US2017706A

US2017706A - Method of amd apparatus fob mount

Info

Publication number: US2017706A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1935-10-15
Anticipated expiration: 1952-10-15

Description

1935-, J. s. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL 2,017,706

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORT FOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES Filed Nov. 29, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 m m @w J n. a WE Em l e a EN EN Oct. 15, 1935. J. 5. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL 2,017,706

' METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORT FOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES Filed Nov. 29, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 J 1722) a)? to 715.

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1935- J. 5. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL 3 9 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORT FOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES Filed Nov. 29, 1953 5 sheets Shaet 5 grvenfogs I 3 WW i I I MW.

Oct. 15, 1935.

J 5. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL 2,017,706 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORT FOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES Filed Nov. 29, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. '15, 1935. J. s. WHEELWRIGHT ET AL ,7

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING SHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUPPORT FOR PRINTING OR OTHER PURPOSES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 29, 1935 Patented Oct. 15, 1935 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNT- ING SHEET MATERIAL ON A FLAT SUP- PORT FOB PRINTING OR OTHER PUB- POSES John Sylvester Wheelwrlght, Tonbrldge, and George Henry Abel], Esher, England; said Abell assignor to said Wheelwright Application November 29, 1933, Serial No. 700,338 In Great Britain December 10, 1932 21 Claims. (01. 101-407) T OFFICE This invention provides an improved method for mounting sheet material, for instance fabric, on a flat support for printing or other purposes. The invention is particularly concerned with that method of printing known as stencil or screen printing, wherein stencils formed of permeable material are employed. In such printing it is essential that the material to be printed shall be held evenly and firmly on the support, and the primary object of the invention is to provide means whereby this can be ensured. With this object in view the invention provides in its broadest aspect a method of mounting sheet material (for example fabric) on a flat support for printing or other purposes, which comprises (a) providing the support and one side of the sheet material each with a waterproof surface, (b) damping one of said waterproof surfaces, and (c) laying the sheet material on the support with its waterproof surface opposed to the waterproof surface of the support to which it then adheres by suction.

The waterproof surface on the sheet material may be provided in any convenient manner but is preferably formed by uniting that material by means of an adhesive to a layer of rubber or other waterproof material.

The invention also includes in printing apparatus, a printing bed having a waterproof surface to permit sheet material provided on one side also with a waterproof surface to be mounted on the printing bed by the method described above.

The support upon which the sheet material is mounted to be printed or otherwise operated on may be wholly stationary or may comprise a travelling conveyor (for example an endless belt) of rubber or other waterproof material which forms the upper face of the support and which carries the sheet material past the printing or other devices for operating upon it.

The invention may be carried out by means of apparatus of widely difi'erent forms depending to some extent upon the nature of the printing or other operation to be performed on the sheet material. In order that the invention may be clearly understood two forms of apparatus suitable for carrying out the invention when the sheet material is to be printed by the stencil or screen printing method will now be described, by

end of one form of apparatus according to the invention;

Figure 1a is a similar view of the rear end of the apparatus;

Figure 2 is a plan of the part of the apparatus 6 shown in Figure 1;

Figure 2a is a plan of the part of the apparatus shown in Figure 1a;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure l drawn to an enlarged scale; 10

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure id but drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of a modification of the right hand end of the apparatus, as seen in Figure 1 but drawn to a larger scale; 1

Figure 6 is a sectional elevation of a machine for forming a roll of the aforesaid laminated sheet material;

Figure '7 is a side elevation of a device for laying said laminated sheet material on to the sup- 20 port; and

Figure 8 is an end elevation of the device shown in Figure 7.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout. 25 Refen'ing first to the construction shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, the apparatus comprises a main frame Ill ca ying a table II over which travels in contact therewith an endless rubber conveyor belt l2, the table being lubricated to 30 reduce friction. This belt passes around drums l3, l4, arranged one at each end of the table and rotatably mounted in bearings on the main frame. The lower stretch-of the conveyor belt is supported by a number of rollers IS. The drum 35 M is arranged to be driven from an electric motor IS, the driving shaft of which is operatively connected to 'a shaft I1. carrying a bevel wheel l8 which meshes with a bevel wheel I 9 on a shaft 20. Mounted on the latter shaft is a worm 2| which gears with a worm wheel 22 on the shaft 23 of the drum ll. The said shaft is operatively connected to that drum by a magnetic clutch 24 which is controlled by a switch 25. Thus the conveyor belt I! can be intermittently driven by 45 actuating the switch 25 and this can be efiected, in accordance with requirements, by means of, any convenient part of the printing mechanism or by a device associated therewith. The means for intermittently driving the conveyor belt i2, 50 however, forms no part of the present invention. It will be appreciated that the table II and the rubber conveyor belt I! together constitute the 7 support aforesaid on which the material to be printed is laid and that the said belt provides the waterproof surface on the upper face of the support.

