Bulk pack napkin separator

Abstract

A bulk pack napkin separator and method utilize various combinations of simultaneous compression of several bulk packs and various forms of bulk pack accumulators for improving speed and functionality of the separator.

1 . A bulk pack napkin separator apparatus configured for operative connection between a folder and a wrapper, with the separator apparatus having a backstop and a paddle gate and being further configured for receiving two or more independent streams of folded napkins along separate parallel folded sheet paths from the folder and separating the independent streams of napkins into uncompressed bulk packs of the folded napkins disposed in a space between the backstop and a paddle gate and arranged in a parallel array of bulk packs extending substantially perpendicular to the folded sheet paths, the apparatus comprising at least one of the arrangements from the group of arrangements consisting of:
 a movable backstop arrangement wherein the backstop is movable to simultaneously compress the bulk packs in the parallel array of bulk packs in the space between the backstop and the paddle gate into an array of bulk packs in a compressed state;   a compressed pack transport arrangement for transporting the compressed bulk packs in the array of bulk packs in the compressed state to the wrapper;   a small accumulator for receiving one array of the bulk packs from the space between the backstop and the paddle gate and storing the received array of bulk packs for a period of time prior to delivering the bulk packs in the stored array of bulk packs to the wrapper, to thereby allow the wrapper to operate at a different speed than the folder and separator;   a large accumulator for receiving one or more arrays of the bulk packs from the space between the backstop and the paddle gate and storing the received array(s) of bulk packs for a period of time prior to delivering the bulk packs in the stored array(s) of bulk packs to the wrapper, to thereby allow the wrapper to operate at a different speed than the folder and separator; and   a small accumulator for alternatively receiving one array of the bulk packs from either the space between the backstop and the paddle gate or the large accumulator and storing the received array of bulk packs for a period of time prior to delivering the bulk packs in the stored array of bulk packs to the wrapper, to thereby allow the wrapper to operate at a different speed than the folder and separator.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein, the wrapper does not include a bulk pack compression arrangement, and the separator apparatus delivers the bulk packs to the wrapper in a compressed state. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the wrapper includes an infeed path extending generally parallel to the folded sheet paths; and   the arrays of bulk packs are transported out of the space between the backstop and paddle gate to the infeed path by the transport arrangement in a direction generally perpendicular to the folded sheet paths;   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein, the wrapper does not include a bulk pack compression arrangement, and the separator apparatus delivers the bulk packs to the wrapper in a compressed state. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the wrapper includes an infeed path extending generally parallel to the folded sheet paths;   the small accumulator stores the array of bulk packs in a direction extending parallel to the infeed path; and   the arrays of bulk packs are transported out of the space between the backstop and paddle gate to the small accumulator by the transport arrangement in a direction generally perpendicular to the folded sheet paths;   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein, the wrapper does not include a bulk pack compression arrangement, and the separator apparatus delivers the bulk packs to the wrapper in a compressed state. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the wrapper includes an infeed path extending generally parallel to the folded sheet paths;   the small accumulator stores the array of bulk packs in a direction extending parallel to the infeed path;   the large accumulator store the array(s) of bulk packs in a direction extending generally perpendicular to the folded sheet paths with each array of the one or more arrays being disposed in an array of rows disposed from one another in a direction parallel to the folded sheet paths;   the arrays of bulk packs are transported out of the space between the backstop and paddle gate to the small accumulator by the transport arrangement in a direction generally perpendicular to the folded sheet paths;   the arrays of bulk packs are alternatively first transported out of the space between the backstop and paddle gate the transport arrangement in a direction generally perpendicular to the folded sheet paths and then inserted as adjacent rows into the large accumulator in a direction parallel to the folded sheet paths.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein, the transport arrangement receives the rows of bulk packs from the large accumulator in a direction opposite to the folded sheet path 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein, the wrapper does not include a bulk pack compression arrangement, and the separator apparatus delivers the bulk packs to the wrapper in a compressed state. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , comprising:
 the movable backstop arrangement; and   the small accumulator for receiving one array of the bulk packs from the space between the backstop and the paddle gate and storing the received array of bulk packs for a period of time prior to delivering the stored array of bulk packs to the wrapper, to thereby allow the wrapper to operate at a different speed than the folder and separator;   wherein, the small accumulator receives the array of bulk packs in a compressed state from the space between the backstop and the paddle gate, maintains the compressed bulk packs in the compressed state and delivers the bulk packs to the wrapper in the compressed state.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , further comprising a large accumulator operatively connected to the small accumulator and the space between the backstop and paddle gate by the compressed pack transport arrangement for receiving the array of bulk packs in a compressed state from the space between the backstop and the paddle gate, maintaining the compressed bulk packs in the compressed state and returning the array of compressed bulk packs to the compressed pack transport arrangement in the compressed state. 
     
