Kimberly-clark Worldwide, Inc.

Mike Daniels

James Leo Baggot

Kenneth Allen Pigsley

Kevin B Sartain

Robert James Seymour

John Hanson

Steve Wojcik

Douglas C Thomas

Nathan Harris

Edward Marksman

Jeffrey Greiner

Preston O'Connor

Randy LeValley

Rick Urquhart

David Robert Gruber

Matt Storm

Steve Weiland

Kevin Sartain

An online roll firmness measurement system is disclosed. In one embodiment, a contact element is placed in a fixed position. A roll of material is placed in between the contact element and a support surface. Based upon the amount of force exerted on the contact element, the firmness of the roll of material may be measured. In an alternative embodiment, the contact element applies a predetermined amount of force on the roll of material but is displaced when a roll of material is placed in between the contact element and the support surface. In this embodiment, the amount of displacement of the contact element is measured which allows for the calculation of roll firmness. In one embodiment, a roll firmness device made in accordance with the present invention may be placed in a system for winding rolls and used to maintain rolls of material being formed within preset roll firmness ranges.

Roll firmness measuring system and process

A system and process for unwinding rolls of material is disclosed. The system is particularly well suited for unwinding soft, high-bulk tissue webs. In one embodiment, the system includes the combination of a center unwind device and a surface unwind device to unwind the roll of material in a primary unwind location. Once the roll of material is partially unwound, the roll is then moved to a secondary unwind location while a new roll of material is moved into the primary unwind location. In this manner, multiple rolls of material can be continuously unwound without substantial downtime. The system of the present invention can be used to unwind a single roll of material or can be designed to unroll multiple rolls of material simultaneously.

System and method for simultaneously unwinding multiple rolls of material

A system and process for unwinding rolls of material is disclosed. The system is particularly well suited for unwinding soft, high-bulk tissue webs. In one embodiment, the system includes the combination of a center unwind device and a surface unwind device to unwind the roll of material in a primary unwind location. Once the roll of material is partially unwound, the roll is then moved to a secondary unwind location while a new roll of material is moved into the primary unwind location. In this manner, multiple rolls of material can be continuously unwound without substantial downtime.

System and method for unwinding tissue webs

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Neenah, WI, United States of America

Mike Daniels