When a remaining amount of a sheet on one original sheet roll is equal to or less than a predetermined remaining amount, a pair of holding pads is brought into a first posture where holding surfaces are opened, and the holding surface of one holding pad is pressed to a joining end portion from the outside of the original sheet roll in a radial direction of the other original sheet roll. Further, the holding pad is moved such that the joining end portion is separated toward the outside of the original sheet roll in the radial direction. Further, the posture of the pair of holding pads is changed into a second posture where the holding surfaces approach each other, and the joining end portion is conveyed to a joining part in a state where the joining end portion is sandwiched between the holding surfaces of the pair of holding pads.

An apparatus, and a related method, for unwinding reels and for joining a ply between two reels including a first unwinder adapted to unwind a first reel, a second unwinder adapted to unwind a second reel, a joining device adapted to join a first ply belonging to the first reel with a second ply belonging to the second reel, the joining device including a first pulling bar is able to pull a flap of the first ply along a joining path with the second ply, a second pulling bar is adapted to pull a flap of the second ply along a joining path with the first ply, joining means configured to join, in a joining point along the joining path, the flap of the first ply with the second ply or the flap of the second ply with the first ply, first cutting means configured to cut the first ply or the second ply upstream of the joining point where the joint is performed between the first ply and the second ply, and second cutting means configured to cut the flap of the first ply or the flap of the second ply downstream of the joining point.

A joining unit includes: a suction holding member having a suction surface configured to suction an end section of a sheet; a moving mechanism configured to move the suction surface toward an intermediate section of a sheet of a delivery-side original material roll along a path set in advance so that tension is applied to the sheet; and a regulating mechanism that is configured to switch between a regulated state in which a movement of the end section of the sheet with respect to the suction holding member due to the tension is regulated and an allowable state in which the movement of the end section of the sheet with respect to the suction holding member is allowed. The controller switches the regulating mechanism to the regulated state during the movement of the suction surface toward the intermediate section of the sheet of the delivery-side original material roll.

The present disclosure relates to a method for splicing a web of packaging material, comprising: guiding the web of packaging material through a splicing device comprising one or more imaging devices, a slitter, and a sealing unit; acquiring a first set of images of one or more areas of the packaging material, storing the acquired first set of images, slitting the web of packaging material in one or more locations to form a tail end and a head end of a web of packaging material, aligning the head end and the tail end and superimpose one on the other in preparation for forming a splice, utilizing the imaging devices and the stored acquired first set of images to fine tune the alignment of the head end and the tail end, sealing the splice.

A method for splicing a web of packaging material is provided. The method comprises: guiding the web of packaging material through an automatic splicing device; determining the position of at least one mark of the material web by means of a detector; moving the material web based on the determined positon such that a specific area of the material web is arranged in proximity to a cutting unit; cutting the material web in order to form a separate leading part of the material web; introducing a new leading part of a separate material web into the automatic splicing device; determining the position of at least one mark of the newly introduced material web; moving the newly introduced material web based on the determined position such that a specific area of the newly introduced material web is arranged in proximity to a sealing arm of the cutting unit; and sealing the separate leading part of the material web and the newly introduced material web.

Method for unwinding web materials from two parent reels (1, 2), wherein a first parent reel (1) in a depletion phase is replaced by a second parent reel (2), wherein during said replacement a first and a second web material (N1, N2) are unwound from both parent reels, wherein before the completion of said replacement the first web material (N1) is joined to the second web material (N2) and then it is cut, wherein the joining of said web materials (N1, N2) is preceded by the insertion of the second web material in an area where the two web materials are joined, and during the step of inserting the second web material in said joining area the second web material is guided on a guide surface (41, 44) which guides it towards the joining area. In said insertion step, the second web material adheres pneumatically to guide surface.

The unwinder includes an unwinding station, in which to arrange a reel to be unwound. In the unwinding station there is arranged a series of guide rollers, defining a feed path of the web material. There are also provided: a cutting member adapted to cut a web material coming from an exhausted reel; and splicing members to splice a trailing edge of a first web material coming from an exhausted reel to a leading edge of a second web material coming from a new reel. A pick-up device is configured to pick up the leading edge of the second web material from a temporary retaining element, carried by a transfer unit to transfer reels to the unwinding station.

A sheet delivery system includes: a joining unit configured to join, to an intermediate section of a sheet being delivered from a delivery-side original material roll, an end section of a sheet of a standby-side original material roll; and an operation robot configured to retrieve the end section of the sheet from the standby-side original material roll and convey the end section of the sheet to the joining unit. The sheet delivery system is configured to set, in advance, a sheet retrieval position at which the sheet is retrieved from each of the original material rolls, for each of the original material rolls. The operation robot is configured to convey the end section of the sheet from each of the sheet retrieval positions to the joining unit.

An unwinding assembly comprising first and second unwinding and handling units comprising respective robots having respective wrists movable under the control of at least one electronic control unit, wherein each of said unwinding and handling units comprises a respective unwinding device mounted on the wrist of the respective robot. The present invention also relates to an unwinding and handling unit capable of handling the reel carried by it with high freedom of movement, while maintaining small dimensions.

A method for automatically replacing reels in an unwinding assembly capable of carrying out the handling operations of the reels, as well as preparing and joining the tail of the web of the finished reel with the head of the web of the new reel in a simple, efficient way, reducing the risk of malfunctions and maintaining the correct orientation of the new web as that of the finished web.