METHOD AND APPARATUS TO CONTINUOUSLY SEPARATE CUT PIECES FROM FLEXIBLE MATERIAL

摘要

A fully addressable vacuum/ positive pressure roller may select and remove pattern pieces that have been severed or cut from a web or sheet of flexible material even though the pattern pieces are still embedded within the web, both being supported on a common surface. Vacuum rollers may be disposed along the path of an advancing web with the rollers being oriented such that each roller's axis of rotation is both orthogonal to the advance direction of the web and orthogonal to the surface normal of the web so that the web travels around at least a portion of the arc of each roller. The vacuum roller for conveying the web or sheet type material includes an external surface having a plurality of apertures there through. A plurality of addressable valves are in corresponding fluid communication with the plurality of apertures. By controlling the state of each of the plurality of valves, the user may selectively address each valve independently in order to achieve a desired state of each of the valves at all times and/ or positions during operation.