US1732846A - Relief-stamping press - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 22, 1929. F, C, E. JONES 1,732,846

RELIEF STAMPING PRESS Filed Sept. 26, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 M ,Zh/@975K myitvmmm/J MTM/M C- 22 1929. F. c. E. JONES 1,732,846

RELIEF STAMPING PRESS Filed Sept. 26, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 l lll.'

Il JZ j Oct. 22, 1929. F, c, E. JQNES 1,732,846

RELIEF STAMPING PRESS Filed Sept. 26, 1927 6 SheetS--Sheel 4 Qct. 22, 1929. F, c, E, JONES 1,732,846

RELIEF STAMPING PRESS Filed Sep't. 26, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Oct 22, 1929 F. c. E. JONES 1,732,846

RELIEF STAMPING PRESS Filed Sept. 26, 1927 6 Sheets-Shee; 6

Patented Oct. 22, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RELIEF-STAMPING PRESS Application led September 26, 1927, Serial No. 221,960, and in Great Britain September 29," 1926.

This invention relates to a. relief stamping press.

At the present time relief stamping is effected by means of a fla-t plate, the pressure m for forming the relief being applied simultaneously over the Whole area of the plate. High pressures are thus required and these necessitate a strong and rigid structure of frame, thus entailing considerable' weight and yp cost. Again according to the present methods of relief stamping, a reciprocatory action is employednand this besides imposing constantly changing stresses in opposite directions on the parts of the machine, is also relatively it slow in speed. Again the area of the work whichcan usefully be executed is limited ow ing to considerations of structural strength and cost. Y

Relief stamping involves the distortion or an distension of the paper or card upon which it is executed to permit of certain portions of the surface standing in relief at a. relatively considerable distance above the main body of the surface.

This is in contradistinction to the practice of photogravure, lithographie or letter press printing in which there is intended to be no raised impression of the plate on the paper, any such raised impression should it exist being purely accidental and extremely slight, and the main purpose being the transference of colour in varying depths.

The distension or distortion of the surface which is involved in relief stamping as mentioned above involves essentially the use of a die plate and a male counterpart; and 'unless the die plate and the counterpart correspond exactly and function together the paper or card will'be ruptured or only partially raised. Tliese features distinguish relief stamping from photographic printing, since in this latter class of work, which is recognized in the trade as being totally distinct from relief stampiner fso that a machine intended for one class ofivork cannot be used `for the other class of Work, an'impression cylinder covered.

with a comparatively soft or resilient bljanlet is used in view of the fact that no distortion of the paper or card is required, but iily .so pressure between the plate and the paper.

terpart and again releasing it for final deliv- Tliis, however, is not possible in relief stamping, which essentially requires a built-up and permanent male counterpart corresponding to the die, for each articular `job executed.

According to t e present invention I em- 55 ploy for relief stamping a curved die plate so mounted as to move in a cylindrical path and preferablyarranged to be universally adj ustable in such path, the die plate co-operating with a male counterpart. These two elements are in practice' so driven that they move at' exactly the same peripheral speed andsynchronously in order that they coincide at the moment of printing.

In the preferred form ofthe invention the die plate and the male counterpart are preferably mounted respectively on rollers of equal diameter geared together so as to rotate at exactly the same peripheral speed and synchronously.

According to the invention l also provide means for feeding the sheet to be operated upon to a fixed gauge an-d for gripping it and drawing it between the die plate and the counery. Such latter means are preferably located on the roller which in the preferred forni of the invention carries the counterpart and are suitably operated, for example by cams.

According to my invention I further provide means for inking the die at suitable places and at suitable times, and I provide means for giving a ban-d of wiping material a positive and adjustable movement in contact with the die plate and preferably i11` an opposite direction to the motion of the latter so as to thoroughly Wipe and polish it. Such means include mechanism bv which the amount of wastematerial coiled up is always kept exactly equal to the amount of wiping material used.

I also according to the invention provide means for mounting the die plate adjustably upon the roller upon which, in thepreferred form of the invention, it is mounted. Such means preferably comprise steel bands, the ends of which are attached to securing memberswhich have each a fulcrum point within a recess in the die roller. The securing mem 100 bers are drawn together by means of a rightand-left-handed threaded screw.

