METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR WINDING UP WEB OF MATERIALS INTO REELS

A method and apparatus for reeling a traveling web, such as paper produced on a paper-making machine, includes a pair of spaced, horizontally disposed rails for supporting one or more reel spools. One of the reel spools is rotated to bring it up to machine speed. A support drum is moved translationally substantially vertically from beneath the rotating reel spool to engage it along a nip line of contact. The on-coming web is directed into the nip of the rotatably driven reel spool to begin the web reeling process to build a wound web roll. The support drum remains in contact with the wound web roll building upon the reel spool continuously until the desired wound web roll diameter is attained. The reel spool/wound web roll is maintained under the control, or influence, of three forces at all times during the formation of the wound web roll: 1) torque from a drive attached to the reel spool, 2) nip pressure from the support drum, 3) web tension of the web coming onto the driven reel spool. The support drum preferably partially supports the wound web roll at all times during the reeling process, and the wound web roll remains horizontal on the support rails at all times as the wound web roll is formed.