GB768020A - Printing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

768,020. Statistical apparatus. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. March 25, 1955 [March 29, 1954], No. 8737/55. Class 106 (1). [Also in Group XIV] A machine for selecting certain ones of a series of record cards 20, Fig. 1, and for printing on a web 48 images corresponding to parts of those record cards selected comprises means for feeding the cards in sequence over a plate 26, a lamp 25 for throwing a beam of light through a, slit in plate 26 against the record card, a light image of the part of the card exposed through the slit being reflected by mirrors 28, 29 on to an electrically charged photosensitive plate 38 mounted on a rotating cylinder 39, a developing chamber 44 for applying colour powder to the surface of plate 38 which is attracted to the charged image areas of the plate, an impression cylinder 45 for pressing the web 48 against the cylinder 29 to transfer the powder image to the web and pressing rollers 78 for pressing the powder into the paper of the web and thereby fixing the transferred image. The record cards are fed from a stack 21, through pairs of forwarding rollers 85, 86, &c., past a sensing means 23 and between plates 26, 27 and are received in a stacker 22. A beam of light from lamp 25 falls on the narrow band of the record card exposed through the slit in the plate 26, the illuminated strip of the card being projected on to the photo-sensitive plate 36. The plate is electrostatically charged by movement past an ion-producer 40. Those parts of the surface upon which light falls are discharged but the dark-image areas remain charged and are coated with powder in the device 39. The cylinder 45 has a metal core and a soft semi-insulating sleeve 47, e.g. of " conducting rubber." The cylinder 45 is mounted on L-shaped levers 50 which are spring-loaded in a clockwise direction, and carry a follower roller 58 for co-operation with a cam 57 which is adapted to turn the levers against the action of the spring. Displacement of the levers by cam 57 causes the cylinder 45 to leave cylinder 39 and clamp the web 48 against a brake shoe 74. The web is fed from spool 76 between drag rollers 77 over idle roller 56, over cylinder 45, between pressing rollers 78, and feed rollers 80, 81, to spool 79. The upper presser roller is cleaned of powder by an oil pad 63 and the printing plate 38 is cleaned before again coming under the ionproducer by a rotating brush 59 of pile fabric. This apparatus as described so far is similar to that described in Specification 766,426, [Group XVI]. Cards 20 are fed from stack 21 one at a time and are forwarded by rollers 85, 86 at such a speed that they pass the sensing brush 23 separated one from another. The next group of rollers 95, 96 run at a lower speed and the path of travel of the cards is downwardly stepped so that the cards pass between the plates 26, 27 in overlapping relation as shown in Fig. 2. As a result only a small part of each card is exposed, and this allows the electrostatic images 41a on the plate 38 of the areas 41 of the cards, to be closer together. The web 48 has the corresponding images also closely spaced. Datacomparison.-The sensing brush 23 reads the data carried by the card in the area 43 and this is compared in a device 65 of known kind with standard data produced by a data emitter 66. It may, for example, be desired to print on the web the addresses of magazine subscribers who are also doctors. The address is printed on the card in the area 41 and further information, including whether the person is a doctor or not, is shown in the area 43 and sensed by the brushes. The data emitter is set to produce a signal once in each card cycle corresponding to the information on the card that the person is a doctor. When the signals from the brush 23 and the data emitter differ, the compare apparatus 65 sends an impulse to a magnetic recording head 67. When the signals correspond, i.e. when the record card shows that the person is a doctor, no impulse is sent to the head 67. An impulse sent to head 67 is recorded on a magnetic drum 68 rotating with cylinder 39 and is read by a reading head 69 at the time when the corresponding image portion 41a on the surface 38 is about to be printed on the web 48. The head 69 sends an impulse to an amplifier 70 which sends a pulse to control apparatus 71 adapted to operate cam 57 to lift the roller 46 and interrupt printing. The control apparatus is also effective to disconnect a one-revolution clutch which drives the feed rollers 80, 81 and the web stops. A punching device normally operative once in each card cycle to make holes 75 between the images 41b of the web is rendered inoperative by the control apparatus. The punch is of the kind adapted to make a punching operation while the web is moving. Specifications 614,016; 664,322, 672,767, 679,533, [all in Group XVI], and 680,892 also are referred to.