METHOD FOR ROLLING UP DEFINITE LENGTHS OF MATS IN UNIDIRECTIONAL ROLLED ROLLS, AND A MAT ROLLING STATION FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD

Abstract

Method for rolling up definite lengths of a mats in a unidirectional rolled roll, where mats are advanced one after another into a rolling mechanism in flattened out condition and released from the mechanism in rolled up condition. A rolled up mat is ejected from the rolling mechanism and caused to roll out therefrom on top of a succeeding flattened out mat which advances towards the rolling mechanism. A mat rolling station for performing the method is provided, where a ramp conveyer is provided which advances a flattened mat towards the rolling mechanism. At the rolling mechanism, bending conveyers are provided for advancing the forwardly moving mat sections into a circular bend on the ramp conveyer. A difference of surface speeds of the bending conveyers and the ramp conveyer is controllable by a signal provoked by the advance of a succeeding mat on the ramp conveyer before the rolling mechanism.

Claims

1. A method for rolling up definite lengths of a mats in a unidirectional rolled mat roll, comprising: advancing a plurality of mats one after another into a rolling mechanism in flattened out condition, and releasing each of the plurality of mats from the rolling mechanism in rolled up condition, wherein a first mat in the rolled up condition of the plurality of mats is ejected from the rolling mechanism and caused to roll out therefrom on top of a second succeeding mat in the flattened out condition of the plurality of mats advancing towards the rolling mechanism.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein ejecting of the first mat in the rolled up condition from the rolling mechanism is initiated by a signal provoked by the advance of the second succeeding mat in the flattened out condition towards the rolling mechanism.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of mats are advanced towards the rolling mechanism along an upwards inclined ramp conveyer and each of the plurality of mats in the rolled up condition are configured to roll down the inclined ramp conveyer.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first mat in the rolling mechanism is advanced at a predetermined input speed from an input side and advanced at a predetermined output speed from an output side wherein a higher output speed than input speed caused the ejection of the first mat.

5. The method according to claim 4, whereby a mat is advanced into the rolling mechanism along the inclined ramp, then in the rolling mechanism a mat section is advanced in a direction perpendicular to the ramp, where after the mat section is advanced parallel to the ramp to oppose the input direction towards a lower end of the ramp, and finally the mat section is advanced downwards towards the mat surface which mat surface is advancing up the ramp, thus forming an initial curl wherein the advancement of a mat section downwards towards the mat surface occurs at a predetermined distance from the mat surface on the ramp when forming the initial curl of a roll, and that as further layers are added, the diameter of the innermost layer is made gradually smaller and possibly reduced further after the entire mat has entered the rolling mechanism.

6. A mat rolling station, comprising: a rolling mechanism; and a ramp conveyer configured to advance a flattened mat towards the rolling mechanism, wherein at the rolling mechanism, bending conveyers are provided for advancing a forwardly moving mat sections into a circular bend on the ramp conveyer, wherein further a difference of surface speeds of the bending conveyers and the ramp conveyer is controllable by a signal provoked by the advance of a succeeding mat on the ramp conveyer before the rolling mechanism.

7. The mat rolling station according to claim 6, wherein the bending conveyers are driven in unison to transfer a first surface speed to the mat, and whereby further the ramp conveyer is driven to transfer a second surface speed to the mat, wherein a mat-detector is provided above the ramp conveyer, and that at the detection of a mat on the ramp conveyer the detector provides signal to a control unit.

8. The mat rolling station according to claim 7, wherein the bending conveyers each comprise a cylindrical roll with resilient brush hairs extending radially away from the cylindrical roll, and that the brush hairs impart a surface speed onto the matt, whenever the rolls are caused to rotate about their cylinder axis.

9. The mat rolling station according to claim 6, wherein a curler surface is provided at the rolling mechanism, which causes a mat section to be advanced towards the ramp conveyer, and that the initial distance between the curler surface and the ramp conveyer is controllable.

10. The mat rolling station according to claim 9, wherein the curler surface is movable between a minimum and a maximum distance from the ramp conveyer surface, and that a gravitational mass is provided, which urges the curler surface towards the minimum distance.

