US1537693A

US1537693A - Sheet-folding machine

Info

Publication number: US1537693A
Application number: US595590A
Authority: US
Inventors: Earl D Rader
Original assignee: Dexter Folder Co
Current assignee: Dexter Folder Co
Priority date: 1922-10-19
Filing date: 1922-10-19
Publication date: 1925-05-12
Anticipated expiration: 1942-05-12

Description

May 12, 1925.

E. D. 'RADER SHEET FOLDING MACHINE l0 sheets-sheet 1 Filed 001:. 19, 1922 k Q uwtwmfi A Arm/Mrs May 12, 1925.

E. b, RADER SHEET FOLDING MACHINE a M m w U W m QM wmlisss 6 May 12, 1925.

E. D. RADER SHEET FOLDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 19. 1922 1.0 Sheets-Sheet 5 WITNESSES ATTORNEYS E. D. RADER SHEET FOLDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 19. 1

May 12,

Filed Oct. 19. 1922 l0 sheets-sheet e iallm EIVTOR 4 TTORNEYS May 12, 1925. i 537 693 E. D. RADER S HEET FOLDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 19. 1922 1D Shts -Sht v WITNESSES May 12', 1925. 1,537,693

. E. D. munr-nav SHEET FOLDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 19. 9 10 Sheets-Shi 8 E. D. RADER SHEET FOLDING MACHINE 'May 12 Filed Oct. 19. 1922 10 Sheets-Sheet 9 229 V tzzf WITNESSES Patented May 12, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EAR-L D. RADEB! F BEDFQB'D TOWNSHIP, WESTGHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK, AS-

SIGNOB TO DEXTER FOLDER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SHEET-FOLDING MACHINE.

Application filed October 19, 1922.

To all whom a may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL 1). Hanna, a citizen of the United States, residing in the township of Bedford, county of VVestchester,

5 and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Sheet-Folding Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to w improve the construction of sheet folding machinery to adapt it for a greater range and volume of work; and to this end the invention contemplates the construction of certain feeding and gauging mechanisms of a folding machine in separable units or sections which can be independently adjusted to act separately upon two simultaneously fed sheets, and which can be coupled to gether to perform their work upon sing-1y fed sheets as in the ordinary folding machines now in general use. With the improved folding machine having, for instance, the timed feeding-in drop rollers, the slowdowns and registry gauges constructed in sections or units, it is possible to so adjust the separated units of these controlling parts that two folding jobs can be performed simultaneously. In this double folding operation, the respective sections of the feeding- :;o in, slow-down and gauging mechanisms are independently adjusted to handle the particular sizes of sheets to be operated upon, the machine being capable of handling two sets of sheets of equal or different sizes aggre gating the maximum dimensions for which the machine has been designed. In operat ing upon two sets of sheets simultaneously, it will be understood that the respective elements of the mechanisms referred to will actindependently for feeding-in and registering the sheets with reference to the folding machine proper, it being further understood that the folding blades and rollers may be of the same structure as commonly employed, each folding operation being simultaneously performed upon two independently fed and gauged sheets, whereas under former practices said folding mechanism acted only upon single sheets. hen simultaneously op crating upon two jobs in which the charac- Serial No. 595,590.

ter of the paper stock differs greatly it is desirable to also employ divided first fold knife and folding bars, in which the units or sections of the knife and bars can be independently adjusted with regard to the char acter of the stock operated upon.

This improved folding machine with divided folding and sheet controlling mechanisms is also capable of acting upon single sheets by coupling up the divided mechanisms and operating the machine in the well known manner. In addition to the capacity of the machine for performing the same character of work at the same speed as similar types of folding machines now in common use, the improved machine is capable of performing two distinct jobs at the same time whether upon sheets of equal sizes or upon large and small sheets, or upon sheets of different grades and character of stock.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, it will first be described with reference to the accompanying draw-ingsand afterwards more particularly pointed out in the annexed claims.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a double-16 folding machine illustrating certain embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is. a detail vertical sectionalv view taken on the line 11 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 is a similar view taken on the line 1"-1 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with parts broken away, the section line,22 of Fig. 1 indicating the omitted parts.

Figs. 3 and 3- illustrate together thevertical longitudinal sectional view of the improved machine taken on the section line 3, a of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail rear elevation of parts of the second and third fold mechanisms.

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail sectional views taken respectively upon the

section lines

55 and 66 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 7 and 7 are together a vertical transverse sectional view of the improved machine taken on the-section line 7-7 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the rear portion of the improved machine illustrating particularly the sectional first fold gauge united to act as a single gauge when the machine is adjusted for operating upon single sheets.

Fig. 9 is a verticallongitudinal sectional view of one-of the adjustable second fold mechanisms, said view being taken upon the section line 99 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view of parts of the first fold gauge taken on the line 101O of Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 1111 of Fig. 8 showing particularly the third fold guage and divided header-up mechanisms.

Figs. 12, '13 and 15 are similar views showing different adjusted positions of certain parts of the same mechanisms.

Fig. 14: is a plan view of the third fold guage and header-up mechanisms.

Fig. 1 1 is a detail vertical sectional view taken on the line fl -14: of Fig. 141.

Fig. 16 is a'detail sectional View taken on line 16-16 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 17 is a detail sectional View taken on the line 1717 of Fig. 12.

Fig. 18 is a detail sectional view taken on line 18-18 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 19 is a detail plan View of part of the operating mechanism of the coupled side registers of the first fold mechanisms.

