US1258026A - Feeding apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

H. E. LINDBLADH.

FEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLlcAloN man :UNE 25,1913.

m2559963@ Patented Mar. 1918.

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H. E. LINDBLADH.

F`EEDING APPARATUS. APPLICATION man )UNE 25,1913.

. S Patented Mar. 5, H318.

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H'. E. LINDBLADH.

FEEDING APPARATUS. APPLICATION man uns 25. :913.

` Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

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"parentreason, and when the stock 'is'highly 'glazed they become inoperative, advancing'V To all 'who/a t may] concer/1L.'

v.larged details illustrating successive stages UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

HARMON E. LINDBLADH, or*

BoSToiv, MASSACHUSETTS.

'FEEDING APPARATUS,

Application filed 1' u11'e'25, 1

Be it known that nI, HARMON El LINU- isLa'Dir, a citiZenof the'U'nited States, residing at' Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new anduseful Feeding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

1n apparatus for successively advancing sheets of thin material' from a pile, as paper'- feeders, much difficulty is encountered', espe# cially with rapidly operating devices, in o'b-I taining an Aaccurate delivery of single sheets." Pneumatic feeders are, "at best, slow'v in ac-v tion, and when the stock operated upon 'is porous, the suction means is very liable 'to' pick up a plurality of sheets. The wellknown buckling type of feeders is erratic inE this respect, varying the delivery forno apsometimes one-,`sometimes two, or, again, many sheets with the same adjustment of" elements. It is the purpose 'of this invention to provide means free from complication whereby the feeding shallbe effected quickly and with precision, and to generally improve the feeding apparatus. ln the accompanying drawings appears asingle embodiment of the invention,` Figure 1' being a top plan view thereof; Fig. 2 a front elevation, parts being broken away; Fig. 3 a side elevation looking from-the left in 1Eig. l; Fig. 4 an elevation of the 'opposite f side of the machine, parts Vbeing omitted; Fig. 5 a front elevation of the advancing mechanism; Fig. G' a sideelevation 'of the same; Fig. 7 an enlarged detail .showing the indicating mechanism, and Figs. S and 9 enof the feeding operation.

Similar characters designate like parts throughout the various figures of the drawings.

The reference characters 10, 10 are appliedV to vertical.'standards which rise from a suitable base. Stepped in a'bearing lliatthe bottom of each of these standards is a screw 12 engaging a correspondingly threaded opening in a lateral projection or lug 13V from ai beam 14e. 'This beam supports a table 15 adapted to receive a pile S of the sheets to be fed. Extending forwardly, or

' in the direction of advance of the work,

from each of the standards 10 are supports in the form of'horizonta-l rods 1G, 1G, situated one above the other and free at their Y 'Specicatioiiof Letters'latent.

atented Marf, 1918.

91s. serial No". 775,737.

lforward ends: VOn each pair'of these rods are'blocks'or carriers 17 and l8fadj`iistablyv secured on 'their 'supporting' rods by setscrews 19.y 'flieblocksl 17 and 18, respectively, haveextendingI through openings in them transverse rods orsiipports 20 and 21,

and on these' ro'dsl midway -`between the standardsl are held blocks-or carriers 23 and :24, i'espectively','by"set-screws 25.* The lastnamed blocks have 'mounted vin them at their upper portions an actuating rod 26, and belowfiirn'ish lbearings' for a shaft 27; The rod 26 and sha-ft Qfarefurther .supported at the rearbyl blocks 'or 'carriersQS and 29, respectively. adjiistably iXed :by'fset1screws 30 to transverse supporting rods 31 and 32; ivhich are, in"turn;"removablymounted in `pairsof brackets 33,-

ixed tothe rear side of the standards.

