CA1057712A

CA1057712A - Tongued strip and mating guidance and severance means

Info

Publication number: CA1057712A
Application number: CA162,067A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Ake Ehrlund
Original assignee: Turn-O-Matic AB
Current assignee: Turn-O-Matic AB
Priority date: 1972-01-26
Filing date: 1973-01-25
Publication date: 1979-07-03
Also published as: GB1418122A; IT978416B; DE2366367C2; NL7301000A; US3885724A; SE359793B; FI55020B; BE794624A; DE2303386B2; NO135416B; FR2169684A5; DE2303386A1; FI55020C; DK129741B; NL171636B; DE2303386C3; DK129741C; NL171636C; NO135416C; ES410950A1

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The invention relates to a device for tearing off pieces of a cer-tain definite length from a flexible strip, e.g. a strip of tickets. In ac-cordance with the invention the strip is provided with a number of punched or perforated lines intended to constitute flaps or tongues arranged at a cer-tain definite spacing along the length of the strip. The portion of the tongues, which are connected to the rest of the strip preferably extend at right-angles to the longitudinal direction of the strip, the free ends of the tongues having a lesser width than that of the ends of the tongues which are attached to the strip. The tongues are formed such that they are directed forward in the discharge position of the strip. The invention further in-cludes a device intended for the guidance of the strip, which device comprising a guidance and separation unit including a lip or flange which has a width greater than the least width of a tongue, and which as the strip is fed for-wards, guides the strip along a certain path and then when the width of the tongue is equal to, or greater than the least width of the flange, causes the tongue to be guided along the path and the rest of the strip along another path, along which latter path, the strip is caused to interact with a tear-off unit.

Description

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This invention relates to appliances which comprise a strip pro-vided with perforations or punched lines, which strip is fed forward and is torn off by means of a pull at that end of the strip which is at that time the free end.
However, such known appliances which are used primarily for the issue of queuing and similar tickets are not as reliable in operation as one has the right to expect.
The object of this invention has therefore primarily been the creation of a device which is particularly reliable in operation and also has a simple construction.
According to one aspect, the invention resides in a device for tearing off pieces of the same predetermined length from a roll of fed flexible strip, said strip having lines of severance forming tongues equally spaced along said strip with their spacing equal to said prede-termined length and dîrected in the feeding direction for said strip, whereby a portion of each tongue is firmly connected to the remainder of the strip along a line perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip. The device comprises a casing for the strip roll, said casing having side walls and an open top, a cover pivotally connected to the casing and closing the top, said coveT having a projecting portion extend;ng outwardly beyond the periphery of the strip roll, and a depending portion integral with said projecting portion and extending downwardly relative to the cover to terminate externally of said casing. The cas;ng further has a strip guidance portion extending substantially parallel to the projecting portion but spaced from the inner surface of the cover to form a gap for the passage of the strip out of the casing, a flange of narrower width than the connected portion of said tongues for temporarily arresting movement of a tongue, the flange being integral with the strip guidance portion, and projecting forwardly therefrom in the feeding direction of the strip to terminate close to the depending portion but spaced therefrom to form a gap ~1- 1 l~)S7'~1~
between the end of the flange and the depending portion for the continuing passage of the remainder of the strip therebetween, and tear-off portions on either side of the flange, extending between the base of the flange and the side walls of the casing, arranged for the severance of a part of said strip from the remainder of the strip.
According to another aspect, the invention resides in a device for tearing off pieces of the same predetermined length from a roll of fed flexible strip, said strip roll being stored in a container having an exit for said strip and comprising a casing and a cover connected with said casing, said strip having lines of severance forming tongues equally spaced along said strip with their spacing equal to said predetermined length and directed forward in the feeding direction for the strip, whereby a portion of each tongue is firmly connected to the remainder of the strip along a line perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip, said device com-prising first guidance means combined with said cover to direct said strip toward said exit, and second guidance means and cut-off means, said cut-off means being combined with said casing and being located on both sides of said second guidance means, said second guidance means comprising a separation unit located at said exit and having a trapezoid shape correspond-ing to that of the base of said tongues in order to, during passage of thestrip, first guide the strip along a predetermined path, and then, guide the tongue along one path and the remainder of the strip along another path, said last-mentioned path leading to the cut-off means which are arranged to cut a part of said strip from the remainder of the strip.
Constructional versions of the invention are shown as examples in the attached drawings in which;
Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a first constructional version of the invention, with the casing indicated by chain lines;
Figure 2 shows the discharge portion of the casing, viewed from the free end of the strip, the cover being raised;