Fig. 20 is a detail partial plan view of the improved machine showing sectional first fold knife and folding bar.

Fig. 21 is an enlarged elevation of the sectional folding knife.

Fig. 22 is a transverse sectional view of the same.

Fig. 23 is an enlarged'detail plan view of the sectional folding bars. a

The present invention may be applied to any of the well known forms of double or quadruple folding machines, which are designed to operate upon large sheets that are cut into two or four parts, then passed to the succeeding folding mechanisms for imparting the desired number of folds to the parts of the original sheet.

The drawings illustrate the specific application of the invention to a well known double-16 folding machine having first, second and third folding mechanisms and the necessary feeding, slow-down and guaging mechanisms that cooperate therewith. In the detailed description of the invention emphasis will be laid upon the'construction and operation of the improved parts of the machine and only general reference will be made to those parts of the folding machine which have not been changed.

1 and 2 are the first fold rollers and 3 is the first fold knife carried upon rock arms 4, mounted upon rock shaft 5 operated by rock. arm 6 acted upon by cam 7 upon shaft 8.

As usual with this type of folding machine, the successive sheets are carried into the machine upon suitable conveyor tapes, of which the feeding-in tapes only are indi cated at 10 leading from the drop roller mechanism to the first fold mechanism.

In place of the usual timed drop roller mechanism for feeding successive sheets intothe machine, this feeding-in mechanism has been reconstructed into two independent pairs or sets of drop rollers'which cooperate with the under feeding-in tape roller. In this reconstructed drop roller mechanism, the drop roller rock shaft 15 is turned down to a reduce-d diameter 15 for one-half of its length as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and shown clearly in section in Figs. 3, 5 and 6 of the drawings. Mounted upon the reduced portion 15 of said rock shaft is a tubular shaft 15" of the same external diameter as the main shaft section 15,

shaft sections

15 and 15 being suitably journaled in the side frames of the fol-ding machine and theshaft 15 projecting beyond its side frame to receive a rock arm 16 operated by a cam (not shown) upon the cam shaft 8.

Projecting from the main shaft section 15 are the arms 20 in the forward ends of which are freely journaled the drop roller shaft 21 carrying a pair of rubber tread rollers 22 acting above the main feed-in tape roller 30. The arms 20 are adjustably but rigidly secured upon shaft 15 by set screws indicated at 20. Projecting from the tubular shaft section 15 are the arms 23 in the forward ends of which is freely journaled the drop roller shaft 24, carrying the rubber tread drop rollers 25 which operate above the feed-in tape roller 30. The arms 23 are rigidly secured to the tubular shaft section 15 by means of set screws 23*. Pin 26 projects transversely through the reduced portion 15 of the composite shaft into the registering radial sockets or recesses 27, 28 formedrespectively in tubular shaft section 15 and the hub of the inner arm 23, this arrangement permitting a limited relative movement between

shaft sections

15 and 15 in the rocking of the composite shaft by the cam. To accurately determine the amount of this relative movement an adjusting screw 29 having lock nut 29 is threaded through the hub of the inner arm 23 into the socket 28 in position to engage the pin 26 as shown particularly in Fig. 5 of the drawings. By this adjustment the two sets of

drop rollers

22 and 25 can be thrown into and out of action either successively or simultaneously, depending upon whether the machine is operating upon single large sheets or two simultaneously fed sheets.

To accurately couple the two

shaft sections

15, 15 when all of the drop rollers are to operate simultaneously upon singly fed large sheets, it is preferred to mount a removable taper pin 15 in registering openings drilled radially through reduced shaft section 15 and tubular shaft section 15 as shown in Fig. 1*.

40 is a slow-down rock shaft having onehalf reduced in diameter as indicated at 40 to receive a tubular shaft section 40 the

shafts

40 and 40 being suitably journaled in the machine side frames and each portion being independently engaged by a

spring device

45 or 46, which tends to throw the shaft sections rearwardly in their bearings. The shaft 40 carries the sheet engaging slow-down members 42 of any suitable construction, while the tubular shaft section 40 carries the slow-down members 43. The reduced shaft portion 40 and tubular shaft member 4O project beyond the machine frame at one side and are provided respectively with rock arms 45', 46, each of which is pivoted to a

pitman

47 or 48 carrying an anti-friction roller 49 operating upon the periphery of a cam 50 or 51. The cams 50 and 51 are keyed to a short shaft 55 suitably journaled in the machine side frame and driven by a train of gears (not shown) from the main power shaft. By properly adjusting the sheet engaging slow-clown members and 43 upon their

respective shaft sections

40 and 40 the action of these members upon either the single large sheets or upon the simultaneously fed side by side smaller sheets can be determined to a nicety, so that the slow-down action will be proper for the particular work performed. It will be clear that wi h the independent operation of the slow-down shaft sections, each section or unit of the slow-down members can be independently adjusted for the work desired.

A taper pin 40 may be mounted in registering openings through reduced shaft portion 40 and tubular shaft section 40 as shown in Fig. 1 to positively couple the shaft sections and cause all of the slowdowns to act simultaneously upon single large sheets, in which case the coupled sectional shaft-

s

40, 40 will be operated by only one of the cams 50 or 51, while the other is permitted to run idly by loosening the

rock arm

45 or 46 upon its shaft section.