Further according to the invention I provide means whereby if no paper or card is fed into the machine the die roller, the counterpart roller, the wiping roller and the inking and scraping mechanisms are caused to swing away from each other out of operative position, so that although driving still takes place no inking is effected, and therefore soiling of the counterpart is avoided and also waste of ink and wiping material. I further provide means whereby the various mechanisms described may be brought together again when actual work on the paper or card treated is to be effected.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a form of construction by way of example only. In these drawings,

Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of the machine showing the principal parts and more especially the die roller, counterpart roller, wiping roller, feed table and inking mechanism. l

Fig. 2 is a small detail view of the mechanism for gripping the paper delivered from the feed table, drawing it between the die plate .and `counterpart and finally delivering it on the delivery table.

Fig. 3 is a more or less diagrammatic view of the mechanism whereby the machine is put pu of operation if no paper or card is .being Fig. 4 is a detail of the mounting of the inking mechanism looking in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the inking mechanism and its adjustments and of the cams associated therewith.

Fig. 6 is a detail of the scraper knife and its adjustments and also of the cams which govern its actions.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view on a larger scale of the means adopted for securing the die in position on its roller.

Fig. 8 is a detail view of the means for drawing together the ends of the bands which secure the die in position.

Fig. 9 is a view of the mounting` of the inking mechanism with respect to the die roller, and its associated parts. The figure shows the inking mechanism swung away from the die roller, for the purpose of allowing the die to be changed.

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view of the various gear drives which control the operation of the different parts of the machine.

Fig. 11 is a more or less diagrammatic view of the wiping mechanism employed for cleaning and polishing the surface of the die before it effects the stamping of the paper.

Fig. 12 is a section of the line B-B of Fig. 11 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figs 13 and 14 show a modification for the automatic re-setting of the mechanism, and for putting the wipe mechanism out ofaction together with the other mechanisms if there happens to be no paper or card in the machine.

Referring to the drawings, the machine comprises essentially the die roller 1 and the counterpart roller 2 mounted at each side in the frame-work 3 of the machine. The die roller 1 has mounted upon it the die plate 4 and this is secured in position by flexible bands 5 at each side. The die plate is formed with bevelled edges 4a and the correspondingly bevelled edges of the bands 5 co-opcrate therewith to produce a wedging effect.

The opposite ends of the bands 5 are provided with apertures 5 which pass over hooks 6 formed integrally on short sleeves 7 located within a recess 8 formed in the die roller 1. The sleeves 7 are provided with noses 9 which engage in the undercut portion 10 at the bottom of the recess 8. The sleeves 7 can pivot slightly on centres 11 through which the respectively right and left-handed threaded screw 12 passes. Rotation of this screw 12 will therefore draw the centres 11 more closely together, the sleeves at 7 at the same time pivot by means of the noses 9 round the undercut portions 10 of the recess as fulcra and the ends of the bands 5 are therefore at the same time drawn together and also depressed with` in the recess 8 so as to be kept out of contact with other parts of the mechanism.

It will be appreciated that one or more -die plates according to their size can thus be mounted on the die roller. The surface of the roller itself is so arranged that this never comes into contact with the inking mechanism to be described later, but the die plate stands above the surface of the roller only just sufficiently to be inked.

Adjacent the die and counterpart rollers is provided a fixed gauge 13 up to which the paper is fed before delivery into the machine. This gauge is below the level of.the table 14 when the latter is in the feeding position to the counter part roller 2. lVhen the table is thus lifted with the paper registered in position, the forward edge of the latter is brought just within the action of a set of pivoted fingers 18 which clip it against the edge 15) of the opening 20 in the counterpart roller. These pivoted fingers 18 are spring operated. they clip the paper and draw it between the die and counterpart roller, when the required impression' is made upon it. Atthe top of the vcounterpart roller a friction roller 2l is arranged and at this point the trip 22 formed on one end of the gripper shaft on which the lingers 18 are mounted comes into contact with a fixed stop 23. The eil'ect of this is to cause the fingers 18 to release their hold on the paper, and they are then held out of action against the strength of their springs by means of an arm 24 with roller 25, the latter contacting with an adjustablek guide track 2G the influence of which extends to the point in the revolution at which the fingers should close upon and grip another sheet of paper or card. At this point the fingers 18 are suddenly released and the strength of their springs causes them to come down smartly on the fresh sheet of paper and clip it tightly. The last sheet of paper or card treated and which has entered beneath the friction roller 21 is of course passed on in the4 ordinary way to the delivery table 27.

