Marquip, LLC

Timothy C Prochnow

Richard F Paulson

Dean W Smitterberg

William R Nachtrab, Jr

Carl R Marschke

Kent L Ross

David W Dix

Eugene C Carlson

Luke A Stout

An air bearing assembly for supporting a running web in a paper slitting apparatus is particularly adapted for use in slitting a corrugated paperboard web and includes a flat web-supporting plate which is slotted to receive a thin annular slitting blade rotatably supported above the web. The flat supporting plate includes a series of apertures for directing a flow of compressed air upwardly through the plate to support the web on an air bearing or cushion as it travels over the plate and through the slitting blade. The air apertures are preferably concentrated along the edges of the slot. The slot is contoured to the shape of the cross sectional profile of the blade such that the slot tapers to an upstream point where the blade passes through the web and into the slot and where blade load on the web is greatest. Additional air bearing support may be provided at this point as well, and across the entire supporting surface of the plate.

Air bearing support assembly for paper slitting apparatus

A stack of folded and glued corrugated paperboard boxes is slit in unison with a thin cutting blade having a linear cutting edge disposed parallel to the plane of the boxes and moved through the stack in an angular direction to slit essentially one box at a time. The stack is squared before slitting to align the box edges, however, the force of the blade on the stack as it moves therethrough holds the receding stack together such that the cut halves of each box may part laterally as the blade passes therethrough to avoid any crushing of the corrugated paperboard media.

Apparatus and method for slitting corrugated paperboard boxes

A system for aligning and squaring folded and glued boxes being conveyed serially in line or in a shingle utilizes a fixed set of alignment wheels positioned parallel to and on one side of the shingle and a set of adjustable alignment wheels positioned on the opposite lateral edge of the shingle. The adjustable alignment wheels can be adjusted as a unit to pivot on a vertical axis and to move laterally slightly into the path of the shingle. The pivot arm on which the adjustable wheels are mounted accommodates major misalignment of the initially incoming shingle, but is pivoted to an aligned position in the direction of shingle movement by the force of the moving shingle. Return of the pivot arm to the aligned position activates an air cylinder to move the alignment wheels laterally into the edge of the shingle with a force sufficient to move the boxes into engagement with the fixed alignment wheels on the opposite side, thereby providing complete edge registration of the boxes in the shingle and simultaneously squaring any boxes which may have become out of square before the glue has dried. The registration system is positioned immediately upstream of a rotary slitting blade into which the shingle is conveyed. A secondary alignment mechanism of substantially shorter length, but operating similarly to the primary upstream mechanism, helps retain accurate alignment during slitting. Spring biased holddown strips are positioned above the shingle to provide a vertical holddown force, which force progressively increases in a downstream direction to allow easy lateral movement of the boxes in the main registration mechanism, but a greater holddown force at the slitting blade.

System to align and square boxes

An apparatus for providing longitudinal, laterally spaced slits in a continuously moving sheet or web of corrugated paperboard or the like includes a plurality of upper tool heads each supporting a thin, circular rotary slitting blade. The blades are coaxially mounted and driven by a common drive shaft and each blade-carrying tool head is independently positionable across the width of the paperboard sheet. Each slitting assembly includes a lower tool head or counterhead carrying a roller assembly which supports the underside of the moving board and provides a firm surface to support the board against the upper rotary slitting blade. The roller assembly includes a circumferential radially extending slot in its outer surface through which an edge portion of the upper cutting blade travels with the sheet firmly supported by the roller surfaces on each side of the slot. A blade lubricator is attached to the upper head and applies a thin film of lubricant to the blade edge by direct engagement by a lubricating wick while the blade is rotating. The thin blade is maintained in a sharpened condition by periodic engagement with a rotary sharpening tool pivotally attached to the upper tool head for periodic light sharpening contact with one face of the beveled blade cutting edge.

Growing community of inventors

Phillips, WI, United States of America

Timothy C Prochnow