US1365580A - Envelop-machine - Google Patents

Description

Gy BALL.

ENVELOP MACHINE.

APPUCAHON mu) iuNEz, 191s.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

2 snifs-snr l.

Geo/ye Enf/.

TTORN EVS G. BALL.

ENVELUP MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLLD JUNE'N, |916.

Patented Jan. 11, 19in.

2 SHEUS--SHEET 2.

NVENTOR TTORNEYS d;TINESS I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE BALL, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 WRITING-PAT- TERSON COMPANY, INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ENVELOP-MACHINE.

Application led June 27, 1916.

T o all whom it m07/ concer/n.'

Be it known that I, Gnonon BALL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Philadelphia., county of Philadelphia. and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelop-Maehines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to envelop machines employed in the production of what are commercially known as window envelops, that is, envelops having a suitable opening in the face covered by a piece of transparent or glassine paper through which'the address on the contents of the envelop may be read. and more especially to those machines which comprise means for suitably feeding a continuous strip or web of the transparent paper to suitable cutting means which serve to sever a portion of the paper from the web to form the patch as it is known in the art, which is then affixed over the opening in the envelop blank by the operation of the maf-hine, as distinguished from those envelop machines in which the patches of transparent paper are formed separately from the machine and arranged in a magazine or holder from which they are fed one at a time and aliixed to the envelop blank as the latter passes through the machine.

A principal object of my invention is to provide inea ns whereby the movement of the web oi. transparent paper to the cutting means by which it is severed into the patches shall be automatically arrested substantiallyv conteinporaneously with the ces-sation of the movement of envelop blanks through the machine, so that when no envelop blanks are passing into the machine and thence through the gumming, creasing and folding mechanism, no patches will be cut off from the web. thus avoiding waste of the transparent paper and also danger of clogging the machin which otherwise results from the feeding of the patches into the machine without correlsponding envelop blanks to which, in the normal operation of the machine, the patches would be consecutively applied.

Other objets of my invention are to provide means for the purposes intended which may he readily arranged for use upon standard envelop machines, and which when attached to the machil'ies and arranged to operate therewith shall be entirely automatic Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 11, 1921.

Serial No. 106,200.

in action and shall not materially affect either the speed or operation of the machine.

My invention further comprises all of the other various novel objects and features of construction and arrangement hereinafter more definitely specified and described.

l"er the purposes of this application I have shown my invention as applied to a wellknown form of envelop machine comprising means for supporting the envelop blanks, means for gumming the blanks, means for feedinfr the gummed blanks to a foldingr station and means for folding the gummed blanks into completed envelops, all of these operations and the means employed to effect them being well known to those skilled in the art. The said machine also comprises means for supporting a roll of transparent paper and means for intermittently feeding the web from the roll to a suitable cutting mechanism which serves to cut the web into separate patches, and 'also means for transferring each patch after it is cut to the means which serve to alli): it to the gummed envelop blank to cover the window opening therein.

ln the accompanying drawings is illustrated a prefered form of my invention as applied to an envelop machine of the nature of that hereinbefore described, the elements of the envelop machine proper being shown substantially diagrammatically. Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine and showing the various parts and instrumentalities comprising the invention in one position, and Fig. Q a similar view showing the same in another position, as hereinafter more fully described.

The envelop machine proper in connection with which the invention is shown, comprises the usual frame l supporting a table 2 adjacent the forward end of which (that is the end toward the right hand side of the n'ifzfline aff viewed in the drawing) is the usual elevator 3 which serves to support the envelop blanks 4 disposed in a stack or pile beneath the vertically reciprocatingY lgumming dies 5 which are arranged to descend upon the topmost blank in the stack, deposit the gum upon the flaps of the blank and also around the window opening and raise the blank off the stack in their reverse movement. The machine also comprises means (not shown) for feeding the elevator 3 vertically upward as the blanks are withdrawn from the stack by the upward movement of the gumming dies and thence transferred to the conveyer 7 by means of which the gummed blanks are carried beneath the creasing plunger 3 which is adapted to descend at the proper time and force the blank into the creasing boX 9 where the flaps are folded down and the envelop completed by the suitably actuated folders 10, and thence automatically removed from the machine.

