GB648906A - Improvements in or relating to mechanism for clipping portions from cards - Google Patents

Abstract

648,906. Cutting-machines. BRITISH TABULATING MACHINE CO., Ltd. Dec. 23, 1947, No. 34009. Convention date, Jan. 23, [Class 31 (i)] Mechanism for clipping corner portions from a card, particularly for use in a tabulating card printing machine from which cards are fed edgewise, comprises a stop 35b (Fig. 4) against which a card is fed and positioned relatively to two associated shearing units which are normally operated by cams each time a card is fed to the stop, and other cams controlled manually to withdraw one or both of the shearing units from being operated. The mechanism may thus be adjusted to cut either, both or neither of the corners of the leading edge of a card. In the example, the machine comprises a main casting 11, to which two upper castings 12, 13 are secured by single bolts 15 and located by means of pins 14 received in holes 16 in the upper castings. The castings 12, 13 are mirror images of each other and each includes mechanism for shearing a corner of the card as follows :- Shearing mechanism. A shearing knife 32 (Fig. 5) is secured by screws 33 to a block 21 formed at the lower extremity of a rod 20 which slides in a sleeve bearing 18 secured in an upper casting. A second shearing knife 35 floats on two rods 34 fastened to the upper casting and is pressed against the knife 32 by a spring 36. A tongue 40 in the knife 35 rides in a groove 39 in the block 21. When the block 21 is moved upwards the corner portion of a card 38 is sheared off between the cutting edges 32a, 35a of the two knives. Both blocks 21 are moved up and down by a bell-crank 24 (Fig. 4), one arm of which ends in a yoke 29 pivotally secured to the block 21 by a pin 22. The bell-cranks are pivoted at 23 to the respective upper castings and are pressed in an anticlockwise direction by an adjustable spring 30. The other arm of the bell-crank carries a roller 27 which co-operates with a cam 50 on a rotating shaft 48, so that each rotation of cam 50 causes the blocks 21 to be moved upwards and the shearing knives operated. Either or both of the shearing units may be put out of action by means of a pair of cams 65 on a shaft 64 which may be rotated to bring cam 65 into engagement with a bearing surface 28 on an arm of crank 24, thereby rotating the bell-cranks so that the cams 50 no longer engage the rollers 27. The two cams 65 are positioned 60 degrees from each other on the shaft 64 so that as it is rotated first one of the shearing units, then both, then the other and finally neither are rendered inoperative. Waste delivery. A suction tube 62 leads from the rear of each pair of shearing knives to a common outlet 63 which is connected with a suction pump (not shown) for removing clippings from the knives after each operation. Application to card printing machine (Fig. 6). The corner clipping mechanism is located on the machine so that cards will be positioned against the shearing knife 35 when they are released from clips 144 on a carrier drum 140. The carrier drum is driven by a gear 418 which also drives the corner clipping mechanism through gears 72, 73, 74 and 42. The gearing is so chosen that shaft 48 makes one complete revolution for each incremental advance of the carrier drum equivalent to the distance between consecutive clips 144, whereby the shearing knives operate each time a card is presented to them. After release from a clip 144 the card is forced under its own momentum against the stop 35b formed by a projection on knife 35 (Fig. 7, not shown, or Fig. 4). The cards fall down into a hopper 230 on a stacking table and are formed into a uniform stack by a constantlyagitated block 53. This block is mounted on one arm of a bell-crank 52, the other arm of which is actuated by a single lobed cam 51 on a constantly-rotating shaft 49. Jammed card. If a jammed card is thrust into the corner cutting mechanism it presses against a plate 56 causing it to turn about pivots 57, and an arcuate member 60 attached to the back of the plate is pressed against the plunger of a micro-switch 61 and closes its contacts thereby causing the machine to stop. Specification 510,014 is referred to.