11. The mat rolling station according to claim 9, wherein a linear actuator is provided to move the curler surface against the urge of the gravitational mass and away from the ramp conveyer to a predetermined position between the minimum and the maximum distance from the ramp conveyer surface.

12. The mat rolling station according to claim 9, wherein the curler surface comprises a rotating surface part of a roller conveyer.

13. A method for serving a mat rolling station, wherein mats in flattened out condition are advanced on an upwardly inclined ramp conveyer from an input end thereof and conveyed into a rolling station and rolled into a multilayer mat roll, whereby a rolled up mat in the rolling station is caused to be ejected therefrom towards the input end of the inclined ramp conveyer rolling against the surface speed of the inclined ramp conveyer.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the rolled up mat exiting the mat rolling station rolls on top of an advancing mat on the inclined ramp conveyer.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein an exit action of the mat rolling station is initiated by a signal acquired from a mat detector at the inclined ramp conveyer said signal from the mat detector being provoked by the advance of a flattened out mat on the ramp conveyer.

16. The method according to claim 15, whereby an operator enters flattened out mats, one after another, on the ramp conveyer, and whenever a mat is residing in rolled up condition in the mat rolling station the operator receives this rolled up mat on top of a just entered mat whereby the operator may handle the rolled up mat for further transport while the just entered mat advances into the mat rolling station.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] The embodiments of the disclosure, together with their advantages, may be best understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, they are not limiting the disclosure. The figures are schematic and simplified for clarity, and they just show details to improve the understanding of the claims, while other details may be left out. Throughout, the same reference numerals are used for identical or corresponding parts. The individual features of each aspect may each be combined with any or all features of the other aspects. These and other aspects, features and/or technical effects will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the illustrations described hereinafter in which:

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a mat rolling mechanism in its entirety in a 3-D representation;

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the central element of the rolling mechanism in action with a mat;

[0028] FIG. 3 shows the elements in FIG. 2 in action, but at a later time;

[0029] FIG. 4 shows the elements in FIG. 3 in action, but at a later time;

[0030] FIG. 5 shows the elements in FIG. 4 in action, but at a later time;

[0031] FIG. 6 is a perspective enlarged view of a detail from FIG. 1;

[0032] FIG. 7 is a side view of the mat rolling mechanism as in FIG. 6, but from the opposite side with X-ray display of internal structures;

[0033] FIG. 8 is a side view of a rolled up mat, but with an un-desirable defect;

[0034] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the internal parts of a mechanism;

[0035] FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing how the motor drives the moving parts in the mechanism;

[0036] FIG. 11 shows schematics of the suspension used for the pivotally mounted curl conveyer;

[0037] FIG. 12 shows a mat in a state, where it is not affected by any outside forces; and

[0038] FIG. 13 is a folded over mat displaying a bead along the fold line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] In FIG. 1 a mat rolling station 1 is disclosed, wherein a ramp conveyer 2 is provided, and as seen in FIGS. 2-5 the ramp conveyer 2 is to advance mats 4 in flattened out condition into a mat rolling mechanism 3, which performs the rolling up of a mat 4 in a tight mat roll 5. It is required that all the curls or windings in the roll 5 follow the same tangential direction throughout the entire roll as is the case with the rolled up mats 5 shown schematically in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0040] A rolled up mat 5.s which deviates from this desired roll pattern, is disclosed in FIG. 8. Here a so called S-fold 6 is shown in the center of the roll 5.s. As seen, the outer curls of the roll 5.s proceeds from the trailing edge 7 and counterclockwise, as indicated by arrow 10, around the roll 5.s and forms a spiral pattern towards the center of the roll 5.s. At the center point, close to the leading edge 8, the direction shifts and the leading edge 8 is folded to run clockwise as indicated by arrow 9 in the innermost part of the roll 5.s. When a mat, which is rolled with the S-fold at its innermost part is deployed on a floor, the sharp bend causing the shift from counterclockwise to clockwise curling up of the mat, may remain lodged in the fabrics of the mat, and the mat will thus fail to flatten out immediately, and thus a trailing edge 8 may stand up from the ground. Such upstanding edge is extremely hazardous as any person may be tripped by it and fall, which for elderly people can lead to grave conditions involving fracture of bones and even fatality.

