In many installations, for example, in printing plants, it is necessary to transport rolls of paper from storage pallets to the printing presses. Rolls of paper in web form typically weigh several hundred pound.,;. It is often desirable to transport the rolls individually rather than in groups. Consequently, it is highly desirable to provide a piece of equipment that enables a worker to easily and safely transport a roll from a stored position, for example, on a pallet, to a useful position, for example, on an unwind machine forming part of the printing process.
Dollies for the transport of rolls carrying web material have been proposed and constructed in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,972 of common assignee herewith discloses a roll dolly for transporting rolls of this type which employs fluid-actuated devices carried by the dolly for lifting the roll relative to the dolly. While this has proven eminently satisfactory for its designed purpose, a dolly with a fluid-actuated lift is a somewhat complicated and expensive piece of equipment. Additionally, previously used conventional roll doilies do not have appropriate support for the roll carried by the dolly and, not infrequently, roll dollies positioned in front of an unwinder machine forming part of a printing process cause buckling of the floor due to the weight of the paper roll and dolly. In addition, the height of the roll dollies often interfere with the operation of the unwinder and, because of their structure, present additional difficulties or obstacles for the removal of the roll.