US1225670A - Printing-press. - Google Patents

Description

' 0. A. McCAIN.

Patented May 8, 1917.

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PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATWN man JAN. 12. 1916.

Patented May 8,1917.

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CYRUS A. MCCAIN, 0F BENSQNHURST, NEW YORK.

PRINTING-PRESS Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 1917.

Application filed. January 12, 1916. Serial No. 71,705.

To (ZZZ UZLUNL it may concern:

Be it known that I, Cvnr's A. lVIUCATN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bensonhurst, in the county of Kings, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PrintingPresses, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates generally to printing presses which employ a rotary sheet-carrying cylinder, and more particularly to the various mechanisms for guiding and engaging the sheet of paper to hold it upon the cylinder during its rotations and to free it therefrom at the proper time, as will more fully appear hereinafter.

The various features of my invention may be used in connection with presses of many different types. In the present instance I have chosen to disclose my invention in connection with a flat bed cylinder press of the type in which a rotary impression cylinder cooperates with a flat type bed, the cylinder being moved toward and from the bed as the latter is reciprocated. A clearer understanding of the features of the invention as herein embodied, may be had if it is kept in mind that in such presses two revolutions of the impression cylinder are necessary to print a single sheet; that the delivery of the sheet to the cylinder, the printing of it and the starting of it from the cylinder. are accomplished in a little more than one revolution of the cylinder, that is. during a rotary movement including the first revolution and a small portion of the second, and that during the balance of the second revolution tl e cylinder is free of a sheet and the bed is on the return 'stroke.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1. is an end elevation of a flat bed printing press impression cylinder and associated sheet-handling mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of said cylinder and mech anism; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse section of a portion of the cylinder, the plane of section being indicated by the line of Fig. 4:, Fig. l is a fragmentary plan view of the cylinder illustrating other parts of the sheet-controlling mechanism; Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views of different parts of a 'ng-actuated gripper pin; Fig. 7 is a view similar to a portion of Fig. .4, illustrating particularly the tumbler and its actuating pin in position to throw the tumbler; Fig. 8 is a. view similar to Fig. 7, but showing the pin in its retracted position; Fig. 9 is an elevation of a portion of the cylinder showing the tumbler and the gripper pin in a position corresponding to that of Fig. 7;

and Fig. 10 is a similar viewillustrating the application from what would have been otherwise necessary.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 10 designates a portion of an upright extension of the main frame of a press upon which one of the journal boxes 11 of the impression cylinder 12 is located. A corresponding extension and journal box is located at the other end of the cylinder in the usual manner. The extensions 10 carry uide rod frames 13 and these guide rod rames are connected by a transverse drop guide bar 14-, a. feed guide rod 15, a stripper finger rod 16, and a conveyor shaft 17. As shown in Fig. 4, the cylinder 12 is provided with a hollow interior cavity 18 in which are located the usual gripper shaft 19 and shoo-fly finger rod 20. The shaft 19 carries the usual. grippers 21, and the rod 20 carries the usual lifting or shoo-fly fingers T he grippers 21 cooperate with the adjacent edge of the cylinder to hold the sheet while the fingers 22 pass beneath the sheet and at'the appropriate time lift the edge of it from the cylinder to be engaged by the stripping fingers 23 located upon the stripping finger rod 16. The gripper shaft 19 is provided with a tumbler 2% which cooper ates with a pair of gripper pins 25, 26, to hringabout a proper actuation of the grippers 21. The guide rod 14 carries the usual drop guides 27 and. the feed guide rod 1.5