Secured tothefextremityof the r'od 26 is a vbearing head 64,' in whichis' splined for vertical reciprocationa presserufod 35. The rod isffurther guided by ai sleeve' Sfhaviiig an arm 37 vsurrounding and 'positioned by the shaft 27. t'tlie" bottom of 'the' 'rod 35 fixedY a presser-foot' 38 lforretaining the lsheets against forward `iiiovemen-t, said j )resser-foot t liaving 'ay compound sheet-engaging face furnished byablock 39 of some such yie'ldable material as rubber, and a forward `rigid surface 40, 'whichis'preferably justable thereiirto'position the 1engaging surfaces longitudinally of the -apparatus by means of lascrew `42threaded"through the rear of thepresser-foot and Aswivel'ed into the adjacent edge'o'f the plate '11.' A lockiiut 13 serves to secure the-screw and plate atthe desiredpoint.' The engagingsurfaceV of the presser-footw-is forced-against the -sheetsby a spring rflhhaving'itsuppei' end abutting against the sleeve 36-t while its lower end rests upon Ya collar-45 adjustably secured-to the rod 35 by a 4screw 46; Up-

`ward or downward 'movement ofthe collar provides formi-increase or-dimin'ution in tlietensionof the sprl-ng, and therefore the force exerted by thepresser-foot lupon the Y sheets. i The pi'esser-foot-is raised from the Vwork by a' cam 47, fast upon the rearextremityof-the shaft 27 and cooperating 'with an anti-friction r'oll 48 journaledfin 'the forked extremity of a rod egwhiclif is mounted to slide through a pairof bracket-sy 50, pro.-

jecting from the rod 85. The upper portion of the rod a9 is threaded, and carries a nut- 51 contacting` with the top of the upper bracket 50, for the purpose of varying the position of the roll 48 with respect to the cam and thus the extent of lift of the presserfoot- The rod a9 is retainer in its adjusted position by a set-screw 52 passing through the lower braclret into engagement with the rod. in this lower bracket the rod is splined to retain the roll in the proper relation to the cam.

The shaft 27 is rotated to actuate the cam t7 by a spiral gear 53, splined to the shaft and retained in a delinite position with relation to the apparatus between cheeks in the block 2e while allowing the shaft to move through it. lVfeshingw with the gear 53 is a second spiral gear 5e fast upon a transverse shaft 55 journaled at the bottom of the blocks 18, 18. This imparts rotation to mechanism for drawing the sheets from the etaining means or presser-foot. Two such mechanisms are furnished, these being symmetrically situated with respect to the longitudinal axis of the machine, and each having pairs of independent arms 56, 56 adapted to be fixed to the shaft by set-screws 57 which permit the angular relation of the arms 56, 56 to be varied with respect to one another. Upon the outer ends of the arms 56 are fulcrumed levers 58 and 59 provided at their outer extremities with curved sheet-engaging faces 60 and 61, respectively. The former I term a fanningz member, because of its action in zeradually advancing` or earring the sheets, and the face of this is smooth and ri gid, being preferably of metal. The face 61 is upon a feeding member, and is provided with a laver of some such yieldable material as rubber. which will give strongy frictional effect. Both levers 58 and 59 are drawn against stops 62 proiectinn from the arms by springs 63, extending be tween eyes 64 projecting' from the hubs of the arms and eye-bolts 65 passing through the ends of the levers opposite the shaft engaging faces. Nuts 65a threaded upon the eye-bolts outside the arms enable the operator to adjust the force with which the working fa ces bear against the sheets. The feedine face 61 is carried by a movable shoe 66 which may be held in two positions by a screw 67. In full lines in Fien 6 Vis shown the normal or feeding position. while in dotted lines in the same fieure the shoe is illustrated as thrown back. thus rendering; the feedingsurface ineffective and allowing` the fannine; surface to act alone. When in the last-named position the workman can canse the fannine' member to impart to the pile of sheets a longitudinal displacement preliminary to the feeding of the first sheet, thus avoiding: the necessity for inaccurately performing the operation by hand The action of the cam 4:7 is so timed that the presser-foot is raised from contact with the pile of sheets (see particularly Fig. 8) as the sheet-advancing mechanism, rotated in the direction of the arrow, brings the member 58 against the upper sheet of the pile. its the smooth metallic surface 60 of this member slides over the sheet, its frictional engagement therewith not only moves this sheet in the direction of feed, but also certain of the sheets below, the extent of advance decreasing from the top downward. llfhen the sheets have been thus fanned out, the member 60 passes on in its rotation from the tcp sheet (Fig. 8), and the presser-feetV is forced down by the spring t upon the edges of the jegged sheets. By a. suitable adjustment of the spring 68 of the fanning member, and by varying the longitudinal relation of the engagging surfaces of the presser-foot by the screw e2, the roughened surface Al0 may be made to clear the top sheet of the pile and engage only the second sheet, while the flexible material 39 bears on the succeedingl edges of the sheets which have been displaced, it generally conforming to their ineline. llfhen all the sheets except the upper, and especially the second sheet which is most. liable to improper delivery, are thus firmly held. the yieldable surface 61 engages the upper sheet and thrusts it forward until it is seized by the rolls R, R which deliver directly to the machine fed. The timing of this operation may be controlled by the annular adjustment of the feeding member with relation to the fanninf; member. The exact pressure for a positive advance of the upper sheet, without bringing' too great tension upon sheets below which are retained by the presser-foot. may be assured by an adjustment of spring 63 controlling' the feetL member.

