US3345010A

US3345010A - Winder roll ejector

Info

Publication number: US3345010A
Application number: US478199A
Authority: US
Inventors: Egan Edward Francis
Original assignee: FRANK W EGAN AND CO
Current assignee: Leesona Corp; FRANK W EGAN AND CO
Priority date: 1965-08-09
Filing date: 1965-08-09
Publication date: 1967-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 1984-10-03
Also published as: GB1096128A

Description

Oct. 3, 1967 E. F. EGAN WINDER ROLL EJECTOR '7 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 9, 1965 Vim.

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A fro/aver Oct. 3, 1967 E. F. EGAN 3,345,010

WINDER ROLL EJECTOR Filed Aug. 9, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 1/5 TFM o u L' l 1-,. ;4..

l1 a4 I7 1125/45 48 INVENTOR EDWARD E EGA/V Oct. 3, 1967 E. F. EGAN 3,345,010

WINDER ROLL vEJECTOR Filed Aug. 9, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 NVENTOR. -EDWAD E EGA/V BY ATTRNEV Oct. 3, 1967 A E, F, EGAN 3,345,010

WINDER ROLL EJECTOR Filed Aug. 9, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR EZDWA RD F. EGA/V Oct. 3, 1967 E. F. EGAN 3,345,010

WINDER ROLL EJECTOR Filed Aug. 9, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 I WVENTQR M 95 EDWARD E GA/V 68 Y M A r faQ/v5 Y Oct. 3, 1967 v E. F. EGAN 3,345,010.

WINDER ROLL EJECTOR Filed Aug. 9, 1965 7 sneet-sheet e INVENTOR. EDWARD E EGA/V BY M J WINDER ROLL EJECTOR Filed Aug. 9, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 TJCE- INVENTOR. EOWA R0 EGA/V TTURNEY United States Patent O 3,345,016 WINDER ROLL EJECTOR Edward Francis Egan, Martinsville, NJ., assignor to Frank W. Egan & Company, Somerville, NJ., a corporation of New Jersey Filed' Aug. 9, 1965, Ser. No. 478,199 7 Claims. (Cl. 242-66) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A web winding roll is supported and wound in a cradle comprising a pair of spaced apart winding drums rotatably journaled on a main frame, and the wound roll is removed from the cradle by apparatus which includes a pusher having an elongated surface to be juXtaposedlto said surface of the Winder roll, and means for actuating the pusher in the direction to push the Winder roll out of the cradle, and means which includes an air outlet extending along said elongated surface of the pusher producmg an air cushion between the pusher and the surface of the Winder roll.

This invention relates to improvements in winding machines and in particular to improvements to high speed continuous rewinders which will continuously wind rolls of paper or other sheet material from a large parent roll and will automatically discharge completed rolls from the machine after they are wound, insert new cores into the winding position, sever the running web and start the leading edge of the web onto the new core to begin the winding of a new roll or rolls, all without stopping or slowing down the winding operation.

In the paper industry the paper web coming from a paper making machine is wound on a conventlonal reel into rolls of large diameter and full width of the machlne, and these rolls are usually termed parent rolls. The needs of subsequent processing operations require that the large parent roll be trimmed into a narrower width and in most cases slit into multiple narrower widths and then rewound into rolls of diameters equal to or in most cases smaller than the diameter of the parent roll. Slitters and rewinders to accomplish this are well known in the art and consist of an unwind stand to receive the parent roll, a tension control unit to control the unwinding tension, a trimming and slitting unit, and a windlng machine of the type known generally as a double drum winder wherein the rolls are wound by surface contact with and while being supported by two driven drums known as bed rolls. One embodiment of this type of winder is shown in United States Patent No. 2,877,959 to Aaron. In order to obtain wound rolls of the desired tightness and hardness, it is usual to add a third driven drum to the `double drum Winder, and such drum being mounted vertically or close to verticallyy above the roll being wound and the means of mounting are such that the drum rests upon the roll being wound, moves vertically or approximately vertically upwards as the winding roll increases in diameter and while doing so is capable of exerting a controlled downward pressure upon the winding roll. This drum or roll is known in the art and is shown in one embodiment in United States Patent No. 3,03 0,042, to Gelleke.

