GB2038781A - High-speed automatic foil gilding - Google Patents

Abstract

A high-speed automatic foil gilding apparatus for manufacturing joss paper in which paper gripping means 12 mounted on chains 11 hold one sheet of paper at a time and feed it between a foil-gilding roller 23, first and second colour printing rollers 3, 4 and a common anvil roller 21 to enable the paper to be foil gilted and colour printed, means being provided to release the grip of the paper gripping means after printing and deposit the printed sheet of paper in a paper receiving tray 52. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION High speed automatic foil gilding The present invention relates to an automatic foil gilding apparatus for manufacturing joss paper.

In South-East Asian countries were Buddhism is observed, joss paper is used as symbolic money for sacrifice to their gods. The conventional method of manufacturing joss paper comprises the steps of foil gilding, red printing, yellow printing, cutting and stacking. All these steps are completed manually so the method tends to be generally inefficient and the supply of joss paper is unable to meet demand.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to automatically producejoss paper thereby improving efficiency and eliminating wastage of labour.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic foil gilding apparatus wherein the joss paper is manufactured by the successively integrated operations of foil gilding, red printing, yellow printing, and stacking.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a top view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a rear view of the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a partial perspective view showing a detail of Figure 1 namely the clip means; Figure 5 is a partial perspective view showing another detail of Figure 1 namely the foil printing roller; Figure 6 is a partial perspective view showing yet another detail of Figure 1 namely the red printing roller;; Figure 7 is a perspective view showing another detail of Figure 1 namely a guide device for a foil protecting film, and Figure 8 is a cross section along line B-B in Figure 6.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3 there is illustrated a high-speed automatic foil gilding apparatus for manufacturing joss paper comprising a feeding device 1, a foil-gilding roller 2, a red printing roller 3, a yellow printing roller 4, a driving device 5 for a joss paper receiving case 5, a guide device for a foil protecting film 6, and a supporting frame 7. The feeding device 1 is located at an end portion of the frame 7 upstream of the printing rollers 3 and 4 and includes two laterally spaced endless chains 11 disposed on the sides of the frame, a movable clip means 12, and a cam assembly 13. The chains 11 run horizontally between two sprocket-gears 111, 112, the clip 12 being transversely firmly secured between the chains 11 so that the clip moves therewith.

The clip 12 includes a horizontally disposed transverse stationary bar 121, a pivotable bar 122 parallel to bar 121 but higher in position and a plurality of claws 123 fixed on the bar 122. Adjacent to the ends of the bar 122 there is provided a torsion spring 124 to bias the claws 123 against the stationary bar 121 while allowing a sheet of raw material paper to be inserted between said claws and the stationary bar.

Hence, a sheet of raw material paper may be held at one end by the claws by inserting the same between the stationary and pivotable bars 121, 122, whereby said sheet of paper may be moved forward.

The cam assembly 13 comprises a cam 131 fixed to the shaft of sprocket gear 11 1,the cam 131 cooperating with arm 132 fixed to the end of bar 122.

When the arm 132 is moved to the position directly above the cam 131, its end portion, to which may be attached a small roller (not shown), will be pushed by the tip of the cam 131 thereby rotating the bar 122 by a predetermined angle. This movement causes the claws 123 to be opened, and the printed joss paper to be released down into the joss paper receiving case 5. The clip 12 moves with the chains 11, the chains 11 themselves being driven by the drive sprocket gear 112 as shown in Figure 2. An endless belt 114 extends between pulley 113 attached to a shaft extending from the drive sprocket gear 112 and an output shaft 116from gear box 115.

An endless belt (not shown) is connected to an input shaft for gear box 115 and a shaft of a motor M by means of belt pulley (not shown), whereby the sprocket gear 112 is driven by the motor through the gearbox 115 to drive the chains 11.Anvil roller 21 of the foil gilding roller 2 is arranged on the shaft of the sprocket gear 112 between left and right sprocket gears. The gilding roller 23 is arranged on another shaft whose axis of rotation is parallel to that of the anvil roller, the gilding roller abutting the anvil roller 21, and being driven by the shaft of the sprocket gear 112 by means of the chain 22. Both the rollers 21 and 22 are supported by a bracket of the frame 7.As shown in Figure 4, the gilding roller 23 is a metal cylinder which may be filled with any thermallyconductive material such as aluminium. An electric heater 231 is arranged in the roller 23 and connected to a carbon brush 232 for producing heat which is conducted by the aluminium to copper plates 25 on the roller surface. A securing seat member 24, which can be arranged on the roller for movement in the axial direction, and is shaped in a trapezoid for securing copper plates 25. The inner surface 241 of the securing seat member 24 has the same curvature as that of the roller 23 so that it abuts therewith. The seat member 24 is secured on the roller 23 at each end by curved securing members 242, each of which is screwed to the roller 23.The securing seat member 24 can be moved around the periphery of the gilding roller 23 to any selected position by loosening the screws, and can be secured in that position by retightening the scews. A plurality of the copper plates 25 are movably secured on the securing seat member 24 at suitable intervals. When the raw material paper and the foil pass between the anvil and gilding rollers 21, 23, the foil will be gilded on to the surface of the raw material paper in a hot ironing manner. By loosening the fixing screw 251, the copper plates 25 can be slid along the roller to any selected position so that the desired transverse interval between hot-ironing foils can be obtained.