The removability of the rods 3l and 32 permits the rod 26 and shaft 27 of the presser-foot to be adjusted to any desired point over the feed-table, to provide for correct coperation with sheets of different .lenpgths. the blocks 17 and 18 being correspondinaly adjusted to respectively provide the necessary bearings for the elements 26 and 9.7 and to properly position the advancin!Y mechanism.

Rotation is imparted to the shaft by a eear 68. secured to it. and driven through large idler 69 from eear 70 connected to some source of power. The short shafts of the gears 69 and 70 are supported upon one of the rods 16. which may be larger than its companions, by means of blocks 72 and 73 adjustablv secured to the rod. From the block 'l2 depends a curved arm 741-. having' in it a segmental slot the center of which is located at the aXis of the gear 69. The gear 68 is so fixed to the shaft 55 as to be Y readily removable, and by changing-the di- "rotation of the sheet-advancing mechanism vvameter of this gear and' correspondingly ad justing the gear'69 along its slot the rateof may be -altered as desired.

" Upon the shaft fixed `beside' the gear 081 isa. sprocket Wheel 75, driving by a chain 7 6 aY Wheel 7 7 fast upon a shaft 78.k This shaft is jcurnaledl in blocks 79 each adjustably 'se-- curedv by aset-screiv to a rod L71 extendingV horizontally from the top of astandard 10.l The shaft 78 has secured to it a crank-disk', the pin of which is joined by a rod 81 to'a link 8:2 depending from theoutcr face of the standard 10. Pivoted at the-bottom of the;l

link is a paivl 83 coperating with the teeth gears 87 at the upper ends of the screws 12.

lt will be seen that as the ratchet-'is oscil# lat-ed upon the. link by the rotation of the crank-disk, it uill advance the ratchet-Wheel' step by step rotating the sha-ft 85, and through the bevel-gearing `gradually turning the screws 12, thus raising the table 15 to-` ward the sheet-engaging members.

As the elevatingl mechanism just described imparts a regular movement to the table not dependent upon the character of the mate rial fed, itwould after a time, if thin stock were being handled, bring the top of the pile to a height at which anv excessive pressure would be exerted upon it by the advancing members. tion under such conditions is much greater than the ate at which the height of the pile is reduced. To regulate this 1 provide automatic means for temporarily arresting the upward feed of the table. The paivl 83 has a long forwardly extendingl arm 88, With an inclined extremity 89 With which coperates a roll. 90 journaled upon a lever 91 fulcrumed between its'ends on a bracket 92. Depending from the lever between the roll and theI fulcrum-point is a rod'93 positioned by a pair of nuts 91, 9st threaded upon the rod at opposite sides of the lever. Journaled at the bottom of the rod isa roll 95 which is allowed to float lightly upon the upper sheet of the pile or in proximity to the line of feed, its pressure being controlled by a counter-Weight 96 movable upon the arm of the lever 91opposite that upon Which the roll 90 mounted. During' the limits of height of the pile in which the fanning and feeding` members will' properly cooperate with the sheets. thc position of the roll 95 does not affect the ratchet mechanism, but when the upper sheet o t' the pile too closely approaches the advancing` members, the rod 93 and roll 90 raise the arm 88 sutliciently to complet-ely disengage the payvl from the ratcheteivheel, and, though thercrank-disk That is, the rate of table-elevaeontinues to rotate,the paWl oscillates idly.

lVhen, however, thepile has been lowered, because -of the interi-uptedy table-elevation to the necessary extent, the fall of the rod andv lever allows the paWl to again engage the `wheel and the table-feedis resumed.

'to the apparatus.