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Figure 3 shows a somewhat modified constructional version of the invention, the cover of the casing being indicated by chain lines;
Figure 4 shows in perspective a second constructional version of the invention, in which the casing and/or the cover may be of the throw-away type;
Figure 5 shows in perspective a plastic component, most conven-iently made by injection moulding, which forms part of the constructional version accordin~ to Figure 4; and -2a-lOS771'~
Figure 6 shows in a side view and partly in section a third em-bodiment of the device according to the invention.
In the figures 1 denotes the casing of the appliance while 2 denotes a cover which is joined to the casing by means of a pivot 3, about which it may be raised and lowered. Together, the casing and the cover form, at the side which is on the right in Figure 1, a guide for the discharge of a strip placed in the casing in the shape of a roll which has the general designation 4. This strip, which is most appropriately made of paper, is punched through along lines 5a, 5b at a regular spacing so as to form a number of flaps or tongues 6 which, as shown in the figure, have the property that their width is least at the free end and largest at the end 7 which is connected to the rest of the strip. In this connection, it may be pointed out that it is not necessary for these flaps or tongues to be completely punched out as shown in the figure, but that it is possible to replace the punched lines by lines of perforation, with the result that the lines may generally be described as lines of severance, or penetrated lines.
The casing and the cover are constructed so that together they form a discharge and tear-off device for the strip. To this end, the cover 2 has a projecting portion 8, which extends outwardly beyond the periphery of the strip roll, the orientation of which may be parallel to a tangent to the roll which the strip 4 forms. This portion is connected to a depending portion 9 in which there is a notch or slot 10 at bottom, which portion 9 is sub-stantially at right angles to the portion 8 and is directed downwards. The portions 8 and 9 constitute one part of a guidance device for the strip.
The second part of the said guidance device is formed by the casing which for this purpose exhibits a first guidance portion 12 which, in the position in which the device is used, is substantially parallel to the portion 8 but is situated at some distance from this, so that there is between these parts a gap through which the strip can pass. The part 12, as seen in Figure