In operation the parent roll is placed in the bearings of the unwind stand, the web of paper then threaded through the tension unit, and the slitting unit, and then attached by known means to the rewind shaft or to a core or cores mounted on the rewind shaft, the shaft at this time resting in the cradle formed by the two bed rolls. The windet is then started, accelerated to running speed 3,345,010 Patented Oct. 3, 1967 and operation continued until the desired diameter of Wound rolls is attained. The winder is then stopped, the wound rolls removed from the machine, a new shaft placed in the machine, the web attached to this new shaft and the cycle repeated. It will be appreciated that a considerable amount of production time is lost while the Winder is stopped and it is necessary to run the Winder at considerably higher speeds than the paper machine in order to keep up with the output of lthe paper machine. When the rewound rolls are of large diameter, this system works satisfactorily, but is evident that when winding rolls of small diameter the down time of the machine becomes an appreciable part of the total operating time and, in fact, may even become greater than the running time. In addition to increasing production costs, this method requires multiple winders to handle the output of one paper machine.

Another disadvantage is that the winder must be accelerated to running speed and decelerated to a stop in as short a time as possible in order to shorten the winding cycle. This requires drive motors of considerably more horsepower than are needed to maintain the normal running speed.

Prior attempts to alleviate these diiculties are represented by United States Patents Nos. 2,877,959 to Aaron and 3,030,042 to Gelleke. Both these patents disclose means of automatically removing a wound roll from the winder, inserting a new shaft, and attaching the severed end of the web to the new core. These devices shorten the time required to perform these functions, but it is still necessary to stop the Winder to accomplish them. One type of rewinding operation in which this difficulty is especially `aggravated is the slitting and rewinding of small diameter, `such as 9 inch or l0 inch, rolls known as counter rolls which are used in retail stores as a wrapping for small items and it was for the purpose of automatically slitting andlwinding these rolls that the continuous counter rolls rewinder as shown in United States Patent No. 3,066,883 to Egan was developed. The present invention relates to improvements to this type of winder but is not limited to use on winders covered by United States Patent No. 3,066,883 but can also be used on other similar types of winders, such as double drum winders.

It has been found with the prior art winders such as shown in the above Egan patent and also United States Patent No. 2,989,262 to Hornbostel that a difiiculty arises in removing the almost completely wound rolls from their position in the cradle between the two winding drums in the case of very wide machines in the range of inches and above, or when the winding core is of small diameter or a combination of both. In the known winders the rolls are removed by action of two arms which engage the ends of the winding mandrel on which the almost completely wound rolls have been wound, said arms then move the mandrel upward and toward the discharge end of the Winder so that the rolls remain in contact with one winding drum until the webs are severed and winding commences on a new core. During this movement of the mandrel it has been found that the mandrel tends to deilect due to the weight of the rolls and the tension in the paper web being wound, such deflection causing a sidewise displacement of the winding web resulting in a telescoping of the last several wraps on the wound roll.

An alternate means of moving the wound rolls from the cradle of the winding drums into the discharge position is shown in United States Patent 3,107,873 to Greding and 1,939,198 to Berry and comprises, in part,l a pusher roll which contacts the surface of the wound rolls and by means of pressure between the pusher roll and the wound -roll forces the wound rolls upward and out of the cradle, around one winding drum and into the discharge position. While this method is adequate for use on a Winder of the type that is stopped at the time the wound rolls are removed, it has been found that serious difculties arise when it is attempted to use this method for continuous winders. First, the complexity of the continuous Winder limits the maximum diameter of the pusher roll, especially when small diameter rolls are to be wound and, therefore the deflection of the pusher roll itself causes problems. Secondly, contact of the pusher roll against the rotating winding roll results in severe wrinkling and Weaving of the winding web due to the high unit pressure between the pusher roll and the winding roll.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide novel and improved means in a Winding machine to overcome the above-mentioned difficulties incident to the con"- struction and use of the heretofore known machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a winding machine novel and improved means for moving an almost fully wound roll or series of rolls on a mandrel from their position in the cradle of two Winding drums upward and toward the discharge end of the Winder while maintaining alignment of the winding web on the Winding rolls from the time the movement of the rolls is initiated until after the webs are severed and winding is started on a new mandrel.