In place of the usual adjustable one-piece end gauge for the first fold mechanism, the present invention contemplates employing a two-part gauge in which the two parts can be independently adjustably positioned to register two different sized sheets at the same time, and which can also be coupled to act as a single gauge.

and are the two first fold gauge units or sections, each one of which is adj ustably mounted upon

horizontal screws

61, 62. These screws are journaled at 66 in a transverse frame bar 67 and carry upon their rear ends beveled gears 68, which are in constant mesh with similar gears 69 keyed to the transverse sectional shaft 70 journaled in the side frames of the machine and having at the opposite ends the adjusting cranks 71. The sections of shaft 70 are centrally joined by a coupling 7 5 by which the shaft sections can be caused to rotate as a single shaft, or by loosening the coupling can be arranged to rotate as two independent adjusting shafts.

The

gauge units

60, 65 can be joined into a single gauge plate, as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings, by means of a coupling plate 68 clampedto the adjacent inner ends of

gauge sections

60, 65 by T-screws 64. (See Fig. 10.) hen the sections of the gauge plate are coupled as describechthe inner adjusting screws 62 are removed by unscrewing the screws 72 from couplings 73 and then detaching the nut yokes 74 from

units

60 and 65. These nut yokes can be readily taken off by removing the screws that detachably fasten them to the

plate sections

60, 65. lVith these inner screw members removed the shaft sections 70 are coupled together by coupling 75, as shown in Fig. 8, when the gauge can be properly adjusted with reference to the first fold mechanism to receive large sheets in the same manner as the ordinary first fold mechanism of this type of folding machine. The sectional first fold gauge is shown with the sections separated and adjusted to two distinct positions for sheets of different sizes in Fig. 1 of the drawings, in which case the coupling 7 5 is loose so that each

gauge section

60 and 65 can be independently adjusted by its controlling shaft 70.

In the ordinary operation of the folding machine, the sheets'are passed into position above the first fold rollers and slowed down by the slow-down devices referred to as the sheets are arrested by the first fold gauge. In the improved machine in which provision is made for feeding two sheets at once side by side, it is necessary to provide side registering gauges at both sides of the folder so that both of the two sheets can be side registered at the same time. Provision is made in the improved machine for this double registering action by arranging two side registering gauges of any suitable construction as shown at 80 and 85. These gauges are adjustably mounted upon transversely arranged

reciprocating bars

81, 82, which operate in guides 83 upon the machine side frames and a centrally supported guide 84. The adjacent inner ends of thereciprocating bars 81, 82 are cut away and formed into inwardly presented rack bars 86, 87, which are in constant mesh with a pinion 88 freely journaled upon guide 84, so that movement applied to either of the

bars

81, 82 will cause a movement in the opposite direction in the other bar.

A link 90 pivoted to the outer end of reciprocating bar 82 connects said bar with the rear end of a lever 91 pivotally mounted at 92 and carrying at its forward end an anti-friction roller 93, which operates upon a face cam 94: keyed to the short shaft 55 above referred to. The action of the cam 94: causes the side registering gauges 80, to be simultaneously moved inwardly and outwardly at the opposite edges of the plane of feed of sheets. In the particular hammer type of side registering gauges illustrated, it is necessary to open and close the grippers for the reception and gripping of the edges of the sheets to be registered. The particular structure of the side registering gripper is immaterial to the scope of the present invention, but for the purpose of illustration, the hammer type of gripper is shown with an operating yoke 85 projecting upwardly from the movable gripper member or hammer and a downwardly presented operating blade adjustably mounted upon transverse rock shaft 101 journaled in suitable bearings 102. One of these blades 100 is provided for each of the side registering grippers, the blade in each case resting be tween the two arms of the yoke 85. A rock arm 103 fixed to one end of the rock shaft 101 is connected through pitman 101 with a lever 105 pivoted upon the machine frame at 106 and provided with an antifriction roller 107 operating upon the cam 108 keyed tothe shaft 55. A spring de vice 110 engages the lever 105 for holding it in operative relation to its actuating cam.

From the described structure of the side registering gauges, it will be understood that as the gauges are moved inwardly into engagement with the side edges of the sheets the grippers will be opened to receive the sheets and as they are moved outwardly the grippers will be closed to grip the sheets and move them into registered position. hen the machine is operating upon single large sheets one of the side registering devices is thrown out of action, so that the large sheets will be acted upon by only one.

By the mechanism thus far described, the successive sheets whether in pairs or singly are properly positioned above the first fold bars beneath which are arranged the first fold rollers l and 2. By the action of the folding knife 3 above referred to, the single large sheets or the two smaller sheets are folded through the bars 115 and rollers 1 and 2 and by a suitable arrangement of tapes, common in the art, are carried rearwardly in a horizontal plane above the second fold roller mechanism which will presently be described. It will be understood that in the case of folding single large sheets, the sheet is cut in two by the usual circular slitter operating in conjunction with the first fold mechanism, so that two once folded sheets are presented above the two second fold mechanisms. When two sheets are simultaneously passed through the first fold mechanism, the two once folded sheets are in like manner fed into 0- sition above the two second fold mecianisms.

