US1128774A - Mail-marking machine. - Google Patents

Description

G. H. GRAHAM.

MAIL MARKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.'28, 1914.

mmfifimm Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

m5 NORRIS PETERS (30.. PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, Dy 6 G. H. GRAHAM. MAIL MARKING MACHINE. APPLIUATION FILED 1.28, 1914.

mmfim Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f sa S E :s g

| Q Q A55 WITNESSES: INVENTOR HE NORRIS PETERS CO, PHOTO-LITHO WASHING ToNv D c FTATFF FATFFT TTFTF,

cnonen rr. GRAHAM,

JERSEY.

OF UPPER MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 UNIVERSAL STAMPING MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N.

Y., A CORPORATION OF NEVJ MAIL-MARKING MACHINE.

inaa'rra.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

Application filed January 28, 1914. Serial No. 814,877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. GRAHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Upper Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mail- Marking Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates generally to mailmarking and other similar machines and particularly to the printing couple of the class of machines illustrated and described in United States Letters Patent to George H. Graham, No. 1022191, dated April 2, 1912, having in the present instance reference to the impression roller and its connective parts.

In mail-matter marking and similar machines required to handle varying thicknesses of matter, difiiculty has been encountered in providinga suitably mounted spring acting on the impression roller that will exert a substantially even pressure against the passing matter during the printing operation no matter what its thickness within the range of the machine to feed. Flat and leaf springs and endwise compression coiled springs have been employed to hold the impression roller to duty and allow it to yield as the thickness of the passing matter may vary, but in such uses the spring largely increases in tension as the thickness of the matter increases, thereby placing added duty on the driving motor or other power, adding additional wear on the parts, causing excessive hammering of the parts and slippage or clogging of matter between the feeding instrumentalities as well as improper marking. Furthermore, as heretofore constructed, the impression roller of such machines, normally occupies the same position with respect to the marking die whether the machine be operating continuously on thin matter, such as postal cards, or whether it be operating on com paratively thick matter such as bulky mail. In handling thin matter and ordinary sized mail only slight injurious efl'ects are noticeable, but when handling a quantity of thicker mail, the hammer or shock of the returning impression roller and its rebound after the passage of each thick piece of mail, under the old forms of springs, is injurious to the machine and causes imperfect impression and delay in feeding.

The present improvements have for their object to overcome these objections, to provide a simple and substantial construction whereby the effective spring pressure, to insure pro er marking, is substantially uniform no matter how the thickness of the mail may vary, and to render the position of the impression roller with respect to the marking die readily adjustable and suited to operate on mail in bulk when of substantially the same thickness.

The accompanying drawings illustrate so much of the machine referred to, together with the improved construction, as is mate rial to the description to follow; in which drawings:

Figure 1, is a plan view. Fig. 2, is an elevation of the impression roller, rock-arm and spring. Fig. 3, is a longitudinal Vertical section on the line 3, of Fig. 1, showing the impression roller adjusting cam in elevation; and Fig. 4:, is a horizontal section on the line 4, of Fig. 2 showing in plan view the means for holding and varying the tension of the impression spring.

As in said Patent No. 1022191 (using the same reference numbers for corresponding parts as therein,) the upper table plate B, supports bearings for a rockarm 51, carrying a rotating spindle 16 to which is connected a trip pressure roller 16, which in this in stance is rubber covered; an opposed rotating spindle 19, carrying trip-feed rollers 17 a die and clutch-feed and intermittently rotated spindle 56, carrying the die-hub 19, with its usual canceling bars 0, and removable marking-die d with its change type; a rock-arm 53, supporting a rotated spindle 18, carrying a rubber covered impression roller 18, opposed to the die-hub and its die and canceling bars.