Other objects are to provide in a winding machine a novel and improved pusher for the Winder rolls which does not contact the rolls but exerts force upon them by means of an air cushion formed between the pusher and rolls; and to obtain other advantages, and results that will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a continuous Winder incorporating the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the above;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged partialy sectioned elevation;

FIGURES 4, 5, 6 and 7 are simplified views of the operating mechanisms in various positions during the cycle of operation;

FIGURE 8 is a plan of the pusher and its associated actuating mechanism;

FIGURES 9 and 10 are enlarged views of the pusher;

FIGURE 11 is a detailed view of a core carrier block; and

FIGURE 12 is a sectional view of a core carrier block taken approximately on the plane of the line 12-12 of FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 13 is a schematic view showing another form of pusher bar construction to be used with Winder rolls of different diameter.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 3, the Winder comprises side frames 11 spaced apart by crosspiece 12 and upon which are mounted Winder

drums

13 and 14, drum 13 being driven at a rotational speed corresponding to the desired web speed by known means such as electric motor and belt drive 16. Winder drum 14 is rotated directly from drum 13 by means of belt drive 17 which may be of the adjustable speed type so that the rotational speed of drum 14 may be varied relative to that of drum 13 so as to obtain the desired winding tension, this arrangement being well known in the art. Pivoted about the axis of drum 14 are arms 18 at the outer end of which is journaled discharge drum 19 which is rotatably driven from winding drum 14 by means of belt drive 20. Drum 19 is caused to move in a partial arc about drum 14 when required by action of motorized jack screws shown generally as 21, the upper ends of which are connected to arms 18.

On each side of the Winder and pivoted about the rotational axis of roll 19 on arm 18 is guide arm 19a which has at its outer end a recess capable of engaging the outer race of ball bearing 44b mounted on mandrel 41a and whose purpose will be described below. Arm

19a is biased in a clockwise rotational direction by spring 19b and limited in this rotation by stop 19C as shown in FIGURE 3.

On the discharge end of the Winder is roll receiving table generally shown as 22 and comprising side frames 23 at the top of which are slidably mounted tracks 24 which are movable in the horizontal direction through action of fluid cylinders 25.

On the web entering end of the Winder are

idler rolls

26 and 27, web slitters 28 and expander roll 29. The slitters shown are of the shear cut type but any of the conventional types can be used to suit the Web material. The expander roll 29 serves to slightly separate the slit webs before Winding and can be of the type known in the art as a Mt. Hope expander roll.

VOn the sides of frames 11 are fixed upright channel shaped frames 30 having fixed between them crosspiece 31. Extending across the width of the Winder is crossshaft 32 journaled at each end in bearings on frames 30 and on said cross-shaft are pivoted rider roll arms 33 at the outer end of which is journaled rider roll 34, said rider roll arms being mounted on the cross-shaft in bearings so that the arms may be rotated about the crossshaft independently of the rotation of the cross-shaft. Movement of the rider roll 34 through a limited approximately vertical arc is provided by fluid cylinders 35 attached to frames 30 at one end and Irider roll arms 33 at the other. The rider roll 34 is rotated at a speed corresponding to web speed by motor 36 through belt drive 37, said motor being positioned so that its axis coincides with the axis of cross-shaft 32. The rider roll motor 36 is controlled electrically so that its speed is automatically maintained equal to that of the main drive motor 15 and may also have provision for adjustment of its output torque to control the web winding tension. The control means for these motors is well known in the art and will, therefore, not be described further.

