GB897545A - Marking presses - Google Patents

Abstract

897,545. Marking machines; feeding colour foil. MASSON SEELEY & CO. Ltd. April 1, 1960 [April 1, 1959],Nb. 11096/59. Classes 100(2) and 100(4) . A marking press comprises a die-carrying assembly capable of carrying two dies, the assembly being mounted in the press for movement between two positions so that the two dies mounted thereon can be positioned in turn in a single working zone of the press within which the work-support is fixed, means for supporting two spools of marking foil, one for each die, and means for intermittently feeding foil from the spools between the corresponding die and the work. The press has a fixed lower platen on which the work-support is mounted and an upper die-carrying assembly mounted on a vertically movable ram 3. The die-carrying assembly comprises a bridge 7 of inverted U-section, the base of which is secured to the ram 3, and end plates 8, 9 which are slidably mounted on the ends of the bridge for a small limited vertical movement and which are urged upwards in relation to the bridge by springs 10, Fig. 4. Each of the end plates carries two rollers 16 at its lower end. A cradle 20 comprising a base plate 25, side members 21 and end members 23, 24 is supported on the rollers 16 by means of inturned flanges 22 on the side members 21. Heater boxes 5, 6 are secured to the underside of the plate 25 and serve as mountings for the dies. A double-acting pneumatic cylinder 17 is mounted on the end plate 8 and its piston rod 18 is connected to the cradle end member 24, Fig. 3 (plan view). By means of the cylinder 17 the cradle 20 can be moved from the full-line position shown in Figs. 3,' 4, wherein the heater box 6 is positioned beneath the ram 3, to the dotted-line position wherein the heater box 5 is beneath the ram 3, the movements of the cradle being synchronized with the operation of the other parts of the press by an electrical control system so that the dies carried by the heater boxes make successive registered impressions, which may be in different colours, on the same part of a workpiece. The dies may be mounted on a rotatable platform instead of on a sliding cradle. Foil feeding arrangements. A framework 26, 27 mounted on the cradle 20 supports a spool 32 of marking foil for each die. In each case foil is guided beneath the corresponding die by rollers 33, 34 and after use is wound up on a roller 37. The rollers 37 are connected by a slipping belt and pulley drive 38 to rubber rollers 36 which are carried in pairs of arms 40, 41 and 42, 43 respectively. These pairs of arms are pivoted on a shaft 44 carried by the framework 26, 27 and are biased by torsion springs to rotate in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 5, whereby the rubber rollers 36 normally contact knurled rollers 35 carried by a common shaft which also carries a gear wheel 39a between the two rollers, A gear box 53 is mounted on the side member 21 of the cradle and contains a gear 58 which meshes with a rack 57 secured between the rear ends of the plates 8, 9. The drive from the gear 58 is transmitted through a free wheel device 68 and bevel gears 69 to a gear 59 which meshes with the gear 39a. The rollers 35, and therefore the rollers 37, are thus rotated as the cradle is moved from right to left but, owing to the free wheel device, not when the cradle is moved from left to right. The drive to the rollers 37 is interrupted, after a given amount of foil has been fed, by means of push rods 60, 61 horizontally slidable in a block 77 fixed to the gear box 53. The push rods carry cam-follower rollers 62, 63 at one end and at the other engage abutments 66, 67 on the arms 41, 42 respectively. The rollers 62, 63 engage cam-tracks 71, 70 respectively, adjustably secured to the bridge 7. As the cradle 20 approaches the end of its run from right to left the rollers 62, 63 ride on to high parts of the cam tracks which urge the push rods to the left as seen in Fig. 5 so that the arms 41, 42 pivot about the shaft 44 and the rubber rollers 36 are disengaged from the driven, knurled rollers 35.