The trip pressure roller 16, is held in yielding contact with the trip-feed rollers 17, by a suitable spring 51 connected to the rock-arm 51, to allow varying thicknesses of matter to pass between said two rollers 16 and 17 The mail or other matter is guided toward the bight of the trip feed and pressure rollers 17,16, by a suitable guide 9,

mounted on a stud 47, projecting upward from the table plate B; and this same stud 47, carries a rigid stripper guide 1, extend ing forward in line with the bight of the rollers 16 and 17 toward the die-hub 19. Associated with said trip feed rollers 17, and the guide 1, is the'trip-finger 2, whichis carried by a spindle.90, that in turn has hearings in one end of the rockar1'n 3, secured at the other end to a spindle 91; all as in said patent and operating as therein described. The die (Z, and canceling bars 0, carried by the die-hub 19, are suitably inked at each rotation thereof, by an inking felt roller 25, which in this instance is mounted on a pin 26, carried at one end of a supporting arm 65, that is supported by a stud 27, projecting upward from the table plate Of the train of gears needed to properly rotate the several rollers described, the spur gear 55, Fig. 2, is only shown. It is secured to a short spindle 18 mounted in the lower plate A, with a universal joint connection 44 to rotate the spindle 18 and its impression roller 18, and yet permit the roller to yield with respect to the die hub 19, according as the thickness of the passing matter will require.

The operation of the described instrumentalities is such that a letter or other piece of matter moving forward and passing between the rollers 17 and 16, meets the end of the trip-finger 2, rocks it forward thereby releasing the d'ie-hub 19', and allowing it to rotate, so that said letter or piece in passing between said die-hub and the impression roller 18 becomes impressed or marked by the canceling bars 0, and die (Z, to be subse quently properly delivered. The trip finger 2, after being rocked" by the letter, yields outwardly slightly in' escaping the moving letter and returns to its normal position ready to meet the succeeding letter, all as fully described in said patent.

In the present impro ements, the impression roller 18, of the printing couple, is, as before described, fixed to the spindle 18, that is mounted in a bearing in the outer end 'of the rock-arm 53, which arm, in this instance forming part of a bell-crank structure, is carried by and rigidlysecured' to a vertical spindle 155-.- This spindle is mounted in suitable bearings in the upper table plate B, and the lower plate A, see Fig. 2. The lower end of this spindle 155, is shouldered in the plate A, and its upper end is preferably engaged by the tapered end of a screw threaded pivot-stud 156, carried by a plate 157, secured to the top surface of the table plate B, with a lock-nut 158, engaging the stud to hold it in its adjustment.

On the lower end of the spindle 155, is loosely mounted a toothed disk or ratchet 15.9, which for increased bearing on the spindle and better alinement is shouldered into the plate A; and the teeth of the ratchet are engaged by a pawl 160, mounted on a stud 161, fixed to said plate. A coiled spring 54, of suitable size and convolutions, surrounds the spindle 155, between the rockarm 53, and the ratchet 159, with its upper end engaging said rock-arm and its lower end the ratchet; with the result that said spring 5A, exerts a proper tortional pressure on the rock-arm 58, to yieldingly hold the impression roller 18, toward the (lie-hub 19, to cause the passing letter or other n1atter to be properly impressed by the canceling bars and die.

lVere it not for the fact that the impression spring 54:, may, after assembling, need adjustment to increase or diminish its tension, and also for the fact that its assembly is greatly facilitated when not under tension, its lower end might enter a hole directly in the plate A; but as these operations are necessary in practice, the interposition of a tension adjustment such as the ratchet and pawl and thereby the indirect anchoring of the end of the spring, is of considerable utility.

