US2095331A - Plate bending machine - Google Patents

Description

Oct 12, 1937. w. F. HUCK PLATE BENDING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 -F'IG.I.

INVENTOR. 35 240 I Ar'rY.

Oct. 12, 1937. w. F. HUCK PLATE BENDING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1934 5 Sheets--5heet '2 -FIG.3.-

m R j m I- 3 H i E :1. Q V n. T f N 00 l 6 6 vl w w 6 l 6 5 I M w m w J UH wm H H 5 m PLATE BENDING MACHINE Filed March27, 1934 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVE NTO R Patented Oct. 12, 1937 PATENT OFFICE PLATE BENDING MACHINE "William F. Huck, Richmond Hill, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to R. Hoe & 00., Inc., NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of' New York Application March 27,

18 Claims.

This invention relates toplate bending machines havingfor its-object the provision of certain desired improvements in mechanism of the kind indicated which will insure a more convenient, expeditious and eflicient bending of printing plates.

Another object'is to provide mechanism of the kind indicated. having a novel roller arrangement for effecting the bending of printing plates,

It is also an object of the invention to provide a plate bending machine of generally improved construction, whereby the device will be simple, durable and inexpensive in construction, as well as convenient, practical, serviceable and efficient in its use. With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will appear. as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement ofparts, and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood. that various changes in the precise embodiment of. the invention. herein disclosed may be madewithin the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings,'where- Figure 1 is an end elevational view of an embodiment of the invention;

H Figure 21is-a top. plan view, as seen in the direction of the arrow 2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view, partly in elevation, of details, partly shown in Figure l, for adjusting the pressure rollers;

' Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 of other detailsassociated with the pressure roller adjusting means;

Figure;5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View, partly in elevation, of certain details of gearing and associated parts shown at the foot of Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating the employment of a guard strip, forming one of the features of the present invention.

With more particular reference to the drawings, ll designates generally a frame preferably formed of. angle or channel iron construction and comprising a base member or platform l2, to which is suitably secured a pedestal or frame 13, having alaterally projecting hollow bracket l4 or casing (Figures 1 and 4) supported in an approximately central position thereon, and a second hollow bracket or casing l5 secured.

1934, Serial No.v 717,553.

thereto at the top frame H.

Suitably journaled in and between the platform [2, and the centrally positioned casing l4, are a pair of shafts l6l6 and a third shaft H, the pair of shafts l6l6' being connected at their lower ends by couplings, indicated generally at I8- -l9, to extensions 20 of the said pair of shafts l6-I6', while the shaft l T is connected by a universal or flexible coupling 2| to an extension shaft 22. The extension shafts 20 are journaled in bearings 2324, which are secured in position in the platform by bearing retainers 2526 respectively, and have, gears 21 21 integrally formed therewith.

The gears 21-21 mesh with a gear 28, keyed to the extension 22 of. the shaft H; the said extension 22 being supported in bearings 293|, arranged in the platform I2, and secured by retainers 32-33 respectively. The gear 28 in turn meshes with a gear 34, integrally formed with a driven shaft 35, journaled in bearings 36--31 secured in the platform l2 and fastened therein by retainers 3839'. The driven shaft is connected by a couplingi4ll toa driving means or gear reduction. assembly 4| operated by a motor 4|, which serves as a prime mover or source of mechanical energy for the machine. The shafts Iii-l6 are also connected by couplings l8'-l9 to extension shafts. 42 (only one of which is shown), rotatably supported in bearingsv 42, which are held in place by cap members 60-60' in the casings I4 and 15 respectively. The extension shafts 42 are formed integrally with pressure rolle'rs hereinafter mentioned. v

