US1942172A - Pile-forming and delivery means - Google Patents

Description

Jam 2, 1934- s. G. JOHNSON PILE FORMING AND DELIVERY MEANS Filed July 2l, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet l 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 QQ D w -NQ E T N wh www nu www ww wh mw. Nw s w S. G. JOHNSON Filed July 21. 1930 OO S9 NNN -ANN

JNM.

Q l l w@ Jan. 2, 1934. s, Q JOHNSON PILE pomme AND DELIVERY MEANS Filed July 2l, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. z, 1934.' s G, JOHNSON 1,942,172

PILE FORMING 'AND DELIVERY MEANS Filed July 21,-1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented `an. 2, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE N 1,942,172 PILE-FORMING AND DELIVERY MEANS Selvar G. Johnson, Chicago, Ill. Application July 21, 1930. serial No. 469,600

2 Claims. (C1. 271-88) My invention relates to printing, and includes among its objects and advantages the Vprovision of an improved pile-forming and delivery means.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mechanism according to the invention, together with the adjacent parts of a printing press associated therewith; Y Y l Figure 2 is aplan view of the same mechanism; Figure 3 is a fragmentary end View of the same; Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 2;

and f. Figure 6 is an enlarged detail of the connec- 151 tions' at the end of the special conveyor.

ln'theembodiment of the invention selected for illustration, the device includes pile-forming means; means for receiving and delivering the formed pile; power connections for actuating the receiving means and .the forming means from the movable parts of the` press; and a special `conveyor means facilitating delivery of individual sheets from the pressA to the pileforming means. f Y The pile-forming and receiving means are supported in a frame made up of rear uprights 10 and front uprights 12. All theuprights are simple angle-irons, and they are open .toward the center of the frame. They are connected' at the bottom by transverse bracing 'strips 14 and longitudinal angle-iron braces 16. The sides are cross braced by diagonal strips 18 and by horizontal T bars 20 at-the top. Y l l Transverse T'bars 22 connect the opposite sides at 'the top. This leaves the entire front of the frame below the level of the T ' bars 20 and 22 open to permit the finished pile to move out of the frame. When the frame is positioned in front of a printing press,it is temporarily connected by braces 24 to the adjacent legs 26 of the press itself. VThe vpile-forming means illustrated comprises a xed plate or stop 28 carried by the end of a rod 30 passing through a housing 32 on the transverse'T bar22 and fastened in position by suitable set screws 34. This stop receives the impact of the edge of the sheet of paper as it comes from the press. Y

After the sheet of paper has been stopped, it

is desirable to touch it gently on the sides not in contact with the stop 28, to'move it into perfect alignment with the pile of sheets below it. For this purpose, each of the other T bars is provided with a housing 36 identical Awith the housing 32, except that there are no set'screws 34. The plates or joggers 38 may be duplicates of the stop 28. The jogger rods 40 extend through the housings 36 and carry adjustable transmission heads 42 clamped in place on the l Y rods by suitable set screws V44, and each having transverse pins 46 projecting from the sides thereof. The rods 40 are made to t quite loosely in the housings 36 so that the entire jogger structure including the jogger 38, rod 40 and head 42, may wobble aroundV and align itself perfect- 66y ly with the stop 28 by means of its contact with the pile of sheets lying against the stop.

For actuating the joggers, I provide atransverse rock shaft 48 and two longitudinal rock shafts 50 connected to the transverse rock shaft 70` by bevel gearing 52 at the rear corners of the frame." Each rock shaft carries a crank arm 54 having a bifurcated upper end slotted at 56 to receive the pins 46. By allowing clearance as at 58 between the ends of the crank arms and the 75 heads 42,.the joggers may be pushed toward the center toman extent determinable with fair precision, without interfering in any Way with the looseness that permits them to wobble and maintain perfect alignment.

For actuating the joggers from the press itself as a source of power, I may provide a crank arm 60 'on'the transverse rock shaft 48 connected by a link 62 to an'intermediate point 64 on a crank 66. This crank 66 may form part of the mechanism of the pressitself, being connected by a link 68 to a rocker arm '70 or any other suitable oscillating part of the press. By connecting the link 62 to either the crank 60 or the crank 66 at varying'distances from the center of rotation,.the total movement of the joggers can be readily adjusted. It should be noted that the amount of backlash or looseness in the pivotal connections for the link 62, the intermeshing engagementof the teeth of the bevel gears 52, and the engagement of the pins 46 in the slots 56, is all immaterial and may be very large without v interfering with perfect operation of the device.