As shown in greater detail in FIGURES 1l and 12, a core carrier block 38 is mounted in bearings on each journal extension 34a of rider roll 34 allowing said blocks to rotate independently of the rider roll. Each core carrier block 38 contains two slidably mounted core carriers 39 having recesses or saddles 40 at their outer ends to engage the

core mandrels

41a and 41b. Each core carrier is urged in a direction away from the journal extensiont 34a by compression springs 42 and limited in this movement by stop pins 43 projecting from the core carrier block into a groove in the core carrier. Saddles 40 are grooved to accept the outer races of ball bearings 44a mounted on the

core mandrels

41a and 41b. The core carrier blocks are rotated about the axis of the rider roll in a controlled manner by means of gearmotor 45 through Chain drive 46, jackshaft 47, chain drive 48, cross-shaft 32 and chain drives 49 which rotate sprockets 50 which are integral parts of the core carrier blocks. Since both core carrier blocks are driven from the cross-shaft 32, they rotate in synchronism.

Located on the upper of frames 30 and vertically over the rider roll is the core feeding mechanism shown generally as and since this mechanism forms no part of the present invention, it will not be described in detail. Briefly, new mandrels with cores are loaded onto storage tracks 76 from whence they are moved in timed sequence to the loading position as indicated by the position of mandrel 41b in FIGURE l and from which position they are deposited into the saddles 40 of the core carriers.

Beneath the winding drums and supported on main crosspiece 12 is cut-off knife assembly 80 as -best s-hown in FIGURE 3. Serrated cut-off knife 81 is rigidly attached to knife shaft 82 supported at each end by slides 83 in which the knife shaft is free to rotate. The knife and knife shaft extend across the width of the Winder in the space :between winding

drums

13 and 14. The slides 83 are free to move vertically iu ways 84 which are fixed to the main Win-der -frames 11, such vertical movement being accomplished by action of iiuid cylinder 85 through crank arm 86 rigidly attached to cross-shaft 87 and thence through arms identical to arm 86 at each side of t-he machine through links S8 to the slides 83'. At one end of knife shaft 82 is rigidly attached lever 89 Whose other end is attached by a clevis to s-pring rod 90. The spring rod passes through holes in bracket 91 attached to the slide `83 and bracket 92 attached to Ways 84 and a compression spring 93 in installed on the spring rod between bracket 91 and the clevis connecting the spring rod to lever 89. On the spring rod below bracket 91 is installed stop collar 94 while adjustable stop nuts 95 are threaded on t-he lower end of the spring rod.

In the lower or retracted position of the knife assembly as shown by FIGURE 3 the knife is 'pointed toward Winder drum 13 and approximately 45 degrees from the vertical and is held in this position by the spring while stop collar 94 limits t-he clockwise rotational movement of the knife and knife shaft. When the running Web or Webs are to be severed, cylinder 85 is actuated and the slides holding the knife assembly are moved rapidly upwards, At or about lthe time that the knife shaft contacts the web, the stop nuts 95 contact bracket 92, thus stopping the upward motion of the spring rod, resulting in a counterclockwise rotation of the knife shaft as the knife assembly continues upward. The teeth of the serrated knife are brought into contact with the moving web, piercing the web and at this time the web tension Will force the knife shaft further in the counterclockwise direction against the force of the spring until the web is completely severed. In some instances it may -be desirable to supply auxiliary means to insure that the new leading edges of the Webs are led into the nip between the new mandrel 41b and the rider roll and these means may take the -forrn of an air jet as v shown as 96 in FIGURE 6.

Construction of the .pusher bar and its operating mechanism can best :be understood by reference to FIG- URES 3, 8, 9 and 1-0` where the pusher bar 100 consists of a bar extending across the machine and having a cross section approximating a trapezoid wherein one side 101 is machined concave with a radius of concavity approxmiating the radius of the fully wound rolls. The pusher bar is solid and preferably made of aluminum or other light material so that its movement may be facilitated without strain on the operating mechanism. At about the center of concave surface 101 is groove 102 extending the length of the pusher bar and beneath this groove is manifold passage 103 which is drilled full length through the pusher bar parallel to groove 102, plugged at each end and communicating with the groove by means of multiple drilled passages 104. Compressed air is supplied to manifold 103 and thence to groove 102 by means of one or more drilled passages 105 and pipes and fittings 106.