In the type of envelop machine illustrated, means are also provided for intermittently feeding a web 13 of transparent or other suitable paper drawn from a roll 14 supported on a bracket 15 attached to the machine in the rear of the plunger 3, to a suitable cutting mechanism (not shown) which serves to sever the web to form the patches, suitable conveying means (not shown) being provided to transfer the patch after it is cut from the web to a position suitable for its application to the gummed blank` For the purpose of intermittently feeding the web of paper 13 in such manner that a predetermined length of paper will be forced beneath the cutting means each time that the paper is moved so that upon the operation of the cutting means a patch of the desired width will be severed, a pair of horizontally extending feed rolls 2O are provided through which the web of paper is threaded, said rolls being actuated by suitable gears 21 and 22 intermeshing with a larger gear 23 rotatably supported on the bracket 15 and integral with or lixedly secured to a ratchet wheel 25. A bell crank lever 27 is pivoted concentric with the ratchet wheel 25 and provided at one end with a movable pawl 28 which is normally depressed by a suitable spring 29 to engage the periphery of the ratchet wheel. The other end of the bell crank lever is movably secured to one end of a link 32 the other end of which in turn is movably secured adjacent the end of one arm of a bell crank lever 34 which is pivoted to the bracket 15 to oscillate about the center 35. 1f desired, said arm may be provided with a slot 36 engaging the stud 37 by means of which the link 32 is attached to it and suitable means arranged to secure the stud at any desired position in the slot to permit the distance between the center 35 and the stud to be varied between limits and hence, correspondingly, the movement of the bell crank 27 when actuated as hereinafter described.

The other arm of the bell crank 34 is provided adjacent its outer extremity with a roller 40 adapted to engage the periphery of the feed cam 42 which is fiXedlyV secured upon a horizontally disposed shaft 43 extending transversely of the machine and rotated by suitable driving means (not shown)7 when the machine is in operation.

It will be evident that the rotation of the cam 42 during each cycle of the machine will normally serve to drive the roller 40 toward the front of the machine from the position shown in Fig. 1 and thus elevate that arm of the bell crank 34 to which the link 32 is attached, which, in turn, will cause the bell crank 27 to oscillate and thus force the pawl 23 rearwardly with respect to the machine to rotate. the ratchet wheel 25 and gear 23 through a predetermined arc to actuate gears 21 and 22 and the corresponding feed rolls 2O to which they are respectively attached, thus drawing the web 13 between the rolls for a distance commensurate with the arc through which the feed rolls revolve.

Furthermore it will be evident that by varying the distance between the stud 37 and the center 35 the distance traveled b v the pawl 28 around the periphery of the ratchet wheel 25 at each movement of the bell crank lever 27 may be regulated to determine the exactamount of transparent paper which shall be fed Vforward at each movement of the feed rolls 20. Y

The operation of the various instrumentelities hereinbefore described may be briefly characterized as follows: A. stack of envelop blanks each having a window opening` cut therein having been placed on the elevator 3 and the latter raised to a position in which the tepmost blank is brought into proper relation with the gumming dies and the conveyer, and the machine having been set in motion, the gumming dies descend and strikinfr the top blank raise it to a position where it i s stripped from the dies and carried rearwardly on the conveyer 7 to a position in which the plunger 8 can descend and force it into the creasing boX. Meanwhile the movement of feed cam 42 has actuated the feed rolls 20 to project the desired length of transparent paper beneath the cutting means bv which it has been severed from the web and conveyed into proper registration with the window opening in the envelop blank then passing through the machine and thence carried down with said blank into the folding box to form the completed envelop, the various operations of feeding, cutting off and conveying the patch being properly timed with respect to the movement of the envelop blank through the machine to bring the patch into registration with the opening in the blank at the proper instant.

1t will be evident', however, even though no envelop blanks are passing through the machine, that in the absence of means to prevent the feeding of the web 13 the latter will be intermittently projected beneath the cutting mechanism and severed into patches whenever the machine is in motion. resulting both in a waste of transparent paper .andin the clogging and obstruction of the parts, and for the purpose of preventing this result provide suitable means to prevent the revolution of the feed rollers except when the blanks are passing ythrough the machine.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, and as shown in the drawings, I provide for effecting this result a feeler finger 5() which extends over the elevator 3 and rests upon the topmostblank of the stack 4t when such blank is in propel' position to be struck by the gumming dies. The feeler finger may be pivoted on a bracket 51 secured to the table 2, and provided with a depending arm 53 in turn movably secured to a rearwardly extendingr rod 54, the parts being arranged in such manner that the elevation or depression of the feeler finger will reciprocate the rod 54 and in turn oscillate a depending arm 56 pivoted concentrically with the bell crank lever 34 to move about center 35, the lower or free end of the arm 56 being provided with a roller 57 adapted to engage the periphery of the feeler finger cam 58 which is secured to shaft 43 and adapted to rotate therewith.