It is only necessary to adjust the link 62 to produce enough motion to take up this backlash or looseness and still provide a sufficiently long stroke for the joggers, to produce a perfect result in the formation of the pile. The extreme limit of inward movement of each jogger 38 may be determined accurately since this limit is reached when the backlash is all taken up in one direction, and the set screws 44 make precise adjustment a fairly easy matter.

It should also be noted that the bevel gears 52 only rotate through a relatively small fraction of a rotation. When the teeth in engagement become Worn, it is a simple matter to loosen the gears on their shafts and rotate them 15 or so to bring fresh teeth into engagement. A very long life for these parts, even when cheap stock gears are used, is thus assured.

The pile 72 formed by the joggers may rest in the first instance on a starting board 74 which, in turn, rests on the top table 76 of a Wheeled delivery truck made up of said table and of four wheels 78 mounted on the bottom thereof, all of which may be caster wheels if desired. To maintain the top of the pile at a substantially con-4 stant level during its formation, it is necessary to lower the table 76 at a slow rate to compensate for the increase in the height of the pile. I have illustrated clips 80 in the form of angleirons underlying the side edges of the table 76. From each end of each clip a sprocket. chain 82 runs up and over a sprocket 84 and down again to a counterweight 86. All four sprockets are connected together to raise or lower the corners of the table in unison, as by mounting the sprockets on each side on longitudinal shafts 88 and interconnecting the shafts by a transverse shaftv 9 0 across the front of the frame,y and bevel gears 92 at the front corners.

The connections for lowering the table at a speed equal to the growth in height of the pile,V comprise an actuating link 94 connected to any suitable oscillating part of the press. I have i1- lustrated this link as connected at 96 to the pivot interconnecting the lever 98 withA a link 100. ernployed to actuate one of the rolls, 102 of the press4 itself. l This lever is rocked by a cam 104 engaging a,y roller 106 at the lower end of the lever, theA lever being normally held against the cam by a compression spring 108 abutting a bell crank arm 110 projecting rearwardly from the lever. v

The front end of the link 94 actuates, a4 crank 112. Referring more particularly to Figs. 4 andA 5., the right-hand shaft 88 extends through a worm-wheel 114; through a splined clutch 1,16, for connecting the worm-wheel to the shaft; and terminates in a hand-wheel 118 provided with a crank handle 120. Below the worm-wheel I support a worm-shaft 122 in suitable bearings. The worm-shaft carries the worm 124 meshing with the Worm-wheel 114;y an actuating ratchet 126,; and the crankv arm 112, the crank arm being free to rotatel on the shaft. The crank arm extends both above and below the shaft and at its upper end carries a suitable pawl 128 pivoted at 130 and normally urged by a spring 1,32 into a position of engagement with thel teeth of, the ratchet 126. The worm-wheel 114 is enclosed in a suitable housing 134, and on the face o f this housing I mount a shield comprising a vertical plate 136, with a horizontal shelf 138 overlying the teeth of the ratchet 126. The mounting is by meansof an arcuate slot 140 in the plate 136 anda fastening screw 142. By moving the shield to various positions around the axis of the shaft 122 as a center, part or all of the active stroke of the f' pawl 128 may be rendered ineffective for rotating the ratchet 126 by holding the pawl outl of contact with the ratchet. It is only the last portion of the stroke after the pawl has moved beyond the edge of the shield 138 that will be eifective. In this way, a fairly largev number of slightly different speeds of lowering may readily be obtained.

I prefer to extend the shaft 122.y through the crank 112', and to mount a hand-wheel; 1,414- with a. crankk handle 146; on the end thereof..

When the pile is to be delivered, either because it has grown to the capacity of the receiving means, or because the requisite number of sheets for the particular job in hand have been printed, the table 76 is lowered until the Wheels 78 come to rest on the angle braces 16. A slight further movement of the clips 80 will leave them dangling freely just below the edges of the table. The front legs; of the. front uprightsA 12 are notched as, at A148 to clear the edges` 0f theV table and permit the table and pile to roll out of the frame. To make this movement less abrupt, the braces 1.6 are extended beyond the front uprights 12 and their horizontal legs are separated from their verticalr legs by sawing a slot, after which 90 the, horizontal legs are bent downward as at 150 to form an inclined track section for easing the Wheels of the truck down to the level of the floor supporting the frame.