Each part of the second fold mechanism is mounted upon frame bars -131 having sliding support upon

transverse rails

132, 133 of the machine frame. A pair of

folding rollers

135, 136 is journaled in said frame bars 130131 and geared together at 137 driven by

miter gear

138, 139, the latter of which is adjustably splined upon the driving shaft 1tO. The

rails

132, 133 carrying rack bars with which mesh the gear wheels 14-6 keyed upon a shaft 1A7 journaled in depending brackets 148 of frame bars 13013l. The shaft 147 carries at its outer end a hand-wheel 1 19 by which the second fold mechanism can be adjusted transversely of the machine. A bracket arm 150 projects from the frame bar 131 into engagement with the hub of the driving gear 139 to shift said gear upon the shaft 140 with the second fold folding mechanism. Clo-operating with each pair of

second fold rollers

135, 136 is a folding knife mounted upon arm 156 extending from rock shaft 157 suitably journaled in. the frame bars 130131. A rock arm 158 is adjustably mounted upon the shaft 157 and carries an anti-friction roller 159 operating in peripheral engagement with a cam 160 011 transverse shaft 161 suitably journaled in the machine frame adjacent to the rear. The relation between

arms

156 and 158 upon shaft 157 can be adjusted to produce the desired result.

Sheets from the first fold mechanism are arrested by suitable gauges (not shown) above the second fold rollers. The position of these second fold rollers is adjusted to present them in the desiredline of second fold upon the sheets, which can be accurately arranged because the second fold is at right angles to the first fold and is, therefore, accurately determined in conjunction with the side register of the first fold mechanism.

The twice folded sheets are passed by the usual arrangement of tapes from the two sets of second. fold rollers in parallel planes to position above the third fold mechanism, the arresting gauge for which can be raised to permit the twice folded sheets to successively pass out at one side of the machine as eight page signatures, or which can a1- rest said twice folded sheets above the third fold mechanism to be successively folded into sixteen page signatures or to be folded together as inserted thirty-two page signatures, or which can be operated to arrest alternate folded sheets and permit the passage of the others, thereby producing sixteen page signatures of one job and eight page signatures of the other job. Cooperating with this delivery and third fold mechanism is a suitable heading-up device for accurately gauging the twice folded sheets above the third fold mechanism. These mechanisms will now be described.

Referring particularly to Figs. 7 and 7 it will be observed that a series of horizontal conveyor tapes 165 pass beneath the lefthand

second fold rollers

135, 136 from the adjustable spacing and tightening pulleys 166, 167 to the

tape rollers

168, 169 and 170 at the delivery end of the machine. One of these tapes nearest the rear end of the folding machine is made shorter than the others and is passed around the angularly arranged supporting and spacing pulleys 171, 172, this provision of a short tape at this rear edge of the path of sheets from said second fold mechanism being for the purpose of preventing interference between the header-up devices hereinafter explained and the conveyor tapes. A second set of con veyor tapes 175 passes beneath the righthand

second fold rollers

135, 136 from the spacing and tightening pulleys 17 6, 177 around the tape rollers 178, 179 and 180. The two sets of conveyor tapes 165 and 175 are designed to carry the twice folded sheets from the two sets of second fold rollers into position to be folded by the third fold mechanism or to be delivered from the machine beyond said third fold mechanism. Friction rollers 185 carried by arms 186 ex tending from the rock shaft 187 peripherally engage the tape roller 168 between tapes 175 and assist in conveying the twice folded sheets upon tapes 165 beneath the deflector 188, the sheets being then guided downwardly by the bars 189 into the bite of the pressure and delivery rollers 190, which deposit the twice folded sheets into any suitable receptacle such as indicated at 191. Rock shaft 187 is suitably journalled in the machine frame and provided with a rearwardly projecting arm 195 which is supported in the path of a pin 196 carried by the vertically reciprocating carriage 225 of the third fold gauge and header-up mechanism. This arrangement is such that when the carriage 225 is lowered, the rollers 185 will be supported out of contact with the tape roller 168 to permit the passage of sheets upon tapes 1(5, whereas when said carriage 225 is raised, rollers185 will move by gravity into operative relation with said tape roller 168.

The tape pulleys 171 and 172, above referred to, are journalled in a bracket 171 carried by a horizontal plate 17 3 projecting from and supported by a flanged plate 174- adjustably mounted upon the machine side frame. A rod 181 supported by bracket 182 upon plate 174 bridges the gap between roller 170 and pulley 171.

192 are friction rollers carried by arm 193 projecting from a. freely mounted rock shaft 194 journalled in the machine frame, said rollers 192 being held by gravity in peripheral engagement with the tape roller 178 of the upper set of conveyor tapes 175;

planes of the delivery tapes 165 and 175. Di-

rectly beneath the third fold rollers are the delivery rollers 205, which pass signatures from the third fold mechanism to the packingbox 215. 206 is a third fold knife mounted upon rocking arm 207 projecting from rock shaft 208 from which projects a rock arm 209 carrying an anti-friction roller 210 operated upon by the cam 211 mounted upon shaft 161.

220 is the third fold gauge projecting at right angles to the plane of feed of tapes 165, 175 and movable vertically with relation to said tapes to either intercept folded sheets upon the tapes in proper relation to the third fold mechanism, or to permit sheets to pass under it for delivery as twice folded sheets in the manner above referred to. The

mounting and operation of the third fold gauge will now be described.

225 is a vertically rec1procat1ng block'or carriage having formed in one face a ver-' tical guide channel 225 fitting upon the vertical track bar226 having the angular sup porting flange 227 at top which is rigidly secured to the machine side frame by set screws 228. The retaining plates 229 are secured to the face of block- 225 to project over the track bar 226 and confine block 225 upon the track bar with freedom of motion up and down upon the track bar.

