US1976853A

US1976853A - Folding mechanism

Info

Publication number: US1976853A
Application number: US527670A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lundquist Arvid; James D Spillane
Original assignee: R Hoe and Co Inc
Current assignee: R Hoe and Co Inc
Priority date: 1931-04-04
Filing date: 1931-04-04
Publication date: 1934-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 1951-10-16

Description

A. LUNDQUIS T ET AL FOLDING MECHANISM Filed April 4, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet l lNVENTORS'. A

amr a Oct. 16, 1934. A. LUNDQUIST ET AL 3 FOLDING MECHANI SM Filed April 4. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 O 1934- A, LUNDQUIST ET AL 1,976,353

FOLDING MECHANI SM Filed April 4, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 16, 1934 tween FOLDING MECHANISM Arvid Lundquist and James D. Spillane, New York, N. Y., assignors to B. Hoe & 60., Inc, New Ycrk, N. Y., a corporation of New York;

This invention relates to certain improvements in rotary folding mechanisms used in conjunction with printing machines.

It is desirable in folding products, such as newspapers and the like, that the product shall be acted on by the folding mechanism so that the edges of a folded product are even. In rotary folding mechanisms, however, which embody a rotary folding cylinder the effective circumference or folding surface of the cylinder is constant, that is, the cylinder: is made of a predetermined diameter. Where the products'of varying thicknesses are folded onto such cylinder, it happens that if the cylinder is ofa size to evenly fold a thick product a thin product will not be evenly folded.

The especial object of the present invention is to produce an improved construction of a folding cylinder whereby the effective circumference or product receiving surface of the cylinder may be varied as desired to fold off either a thick product or a relatively thin product 'so that such products may be evenly folded. i I h A further object of the invention is to produce an improved folding cylinder in which the effective circumference of the cylinder may be set either for a thick or a thin product, or maybe so arranged as to automatically'adjust itself for a thick or a thin product. 1

A further object of the invention is to produce a cylinder construction of simple form in which the parts are of easy access for adjustment or repair.

With these and'other objects not specifically referred to in view, the invention consists in certain novel parts, arrangements and combinations which will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings and the novel features pointed outin the claims hereunto annexed. Y

I40. In these drawing Figure 1 is a side View, partly broken away, of

a folding cylinder showing a preferred embodi-r ment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 4510f Figure 1;

' Figure 3 is a side view, on an, enlarged scale,

of one of the resilient bridge, pieces shown in Figure 1; c

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view, the section being taken on line 44 of Figure 3:;

Figure 5 is a sectional view showing-a modified construction of the invention; I l

, Figure 6 is a front View, partly broken away, of part of theconstruction shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a detail sectional view showing one Irving Trust Company, temporary trustee Application April i, 1931, Serial No. 527,670 11 Claims. (c1. 27047) of the modified resilient bridge pieces in one position;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 showing the bridge piece in another position, and v Figure 9 is a detail face view, partly broken away, of one of the bridge pieces shown in Fig- D165 '7 and 3. V

Referring now tothese drawings, the invention has been shown as embodied in a rotary folding cylinder 1 supported on a shaft 2 suitably supported in any desired framing and driven in any suitable manner, not illustrated. The particular cylinder chosen to illustrate the invention is a three-part collecting cylinder, that is, a cylinder capacitated to collect three products, and isshown provided with three sets of pins 3, 4 and 5'.

In the particular mechanism shown, the cylinder 2' cooperates with a cutting cylinder 6 supported on a shaft 7 and provided with cutting blades 8, 9. The folding blades are omitted from the showing of this cylinder in Figures 1 to 4, as being unnecessary for an understanding of the invention, but such folding blade' may be mounted or supported in any well known manner. While the cylinder selected to illustrate the invention is shown as a three-part cylinder, it will be understood that the invention is not to be restricted to such construction, but may be used with folding cylinders of widely varying forms. Such folding cylinder, however, will be provided with devices whereby the effective cir-- cumference or product receiving surface of the cylindermay be increased or decreased, depending on whether a thick or a thin product is to 90 be folded off the cylinder, the circumference be-, ing decreased for a thick product and increased for a thin one.

