US1976775A

US1976775A - Device for feeding sheet material

Info

Publication number: US1976775A
Application number: US583647A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ray O Frederick
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1931-12-29
Filing date: 1931-12-29
Publication date: 1934-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 1951-10-16

Description

Oct. 16, 1934. R Q D m 1,976,775

DEVICE -FOR FEEDING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Dec. 29 1931 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 16, 1934. Q R QFREDERmK 1,976,775

DEVICE FOR FEEDING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Dec 29, 1951 s sheets-sheet 2 Em-J Oct. 16, 1934. R O FREDERICKv 1,976,775 '7 v DEVICE FOR FEEDING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Dec. 29, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 MA?- 5 J IA W Patented cf. 1%, 193 4 UITED STATES PATEr rice Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in mechanism for feeding sheet material into position to be operated upon by a cutting device or the like.

5 It is an object of this invention to feed sheet material into position to be severed or otherwise operated upon in increments of varying lengths. It is a further object to vary the length of the increments of material fed from the feeding device while continuing the operation of the cutting or other operating mechanism. Still another object is to provide for an unobstructed view of the sheet material during its passage through the machine.

Other objects will be apparent from the speciiication and from the accompanying drawings in which latter Fig. 1 is a perspective View with parts broken away showing the outer side and end of the housing supporting the machine with parts of the machine protruding from the housing.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the interior of the housing showing the portion of the twirler and the variable spacer within the housing and with the platen removed for clarity of illustration.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the housing with parts broken away along the line II-II of Fig. 1 showing the mechanism within the interior of the housing.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line IVIV of Fig. 3 partly through the platen and through its twirlers.

Fig. 5 is a perspective longitudinal sectional view through the variable spacer A with its constituent parts separated for clarity of illustration.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view through the variable spacer taken along the line VIVI of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a front view of arm from eccentric to platen of the positioning cam and connection.

Fig. 8 is an end elevational view of the device with the receptacle for receiving the out material removed, and

Fig. 9 is a top view of lower or stationary knife.

Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional View taken along the line XX of Fig. 9.

Referring. particularly to the drawings, a sup- 50 porting frame is shown comprising a base plate 1,

' an end wall 2, and side walls 3 and 4. The end wall 2 carries means for severing sheet material into lengths. The means comprises a stationary knife 7 with its supporting frame which is rigidly aifixed to the end wall 2. The knife is adjustable forwardly or otherwise. An upper knife 8 is mounted for reciprocatory movement to and from the fixed knife '7. The knife 8 is carried by a supporting frame 10 which reciprocates in guideways 11 which are in turn rigidly carried by the end wall 2. The frame 10 carries a cam roll 13, see Fig. 8, which works in the camway of a closed cam 14 and is driven in vertical reciprocation thereby. The cam 14 is driven in rotation by a main drive shaft 15 which is actuated by a motor 16 through a suitable clutch 1'2. The clutch is actuated to connect or disconnect the driveshaft with the motor by means of a suitable operating lever 19.

The sheet material is fed over a platen or feed roll 23 into the desired position between the open knives. A shaft 24 protrudes from the opposite ends of the platen and is rotatably supported in suitable bearings in the side walls 3 and 4 of the supporting structure. The surface of the platen intermediate its ends is knurled so as to procure a good grip upon the sheet material. A pressure roll 25 cooperates with the upper surface of the platen to facilitate the feeding of sheet material across the platen with a minimum of gripping or slipping of the sheet material with respect to the platen. The pressure roll 25 is carried rotatably by brackets 26 which are in turn rotatably supported upon a shaft 27 secured to a support 28. The weight of the pressure roll is partially offset by means of a helical spring 29 one end of which is secured to the support 28 and the other end is secured to the bracket 26 intermediate the shaft 27 and the pressure roll. A crank 30 can be operated manually to lift the pressure roll 25 from the platen.