'Sheetsare ordinarily separated after being` operated upon by the machine tol Which the feeder delivers into bundles 'containing some definite number. It is customary, for example, for the operators of ruling machines to separate the successive reams of paper on the Vtable of the feeder by'slipsvof paper, and if they observe When these slips are reached, they can remove the ruled sheets in" bundles of five hundred each. It is ditli* cult for the 'attendant to `give this matter the necessary attention, and too many sheets are frequently fed and bundled. The indicating mechanism which will now be described, and which is the subject of my divisional application, Serial Number 178085 'A tiled July 2, 1917, prevents this.

Fixed to the shaft 55 just inside one of the standards 10 is an actuating finger` or proj cction 97 cooperating with the teeth'f a Wheel 981nounted upon the standard, these teethbeing illustrated as twenty in number. At the'periphery of the Wheel is a projection 99 adapted to engage any one of the y teeth of a Wheel 100 fixed to rotate in proximitv to the Wheel 98; he Wheel 100 is shown as having' twenty-tive teeth.l Both wheels; while turning loosely on their supports. may be held against too free rotation by any desired means, as by the pressure of springs 101; It will be seen that after the ne'er 97 has engaged the teeth of the Wheel 98 twenty times, the projection 99 Will have been moved thro ugh three hundred and sixty degrees; so that once in each complete rotation of the Wheel 98 it will engage a tooth of the vwheel 100. and after live hundred revolutions of the projection 97, ora number 'correfuionding"to the sheets in a ream, the

. (in the wheel 100,. here illustratedr as beine' on opposite sides thereof, are projecsignal ldevice 109. Once in each rotation of the Wheel 100,01' forfive hundred sheets fed, the projection 102 will strike the arm 10%, raising the lever from the stop. rl`hen as the projection passes away from the arm, the tensioned lever falling upon the stop will cause the hammer to strike the gong, thus warning the attendant that a ream of paper has been delivered by the feeder. lThe projection 103 contacts with one arm of a lever 110, the opposite arm of which has an angular end or latch 111 adapted to engage a depression 112 in a Wheel 118. This Wheel is secured to an oscillatory support or shaft- 11-1 extending across the machine and journalcd in brackets carried by the standards 10, and has lined to it an arm 115 upon which is a weight 116 tending to force a pencil er marking device 117 against the top sheet of the pile. The shaft 11at also carries a secont. arm or setting' member 118, which when the pencil is resting upon the sheet lies iu the path of the linger 97. lhen the gong is struck, as a result of the contact of the projection 102 with its actuating arm, the. projection 103 also engages the lever 110, withdrawing the latch'111 from the Wheel-depression. rllhis releases the pencil, causing it to mark the last sheet of the ream, thus giving the attendant a Visual indication of the delivery of the predetermined quantity, Consequently upon hearing the gong. he may Within a suitable time run over the upper sheets of those operated upon by the machine fed, and von finding the marked sheet will be able to remove the unitbundle. Upon the next revolution of the finger 97 after the tripping of the latch for the marking device, said finger engages the end of the shaft-arm 118 raising the pencil from the paper and allowing the latch to fall back into the depression, the pencil thus being restored to its normal position.

rlhe table having reached its maximum height and all the sheets having been delivered therefrom, it is necessary to lower it to receive and present for feeding another pile of sheets. Shaft has loosely turning upon it a sprocket-Wheel 119 driven by a chain 120 extending over a vvheel 121 secured to the shaft 55. ylhe Wheel 119 carries one element of a jaw-clutch, the other element 122 of which is splined for longitudinal movement upon the shaft 85 and is engaged by a lever 125 fulcrui ed at its upper eX- tremity upon a bracket 12e. For the purpose of shifting this lever, a rod 125 sliding through guides on the standards 10 reachesV across the machine to the operators side, and there is provided with a handle. By means of this, when it is desired to return the table to its initial feeding position, the operator may cause the engagement of the clutch-elements, he having iirst thrown the paWl 83 out of contact with the ratchet- Wheel 84. rhereupon the screws 12 are rotated reifersely to their feeding movement and the table descends. vl.When the initial position is reached, the table is stopped automatically by the contact of a projection 126 With an angular endy portion 127 of the lever 123. This mores the lever .outwardly and disengages the clutch, and when the operator has supplied another pile of sheets, he has only to again throw the paWl into cooperation with the ratchet Wheel, When the upward travel and feed Will be resumed.