its forward end a cam roller 33 which travels upon a cam 34 which is secured to the gear wheel 35 mounted upon the journal of the cylinder. A. spring pressed pin 36 is mounted upon the loose arm 32 and is movable under its spring pressure, when unrestrained, to pass beneath the outer end of the fixed arm 31. By this construction the arms 31 and 32 are coupled together and as the arm 32 is raised at its outer end, the arm 31 is likewise raised to rock the guide rod 15 and raise the guides 28 located upon it. In order to actuate the pin 36, a member 37 is pivoted to the outer end of the loose arm 32 and arranged to engage at its free end in a notch 38 cut in the side of the pin 36. A cam face 39 is formed at the lower edge of the member 37 to provide for its actuation as hereinafter explained. The stripping finger rod 16 is provided with an arm 40 and the outer end of this arm is connected by a spring 41 to a fixed portion of the guide frame 13 so as to normally hold the stripping fingers 23 down in position to strip the sheet from the cylinder. The movement of the arm 40'and rod 16 in the opposite direction, is brought about by means of a link 42 which is connected to the outer end of the arm.

In the operation of these parts the sheet the cylinder rotates, the grippers hold on to the sheet and carry it around to be printed. The sheet continues in engagement with'the cylinder until the tumbler 24 of the gripper shaft 19 comes into engagement with the opening pin 26 which has in the meantime been thrown into tumbler engaging position while the gripper closing pin 25 has been thrown out of tumbler engaging position. As the sheet is thus carried about the cylinder, the stripper fingers 23 are elevated. At the time the opening pin 26 engages the tumbler to release the sheet, the stripper fingers 23 are lowered and just before the sheet reaches the stripper fingers, the shoofiy fingers 22 lift the edge of the sheet on to the points of the stripping fingers 23.

From the latter the sheet is delivered to the conveyer 83. It will be noted that the sheet is held upon the cylinder by the grippers for one complete revolution and a portion of a second revolution, and that the sheets are fed every second revolution of the cylinder. The portion of the second revolution during which the sheet is held by the grippers, is equal approximately to the distance between the gripper pins 25 and 26.

The gripper pins 25, 26, the guide bar actuating link 30, the stripper bar actuating link 42, and the cam member 37 for actuating the coupling pin 36 to bring the front feed guides into operation, are all operated by means of a reciprocating bar 43 which moves to and fro upon a guide bar 44 which is fixed to the guide frame 13. The employment of this bar 43 to actuate the gripper and otl er mechanisms, constitutes an im- 5 portant feature of my invention. This reciprocating bar is actuated by means of a bell crank lever 45 which is pivoted at 46 to a. portion of the guide frame 13 and is provided at its opposite end with an elongated shoe 47 whichengages a cam track located upon the one face of the wheel 35, which comprises an inner portion 48 and an outer portion 49 which come together, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. During one 5 revolution of the cylinder the shoe 47 travels in the inner-cam track 48, and during a second revolution it travels in the outer cam track 49. By this construction the reciprocating bar 43 is moved to one end of its movement as the shoe passes from the inner track 48 to the outer track 49, and to the other end as it passes from the outer track 49 to the inner track 48. To provide for proper action between the bell crank lever 45 and the reciprocating bar 43, the latter is provided with a slot through which the end of the-bell crank lever extends and that end of the bell crank is curved so as to provide a sort of ball-and-socket connection with the bar.

The bar 43 is provided at its opposite ends with oppositely inclined slots 50 and 51, the former being associated with-gripper pin 25 and the latter with gripper pin 26. In each instance these gripper pins are made up of an outer sleeve 52 and an inner pin 53. The former is provided at one end with a slot 54 and the latter with a similar slot 55.

hese slots are made for the purpose of embracing the adjacent end of the reciprocating bar 43. A pin 56 holds the parts together. For this purpose it passes through slots 57 of the inner pin member 53 and through the inclined slot 50 or 51 of the bar It is firmly held in position by being secured at its ends to the outer pin member 52. By reason of the slot 57, the inner pin member 53 is movable relative to the outer sleeve 52. In order to hol e p rts distended, that is, in the position illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, the inner pin member 53 is provided with a central cavity or here 58 of a diameter approximately equal to the width of the slot 55, and this bore terminates in a smaller bore 59, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 6. A pin 60 having a head 61, fitted into the smaller bore 59, and a spring 62- is coiled about the pin and lies 1 within the bore 58, bearing at one end against the pin head 61 and at the other end against the end of the bore 58. lVhen the parts of the pin are assembled upon the re ciprocating bar l3. the head (51 of the pin bears against one edge of the bar l3 and thereby forces the inner pin member 53 away from the bar 4L3 until the pin 56 engages the end of the slot 57, as illustrated in Fig. 7. The completely assembled gripper pins 25, 26, are mounted in bearings 33 formed in the guide frame member '13, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4. They are arranged to cooperate with the tumbler 2t usual.