Theinking of the die plate 4 is effected from the adjustable inking roller 28 mounted in l a suitable framework and inked through the adjustable roller 29 and the roller 30, the latter being mounted in the ink trough 3l. The details of the inking mechanisn are shown more clearly in Fig. 5; the whole of the inking mechanism pivots about the spindle 32. A limit to the closeness of approach of the inking roller 28 to the die plate roller is set by the adjustment 33, the screw of which contacts with the surface of the sleeve 34 fixed in the frame-Work of the inking mechanism, while the pressure exercised by the inkingroller 28 on the surface of the diey can be adjusted by means of the spring 35 anchored between the short arm 36 of the inking trough 31 and the arm 37 pivoted on the rod 54 and adjusted by means of the wheel 39 and spindle 40 in a wellknown` manner.

It is usually not desired` that the die plate shall be inked either exactly at its commence ment or up to the very end. I therefore provide cams 41 mounted in a T-slot 42a by which the inking roller can -be held off the surface of the die plate for as long as may be required at the beginning and end of the latter. The cam roller is indicated by 42.

I may also provide what I call rading cams suchas 43; these are adjusta le and of varying contour according to the work to be executed. They are designed tomeet the fact that on varying die plates different pressures may be required to charge themlwith ink accordingto the depth of the'relief. By the use of my grading cams -Ivc'an adjust the pressure of the -inking roller on the die plate at various points so that the latter is more or less heavily charged with ink. In order to re move superfluous ink from the die plate I provide a scraper knife 44 (sec Fig. 6). This consists of a 'knife-edge thin steel band mounted between across bar 45 and a shaped member 46 so as to beheld rigid. The member 46 isshaped so as to conduct any superfluous ink back to` the inking trough 31. vBy means of distance pieces, more than one knife can be used in the same holder.- The knife and its associated parts are mounted at opposite ends of the machine on arms 47, 48 one of which carries a cani roller 49. It is necessary in order to save the knife from injury to bring it down only on to the surface of the die plate and preferably just before the inked portion ofl the latter commences. purpose I provide cams 50 which remove it from the surface at the required time and for the required period in a well-understood manner. rlhese cams are adjustable in the T-slot 51. The knife is pressed on to the surface ofthe die plate by means of the adjustable spring mechanism 52 and it can be adjusted as regards its limit of movement towards the die plate by means of the adjusting screw 53 which contacts with the surface of the rod 54. The knife and its associated mechanisms are pivoted on the rocking rod 55.

When the bulk of the superiiuous ink has been removed by the knife or knives it is then necessary for t ie die plate to be wiped and polished before operating on the paper or card. The wiping mechanism will now'be more closely described in connection with Figs. 11 and 12 of the drawings. In these iigures, 1 is as before thedie roller, and in contact with this is provided a wiping roller 56. This roller which is p ivoted at 57 is provided with a slotted arm 58 by means of which an adjustable crank arm 59 is carried, the crank arm at its other end being pivotally and adjustably mounted in a T-slot 60 in ya crank disc 61 which receives a continuous rotation from the main power shaft 62; it will be seen that the continued rotation of the crank disc 61 will produce an oscillatory movement of the roller56. In a bracket 63 located in any convenient manner on the frame of the machine is provided a roll 64 of paper or other vsuitable wiping material which passes over the guiding roller 65, the surface of the wiping roller 56, then over a guide roller 66, again over the lower portion of the roller 56 and then toa waste roller 67 underneath a friction roller 68.

The action of the mechanism is as follows The continued rotation of the crank disc 61 produces an oscillatory motion of the wiping roller 56 and the material thereon 'thus meetinthe Surface of the die vplate and moving in t e opposite direction produces a very efficient cleaning and polishing action on the surface of the latter. The wiping roll` er 56 is at each end provided with a quadrant 69 operating a slidable rack 70 mounted in guides 71 suspended from the shaft 57 and connected at one end pivotally to a carrier mechanism 72 movin forwards by means o rollers 7 3 on a track 74. The wiping material which has been used is thus advanced bodily at each reciprocation of the wiping roller b means of the quadrant 69 and rack 70. On t e carrier mechanism 72 is mounted a spindle 75 on which the waste material is coiled. At one end this spindle carries a pulley 76 over which is coiled a cord 77 between two fixed shaft as the pulley 7 is also mounted a ratchet.

