361,922. Printing &c. machines. HORN, T. W., 2735, Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. Aug. 26, 1930, No. 25430. Convention date, Aug. 26, 1929. [Classes 100 (i) and 100 (ii).] Sheet separators, carriers, and guides ; registering- devices.-Sheet-feeding mechanism for a printing or other paper-handling machine comprises means whereby the rear edge of each sheet is fed forward at a faster speed than it would be moved by the normal feed devices, after the front stops have been withdrawn, so that the sheet moves clear of the stops more rapidly. Side-plates 23, Fig. 1, carrying the feeding devices are adjustably fixed to bars 21, 22 on the framing of an offset printing-machine comprising plate, blanket, and impression cylinders 100, 101, 102 respectively. Curved guide-plates 39, 40 receive the sheet from endless bands 18 on which it has been deposited by a suction-separator. The sheet is forwarded by rollers 37, 38 against registering stops 65, after the withdrawal of which a sector 53 on a rotating shaft 50 coacts with a normally raised roller 41 to feed the sheet into guides 68, 69 pivoted at 67 on an extension 66 of the plates 23 and held in position by a pivoted link 77 against the pull of a spring 71. A roller 78 on the link 77 runs on a cam 58 on the shaft 50 so that when the front edge of the sheet is gripped by the cylinders 101, 102, the guides 68, 69 are moved transversely to pull the rear edge of the sheet away from the guides 39, 40 so as to allow the stops 65 to return to position for engagement by the succeeding sheet. The stops 65 are actuated by a cam 57 on the shaft 50 engaging a roller 59 carried by an arm 60 fixed to the stop-carrying spindle 63, a spring-control 62 being provided. A third cam 56 is in engagement with a roller 48 on the spindle 42 of the feed-roller 41 so as to allow the roller 41 to be pressed by a spring 47 into engagement with the sector 53 at the required times. The suction separating devices are actuated from the shaft 50 the coupling of which to the printing-machine can be altered so as to vary the timing and thus vary the depth of unprinted margin on the leading edge of the sheet as described below. Delivery apparatus.-A stripper-bar 107, Fig. 9, which is concaved to fit the surface of the cylinder 102, is slotted at 108 on its underside to fit over a rod 104 fixed in a gap 103 in the cylinder 101, the slot being deeper at its ends. Torsion springs 111 fixed to the rod 104 and the bar 107 tend to turn the bar into the position shown dotted, Fig. 1. The bar 107 is recessed on its concave face to accommodate guide wires 112 mounted on parallel rods 113, 114 and adapted to guide the printed sheet around the cylinder 102 to the delivery. The front edge of the sheet coming from the guides 68, 69 is gripped between the cylinder 102 and the bar 107. As the rotation of the cylinders 101, 102 continues, the bar 107 is rocked about the bar 104 by contact with the cylinder 102 so that the sheet edge is caused to travel beneath the wires 112. Discs 116 carried by spring-pressed levers 117 bear against the margins of the sheet as it is being delivered. Rotary machines; tripping-arrangements. - The drive for the shaft 50 consists of a gear wheel meshing with a driving-gear on the printing-machine and fixed to a sleeve 80, Fig. 11, rotatably mounted on the shaft 50. A disc 84 is pinned to the shaft and is adjacent to a circular flange 82 integral with the sleeve 80. A plate 87 adjustable circumferentially of the disc 84 has an integral tubular part 88 carrying a spring-pressed pin 89 adapted to engage a hole 83 in the flange 82 and thus couple the sleeve 80 and shaft 50 together. By adjusting the plate 87 relatively to the disc 84, the timing of the sheet feed relatively to the operations of the machine can be varied. If it is desired to print on a web, the sheet feed is disconnected by withdrawing the pin 89 from the hole 83 and turning a knob 90 thereon through 90‹ so that a fin 91 thereon rests on the rim of the tube 88 instead of in a slot therein. A roller 120 is provided on the plates 23 for guiding a web into the machine.