GB2046174A - Sealing and Printing Apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Sealing and printing apparatus, e.g. incorporated into a machine for forming covers for photographic film negatives, wherein length of double layer thermoplastic sheet, suitably flattened thin wall tubing, is arranged to pass between a base drum 40 and a sealing drum 50 provided on its outer periphery with a plurality of heaters for thermal sealing of the two layers of thermoplastic to each other as they pass between and in pressure contact with the base drum and the sealing drum, the base drum also co- operating with a printing drum 71 to print on the web. Each heater comprises an electric heating means and sealing member. A doctor knife 76 is in sliding contact with the printing face of the printing drum. A printing ink holding tray 90 supplies ink to the printing drum. A drive means rotates the aforesaid base drum, sealing drum and printing drum. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Sealing and Printing Apparatus The present invention relates to a sealing and printing apparatus in which thermal sealing and printing operations may be continuously effected upon a length of double layer sheets of thermoplastic material. The specifically described sealing and printing apparatus is adapted to be incorporated into a machine for forming covers for photographic film negatives, and the raw material suitably comprises flattened elongate thermoplastic tubing.

As is well known, thermoplastic film has the advantageous features of good thermal adherence, high mechanical strength, excellent workability and low permeability against ultraviolet rays which tend to fade negative film.

For this reason thermoplastic film is a suitable raw material for forming series of film negative covers. Generally speaking, a length of thin wall tube made of thermoplastic material is used as raw material or starting material for forming film negative covers. Hitherto several separate processing steps have been required for forming the film negative covers, with separate apparatus.

Specifically printing operations have heretobefore been performed in a printing factory and hot sealing operation performed in a special factory where thermal sealing is exclusively effected.

We found that the conventional method of forming film negative covers is very inconvenient mainly because of the fact that the respective processing steps proceed in different places, thus causing the apparatus and equipment required to become complicated and expensive. Heretofore, there has been no success in seeking to mitigate or overcome the above-mentioned inconveniences and drawbacks.

As will become apparent from the description below we have now succeeded in overcoming the aforementioned problems and to provide an apparatus in which both sealing and printing are performed, which apparatus is adapted for incorporation into a machine for forming film negative covers.

In accordance with the present invention, we provide a sealing and printing apparatus comprising: a base drum and a sealing drum between which a length of double layer thermoplastic sheet is arranged to pass, the sealing drum being provided on the outer periphery of its drum body with a plurality of heaters for thermal sealing of the two layers of thermoplastic to each other as they pass between and in pressure contact with the base drum and the sealing drum, each said heater comprising an electric heating means and sealing member; a printing drum provided with a printing face over the outer periphery of its drum body and disposed for passing of the double layer sheet between the printing drum and the base drum and in pressure contact therewith; a doctor knife for sliding contact with said printing face; a printing ink holding tray arranged to supply printing ink to said printing drum; and drive means adapted to rotate the aforesaid base drum, sealing drum, and printing drum.

The invention also provides a machine for producing covers for film negatives and comprising in order a raw material loading section for a stock of elongate flattened thermoplastic tubing or a stock of elongate thermoplastic sheeting folded along its length to provide a double thickness; a raw material feeding section; a first accumulator for feed stock; a wrinkle removing section; a sealing and printing apparatus as specified above; a dryer; a tractive section; a second accumulator for sealed and printed stock; a measuring section for determining the length of stock sealed and printed; and a section for collecting such sealed and printed stock.

The invention is hereinafter more particularly described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of an embodiment of film negative cover forming machine in which an embodiment of sealing and printing apparatus in accordance with the present invention is incorporated, schematically illustrating the whole arrangement of the former; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the film negative cover forming machine of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a raw material loading device of the machine of Figs. 1 and 2, schematically illustrating the arrangement of the significant parts of said device; Fig. 4 is a partially cut-away perspective view of the raw material feeding section of the machine of Figs. 1 and 2;; Fig. 5 is a partially cut-away perspective view of an embodiment of sealing and printing apparatus in accordance with the present invention as incorporated in the machine of Figs.

1 and 2; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a heater for making a heat seal in the apparatus of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a partially cut-away perspective view of a manuai.crank section of the apparatus of Fig.