A pitman 230 is pivotally connected with block 225 at 231 and formed with a guide yoke 232 at its lower end which straddles and guides upon shaft 161 alongside of cam 233. The pitman also carries an anti-friction roller 234 which operates upon the periphery of cam 233. The block 225 is in termittently raised and lowered upon its track bar 226 by the action of the cam and pitman.

The block or carriage 225 is provided with a rigid arm 235 which projects horizontally parallel with the machine. side frames and is detachably secured to a plate 236 by means of removable T-screws 237. The plate 236 has detachably and adjustably secured to it i the third fold gauge plate 220 by means of the yoke 238 engaging rod 220 of the gauge and adjustably secured to plate 236 by T- screws 239, one of which projects through acurved slot in the flange of yoke 238. The plate 236 projects beyond the yoke 238 and 'moves freely in an open U-shaped guide bracket 240 secured to the machine side frame. The projecting guide end of plate 226 and bottom wall of bracket 240 both have holes drilled through them, the hole in the latter being threaded to receive a shouldered T-screw 241 which, under certain conditions, securely clamps the plate 236 to bracket 240 to support gauge 220 from said bracket 240 in fixed position; it being understood that at such times the plate 236 is released from arm 235 by the removal of T-screws 237. This condition and its purpose will be hereinafter explained.

The vertically movable block or carriage 225 is formed on its inwardly presented face with a horizontal guideway 345 in which is reciprocably mounted a slide or block 346 retained by guide plates 347 secured to member 225. The slide 346 is connected through link 348 with arm 349 of a bell-crank lever pivoted to the machine frame at 350 and having another arm 351 provided with anti friction roller 352, which operates in peripheral contact with a cam 353 mounted upon shaft 161. A spring device (not shown) engages heel 354 of the bell-crank lever 349 351 to yieldingly cause it to follow the cam 353.

The horizontally reciprocating slide 346 has rigidly attached to its side face an outwardly and downwardly projecting arm 355 which carries in its lower end the square guide rod 356 and the threaded rod 357 which are both rigidly mounted parallel to third fold gauge plate 220. Two gau e sup porting blocks 358, 359 are formed with transverse guideways or channels fitting the guide rod 356 upon which they reciprocate.

Blocks

358, 359 have arms 358 359 respectively, which freely straddle the screw rod 357 upon which are mounted two sets of adjusting

nuts

358 and 359 threaded upon rod 357 upon opposite sides of arms 358"? and 359, by which the gauge blocks 358 and 359 can be independently adjusted inwardly and outwardly upon rod The block 358 has a gauging blade or kicker 358 and the block 359 has a ganging blade or kicker 359. These

kickers

358 and 359 are presented to register sheets in parallel horizontal planes, one being above the other, and are so shaped that they can be adjusted to bring their gauging faces into parallel vertical planes or in the same vertical plane, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12 of the drawings.

It will be understood that in the operation. of the third fold kicker registering mechanism that the

kicker blades

358 and 359 are alternately raised and lowered into and 358 acts upon sheets carried by the tapes 165 from the left-hand second fold mechanism, this position being indicated in Figs.

11 and 12 of the drawings; and when the kickers are in lowered position the upper blade 359 acts upon sheets carried by the upper set of tapes 175 from the right-hand second fold mechanism, this latter position being shown in Figs. 13 and 15 of the drawings, in which case kicker that plane.

WVhen the machine is operating to produce eight page signatures in each of two simultaneous jobs, the third fold gauge 220 is removed by taking out T-scr'ews 237 as shown in Fig. 15 of the drawings. In this operation, the lowered position of carriage 225 holds rollers 185 elevated for the passage of sheets on conveyor tapes 17 5, while the raised position of carriage 225 permits the lowering of rollers 185 to assist passage of sheets upon tapes 165 around-roller 168.

If it is desired to produce eight page signatures for one job and sixteen page signatures for another job in the same operation, the third fold gauge 220 is in position upon carriage 225, as shown in Fig. 11 of the drawings, the timing of the controlling ca n being such that the gauge 220 will be held in elevated position for the passage of the twice folded sheets upon tapes 165 to the delivery in receptacle 191 and will be alternately low ered to intercept sheets upon tapes 5, which are to be passed through the tlnrd fold mechanism and delivered as sixteen page signatures in the packing box 215.

When it is desired to produce sixteen page signatures for both of the simultaneously performed jobs, the arm 235 is disconnected from the plate 236 by the removal of the T- screws 237 and the gauging blade mounted in fixed relation to intercept the twice folded sheets from both of the second foldinechanisins by fastening the plate 236 in the bracket 240 by means of the T-screw 241, as illustrated in Figs. 12, 13 and 17 of the drawings. 7

Fig. 12 shows the kicker blades elevated in the position in which the blade 358": will register a sheet upon the lower set of tapes 165, while Fig. 13 shows the kicker 358 is below blades in lowered position in which the blade panying drawings since it is obvious that it can be accomplished by means well known in the art and the specific form of such means is not essential to the invention herein claimed.

