GB789496A - Improvements in or relating to a variable stencil device - Google Patents

Abstract

789,496. Stencilling-apparatus; selective printing. CANTONI, C. April 12, 1956 [April 12, 1955], No. 11152/56. Classes 100(2) and 100(4) A stencil device comprises a plurality of independently movable strips of pliable sheet material, each having a plurality of stencils spaced along it, spaced pairs of rollers for winding on the opposite ends of the strip, means for guiding a portion of each strip intermediate the rollers into a working position where all the strips are co-planar and side by side to rest against a surface to be marked, and manually controlled means for moving each strip lengthwise to place any desired one of its stencils in the working position. Four stencil strips 18, Figs. 1 and 2, of sheet steel or other sheet material, and formed with evenly spaced stencils having pattern cuts representing numerals, letters or other signs are wound on rollers 13, 15 supported on shafts 14, 17 in housings 21, 22, so that their intermediate portions pass across and form the bottom of a central structure 10, resting on an article to be marked. Springs 16 associated with the rollers 15 urge the rollers counterclockwise. The rollers are prevented from rotating by stop members 28 engaging teeth or wheels 27 fixed to the rollers 13 and releasable by buttons 29 to allow the strips to move through one stencil length. The strips are retractable by means of a knob 32 on an inner shaft 31 carrying pivoted members 34 urged by springs 35 through openings 33 in the shaft 14 and into grooves 36 in the rollers 13. The members 34 are closer together than the length of a roller 13 so that for any one axial position of the shaft 31 only one member 34 and roller 13 are in engagement. The shaft 31 is moved axially by the knob 32 to engage the requisite roller and is then rotated by the knob to retract the requisite strips. A rack 43 on the shaft 31 comprises annular grooves and engages a pinion 42 on a shaft 40 to rotate a pointer 37 over a dial 38 and indicate which roller 13 is in engagement. Pressure members 30 engage the surfaces of the strips to maintain tension during retraction and springs urge the members 30, 28 into operative position.