SLOTTER WHEEL MECHANISM HAVING DYNAMICALLY RETRACTABLE SLOTTER BLADES

摘要

An improved slotter wheel mechanism (30) designed for use in the formation of box blanks is provided which includes a rotatable wheel assembly (32) supporting one or more slotter blades (34); the blades (34) are coupled to the wheel by means (36) permitting shifting of the blades (34) during rotation of the wheel assembly (32) between an extended slotting position and a retracted blank-clearing position. In one embodiment, a slotter wheel (222) is equipped with a plurality of spiders (232) operatively secured to corresponding blade holders (246). As the wheel (222) rotates, the spiders (232) encounter strategically located members (294, 294a, 296 and 296a) serving to successively rotate the spiders (232), thus moving the blade holders (246) and blades (256).