The material 23 to be printed is a fabric, a roll 21 of which is rotatably mounted at the front end of the main frame. The web of fabric is led from the roll 21 between tensioning rails 28 to a calender comprising a heated drum 29 and a pressing roller 30 which is mounted so as to permit it and around

guide rollers

35, 31. Adhesive is ape plied to the outer face of the blanket 3| before it enters the calenderby means of a roller 33 which dips into a trough 39 containing the adhesive. The fabric 26 is fed onto that face of the blanket 3| which has been coated with adhesive and by means of the pressing roller 30 is firmly united to the blanket. The laminated web thus formed is fed fabric upwards on to the front end of the conveyor belt l2 to the outer face of which a film of water has been previously applied by means of a roller 49 which dips into a bath of water 4|. Thus the, waterproof underside of the laminated web as it is fed on to the moistened face of the conveyor belt i2 will be caused to adhere to said belt by suction and will be carried thereby past the printing mechanism which is not shown as it forms no part of this invention.

After the fabric has been printed, it is separated from the waterproof blanket 3| and led over rotatable card wheels 42 which feed the web of fabric forwards to a drying device. In practice, a. short length of the printed fabric will first be separated from the blanket 3| by hand and laid on said card wheels after which the latter will grip the fabric and feed it forwards while simultaneously separating it from the blanket. The card wheels 42 are fixed to a shaft 43 which is arranged to be driven through a manually controllable differential device by means of a sprocket 44 and a chain 65 which pases around sprockets on the shaft 23 of the drum i4 and on the shaft of the guide roller 33. This differential .device permits the tension of the fabric as it is separated from its base to be adjusted at will and is shown in detail in Figure 4.- The sprocket 44 is fixed to the casing 89 of the diflerential device. Pinions 8|, 82 are journalled in said casing and the crown wheel83 is keyed to the shaft 43. The other crown wheel 84 is free to rotate on the shaft 43 and is secured to a. worm wheel which is also free to rotate on said shaft. The worm wheel 85 meshes with a worm 816 on a spindle 81 which is provided with a hand wheel 98 whereby it can be rotated. The worm wheel and worm 86 are mounted in a casing 89 which is bolted to the main frame IO. By rotating the worm 86 by means of the hand wheel 88 the tension of the fabric may be adjusted as desired either while the machine is stationary or while it is in motion.

Between the guide roller 34 and the tensioning and straightening device 35, the waterproof blanket 3| passes a cleaning device whereby any colouring substance which may have penetrated the fabric 26 during printing is removed from the blanket. The said cleaning device may be of any convenient form. As shown on the drawings it comprises a trough 45 containing a number of water-spraying devices 43 to which water can be supplied from a valve-controlled pipe 41. and anumber of rotatable scrubbers 48 arranged to be rotated from the shaft I'I. 5

The invention is primarily intended to be used in association with stencil or screen printing mechanism whereby designs each comprising several different colours can be printed repeatedly along the length of the fabric or other sheet 10 material. In such printing it is essential that there shall be no transverse movement of the fabric during printing as otherwise the various designs or parts of each design will not be in correct registration. In order to prevent any 15 transverse deflection of the fabric 23 as it travels through the apparatus, means is provided for guiding the conveyor belt l2 to which the fabric is held by suction as described above. The means shown on the drawings for this purpose :0 consists of a number of rollers 5| which are mounted along one margin of the conveyor belt and are arranged to travel along a guide-way 52 in the table II and to be guided in peripheral recesses 53 in the drums i3, i4.

In the construction shown in Figures 1 to 4 an endless blanket 3| is provided but, if. desired. a non-continuous blanket may be employed as shown in Figure 5. In this modification. the blanket is led from a roll 54 between tensioning 3n rails 55 over the adhesive-applying roller 33 to the calender wherein the fabric 26 is united thereto in the manner described above. The return stretch of the fabric afterpassing over the guide roller 36 and partly around the heated 3g drum 29 is led around a guide roller 56 and is rewound into a roll 51 on a, beam driven by a belt 58 from a pulley on the shaft of the drum i3. This arrangement of the blanket 3| is preferred when that blanket is made of waterproof paper or other cheap substance which when once used can be destroyed. In that case it will be unnecessary to provide any cleaning devices such as the water-sprays 46 and the scrubbers 43 for the blanket. 4

Instead of laying the laminated material 25, 3| on to the conveyor belt i2 to be carried thereby past the printing mechanism, said'laminated material may be laid on a stationary printing bed in which case stencils or screens will be moved 5 step by step along the printing bed. This modiflcation of the invention may be carried out by means of the apparatus shown in Figures 6, '7 and 8. The web of fabric from the roll 29 is united to the waterproof blanket 3|, coming from a the roll 54, in the calender as described with reference to Figure 5. The laminated material 26, 3| thus formed after passing over the heated drum 29 is wound into a roll 59 on a spindle or beam 69 which is driven by a chain or belt 9| from 61 the drum 29. The latter can be driven from any convenient shaft, for instance a shaft such as is indicated at 49 by means of gearing 50 and a chain or belt 62.

