US 8,221,298 C1 (12,538th)
Apparatus and method for folding film edges
Shaun Eugene Pirtle, Coweta, OK (US); Khurrum Shamsi, Tulsa, OK (US); and Robert Earl Cochlin, Chouteau, OK (US)
Filed by Shaun Eugene Pirtle, Coweta, OK (US); Khurrum Shamsi, Tulsa, OK (US); and Robert Earl Cochlin, Chouteau, OK (US)
Assigned to Paragon Films, Inc.
Reexamination Request No. 90/020,141, Oct. 4, 2021.
Reexamination Certificate for Patent 8,221,298, issued Jul. 17, 2012, Appl. No. 12/470,238, May 21, 2009.
Claims priority of provisional application 61/082,398, filed on Jul. 21, 2008.
Ex Parte Reexamination Certificate issued on Mar. 18, 2024.
Int. Cl. B32B 3/04 (2006.01); B31F 7/00 (2006.01); B65H 18/10 (2006.01)
CPC B31F 7/006 (2013.01) [B65H 18/10 (2013.01)]
OG exemplary drawing
AS A RESULT OF REEXAMINATION, IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT:
Claims 1, 12 and 13 are determined to be patentable as amended.
Claims 2-11 and 14-16, dependent on an amended claim, are determined to be patentable.
New claims 17 and 18 are added and determined to be patentable.
1. An apparatus for producing folded edges in a film in-process, the apparatus comprising:
[ a device producing the film from molten resins;]
a first idler roll [ , the film moving in-process from the device along a single production line over the first idler roll] ;
a second idler roll separated from the first idler roll by a first distance; and
a plurality of folding guides that are positioned between the first idler roll and the second idler roll, wherein each folding guide separates adjacent sections of [ the ] film and induces two folds by causing an edge of each section of [ the ] film to turn under 180° and spontaneously cling to a bottom surface of the film as the film travels from the folding guides to the second idler roll.
12. An apparatus for producing folded edges in a film in-process, the apparatus comprising:
[ a device producing the film from molten resins;]
a first idler roll [ , the film moving in-process from the device along a single production line over the first idler roll] ;
a second idler roll separated from the first idler roll by a first distance; and
means for separating adjacent sections of [ the ] film and inducing two folds by causing an edge of each section of [ the ] film to turn under 180° and spontaneously cling to a bottom surface of the film, said means positioned between the first idler roll and the second idler roll.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said means is a folding guide comprised of a material having a coefficient of friction that causes an [ the ] edge of the film to turn under 180° and spontaneously cling to a [ the ] bottom surface of the film.
[ 17. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the guide distance is approximately ⅔ of the first distance and the guide angle varies from 20° to 90°.]
[ 18. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the guide distance is approximately ⅔ of the first distance and the guide angle varies from 20° to 90°.]