2, i8 connected to a lip or flange 13 which is substantially an extension of the part 12. The greatest width of the lip or flange 13 which, as seen in the figure, i8 appropriately wider at its base than at its free end, iR less than the greatest width of the flaps or tongues 6. The flange extends almost 10577~A~
up to the inside of the portion 9 of the cover which is pointing downwardq, i.e. in such a way that there is formed a gap through which the strip can pass. At its base, the flange is connected by means of portions 14a, 14b, which are constructed as tear-off devices to the side walls 15a, l5b of the casing which together with the flange 13, constitute the second portion of the said guide.
In the position in which it is used, the cover 2 is lowered over the casing 8S shown in Figure 1. The strip has been passed through the hori-zontal guide formed by the surfaces 8, 12 and the upper parts of 15a, 15b and through the vertical guide formed by the surface 9, the end portion of the flange 13 and guide pro~ections, not shown, on the inside of the side faces 11 of the cover.
When it is desired to tear off a queuing ticket, the flap 6 is to be gripped and the strip pulled downwards by means of this. This causes the strip to move first horizontally and then vertically. When the strip has been pulled forward so far that the width of the opening formed by the punched lines 5a, 5b exceeds the width of the flange 13, the strip itself will be de-flected in such a way that in its final position, as shown in Figure 1 in which the width of the tongue 6 is practically the same as that of the flange 13 at its base, the strip is deflected about this base portion, It will be clear that, as the strip continues to be pulled downwards, it will be torn off by the cutting edges 14a, 14b provided for this purpose. If the slot 10 in the front wall of the cover had extended right up to the top of the cover, the tongue 6 would not have been deflected but, as shown in Figure 1, would have projected in the direction of the tangent. For the reliable operation of the device, however, it is important that the strip should be subjected to a down-ward pull, and for this reason the slot 10 ends some distance below the flange 13, thus conveying to the tongue 6 its vertical orientation9 e.g. as shown in Figure 3. By virtue of the fact that there is a space between the front wall 16 of the casing and the inside of the front wall of the cover, the tongue fed forward if readily accessible. When the queuing ticket, which thus consists - of a tongue 6 and strip material up to the next tongue, has been torn off, the ~trlp i8 again in lOS77~'~
its initial position and a new queuing ticket can immediately be drawn for-ward. Naturally, the strip csn in a known manner be provided with the desired wording and a queuing number, ticket number or the like 17. It is also pos-sible, for instance, to provide two tongues in the shape of right-angled triangles situated side by side and facing opposite ways, etc.
In the constructional version according to Figure 3, the lower horizontal guide for the strip does not consist of continuous parts but is made up of a preferably resilient rear guide portion 18 which is attached to the inside of the casing 1 or is made integral with this, and a front part 19 which is appropriately part of the front wall of the casing and comprises the cutting edges 20a, 20b corresponding to the edges 14a, 14b in Figure 1 and a lip or flange 21 corresponding to the flange 13, but, contrary to this, posi-tioned at an angle. The upper parts of the members 18, 21 will thus form the bottom part of the horizontal guide for the strip. The cutting edges 20a, 20b are situated at a level below this. In this constructional version, especially if the guide portion 18 is made of a resilient material, it can abut onto the part 8, and by pressing the strip against this part 8, can give rise to a frictional force which prevents unintentional retraction of the strip into the casing.
The invention also makes possible production of discharge appliances at an extremely low cost, whereby the whole appliance or part thereof may con-sist of a throw-away article. Such a device, particularly designed for the sale of tickets at sporting and similar events, is shown in Figure 4.
In this constructional version the casing consists of a simple cardboard box 22. This box at the same time serves as a container for the strip 4 which, as in the constructional version described earlier, is appro-priately in the shape of a roll and is made in the same way. The box is closed by a cover 23 which extends outside the box and has a slot 10 in one of its end walls.
An injection moulded part 24 ls attached to the container, and the part 24 and cover together serve as the guides for the strip. m e component comprise~ a first flat portion 25 which is to abut onto one front wall 26 of 105771'~
the box. At the top of the flat portion 25, as shown in Figure 5, there are two cutting edges 26a, 26b separated in the lateral direction, and between thesethe portion 25 is joined to a portion 27 which is bent in an arc downwards and backwards, and to a flange 28 extending forwards and upwards. The arcua~e portion 27 is provided with resilient pro~ections 29a, 29b which are directed upwards and are also arcuate, the top parts of which are situated at approxi-mately the same level as the top part of the flange 28 and press the strip against the cover by a spring force. The cutting edges 26a, 26b are situated at a lower level. The method of operation of this device is in complete agree-ment with that described earlier.
In the embodiments according to Figuresl, and 4, the strip roll is unrolled clockwise whereas in Figure 6, the strip roll is unrolled counter-clockwise. The discharge device according to Figure 6 has semicircular guide means 60, arranged inside the cover 2. The end 61 of said guide means 60 extend below the front end of said cover and form front stops for the strip roll. The casing 1 carries correspondingly formed guide means 62 and from Figure 6 it is obvious that the strip roll rests against the guide means 62.
Said guide means 60, 62 constitute a support for the strip roll as well as limiting surfaces for said strip roll.
The discharge and cut off means for the strip according to the embodiment in Figure 6 constitutes a portion arranged inside the front part of the cover 2 and consisting of a slightly upwardly directed, inner portion 63 merging into a curved part 64 and terminating in a downwardly directed portion 65, extending below the front part of the cover 2. The guiding means arranged in the casing constitutes an inclined path 66 merging at its front part into an upwardly directed lip or flange 68 via a shoulder 67. The flange 68 has the general shaping and function of e.g. the flange 13 in Figure 2, thus having edges 69 forming tear off devices.
The guiding means bear on or almost bear on the upper side of the strip 4. A narrow dlscharge gap is formed between the guide means 65 of cover 2 and the upwardly dlrected front part of the flange 68. The function of this eTnbodiment i~ exactly in accordance with the examples of Figures 1 and 4. Thus, 1~57~