The improved machine may be operated with the single bladed first fold knife 3 and the pair of one-piece first fold bars 115 hereinbefore referred to when operating upon singly fed sheets or upon sheets fed simultaneously side by side when the stock of the doubly fed sheets does not differ materially in character. It is sometimes desirable. however, to perform two jobs simultane ously upon sheets of materially different stock so that adjustments of the first fold folding mechanism suitable for one character of stock will not produce the best results for a different character of stock. To over-- come this difficulty so that the machine will be suitable for operation upon two jobs simultaneously of widely different stock, I prefer to provide the first fold mechanism with a sectional knife and sectional folding bars divided in the central vertical longitudinal plane of the machine, so that the in dividual sections of the knife and folling bars can be independently adjusted to suit the requirements of the particular job which they are to operate upon. These modifications of the first fold mechanism of the machine are illustrated in Figs. 20 to 23 of the drawings and will now be described in detail.

In place of the single piece knife above referred to as mounted upon the rock arms carried by shaft 5, a rigid angle iron bar 400 attached to the ends of rock arms t by means of bolts passing through perforations .1.01 and a sectional or two-piece blade or knife 405, 1-06 is secured to rigid bar 400 by means of clamping bolts 4-02 passing through perforations in the knife sections and the vertical flange of bar 400, the per forations in one of these members being circular while in the other they are elongated slots to permit of the vertical adjustment of the knife sections upon the supporting bar. Thumb screws 4:03 pass freely through the horizontal fiange of bar 400 and. are threaded into the angular backing flange do l of the knife sections, so that by loosening clamping bars 402 and rotating thumb screws 403, the sectional knife blades can be independently adjusted upon their supporting bar. By this means each end of each knife section can be independently positioned so as to accurately present the knife edge at the required angle to properly strike the sheets through the folding bars and rollers.

In this modification the folding bars 115 are replaced by two pairs or sets of folding bars L10 formed in their ends with elon gated slots L11 engaged by clamping bolts 4:12 which are threaded into the machine frame. By this means each pair of folding bars can be accurately adjusted above its half of the first fold rollers 1 and 2 to suit the requirement of the particular job which is to be passed through them. For instance, the character of the paper sheets that are to be folded upon the left of the first fold mechanism may require the folding bars 410 to be arranged relatively close together, while the character of the sheets to be passed through the right side of the first fold mechanism may call for the adjustment of the folding bars 410 at a different spacing.

It should be understood that the illustrations in Figs. 21 to 23 are intended as parts of the complete folding machine above described and those claims referring to the first fold mechanism in a broad sense are intended to include the first fold mechanism as commonly constructed or in its sectional form as just described.

In double-16 folding machinery as heretofore constructed in which two sets of con veyor tapes lead respectively from. the two second fold mechanisms to the third fold mechanism, it has been necessary, in adapt? ing the machine to the production of eight page signatures, to entirely remove from the machine the upper set of conveyor tapes and the separator plates and their mountings and add to the set of second fold rollers, whose conveying tapes have been removed, proper deflectors for directing twice folded sheets to the remaining set of conveyor tapes. Such a modified machine is seriously defective in folding thirty-two page signatures consisting of two inserted sixteen page signatures, (this inserting being done at the third fold) because of the absenceof the upper set of tapes and the haphazard dependence for registration of running one signature above the other upon the remaining set of tapes. 7

The recited difliculty has been overcome in the machine of the present invention by rearranging the mounting of the separator blades between-the upper and lower conveyor tapes, so that the machine can be operated for producing eight page signatures with out ren'ioving the upper set of tapes or the separators. In the improved machine the separator blades are mounted upon a deflector bar supported only at its ends upon the machine frame in the horizontal plane between the upper and lower setsof conveyor tapes. The deflector bar directs downwardly the eight page signatures carried by the lower conveyor tapes and being supported entirely outside of the path of signatures upon both conveyors and below the plane of the upper conveyor tapes, there will be no interference with the free passage of eight page signatures upon either conveyor. This novel mounting of the separator plates and their supporting deflector bar entirely obviates the above noted difficulty and enables the operator to satisfactorily produce eight page signatures by passing them over the third fold mechanism without arresting them, or, by proper setting of the gauges, the same machine can also be employed for accurately producing sixteen page signatures or inserted thirtytwo page signatures. The new arrangement permits the retentionof both sets of conveyor tapes and the separator blades so that the signatures from both sets of second fold rollers can be independently and accurately gauged at the third fold station.

In the common arrangement of the two parallel sets of conveyor tapes leading from the two second fold mechanisms, it is usual to provide a greater number of tapes in the lower conveyor extending from the second fold mechanism furthest away from the third fold mechanism, than in the upper conveyor which leads from the second fold mechanism nearest the third fold mechanism. These conveyors are commonly pro vided with four tapes in the lower conveyor and only two tapes in the upper conveyor, it being understood that the edges of the twice folded sheets from the nearer second fold mechanism are supported by the outer tapes of the lower conveyor or by the twice folded sheets from the far second fold mechanism, depending upon whether the signatures are being folded separately or are being inserted. With reference to this arrangement of conveyors the proposed new mounting of the separator plates includes a sheet metal plate attached to the deflector bar and formed with two horizontal projecting tapered blades having curved side edges, with the separator plates rigidly secured to the small end of these tapered blades. The purpose of this structure is to provide gradually widening separator plates with gently curved edges to lift the edges of the twice folded sheets into the plane of the upper conveyor as they pass beyond the third fold mechanism to be delivered as eight page signatures.

