US1787872A - Printing machine - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 6, 1931 w. E. MOLIN S.

PRINTING MACHINE Filed May 29. 1929 2 ShQQjt'S-Sheet l //vv/v TOR.

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Jan? W. E. MOLINS PRINTING MACHINE 4 Filed May 29, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'Pat ented Jan. 6. 1931 WALTER EVERETT tro INsor nErrron-n, LoNnoN; ENGLAND" f PRINTING irAonINn Application meta May as, 929, Serial No. sezmaane in Great-Brita'i n. June 21,1928. I

This invention is for improvements in or relating to a method of and means-for printing labels and the likeyandhas for its object the provision of means whereby'multi-colour impressions may be imprinted uponalabel or card at a high speed upon .a machine, of limited dimensions possessing. the necessary means whereby one colour impression may be dried before the material is subjected to the next'printing operation. s The present invention consists of a multicolour printing machine wherein successive sheets of paper, cardboard or the like are fed through two or more printing units in such a manner that the speed ofmovem'ent of-each sheet between succesive unlts is less than the speed of movement of the sheet through the said units. 1

'The invention will be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically a four colour printing machine constructed. according to this invention.

' the sheetcuttingmechanism. a p

Fig. shows a plan view of a detail of Fig;

Fig.4 shows a detail of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 shows asection to a large scale of' one printing and stacking unit, together w th the associated transfer mechanism."

Fig. 6 shows a sectionalelevationbfapors tion of Fig.- 31in the direction of :thearrow Referring to Fig, 1, a paper webl is fed from a reel 2' rotatably mounted on theframe 3 of themachine, and is arranged to pass through a device 4 operabletoj remove any curl which may exist in the paper; The'pa'p'er is thereafter led through a cleaner composed of two rotary brushes 5 into a cutting mechanism 6 operable to severthe web intoseparate sheets of the required length. I p e, The sheets are transferred from the mechanism 6 through the first sprinting unit7, and

each printed sheet is thereafter fedfto the upper end of a stacking device '8 which is operable "to convey the same downwardly to the lower end thereof fromlwhich the sheet Fig. 2 shows 'a section to a larger scaleof be seen that the sheet follows, a staggered I paththroughthe printing machine. i Y

Thefmachine inay'comprise further printing unitsandstacking devices andtransferring apparatus similar to'those hereinbefore described, and'the'number of such units,.deviceand apparatus depends upon the number of colours to be'p'rinted; but it willbe observed that the sheets. arelnoved in a substantially sinusoidal path through. the machine for the purpose of. ensuring that a s'uflic'i'ent time interval elapses between each printing operation to enable the" sheet to dry.

Aftera sheethas been printed in the various colours,'the same may be transferred to any desired? cutting. .or embossing apparatus for further treatment, I l r Referring: to Fig. 2, which shows in detail into, sheets, the paperwebl is fed beneath a roller 18 and between apair of feed'rollers 14 and-15. Y The rollers Hand 15 feed .the

'web to a cutting I mechanism comprising an upper roller 16 furnishe d'with a blade 17 and a lower roller. 18iwhich is furnished with a blade 18* which co-operates with the blade 17. I The web fromthe rollers-16 and 18 is fed tov a further. pair of rollersl9 and 20 which are rotated at a higher peripheral speedthan the .rollers116 and ,18 in order to draw the cut sheetawaylfr'om the remainder of the web. The mechanism sho wn at the righthand end of Fig. 2 is provided for the purpose ,ofipreventing a ragged endof a web from passing through the machine. '1 Thisapparatus comprises a roller 13 mounted up'onan armll8 pivoted at 21 and pressed downwardly spring 22; I "A pair ofrollers 23' are mounted on -the lower shaft'a'nd spaced apart as shown in Fig. 3 so that the upperroller can pass down between 'the same when there is no paper present Thus, if'theweb of paper hQllld the roller 24'the next face of the. cam 27' r break, the roller will be moved downward- I 1y under the action of the spring 22 as the broken end passes into the machine, and a roller 24 at the opposite end of the arm 13*" will rise and lift the hook shaped piece 25 into the path of thepawl 26.

A cam '27provided with-a series of faces, for example three, is adapted to oscillate a bell crank lever 28, the free endof which car-' ries the hookshapedpiece 25). Y

When the piece '25'is moved upwardly by will cause the hook to come into contact with thefpawl 26; The pawl26: is pivoted to a lever 29' (see Fig. '4) which is pivoted to the-bearin'g29 carrying the upper feed roller 14', and the'lever-29 is also fixed to a cam block 3O providediwith twoflats.---

Inthejnormal position the cam block is resting as shownin Fig. 4 on a cross piece 31 which'is fixed to the frame of'the machine, but when the pawl 26 is operated by the hook 25 the'cam 30a-nd the bearing block are lifted against the action of the roller springs 32 and the cam rotates' With the lever 29 about its-pivots'o that-the other flat face ofthe cam block rests'on' the cros's'pi'ece 3land the upper roller 14 is therefore held out of contact with the lower roller.