[0041] The mat 4 in FIG. 12 is shown as it would arrange itself if no outside forces were at hand. The pile loaded parts 30 of the mat will position itself along the lines of a plane, and the end parts 31, which are without pile, will bend slightly away from the plane made up of the pile loaded side. When the mat 4 is diploid on a floor, gravitational pull on the pile loaded parts will cause it to lie flat and the slight bend 32 at the end parts are believed to make it even more un-likely that the mat deploys with up-standing end parts.

[0042] If a mat is stored for a longer time with an S-fold, which forces the slight bend 32 sharply in the opposite direction towards, and not away from the piled surface 30, this may result in a fold being created, which does not un-fold at deployment, and thus the hazardous up-standing end part is created.

[0043] The basic workings of the mat rolling station, is disclosed in FIGS. 2-5. As seen in FIG. 2, a mat 4 is initially placed in flattened out condition on ramp conveyer 2. The ramp conveyer 2 advances the mat 4, as indicated by arrow 11, into mat rolling mechanism 3. The mechanism 3 comprises a number of surfaces which move to bend leading edge 8 and following sections of the mat 4 to form a curl 12 on the ramp conveyer 2. As seen in FIG. 2, the curl 12 is initially made quite large, so this curl 12 may be made without excessive force.

[0044] Ideally it is desired, that the upper parts of the curl, by way of gravity would be able to keep the curl in place, even if the moving surfaces designed to shape the bend were removed. The ideal size of the diameter 34 of an initial curl 12 then relates to weight per unit area, and bending resilience of the mat and its thickness. It is to be understood that bending resilience may well differ according to which side of the mat, forms the outside of the curl.

[0045] To obtain the measure for a given mat 4, it is placed on a plane flat horizontal surface and folded in two equally long plies along a straight line perpendicular to the length direction of the mat 4. Hereby a bead 36 will form along the fold line and the size of this bead 36 measured as its height 33 from the surface 35, will correlate to the minimum diameter size of the initial roll or first curl 12 made when rolling up the mat. The initial curl diameter 34 should not be smaller than half the bead size 33, and preferably the initial curl diameter 34 is adjusted to form in the range between the bead size 33 and twice the bead size 33. As the initial curl diameter 34 when the mat 4 enters a particular mat rolling mechanism depends on many factors, such as speed and wear of rollers 16,17,18 this diameter for a particular mat type and size may be adjusted by trial and error by rolling the mat up with different adjustments of the position of the curl conveyer 18.

[0046] FIG. 4 shows the tight mat roll 5 in the mat rolling mechanism 3, while a succeeding mat 4 is advancing up along the ramp conveyer 2. A mat detector 13 is provided at the entrance of the mat rolling mechanism 3 and by way of radiation 14, the detector 13 may obtain a signal indicating whether or not a mat 4 is present on the ramp conveyer 2 below the detector 13. The detector 13 may comprise any kind of sensor, which depends on energy reflected off, or transmitted through the surface below it such as light, sound, x-ray, radio waves or any other known transmitted or present energy, which sensor technique may detect, in order to obtain a detection signal. The detection signal is served at the control unit in control box 28. In FIG. 5 the leading edge 8 of a mat has entered into the mat rolling mechanism 3 and at the same time, the curled up mat 5 exits the rolling mechanism 3 towards the same side it was entered into the mechanism 3. As indicated by arrow 15 the mat roll 5 travels against the direction, in which the mat 4 advances, but along the same path. This is possible in that mat roll 5, rolls on top of the succeeding mat 4, as this mat 4 advances up the ramp conveyer 2. This unique feature of the rolling station, allow the station to work without any idle time, as the operator does not have to wait for a mat to exit the rolling mechanism, before he serves a new mat onto the ramp conveyer.

