application of the packaging,

measured amount of viscous liquid. This becomes important and difficult to accomplish with prior art devices, especially where the surface to which the viscous liquid is to be applied is that of a rapidly moving web and where precise timing becomes a significant factor. Operation of prior art devices presents even greater problems as the speed of manufacturing equipment increases and the period of time for measuring amounts of a viscous liquid and transferring them to a surface is decreased.

The present invention represents an improvement in several respects over the device disclosed in US. Patent 3,289,898, issued Dec. 6, 1966 to W. H. Herman. The variety of patterns possible with the device of the present invention is much greater. Moreover, leakage'around the back of the tongue member, which often occurs after prolonged operation of the Herman device is avoided in the device of the present invention.

A particular area in which devices such as the above have been employed and in which the above problems have become important is that of the paper industry with regard to transferring adhesive to a moving web of paper coming from a parent roll of paper or from a paper manufacturing machine for the purpose of attaching the tail end of a predetermined length of paper to the roll upon which the predetermined length has been wound. This process is often referred to as tail tying. In this instance, it has been found advantageous to apply adhesive or glue in a continuous or intermittent line transversely across a rapidly moving paper web adjacent to or with reference to high rate of speed, that is, where the velocity of the paper web is 1200 feet per minute and higher, and on a socalled continuous basis. Some of the previous methods employed to apply adhesive to the moving web in tail tying processes involved glue guns and moving brushes. These are no longer satisfactory or reliable for high speed winding and new means have become necessary to increase the speed of application and to improve the accuracy of the amount of adhesive applied as Well as the area within which it is applied,

If excessive adhesive'is applied to a roll for such a purpose, some of it tends to be thrown off the rapidly rotating wound product roll due to centrifugal force. In addition, the excessive adhesive tends to permeate several layers of the paper product on the wound roll and creates difficulty to a user in locating a loose end and starting the roll to unwind for use. Similar problems are caused by application of adhesive to overly large areas of the wound roll. If insufficient adhesive is applied, the tail end of the web will be loose or come loose during subsequent resulting in fouling of the wrapping machinery and an unsightly appearance of the product. Similar problems result from inaccurate placement of the measured amount of adhesive.

Summary of the invention It is a principal object and advantage of the present invention to provide a viscous liquid metering and dispensing device which is capable of accurately separating metered amounts of viscous liquid from a supply reservoir and transferring these measured amounts to a remote point for application to thesurface of an article such as a rapidly moving web.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide a viscous liquid metering and dispensing device adapted to apply predetermined amounts of viscous liquid across a relatively wide, rapidly moving paperweb in a predetermined pattern of continuous or intermittent areas.

The invention provides a housing having two converging walls and spaced'side walls defining a chamber for containing a supply of a viscous liquid such as adhesive or glue. The converging walls are arranged to intersect along a line of intersection of the plane of one converging wall with the plane of the other converging wall at an angle of less than about 150. Each of the converging walls have a gate portion adjacent the line of intersection. The gate portions adjoin each other along the line of intersection and are disposed in sealing engagement with one another in a closed position but are movable out of contact with one another upon application of force in order to permit the separation and removal of a predetermined amount of viscous liquid from the chamber.

A tongue member is disposed within the chamber between the converging walls. The surface of the bottom edge of the tongue member is substantially parallel to the line of intersection between the converging walls and extends between the spaced side walls of the housing. At least a portion of this surface is in a plane angularly disposed to the planes of the converging walls. The tongue member is arranged for movement so that the bottom edge surface is reciprocably movable from a first position wherein the surface is disposed within the chamber, spaced from, and out of contact with, the converging walls, through a second position wherein the boundries of the surface are in contact with the converging walls thereby defining a cavity which contains a metered amount of viscous liquid, to a third position wherein the surface is disposed outside of the chamber upon deflection of the gate portions and carries thereon the metered amount of viscous liquid. Actuation means are operably connected to the tongue member to provide a means for reciprocally withdrawing the tongue member toward and away from the line of intersection of the converging walls.

In some embodiments, where it is desired to apply a viscous liquid in .an intermittent line, the tongue member has a bottom edge surface comprising a plurality of spaced-apart areas of greater width connected to one another by areas of lesser or negligible width. It will become apparent that a large variety of patterns can be arranged with this type of device so long as the gate portions of the converging walls are sufficiently flexible to sealingly engage opposed surfaces of the tongue member as it passes between them. It has been found possible to deposit flexible adhesive on a surface in an arcuate or wavy line utilizing this principal but with a tongue member having a bottom surface of different configuration.