The inward position of the in'ipression roller 18, with respect to the die and canceling bars is ordinarily limited by a stopscrew 180, threaded into an enlargement of the rock-arm 53, with its end meeting the side of the upper table plate B, as in Fig. 1 a lock-nut 181, on the stop-screw holding it in its adjustment. This limiting stop-screw, is adjusted so that the thinnest matter, such as postal cards, will be properly and legibly impressed by the die, and when so ad jusl'cd a miscellaneous assortment of mail, thick and thin, will also be properly impressed. The stop-screw 180, is especially useful, first, in the initial setting of the machine to obtain the proper impression and thereafter to take care of any wear of the impression roller and also possibly of the die and canceling bars. lVhen. however, a large quantity of matter, say thicker than postal cards, is to be impressed. it is advantageous to the life of the machine, in preventing undue hammering or hitting of the stop-screw against the plate B, on the return of the im pression roller under the tension of the spring each time a thick letter passes, to adjust the impression roller so that it need only yield sufficient to allow this quantity of thicker matter to pass and yet be properly impressed. Thus the rock-arm 53, Figs. 1 and 3, has a rearwardly extending arm 170, arranged to engage the face of a cam 171, rotatably mounted on a stud 172, projecting from the rear side of the plate B; the stud being fixed by a set screw 173, and the cam held on the stud by a washer and screw 174, with a handle 175, fast to the cam to facilitate'its adjustment. The arm 170, instead of directly bearing against the cam is prosinks 178,

vided with a set-screw 176 with its end in contact with the cam and the set-screw fixed against movement by a locking set-screw 177.

The cam 171, instead of being of true snail form has preferably a number of flat faces f, each of which in the adjustment of the cam will be in position to be borne upon by the set-screw 17 6, directly in line with the center of the cam-supporting stud 172, and thus making each face of the cam a known quantity and preventing its accidental change of location. To obviate any chance of this accidental displacement of the cam, the inner face of its hub is provided with a number of concentrically disposed counterarranged to be engaged by a spring pressed detent or ball 17 9, mounted in the rear edge of the table plate B.

In operation, when the machine is to operate on a large quantity of thick mail, the handle 175, is moved in the direction of the arrow Fig. 3, to rock the cam 171 around so as to place one or the other of the flat faces f, in contact with the screw-set 176, of the rock-arm 170, thereby moving the impression roller 18, the desired extra distance from the die; the set-screw 176, thereby becoming the limiting stop for the impression roller, while the usual limiting stop 180, is for the time being out of duty. When this quantity of thicker mail has been impressed, and postal cards and ordinary mixed mail is to be impressed, the handle 175, is moved back to its original position, whereupon the stop 1S0, again becomes active. While the supplemental limiting stop, represented by the set-screw 176, might in itself in meeting the lowest face of the cam 171, be the only stop needed, yet in practice it is preferred to also employ the usual stop 180.

While there has been described and shown a specific and desirable arrangement of parts, it is obvious that the improvements are susceptible of such modifications as will occur to those skilled in the art. And in so far as the cam adjustment is concerned other forms of springs for yieldingly holding the members of the printing couple to duty may be employed.

4V hat is claimed is:

1. In a printing couple, a suitable rotated printing member, a bell-crank one arm whereof carries the impression member and the other arm an adjustable stop, a step by step rotatable cam arranged to engage said adjustable stop to adjust the position of the impression member with respect to and limit its movement toward the printing member,

and a spring coiled about the pivot of the bell-crank and engaging one of its arms whereby the impression member is constantly held under spring tension.

2. A printing couple, a rock-arm supporting one member thereof, a suitable spring engaging said rock-arm, a limiting stop carried by the rock-arm, another stop also carried by said rock-arm, and a rotatable cam for engaging said latter stop for limiting the position of the rock arm irrespective of the other stop.

3. A printing couple, the impression member of which is carried by a rock-arm having a rearward extension, a suitably mounted spindle to which the rock-arm is secured, a spring coiled about the spindle to yieldingly hold the impression member toward the other member, a ratchet loosely mounted concentric with the axis of the spindle and an engaging pawl, one end of the spring engaging the rock-arm and the other end the ratchet, and a step by step rotatable cam engaging the extension of the rock-arm to position and also to limit the position of the impression member with respect to the other member against the tension of said spring.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEO. H. GRAHAM.

Witnesses EDWARD H. GADUM, J. S. Forums.

Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

Images