[0047] The signal from the detector 13 is used in instigating the eject action of a rolled up mat 5, and here a suitable time delay may be introduced, if need be, to time the exit of the rolled up mat 5 to be aligned with the advance into the station of the proceeding mat, as may be seen in FIG. 5. As seen in FIGS. 2-5, the ramp conveyer 2 inclines upwards to the mat rolling mechanism 3, and thus the rolled up mat 5 ejected from the mechanism 3 will have a downhill roll to start with. This helps the rolled up mat to arrive swiftly for pick up by the operator at the entrance of ramp conveyer 2. During the operator pick up action, the succeeding mat 4 has already been positioned on the ramp conveyer 2 and is on its way towards the rolling mechanism 3, and as soon as the rolled up mat has been put aside, the operator may busy himself with adding the next mat to the ramp conveyer 2. Thus, neither operator nor mat rolling mechanism idles at any time during operation.

[0048] The mat rolling mechanism 3 is made up of a succession of bending conveyers, which advances the mat into a circular bend or curl 12, which builds up on the ramp conveyer 2. In the example of the invention shown in FIGS. 2-6, the following succession of conveyers are provided: lift conveyer 16 which lifts the mat up, return conveyer 17 which turns the mat to advance it in the opposite direction of the advance direction of ramp conveyer 2, and a curler surface 19 which bends the mat back to approach the ramp conveyer 2. Each of the bending conveyers 16, 17, 19 is disclosed as roll conveyers each comprising a large roll, but any type of conveyer may be used. Especially the curler surface 19 may comprise a guide surface or surfaces on which the advancing mat glides, as the forward pressure created by the previous succession of conveyers 16,17 may suffice to send the mat in the right direction to form a more or less circular curl 12, but in the presented embodiment, a curl conveyer 18 is used, so that the surface 19 is a moving surface and is constituted by a part of the outer rotating circumference of curl conveyer 18.

[0049] The roll conveyers 16, 17, 18 each constitute one cylindrical roll with resilient brush hairs standing radially out from the roll, and it is these brush hairs, which contacts the mat surface, and advances it in the tangential direction of movement of the cylindrical roll as it is rotated. As seen in FIGS. 2-5 the outer circular perimeter of the brush hairs of one cylindrical roll may well overlap the outer circular perimeter of the brush hairs of the next roll. As the brush hairs are arranged in circumferential disc shape areas, which alternates with bald areas along the length of each cylindrical roll, it is possible to arrange the hairs of one roll to enter the bald areas of adjacent rolls, so that the brush hairs does not impede the rotational drive of the rolls, even if they constitute circular circumferential surfaces which overlap one another. This may be seen in FIG. 9.

[0050] As seen in FIG. 11 and FIG. 9, the curl conveyer 18 is mounted on a pivotally suspended arm 20. The pivot point of the arm 20 coinside with the suspension point of the return conveyer 17 and thus the curl conveyer 18 may pivot around the center of return conveyer 17 while the distance between return and curl conveyers 17,18 remains unchanged, as indicated in FIG. 11 where pivot arrow 21 shows the pivotal action of curl conveyer 18. As seen in FIG. 6, the pivotal action is guided by a cylindrical cam surface 22 which may be cut out from an end plate 23 of the rolling mechanism 3. The rotating shaft of the curl conveyer extends through the end plate 23, and may move along the cam surface 22. The cam surface 22 defines the pivotal end points and thus the range of circular movement in the direction of pivot arrow 21, which the curl conveyer may travel.

[0051] A motor 24 is dedicated the drive of the roller conveyers 16, 17, 18 and as indicated in FIG. 10 and FIG. 6, the motor 24 is directly connected to the drive shaft 17.1 of return conveyer 17, and by way of drive belts 25 the lift conveyer 16 and the curl conveyer 18 are driven in unison with return conveyer 17, and they thus have the same rotational speed. As they are also made with the same outer diameter, the surface speeds of each of lift conveyer 16, turn conveyer 17 and curl conveyer 18 are also the same. The rotational speed of drive motor 24 may be controlled as is known in the art. A further separate controllable motor 26 is provided in order to drive the ramp conveyer 2. Both motor 24 and further motor 26 are individually and independently controlled, so that the advance speed of the ramp conveyer 2 may be set independently of the circumferential speed of the three conveyers 16, 17, 18 driven by motor 24.