5; Fig. 8 is a perspective part exploed view of the doctor knife and associated components in the apparatus of Fig. 5; Fig. 9 is a partially cut-away perspective view of operating mechanism for the printing ink holding tray of the apparatus of Fig. 5, seen from its front side; Fig. 10 is another view of the operating mechanism for the printing ink holding tray, seen from the rear side thereof; Fig. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a cutting operation on one side edge of the travelling sheet material; Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the measuring section of the machine of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 13 is a perspective view illustrating a cutting operation on the travelling sheet material for forming a stepped edge portion thereon;; Fig. 14 is a diagrammatic illustration of the driving mechanism for the film negative cover forming machine of Figs. 1 and 2; and Fig. 1 5 is a similar diagrammatic illustration of the driving mechanism as it applies to the sealing and printing apparatus.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the machine for forming covers for photographic film negatives comprises a machine frame S, a raw material loading section A, a raw material unreeling and feeding section B, a first accumulator section C, a wrinkle removing section D, a sealing and printing section E, a drying section F, a tractive section G, a second accumulator section H, a side edge cutting section 1, a measuring section J, a stepped edge forming section K, a winding section L, driving motors M, and M2 and a number of conveying rollers.

The machine frame S comprises parallel base frames S, and S'" middle stage frames S2 and S'2, upper frames S3 and S'3 and a plurality of vertical frames S4, S'4, S5, and S'5 connecting the aforesaid horizontal frames. The raw material loading section A is arranged on the right side as shown of the middle stage frames S2 and S'2 of the machine frame S and is adapted to load a length of raw material T for forming negative covers (hereinafter referred to as raw material) on two hexagonal reels a1 and a2 which are placed in use alternately. The raw material suitably comprises a thin wall tube made of thermoplastic material flattened to form a strip of double thickness.The raw material unreeling and feeding section B is located to the left and above the aforesaid raw material loading section A in the illustrated view and is supported by means of the upper frames S3 and S'3 so as to unreel the raw material T from the raw material loading section A and feed the same to the first accumulator section C. The wrinkle removing section D is located above the guide-out portion from the first accumulator section C and serves to draw out the raw material T from the first accumulator section C and to stretch the same so that wrinkles extending over the raw material T are removed.

The sealing and printing apparatus E is located substantially in the centre of the machine frame S. The drying section F is arranged just beneath the sealing and printing apparatus E. The tractive secton G is located to the left and above the sealing and printing apparatus E as illustrated and is supported by means of the upper frames S3 and S'3. The second accumulator section H is located below the aforesaid stretching section G and supported by means of the middle stage frames S2 and S'2 as well as the base frame S, and S'.

The side edge cutting section I is intended tosut one of the longitudinally extending marginal side edges of the travelling raw material T when it consists of elongate flattened thin wall thermoplastic tube stock, and is located to the left of the tractive section G and below the upper frames S3 and S'3. The measuring section J is arranged on the upper frames S3 and S'3 above the aforesaid side edge cutting and removing section I and is constructed such that the respective reel b, or b2 in the winding section L which is in operation comes to a stop each time a predetermined length of raw material T passes section J.The stepped edge forming section K is intended to carry out a further cutting operation on the obverse side of the raw material T at a position appreciably inward from the cut edge thereof to make it easier to insert negative films into the so formed openings, and is located to the left of the aforesaid side edge cutting section I as illustrated and below the upper frames S3 and S'3.

The winding section L is arranged on the left end of the middle stage frames S2 and S'2 as shown in Fig. 1 and provided with two reels or bobbins b, and b2 which are employed alternately to receive the film negative covers still connected one after another along the length of the stock.

Referring to the raw material loading section A again, each hexagonal reel a1 and a2 is mounted on a respective horizontally extending shaft 1, as shown in Fig. 1 to 3, said horizontallly extending shaft 1 being rotatably supported by means of the bearing stands 4 and 4' on the mounting stand X at the right rear position of the machine frame S.