suitably positioned on the table 2 is a support 60, t0 which is horizontally pivoted an upwardly extending dog 61 of suitable length to engage beneath a forwardly extending finger 63 fiXedly Secured to that arm of the bell crank lever 34 to which link 32 is attached when the dog is drawn toward the back of the machine to assume substantially the position shown in Fig. 2 for a purpose and by the means to be hereinafter described. The dog 61 is connected with the arm 56 by a rod 65 movably secured adjacent either end respectively to the dog and to the arm and a suitable spring 67 is arranged to normally force the rod 54 toward the rear of the machine and hence to Swing the feeler finger 50 toward the table 2 and thus cause it to normally rest upon the topmost blank of those which may be upon the elevator when such blank is in position to be struck by the gumming dies.

It will be evident with the parts constructed and assembled as hereinbefore described that so long as there are any envelop blanks upon the elevator with the topmost blank in position to be picked up by the gumming dies and fed to the conveyer, the feeler finger .30 will be raised. the arm 56 swung toward the front of the machine and the roller 57 maintained in such position that it is out of contact with a portion of the cam 58 during tlnl revolution of the latter; and furthermore.r that dog 61 will be forced forwardly to substantially the position shown in Fig. l, entirely out of contact with the finger 63 so that bell crank 34 may swing rearwardliv under the action of a suitably positioned spring 7 i) until the roller 40 is in a position to follow the cam 42 during its entire revolution which occurs once during each cycle of the machine whereby the various parts may function to actnate the feed rollers 20 to project the web of paper through them as hereinbefore described.

WVhenever the envelop blanks on the elevator become exhausted, or the elevator is lowered for any reason to such position that the topmost blank upon it is not in a position to be fed to the machine, the feeler finger 5() under the iniiuence of spring 67 moves downwardly until the roller 57 is in a position to contact with every point of the feeler finger cam 58, the movement of arm 56 and rod 65 serving to draw dog 61 to a position beneath the finger 63 as shown in Fig. 2 so that the bell crank lever 34 is prevented from oscillating through an arc sufiiciently great to draw the pawl 26 the distance of a tooth around the ratchet wheel 25, thus reventing the rotation of the ratchet whee 25 and feed rollers 20 and, in turn, the forward movement of the web 13, so long as no envelop blanks are in a position to pass through thc machine.

As soon, however.l as the feeler finger 50 is again raised through contact with a blank in position to bc fed into the machine, roller 57 is drawn away from cam 58 and dog 61 forced from beneath finger 63 to permit the feeding means to again resume their flinction. it being undcrstood that roller 57 can never assume a position but what it will be, at certain times. engaged by a certain portion of cam 58 during the latters revolution, such engagement being necessary to raise the feelcr finger 50, through the medium of rod sufficiently to permit the topmost envelop blank to be withdrawn from the stack by the gumming dies` in their upward movement` cam 58 being properly shaped to effect this result.

lVhile I have herein illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention with considerable particularity and have shown the same in connection with an envelop machine of well known form, and which is commercially known as a plunger type machine, l do not thereby intend or desire to limit myself specically thereto or to the use of the invention in connection with an envelop machine of the type referred to. as the invention may be utilized with any suitable type of envelop machine land the specific elements and instrumentalities employed may be modified as to details of construction and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described mv invention. I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. ln a machine for making window envelops having blank folding means. the combination of means for feeding envelop blanks from a predetermined position to said folding means and means for feeding a continuous web of paper whereby portions thereof may be supplied to said folding means and attached to the envelop, of means to prevent the operation of said paper feeding means in the absence of an envelop blank from said predetermined position.

2. rllhe combination with an envelop machine having envelop blank feeding means and means for feeding a continuous web of paper so as to permit portions thereof to be affixed to a blank, of means operative to adjust the position of certain elements of said web feeding means in accordance with the presence or absence of an envelop blank in a predetermined position, prior to the passage thereof through said machine, to render the feeding means operative or inoperative.

