Method and apparatus for automated gap control of a scarfing roll

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12467177-B2
Application number	US-202418881027-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2024
Priority date	Jun 13, 2023
Publication date	Nov 11, 2025
Grant date	Nov 11, 2025

Abstract

An assembly and method is provided for scarfing a fibrous material with an assembly that provides automated control of a scarf gap. The assembly includes a moveable mount, a driven scarfing roll coupled to the moveable mount, and a scarfing roll lifting assembly coupled to the moveable mount. A first sensor senses contact between the scarfing roll and an external surface and a second sensor senses position of the scarfing roll when information is received from the first sensor that contact of the scarfing roll with the external surface has occurred. A control unit operates the scarfing roll lifting assembly to position the scarfing roll at a desired scarf gap measured from the contact position. The scarfing roll is positioned based on an identified high point of the external surface, such as the external forming surface of a forming drum.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A scarfing assembly for scarfing a fibrous material, the scarfing assembly comprising:
a moveable mount; a driven scarfing roll coupled to the moveable mount; a scarfing roll lifting assembly coupled to the moveable mount; a first sensor configured to sense contact between the scarfing roll and an external surface; a second sensor configured to sense position of the scarfing roll when information is received from the first sensor that contact of the scarfing roll with the external surface has occurred; and a control unit programmed to operate the scarfing roll lifting assembly to position the scarfing roll at a desired scarf gap measured from the contact position.

2 . The scarfing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the scarfing roll is positioned at least partially within a housing; and
wherein the scarfing roll lifting assembly causes movement of the scarfing roll relative to the housing.

3 . The scarfing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor comprises a load cell.

4 . The scarfing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor comprises one of an optical sensor and a torque sensor.

5 . The scarfing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the second sensor comprises an encoder.

6 . The scarfing assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a driven forming drum positioned proximate the scarfing roll and having a forming surface onto which a fibrous material is deposited; and
wherein the external surface is an outer forming surface of the driven forming drum.

7 . The scarfing assembly of claim 6 , wherein the first sensor is configured to sense contact between the scarfing roll and the outer forming surface;
wherein the second sensor is configured to sense a contact position where the scarfing roll is in contact with the outer forming surface; and wherein the control unit is further programmed to control the scarfing roll lifting assembly to position the scarfing roll at the desired scarf gap measured off the contact position.

8 . The scarfing assembly of claim 7 , wherein the control unit is further programmed to:
a) move the scarfing roll toward the forming drum; b) record a contact position of the scarfing roll when information is received from the first sensor that contact of the scarfing roll with the outer forming surface has occurred; c) move the scarfing roll away from the forming drum; d) rotate the forming drum to a new rotational position relative to the scarfing roll; e) repeat a) through d) to acquire contact positions at a plurality of rotational positions around a circumference of the forming drum; f) identify a high point on the forming surface from the acquired contact positions; and g) move the scarfing roll to a desired scarf gap position based on the identified high point.

9 . The scarfing assembly of claim 7 , wherein the control unit is programmed to acquire contact positions at a plurality of rotational positions around the entire circumference of the forming drum.

10 . The scarfing assembly of claim 7 , wherein the control unit is programmed to identify the high point as the minimum value of the acquired contact positions.

11 . The scarfing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the desired scarf gap is a thickness of an absorbent core.

12 . A method of automated gap control of a scarfing roll assembly for a fibrous material, the method comprising:
controlling a scarfing roll lifting assembly to move a driven scarfing roll toward a surface external the scarfing roll assembly; sensing contact between the scarfing roll and the surface external the scarfing roll assembly with a first sensor; upon the sensed contact, recording a contact position of the scarfing roll using feedback from a second sensor when information is received from the first sensor that contact of the scarfing roll with the surface external the scarfing roll assembly has occurred; and controlling the scarfing roll lifting assembly to position the scarfing roll at an offset from the contact position corresponding to a desired scarf gap.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising sensing contact between the scarfing roll and the external surface with a load cell.

14 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
moving the driven scarfing roll toward an outer forming surface of a driven forming drum onto which a fibrous material is deposited; and wherein the step of sensing contact between the scarfing roll and the external surface comprises sensing contact between the scarfing roll and the outer forming surface.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
a) moving the scarfing roll toward the forming drum; b) recording a contact position of the scarfing roll when information is received from the first sensor that contact of the scarfing roll with the forming surface has occurred; c) moving the scarfing roll away from the forming drum; d) rotating the forming drum to a new rotational position relative to the scarfing roll; e) repeating a) through d) to acquire contact positions at a plurality of rotational positions around a circumference of the forming drum; f) identifying a high point on the forming surface from the acquired contact positions; and g) moving the scarfing roll to a desired scarf gap position based on the identified high point.

16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising controlling the scarfing roll lifting assembly to:
position the scarfing roll at an initial offset position from a surface external the scarfing roll assembly; and subsequently move the driven scarfing roll to a contact position with the external surface.

17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein controlling the scarfing roll lifting assembly to move the driven scarfing roll comprises moving the scarfing roll relative to a housing within which the scarfing roll is at least partially positioned.

18 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
acquiring contact positions at a plurality of positions on the surface external the scarfing roll assembly; identifying a high point on the surface external the scarfing roll assembly from the acquired contact positions; and moving the scarfing roll to a desired scarf gap position based on the identified high point.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising identifying the high point as the contact position of the acquired contact positions corresponding to the minimum value.

20 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising sensing the contact position of the scarfing roll with an encoder.

21 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising sensing contact between the scarfing roll and the external surface with one of a torque sensor and an optical sensor.

Assignees

• Joa Curt G Inc

Inventors

• Rammer Megan A
• Follen Sean P
• Teresinski Jr Randy J

Classifications

• D21H25/005

  Mechanical treatment (D21H25/08, D21H25/18 take precedence) · CPC title

• D10B2509/026

  Absorbent pads; Tampons; Laundry; Towels · CPC title

• A61F2013/15788

  of the presence of the article or components · CPC title

• A61F2013/1578

  via optical means associated to computer coordinator · CPC title

• A61F13/15764

  Transferring, feeding or handling devices; Drives · CPC title