In order to apply the metered amounts of viscous liquid to a surface such as that of a moving web, the entire viscous liquid metering and dispensing device may be advanced by an actuation means so that the bottom edge surface of the tongue member contacts a moving web at the desired moment. In this manner, the measured amount of viscous liquid is transferred and the web receives an application of a metered amount of viscous liquid on the desired portions or areas. Another method of transferring the amounts of viscous liquid involves an associated transfer means such as the transfer bar which may be conveniently carried upon the surface of a rotatably mounted cylinder. Once the desired amount of viscous liquid is separated from the parent supply within the chamber and exposed upon the bottom edge surface of the tongue member outside of the housing, the transfer bar is advanced by rotation of its carrying cylinder into interference with the bottom edge surface so as to remove the predetermined amount of viscous liquid from the surface and carry it upon the transfer bar. Upon further rotation of the carrying cylinder at the desired time, the transfer bar is arranged to contact a surface such as that of amoving web so as to transfer the viscous liquid to the web at the desired point.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the drawings described below.

brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a viscous liquid metering and dispensing device of the invention,

FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 are partial sectional views taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, and progressively illustrate the manner of operation of the device of FIGURE 1,

FIGURES 5 and 6 are bottom views of alternative embodiments of the device shown in FIGURE 1, arranged to transfer predetermined amounts of viscous liquid in intermittent and wavy lines, respectively,

FIGURE 7 is a schematic sectional view of a metering and dispensing device and associated transfer means for transferring a measured amount of viscous liquid to a moving web, and

FIGURE 8 is a schematic sectional view of a metering and dispensing device movable by an associated actuation means into contact with a moving web.

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring now to FIGURES 1 through 4 of the drawings, there is shown a housing, indicated generally by reference numeral 1t which includes two converging walls 11 and 12, respectively. Converging walls 11 and 12 are arranged to intersect along a line of intersection of the plane of converging wall 11 with the plane of converging wall 12 at an angle of about 60. Two spaced side walls 13 connect with converging walls 11 and 12 to define a chamber 14 within which a viscous liquid is retained. The angle of intersection of the planes conveying walls 11 and 12 may be varied within wide limits to define a chamber of different dimensions and difierent configuration. The maximum practical angle of intersection has been found to be about 150. Beyond this amount the chamber is so shallow as to occupy too much space. More preferred embodiments employ a narrowed chamber formed by a lesser angle of intersection.

Converging walls 11 and 12 have flexible portions 15a and 15b adjacent the line of intersection between their planes. Portions 15a and 15b serve as gate portions or members to sealingly close off the bottom of the chamber 14. Portions 15a and 15b adjoin each other along the line of intersection and are disposed in sealing engagement with one another when in a closed position but are adapted for movement out of contact with one another upon application of force as a result of their flexibility. The portions or strips 15a and 15b may be comprised of any type of flexible resilient material such as rubber which may be bent from one side or another out of the plane of their respective converging wall 11 and 12 upon the application of force. Portions or strips 15a and 1511 are sealingly attached to converging walls 11 and 12 by a series of bolts 16. The ends of flexible portions 15a and 15b sealingly abut and engage the inside surface of each of the spaced side walls 13.

A tongue member 17 is disposed within the chamber 14 defined by the housin 10 and is mounted for reciprocal movement in a plane passing through the line of intersection between converging walls 11 and 12 and lying between converging walls 11 and 12. In this manner, its bottom surface 18 will be advanced toward and away from the line of intersection of the converging walls 11 and 12. The bottom edge surface 18 lies in a plane parallel to the line of intersection described above. In addition, the plane of bottom edge surface 18 is angularly disposed to the planes of converging walls 11 and 12. The periphery of bottom edge surface 18 terminates directly at lines of contact with converging walls 11 and 12 and side walls 13.

The action of tongue member 17 is controlled by a valve 19 which governs the operation of a double action air cylinder 20. The piston 21 of air cylinder 20 is operably'co'nnected to the end of tongue member 17 opposite bottom edge surface 18. Valve 19 connects air line 22 to air cylinder 20 through feed lines 23 and 24, alternatively. In other embodiments, the operation of valve 19 may be performed by hand or may be controlled by connecting it with the operation of other equipment such as a web handling machine or a continuous winding machine for rolled paper products in a manner which is well known and understood in the art and employed with like equipment. Obviously, other types of actuation means could be employed.

In some instances, it is desired to dispense, with a device of this type, metered amounts of an adhesive which is relatively fast-drying or which contains relatively volatile ingredients and, therefore, is susceptible to damage or deterioration upon prolonged exposure to air. It is also desired in some instances to continuously circulate glue through a heating means in order to maintain it at the desired viscosity for metering and application. As shown in FIGURE 1, a viscous liquid such as glue may be circulated through the chamber 14 within housing means by means of feeding it into chamber 14 through one or more inlets 25 on housing means 10 and withdrawing it from chamber 14 through one or more outlets (not shown) on the opposite end of housin means 10. A

heater (not shown) and/or a pump (not shown) may precede inlet 25 and be arranged to circulate glue from a remote supply reservoir (not shown) through the housing means 10 in a continuous manner thereby insuring at all times a fresh supply of adhesive having the desired properties. The housing means 10 may be fitted with a lid (not shown) which sealingly covers the top portion thereof and is in frictional contact with the moving tongue member 17.

FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 progressively illustrate the manner in which the viscous liquid metering and dispensing device of FIGURE 1 operates to dispense a predetermined amount of viscous liquid. In the light of the above- .described structure, it can be seen that when the double action air cylinder 20 is actuated to reciprocably move tongue member 17 along its plane intermediate the planes of converging walls 11 and 12, the bottom edge surface 18 will be reciprocably moved from a first position within the chamber 14 spaced from and out of contact with con- .verging walls 11 and 12, as shown in FIGURE 2, through a second position wherein the peripheral edge bounding the surface 18 is in contact with converging walls 11 and 12 and, more specifically, the flexible portions 15a and 15b extending along and comprising the sides of the housing 10 in that area, as shown in FIGURE 3. In this position, a reservoir or cavity 26 is defined by outline of the converging walls 11 and 12, side walls 13, and the bottom edge surface 18 such that a metered amount of viscous liquid having a predetermined volume is separated and contained therein.

As operative movement of tongue member 17 concorresponding reciprocation, bottom edge surface 18 is moved to-a third position wherein it is disposed outside of chamber 14 after theperipheral edge contacting the flexible portions 15a and 15b has exerted suflicient pressure upon the flexible portions to bend and deflect them downwardly and out of sealing contact with one another as shown in FIGURE 4. In this position, the bottom edge surface 18 contains a predetermined metered amount of viscous liquid which is basically that portion of the viscous liquid contained within the supply reservoir or cavity 26 which was separated and defined by the portions of the converging walls 11 and 12, the bottom edge surface 18, and the side walls 13.

An advantageous feature of the inevntion is that the amount of viscous liquid separated in the manner described above can be easily controlled in an accurate manner. The principal manner of varying the amount resides in varying the thickness of tongue member 17 which 6 results in a larger cross-sectional area for cavity 26. Alternatively, and perhaps even more expeditiously, the angle of the bottom edge surface 18 may be varied relative to converging walls 11 and 12 to change the volume of'a resulting cavity 26 formed during operation.

The device of the invention differs in many important respects from that disclosed in US. Patent 3,289,898. As alluded to above, by disposing the tongue member 17 in a plane which intersects the planes of converging walls 11 and 12, it is possible for portions of converging walls 11 and 12 to have wiping contact with'the opposed faces of tongue member 17 as it moves outwardly from chamber 14. This prevents the leakage often experienced in the device disclosed in the earlier patent after prolonged operation. Such leakage :across the device is extremely harmful to paper products being wound into rolls since it results in-adhesive dripping on the paper web at undesired times. It also results in excessive amounts of adhesive being applied which causes many plies to be bonded together and ultimately wasted.

Another important advantage of the device of the invention is the variety of shapes and patterns of adhesive application which can be accomplished. This is made possible by simple and convenient structural modification of the tongue member 17. The lower end of member 17 may be shaped in a variety of ways as by scalloping or bending to form intermittent, wavy or arcuate lines of different configuration. This method of controlling the configuration and pattern of the adhesive is made possible by the use of the two flexible portions, 15a and 15b respectively, to engage opposite sides of a contoured tongue member.

FIGURES 5 and 6 illustrate modified forms of the invention and are bottom views of forms of the device shown in FIGURE 1. FIGURE 5 illustrates one alternative configuration of the bottom portion of tongue mem-- ber 17 which enables it to separate an intermittent line .of viscous liquid from the chamber 14. The bottom edge surface has a plurality of spaced-apart areas of greater width connected to one another by areas of negligible width which do not contain any adhesive when they emerge from the chamber 14. By smoothly contouring the tongue member 17 in the transitional areas between the areas of greater width and the areas of negligible width, the tongue member can be sealingly wiped by the flexible portions 15a and 151) as the tongue member emerges from the chamber 14 to form an effective seal. FIGURE 6 illustrates another alternative embodiment of the tongue wipingcontact by the flexible portions 15a and 15b enables sealing contact to be maintained with the tongue member as it emerges from chamber 14.

From the above, it can be seen that the apparatus described in several embodiments accomplishes separation of a metered amount of viscous liquid from a supply .of viscous liquid contained within a supply reservoir and transfers it to a remote position for application or use. FIGURES 7 and 8 illustrate two alternative methods for handling the metering amount of viscous liquid after its separation from the parent supply in order that it may be transferred to the surface of a work piece such as glue to one surface of a moving paper web.