The gripper tumbler is provided with two oppositely disposed pin-engaging slots (i l and 65 which are separated by a central interposed partition 66. The portion of the tumbler in which the slot 6% is located is shorter than that in which the slot 65 is located, and consequently the end of the latter is farther from the center of rotation of the tumbler. This difference in length is provided so as to enable the longer end to engage the usual stop pins 67 and 68 upon the adjacent portion of the cylinder as the tumbler is rotated back and forth between the positions of Figs. 9 and 10. This to-and-fro rotation of the tumbler is brought about by the gripper pins 25 and 26 engaging the slots of the tumbler in a manner well known in this art. In addition to the slots 64: and the tumbler 2st is provided with central convex, preferably conical, faces 69 and 70, which cooperate with pins 25 and 26 to prevent breaking the latter in case the tumbler is not in the proper position, as sometimes occurs when the pressman is turning over the cylinder preparatory to putting the press in operation. In normal operation the closing pin 25 enters the slot 64:, and the opening pin 26 enters slot 65, in the manner illustrated in Fig. However, if the tumbler should not be in pin-receiving position,

that is, in position for the appropriate gripper pin to enter the appropriate slot 64 or 05. but in a position such as that illustrated in Fig. 10 then the inner member 53 of the pin upon engaging the inclined conical face 69 or 70 of the tumbler, would be pressed back by the latter against the pres sure of its spring 62, in the manner illustrated in Fig. l, and would ultimately pass out of engagement with the tumbler without being broken. This tumbler and pin eonstruction constitutes an in1 )ortant feature of my invention.

As the reciprocating bar a3 is moved back and forth, the relative positions of the outer and inner members 52 and 53 of the pin do not change so long as the inner member 53 does not engage one of the inclined faces of the tumbler, but the pin as a wholemoves back and forth in its bearing 63, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8. Under these conditions the pin 56 of the gripper pin structure remains always in engagement with the outer end of the slot 54 of the inner pin member 53, while the position of the bar 43 in the slots 5-l and 55 of the pin members raries, as will be apparent from a consideration of Figs. l, 7 and 8.

The grippers 21 are of the usual construction and are sleeved upon the gripper shaft 19 and held in proper position by set-screws 7l. They are yieldingly held either in closed position or in wide open position by means of the usual spring toggle construction in which an arm 72 securely clamped to the shaft 19 by bolts 73, is pivotally connected at its outer end to one end of a rod 7 at which passes through an eye-bolt 75 secured to a suitable point in the interior of the cylinder and in which a spring 7 6 acts between the eye-bolt 75 and a collar 77 upon the rod 74-. The compression of the spring 76 may be varied by shifting the collar 77 upon the rod in a well known manner. .Vith this construction the parts are so positioned that the pivotal connection between the arm 72 and rod 7% will lie on either side of a plane through the shaft 19 and the eye-bolt 75. This is the usual construction for this purpose and need not be further illustrated. It is practically identical with that shown in Fig. 8 of the aforesaid Miehle patent. From this description it will be seen that in operation, when a gripper pin, such as 25, en gages one of the slots of the tumbler 24:, the latter will be rotated so as to shift the pivotal connection between the arm 72 and the rod 7-ibcyond center, and thereby allow the spring 76 to complete the movement of the gripper shaft 19. The stop pins 67, 68, of course limit the movement of the shaft 19 in either direction.