By movement of the securing seat member 24 around the roller 23 to an appropriate position, the desired longitudinal interval between hot ironing foiis on the sheet of the raw material paper can be obtained.

An axial slot 211 is provided on the surface of the anvil roller 21 for receiving the clip means 12 when the clip means 12 and the sheet of raw material paper pass between the gilding and anvil rollers 23 and 21 so there is no interference of rolling of the two rollers as can be seen from Figure 2.

The red printing roller 3 and a yellow printing roller 4 are provided prior to the foil gilding roller 2, the yellow printing roller 4 being positioned below the red printing roller. Both red and yellow printing rollers are supported by a bracket and are driven from the shaft of the roller 23 by means of a chain. In addition, they are arranged to abut against the anvil roller 21 respectively in order to enable the raw material paper to be printed red and yellow. The red and yellow printing rollers 3 and 4 are of the same construction in that they are made of rubber or other suitable material. A securing seat member 31 for securing a stamp 32 thereto is movably secured on the printing roller 3 as shown in Figure 6.The securing seat member 31 is trapezoid in shape for holding engagement of the stamp 32, the inner surface 311 of the trapezoid-shaped seat or plate 31 having the same curvature as that of the surface of the printing roller 3. The securing seat member 31 is secured on the printing roller 3 at its ends by the curved securing member 312, each of which is screwed to the roller 3. The securing seat member 31 can be slid around the periphery of the printing roller 3 to the desired position after the screws are loosened. The trapezoid-shaped stamp 32 which engages with the securing seat member 31 can be slid along the printing roller 3 or it can be fixed at the appropriate position with a fixing screw 321. The same arrangement of securing seat member 31 and stamps 32 as those used on printing roller 3 are also provided on the roller 4, but these are not shown in the drawings.In operation, foil gilt paper will be printed in red and yellow when it passes between the anvil roller 21 and the red and yellow printing rollers. The required printing ink is successively supplied by a group of rollers 33,34 and 35 from an ink trough 36 filled with ink as shown in Figure 2.

A layer of foil protecting film is attached to the bottom side of the foil and becomes waste after the foil has been gilded on the raw material paper passing between the gilding rollers 21 and 23, and needs another treatment. A guide device for the foil protecting film is provided on the front end portion of the frame 7 and comprises two spaced rollers 61, a pair of coacting rollers 62, a driving mechanism 63 and a waste bin 64. The waste foil protecting film is inserted between the pair of rollers 62 through the two rollers 61 in a rolling manner.

The rollers 62 rotate intermittently in step with the rolling speed of the foil-gilding roller 2 in order to guide the used foil protecting film into the waste bin 64 located below them. A reel of the foil is rotationally mounted on a support 60. The rollers 62 driven by the driving mechanism 63 rotate intermittently. As shown in Figures 2 and 7, the driving mechanism 63 includes a wheel 631, a rack 632, and a compression spring 633. The wheel 631 is secured on the shaft extending from the yellow printing roller 4. Two spaced eccentric contacting bars 634 are disposed on the wheel 631 in a proper radian. A rod 635 is slidingly supported by two supporting seats 636.

One end of the rod 635 is provided with an enlarged portion 637, the other end having the rack 632 thereon which co-operates with gear 638. When the wheel 631 rotates, the eccentric contacting bars 634 push the enlarged portion 637 forward alternately, and then the gear 638 meshed with the rack 632 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction. The gear 638 is internally engaged with a ratchet gear (not shown) which is secured on the shaft 621 of one of the rollers 62. When one of the eccentric contacting bars 634 pushes enlarged portion 637 forward and the rack 632 is moved forward, the rollers 62 are driven to roll used foil protecting film down into the waste bin 64. At this moment, the compression spring 633 arranged between the supporting seat 636 and a small plate 640 fixed on the elongated rod 635 is compressed.When the eccentric contacting bar 634 moves out of contact with the enlarged portion 637, the rack is returned to its original position by the return spring 633. When the rack 632 moves back, the roller 62 will not be driven clockwise due to the action of the one-way ratchet gear.

As shown in Figure 2, a driving device 5 for a joss paper receiving case 52 is arranged underneath the driven sprocket gear 111. The driving device 5 comprises four sets of chain and sprocket gear systems 51, a rectangular netted receiving case 52 fixed to the chains of these systems 51, a drive wheel 53, a pair of connecting rods 54, a pawl 55 and a pair of gears 56. The drive wheel 53 which is arranged on the side of the frame 7, is driven by sprocket gear 111 by means of the chain 57. The connecting rod 541 is pivotably connected at one end to the wheel 53 which may be a cam. The connecting rod 542 is pivotably connected at one end to the rod 541 and at its other end to the frame 7. The upper end of the connecting rod 542 is hinged to the pawl 55 which meshes with the ratchet gear 561 of the gears 56.

