Apparatus for making steel wool filter pads and related method

• Main Authors: BOCZEK; MIECZYSTOW, KRUPNIK; ALEXANDER, VAYSBERG; LEONID
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 10.03.1998
• Edition: 6
• Subjects: COMBINED OPERATIONS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; OTHER WORKING OF METAL; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; SEPARATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TRANSPORTING; UNIVERSAL MACHINE TOOLS

An apparatus for manufacturing multilayer steel wool filter pads includes a gantry which orbits heads about a central axis. The heads transfer portions of steel wool cut from a web onto a rotatable turntable to form a multilayer steel wool filter pad. Detection devices and a tool controller cooperate to synchronize the rotation of the turntable with the transfer of the steel wool portions to the turntable, so that each of the layers of the steel wool filter pad has its steel wool filaments oriented differently from those of the adjacent layer by an angle of approximately 90 degrees. A method for making rectangular steel wool filter pads involves advancing multiple steel wool webs through rollers, with each of the webs moving at the same rate, to form a combined web. The combined web is then cut into square portions with sides at least twice as long as the width of the rectangular steel wool filter pads. The portions are stacked so that the filaments of overlying layers are shifted 90 degrees from each other.