GB396599A - An improved machine for making spirally-wound tubes, such as drinking straws, from paper strips - Google Patents

Abstract

396,599. Paper drinking-straws. BALTON, J., 1200, South Eutaw Street, Baltimore, U.S.A. Dec. 3, 1932, No. 34307. [Class 99 (ii).] A machine for making paper tubes, such as drinking-straws, comprises tube-forming mechanism including a mandrel 52 carried by a chuck &c. 51 and upon which two paper strips are helically wound by a belt 42, a glue applying device consisting of a rotatable glue wheel 64 mounted in a pot 53, and a cutting unit 104 provided with a rotatable cutter wheel 120. The tube-forming mechanism, gluing device and cutting unit are all mounted on a common bed 1 and connected to a common driving shaft. Tube-forming mechanism. The belt 42 is mounted between a loose pulley 22 and a driven pulley 24 and takes a couple of turns around the mandrel 52. Both pulleys are mounted on slides 18, 25 which are movable towards or away from each other to adjust the tension on the belt, either manually by a screw 21 or automatically by a weight tending to rotate a pinion disposed between racks secured to the pulley slides. Glue-applying device. The glue pot 53 is electrically heated and carries a paper guiding and tensioning plate 74 and an adjustable scraper 66 coacting with the wheel 64. The plate 74 is formed with two grooves 76 to receive the paper strips and also spring-pressed tension blocks 87. One of the paper strips engages the roller 64, but the other, which later actually contacts with the mandrel, is passed over a wick 91 dipping into a lubricant cup carried by the glue pot so that the formed tube will not stick to the mandrel. The pot is also provided with a guard plate 100 to prevent the paper strip following the wheel 64 should it break between the wheel and mandrel. Cutting unit. The rotatable wheel 120 is provided with a radially adjustable cutter blade 122 made of thin wafer steel and formed with two concaved bevelled edges 123, 124 defining between them a long cutting point 125. The wheel is carried by a bifurcated member 113 secured to a surrounding sleeve 132 which is provided with vertical slots 135 for the passage of the cutter blade and also an annular straw guiding groove 136 in alignment with a guiding horn 138 which is carried by the housing 104 and has its inlet end disposed near the end of the mandrel 52. The sleeve 132 is adapted to rotate so that when the cutter is in operation it will move with the tube and not retard the passage of the latter through the machine. Means for preventing the tube from being bent or deflected during the cutting operation and also for ejecting cut-off lengths of the tube from the machine are described.