A variable spacer or positioning mechanism A is associated with the left hand end of the platen shaft 24 as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5. The variable spacer A includes a twirler 35 which is non-rotatably secured to the platen shaft Z l by means of a set screw 36. The twirler is provided with a flanged end 37. Power todrive the shaft is transmitted through the twirler by means of a clutch member 38 through lugs 39 in the flange 37 which interlock with slots 40 in the clutch member 38 as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The clutch member 38 is movable longitudinally of the shaft by a helical spring 41 into engagement with a cooperating clutch member 42 which is mounted for rotation upon the shaft 24. The clutch member 42 is mounted as a unit with a spacing or driving ratchet 43 and a positioning cam 44 by means of a sleeve 45 which projects laterally from the cam 44. The unit is driven in intermittent rotation through the ratchet 43. Power transmitted through the ratchet 43 therefore rotates the platen. The rotational position of the platen with respect to the unit can be roughly adjusted at the beginning of the feeding operation by disengaging the

clutch members

38 and 42, and rotating the twirler 35. Upon reengagement of the clutch members the entire positioning mechanism is locked in place. A similar twirler 46 facilitates the adjustment of the rotational position of the platen.

The platen is driven in intermittent rotation from the main drive-shaft 15 through a spacing cam 4'7 rigidly mounted upon the drive-shaft, the cam surface of which is engaged by a cam follower 48. The cam follower 48 is carried by a spacing lever 49 pivoted at 50. The lever 49 engages a spacing arm 51 which in turn is connected to a pawl bracket 52 which is rotatably associated with the spacing ratchet 43. The pawl bracket 52 carries rotatably a pawl 54 for engagement with the spacing ratchet 43. In the embodiment illustrated the spacing arm 51 on its upward stroke causes the pawl 54 to engage enough teeth on the ratchet 43 so that its downward stroke will turn the entire assembly a quarter of a revolution.

The positioning cam 44 is adapted to be engaged during the periods of rest of the platen by means for holding the platen in locked stationary position while the sheet material is being severed by the cutting knives. The periphery of the positioning cam is undulant to form alternating low and high spots with the peripheral walls adjoining the low spots being inclined radially outwardly. In the embodiment illustrated, see Figs. 3 and '7, the positioning cam is provided with four low spots whereby the platen is held locked in stationary position at the end of each quarter revolution.

The locking means for the positioning cam comprises a guideway 57 which is pivotally mounted at 58 to the side wall 3 of the supporting frame as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. A pitman 59 is reciprocably mounted within the guideway 5'7 with a protruding end carrying a roll 60-. The roll 60 upon the upward stroke of the pitman nests within the pocket formed by one of the low spots of the positioning cam and its adjoining inclined walls. The positioning pitman 59 is reciprocated by means of a positioning lever 61 which is pivotally supported at 62 and which carries a cam follower 63. The cam follower 63 is actuated by a positioning cam 64 mounted upon the main drive shaft 15. A helical spring 65 secured to the pitman 59 and to the wall 3 tends to maintain the pitman in withdrawn position with respect to the positioning cam 44. The guideway 57 carries a pawl knock-off arm 67 op erative to disengage the pawl 54 at the end of the downward spacing stroke of the pawl. The entire assembly is held in proper fixed position by engagement of the roll 60 with the positioning cam.

An auxiliary variable spacer B is provided for varying the rotational position of the platen while the machine is in operation. This variable spacer operates to pivot the guideway 5'7 to adjusted position and lack the guideway in its adjusted position whereby the roll 60 upon movement upwardly initially strikes one of the inclined walls laterally of the low spot and forces the platen in partial revolution until the roll nests against the low spot. The shaft 70 is held against rotation by means of a clutch member '75 rigidly aflixed to the side wall 3 and which cooperates with a clutch sleeve '76. The clutch sleeve is normally held in engagement with clutch member '75 by means of a helical spring '77, one end of which abuts against a flange '78 of a twirler '79. Twirler '79 is secured to the shaft '70 by means of a set screw 80. A lug 81, see Fig. 1, on the flange '78 engages in a slot 82 in the twirler to prevent relative rotation of the clutch sleeve '76 and twirler '79. The engagement of the clutch members can be broken by manually pulling the clutch sleeve against the tension of the helical spring '77 to permit manual rotation of the positioning means. Release of the clutch sleeve locks the positioning means in adjusted position.