On the bottom front surface of the pusher bar is hingedly mounted curved deflector plate 7 extending the full length of the pusher. The deector plate is movable in a short arc around its hinge by means of small uid cylinders 10S mounted in a recess at each end of the pusher and the purpose and operation of the deector plate will -be described below.

The pusher bar is held in location by journal extensions 109 on each end of the pusher bar, said journal extensions being rotatably journaled in slide bars 110. The

vsli-de bars are connected by crosspiece 111, and said slide bars and crosspiece making up a rigid U-s-haped frame which is slidably mounted in grooves 113 in Ways 112 rigidly aixed to side frames 30. In order to provide horizontal movement of the pusher and slide bar assembly, the slide bars have aixed extension arms 114 attached by means of clips to roller chains 115 which pass around idler sprockets 116 and drive sprockets 117.

`Sprockets 117 are keyed to cross-shaft 118 rotatably mounted in bearings 119 on frames 30. Also keyed to cross-shaft 11S is sprocket 120 over which roller chain 121 passes, the ends of chain 121 being connected to the double extended piston rod 122 of fluid cylinder 123 mounted on crosspiece 125 attached to frames 30 while idler sprocket 124 at the upper part of frame 30 reverses the direction of the chain. (FIGURES 1, 2 an-d 8.)

It can, therefore, be seen that the reciprocating action Vof the fluid cylinder 123 will result in a corresponding The operational motions of the various components of the Winder are controlled by electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic circuits and components and since these circuits and components are known in the art, it is believed unnecessary to describe these further.

The cycle of operation is best shown by reference to FIGUR-ES 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. In FIGURE 1 the Web W from the unwinder, coater or other processing machine enters the Winder around idler 26, is slit into multiple strips by the slitters 28', and passes under expander roll 29 where the multiple Webs are spread apart so that the Webs do not interleave in the winding process. The webs then pass over winding drum 13 and are wound up in rolls R on the mandrel 41a in the cradle of the two winding drums. At this time the mandrel is held from any movement in a longitudinal direction by t-he mandrel bearings 44a being seated in t-he core carrier recesses 40 and also by the seating of bearings 44b in the recess in the end of guide arms 19a. Discharge roll 19 is in its uppermost position, the knife and pusher are in their retracted positions, rider roll 34 is applying pressure to the Winding rolls and a new mandrel 41b has reached the pickup position of core loader 75.

In FIGURE 3 the winding rolls have built up to a larger diameter, raising the rider roll and core carrier assembly so that the core carrier 39 has been disengaged from the mandrel and the mandrel is now held in position solely by guide arms 19a. The upper core carrier has engaged new mandrel 41b and starts to lift it from its seat in the core loader.

In FIGURE 4 the Winding rolls have -built up to the required finish diameter less a few wraps of Web and are ready to be removed from the cradle of the two Winding drums. Mandrel 41b is resting in the upper core carriers and has been lifted clear of the core loader. Mandrel 41a remains in longitudinal position by virtue of guide arms 19a as before. Compressed air is noW introduced into slot 102 of the pusher and the pusher assembly starts moving toward the Winding rolls. As the pusher nears the rolls, an air cushion is formed between the winding rolls and the concave surface 101 of the pusher. The pressure of the air in the cushion is sufficient to prevent physical contact between the winding rolls and the pusher as the pusher continues its horizontal motion to move the winding rolls upward and toward the discharge roll -until the ,Winding rolls are deposited in the cradle formed by windassemblies is initiated. As the core carrier assembly approaches a horizontal position, the ends of the mandrel 4111 engage cam surfaces 130 which are resiliently mounted on rider roll arms 33. As rotation of the core carrier assembly continues, the mandrel and c-ore carriers are forced toward the rider roll against the action of core carrier springs 42 until the cores on the mandrel contact the rotating rider roll and the cores and mandrel are accelerated up -to Web speed. As disclosed in Egan Patent No. 3,066,883 but not shown here, slitting devices may be mounted on the rider roll arms to slit the cores into lengths to match the Webs at this point in the operational cycle.