This new arrangement of separator plates is shown particularly in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, in which the broad sheet metal plate 188 is rigidly mounted upon the de flector bar 188 and extends horizontally from its support in the plane separating the two sets of conveyors 165, 175. This plate 188 has gently curved lateral edges 188 and is centrally divided into two tapering blades 188 having gently curved inner edges 188 The effect of this shaping of plate 188 is to form two spaced tapered portions upon the narrow ends of which the separator blades proper 188 are mounted and thereby supported in the horizontal plane between the two sets of conveyor tapes directly beneath the two tapes which usually constitute the upper conveyor 175. It will be noted that the support for the deflector bar 188, upon which the separator blades are mounted, is upon the machine to which the ends of the bar are attached, which points of attachment are entirely outside of the paths of signatures upon the two conveyors, so that there is no obstruction to the passage of eight page signatures from either conveyor. The curved edges of the divided plate 188 gradually raise the edges of the signatures to the plane of the plate as they pass on conveyor 175 to the delivery.

When operating upon two jobs of different sizes of sheets, it is desirable to provide means for separately registering the different sizes of twice folded sheets at the third fold station. This is important either for the purpose of insuring the proper delivery and packing of the different size signatures delivered from the third fold mechanism to the packing boX, or in case the signatures or one of them are passed from the third fold mechanism to a fourth fold mechanism, (not shown). To accomplish this independent gauging of twice folded signatures at the third fold station, I provide the third fold gauge with auxiliary gauges in the form of clips 425 which are adjustably mountedupon the third fold gauge by bolts 426, so as to project downwardly behind the gauge and present upwardly turned gauge lips or flanges 427 that project across the path of twice folded sheets when the gauge carrying frame is in raised position and which are presented below the path of sheets when the gauge frame is lowered for presentation to the main third fold gauge. These auxiliary gauging members are adjustable upon the main gauge in the path of sheets, as shown in Figs. 13', lt and 14:.

I would have it understood that it is not intended to limit the hereinafter recited claims to any particular type or style of sheet folding machine, the sectional feeding, folding and gauging mechanisms set forth being applicable to many different forms of folding machinery without respect to the number of folds or the parallel or right angle relations of the respective folds.

I claim:

1. In a folding machine, the combination of two sets of second fold folding mechanisms, means for simultaneously supplyin once folded sheets to both of said second fold mechanisms, a third fold mechanism, two parallel conveyors leading respectively from said second fold mechanisms to and past said third fold mechanism, a third fold gauge movable into and out of position to arrest sheets upon said parallel conveyors, and third fold registry devices, whereby ceive folded sheets from said first fold mech-' anism, a third fold mechanism, two parallel conveyors leading respectively from said second fold mechanisms to and past said third fold mechanism, a third fold gauge movable into and out of position to arrest sheets upon said parallel conveyors, and third fold registry devices, whereby two sheets can be simultaneously folded and delivered one as an eight and one as a sixteen page signature.

3. In a folding machine, the combination of first fold folding mechanism, means for feeding sheets to said first fold mechanism, two sets of independently adjustable end gauges for arresting sheets at the first fold station, means for coupling said end gauges into a single gauge, means for side registering sheets at the first fold station, two sets of second fold folding mechanisms arranged to receive folded sheets from said first fold mechanism, a third fold mechanism, two parallel conveyors leading respectively from said second fold mechanisms to and past said third fold mechanism, a third fold gauge movable into and out of position to arrest sheets upon said parallel conveyors, and third fold registry devices, whereby single large sheets or two side by side sheets can be folded and delivered one as an eight and the other as a sixteen page signature.

4:. In a folding machine, the combination of suitable folding mechanism, and a sheet gauge, with sectional feeding mechanism, adjustable means coupling the sections or units of said feeding mechanism, and operating mechanism, whereby said sectional feeding mechanism may be operated as a single mechanism or as independent units.

5. In a folding machine, the combination of suitable folding 1I18Ch2tnlSl1'l,a11d suitable sheet gauging mechanism, with sheet feeding means comprising a lowerfeed roller, two groups of cooperating drop rollers, means for operating said drop rollers, and means for adjusting one group of said drop rollers with relation to the other, whereby said drop rollers may be caused to act either simultaneously or independently.

6. In a folding machine, the combination of suitable folding mechanism, and sheet positioning gauges, with a drop roller feeding mechanism comprising a lowerfeed roller, a sectional rock shaft, two sets of drop rollers mounted upon said rock shaft sections, means adjustably coupling the shaft sections, and means for operating salol rock shaft.

7. In a folding machine, the combination of suitable folding mechanism, and sheet positioning gauges, with a drop roller feeding mechanism comprising a lower feed roller, a sectional drop roller rock shaft, rock arms upon each section of said rock shaft, drop rollers journalled in the rock arms of each shaft section, adjustable means coupling the shaft sections adapted to effect circumferential adjustment between the shaft sections, and means for operating said composite rock shaft.

8. In a folding machine, the combination of suitable folding mechanism, and suitable feeding mechanism, with a sectional end gauge, independent adjusting devices for the separate sections or units of said gauge, detachable means for joining said sections or units into a single gauge, and means for coupling said independent adjusting devices.

9. In a folding machine, the combination of suitable folding mechanism, and suitable feeding mechanism, with a sectional end gauge, a pair of adjusting screws for each section or unit of said gauge, one of each pair of said screws being detachably mounted, an independent hand-operated shaft geared to each pair of screws, detachable means for joining said sections or units into a single gauge, and means for coupling said independent hand-operated shafts.

