An automatic replacement device of a secondary battery material including reel support parts to support a supply reel; a material support part spaced apart from the reel support part; clamping parts, each including a clamping roller to come into contact with the material when replacing the supply reel, a vacuum suction part to suction the material by vacuum, a clamping frame to rotatably support the clamping roller and the vacuum suction part, and a cutter to cut the material when coming into contact with the material; first drive parts to move the clamping roller toward/away from the material; and second drive parts to move the cutter toward/away from the material, wherein the automatic replacement device cuts the material as the material is suctioned to the vacuum suction part after being adhered to a material wound around a replacement supply reel when the supply reel is replaced.

A roll exchange chamber for exchanging a substrate roll is described. The roll exchange chamber includes a rotatable base construction being rotatable around a central axis. The base construction comprises a first roll holder for holding a first substrate roll, a second roll holder for holding a second substrate roll, and a wall for providing a first compartment and a second compartment in the roll exchange chamber. The wall is arranged between the first roll holder and the second roll holder. Further, a roll-to-roll processing system with a roll exchange chamber as well as a method of continuously providing a flexible substrate in a roll-to-roll processing system are described.

Unwinder of a thin ply product wound on a roll, comprising a first roll-holder assembly equipped with a first unwinding rod for a respective roll, on which the roll is adapted to be supported, and which has an axis of rotation transversal to the direction of movement of the ply unwound from the roll, a second roll-holder assembly equipped with a second unwinding rod of a respective roll, on which the roll is adapted to be supported, said second rod being parallel to said first unwinding rod of the first roll-holder assembly, said second roll-holder assembly facing said first roll-holder assembly in an unwinding zone, a ply splicing assembly placed above said first and second facing roll-holder assemblies, a ply accumulation unit to allow automatic switching between a roll being unwound in one said roll-holder assembly and a spare roll provided in the other roll-holder assembly, a system for the lateral movement of each of said unwinding rods with respect to said unwinding zone, from said unwinding zone to a loading zone wherein said rolls are outside said winding zone to facilitate loading the rolls into the respective roll-holder assemblies, wherein said splicing assembly can be moved from a working position above the two said roll-holder assemblies in said unwinding zone, to a working position above an extracted roll assembly in the loading zone, to allow preparation for splicing of the leading edge of the ply wound on the spare roll.

A sensor assembly configured to detect rolled stock on a core includes a sensor configured to detect a first roll of stock unwinding from a core, the stock unwinding from the core of the first roll is supplied as a web of stock, wherein in response to the sensor detecting a first detection configuration, the sensor takes no action and continues to detect the first roll, and wherein in response to the sensor detecting a second detection configuration, the sensor provides a command to a splice assembly to transition to a second roll of stock to replace the first roll of stock.

A sheet supply method includes an unwinding step of supplying a sheet to a downstream location at a predetermined conveyance speed and a joining step of joining the sheet from a first roll to the sheet of a second roll and cutting the sheet from the first roll at an upstream position of a joining section. In the joining step, the running speed of the sheet run from the first roll is made lower than the predetermined conveyance speed in the unwinding step, and different from a supply speed of the sheet from a supply part in the joining step. An accumulating mechanism decelerates or accelerates the sheet running to counterbalance an excess or a deficiency of the sheet which is caused by a speed difference between the running speed and the supply speed.

An apparatus for splicing comprises a first web support surface configured to support a traveling web thereon and a second web support surface configured to support a replacement web thereon. The first traveling web travels in a machine direction. The splicing assembly also comprises a first web sensor and a web joiner. A controller is configured to determine, via the first web sensor, a position of a trailing end of the traveling web and to, in response to determining the position of the trailing end, cause a leading end of the replacement web to be positioned adjacently to the trailing end. The computer is also configured to control the web joiner to create a joint coupling the trailing end to the leading end.

A high-speed digital printing system includes two unwinding machines for two input coils for a paper web, an input unwinding and splicing installation and a printing station and in which the input installation supplies, in turn, the printing station with the web of the two coils. The system also includes a splicing and rewinding installation with an output cutting and splicing equipment for an incoming web emerging from the printing station and two rewinding machines with two output coils. The output equipment feeds alternatively the rewinding machines with the incoming web by cutting and splicing of a web of the two output coils without stopping printing. An electronic controller switches the functionality of the output cutting and splicing equipment and of the rewinding machines with setting of the output coils as an operating coil and a waiting coil and, viceversa, as a waiting coil and an operating coil.

The disclosed supply roll (5) comprises a roll core (6); flat material and/or strip material (8) being carried on the roll core (6) in a multitude of windings; and at least one functional marker (2). The at least one functional marker (2) is placed in a specified relative position at an externally arranged free end section (7) of the flat material and/or strip material (8) such that information about the relative position of the free end section (7) is optically identifiable by way of the at least one functional marker (2).

An electrode connection cause determination system includes a position measuring instrument. The position measuring instrument is configured to, when an electrode moves between an unwinder and a rewinder in a roll-to-roll state, acquire coordinate value data based on a longitudinal position of the electrode determined according to a rotation amount of the rewinder. The system includes a signal generator configured to generate a connection advance notice signal if the electrode includes a connecting portion corresponding to a cause event, a seam detector configured to detect a seam attached onto the electrode after the connection advance notice signal is generated, and a determination unit configured to, when the seam is detected within a predetermined distance from a first coordinate value of the electrode after the connection advance notice signal is generated, determine that a connection cause of an electrode connection by the seam corresponds to the cause event.

The present invention relates to a method for splicing an upstream section and a downstream section of a multi-layered laminated sheet material wherein each section of the material comprises at least three layers each having first and second surfaces and wherein the at least three layers comprise first and second outer layers and at least one inner layer located between the first and second outer layers, comprising the steps of a) splicing together the upstream and downstream sections of both the first and second outer layers with a splicing material; b) removing the first outer layer from the multi-layered laminated sheet material to expose a surface of an inner layer; c) splicing the upstream and downstream sections of the exposed inner layer with a splicing material; and d) applying a replacement first outer layer to the exposed surface of the inner layer. A spliced multi-layered laminated sheet material produced according to the method is also provided. Also provided is an apparatus for splicing two sections of a multi-layered laminated sheet material wherein each section of the material comprises at least three layers each having first and second surfaces and wherein the at least three layers comprise two outer layers and at least one inner layer located between the two outer layers, the apparatus comprising: a first splicer configured to apply a splicing material to the two outer layers of the multi-layered laminated sheet material, a delaminator configured to remove a first outer layer, a second splicer located downstream of the delaminator configured to apply a splicing material to the exposed inner layer and an applicator located downstream of the second splicer configured to reapply an outer layer to the exposed inner layer.