The reciprocating bar l3 serves to actuate the drop guides by means of a projection or block 78 located upon its upper surface and arranged to engage the free end of the link 30 carried by the arm 29, as before eX- plained. As the bar 4-3 moves to the left, viewing it as shown in Fig. 1, the arm 29 and lingers 27 are raised. As the bar moves to the right. the corresponding parts are low ered. This lowering movement is limited by the engagement of a stop pin 79 with the upper face of the hub of the loose arm 82 upon rod 15 previously referred to. This stop pin 79 is in the form of a screw threaded through a boss upon the arm 29 and held in adjusted position by means of a lock-nut 80.

The stripper fingers 23 are moved out of sheet-engaging position by means of a similar block or projection 81 upon the reciprocating bar 43, which is arranged to engage the free end of the link 42. When the bar 43 is moved to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, the projection 81 by pressing upon the link 42, rocks the stripper finger rod 16 against the pressure of the spring 41, and thereby raises the stripper fingers 23. 4s the reciprocating rod moves in the opposite direction, the spring 41 causes a return of the stripping fingers. The arm 40 is secured upon the shaft 16 in desired position by aset-screw 107.

The projection 31 upon the reciprocating bar 43 also cooperates with the cam face 39 upon the cam member 37 by which the clutch pin 36 cooperating between the fixed and loose arms 31 and 32 upon the rod 15, couples them together so as to act 1H response to the movements of the loose arm 32. As the bar 43 is moved to the left, as viewed in Figs. 1 'and 2, the projection 81 by moving along the cam face 39, allows the spring pressed member 37 to move the pin 36 against the tension of its spring out of engagement with the fixed arm 31 and thereby allows the feed guides 28 to be lowered. Its movement in the opposite direction depresses the cam member 37 against the tension of its own spring and allows the spring of the pin 36 to force the latter into engaging position, with the result that as the loose arm 32 is raised at its outer end, the fixed arm 31 will also be raised and the rod 15 rocked to raise the guides 28.

In the preferred construction I employ sheet guides or brushes 82, which are hung upon a transverse rod 82" extending between extensions 82 of guide rod frames 13. These brushes 82 engage the sheet to hold it against the cylinder as the latter carries it around. 7

When the sheet is stripped from the cylinder by the stripping fingers 23, it is carried upon conveyer tapes 83 which pass over conveyer wheels mounted upon the conveyer shaft 17. This shaft is preferably driven through a train of gearing from the large cylinder gear wheel 35. This train of gearing includes a gear wheel 85 keyed to the shaft 17 and meshing with a gear wheel 86 keyed. to a stud 87 upon which the gear wheel 88 is also keyed. This latter gear wheel is in line with the gear wheel 35 and is adapted to be driven from it. The conveyer constitutes no part of the present invention and is only incidentally shown. This is also true of the sheet guides 82.

The lifting fingers 22 are of the usual construction and they are provided with hubs which are mounted on the Sh o-fly shaft 20 and held in position by set-screws 90 in the usual way. This shaft 20, however, is arranged so that the fingers 22 may be thrown up by hand into a position where the other parts of the mechanism in the interior of the cylinder may be readily inspected or be rendered more accessible to the operator. It is also divided into sections and so arranged that that section which contains the fingers may be readily removed from the cylinder by hand. For this purpose I divide the shaft into a short section 91 which extends only through the adjacent end web of the cylinder and a longer section 92 which extends practically throughout the length of the opening 18 in the cylinder. It is upon the latter section that the fingers 22 are mounted. The end of the shaft section 92 enters a small bearing cavity 93 in the end web distant from the section 91 so that it may be readily slipped into and out of said bearing. The other end of the section 92 is provided with a coupling member 94 which cooperates with a coupling member 95 upon-the adjacent end of the section 91. These coupling members are rigidly secured to their respective sections by pins 96, 97, and a spring pin 98 cargers may be removed by drawing upward upon the end of the section adjacentto the coupling and then withdrawing the other end from its bearing 93. The outer end of the shaft section 91 is provided with the usual shoe-fly lever 99 and associated carnroller l00. These cooperate with the shoofiy cam 101 which is suitably pivoted upon a transverse shaft 89 which extends between and is supported by the guide frames 13.