The shaft '70 of the auxiliary variable spacer B may be rotated at any time while the machine is in operation. A clockwise rotation as viewed in Fig. 1 of the shaft '70 will throw the upper portion of the guideway 57 toward the spacing rod 51. As the machine operates, rod 51 is carried downward through the movement of arm 49. The upper part of rod 51 carries pawl 54. When rod 51 is carried downward, the tail of pawl 54 contacts on arm 67 which causes pawl 54 to be released from spacing ratchet 43 somewhat sooner. The positioning pitman 59 is forced upward into the pitman pocket of cam 44, thus holding the platen in position. By means of this adjustment the platen will not rotate a full quarter turn and consequently a relatively narrow strip of material will be severed. If the guideway 57 is left in this position during another machine operation the spacing pawl 54 will be disengaged at the same time but the upper part of the positioning pitman will ride on the surface of the cam 44 and force the platen to make a full quarter turn and will continue to cut off full width strips of the sheet material until the guideway 5'7 is again moved. By rotating the shaft '70 anti-clockwise as viewed in Fig. 1, the guideway 5'7 will be moved away from the spacer arm 51 whereby the spacing pawl 54 will disengage later and a relatively wide strip of sheet material will be out. On the next machine operation the pitman 59 performs the same operation as above to insure that the platen will be turned an exact quarter turn.

In utilizing the machine for cutting a sheet of paper into tickets, the sheet is threaded with the printed side up between the pressure roll 25 and the platen 23 to the knife edge. Operating bar 19 is depressed to permit the main drive shaft 15 to be driven. The platen turns and the paper feeds through open knives. After the spacing arm 51 has reached its downward limit of travel the pawl 54 is disengaged from the ratchet. At this time the positioning pitman 59 is forced upward into a pocket of the positioning cam 44 therebypositioning'the platen. As soon as the positioning pitman 59 is engaged with a pocket of the cam 44 the platen is held firm in its position while the knives are actuated to cut off a. ticket from the paper. When the operating bar 19 is locked in depressed position, the machine runs continuously. When the operating bar 19 is depressed and then released the machine operates only once. The machine always stops at the same position when the operating bar is released due to the following mechanism: The driven shaft 15, Fig. 3, has pinned to it clutch member 17. Clutch member 17 has fastened to it clutch pawl 1707. When motor bar 19 is released, as shown in Fig. 3, release pawl 17b is held in position, as shown, and is's'o constructed as to prevent clutchpawl 17a from passing by. The normal position of the machine when stopped is with the knife 8 elevated andnthe platen in locked position.

By the construction described adjustment of the tickets with respect to the cutting knives can .be accomplished with speed and accuracy. Also the adjustment can be effected while the machine is in operation.

While the device has been described as applied to a machine for cutting sheet material into strips, it will be understood that it can be uti lized for feeding sheet material to a wrapping machine, or for any other purpose for which an accurately determined amount of the sheet material should be supplied in successive increments.

Various changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims in which it is desired to claim all novelty inherent in the invention as broadly as the prior art permits.

I claim:

1. In a feeding device, a roll for feeding a strip of material and including a shaft protruding from the ends of the roll, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, means for intermittently driving the shaft 9. fraction of a revolution, means for locking the shaft in position during its periods of rest, and means operating upon the last mentioned means for altering the rotary position of the shaft during its periods of rest.

2. In a feeding device, a roll for feeding a strip of material and including a shaft protruding from the ends of the roll, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, means for intermittently driving the shaft in rotation, and means for moving the shaft clockwise or counter-clockwise to a locked position during its periods of rest.