For this' freely backwards and points 78. On the same.

iso

wheel 76 co-operating witha pawl 80. The action of the mechanism is then as follows. On the movement of the carrier 72 to the right the tendency of the cord 7 7- passing round the pulley 79 is to rotate the latter. It cannot, however, do this because of the presence of the pawl 80 and ratchet wheel 7 6. On the return stroke, however, the tendency of the cord to rotate the pulley can have full play, and the waste material is then wound u on the spindle 75. The spindle 75 and its journals are pressed upwards by the spring 81, so that however large the amount of coiled-up material may be (within limits) it is always pressed up into contact with the roller 68. A knob 82 with a short spindle 83 is provided for the usual purpose of allowing easy removal of the coil of waste material from the spindle 75.

I will now describe the mechanism by means of which the parts of the machine are thrown out of operation when no paper or card is present, so that the inked die plate will not foul the surface of t-he counterpart roller, or the wiping material be used up uselessly. For this purpose it is necessary to refer 'mainly to Figs. 3, 4 and 9. When the paper is placed on the feed table 14 it passes to the guide stop 13 over a comb 84 (Fig. 1) and beneath a roller 85 mounted on a short arm 86. On the same spindle as the arm 86 is mounted a second arm 87 carrying a small pip 88 adapted to come beneath the end of the pivoted lever 89. If the pip comes into that position; it also comes beneath the end of a small plunger 90 actuated by a cam 91 in the usual rotation of the machine. 1f paper or card is being fed to the machine the roller 85 is kept in its upper position and the pip 88 does not come under the end of the lever 89. In this case the cam 91 during each revolution pushes up the plunger 90 against the strength of its spring 92 but without effect since the plunger does not contact with the lever 89. Should there, however, be no paper in the machine the roller 85 drops into the comb and the pip 88 is then brought just above the plunger 90 and then raises the lever 89 and disengages the nose 93 thereon from a corresponding nose on a short lever 94, whichis linked by an adjustable rod to the eccentrically-mounted journal of the die roller. Referring to Fig. 3 the centre of the die roller spindle is at 95 but the centre of its journal is at 96. The tendency, therefore, is for the spindle of the die roller to drop and thereby separate the die roller from the counterpart roller. The spindle of the wiping roller is also eccentrically mounted in its journal and the journals are linked together by the adjustable rod 97; the dropping therefore of the spindle 95 will be accompanied by the dropping of the spindle of the wiping roller and the eccentricities of the spindle 95 will be accompanied by the dropping of the spindle of the wiping roller and the eccentricities of the spindles and the journals are so arranged with regard to each other that the wiping roller will drop a further distance than the die roller. At the same time the lilik 98 of the spindle of the die roller imparts motion to the members 99, 100, of the toggle mechanism pivotally mounted at 101, on the framing of the machine. The inking mechanism is slidably mounted in a carrier mechanism at 102 and is linked at 103 to the member of the toggle mechanism. It will therefore be seen that the dropping of the die roller is simultaneously accompanied by the pushing of the inking and scraping mechanisms away from the die plate or plates.

In Figs. 13 and 14 is shown the automatically acting mechanism for re-setting the machine after the trip action has taken place, and for putting the wipe out of action if there happens to be no paper or card in the machine, so that the wipe is not used up uselessly. A nose 93 of Fig. 3 is formed upon a sleeve 106 cari'ied by an arm 107 provided with a roller 108. The roller 108 is adapted to contact with a cam sleeve 109 formed upon the crank disc 61. Normally when paper or card is being fed regularly to the machine the nose 93 is kept in engagement with the lever 89 and the cam sleeve 109 simply rotates eontinuously wit-hout operating the roller 108. lf, however, there is no paper or.card present in the machine, the lever 89 is tripped and the arm 107 with its roller 108 then drops automatically into the path of the cam sleeve 109. On the next revolution of the latter therefore, it will swing the arm 107 back to its original position, and thus re-set the machine, assuming that paper oi' card has now been inserted. Sh'ould this, however, not be the case the lever u89 is tripped again, and this continuous setting and tripping continues until' paper or card is once more fed into the machine.