A leaf spring 102 secured to a pin .103 upon one end of the cylinder 12, bears at its free end against the outer end of the cam lever 99 and tends to hold the latter against a stop pin 104 located in the adjacent end of the cylinder 12. A similar pin 105 positioned below the spring 102 and nearer to its supporting pin 103, serves to prevent undue downward flexure of the spring 102. The construction by which the shaft 20 and fingers 22 may be removed from the cylinder, or, in the alternative, the fingers rocked so as to give access to the parts within the fly shaft 20 may be of any desired construction. Preferably, however, I locate a cam stop 106 upon the shaft 16 and just inside of he adja nt fr 1 Wh n the t pping fingers 23 are elevated and the sheet is passing around to be printed, the stop 106 is rotated by the link 12 so as to clear a stop 10S upon the cam 101. This is the position shown in Fig. 1 in full lines. As a result, the cam 101 swings outward about shaft 89 by reason of the pressure of the cam roller 100 as the latter engages the face 109 of the cam and the shoo-fiy fingers 22 are not raised. On the next revolution of the cylinder, the stripper shaft 16 is not rocked but the stop 106 is left in position to be engaged by stop 108 on cam 101, as illustrated in the dotted line position in Fig. 1. Consequently the cam 101 held from swinging and therefore the roller 100 as it engages the face 109, is depressed, and fingers 22 lift the edge of the sheet upon the ends of the stripping fingers 23.

In carrying out my invention it will be apparent that manyalterations and modifications may be made in the specific structures herein disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise structures illustrated and described, but aim to cover all such alterations and modifications by the terms of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers on said cylinder, a gripper shaft, a tumbler on said shaft, gripper pins for engaging said tumbler to actuate said shaft, a reciprocating sliding bar having oppositely inclined slots, a guide bar along which said reciprocating bar travels, pins in said gripper pins extending through said slots, and means for actuating said bar in response to the rotations of said cylinder.

2. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers on said cylinder, a gripper shaft, a tumbler on said shaft, gripper pins for engaging said tumbler to actuate said shaft, a reciprocating sliding bar having oppositely inclined slots, a guide bar along which said reciprocating bar travels, pins in said gripper pins extending through said slots, an oscillating lever to reciprocate said bar and actuate said pins, a wheel rotatable with said cylinder, a. cam shoe on said oscillating lever, and a cam groove on said wheel for cooperating with said shoe to oscillate said lever.

3. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers on said cylinder, a gripper shaft and tumbler on said shaft, and a pin for engaging said tumbler, said tumbler having two oppositely disposed open-ended grooves separated by a central interposed partition and having a central conical surface outward of said grooved portions, said surface having its conical axis concentric with the axis of said gripper shaft, said grooves being for the reception of the pin in normal operation and said convex surface being to'ward off the pin when engaged while not in receiving position and said pin being mounted to yield in response to the pressure exerted by said conical face.

st. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers on said cylinder, at gripper shaft and tumbler on said shaft, and a pin for engaging said tumbler, said tumbler having two oppositely disposed open-ended grooves separated by a central interposed partition and having a central conical surface outward of said grooved portions, said surface having its conical axis concentric with the axis of said gripper shaft, said grooves being for the reception of the pin in normal operation and said convex surface being to ward off the pin when engaged while not in receiving posi tion, and said pin having two relatively movable parts normally held distended by an interposed spring.

5. A tumbler for gripper mechanisms comprising two oppositely disposed pin-engaging slots and a central conical face outward of said slots for warding 0d the pin when said tumbler is engaged while not in re ceiving position, said conical face having its conical axis extending at right angles to the plane of said tumbler and intersecting the same at a point between said slots.