3. In a feeding device, a roll for feeding a strip of material and including a shaft protruding from the ends of the roll, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, means for intermittently driving the shaft in rotation, a cam driven by the shaft and including spaced low spots in its periphery, a locking device movable into position to engage the adjoining low spot, means for actuating the locking device during one of the periods of rest to engage the low spot, and means for varying the position on the circumference of the cam at which the locking means engages the low spot.

i. In a feeding device, a roll for feeding a strip of material and including a shaft protruding from the ends of the roll, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, means for intermittently driving the shaft in rotation, a cam mounted for rotation with the shaft, the periphery of the cam being undulant to form alternate low and high spots, a guideway, a pitman reciprocably mounted in the guideway, means for actuating the pitman forwardly to engage an adjoining low spot during a period of rest, and means for varying the position of the guideway whereby the pitman will engage the sidewall of a high spot to cause partial rotation of the cam on seeking the low spot.

5. In a feeding device, a roll for feeding a strip of material and including a shaft protruding from the ends of the roll, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, means for intermittently driving the shaft in rotation, a cam mounted for rotation with the shaft, the cam having spaced low spots in its periphery the walls adjoining which are inclined outwardly, a guideway, a pitman mounted for reciprocation in the guideway toward and from the cam, means for moving the pitman against the adjoining low spot during a period of rest whereby the shaft is locked in position, and positioning means for changing the position at which the pitman engages the cam whereby the pitman by first engaging the inclined Walls of the cam efiects rotational translation of the cam.

6. A feeding device according to claim 4 in which the positioning means comprises a shaft mounted for manual rotation, a link eccentrically connected to the shaft and connected to the guideway for altering the position of the guideway, and means for holding the shaft in adjusted position.

7. A feeding device according to claim 4 in which the positioning means comprises a shaft, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, a link eccentrically attached to the shaft and connected to the guideway for controlling the position of the guideway, and a clutch yieldably holding the shaft to the supporting means in adjusted position.

8. In a feeding device a roll for feeding a strip of material including a shaft protruding from the ends of the roll, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, driving means and a cam rotatably mounted as a unit on the shaft, a clutch for non-rotatably securing the unit to the shaft in a fixed position, means for actuating the driving means to intermittently rotate the shaft, the cam having spaced low spots the adjoining walls of which are radially outwardly inclined, a locking device movable into position to engage the adjoining low spot, means for actuating the locking device during one of the periods of rest to engage the low spot, and means for varying the position on the circumference of the cam at which the locking means engages the low spot.

9. In a feeding device a roll for feeding a strip of material including a shaft protruding from the ends of the roll, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, driving means and a cam rotatably mounted as a unit on the shaft, a clutch for non-rotatably securing the unit to the shaft in a fixed position, means associated with the clutch for manually adjusting the relative rotational position of the driving means and cam upon the shaft, means for actuating the driving means to intermittently rotate the shaft, the cam having spaced low spots the adjoining walls of which are radially outwardly inclined, a locking device movable into position to engage the adjoining low spot, means for actuating the looking device during one of the periods of rest to engage the low spot, and means for varying the position on the circumference of the cam at which the locking means engages the low spot.

10. In a feeding device, a roll for feeding the strip of material including a shaft protruding from the ends of the roll, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, a ratchet non-rotatably mounted upon the shaft, a pawl engaging the ratchet, means for actuating the pawl to successively rotate the shaft a fraction of a revolution, a cam non-rotatably carried by the shaft and provided with spaced low spots, means for securing the ratchet and cam non-rotatably to the shaft, means for manually adjusting the relative rotational position of the ratchet and cam upon the shaft, a guideway, means pivotally supporting one end of the guideway, a positioning pitman protruding from the opposite end of the guideway, means for reciprocating the pitman a link connected to the shaft laterally of its center of rotation and connected to the guiqeway laterally of :the' pivotal supporting means for the guideway, whereby the position at which the pitman engages the low spot is adjusted, and means for fixing the shaft in adjusted rotary position.

' RAY O. FREDERICK.