After the finished pile has been thus removed, an empty truck can be slipped back into` the frame. By moving the clutch 116 to the left from the position shown i-n Fig. 2, the crank hans dle 120 can be operatedtc raise the table quickly to approximately the level desired for beginning 190 a new pile.A Then, the clutch. may be moved to connect the worm-wheel to the Shaft, and thecrank handle 146 may be operated to bring the table to the precise level` desired. AS `Soon, as the machine is put in operation,v the. plate 136, may 105 be shifted to the positionv necessary for; automatic; lowering of the table at the speed; appropriate for the thickness of paper being delivered by thev press.

The type of press illustrated, when. it is; not H0 used inv conjunction. with my improved pile receiving means, carries a simple table mounted on. a support at 152 upon which the papers passing up the conveyor 15.4 may fall and accumulate inv anr irregular pile. The edges ofthe sheets 115 this pile may then be, adjusted b y hand by standing the. pile onA edge.A When, my improved device is; to he associated with such a press, it is im-Y possible to position the table 76 close enough, to the conveyor 154 to receive sheets therefrom. be- 120 cause, the support 152 is inthe way.,

I have provided a. detachable. auxiliary con.- veyor comprising a. frame 15,6 providedr with conveying belts 158 of, any suitable or desired. oonstruction. This frame is. provided with adjust L25 able struts 160 adapted to. rest onv the front end of the support 152 and its sides extend beyond the end of the conveyor beltsl 158i andare noted as aty 162 to. take over the stationary shaft 164 carrying the end roller of the. conveyor 154,. This 1.30 end rollery may be provided with a pinion 16.6 anda power connectiontothe conveyor belts 15,8. may be established through an idler 168 driving a pinion 170. on the. adjacent end roll for the belts 158. The idl'er 1.6.8' and the end roll carry- 135 ing the pinion 170 are journaled in the frame 156.` It. will be, obvious thatthis. frame. may be set in place on. a moments notice and removed again toV permitv the, press to operate with its ordinary table whenever the nature of the kwork isnot such 114g as to require the use of my pile-forming andy delivery means. The edge of the 'sheet leaving the conveyor belts 158 may-'be guided down against the stop 28; by a strip of'light sheet metal 172'.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing. willy so. fully explain my invention that, others may.. by applying current4 knowledge, readily adapt. the same.- for use under' various conditions ofy service. It will also be. obviousl that all the 150 features described need not necessarily be employed in conjunction, as they may advantageously be utilized in various combinations and sub-combinations.

I claim:

1. A pile receiving and delivery mechanism comprising a frame made up of four upright angles all opening inwardly and braces between said uprights, a wheeled delivery truck having a flat top table, elevator clips for engaging the under-sides of opposite edges o'f said table and lifting it to the top of said frame, chain and sprocket means for operating said elevator clips, counterweights for said chain and sprocket means, a reversible transmission for actuating said chain and sprocket means manually at relatively high speed, an irreversible transmission for actuating said chain and sprocket means, connections for driving said irreversible transmission by hand or by power at any one of a plurality of predetermined relatively low speeds to lower said clips, manual means for connecting said chain and sprocket means selectively to said high speed or said low speed transmissions, said wheeled truck being guided in its vertical movement by the angles of said frame, two of said clined end portions for easing said truck onto a level floor supporting said frame.

2. A pile receiving and delivery mechanism comprising a frame having four angle uprights all opening inwardly, a wheeled delivery truck, means for raising and lowering said truck inside said frame, said wheeled truck being guided in its vertical movement by the angles of said frame, two of said angles having their legs notched near the bottom to clear the edges of said table and permit exit of said truck, the space between said notched legs being free and unobstructed to permit exit of the pile carried by said truck, certain of the bottom braces of said frame forming tracks for said truck, said tracks having downwardly inclined portions for easing said truck onto the level oor supporting said frame.

SELVAR G. JOHNSON.

Images