The above action causesthe feed of the broken end of the web to'c'ease, and-as soon asthe cutting knives have separated this ragged-portion from the preceding blank, the

same will drop downwardly between the first two sets'of rollers or'rest" betweenthe said rollers until itis removed-by the operator.

i 5 'By providing the cam 27' with a series of V one-third ofa blanklength; V

facesas shown, the rollersil4 are lifted'alrnost immediately a breakage has occurred a's the faces are spaced apart a distance equalto Itmay' happen that a bro ken 'piece of paper may pass between the'cuttin'g rollers owing to the/factthat the same may catchonsome curs;

portion of the V rollers; and when this :occurs,

7 the broken piece isj'deflected'downwardly in" a manner hereinafter described. V

'As'. soon as the web isdrawnthrough the I rollers 13 and23 by the operatorinlre starting I the machine,"the,roller 13Iis lifted an'd'the pawl25 isjrestored to its former: position'by the operator,,and'the rollers 14 and15jcon l i'nue to feed'the web until a fresh break-voc- Therollers 19. and. rotate at a". higher speed than the rollers Y16 and. 1 8, and in order to prevent the blank from being torn-the V roller l gis lifted out-of engagement with-the roller 20 whileithelea ding end of'-. t;heblank passes betweenthepair of rollers means of a'cani 32.

When-the roller 19- falls on to thesurface of the blank, thelatt'er is speedily withdrawn 2 from theleadingedge of the following web tl1epawl 41f r V 7 V The same action takes place whenever a V .niovable'gu-ides 50.31 V

The-guides- 50:"a re operated-by earns 51 and the blank passes'between a pair of guides 33. r

In order toensure that the blank shall be in correct register throughout the printing processfthe blanks are fed to'each printing unit by means of reciprocating arms. In the present instance thearm comprises a'hook shaped member 34 pivotally secured to an arm 35 which is oscillated against the action 4 of spring by a cam 36 mounted upon a 'be shorter than is required, and in order to deflect this defective blank from' the machine there is mounted in front of therollers 19 and 20 apair'of rollers 40Wl1l'0l1' are spaced apart on their spindle and beneath them is mounted an oscillating finger 41 which is periodically g raisedby' a cam 42 immediately after the moment when the': leading'edge of a blank comes under the rollers 40.

' If the. blankis shorter-than usual, the leadingedgethereof willfn'otbe at the required position beneath the rollers 40 atthe correct time, and the oscillatingfinger 41 will prevent it from passing" beneath the rollers 19 anol 20 and deflect it downwardly in front of I broken piece pf paper passes between the cutting rollers 1n the manner previously 'mentioned. 7

The pawl 41 is-provided with aspring tip on itsgworking end',-andwhen a normal blank is" passing through, the spring will Y give so thatthe does not bend'or distort the paper. 'Referringto Fig. 3', the'b1ank after passing between the guides 33 is fed between a printing roller '43 and pressure roller 44. I 1 The 'p'rlnting roller comprises an intaglio 'engravedi'rollen offthe usual kindan'd is ar- The blank passes from the printing apparatus to a pairof feed rollers '47 and '48 which 'are in the formof a pa-ir o'f'thi'n' discs mounted on the spindle as shown; and-arranged so that they contact with theiblank on the unprinted margins thereof." -Tl'1e blank is moved'from theg'rip-of the' rollersf47' and 48 by acam perated arm 49 andfe'don to the surface of v ranged to rotate in abath of ink 45and is furnished'iwith areoiprocating doctor blade 46.

through levers 52 (see Fig. 6) so that as the blank runs on to them they are spaced apart the width of the blank, and as soon as the A blankreaches the forward guide 53 of the magazine the guides open outwardly and the blank drops on to the upper surface of the spirals 54. The spirals 54 are rotated by gearing (not shown) and the blank passes downwardly in the manner shown in Fig. 5 between the guides 53 and a rear guide 55.

When the blank reaches the bottom of the spirals the same is lowered on to a pair of guide members 56 and by this time the ink quite dry; i

Apusher piece 57 on a chain conveyor 58 carries the blank partly along the guides 56 and the cam operated arm 59'transfers the blank to a printing unit identical in construction with the one previously described.