While the particular construction for effecting this may be variedwithin certain limits, in the best constructions such means will include a plurality of spaced resilient pieces of metal, which may aptly be termed bridge pieces, and these bridge pieces may be operated to increase or de- 150 crease the effective circumference of the cylinder in various ways, either manually or, under some circumstances, automatically, and two such forms have been illustrated. Referring first to Figures 1 to 4, there is provided a plurality of these bridge pieces spaced apart widthwise of the cylinder, these bridge pieces spanning the space indicated at 10, through which the folding'blades work, and a suitable number of these pieces being provided for effecting the desired results, five such pieces being shown in the construction illustrated.

The particular characteristics of these bridge pieces may vary to some extent, but, as shown, they are strips of fairly heavy spring metal, marked 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. These strips are secured to the cylinder walls in any suitable manner. At one end, as at the end a, each of the strips are anchored to one of a plurality of rigid members which extends into the space 10, these members being marked and secured to the cylinder wall, by screws 16. At their other end, marked 2), the strips are secured to the cylinder by screws 16, and are adjusted toward and from the axis of the cylinder, so as to increase or decrease the efiective circumference of the cylinder. Each member 50 is provided with a slot 17, which permits the in andout movement of the bridge pieces, and each bridge piece is provided with a pin 18, which has a movement in the slot 17 to permit the in and out movement of the bridge piece, and this pin engages in a diagonal slot 19 carried in a bar or block 20, which has a sliding movement in guides 21, 22 formed in the rigid member 50, before referred to. By moving this block forward or backward, the action of the slot riding on the pin will cause the bridge piece to bow outwardly or inwardly. As, for instance, when the bar is moved from the position shown in Figure 3 the bridge piece will be bowed outwardly and effect an increase in the diameter of the collecting cylinder, a reverse movement of the parts causing the bridge piece to assume its normal position owing to its springy nature.

In the best constructions, means are provided j a spring clip 24, held in position on the rigid member 50 by means of screws 25, thus yieldingly holding the bar in adjusted position.

In the best constructions, one of these sliding bars is provided for each bridge piece, and preferably, furthermore, these sliding bars are connected, as by a screw rod 26, so that they all may be adjusted simultaneously, In the construction shown in Figures 1 to 4, the adjustment of the bars is effected manually, the bridge pieces being set for the particular product which is to pass through the machine, and these bars may be simultaneously adjusted by means of a hand-wheel 27, carried on the end of the cylinder and operable from outside thereof, this hand-wheel being connected to one of the bars,

as the bar for the bridge piece 15, by a screw rod 28. Preferably a set of these bridge pieces and operating bars would be provided for each collecting surface of the cylinder. Thus in the particular construction shown, where the folding cylinder 1 is a three-part collecting cylinder, three sets of these bridge pieces and their adjusting mechanism are illustrated.

Under certain circumstances it may be desirable that a construction be provided which will automatically adjust itself to accommodate a thick or a relatively thin product, and such construction is shown in Figures 5 to 9, inclusive. Referring to these figures, which also illustrate a three-part collecting cylinder in which the folding blades are shown marked 30, 31, there are provided three sets of

bridge pieces

32, 33 and 34.

This modified construction spans the gap 35, through which the folding blades operate, and these bridge pieces are in the form of resilient metal strips, four such strips being illustrated, marked 36, 37, 38 and 39. These bridge pieces, in this modified construction, are supported so that they will automatically act to accommodate a thick or a relatively thin product, the pieces being mounted so that the pressure of the product on the bridge pieces will cause them to move inwardly or outwardly. Thus when a thin product is passing between the folding cylinder and the cutting cylinder, the parts will be shown in their normal distance from the cylinder, as shown in Figure '7, but when a thick product is being handled the resilient bridge pieces will press down and thus reduce the effective circumference of the cylinder. The means by which the bridge pieces may be so mounted may vary somewhat in character. In the particularconstruction shown there is provided a rigid member 40, which is secured to the cylinder wall by screws 41. Riveted to this rigid member 40, at one end by a rivet 42, is one end of a bridge piece, as the resilient bridge piece 36, and the other end of the rigid member 40 is provided with a slot 43, in which runs a headed pin 44 secured to the other end of the resilient bridge piece 36. Thus the parts would assume the position shown in Figure 8 when a thick product is being handled. It is understood that a rigid member 40 is provided for each bridge piece.

