Ball Corporation
Method and apparatus for controlling an operation performed on a continuous sheet of material

Abstract:

A system and method of performing an operation on a continuous sheet of stock material is provided. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method used to perform an operation on a continuous sheet of stock material in a high speed manufacturing system. The continuous sheet of stock material can subsequently be received by a second system that performs a different operation on the continuous sheet of stock material. In one embodiment, the second system forms the continuous sheet of stock material into tabs for container end closures. The system can include an infeed accumulation device and an outfeed accumulation device. The infeed and outfeed accumulation devices enable the system to operate at a variable rate and out of phase with a high speed, coil fed manufacturing system to which the system may be removably integrated. The system can determine if the operation has been performed in at a predetermined location of a portion of the continuous sheet of stock material.