US1986800A

US1986800A - Card and envelope feeding apparatus

Info

Publication number: US1986800A
Application number: US670644A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harmon P Elliott
Original assignee: ELLIOTT ADDRESSING MACHINE CO
Current assignee: ELLIOTT ADDRESSING MACHINE CO
Priority date: 1933-05-12
Filing date: 1933-05-12
Publication date: 1935-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 1952-01-08

Description

Jan. 8, 1935. H, p ELLIOTT 1,986,800

CARD AND ENVELOPE FEEDING APPARATUS Filed May 12, 1933 INVENTOR Harmon Ellioll ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES CARD AND ENVELOPE APPARATUS PATENT OFFICE FEEDING Harmon P. Elliott, Watcrtown, Mesa, assignor to The Elliott Addressing Machine Companyta corporation of Massachusetts Application May 12, 1933, Serial No. 670,644

14 Claims.

' This invention comprises certain improvements in the general type of apparatus shown and described in my Patent No. 1,909,910, dated May 16, 1933, for Addressing and printing apparatus,

and relates more specifically to improvements on I rotary drum located beneath said magazine provided with suitable even curved surface, part of which has been roughened to produce a fl'iO? tional contact with the bottom card or envelope, and a set of spring plates forming a gate at the lower wall of the wall of the magazine under which the cards or envelopes have to be forced. This general arrangement has proved rather delicate of adjustment and not always satisfactory in operation. Also, the friction contact of the drum with the card or envelope sometimes does not continue through a sufllcient arc of travel to insure the front end of the card or envelope being projected far enough into the printing zone to make certain that it will be securely grasped by the printing mechanism.

In the present invention these difficulties have been overcome by providing the feed drum with raised portions extending part way around the cylindrical surface thereof and in substantial contact with the lower edge of the gate, the cutaway sections between said raised portions being sufficient in depth to permit a card or envelope lying therein to pass under the gate, which makes it possible to use a solid plate for said gate and adjust it permanently for cards or envelopes of given thicknesses.

Also, such feeding drum according to the pres-- ent invention is provided with spring fingers projecting from its surface at points near the rear end of the frictional section thereof, which said fingers will flex downward while passing under the gate, or any other rigid portion of the apto me embodying my invention are illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken through one end of a postcard and envelope printing apparatus such as described in my above mentioned Patent No. 1,909,910, to which one form of my present invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the improved form of feed drum employed in said invention.

Fig. 3 is a detail section on an enlarged scale through the said drum and adjacent end of the Fig. 7 is a detail side view or a portion of the drum showing said modified form of finger mounted thereon.

Throughout the drawing like reference characters indicate like parts. 51 represents a portion of the main frame supported on legs, one

of which is shown at 52, and having the table surface 66, which is cut away to permit a portion of the feeddrum 23 to project upwardly above the plane of the table a slight distance.

The drum 23 is mounted on a revoluble shaft 54 journalled in the main frame 51 and is rotated by any suitable means, not shown. 7

24 indicates generally the magazine in which is placed a stack of envelopes or postcards 21,-

which are to be printed, the lefthand edge of the bottom card or envelope resting on said drum 23, while the right hand or rear edge is supported in any convenient way, as by the bent wire frame 53.. The front wall of the magazine 24 is shown at 122 and on the lower. end thereof is mounted the gate 124, the purpose of which is to prevent more than one card or envelope at a the feed drum 23 and pushed forwardunder the pressure roller 132 into the guides 22 which lead to the printing zone. 50 represents generallya magazine for a stack of card stencils (notshown) which may be simultaneously fed forward to the printing zone one by one as described in my said above mentioned patent.