[0052] As seen in FIG. 11 and also in FIG. 9, the arm 20 carries curl conveyer 18 at one end thereof, so the weight of the arm 20 and the conveyer will impart a gravitational pull of curl surface 19 towards the ramp conveyer 2, and this gravitational pull imparts a pinch action in direction of arrow 29 in FIG. 3. In order to lift the curl conveyer up, an actuator 27 is provided, which may lift up the arm 20 on the command of a control unit situated inside a box 28 indicated in FIG. 7. When the actuator 27 is activated, the arm 20 may be lifted to put the curl conveyer 18 and thus curl surface 19 in a highest position, and thus allow a large initial curl 12 to be shaped at the advance of a leading edge 8 of a mat 4 as indicated in FIG. 2.

[0053] Once a first curl 12 has formed, the actuator 27 may retract and cause a lowering of curl conveyer 18 towards the surface of ramp conveyer 2 and thereby cause a pinching action 29 of the initial curl 12, and subsequent curls, which are added by the combined movement of ramp conveyer 2 and lift conveyer 16, return conveyer 17 and curl conveyer 18. At some point, the actuator 27 is completely returned, and the entire weight of arm 20 and curl conveyer 18 rests on the mat roll 5, and this will result in a minimum size of the hole at the center of the mat roll. In the present embodiment, this size is determined by factors such as weight of the conveyer, possibly added mass to the arm 20, and mat properties.

[0054] It is possible to view the arm 20 as a weight arm and by adding mass to it at either the one or the other side of the suspension point, here the rotational center 17.1 of return conveyer 17, the pinch action may either be increased or decreased. It is also possible to completely balance out the weight of the curl conveyer 18 and control the entire pinch action by way of the actuator 27. This would require the actuator to be double acting and also to be fastened to the arm 20 and not just to provide a lifting force to the arm 20 as it is seen in FIG. 6, where the arm 20 is somewhat above the endpoint of the actuator 27.

[0055] When a rolled up mat 5 is residing and rotating in the rolling mechanism as seen in FIG. 4, the surface speeds of all the conveyers in touch with the mat roll 5 are the same. By increasing the surface speed of the bending conveyers 16, 17, 18 with respect to the ramp conveyer 2 the upper side of the roll 5 will advance faster than the lover side thereof. This difference in speed of upper and lower side of mat roll 5 will advance the entire roll 5 towards the lower end of ramp conveyer 2, and therefore the mat will eject from rolling mechanism 3. At the end of the ejection action, the mat roll will have a rotational speed, and thus a surface speed, which will exceed the speed of the ramp conveyer 2. This prevents the just ejected mat from being transported back into the rolling mechanism by ramp conveyer 2 on the surface of which it is rolling. The combined effect of ramp conveyer being enclined downwards towards its lover end, and the rotational inertia of the rotating rolled up mat 5, will ensure that the mat proceeds down the ramp conveyer 2 where it may be either picket up by an operator or roll out over the edge of the ramp conveyer 2 to be gripped by a tray or other implement not disclosed in the drawing.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0056] 1 Rolling station [0057] 2 Ramp Conveyer [0058] 3 Mat rolling mechanism [0059] 4 Mat [0060] 5 Tight mat roll [0061] 6 S-fold [0062] 7 Trailing edge [0063] 8 Leading edge [0064] 9 Clockwise arrow [0065] 10 Counterclockwise arrow [0066] 11 Up ramp direction [0067] 12 Initial curl [0068] 13 Detector [0069] 14 Radiation [0070] 15 Downhill arrow [0071] 16 Lift conveyer [0072] 17 Return conveyer [0073] 18 Curl conveyer [0074] 19 Curl surface [0075] 20 Arm [0076] 21 Pivot arrow [0077] 22 Cylindrical cam surface [0078] 23 End plate [0079] 24 Motor [0080] 25 Drive belts [0081] 26 Further motor [0082] 27 Actuator [0083] 28 Control box [0084] 29 Pinch direction [0085] 30 Pile [0086] 31 End parts [0087] 32 Bend [0088] 33 Bead size [0089] 34 Initial curl diameter [0090] 35 Horizontal surface [0091] 36 Bead