The horizontal shaft 1 is provided with a coil spring 6 disposed on the shaft portion extending outwards from the bearing stand 4' and is formed with a threaded portion 2 at the end portion of said horizontal shaft 1, on which a handle 5 is screwed. Further at the front portion extending forwards from the bearing stand 4' the horizontally extending shaft 1 is provided with a frictional sliding elastic plate 8, a collar 7 and a plurality of expandable reeling frames 10 in order as illustrated in Fig. 3, wherein said collar 7 is fixed to the horizontal shaft 1 and the expandable reeling frames 10 are supported at the end portion thereof with the aid of threaded boss 9 screwed thereon.The expandable reeling frames 10 are constructed such that their diameter varies in accordance with the location of the boss 9 on the threaded portion 3 of the horizontal shaft 1 and as the raw material T is loaded on the expandable reeling frames 10 is unreeled, the tension thereof is adjusted in accordance with the compressive force of the frictional sliding elastic plate 8 against the bearing stand 4 by rotating the handle 5.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, 2 and 4, the raw material unreeling and feeding section B is provided with several endless belts 1 7 spanned between an upper driving roller 11 and a lower roller 1 5 and several further endless belts 1 8 spanned between upper contact roller 13 and lower roller 16, the upper contact roller 13 being in pressure contact with the upper driving roller 11. The upper driving roller 11 and upper contact roller 1 3 are rotatably supported by means of respective bearing stands 12, 12' and 14, 14' mounted on the upper frames S3 and S'3. The lower rollers 1 5 and 1 6 are rotatably supported by means of support members (not shown) arranged in position below the upper frames S3 and S'3. There is a tendency-for raw material T unreeled from the hexagonal reels a, or a2 and passing downwardly through the nip between upper rollers 11 and 13 to wind round the rollers 11, 13, 1 5 and 1 6 due to static electricity. The endless belts 1 7 and 18 serve to prevent such winding.In order that the raw material unreeling and feeding section B comes to a stop in an automatic manner when the particular reel a, or a2 from which the raw material T is being withdrawn is exhausted, there are-provided a sensing roller 20 and a co-operating limit switch 25. The sensing roller 20 is floatingly supported from a shaft 22 pivotally and horizontally supported between bearing stands 24 and 24' on the upper frames S3 and S'3 by means of arms 21 and 21'the base portions of which are connected to said shaft 22 and the outer extreme ends of which are connected to the sensing roller 20, a coil spring 19 being secured to the arms 21 and 21' to bias the same upwards. Thus a limit switch actuating means 23 is composed of the arms 21 and 21' and the shaft 22.As delivery of the raw material T from reel a, or a2 is exhausted, the raw material sensing roller 20 rises up by virtue of the coil spring 19, causing the limit switch actuating means 23 to operate the limit switch 25. As illustrated in Fig. 2, intermediate shaft 145 in the power transmitting system for transmitting power to the upper driving roller 11 is provided with a clutch mechanism 143 and a brake mechanism 144 at opposite ends thereof and power transmission is interrupted for the upper driving roller 11 by way of releasing the clutch mechanism 143 and actuating the brake mechanism 144 by means of said limit switch 25.

Such arrangement allows fresh raw material T to be loaded on the reel a2 while still feeding the raw material Tfrom the reel a, temporarily stopping the operation of the raw material unreeling and feeding section B as soon as the tail end of the raw material T from the reel a, leaves the said reel, and then immediately connecting the tail end of the raw material T from the reel a, to the leading end of the fresh raw material T from reel a2.

As will be clear from Fig. 1, the first accumulator section C is constructed in the form of a substantially J-shaped case or box-like body 26, itsguide-in portion 27 being located below the raw material unreeling and feeding section B.

This first accumulator C serves to store sufficient raw material T therein so as to ensure continuous operation of the respective subsequent sections of the machine, even when supply of the raw material T through the raw material unreeling and feeding section B is temporarily interrupted as described above to bring a new reel into service.

The wrinkle removing section D is provided with four rollers 31, 32, 33 and 34, each of which is located above the guide-out portion 28 of the first accumulator section C, said four rollers 31, 32,33 and 34 being rotatably supported by means of bearing members (not shown) mounted on the vertically extending frames S4 and S'4 between the upper frames 83 and S'3 and the middle stage frames S2 and S'2. The raw material T is spanned through the four rollers 31, 32, 33 and 34 in the form of a zigzag providing sufficient tension thereon that wrinkles extending over the raw material T are completely removed during travelling thereof round the four rollers 31, 32, 33 and 34.

The sealing and printing apparatus E will now be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 5 to 10.

The sealing and printing apparatus E comprises a base drum 40, and a seal drum 45 and a printing drum 70, each adapted to be placed in pressure contact with base drum 40.

The base drum 40 comprises a drum body 41 made of elastic material such as rubber or the like.

The shaft 42 carrying the drum body 41 is rotatably supported by means of bearing members (not shown) on the middle stage frames S2 and S'2. Said shaft 42 is provided with a power receiving sprocket wheel 43 and a power transmitting gear 44 at one end thereof.