10. Ina folding machine, the combination of suitable folding mechanism, sheet gauging devices and sheet feeding devices, with a sectional rock shaft, independent slowdown devices on the respective rock shaft' sections, and independent means for operatmg each of said shaft sections.

11. In a folding machine, the combination of suitable foldingmechanism, suitable feed- 111g mechamsm, and suitable end gauging mechanism, wlt-h two transversely arranged reciprocating bars, means operatively en-.

gaging the inner adjacent ends of said bars to cause them to reciprocate oppositely, and independent side registering device mounted upon each of said bars, and operatingmeans acting upon one of said bars.

12. In a folding machine, the combination of suitable folding mechanism, suitable feeding mechanism, and suitable end gauging mechanism, two bars arranged in alignment transversely of the machine, racks upon the inner adjacent ends of said bars, a

gear interposed between and intermeshing with said racks, a side registeringv device mounted upon each of said bars, and means for imparting reciprocating motion to said bars.

18. The combination'with suitable folding mechanism, and a suitable sheet conveyor extending to and beyond said folding mechanism, with a reciprocating carriage, a gauge plate detachably mounted upon said reciprocating carriage, and means for supporting said detachable gauge plate in fixed position with relation to said conveyor and folding mechanism.

14. The combination with suitable folding mechanism, and a suitable sheet conveyor extending to and beyond said folding mechanism, with a side registering device, a reciprocating' carriage, an end ange plate detachably mounted upon saic reciprocating carriage, and means for supporting said detachable gauge plate in fixed position with relation to said conveyor and folding mechanism.

15. The combination with suitable folding mechanism, and sheet feeding tapes extending parallel with and beyond said folding mechanism, with a carriage movable erpendicularlyto the plane of feed of salt tapes, an end gauge detachably mounted upon said carriage, a fixed bracket, and detachable means for securing said end gauge to said fixed bracket in gauging relation to said folding mechanism and feeding tapes.

16. The combination with suitable folding mechanism, and sheet feeding tapes extending parallel with and beyond said fold-v ing mechanism, with a carriage movable perpendicularly to the plane offeed of said tapes, an end gauge detachably mounted upon said carriage, a fixed bracket, and side registering means mounted upon saidv carriage. f 17: The combination with suitable folding mechanism, of means for conveying sheets in two parallel planes to said folding mechamsm, means for arresting sheets, and a two-part kicker gauge movable parallel with and perpendicularly to the sheet lanes. 18. The combination with suitable folding mechanism, of means for conveying sheets in two parallel planes to said folding mechanism, means for arresting sheets, and a twopart k cker gauge movable parallel with and perpendicularly to the sheet planes, the two kicker parts being independently adustable in or parallel with the sheet planes. 19. The combination with suitable folding mechanism, of means for conveying sheets 1n two parallel planes to said folding mechanism, a carriage movable perpendicularly to the plane of movement of sheets, an end gauge mounted upon said carriage for arresting sheets, and a side registering gauge mounted upon said carriage and movable thereon in the plane of movement of sheets.

20. The combination with suitable folding mechanism, of means for conveying sheets in two parallel planes to said folding mechanism, a carriage movable PEIPQIKllOH larly to the plane of movement of sheets. an

of suitable foldin end gauge mounted upon said carriage for arresting sheets, a slide reciprocably mount? ed upon said carriage to move in the plane of movement of sheets, an arm carried by said slide and a registering member adjustably mounted upon said arm.

21. The combination with suitable folding mechanism, of means for conveying sheets in two parallel planes to said folding mechanism, a carriage movable perpendicularly to the plane of movement of sheets, an end gauge mounted upon said carriage for arresting sheets, and a two part registering gauge'mounted upon said carriage and movable' thereon in the plane of sheets.

22 The combination with suitable folding mechanism, of means for conveying sheets in two parallel planes to said folding mechanism, a carriage movable perpendicularly to the plane of movement of sheets, an end gauge mounted upon said carriage for arresting sheets, a slide mounted upon said carriage to move parallel with the plane of movement of sheets, an arm projecting from said slid and two independently adjustable registering gauges mounted upon said arm.

23. The combination with suitable folding mechanism, of means for conveying sheets in two parallel planes to said folding mechanism, a carriage movable perpendicularly to the plane of movement of sheets, an end gauge nounted upon said carriage for arresting sheets, cam mechanism for intermittently moving said carriage, a slide mounted upon said carriage and movable thereon parallel with the plane of movement of sheets, a guide bar upon said'slide, two independently adjustable registering gauges mounted upon said guide bar, and cam meichanism for intermittently moving said sli c.

with suitable folding rollers, of a sectional folding knife, and sectional folding bars mounted in operative relation to Said rollers and sectional folding knife, the sections or units of each folding bar being independently adjustable.

25, In a folding machine, the combination of suitable folding rollers, a folding knife, and sectional folding bars mounted in operative relation to said rollers and knife, the sections or units of each folding bar being independently adjustable.

26. In a folding machine, the combination rollers, a folding knife, and parallel folding bars mounted in operative relation to said rollers and knife, each of said folding bars being formed of relatively adjustable units or sections.

27, In a folding machine, the combination mechanism, two parallel conveyors leading respectively from sa d first two mentioned folding mechanisms to and past the 24;. In a folding machine, the combination of two folding mechanisms, a third folding