It will be seen that with the construction shown and described a very simple and effective means has been provided for effecting an adjustment of the effective circumference of the product receiving surface of the cylinder, and that either thin or thick products can be handled and folded off from the cylinder with an even fold. While the invention has been shown in certain of its preferred forms, it will be understood that other changes and variations may be made in the arrangement and character of the parts without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality of flexible strips carried thereby, said strips being anchored at one end to the cylinder and movable at another end relatively thereto, sliding bars provided with diagonal slots, connections between the bars and strips, and means for operating the bars to flex the strips.

I 2. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality of flexible strips carried thereby, said strips being anchored at one end to the cylinder and movable at another end relatively thereto, devices having a sliding movement widthwise of the cylinder, said devices being provided with diagonal slots, connections between the sliding devices and the strips, and means for operating the sliding devices to flex the strips.

3. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality of flexible strips carried thereby, sliding bars provided with diagonal slots and having a sliding movement widthwise of the cylinder and transversely to the strips, connections between the bars and the strips, means for giving the bars a sliding movement to flex the strips, and means for locking the bars in adjusted position.

4. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality of flexible strips carried thereby and rigidly secured at one end thereto, a plurality of means engaging said strips for flexing same, a slot angularly arranged in each of said means, a pin secured to each of the strips and movable in an adjacent slot of one of said means, and a single manually operable means for moving all of said plurality of means in unison.

5. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality of flexible strips carried thereby, a plurality of means engaging said strips for flexing same, a slot angularly arranged in each of said means, a pin secured to each of the strips and movable in an adjacent slot of one of said means, and a member threadedly engaged with each of said plurality of means for moving same in unison to flex the strips, said plurality of means moving in a direction substantially at right angles to the direction of movement of the strips.

6. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality of flexible strips carried thereby, a plurality of means engaging said strips for flexing same, a slot angularly arranged in each of said means, a pin secured to each of the strips and movable in an adjacent slot of one of said means, a member threadedly engaged with each of said plurality of means for moving same in unison to flex the strips, and other means for yieldingly maintaining each of the plurality of means in operative position.

7. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality of flexible strips arranged in parallel relation upon the periphery of the cylinder, said strips being anchored at one end to the cylinder and having a movable connection at another end, and a single manually operable member for flexing all of said strips in unison.

8. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a series of flexible strips arranged in spaced relation upon the periphery of the cylinder from one end to another end thereof, a plurality of means engaging said series of flexible strips, a single means for moving all of said plurality of means in unison to simultaneously flex the series of strips, and yielding means connected to said plurality of means for holding same in operative position.

9. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality of flexible strips secured on the periphery of the cylinder in transverse relation to the axis thereof and in parallel relation to each other, and a single means coacting with other means connected to the said strips for flexing all of the strips in unison, said strips being rigidly secured at one end to the cylinder.

10. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality of flexible strips carried thereby, said strips being fastened at one end to said cylinder, a plurality of members connected with the strips and arranged in spaced relation upon the cylinder, threaded means engaged with all of said members, guide means for each of the members, and resilient means secured to each of the guide means and engaged with the said members for maintaining the same in position.

11. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a series of flexible strips arranged in spaced relation upon the periphery of the cylinder, a plurality of means engaging said series of flexible strips, other means for moving all of said plurality of means in unison to simultaneously flex the series of strips, and yielding instrumentalities for maintaining the plurality of means in adjusted positions.

ARV'ID LUNDQUIST. JAMES D. SPILLANE.