FIGURE 7 contemplates employing with the viscous liquid metering and dispensing device a separate transfer means which in the embodiment shown comprises a rotatably mounted cylinder 33 positioned between the bottom edge surface 18 of a tongue member 17 of a metering device and the surface of a moving paper web 34 which represents the surface of a work piece to which viscous liquid is to be applied. Web 34 is supported in partial wrapping engagement with the surface of a rotatably mounted supported roll 35. Cylinder 33 has a protuberance 35 extending outwardly from its surface which protuberance extends longitudinally from one end of roll 33 to the other. The relationship of transfer roll 33 is such that, upon rotation, protuberance 36 is moved past a position of interference with the outwardly extending bottom surface 18 of tongue member 17 of the metering and dispensing device. Upon contact, the protuberance serves as a transfer bar and wipes the metered amount of viscous liquid from the bottom edge surface 18. Upon further rotation, the transfer bar or protuberance 36 contacts the preselected portion of the surface of moving web 36 and applies or transfers a metered amount of viscous liquid to the web. It can be seen that the movement and timing of contact of the web by transfer bar 36 may be controlled in a manner whereby it bears some relationship to movement of the web or another work piece, as is understood by those skilled in the art.

FIGURE 8 illustrates another embodiment of apparatus involving the metering and dispensing device shown in FIGURE 1 for transferring the measured amount of viscous liquid contained on bottom edge surface 18 to a desired surface. As shown in FIGURE 8, an actuation means such as double action air cylinder 38 is attached to converging wall 11 of the housing 10 of a metering and dispensing device and is arranged to advance and withdraw the entire metering and dispensing device to a position where the bottom edge surface 18 of an outwardly extending tongue member 17 containing a metered amount of viscous liquid thereupon would contact a desired surface such as the surface of a moving paper web 34 at a predetermined time. In a manner similar to that employed in FIGURE 6, a moving paper web 34 could be supported in partial wrapping engagement-with a rotatably mounted support roll 35. A valve 39 is arranged to control the operation of double action 'air cylinder 38 by means of air from line 40 fed through line 41 or line 42. Air cylinder 38 would advance and withdraw the bottom edge surface 18 into contact with the surface of the moving web 34 at a predetermined time thereby accomplishing viscous liquid transfer.

What is claimed is:

1. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device which comprises:

a housing having two converging walls and defining a chamber for containing a supply of viscous liquid, said converging walls being arranged to intersect along a line of intersection of the plane of one converging wall with the plane of the other converging wall at an angle of less than about 150, each of said converging walls having a gate portion adjacent said line of intersection, said gate portions adjoining each other along said line of intersection and disposed in sealing engagement with one another when in a closed position but adapted for movement out of contact with one another,

a tongue member disposed within said chamber between said converging walls, said tongue member having a bottom edge surface substantially parallel to said line of intersection, at least a portion of which surface is in a plane angularly disposed to the planes of said converging walls, said tongue member being arranged for movement so that said bottom edge surface is reciprocally movable from a first position wherein said surface is disposed within said chamber and spaced from and out of contact with said converging walls, through a second position wherein the boundaries of said surface are in contact with said converging walls thereby defining a cavity which contains a metered amount of viscous liquid, to a third position wherein said surface is disposed outside of said chamber upon deflection of said gate portions and carries thereupon said metered amount of viscous liquid,

and actuation means operably connected to said tongue member.

2. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1 wherein said housing include an inlet and an outlet and means to circulate viscous liquid through said chamber.

3. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein said tongue member is operably connected through said actuation means to an automatic web handling machine for movement into and out of said cavity at predetermined intervals.

4. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein said bottom edge surface comprises a plurality of spaced-apart areas of greater width connected to one another by areas of lesser width.

5. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein said bottom edge surface has a substantially contant width but extends in its plane along an arcuate path.

6. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1, including viscous liquid transfer means co-operable with said movable tongue member and adapted to remove said metered amount of said viscous liquid from said bottom surface when said surface is disposed outside of said chamber and to transfer it to a remote position.

7. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 6, wherein said viscous liquid transfer means comprises a resilient transfer bar mounted for movement into interference and wiping engagement with said bottom edge surface and to a position remote from said bottom edge surface.

8. A viscous liquid metering and dispensing device according to claim 1, including housing actuation means operably connected to said housing and adapted to reciprocally advance and withdraw said housing and, correspondingly, said bottom edge surface toward and away from a remote position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,645,383 7/1953 Miller 222-380 2,792,856 5/1957 Coppage 222380 X 3,217,944 11/1965 Bell et a1. 222-409 X 3,225,963 12/ 1965 Arpajian 222--409 X 3,289,898 12/1966 Herman 222-263 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

Images