The sealing drum 45 comprises a drum body 46 and a plurality of heaters 51 for performing a heat sealing operation. The drum body 46 is formed with a plurality of longitudinally extending recesses 47 in each of which a heater 51 is removably mounted, the recesses 47 being circumferentially equispaced about the periphery of the drum body 46 and parallel to its axis. The heater 51 comprises an electrical heating means 52 and two sealing members 53, said electrical heating means 52 being provided with a temperature regulator (not shown). The respective heaters 51 are removably inserted into the corresponding recesses 47. The shaft 50 of the drum body 46 is provided at one end with a gear 48 which meshes with said gear 44 and a driving power receiving sprocket wheel 49 having the same configuration as sprocket wheel 43.

Shaft 50 is further provided with a power supply slip ring 54 at the other end thereof, by means of which electric power is supplied to the heater 52.

The shaft 50 is rotatably supported at its ends by means of sliding bearings 55 and 55' (only one shown). The sliding bearings 55 and 55' are disposed within stands 59 and 59' (only one shown) on the middle stage frames S2 and S'2 in such a manner as to be displaceable in the vertical direction. The stand 59 seen at the front in Fig. 5 comprises two columns 57 and 57'.

Vertically extending protrusions 58 and 58' provided on the opposite faces of the two columns 57 and 57' engage with corresponding vertically extending guide grooves 56 and 56' (only one shown) of said sliding bearing 55. The other stand 59' (not shown) is of course constructed in the same way as the above described stand 59. Said stands 59 and 59' are formed with crank supports 60 and 60' (only one shown) at the upper portion thereof. Through each said crank supports 60 and 60' extends a respective rotatable shaft 63 on which crank discs 61 and 61' are securely arranged. Said crank discs 61 and 61' are connected to the sliding bearings 55 and 55' at eccentric positions 62 and 62' of the former with the aid of connecting rods 69 and 69' disposed therebetween. The reference numeral 63' designates a handle which is secured to the rotatable shaft 63 at one end thereof.As the handle 63' is rotated in the clockwise direction in Fig. 5, the sliding bearings 55 and 55' are raised so that the sealing drum 45 moves away from the base drum 40. As the hand lever 63' is rotated in the anticlockwise direction, the sliding bearings 55 and 55' are lowered so that the sealing drum 45 moves toward the base drum 40 to come in pressure contact against it. Further the connecting rod 69 has a brush support lever 64 connected thereto, by means of which a brush 65 is supported to come in contact with the aforesaid slip ring 54.

The printing drum 70 comprises a drum body 71 which is formed with a printing face on the outer periphery. The shaft 72 of said drum body 71 is provided with a gear 73 which meshes with the aforesaid gear 44 and a driving force receiving sprocket wheel 74 having the same configuration as that of the aforesaid sprocket wheel 43. Said shaft 72 is rotatably supported by means of sliding bearing 75 and 75' which are displaceably mounted on the brackets 66 and 66' (only one shown) fastened to the vertical frames S5 and S',. Threaded shafts 68 and 68' (only one shown) screwed into the left end portion of the sliding bearings 75 and 75' are rotatably supported with the aid of stands 67 and 67' at the extreme end of the brackets 66 and 66'.As the threaded shafts 68 and 68' are rotated in a normal direction or in the opposite direction, the sliding bearings 75 and 75' are displaced forwards so as to come in pressure contact against the base drum 40 or are displaced backwards so as to move away from the same.

Further the sealing and printing apparatus E is provided with a doctor knife, a printing ink holding tray and an actuating mechanism.

Referring to Fig. 5 and 8, the reference numeral 76 designates a doctor nife which is set fast with the support shaft 77 which is displaceably and rotatably supported by means of the sliding bearing 75 and 75'. The reference numeral 79 designates a dead weight suspended from the extreme end of the arm rod 78 which is secured to the support shaft 77 at one end thereof, said dead weight 79 being intended to allow the doctor knife 76 to come in pressure contact against the printing drum 70. Further the reference numeral 80 designates a disc securely disposed at the far end of the support shaft 77, said disc 80 coming in engagement with the cutout portion 85 of the L-shaped swing plate 84.

Furthermore the reference numeral 86 designates a slot provided on said swing plate 84. The swing plate 84 is arranged to pivot about a pivotal pin 84' which is located on the upper portion 82 of the channel steel 81 secured to the outer side face of the sliding bearing 75'. The actuating pin 89 received in the slot 86 is securely located on the disc 88 at an eccentric position. The disc 88 is secured onto the rotating shaft of the motor 87 mounted on the lower portion 83 of the channel steel 81. As the motor 87 is operated, the swing plate 84 swings via the actuating pin 89 and slot 86, causing the doctor knife 76 to be reciprocably displaced in the longitudinal direction of the printing drum 70 via the cut-out portion 85, disc 80 and support shaft 77.