by pulling the flap 6, the strip roll will be discharged and forces the strip, sub~ected to the pulling force in such way, that the strip will automatically be torn off against the edges 69; simul.aneously the tongue of the next strip will be turned down due to the guide means 64, 65. When the first mentioned flap has been torn off, the flap of the next strip is uncovered and can easily be gripped.
The invention can naturally be varied also in other respects wi~hin the framework of the following claims.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A device for tearing off pieces of the same predetermined length from a roll of fed flexible strip, said strip having lines of severance forming tongues equally spaced along said strip with their spacing equal to said predetermined length and directed in the feeding direction for said strip, whereby a portion of each tongue is firmly connected to the remainder of the strip along a line substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip, said device comprising a casing for said strip roll, said casing having side walls and an open top, a cover pivotally connected to said casing and closing said top, said cover having a projecting portion extending outwardly beyond the periphery of said strip roll, and a depending portion integral with said projecting portion and extending downwardly relative to said cover and terminating externally of said casing, said casing having a strip guidance portion extending substantially parallel to said projecting portion, but spaced from the inner surface of the cover to form a gap for the passage of the strip out of the casing, a flange of narrower width than the connected portion of said tongues for temporarily arresting movement of a tongue, said flange being integral with the strip guidance portion, and projecting forwardly therefrom in the feeding direction of the strip to terminate close to the depending portion, but spaced therefrom to form a gap between the end of the flange and the depending portion for the continuing passage of the remainder of the strip therebetween, and tear-off portions on either side of said flange, extending between the base of said flange and the side walls of the casing, arranged for the severance of a part of said strip from the remainder of the strip.

2. A device for tearing off pieces of the same predetermined length from a roll of fed flexible strip, said strip roll being stored in a container having an exit for said strip and comprising a casing and a cover con-nected with said casing, said strip having lines of severance forming tongues equally spaced along said strip with their spacing equal to said predetermined length and directed forward in the feeding direction for the strip, whereby a portion of each tongue is firmly connected to the remainder of the strip along a line substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip, said device comprising first guidance means combined with said cover to direct said strip toward said exit, and second guidance means and cut-off means, said cut-off means being combined with said casing and being located on both sides of said second guidance means, said second guidance means comprising a separation unit located at said exit and having a trapezoid shape corresponding to that of the base of said tongues in order to, during passage of the strip, first guide the strip along a predetermined path, and then, guide the tongue along one path and the remainder of the strip along another path, said last-mentioned path leading to the cut-off means which are arranged to cut a part of said strip from the remainder of the strip.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second guidance means has a channel-like shape with the forward part of its bottom consisting of said separation unit which extends close to the first guidance means.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said cut-off means are connected laterally to that part of the separation unit which has the greatest width.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said first guidance means has a wall extending to a point below said second guidance means, a space being provided between said wall and said second guidance means through which space said strip is fed.