     
         12 . A method for operating a bulk pack napkin separator apparatus configured for operative connection between a folder and a wrapper, with the separator apparatus having a backstop and a paddle gate and being further configured for receiving two or more independent streams of folded napkins along separate parallel folded sheet paths from the folder and separating the independent streams of napkins into uncompressed bulk packs of the folded napkins disposed in a space between the backstop and a paddle gate and arranged in a parallel array of bulk packs extending substantially perpendicular to the folded sheet paths, the method comprising at least one of the steps from the group of steps consisting of:
 operating a movable backstop arrangement wherein the backstop is movable to simultaneously compress the bulk packs in the parallel array of bulk packs in the space between the backstop and the paddle gate into an array of bulk packs in a compressed state;   operating a compressed pack transport arrangement for transporting the compressed bulk packs in the array of bulk packs in the compressed state to the wrapper;   operating a small accumulator for receiving one array of the bulk packs from the space between the backstop and the paddle gate and storing the received array of bulk packs for a period of time prior to delivering the bulk packs in the stored array of bulk packs to the wrapper, to thereby allow the wrapper to operate at a different speed than the folder and separator;   operating a large accumulator for receiving one or more arrays of the bulk packs from the space between the backstop and the paddle gate and storing the received array(s) of bulk packs for a period of time prior to delivering the bulk packs in the stored array(s) of bulk packs to the wrapper, to thereby allow the wrapper to operate at a different speed than the folder and separator; and   operating a small accumulator for alternatively receiving one array of the bulk packs from either the space between the backstop and the paddle gate or the large accumulator and storing the received array of bulk packs for a period of time prior to delivering the bulk packs in the stored array of bulk packs to the wrapper, to thereby allow the wrapper to operate at a different speed than the folder and separator.   
     
     
         13 . A method for operating a bulk pack napkin separator apparatus configured for operative connection between a folder and a wrapper, with the separator apparatus being configured for receiving two or more independent streams of folded napkins along separate parallel folded sheet paths from the folder and separating the independent streams of napkins into uncompressed bulk packs of the folded napkins, the method comprising simultaneously compressing the bulk packs in the independent streams into a compressed state prior to delivering the bulk packs to the wrapper. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising, storing the bulk packs in the compressed state in an accumulator prior to delivering the compressed bulk packs to the wrapper. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein, the apparatus includes a controller operatively connected between the folder, the wrapper and the separator and the method further comprises controlling the apparatus with the controller to operate the folder and separator at a lower speed when bulk packs are being exchanged with the accumulator. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising, simultaneously compressing several bulk packs with a movable backstop. 
     
     
         17 . A bulk pack napkin separator apparatus configured for operative connection between a folder and a wrapper, with the separator apparatus being configured for receiving two or more independent streams of folded napkins along separate parallel folded sheet paths from the folder and separating the independent streams of napkins into uncompressed bulk packs of the folded napkins, the apparatus further including a simultaneous pack compression arrangement for simultaneously compressing the bulk packs in the independent streams into a compressed state prior to delivering the bulk packs to the wrapper. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising, an accumulator for storing the bulk packs in the compressed state in the accumulator prior to delivering the compressed bulk packs to the wrapper. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , further comprising, a controller operatively connected between the folder, the wrapper and the separator for controlling the speed of the folder wrapper and separator relative to one another. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein, the controller operates the folder and separator at a lower speed when bulk packs are being exchanged with the accumulator. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein, the simultaneous pack compression arrangement includes a movable backstop for simultaneously compressing the bulk packs in the independent streams. 
     
     
         22 . A bulk pack napkin separator apparatus configured for operative connection between a folder and a wrapper, with the separator apparatus being configured for receiving two or more independent streams of folded napkins along separate parallel folded sheet paths from the folder and separating the independent streams of napkins into an array of uncompressed bulk packs of the folded napkins, the apparatus further including an accumulator for storing an array of the bulk packs in the accumulator prior to delivering the bulk packs to the wrapper. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein, the accumulator is a large accumulator storing one or more array(s) of the bulk packs in the accumulator prior to delivering the bulk packs to the wrapper. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , further comprising, a controller operatively connected between the folder, the wrapper and the separator for controlling the speed of the folder wrapper and separator relative to one another. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein, the controller operates the folder and separator at a lower speed when bulk packs are being exchanged with the accumulator.