Further referring to Fig. 1, 5, 9 and 10, the reference numeral 90 designates a printing ink holding tray which is located below the printing drum 70. Said printing ink holding tray 90 is formed with bearing members 91 and 91' on the bottom surface thereof, which protrude downwards at both the front and far sides thereof.

Through said bearing members 91 and 91' extends a horizontal shaft 92 which is rotatably supported thereby. Said horizontal shaft 92 has swing rods 93 and 93' which are connected to said horizontal shaft 92 freely rotatably thereabout at their upper end. Further the swing rods 93 and 93' are securely connected to a rotatable shaft 94 at the lower end thereof, said rotatable shaft 94 being rotatably supported by means of the vertically extending frames S5 and S'5. The rotatable shaft 94 is provided with a worm wheel 95 at the front end thereof, which meshes with a worm 97 which forms an extension of the actuating shaft 96 with the handle 96' secured thereto. Said actuating shaft 96 with the handle 96 is rotatably supported by means of bearing means (not shown).Further as illustrated in Fig. 10, the horizontal shaft 92 and rotatable shaft 94 are provided with sprocket wheels 98 and 99 at the far ends thereof.

Between said sprocket wheels 98 and 99 is spanned an endless chain 100. As apparent from Fig. 9 and 10, when rotating the actuating shaft 96 with the aid of the handle 96', the printing ink holding tray 90 is displaced, maintaining its horizontal posture.

Referring to Fig. 14, the reference symbol M, designates a motor for driving the raw material unreeling and feeding section B, sealing and printing section E and tractive section G, while the reference symbol M2 identifies another motor for driving the winding section L. An endless chain 136 is spanned around the sprocket wheel 130 on the reduced revolution power output shaft for the driving motor M1,the intermediate sprocket wheel 131 on the machine frame S and the sprocket wheel 43 on the shaft 42 of the base drum 40. As the driving motor M, is operated, the base drum 40 is rotated (see Fig. 5) and the sealing drum 45 and printing drum 70 are rotated via the power transmitting gears 44,48 and 73 on the shafts 42, 50 and 72 respectively.

Further referring to Fig. 14 and 15, the reference numeral 150 designates an intermediate sprocket wheel on the machine frame S, which comes in engagement with the endless chain 136. Between the intermediate sprocket wheel 150 and the sprocket wheel 49 on the shaft 50 of the sealing drum 45 is spanned an endless chain 1 55. The reference numeral 1 51 designates a tension roller which serves for imparting a predetermined tension to the endless chain 1 55 so as to prevent variation in such tension of the endless chain 1 55 during the displacement of the sealing drum 45.Further between the intermediate sprocket wheel 1 50 and the sprocket wheel 74 on the shaft 72 of the printing drum 70 is spanned an endless chain 1 56. The reference numerals 1 52 and 1 53 designate respective tension rollers, which serve for imparting predetermined tension to said endless chain 1 56 so as to prevent variation in tension of the endless chain 1 56 during the displacement of the printing drum 70. As the intermediate sprocket wheel 1 50 is rotated, the sealing drum 45 and printing drum 70 are operated via the endless chains 1 55 and 1 56 and the sprocket wheels 49 and 74.It is to be noted that the gears 44, 48 and 73 and the sprocket wheels 43, 49 and 74 are designed such that the drum 40, 45 and 70 are operated in synchronization so that the gears 48 and 73 come into smooth engagement with the gear 44, ,when the sealing drum 45 and the printing drum 70 are individually brought again into pressure contact against the base drum 40, after the respective drums 45 and 70 have been parted from the base drum 40.

Next, the drying section F is provided with a warm air generator 30 which serves for drying the travelling raw material T after completion of the preceding printing operation.

The tractive section G comprises an upper driving roller 11', an upper contact roller 13', lower rollers 15' and 16' and a plurality of endless belts 17' and 18' in the same manner as in the aforesaid raw material unreeling and feeding section B.

The second accumulator section H is constructed in the form of a substantially Jshaped case or box-like body 26' in a similar manner to the aforesaid first accumulator section C.