Immediately after the Winding rolls have been deposited in the cradle of the discharge drum and drum 14, the pusher is retracted, the pusher air supply cut off and the pusher bar itself rotated clockwise about 30 degrees by means of fluid cylinders 126. During retraction of the pusher assembly, the rider roll is moved downward, the core carrier rotation being continued, until the mandrel and core 11b contact the running webs -on the winding drum 13 as shown in FIGURE 6, it being necessary to time the movements of the pusher and rider roll so that the pusher clears the path of the rider roll and mandrel as they descend. Also at the same time, discharge roll 19 is lowered, moving the Winding rolls R away from the path of the descending rider roll. Immediately after contact of the cores and the running webs the pusher is again advanced until the deflector plate 107 Which has previously been rotated into position by cylinders 108 comes into close proximity to the cores on the mandrel. The severing knife is then advanced, cutting the running Webs `between

drums

13 and 14 as previously described and the new leading edges of the Webs led into the nip between the new mandrel rand the rider roll 34. The knife is then retracted. Upon leaving the outgoing side of the nips the Webs are further lead around the mandrel lby the deector plate until they enter the nip between the mandrel and the winding drum 13, thus completing the first wrap of the Webs on the new mandrel 41b.

Immediately thereafter as shown in FIGURE 7 the core carrier assembly is rotated further clockwise until the mandrel and the new Winding rolls R are deposited in the cradle between Winding drums 13 and 14. The pusher assembly is then retracted to its original position as shown in FIGURE 1 and the pusher bar `rotated to its original position in preparation for the next cycle.

During the descending -movement of the rider roll as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, the discharge roll 19 is lowered until the mandrel 41a is deposited in roll receiving tracks 24 which have previously been extended for this purpose. It is preferable that the movement of the discharge roll be so timed that the web is severed before the mandrel contacts the tracks. The tracks are then retracted carrying the iinished rolls away from the Winder and the discharge roll raised to its original position, arm 19a engaging the mandrel as before and as shown in FIGURE 1. The operational cycle has now been completed and the Winder is at the portion of the cycle as shown in FIGURE l.

It has been found that any one radius of curvature of the concave surface 101 of the pusher bar will operate successfully With a range of wound roll diameters, for example a pusher bar with a radius of 71/2 inches will eject Wound rolls having finished diameters of from 9 inches to 15 inches, and a pusher bar With a radius of 13 inches is suitable for rolls of 15 to 26 inches in diameter. The radius of the surface of the pusher bar should be equal to or greater than one-half the diameter of the Wound rolls for best results. In Winding operations wherein it is necessary to often change the diameters of the Wound rolls through a considerable range, the alternate embodiment of this invention as shown in FIG. 13 may be used. In this arrangement two adjacent pusher bals 130 and 131 are used, the concave Cil surface of each bar that faces the Winder roll having a radius of curvature approximately equal to one-half of the diameter of the largest roll RL to be Wound. The pusher bars are so mounted that they may be changed in position relative to each other and to the roll so that they may be adjusted to conform to various diameters of rolls as shown, for example, from the positions shown in solid lines in FIG. 13 to position 13011 and 131a shown in broken lines Which would be suitable for a roll RS of less than half the diameter of RL.

For example, the pusher bars 130 and 131 have journal extensions or

trunnions

132 and 133 corresponding to extensions 109 of the pusher bar 100, which are respectively rotatable in

extensions

134 and 135 of slide 136 Which corresponds with and functions similarly to slide as best shown in FIG. 8. The pusher bars are rotatable on their respective trunnions `from the positions shown by solid lines to the positions a and 131a shown in broken lines, and the pusher bars are held against rotation in their adjusted positions by

set screws

137 and 138 threaded into the respective extensions 134 and and engaging the corresponding trunnions.