In the particular construction here shown the cylindrical surface ofthe drum 23 is provided 45 time being pulled off the bottom of the stack by with a central band 1 having a thickness such that when the gate 124 is properly adjusted only edge of the gate 124, if the latter is wide enough,

or such that their outer surfaces will be substa'ntially tangent to the plane of said gate edge if they are spaced apart widely enough to avoid contact with said gate. Said flanges 2, 2, are

I cut away along a portion of the drum surface approximately equal to the length of the postcard or envelope being fed, so that such postcard or envelope may fit in to the cutaway space 14 so formed between the raised portions of the drum surface formed by the flanges 2, 2. Consequently such postcard or envelope resting in this cutaway section may be slid under the gate 124 if the drumhas suillcient frictional action on said card or envelope to pull it out from under the rest of the stack. To insure sufficient frictional action of this

character tapes

35, 35, of relatively soft and elastic composition, such as rubber, are fastened to the surface of the drum 23 in the cutaway portion 14 and preferably in line with the flanges 2, 2. As shown, the edges of the drum are provided with

slots

13, 13, and the

tapes

35, 35, have thickened ends 12, 12, so that when the' thinner portions adjacent the tape ends are stretched and slipped into the

slots

13, 13, the contraction of the elastic tape will cause the thickened ends 12, 12, to become wedged in said slot and hold the tapes in the position shown, said tapes being nearly equal in length to the length of the

cutaway sections

14, 14, of the side flanges 2, 2, and having to be stretched before being mounted on the drum as above described.

The

tapes

35, 35, are preferably made of a thickness about equal to that of the central band 1 so that a card or envelope grasped by them can be pushed under the gate 124, and preferably the upper surfaces of these tapes are serrated or otherwise roughened as best shown in Fig. 2. 1

In operation of the above described apparatus, when the drum is rotated in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, the contact of the raised rib portions 2, 2, of the drum with the gate 124, or their elevation in case they are on either side of the gate, will hold up the 'stack of postcards 21 in magazine 24 in a position such that the bottom card cannot be slid under the gate until the

cutaway portions

14, 14, of said ribs come under the gate, whereupon the front edges of the stack of postcardswill drop so that that of the bottom card will be opposite the space between the drum and the lower edge of the gate 124, and thereupon the frictional action of the tapes 35 will slide said bottom postcard under the gate, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. After the bottom postcard has been pushed under the gate the raised portions of the ribs 2, 2, will thereafter prevent other cards dropping down to positions such that they can pass under the'gate, and this condition will continue until the drum has made a complete revolution and the above described operation is repeated.

- To further facilitate the co-action of the drum and gate I pre fer to have the axis of the drum offset slightly to the left of the plane of the gate, asshown in Fig. 1, and to have the surface of the lower end of the gate backed off slightly as shown in Fig. 3, so that it will practically lie in a plane substantially parallel to a plane tangent to the surface of the drum atthat point.

139 indicates the usual weight sliding vertically on the magazine wall 122 and provided with a spring clip 138 for holding it in elevated position.

When not held in this elevated position it rests on the forward edge of the stack of postcards and serves to insure the bottom postcard being held down in contact with the rotating drum. Preferably the width of this weight in a direction parallel with the axis of the drum should be considerably less than the distance between the two drum flanges or ribs 2, 2, as otherwise there would be a tendency for this weight to cause the outer side edges of the last few envelopes in the stack to tilt upward so far as to prevent the bottom one from being fed under the gate.

In the operation, as above described, the cards or envelopes in the magazine 24 are successively pulled out of the magazine and fed forward under the pressure roller 132 into the guides 22, and, so long as the card is in contact with roller 132, the frictional feeding action of the drum continues. Thereafter, however, the momentum of the card alone tends to push it forward, and as this in certain casesmay be insufiicient topush it far enough into the printing zone, I provide the drum in the present invention with flexible wire fingers 4, 4, or pivoted fingers 7, '7, which are located near the rear ends of the

friction tapes

35, 35, and will continue to engage the card and orce it forward after it has left the roller 132, as shown in Fig. 5.

The wire fingers 4, 4, may be mounted on little grooved shoes 3, 3, which can be slipped under the rear portions of the

elastic tapes

35, 35, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5.

The pivoted fingers '7, 7, are mounted on a shaft 6, which is journalled in a crank member 5, which may be mounted on the drum shaft 54 by any convenient means such as the clamping plate 9 pivoted to member 5 at and engaging the setscrew 11' at its other end. The spiral spring 8 is anchored at one end in the member 5 and at its other end in the crank 6, thus serving to yieldingly maintain the fingers 7, 7, in the positions shown in Figs. 6 and '7, such that they will project away from drum 33 normally but can be bent downward when engaging the gate. 124 or the table 66, or other rigid portion of the main frame. When in the position shown, the fingers 7 operate in the same way as described with reference to the wire fingers 4, 4, to give the postcard or envelope the supplemental push after the frictional feeding action of the drum has ceased.