Having thus described my invention, l claim:

1. An apparatus for feeding sheets from a pile. comprising a member proif'ided with a face having a yieldable aufa non-yieldable portion, these portions being in simultaneous engagement with a pluralitj.' of the sheets7 the yieldable portion of the sheetengaging surface conforming in mintour to the edO'es of said sheets, and means for drawing the sheets from proximity to the member.

2. An apparatus for feeding sheets comprising a member having a continuous yieldable face for simultaneous engagement with a plurality ment With a single sheet coincidcntly with the engagement of the yield-able face, and means for drawing the sheets from proximity to the member.

3. An apparatus for feeding sheets comprising a member having a yieldable face for simultaneous engagement with a plurality of sheets and a rigid face for engagement with single sheet coineidentli.'Y with the engagement of the yieldable face, and means for drawing the sheets from proximity to said member.

f1. An apparatus for feeding reets comprising a member having a yieldable face for simultaneous engagement with a plurality of sheets and a rigid face for engagement with a single sheet. means for drawing the sheets from proximity to said member, and means for adjusting the engaging faces toward and from the sheet-drawing means.

5. An apparatus for feeding sheets comprising a member having a yieldable face for simultaneous engagement with a plurality of sheets and a roughened face for engagement with a single sheet. and means for drawing the sheets from proximity to said member. n

6. An apparatus for feeding sheets coinprising a member having a surface for simultaneous engagement with a plurality of sheets and an inde aendent surface for engagement with a single sheet, means for drawing the sheets from proximity to said member, and means for adjusting the enfaces toward and from the sheetdraiving means.

7. ln a sheet feeder, a retaining member provided with a face having a portion ladapted to conform in contour to the edges of sheets and a face for engageof a plurality of the sheets and an independent portion for engagement with another sheet, and feeding means cooperating with the retaining member.

8. In a feeder, a rotatable shaft, arms projecting therefrom, and fanning and feeding levers fulcrumed on the arms and having operating surfaces of different character.

9. In a feeder', a rotatable shaft, arms projecting therefrom, fanning and feeding levers fulcrumed on the arms, and means for adjustably securing the arms at different angles about the shaft.

10. In a feeder, the combination With revolnble arms, of fanning and feeding members movable on the arms and having operating surfaces of different character, and adjustable means for yieldably connecting the arms and members.

11. In a feeder, a retaining device having an operating face Consisting of a member movably mounted upon the retaining device and provided With a portion of yieldable material, and means for adjusting the yieldable portion upon the body of the retaining device in the direction of feed.

12. In afeeder, a presser-foot having a plate movable thereon, and a screw threaded through the presser-foot and rotatably engaging the plate.

13. A feeder Comprising a retaining member, fanning and feeding members, and means whereby the angular' relation of the farming and feeding members may be varied.

l-l. In a sheet-feeder, alternately acting revoluble advancing members for operating upon the sheets, and means whereby one only of the advancing members may be temporarily fixed from its normal position and out of cooperation with the sheets.

15. A feeder comprising a support, alternately acting fanning and feeding members movable thereon, and means for securing the feeding member in a Position on the support other than occupied in the normal operation of the feeder.

16. A sheet-feeder comprising standards, longitudinal supports projecting from the standards, carriers mounted upon the supports, transverse supports held by the carriers, other carriers on the transverse supports, a longitudinal support held in the last-named carriers, and a device coperating with the sheets and being mounted upon the longitudinal support.

17. A sheet-feeder comprising standards, longitudinal supports projecting from the standards, carriers mounted upon the supports, transverse supports held bythe carriers, other carriers on the transverse supports, a longitudinal support held in the last-named Carriers, and devices cooperating with the sheets and being mounted upon the last-named carriers and upon the longitudinal support.

1S. A sheet-feeder` comprising standards,

longitudinal supports projecting from the standards, carriers mounted upon the supports, transverse supports held by the carriers, other carriers on the transverse supports, a longitudinal support held in the last-named carriers, feeding means mounted upon the last-named carriers, and a retaining member mounted upon the longitudinal supp-ort.

Signed at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, this twenty-third day of June 1913.

HARMON E. LINDBLADIFI.

Witnesses:

ANGIER L. GOODWIN,Y CHARLOTTE M. DoHERTY.

Copies of this patent may be obtaine for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. e

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