Side edge cutting section I comprises movable rollers 102 and 103, stationary rollers 104 and 105 and a cutter knife 106. Said movable rollers 102 and 103 extend between and are supported by means of adjustable discs 101 and 101' (only one shown) which are rotatably mounted on vertically depending support plates S, and S'7 (only one shown) fastened to the underside of the upper frames S3 and S'3, wherein said discs 101 and 101' can be selectively set fat in place. The stationary rollers 104 and 105 also extend between and are supported by means of said vertical support plates S, and S'7.The cutter knife 106 is supported by means of the rotatable shaft 107, said shaft 107 extending between and being supported by means of the vertical support plates Sv and S'7, SO that the top end of the cutter knife 106 comes into contact against the stationary roller 105. The sealed and printed raw material T from the preceding sections passes between the aforesaid rollers 102, 103, 104 and 105 in a zigzag fashion, whereby the tension exerted on the travelling raw material T is adjusted by regulating the positions of the movable rollers 102 and 103 in accordance with selected positions of the adjustable discs 101 and 101'.

Thus in operation of side edge cutting section 1, the travelling raw material T passes toward the measuring section J and the cutter knife 106 cooperates with the stationary roller 105 to continuously cut one marginal side edge of the travelling raw material T.

As particularly illustrated in Fig. 1, 2 and 12, the measuring section J comprises three rollers 111,112and 113,acamdisc 114securely arranged at one end of the shaft of said roller 112, a counter (not shown) which is adapted to be operated by means of said cam disc 114 and a limit switch 1 15. The three rollers 111, 112 and 113 are rotatably supported by means of bearing stands 108, 108', 109, 109', 110, 110' on the upper frames S3 and S'3.The measuring section J operates such that the particular bobbin b1 or b2 which is in service in the winding section L is stopped by means of a limit switch 11 5 which is adapted to be actuated each time a predetermined length of raw material T passes the measuring section.

Next, as illustrated in Fig. 1 and 13, the stepped edge forming section K comprises a stepped edge forming cutter 11 6 and a cutter anvil 11 7 which is inserted into the edge opening in the travelling raw material T which results from the cut achieved by cutter knife 106. Said stepped edge forming cutter 11 6 is secured to a shaft which extends between and is supported by means of the vertically depending frames S8 and S'8 (only one shown) fixed to the underside of the upper frames S3 and S'3. Said cutter anvil 1 17 is secured to one of the vertically depending support frames S8 and S'8 in a cantilever fashion.The reference numeral 1 18 designates a suction type pneumatic conveyor located between sections I and K, and serving to collect and remove film scraps from both sections I and K with the aid of air suction. The reference numeral 11 9 designates a static electricity discharging bar which extends between and is supported by means of the vertically extending support plates S8 and S'8 at lower portions thereof. The horizontal shafts for the bobbin b, and b2 in the winding section L are rotatably supported by means of bearing stands on the mounting base X' at theleft rear part of the machine frame S, as illustrated in Fig. 1 and 2.

As illustrated in Fig. 2 and 14, the upper driving roller 11 is adapted to be driven by means of the motor M, via the intermediate sprocket wheel 131, endless chain 137, sprocket wheel 132, endless chain 138, sprocket wheel 133, intermediate shaft 145, sprocket wheel 138', endless chain 1 39 and sprocket wheel 146.In the meanwhile, as illustrated in Fig. 2 and 14, the upper driving roller 11' in the tractive section G is also driven by means of the same motor M1 via the intermediate sprocket wheel 131, endless chain 137, sprocket wheel 132, endless chain 140, sprocket wheel 134, endless chain 149 and sprocket wheel 1 35. As illustrated in Fig. 14, the bobbins b, and b2 in the winding section L are provided with a clutch mechanism 120 which is associated with the driving motor M2 so as to switch power transmission either to the bobbin b, orb2. Further in Fig. I the reference numerals 160, 161,162163...171 designate intermediate rollers located along the passage of the travelling raw material T in the respective sections.

Now operation of the film negative cover forming machine with the sealing and printing apparatus incorporated therein will be described below.