By using the feed arms such is-34 and 59 throughout the machine it is possible to ensure that one impression is in perfect register f with the previous printed impression as the and in order to prevent off set whenevera blank is missing, or the machine is being run empty in starting up, the arrangement shown at the right hand side of Fig. 2may be duplicated at each printing unit so that until a blank has passed through the detector rollers 13 and 23 the upper roller will be held away from the lower roller.

The operation of the machine as designed above is unalfected by the cumulative stretch' or shrinkage which occurs in a continuous web by changing atmospheric conditions or by changing tension in the web. p

Further, the printing rollers may be. of constant diameter, and need not of necessity be of the exact circumferential development required in printing from the continuous web.

Thus, as the rollers wear they may be r ground and re-engraved, whereas with print! ing from acontinuous web, the same is not possible. 7

It will be appreciated that the machine can be employed in conjunction with sheets previously severed and fed separately tothe first printing unit, and. successive printed sheets may be stacked in piles at the conclu-' sion of the printing operations. 7

Thus it will be seen that according to the present invention there is provided a ma-' I chine wherein the printed sheets are alternately fed in reverse directions to successive printing units arranged in different planes. -What I'claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is': y '1-.'In a printingmachine, the combination with a plurality of printing units, of

means for feeding sheets "through said-units fat relatlvely h gh-speed, and means for sup-f porting two opposite edges of eachsheet and conveying the same at a reduced speed from one to'another of said printing units.

- '2. In a printing machine, the combination with a plurality of printing' units, of means for'feeding sheets through said units at relati've'ly'high speed, and means for engaging each sheet at spaced points adjacent opposite edges thereofforsupporting and conveying the same at a reduced speed from one to another of said printing units. in

3. In a printingmachine, the combination with a plurality of printing units, of means for feeding sheets through said units at'relatively high speed, and means for receiving and conveying said sheets in superposed relationship and at a reduced speed from one to 2 another of said printing units.

A. In a. printing machine, the combination with a. plurality of printingunits arranged at substantially. difierent levels, of meansfor feeding sheets through eachunit at relatively high speed, andmeans for conveying said sheets at a-reduced speed from one to another of said units. t Y

5. In a printing machine, the combination witha plurality oftprinting units arranged at substantially difierent levels, of means for feeding sheetsthrough each unit at relatively high speedrin ahorizontal direction,

{and a conveyer for moving'said sheets in a vertical dlleCtlDIl and in superposed ,rel'afion at reduced Speed m one to another ofls IlltSi." m

6. In a printing machine, thecombination with a pluralityof printing units, of means for feeding she'etsthrough said units at rela- 1 tively. high speed, and means for receiving and conveying said sheets in superposed relationship and at a reduced speed from one to another of said printing ,units, said last named means comprising a plurality of rotating elements having threaded portionsarranged to engage the edges of the sheets.

. 7 In a printing machine, the combination witha plurality of printing units arranged at substantially different levels, of means for feeding sheets through each unit at relatively 'high speed in a horizontal direction, and a.

conveyer for moving said sheetsin a vertical direction and insuperposed relation at re duced speed from one to another of said units,

said. conveyer comprising a plurality of rotating elements having helical sheet engaging portions thereon.

8. In a printing machine, the combination with a plurality of printing units arranged '4 7' met rs at substantially difierentlevels, ofjmeanjs'for feeding sheets through each unit at relatiye- I I 1 1y high speed in a horizontal direction, and

- a conveyer formoving' saidsheets in a ver'vq ticaldirection and insuperposed relation at reduced speed from one to another of said units, said conveyer' comprising a plurality of rotating elements having helical sheet en gaging portions thereon, theinitial'turns of" pm each helix being of. steeper pitchflthan the succeeding turns to afford clearance between u successive sheets onfdeliyery t the convefyerl 9'; In a printing machine, the combination a with apluralityofp'rinting units of means for feeding sheets in line through saidunits at'relatively high speed, acarrier' for-moving said sheetsin superposed relation .at reduced speed between said'units and intermittently operated means for positioning said sheets on said carrier.

10. In a printing machine, thecombjination with a plurality of printing units, of -means for feeding sheets in line through said units at'relatively high speed, a carrier for moying said sheets in superposed relation at 7 reduced speed between'said units and means .fo'rremoving the sheets from the carrier and delivering the same to the succeeding printingunit at" definite intervals, said last named means including a continuous conveyer for initiating'movement' of the sheets, and a reciprocating pusher operating intimed'relation with saidjprinting unit after movement is initiated.- 5 F 11. In a printing machine, the com-binaj tion with a plurality; of printing units, of e means for feeding sheets through saidunits i at 1 relativelyhigh'speed, and continuously V movlng means for engaging and moving said 1 sheets at a reduced speed from one of said 7 I units to another. 7 i V In testimony whereof I hereunto aflixmy signature; 1 r v I WALTER EVERETT MOLINS. V

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