398,928. Feeding webs. JACKSON, L. MELLERSH-, 28, Southampton Buildings, London-(Goss Printing Press Co. ; 1535, South Paulina Street, Chicago, U.S.A.) April 5, 1932, No. 9779. [Class 100 (i).] A method of joining a reserve web to the expiring web of a rotary printing or other webusing machine consists in pressing the two webs together and positioning a thin flexible sheet coated with an adhesive against one of the webs so as to lie between the expiring web and the leading end of the reserve web. In one form of apparatus, Fig. 1, the active roll A and reserve rolls B, C are mounted on chucks 4 rotatable in arms 1 fixed to a shaft 3 rotatable in a stand 2. When a join is to be effected, the expiring web 5 is pressed, by means of a rubber-covered roller 6 carried by a hand-lever 7, against the roll B to cause this roll to rotate, after which a series of side-by-side rollers 10, carrying flexible sheets coated on both sides with an adhesive, is brought into contact with the leading end E of the reserve web to transfer the sheets thereto. The continued rotation of the roll causes the webs to adhere together, after which the web 5 is severed. The arms 1 are then turned to bring the roll B into the running position. The rollers 10 are provided with friction strips 11 of rubber, to facilitate the initiation of their rotation by contact with the roll B, and are freely mounted on shafts 52 carried by arms 12 loose upon a shaft 13 to which are secured collars 16, Fig. 3, carrying pins 17 normally engaging projections 18 on the arms 12 to hold the rollers clear of the roll B. An arm 23 fixed to the shaft 13 is connected by a link 24 to a weighted handlever 25 loose upon the shaft 3 and normally held raised by a pawl 30 engaging ratchet teeth 32 on the lever. Release of the pawl allows the lever 25 to drop thereby turning the shaft 13 and, through the medium of coiled springs thereon, pressing the rollers 10 against the roll B, and the release of the pawl is timed to ensure application of the adhesive sheet to the leading end E of the reserve web. This timing mechanism comprises a cam 36 fixed to the chuck 4 and adapted, by engagement with a pin 35<1>, pressed into its path by the operator, to turn a lever 34 provided with a projection 37 which depresses the tail 38 of the pawl 30. In a modification, the rollers 10 are in the form of spaced discs and the adhesive sheets are temporarily held thereon by pointed wires carried by some of the discs. In a further modification, Fig. 8, the reserve roll is brought into rotation by an electric motor 107 mounted on the arm 1 and adapted to drive the chuck 4 through gears 108, 109, pawl 110, and ratchet wheel 111. Each roll is provided with a motor 107 the leads 115 of which are connected to segments of slip rings 114 on an insulating sleeve 112 fixed to the shaft 3. The segment corresponding to the roll B in pasting position is connected to the mains 155, Fig. 10, by brushes 116 through a switch 156 and a variable resistance 118. The means for securing the webs together comprise sheets of paper or other suitable material, which are folded, as shown in Fig. 14, the parts being held together by strips of adhesive 125 to form pockets 124 by which the sheets, which have their outer sides coated with adhesive, are mounted on flexible fingers 130, Fig. 8, carried by holders 131 loose upon a shaft 131<1> and having arms 133 connected to the armatures of solenoids 135. The shaft 131<1> and solenoids are carried by members 132 which may be raised and lowered by racks 137 operated by pinions 141 on shaft 142 having an arm 143 provided with an operating cord 144. Excitation of the solenoids turns the arms 130 to bring the adhesive sheets into contact with the roll B, whereby they are stripped from the fingers and carried round to adhere to the expiring web. The application of the sheets to the leading end E of the reserve web is ensured by a timing device consisting of a disc 150 of insulating material fixed to the chuck 4 and provided with a conducting inset 151. The disc 150 engages two pairs of brushes 152, 153, Fig. 10, mounted on the frame. The brushes 153 are connected to the mains in circuit with a resistance 157 and a solenoid 158 and through a press-button switch 161, and the solenoid 158 controls a switch 162 in the lead connecting one of the brushes 152 to one main. The other brush 152 is connected to the other main through the solenoids 135. When the join is to be made, the switch 156 is closed to operate the motor 107. When the roll is rotating at the correct speed, the switch 161 is closed. Upon the strip 151 bridging the brushes 153, the solenoid 158 is excited to close the switch 162 which is held closed by current passing through the resistance 157 so that upon bridging of the brushes 152 by the strip 152, the solenoids 135 are excited and the fingers 130 actuated. In a further modification, Fig. 17, the adhesive sheets are applied to the expiring web instead of to the reserve web, the apparatus being otherwise similar to that shown in Fig. 8. Mounted on brackets 185 on the stand 2 are rotatable shafts 187 provided with notches 188, Fig. 19, to receive the flattened ends 189 of a removable rod provided with fingers 1301 to receive the adhesive sheets. Arms 190 fixed to the shafts 187 are attached to the armatures of solenoids 135<1> which are connected and actuated in a similar manner to the solenoids 135 of Fig. 8. Specification 385,337 is referred to.