The present invention relates to an apparatus and process for receiving and rotating strips of material on a transfer roll toward a moving surface and transferring the strips to the moving surface. More specifically, the present invention relates to cutting discrete strips of continuously moving material, rotating the strips, and then surfacely placing the strips with the continuously moving surface.
Various apparatus are currently available that receive strips of cut material and then manipulate the material by rotating or pivoting the material relative to its initial direction of movement and then placing it on or near a continuously moving surface. In placing the strips of material with the moving surface, the apparatus generally begin the placement by initially contacting the leading edge of the strip with the moving surface and then progressively laying or rolling the strip upon the surface with the trailing edge of the strip being the last to be laid upon the moving surface.
A problem that exists with these apparatus is that the rotation of the transferring element, upon which the strip is carried, can cause the transferring element to bite or dig into the moving surface, thereby undesirably cutting or otherwise mutilating the moving surface. For example, as the transferring element releases the leading edge of the strip material and then begins to pivot or rotate upwardly away from the moving surface, the trailing edge of the transferring element pivots or rotates against and into the moving surface. This can damage the moving surface and/or disrupt the proper positioning or registration of the strip with the moving surface, and is particularly undesirable when the moving surface is a woven or non-woven material.
This problem is particularly acute when the strip being laid upon the moving surface is of a generally elongate or rectangular shape having its longest axis parallel to the direction of movement of the moving surface.
Another problem occurs in properly releasing the strip of material from the transferring element to the moving surface. Generally, these strips of material are held on their respective transferring elements by a vacuum effect created through perforations or holes in the outer surface of the transferring element. The problem is that these apparatus may not extinguish the vacuum against the strip of material as the strip of material is progressively transferred leading edge to trailing edge on the moving surface. For example, if the vacuum is not progressively extinguished as the strip is progressively laid from the transferring element to the surface, portions of the strip element can continue to be held by vacuum against the transferring element resulting in an undesirable pleat or fold in the strip material, skewed alignment of the strip material with the moving surface, and the like.