US1319077A - Jotary drier - Google Patents

Description

R. R. H|CKCOX..

ROTARY DRIER.

APPLlcATloyg FILED MAR. 31. 1911.

Patented Oct. 21,1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

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'ROTARY DRI'ER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31. 19.17.

Patented Oct. 21,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 R. R. HiCKCOX.-

I ROTARY DR IERP APPLICATION FILED MAR- 31119l7.

1 3 1 9 ,077 I Patented Oct. 21,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEEP a.

UNiTp S ROTARY DRIER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that L'RoY R. HICKCOX, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in R0- tary Driers. of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to an improvement in rotary driers, and more particularly driers of the character disclosed in United I States Letters Patent No. 1150302 issued to myself and one Villiam T. Perkins on August 11', 1915.

lVith the construction illustrated in the aforementioned patent it was necessary to receive the lithographed plates in the drying of which the present invention more particularly appertains. and cause them to tilt from their received posit-ionwith the printed faces of the plates foremost and thereafter to tilt the plates onto the next adjacent carrier or support.

It has been found that plates which are so treated will often become damaged by having the wet or unset faces brought into contact with the wire supports and thus practically deface many of the plates.

The present invention is designed so that the plates will be maintained always with their wet or printed face outward througlr out the entire circuit of movement, thus preventing the unset printing material from being marred or disfigured by coming in contact withthe supporting surfaces.

In carrying out the above suggested object certain structural features of the machine are employed and primarily the plates are positioned in an order reverse from that shown in the above mentioned patent, that is to say, the wet or printed'sides of the plates are backwardly disposed on the upper run of the drier and are maintained against the same support or frame throughout the movement to the point of discharge. \Vhile a special construction has been shown, the parts being somewhat diagrammatically illustrated, as such parts are well known in the art, it is to be understood that many of the details and special arrangements may be changed and modified as the invention comprehends broadly the conception of means for maintaining the plates during their course of travel on an endless carrier with their printed faces out of contact with any parts of the machine. The term end- Specification of Letters Patent.

less carrier is employed herein to designate that'type of machine wherein the material to be dried is carried forward on one course of the carrier and backward on the lower or other course of the carrier so that the drier as a whole is compact, thus avoiding the necessity of long drying chambers as has been heretofore proposedin this art.

An embodiment of the machine intended for these specifications and designed for those skilled in this art is depicted in the accompanying drawings wherein,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, somewhat diagrammatic, inasmuch as various known parts are omitted and showing certam parts in elevation;

Fig. 9. is a section taken through a central port on of the machine;

F 1g. 3 is a perspective view of the carrier and its driving wheels showing parts in section;

Fig. i is a detail View of one of the rocking supports for a. carrying frameh'1g. 5 is a detail perspective view of a pintle support;

Fig. 6 1s a fragmentary elevation of the upper portion of a plurality of frames with the retaining gate;

7 is a top plan of the same;

Fig. 8 is a similarview of the position of the parts on the under run and showing in dogted lines the final position of the gate, an

Fig. 9 is a detail section of the connection between a. gate and one of the cross bars of the frame. i

The drying chamber A may be provided with any means for supplying heat thereto, and has mounted, therein, at opposite ends, toothed drums B carried on transverse shafts C. Power can be applied to one of the shafts for driving purposes. "The drums are spaced apart and conveniently two sets are arranged side by side so that two carriers can be operated in the same drying chamber. This, however, is subject to variations according to the amount of work required to be done. Each chain D is pro vided with a pintle member E held against rotation in the conventional manner by ,hav- -ing a squared end. The heads of the pins are provided with elongated slots 6, tapered toward the center, as shown in Fig.4, and in these slots the ends of the carrying frames F are secured for swinging movement. The

Y Patented Oct. 21, 1919. Application filed March 31, 1917. Serial No. 158,906. 1

ends of the frame'F may be provided, with washers, pins or disks, as shown at 6' arranged above and below the head for the while the adjacent end terminates substantially in the plane of the lower part of the slot of the pintle head E. The opposite ends of the adjacent frames are elongated in thls particular, namely so that one frame will have a projection at one end below the pivotal support while the other will have the projection at the opposite end and so on alternating for purposespresently to be stated. The mounting of the frames in the elongated slots is such that'the frames will have a pivotal action equally on each side in a vertical plane so that the frames'may be inclined in the direction of the movement of the belts or chains both in their upper.

run and return run, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1.