First, a length of thin wall tube made of thermoplastic material is flattened and wound round a reel forming frame (not shown), whereby a hank of raw material T is prepared. Then the aforesaid hanks are loaded on the reels a, and a2 in the raw material loading section A. Next, the raw material T is unreeled from one of the reels a, and a2, for instance, from the reel a,. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the leading end of the raw material T passes through the respective operative sections B, C D E F G H, I, J and K to make a connection to one of the bobbins, for instance, to the bobbin b, in the winding section L. After it is confirmed that the respective operative sections are ready to properly work, the driving motors M, and M2 start rotating.Thus the upper driving roller 11 in the raw material unreeling and feeding section B, the driving power receiving sprocket wheels 43, 49 and 74 in the sealing and printing section E, the upper driving roller 11' in the tractive section G and the bobbin b, or b2 in the winding section L are driven. Specifically the raw material T loaded on the reel a, in the raw material loading section A is unreeled by means of the upper driving roller 11 and upper contact roller 13 in the raw material unreeling and feeding section B. Further the raw material T is smoothly delivered to the first accumulato, section C by means of the plurality of endless belts 1 7 and 1 8 without any hindrance caused by static electricity. Extra lengths of raw material T may be temporarily stored therein in loop form.After leaving the first accumulator section C through the guide-out port 28 thereof, the raw material T enters the wrinkle removing section D where wrinkles are removed by stretching the raw material T which passes between the rollers 31, 32, 33 and 34 in a zigzag form. The travelling raw material T is stretched between this section D and the subsequent sealing and printing section E. After leaving the wrinkle removing section D, the raw material T runs to the sealing and printing apparatus vie the intermediate rollers 160, 161 and 162 and then is drawn to the tractive section G via further intermediate rollers 1 63 to 1 71 by means of the upper driving roller 11' and upper contact roller 13' of tractive section G.

Since the base drum 40, sealing drum 45 and printing drum 70 are adapted to work in co operation with each other by means of the gears 44, 48 and 73, the travelling raw material T is drawn therebetween and subjected to thermal fusing, that is, sealing at predetermined positions along the raw material T in the longitudinal direction (as illustrated by the dotted lines in Fig.

11 and 13) by means of the sealing drum 45 and then to printing of a predetermined area thereof by means of the printing drum 70.

After completion of sealing and printing operations the raw material T is transferred through the tractive section G to the second accumulator section H where it is stored in the form of plural loops in the same manner as the aforesaid first accumulator C. Then the raw material T is further transferred through the subsequent sections 1, J and K to the winding section L in which it is wound round the bobbin b,.

In the side edge cutting section I the raw material T is spanned round the movable rollers 102 and 103 and the stationary rollers 104 and 105 in a zigzag form in such a manner that its tension can be adjusted in accordance with the rotational position of the discs 101 and 101', whereby the travelling raw material T is subjected to a cutting operation along one of the side edges thereof, said cutting operation being carried out by means of the cutter knife 106 in cooperation with the stationary roller 105, as illustrated in Fig.

11. The cut scraps are removed from this section by means of the suction type pneumatic conveyor 118. After completion of the above-mentioned side edge cutting operation the raw material T is displaced to the measuring section J where its length is measured.

Next, in the stepped edge forming section K the cutter anvil 11 7 is inserted in the open edge of the travelling raw material T and then a cutting operation is carried out by means of the stepped edge forming cutter 11 6 which is located against said cutter anvil 11 7, whereby a longitudinally extending stepped edge is produced at one side of the travelling raw material T, as illustrated in Fig.

13. The resultant cut waste is removed with the aid of said suction type pneumatic conveyor 118 in the same manner as in the preceding section I.

A series of film negative covers formed in that way passes by the static electricity discharging bar 119 and finally is wound about the bobbin b,.

When the reel a, becomes empty and the raw material T is no more unreeled therefrom, while film negative cover forming operation still continues, or when the bobbin b, is fully loaded with the finished product, said reel a, or bobbin b, is exchanged in service by another reel a2 or bobbin b2.

If it is required to carry out maintenance, repair, readjustment work or the like for the sealing and printing apparatus E, after the predetermined film negative envelope forming operation is over, the following steps are conducted. First, the rotable handle 96' (see Fig. 9) is rotated so that the printing ink holding tray 90 moves away from the printing drum 70. Next, the hand lever 63' and threaded shaft 68 and 68' are rotated in the clockwise direction in Fig. 5 respectively so that the sealing drum 45 is parted from the base drum 40 by means of the crank discs 61 and 61', connecting rods 69 and 69' and sliding bearings 55 and 55', while the printing drum 70 moves away from the base drum 40 with the aid of the sliding bearings 75 and 75'. Now the required maintenance, repair or readjustment work is ready to be done.

