An apparatus and method for supporting sheet material, comprising a frame including a first arm and a second arm, the second arm in communication with the first arm to support a roll of the sheet material there-between, and a drive roller for transporting the sheet material from the roll. The first arm and the second arm automatically resize the frame corresponding to the dimensions of the roll of the sheet material to provide constant tension in the roll of sheet material by controlling a position of the roll of the sheet material.

A medium supplying device includes a housing part configured to house a rolled medium obtained by winding a sheet, a pair of rollers disposed at a predetermined interval in the housing part, and a supplying belt with an endless annular shape provided around the pair of rollers and configured to rotate along with rotation of the pair of rollers. An outer peripheral surface of the rolled medium is supported with the supplying belt, and the supplying belt is driven into rotation to rotate the rolled medium to supply the sheet.

A medium supplying device includes a housing part configured to house a rolled medium obtained by winding a sheet, a pair of rollers disposed at a predetermined interval in the housing part, and a supplying belt with an endless annular shape provided around the pair of rollers and configured to rotate along with rotation of the pair of rollers. An outer peripheral surface of the rolled medium is supported with the supplying belt, and the supplying belt is driven into rotation to rotate the rolled medium to supply the sheet.

An apparatus and method for stretch wrapping of a palletized load uses film tension feedback derived from a film tension control load cell to control film dispensation. The load cell measures film tension and the film payout rates is determined by the film tension. Film tension values are used to determine when an out of bounds condition occurs, namely, when a film break has occurred, or when a possible film break is about to occur or when the film has been cut at the end of a wrapping cycle. To prevent film free end entanglement caused by a break, clamps engage the film so the film tail is controlled, eliminating the risk of recoil. The broken film tail may then be quickly and reliably reattached to the rotating load in a desired position.

A winding device (10) for winding a web (92) onto a reel (90) has a drive shaft (20), a gear (30), a clutch shaft (63), an energy storage means (50), a clutch (60) and an output shaft (80). The gear (30) is configured, as a positive-engagement gear, to transmit a rotary movement of the drive shaft (20) to a first clutch shaft element (61) assigned to the clutch shaft (63). The clutch shaft (63) is connected via the clutch (60) with the output shaft (80) in order, selectively, to enable or prevent a transmission of torque between the clutch shaft (63) and the output shaft (80). The gear (30) has, without the energy storage means (50) having effect, a first predetermined transmission ratio (i_0) between the drive shaft (20) and the clutch shaft (63), and the energy storage means (50) is configured to store and release rotational energy and to vary the transmission ratio.

Disclosed is a web handling system that includes a spindle having a spindle magnetic coupling portion and a roll core configured for receiving the spindle for mounting thereon and having a roll magnetic coupling portion, wherein the spindle and roll magnetic coupling portions are configured for magnetically attracting each other to hold the roll on the spindle.

Disclosed is a web handling system that includes a spindle having a spindle magnetic coupling portion and a roll core configured for receiving the spindle for mounting thereon and having a roll magnetic coupling portion, wherein the spindle and roll magnetic coupling portions are configured for magnetically attracting each other to hold the roll on the spindle.

A conveying apparatus includes: a conveyor including a brake to apply brakes to a web, the conveyor configured to convey the web while giving tension to the web by applying brakes to the web using torque of the brake; and a controller configured to control the conveyor. The controller performs at least one of a first control or a second control. The first control includes determining a first torque of the brake during acceleration of the web to be a value depending on a first inertial load at the conveyor during the acceleration of the web. The second control includes determining a second torque of the brake during deceleration of the web to be a value depending on a second inertial load at the conveyor during the deceleration of the web.

A sheet supplying apparatus, which is capable of winding a sheet tightly, includes a driving unit configured to cause a roll including a wound consecutive sheet to rotate in a first direction for feeding the sheet or a second direction opposite to the first direction, a sensor that detects a leading end portion of the sheet separated from an outer circumferential surface of the roll, and a contact body that presses the outer circumferential surface. Before the sheet is fed, in a state in which the contact body presses the outer circumferential surface, the driving unit causes the roll to continuously rotate in the second direction until a detection cycle of the leading end portion by the sensor is less than a predetermined value.

A method for reducing the effects of variations in an unwinding, convolutely wound roll of web material is disclosed. The method utilizes the steps of: a. selecting a reference objective relating to a downstream operation, b. choosing at least one feedback device correlated to the reference objective, c. collecting process data from the at least one feedback device at different positions within a time-varying operation cycle for at least one operation cycle at a learning speed, d. calculating an error as the difference between the collected process data from step (c) and a reference signal related to the selected reference objective, e. generating a correction signal based upon the calculated error from step (d) and, f. applying the correction signal to the actuator during a succeeding time-varying operation cycle.