I claim:

1. In a web Winding machine wherein a pair of spaced apart Winding drums rotatably journaled on a main frame provide a cradle in which a web Winder roll is supported and wound between the drums, apparatus for ejecting the Winder roll from the cradle including a pusher having an elongated surface to be juxtaposed to the surface of the Winder roll, means for actuating the pusher in the direction to push said Winder roll out of the cradle and means including an air outlet extending along said elongated surface for producing an air cushion between the pusher and the surface of the Winder roll during movement of the pusher in said direction.

2. In a web Winding machine as set forth in claim 1, said pusher comprising a bar having said elongated surface which is concave and parallel to the surface of said Winder roll and provided with a longitudinal groove, and said means for producing an air cushion including means for supplying air under pressure to said groove to form said air cushion.

3. In a web winding machine as set forth in claim 1, said pusher comprising a bar having said elongated surface which is concave and parallel to the surface of said Winder roll and provided with a longitudinal groove, and said means for producing an air cushion including means for supplying air under pressure to said groove to form said air cushion, said concave surface being cylindrically concave and having a radius approximating but greater than the radius of the completed Winder roll.

4. In a web Winding machine as defined in claim 2, there being two pusher bars the radius of curvature of the concave surface of each of which is approximately equal to half the diameter of the largest Winder roll to be Wound, said means f-or actuating the pusher bar having said pusher bars mounted thereon one above the other to move said pusher bars together in the direction to push the Winder roll out of the cradle and said pusher bars being movable relatively to each other and to said means to cause their surfaces to confor-m approximately to the surface of Winder rolls of different diameter.

5. In a Web Winding machine, wherein a pair of spaced apart Winding drums rotatably journaled on a main frame provide a cradle in which a web Winder roll is supported and wound between the drums, of apparatus for ejecting the Winder roll from said cradle including a pusher movable alternately in opposite directions perpendicular to the Winder roll and having an elongated surface to be juxtaposed to said surface of the Winder roll, means for moving the pusher in one direction into juxtaposition to the surface of the Winder roll, means including an air outlet extending along said elongated surface for producing a cushion of air between the pusher and the Winder roll While they are so juxtaposed, the firstnamed means continuing said movement of the pusher in said direction to push the Winder roll out of the cradle and then moving the pusher in the opposite direction away from the Winder roll and the cradle.

6. In a web winding machine as set forth in claim 5, said means for moving the pusher including horizontal guideways, and a slide mounted in said guideways on which said pusher is mounted, and power operated means for moving said slide alternately in the direction to push said Winder roll out of said cradle and in the direction away from said cradle, said pusher comprising a bar having a longitudinal concave surface parallel to the surface of the Winder roll and said pusher bar being pivotally mounted on said slide to swing about an axis parallel to said surface and with the addition of means for swinging said bar about said axis.

7. In a web Winding machine, the combination with a main frame, a pair of spaced apart Win-ding drums rotatably journaled thereon providing a cradle for Winding and supporting a web Winder roll between the drums, the Winder roll being Wound on a core and with the addition of a rider roll on said frame above and movable toward and from said winding drums, means for moving a mandrel bearing a core partially around said rider roll to a position between and in contact with the rider roll and the Winding dru-ms, and means for Wrapping the leading end of the incoming Web around said core, ap-

l0 paratus for ejecting the Winder roll from said cradle including a pusher movable alternately in opposite directions perpendicular to the Winder roll and having an elongated surface to be juxtaposed to the surface of said Winder roll, means for moving the pusher in one direction into juxtaposition to the surface Iof the Winder roll, means including an air outlet extending along said elongated surface for producing a cushion of air between the pusher and the Winder roll while they are so juxtaposed, the first-named means continuing said movement of the pusher in said direction to push the Winder roll out of the cradle and then moving the pusher in the opposite direction away from the Winder roll and the cradle in timed relation to the deposit of a new core into said cradle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,730,552 10/ 1929 Aldrich 242-66 2,573,188 10/1951 Dyken 242-66 2,575,631 11/1951 Link 242-81 X 2,851,146 9/ 1958 Sherrill. 3,034,645 5/1962 Groppe. 3,047,248 7/ 1962 Birch et al. 242-66 X 3,107,873 10/ 1963 Greding 242-66 FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. W. S. BURDEN, Assistant Examiner.