Patents Assigned to The Washington Post Company
  • Publication number: 20030177850
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a system and method for verifying roll roundness of a cylindrical object and more particularly for verifying the roundness of rolls of papers used for newspaper printing. According to the present invention, a roll rotator is configured with a plurality of ultrasonic sensors, which are activated when a roll of paper is lifted and rotated by the roll rotator. The roll of paper is rotated an entire revolution and a plurality of distance measurements are taken at each sensor. As the readings are taken, a filter algorithm may be applied to remove values that are too far out of range, such as values which are representative of a torn wrapper or other defects in the covering surface of the roll. Once the readings have been taken, an average of the readings is calculated and the roundness algorithm compares each reading with the average for each of the sensors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2002
    Publication date: September 25, 2003
    Applicant: The Washington Post Company
    Inventor: James Whittington