The gear 565 on the shaft of the ratchet gear 561 meshes with the gear 563 on the shaft 562. When the wheel 53 driven by the sprocket gear 111 rotates to a position in which the pivotal connection 543 of the connecting rod 541 reaches its foremost position (shown by dotted line in Figure 2), the connecting rod 542 adopts an inclined position thereby causing the pawl 55 to move forward and push the ratchet gear 651 to rotate it by one step, and hence the chains 51 with the waste case 52 will be moved downwards one step. The clip 12 in the meantime will have moved to the lower side of the chain 11, to a position in which it is directly above the waste case 52 in order to release the joss paper which has been gilt foiled and printed with red and yellow ink down into the waste case 52 by the function of the cams 13.

The clip 12 then returns round to the upper side of the chain 11 and passes between the foil-gilding rollers 21 and 23, and the red and yellow printing rollers 3,4 where a sheet of raw material paper held by the clip is gilt foiled and printed with red and yellow ink, and released into the waste case 52. The cycle then repeats. For each cycle of the clip 12, the waste case 52 is lowered by a distance equal to the thickness of a sheet of joss paper to allow the joss paper to be stacked one sheet on top of another in the case 52. When the waste case 52 reaches its lowermost position, the stack of completed joss paper may be removed for packaging.

For returning the waste case 52 to its original uppermost position to receive another stack or paper, a rectangular rod 564 is provided at one end of the shaft 562 of the chain-sprocket system 51 to receive a handle having a rectangular hole thereon whereby an operator can manually rotate the shaft 562 counterclockwise to raise the waste case 52 to its uppermost position.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the feeding device may be a feeding roller for automatically continuously feeding the raw material paper between the anvil and gilding rollers from a roll of raw material paper (not shown).

Claims (9)

1. A high-speed automatic foil gilding apparatus for manufacturing joss paper comprising a paper feeding device having paper clip means, a foilgilding roller, an anvil roller, a first colour printing roller, a second colour printing roller, a driving mechanism for a joss paper receiving case, and guide means for a foil protecting film, characterised in that the clip means is mounted on chains and is operable to hold one sheet of raw material paper at a time and feed said paper between said foil-gilding roller, said first and second colour printing rollers and said anvil roller to enable said paper to be foil gilted and colour printed, release means being provided to release the grip of the clip means whereby completed joss paper may be fed to a paper receiving case.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said clip means comprises a stationary bar disposed between two sets of said endless chains, a pivotable bar on which a plurality of claws are fixed, springs being provided on said pivotable bar in order to bias the claws against the stationary bar to hold a sheet of raw material paper therebetween.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said release means comprises a cam drivingly connected to the drive for said endless chains, and an arm rod fixed to the end of the pivotable bar, the end portion of said arm rod being operable to be pushed by said cam when said arm rod is moved to a position directly above said cam whereby said bar is rotated to open the claws and release the printed joss paper down therefrom so that it may be fed into the paper receiving case.

4. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 - 3, wherein said gilding roller is a metal cylinder having an electric heater therein, a securing seat member being movably arranged on the periphery of said roller for securing a plurality of copper plates at suitable intervals therealong.

5. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 - 4, wherein said first and second colour printing rollers abut against said anvil roller, a securing seat member being movably secured on the periphery of each of said printing rollers respectively for securing a plurality of trapezoid-shaped stamps at suitable intervals therealong.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guide means for the foil protecting film comprises two spaced rollers, a pair of coacting rollers, a driving mechanism for said pair of rollers and a waste case, said driving mechanism comprising a drive wheel connected to a rack through a return spring, said drive wheel being provided with two spaced eccentric contacting bars at its wheel face in a proper radian, said eccentric contacting bars being operable to push said rack forward alternately when said wheel rotates to drive said pair of rollers whereby used foil protecting film is fed into said waste case.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said driving mechanism forthejoss paper receiving case is drivingly connected to the drive for the chains carrying the clip means, the mechanism comprising four sets of chain and sprocket gear systems, a paper receiving case fixed to the chains of these systems, a wheel, a pair of connecting rods, a pawl and a pair of gears, one of said pair of connecting rods being pivotally connected at one end to said wheel, and the other one of said pair of connecting rods being pivotably connected at one end to said rod and at another end to the frame, and the upper end of the connecting rod being hinged to said pawl which meshes with a ratchet gear, whereby said pawl intermittently moves forward and pushes the ratchet gear to rotate it step-by-step to cause the receiving case connected to the four sets of chains to be moved downwards step-by-step when said wheel rotates.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said feeding device is substituted by a feeding roller.

9. Apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.