Mounted ousuitable standards G. G are cams H, H. T hese. cams are positioned in the path of the projecting ends of the travel ing frames, as shown in Figs. 1 and8, and are conveniently arranged adjacent the outer faces of each drum, as shown in Fig. 2. As the belt is driven the projecting ends f of the frames engage first with the cam H.

which being stationary moves the-frame for ward to the position shown in Fig. 1, in Which position it is held untilit reaches the end of the upper course of travel. As the frames reach the bend at the outer end the arms will normally tend to maintain the forward inclination until they reach sub-' stantially the perpendicular and traveling rearward on the under, course will have a normal tendency to maintain a perpendicular position until they encounter a fixed track member I along the upper surface of which the arms trail. By this means they are inclined toward the rear end of the machine in a manner similar to the inclination they assume on the upper run of the belts or chains. As the projecting ends of the arms approach the cams H, which as stated are stationary. the frames are moved on their pivots and thrown upward rapidly to increase the space between adjacent frames, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. They are then allowed to remain in different positions until they reach the cam H when they are forcibly tilted to the forward position, as shown'in Fig. 1. J represents a feed belt having suitable flights and X indicates, in

' meut.

relative dotted lines, th printed or lithographed plates that are carried upthe bel J and are projected against an inclined conducting surface K.

A continued movement of the belt results in the deposit of the plate X onto the inclined guide and from thence it by gravity moves down with the printed surface uppermost and rests on th rear sides of the forwardly inclined frames F, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. In this position they are retained throughout, the entire operation of the carrier.

To prevent the their position on the frames, it has been found convenient. to add certain suitable hooks or devices for extending over the outer edges of the plates. These hooks or retaining devices take the form of metal plat-es L of a length conveniently to extend between two adjacent plate carrying spaces, that is to'say over one frame past the adjacent advancing frame and to a point approximating the end of the next adjacent frame, as shown in Fig. 6. The plates L have a portion of box formation, the outer ends being shaped to form a bearing to embrace a. horizontal portion of the frame F. T he plate is loosely held for pivotal movement on the frame bar' by a clip member Z and is permitted a limited movement substantially a one quarter movement around the frame and having formed in its bearing portion an elongated slot Z in which a suitable pin Z? is placed, as shown more clearly in Fig. 9. By this arrangement the gateor plate stop device is permitted a movement from that substantially as shown in Fig. 6 to that of a-perpendicular as shown in Fig. 8, dotted lines. The upper portion of the gate is carried forward and thence downward as at L, so that in efi'eet there is provided'an interposed stop preventing the frame immediately forward of the gate carrying frame from being accidentally tilted backward during its move- On the top of the upper portion of the gate there is provided asliding hook member M. the same being confined to longitudinal movement by overhanging lips m on the gate member. The hook M is normally retracted through the instrumentality of a coiled spring 0, the same being conveniently connected to a projecting part of the clip Z and to a pin or projection on the shank of the hook Bl. To limit the forward or outward movement of the hook a small detent m is provided, as shown in Fig. 9, the same working in a slot in the guide plate. The hook M has a point or bill m bent backward and outward a distance slightly below the plane of the upper bar of the adjacent frame and is engaged by said bar during the turning movement of the frames around the ad vancing drum. As the frames tend to separate the coiled spring (E permits the hook to plates from escaping from slide outward and thus form a complete barrier against the escape of thcplates riding on the face ofthe frames;

In Fig. 1 there isshown five of the hooks but it is to be understood that each frame is to be provided with a hook or gate. They have been omitted from the drawings for the sake of clearness. The gates are conveniently so positioned on the frame that the advancing gate will be offset slightly laterally from the precedingor succeeding gate, as shown in Fig.3. This enables me to provide each frame with pivoted gate or plate confining members and also results in the maintenance of the proper inclination of the frames during the commencement of the under course run thereof. The relative spreading of the frame members with rela tion to each other is gradually taken up until the frames reach the rails I and when in that position the gate members will be substantially as shown in F ig. 8, the spring 0 having been contracted and the hooks m having been projected beyond the adjacent frame member with which it had previously engaged during the turning movement. The lithographed or printed plates in the under run will engage the plate Land ride thereon throughout the entire under run or'return movement. of the carrier. As the frame reaches the end of the track I the preceding frame will be substantially vertical until the projecting'inner end thereof comes into engagement with the cam H. It is then forcibly rocked forward from under the proj ecting end of plate L, which plate and the hook vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1 diagrammatically and in Fig. 8 in dotted lines. This permits the lithograph plate to. fall quickly and in its falling it will engage a rapidly running belt P which belt is driven in the direction of the arrow, catching the lower edge of the printed plate first and causing the plate to be deposited flatwise with the printed surface upward on the belt P. From the beltP the printed plate X is taken in any desired manner to a place of.