In this connection it is to be noted that at the same time when the aforesaid drums are moved or parted away, the gear 48 on the drum 45 as well as the gear 73 on the drum 70 are disengaged from the gear 44 on the drum 40 respectively, but exact and correct re-engagement is still ensured owing to the cooperative interconnection of the sprocket wheels 43, 49 and 74 coaxially arranged on said gears 44, 48 and 73, said interconnection being made by means of the combination of the endless chain 136, intermediate sprocket wheel 1 50 and endless chains 1 55 and 156, as illustrated in Fig.

14 and 1 5. Hence as the handle 63' and threaded shafts 68 and 68' are rotated in the opposite direction, that is, in the anticlockwise direction, both the sealing drum 45 and printing drum 70 are brought into pressure contact against the base drum 40, accompanied by smooth reengagement of the gear 48 on the drum 45 as well as the gear 73 on the drum 70 with the gear 44 on the drum 40.

As described above, the present invention has been exemplified with respect to a single preferred embodiment thereof, in which a length of flattened thin wall tube is employed as raw material, but it is obvious that the present invention shouldn't be limited only to this embodiment but it may be suitably modifed or changed without any departure from the spirit and scope of the invention. For instance, a length of film sheet may be used as another raw material, which is folded into two along the centre line thereof in the longitudinal direction. In this case it is apparent that the aforesaid side edge cutting section I isn't required.

As readily understood from the above description, a sealing and printing apparatus in accordance with the present invention can be easily incorporated into the film negative envelope forming machine and moreover the two operations of thermal sealing and printing can be performed in a single apparatus.

Claims (11)

Claims

1. A sealing and printing apparatus comprising: a base drum and a sealing drum between which a length of double layer thermoplastic sheet is arranged to pass, the sealing drum being provided on the outer periphery of its drum body with a plurality of heaters for thermal sealing of the two layers of thermoplastic to each other as they pass between and in pressure contact with the base drum and the sealing drum, each said heater comprising an electric heating means and sealing member; a printing drum provided with a printing face over the outer periphery of its drum body and disposed for passing of the double layer sheet between the printing drum and the base drum and in pressure contact therewith; a doctor knife for sliding contact with said printing face; a printing ink holding tray arranged to supply printing ink to said printing drum; and drive means adapted to rotate the aforesaid base drum, sealing drum, and printing drum.

2. Apparatus as set forth in Claim 1, wherein the shafts of each of said base drum, said sealing drum and said printing drum are provided with a respective power transmitting gear and sprocket wheel, the three gears normally being in mesh but being displaceable out of mesh upon displacement of the printing and sealing drums from the base drum; and wherein the three sprocket wheels are interconnected by means of an endless chain, whereby to ensure smooth reengagement of the gears.

3. Apparatus as set forth in Claims 1 or 2, wherein said sealing drum is displaceable with respect to said base drum with the aid of sliding bearings located on both sides thereof.

4. Apparatus as set forth in any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein said sealing drum is displaceable with respect to said base drum with the aid of a combination of connecting rods, crank discs and a hand lever.

5. Apparatus as set forth in any preceding Claim, wherein said printing drum is displaceable with respect to said base drum with the aid of sliding bearings located on both sides thereof.

6. Apparatus as set forth in any preceding Claim, wherein said printing drum is displaceable with respect to said base drum with the aid of a combination of threaded shafts and a rotary handle.

7. Apparatus as set forth in any preceding Claim, wherein said doctor knife is biased towards pressure contact with the outer periphery of the printing drum by means of a dead weight, and is reciprocably movable in its longitudinal direction by means of a swing plate, crank disc and motor.

8. Apparatus as set forth in any preceding Claim, wherein said printing ink holding tray is horizontally displaceable with the aid of swing arms rotatably supported on a horizontally extending shaft, a worm wheel secured to said shaft, a worm in engagement with said worm wheel and a rotatable handle.

9. A sealing and printing apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in figs. 1, 5 to 10, 14 and 1 5 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A machine for producing covers for film negatives and comprising in order a raw material loading section for a stock of elongate flattened thermoplastic tubing or a stock of elongate thermoplastic sheeting folded along its length to provide a double thickness; a raw material feeding section; a first accumulator for feed stock; a wrinkle removing section; a sealing and printing apparatus according to any preceding claim; a dryer; a tractive section; a second accumulator for sealed and printed stock; a measuring section for determining the length of stock sealed and printed; and a section for collecting such sealed and printed stock.

11. Substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings, a machine for producing covers for film negatives.