0. Printing press mechanism comprising a gripper pin having two telescoping parts, a spring interposed between said parts, a pin in one part cooperating with a slot in the other to limit their relative movements, and a reciprocating bar for actuating said pin, said bar having a diagonal slot through which said pin passes.

7. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers, stripping fingers, a gripper shaft, a finger bar, a tumbler on said shaft, gripper pinsfor engaging said tumbler to actuate said shaft, a reciprocating member, means for actuating said reciprocating member in response to the rotations of said cylinder, and means acting between said member and bar and pins to actuate said pins and rotate said finger bar in response to the reciprocations of said member.

8. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers, a gripper shaft, stripping fingers, a bar for supporting said fingers, a tumbler on said shaft, gripper fingers for engaging said tumbler to actuate said shaft, a reciprocating sliding bar, a guide along which said bar slides, an arm on said finger supporting bar, a link secured to the outer end of said arm and extending into engagement with said sliding bar, means for reciprocating said sliding bar in response to the rotations of said cylinder,

means on said sliding bar for engaging said link to actuate said stripping finger bar, and pin-and-slot connections between said sliding bar and said gripper pins to actuate the latter upon the reciprocations of the former.

9. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers, a gripper shaft, stripping fingers, a bar for supporting said fingers, a tumbler on said shaft, gripper fingers for engaging said tumbler to actuate said shaft, a reciprocating sliding bar, a guide along which said bar slides, an arm on said finger supporting bar, a link secured to the outer end of said arm and extending into engagement with said sliding bar, means on said sliding bar for engaging said link to actuate said finger stripping bar, pin-andslot connections between said sliding bar and said gripper pins to actuate the latter upon the reciprocations of the former, an oscillating lever to reciprocate said sliding bar, a Wheel rotatable with said cylinder, a cam shoe on said oscillating lever, and a cam groove on said Wheel for cooperating with said shoe to oscillate said lever.

10. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers, a gripper shaft, stripping fingers, a bar for supporting said fingers, a tumbler on said shaft, gripper fingers for engaging said tumbler to actuate said shaft, a reciprocating sliding bar, a guide along which said bar slides, an arm on said finger supporting bar, a link secured to the outer end of said arm and extending at its free end into engagement with the upper side of said sliding bar, means for reciprocating said sliding bar in response to the rotations of said cylinder, a projection on the upper side of said sliding bar for engaging the free end of said link to actuate said stripping finger bar as said sliding bar is actuated, and connections between said sliding bar and said gripper pins for actuating the latter as said sliding bar is reciprocated.

11. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers, sheet guides,

stripping fingers, a gripper shaft, a guide bar, a stripping finger bar, a tumbler on said shaft, gripper pins for engaging said tumbler to actuate said shaft, a reciprocating member, means for moving said recipro eating member to and fro in response to the rotations of said cylinder, arms extending from said guide bar and finger bar respectively, links secured to the outer ends of said arms respectively and extending into operative engagement with said reciprocating member, means for causing said links to ro tate said guide bar and finger bar as said member is reciprocated, and connections for actuating said gripper pins in response to the reciprocations of said member.

12. Printing press mechanism comprising a cylinder, sheet grippers, a gripper shaft, sheet guides, a guide bar for supporting said guides, a tumbler on said shaft, gripper fingers for engaging said tumbler to actuate said shaft,'a reciprocating sliding bar, a guide along which said bar slides, an arm on said guide bar, a link secured to the outer end of said arm and extending at its free end into engagement with the upper side of said sliding bar, means for reciprocating said sliding bar in response to the rotations of said cylinder, a projection on the upper side of said sliding bar for engaging the free end of said link to actuate said guide bar to move said sheet guides, a stop for limiting the downward movement of said sheet guides independently of the position of said reciprocating sliding bar, and con nections between said sliding bar and said gripper pins to actuate the latter upon the reciprocations of the former.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th day of J anuary, A. D. 1916.

CYRUS A. MCCAIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

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