lVith the tripping of the lever 89 the cylinders 1, 2 and 56 drop apart-from eat-h other as described above. This, however, would not prevent the wipe material from continuing to be fed, and thus be wasted. 1n the modification as shown particularly with reference to Fig. 14, the arm 58 is now formed with a sleeve freely mounted on the shaft 57. It is, however, connected with the shaft 57 through the medium of a clutch 110 whereby it engages a sleeve 111 slidably keyed on the shaft and pressed into engagement by the spring 112. The sleeve 111 engages a fork 113 pivoted at 114 on the standard 115, and has a nose 116 adapted to contact with an adjustable nose 117 mounted on the framing of the machine. lVhen the tripping of the lever 89 takes place the cylinder' 56 drops and With it the parts 57, 58, 111, 113 and so forth. The dropping however, ofthe fork 113 causes it to pivot as it were about the nose 117 with which the nose 116 still remains in contact, and this is accompanied by the sliding of the sleeve 11 to the right against the strength of the spring 112, and by the disengagement of the clutch 110. The arm 58 is therefore disengaged from the shaft 57 and merely rocks to and iro idly. The feeding of the Wipe material therefore no longer takes place.

Referring to Fig. 9 the inking mechanism is pivotally mounted at 104 in the slides 102 which are guided in the frame-Work of the machine. On the opposite side the pin 105I (Fig. Ll) serves to retain the inking mechanism in connection with the left hand slide member 102. This releasing movement and pivoting of the inking mechanism round the pivot 104 is necessary to allow of easy access to the die plate when it is being changed.

I claim 1. A reliet stamping press comprising a curved die plate, means for adjustably mounting said plate on a rotating cylinder, adjustable means for inking said die plate, an adjustable scraper mechanism for removing` any excess of ink from the plate, a Wiper cylinder in contact with said first-named cylinder, means for feeding a band of mate-v rial' passing over said Wiper cylinder posi tively to wipe and polish the plate, a male counterpart adapted to co-operate with said die plate and mounted upon a rotating cylinder of equal diameter to said first-named cylinder, and means for disengaging said cylinders from each other and from the inking mechanism if no material to be stamped is in the machine, substantially as described.

2. A relief stamping press comprising a curved die plate, means for adj ustably mounting said plate on a rotating cylinder, ad justable means for 'nking said die plate, an adjustable scraper mechanism for removing any excess of ink trom the plate, a Wiper cylinder in contact with said iirstaiamed cylinder, means for feeding a band of material passing over said Wiper cylinder prosi-` tively to Wipe and polish the plate, a male counterpart adapted to co-operate with said die plate and mounted upon a rotating cylinder of equal diameter to said first-named cylinder, means for disengaging said cylinders from each other and from -the inking inder of equal diameter to said iirst named cylinder, means for disengaging said cylinders from'each other and from the inking mechanism if no material tobe stamped is in the machine, means for discontinuing the feed ol' Wipe material in the same circunr stances, and means for automatically re-setting the parts of the machine when material to be stamped is once more fed thereinto, substantially as described.

4. A relief stamping press comprising a rotary die supporting cylinder, in combina tion with two axially spaced bands disposed aboutsaid cylinder, and means for cinching said bands about said cylinder, said bands having their opposed adjacent edges undercnt on a bevel and adapted to cooperate With correspondingly beveled edges of a die plate, whereby said plate will be heldrmly against said cylinder and supported thereby at all points of the area of said plate.

FRANCIS CHARLES EDWIN JONES.

mechanism if no material to be stamped'is in the machine and means for discontinuing the feed of wipe material in the same circumstances, substantially as described.

3. `A relief stamping press comprising a curved die plate, means for adjustably mounting said plate on a rotating cylinder, adjustable means for inking said die plate, an adjustable scraper mechanism for removing any excess of ink from the plate, a Wiper cylinder in contact With said first-named cylinder, means for feeding a band of material passing over said Wiper cylinder posi,-

tively to wipe and polish the plate, a malel counterpart adapted to co-operate with said die plate and mounted upon 'a rotating cyl-

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