3. T he combination with an envelop machine having an elevator, means for feeding envelop blanks from said elevator to a folding mechanism, and means for feeding a web of paper toward said envelop blanks, of means operative to permit the actuation of said paper feeding means Yonly when envelop blanks are supported on said elevator in a position to be fed through the machine.

l. The combination with an envelop machine having an elevator adapted to hold and supply envelop blanks to the machine, means for folding the blanks, means for feeding a blank from said elevator to said folding means, normally operated means for intermittently feeding a continuous web of paper whereby portions thereof may be supplied to said folding means and secured on ablank and mechanical means operative to adjust parts of said web feeding means to prevent its operation upon the absence of an envelop blank in a feeding or operative position above said elevator.

5. The combination with an envelop machine having an elevator, a gumming die, a plunger, means for feeding an envelop blank from said gumming die to said plunger, and means for intermittently feeding a continuous web of paper toward said plunger whereby a portion of said paper may be secured on said envelop blank, of means operative to permit the actuation of said paper feeding means only when an envelop blank is on said elevator in a position to be struck by said gumming die and fed under said plunger to thereby prevent the feeding of the web of paper in the absence of a corresponding supply of envelop blanks. y

6. rl`he combination in an envelop machine, of a gumming die, means for operatively positioning an envelop blank beneath said gumming die, folding means, means for feeding an envelop blank from said gumming die to said folding means, means for intermittently feeding a continuous web of paper toward said folding means, and means to prevent the actuation of said paper feeding means except when an envelop blank is in operative position beneath said gumming die to be fed under said plunger and thereby prevent the feeding of the web of paper in the absence of a corresponding feeding of the envelop blanks.

7. The combination with an envelop machine comprising an" elevator adapted to support envelop blanks, folding means, means for transferring envelop blanks from said elevator to said folding means, and means for feeding a continuous web of paper toward said folding means, of means operative to prevent the operation of said paper feeding means save when an envelop blank is in a position on said elevator to be transferred to said folding means.

8. In an envelopmaking machine adapted to join a transparent window to an envelop, including means for pressing the window blanks and envelop blanks together to secure the window in position on the envelop, the combination of means to feed an envelop blank under said pressing means, normally operative means for feeding a web of transparent paper whereby portions thereof may be supplied under said pressing means and means operative to permit the actuation of said paper feeding means only when envelop blanks are in position to be fed by said feeding means. l

9.V ln an envelop making machine adapted to join a transparent window to an envelop blank, including a plunger for securing the gummed portions of the blank and window together, the combination of means for feeding an envelop blank under said plunger, normally operative means for feeding a web of paper whereby portions Vthereof may be severed and carried under said plunger and means operative to prevent the actuation of said paper feeding means in the absence of an envelop blank in proper position to be fed by said feeding means.

l0. The combination of an envelop machine having an elevator adapted to hold and supply envelop blanks to the machine, blank folding means, means for feeding a blank from said elevator to said foldingv means, normally operative means for intermittently feeding a continuous web of paper whereby portions thereof may be supplied to said folding means including a rotary cam and a movable link mechanism operated thereby and means actuated upon the absence of an envelop blank in said envelop blank holding and supplying position above said elevator to maintain said link mechanism out of engagement with said rotary cam and thereby prevent an opto envelop blanks, means for restraining the operation of said Windovv blank feeding means upon an absence of envelop blanks in said machine and means operative upon the presence of envelop blanks in said machine for releasing said restraining means to render said window blank feeding means operative.

12. In a machine for making Window envelops, the combination of an elevator for holding and supplying envelop blanks to the machine, means to transfer an envelop blank from said means to a blank folding means, means to intermittently feed a web of transparent paper adapted to form the Window portions of the envelop, means engaging the envelop blanks on said elevator adapted to prevent the operation of said web feeding means in the absence of an envelop blank in said envelop blank holding and supplying position above said elevator and means to move said last-mentioned means to permit an envelop blank to be withdrawn from said elevator and fed to said folding means by said transferring means.

13. In a machine for making Window envelops, the combination of means for feeding window blanks to envelop blanks, interfering means operative to render Said window blank feeding means inoperative, control means operative upon the presence of an envelop blank in said machine to render said interfering means inoperative whereby said Window blank feeding means is rendered operative, said control means operative upon the absence of an envelop blank in said machine to render said interfering means operative whereby said window blank feeding means is rendered inoperative.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of June, A. D. 1916.

GEORGE BALL.

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