Among the advantages of the invention may be mentioned the simplicity of the gate construction and the certainty of card or envelope feeding action by the cutaway feed drum cooperating therewith, and the supplemental feeding action of the spring fingers on the drum which insure even short cards or envelopes being pushed into the printing zone.

Various changes in the details of construction shown and described could be made without departing substantially from the principles of operation of my invention'and the character of results obtained thereby.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a printing apparatus comprising a magazine for holding a stack of envelopes, cards, or similar articles, to be printed, and a revoluble drum for feeding them one by one out of the bottom of said magazine under a gate and toward a printing zone, the combination, with such gate,

of raised sections of the circumferential face of.

' which said raised surface portions are moving under such gate, no card can be fed out by it, but, when said cutaway surface portion comes under the magazine the bottom article therein may drop into said cutaway space and be shoved under such gate by further rotation of such drum.

2. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which the axis of such drum is offset to one side of a plane in which such gate lies, and the gate comprises a solid plate having its edge adjacent the drum backed oil so that the edge surface thereof shall be substantially parallel to a tangent to the drum surface at that point.

3. A-structure such as defined in 'claim 1 in which said raised drum surface portions consist of circumferentially extending side flanges thereon, combined with a circumferential band extending around such drum between said flanges and having its outer surface spaced away from such gate a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the article being fed from the magazine.

4. A structure such as defined in claim 1 in which said raised drum surface portions consist of circumferentially extending side flanges thereon, combined with a strip of yielding material extending circumferentially along nearly the entire length of said cutaway portion of such drum surface, and having a thickness less than that of said side flanges.

5. A structure such as defined in claim 1 in which said raised drum surface portions consist of circumferentially extending side flanges there- .on, combined with two strips of yielding material extending circumferentially along nearly the entire length of said cutaway portion of such drum surface, and each. having a thickness less than that of said side flanges, one of said strips being in line with each of said side ribs.

6. A structure such as defined in claim 1 combined with a weight freely movable in vertical guides along such gate and resting on such cards or envelopes.

7. A structure such as defined in claim 1 combined with a weight freely movable in vertical guides along such gate and resting on such cards or envelopes, said weight having a width transversely of said raised sections considerably less than the distance separating the latter one from the other.

8. A revoluble drum for feeding cards or envelopes successively out of the bottom of a magazine, comprising a cylindrical surface portion having slots in its edges and a tape of relatively elastic rubber composition of a length approximately equal to but normally less than the distance between said slots, having their extreme end portions integral with the body thereof, but thicker than the width of said slots and the sections adjacent said ends being of a thickness such that said sections can be slid into said slots when the body of the tape is slightly stretched; whereby, when said tape 'ends are confined in said slots the rest of the tape will be under tension upon the drum surface between said slots.

9. A combination, such as defined in claim 8 in which the outer one of said tape surfaces is serrated.

10. The combination with a revoluble feed drum for feeding cards or envelopes from the bottom of a stack in a magazine, of an elastic tape extending circumferentially along a portion of such drum surface and fastened thereto at its ends, and a shoe fitting under said tape and provided at one end with spring fingers, the free ends of which project away from said drum surface when said shoe is in position under said tape.

11. In an apparatus for feeding a succession of cards or envelopes out of a magazine from the bottom of a stack therein, comprising a revoluble drum located beneath such magazine and having a section of its surface formed to frictionally engage any card or envelope pressed down on it, together with guides for such cards after they have been pulled out of the magazine by such drum, the combination, with said above described apparatus, of a plurality of spring fingers mounted on said drum adjacent the rear end of said friction section of its surface and projecting outwardly therefrom; whereby said fingers may engage the rear ends of such cards or envelopes,

after they have been pulled out of such magain positions substantially radial of said drum.

13. A combination such as defined in claim 11 in which said fingers are adjustable circumferentially of said drum.

14. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said gate consists of a single solid plate.

HARMON P. ELLIO'I'I'.