The roll 59 of laminated material is then 6| mounted on a carriage 53 arranged to travel on rails 54 provided one along each side of the printing bed. The laminated material is unwound from the roll 59 on the carriage 53 with the fabric 29 uppermost and passes beneath tension- 70 ing rails 66 and thence over a roller 81 which dips into a trough 69 containing water. Thus the roller 61 applies a film of water to the underside of the waterproof blanket 3|, and from said roller the laminated material is led fabric upwards on 75 to theprinting bed which is formed by the table II on which a blanket 69 is laid with a waterproof sheet III, for example an oil cloth, on top of the blanket. A soft roller II is provided on the carriage 63 for pressing the laminated material on to the waterproof sheet ID to which it adheres by suction in a perfectly flat condition.

After printing, the fabric 28 may be torn from the waterproof blanket 3| and be conveyed to another apparatus for further treatment if necessary while the waterproof blanket 3| may in turn be removed from the printing bed leaving the waterproof sheet 10 clean and ready without any further attention for the next application of laminated material. The blanket 3| may then be washed and dried, if necessary, and wound on to a beam in readiness for using again in the apparatus shown in Figure 6.

It isto be understood that the waterproofblanket to which the material, for example fabric, to be printed isunitedmay be of any convenient form. For instance, it may be a waterproof material such as rubber or a material for example paper which has been treated so as to render it waterproof on one or both sides.

Further, it will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the specific lay-out shown on the drawings as obviously that may be modified to suit different requirements.

We claim:

1. A method of mounting sheet material on a flat support to be subsequently operated upon, which comprises providing the support and one side of the sheet material each with a waterproof surface, damping one of said waterproof surfaces, and laying the sheet material on the support with its waterproof surface opposed to the waterproof surface of the support.

2. A method of mounting sheet material on a flat support to be subsequently operated upon, which comprises providing the support with a waterproof surface, uniting the sheet material by means of an adhesive to a layer of waterproof material so as to provide a waterproof surface on one side of the sheet material, damping one of said waterproof surfaces, and laying the sheetmaterial on the support with its waterproof surface opposed to the waterproof surface of the support.

3. A method of mounting fabric to be printed on a printing bed, which comprises the steps of providing the printing bed with a rubber surface, uniting the fabric to a layer of rubber so as to form a laminated sheet having a rubber surface on one side, damping one of said rubber surfaces, and feeding the laminated sheet with itsrubber face downwards on to the rubber surface on the printing bed.

4. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material on a flat support having a Waterproof surface, comprising means for providing the sheet material on one side with a waterproof surface, means for damping one of said waterproof surfaces, and means for feeding the sheet material with its waterproof surface downwards on to the waterproof surface of the support.

5. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material on a support having a waterproof surface, comprising means for forming a laminated sheet by uniting the sheet material by an adhesive to a layer of waterproof material so as to provide a waterproof surface on the underside of said sheet material, means for damping one of the two waterproof surfaces, and means for feeding the laminated sheet material with its waterproof side downwards on to the waterproof face 'of the support.

6. In a printing apparatus, means for mount- 5 mg sheet material on a flat support having a waterproof surface on which the sheet material is to be laid, comprising a calender for uniting the sheet material in web form to a rubber base also in web form so as to provide a waterproof 20 surface on one side of the sheet material, means for feeding simultaneously the rubber base and the sheet material into said calender,means.for

applying adhesive to the rubber base before it meets the sheet material, means for applying a 25 film of water to one of said waterproof sin-faces, and means for feeding the sheet material with its waterproof face downwards on to the waterproof surface of the support.

8. In a printing apparatus, means for mount- 30 ing sheet material, comprising a movable" rubber belt which provides a waterproof surface on which the sheet material is to be laid, means for providing the sheet material with a waterproof base, means for feeding the sheet material with. its waterproof base downwards on to one end of the movable belt, means for damping the outer face of the belt before the sheet material is laid thereon, and means at the other end of the belt for separating the sheet material from its water- 40 proof base.

9. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material, comprising a movable belt having a waterproof surface on to which the sheet material is to be laid, means for providing the 45 sheet material on one side with a waterproof base, means for feeding the sheet material with its waterproof base downwards on to one end of the movable belt, means for damping the upper face of the belt before the sheet material is laid 5 thereon, and a card wheel at the other end of the belt for separating the sheet material from its base.

10. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material in web form for printing pur- 55 poses, comprising a printing table. a movable belt having a waterproof surface on to which the sheet material is to be laid, which belt travels over said table, means for uniting the sheet material by adhesive to a base of waterproof matego rial in web form so as to provide a waterproof surface on one side thereof, means for damping one of said Waterproof surfaces, means for feeding the sheet material with its waterproof base downwards on to said movable belt at one end, 65 means at the other end of said movable belt for separating the sheet material from said base, and means for cleaning said waterproof base after it has been separated from the sheet material.

11. In a printing apparatus, means for mount- 70 into said calendering device a web of fabric to be printed and a web of rubber, means for applying adhesive to the rubber web before it is fed into the calendering device to be united to the fabric, which calendering device is arranged to feed the laminated material thus formed with its rubber side downwards on to the belt at one end, at least one rotatable card wheel at theother end of the movable belt for separating the fabric from the rubber, a trough containing a number of watersprays and scrubbing devices, and means for conveying the rubber past said sprays and scrubbing devices to be thereby cleaned after separation from the fabric. I

12. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material, comprising a movable conveyor having a waterproof upper. surface on to which the sheet material is to be laid, means. for providing the sheet material on one side with a base having a waterproof surface, means for damping one of said waterproof surfaces, means for feeding the sheet material with its waterproof surface downwards on to one end of the conveyor, means at the other end of the conveyor for separating the sheet material from its base, and means for adjusting the tension of the sheet material as it is being separated from the base.

13. In a printing apparatus, means for mounting sheet material, comprising a movable support having a flat waterproof upper surface on which the sheet material is to be laid, means for providing the sheet material with a base having a waterproof surface on its underside, means for damping one of said waterproof surfaces, means for feeding the sheet material with the waterproof face of the base downwards on to the waterproof surface of the support atone end, a rotatable card wheel situated at the other end of the movable support for separating the sheet material from its base, and means for adjusting the tension of the sheet material as it is being separated from said base, which tension-adjusting means is a manually operable differential device which is operatively connected to the card wheel.

14. In the art of printing upon sheet material, a method of mounting the material to be printed on a printing bed, which comprises the steps of providing a layer of waterproof material on the printing bed, uniting a layer of waterproof material to one side of the material to be printed, damping one of said waterproof surfaces, and laying the sheet material with its waterproof side downwards on the waterproof layer on the printing bed.

15. In the art of printing upon webs, the method of mounting a web to be printed on a travelling conveyor of waterproof material whereby it is carried over a printing bed past printing devices, which comprises the steps of providing a layer of waterproof material on one side of the web, damping the surface of the conveyor on which the web is to be laid, and feeding the web g a traveling conveyor havinga waterproof surface,

which comprises the steps of providing the sheet 5 material with a. waterproof surface, bringing the waterproof surfaces of the conveyor and the sheet material together, and damping one of the waterproof surfaces prior to bringing the surfaces together, whereby the waterproof surfaces are temporarily united by suction.

17. Apparatus for printing upon a fabric com prising a conveyor having a waterproof surface, a waterproof carrier web onto which the fabric to be printed upon is secured, means for feeding is the carrier web onto the conveyor in such manner that the waterproof surfaces come into contact, and means for damping one of the waterproof surfaces. 18. In printing apparatus, means for mounting 7 sheet material in the form of a laminated web,

consisting of two united webs of material onto a conveyor having a waterproof upper surface by adhesion, of which webs one has a waterproof surface on its outer side, and the other is printable material, means for damping one of said waterproof surfaces, means for feeding the laminated web with its waterproof surface downwards onto the waterproof surface of the conveyor at one end, means at the other end of the conveyor for separating the two webs, and means for adjusting the tension of one web as it is separated from the other.

19. In a printing apparatus, the combination with a printing bed and means for printing upon sheet material, of a waterproof carrier web onto which the fabric to be printed upon is secured,

a traveling conveyor by which the carrier web is carried past the printing mea which conveyor has a waterproof surface thereo means for feed- 40 ing the carrier web onto the conveyor 'so that the waterproof surfaces of the carrier web and the conveyor come into contact, and means for damp-' ing one of the waterproof surfaces.

20. In the method of printing upon a fabric with a temporary waterproof layer, applying the backed fabric to a supporting member provided with a waterproof surface, moistening the surfaces of said supporting member and waterproof backing of the fabric respectively and pressing said supporting member and fabric into surface contact.

21. A method of mounting flexible sheet material having on one side a waterproof surface on a flexible support having a waterproof surface which comprises the steps of damping one of said waterproof surfaces and progressively pressing the sheet material on to the support with its waterproof surface opposed to the waterproof surface of the support to bring said surfaces into contact with exclusion of air.

JOHN SYLVESTER WHEELWRIGH'I. GEORGE HENRY ABELL.