storage.

From the above description of the mechanism and its operation it will be readily appreciated that the lithographed plates while in a wet state are deposited into the drier automatically, printed face uppermost, are received by the forwardly inclined frames, carried forward thence around the outer drums and are maintained against the' same side of the carrying frame during its circular or return movement until the plates are released again at the forward end of the drier. The operation is simple and through the hook 01' gate mechanism is rendered exceedingly accurate.

It is to be understood, however, that other forms of gates or hooks can be employed portion will immediately fall into aif desired and various other modifications can be made. I do not wish to be limited to the swinging pivot or hook member or gate devices as any retaining means associated with the outer end of the frames may be employed, the underlying principle of the invention being that of always maintaining the wet plates with their faces out of contact with the supports or frames. By alternating the positions of the extended end. parts of the frame 7, it has been found that at the turning point at the feeding end of the machine when these wire frames are closely positioned on the elongated belts the avoided by having the projections alternating as described for engagement with the cams. It has been found convenient to bend the central portion of the carrying frames F downward in V-shape so that the thin metal lithographed plates will find backing between the extreme ends. These plates are usually eighteen inches wide to twenty eight or thirty inches long, varying somewhat according to the stock printed.

Having thus described the invention, that which is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class specified the combination with an endless carrier having a series of pivoted carrying frames, means whereby plates are deposited on the frame in edge standing position, and means for re-' ta-ining the plates in edge standing position on the same frames during the return movement of the carrier.

1 3. In a drier of the ClZISS SPBOIfiGd the combination with an endless carrier having a series of pivoted carrying frames, means whereby plates are deposited in'position at a vertical inclination to the direction' of travel of the carrier on the rear of the frames, and means for retaining the plates in position on the rear of the frames throughout the forward and rearward movement of the carrier.

4. In a drier of the character described the combination with, an endless carrier provided witha series of pivoted carrying frames, means for positively causing the frame to assume a forwardly inclined plate vertical inclinaholding position at a vertical inclination to the direction of travel of the carrier, and means for causing the frame to assume a plate holding inclination on the return movement thereof, and means for retaining the plates in position on the same frames during the return movement of' the carrier.

In a' drier of the character described the combination with an endless carrier, of a series of pivoted supporting frames thereon, and pivoted means between the frames for preventing the escape of the articles to be dried from the frame during the return movement of the frame.

(tin a device of the class described the combination with 'an endless carrier of a series of plate-carrying frames,'said platecarrying frames being pivotally cdnnected to the carrier and equipped with means whereby each of said frames will support a plate in outstanding position relatively to the planes of travel of the carrier throughout the forward and rearward movement of the carrier.

7. In a drier of the character described the combination with an endless carrier, of a series of pivoted supporting fran es thereon, and pivoted gates between the frames at their outer ends.

8. In a drier of the character described the combination with anendless carrier, of a series of pivoted frames thereon, and spring controlled hooks extending from one frame to the other, substantially as described.

. 9. In a drier of the character described the combination with an endless carrier, of I between the frames.

10.111 a drier of the character described the combination with an endless carrier, of pivoted supporting frames thereon, piv otally supported means for confining the article to be dried between adjacent frames, and means for causing the frames to maintain a supporting inclination both in its outward and inward movement.

11. The invention defined in claim 10 and characterized by such confining means beingprovided With a spring operated book.

12. The device of the character described in claim 10 with means for separating the frames at the finish of the carrying travel thereof.

13. The invention defined in claim 10 with means for separating the frames, and means for causing the frames to approach each other.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of a witness.

=RQY R. HICKCOX.

' Witness L. S. BACON

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