The shaft I1 is connected by a universal or flexible coupling 43 to the reduced lower end of a shaft 44', rotatably supported in a bearing 45, suitably mounted in a block member 46, and held or upper portion of the said in positionby a cap.46, the said shaft 44 being secured to a cylinder or roller hereinafter'mentioned. The block 46 is slidably mounted on 'a pair of rods 41, securedin the casing 14, and bodily movable by instrumentalities set forth below. Each ,of the rods 41 is encircled by a spring 48, confined between a wall of the casing l4, and an adjacent face of the block 46. The said block 46 has secured thereto a threaded shaft 49, journaled in a plate or bracket 50 suitably secured to the casing 14. I Upon the shaft 49 thereis in turn mounted a threaded worm wheel 5| engaged by a Worm 52, keyed to a lower end of a manually operable shaft 53, retained in operative vertical position by collars 5455, fastened thereon, and juxtaposed against adjacent surfaces of the casings l4 and I5 respectively. The journal plate or bracket 58 is provided with a ball bearing 50', which serves as a thrust member for the hub of the worm wheel 5|.

The shaft 44, which is fastened to or formed integrally with a pressure cylinder or roller 56 coactable with a pair of pressure rollers 51-58, at its upper end protrudes into the casing 5, and is mounted in a bearing 59 arranged in a block member 6|, slidably mounted on a pair of rods 6263, encircled by springs 64--65 respectively,

Said block 6| has secured theretoa threaded shaft 66 and is supported in a manner similar to the shaft 49. The said shaft 66 is in turn supported by a journal plate or bracket 61, secured to the housing 5; the said bracket being provided with a ball bearing 61', which serves as a thrust member for the hub of the. worm wheel 68 which is in turn threadedly mounted on the shaft 66.

It will be seen that when the shaft 53 which has an operating wheel 1| secured to its upper reduced end is turned, both of, the worms 52 and 66 will be rotated, thereby turning the worm wheels 5| and 68 engaged therewith, and conse quently causing the shafts 49 and 66 to move in such a manner as to impel the sliding blocks 46 and 6| to regulate the spacing distance between the aforesaid roller 56 and the coacting rollers 51-58. The springs 48, 64 and 65, referred to above, maintain a follow-up or biasing pressure on the adjacent blocks 46, 6| and consequently, the cylinder 56 mounted therein.

As best shown in Figure 2, and as forming an important feature of the present invention; means are provided for interposing between the pair of rollers 5158 and the cylinder 56, a sheet of flexible material or metal 12, preferably softer than the metal or alloy of which the printing plates to be bent or the pressure rollers 56, 51 and 58 are composed. The said means comprises two pairs of arms, each pair consisting of an upper arm 13 and a lower arm 14, secured in spaced relation and fastened to a shaft 15, rotatably mounted in bearing brackets 16 in turn fastened to the pedestal I3. Springs 11, arranged on the shaft .15, and having their ends engaged with adjacent portions of the arms 13, 14 and the pedestal 3, serve to maintain the said arms in the normal position, best shown in Figure 2.

With a view to determining the magnitude of the translational movement of the pressure cylinder 56 towards and away from the pressure rollers 51, 58, a gauge or other suitableindicating means indicated generally at 18 and having an operating connection to the block 6| is provided. As best shown in Figures 1 and 3, a shaft or rod 19 is fastened at one end to the block 6| and is connected by any suitable means to mechanism forming a part of the gauge or indicating means 18 mentioned above, so that when the roller 56 is bodily shifted with the blocks 46 and 6| through the instrumentalities referred to hereinbefore, the extent of the shifting movement may be denoted in an amplified manner, for example, in one .001 on the scale of the said gauge. Openings or slots l4, l5 in the casings l4, l5 provide a clearance space for the roller shaft 44 so that the latter may be. bodily shifted with its attached roller 56 within the limits of the said slots.

In order to prevent any tendency towards misalignment of the pressure rollers 51, 58 which are adapted to compensate for components of force directed in planes bothrnormal and angular to same during the process of bending a printing plate P when the cylinder 56 is bodily thrust against the said plate and the flexible sheet 12 abutting the pressure rollers, a plurality of thrust rolls or wheels directly engaged with the. pressure rollers are provided; viz., 8|, 82, 83 which serve to compensate and correct the natural tendency of the rollers 51, 58 to yield during the process of bending the plate. The thrust rolls 8|, 82, 83 are rotatably mounted in yokes or U-shaped members 8|, 82 and 83' respectively, rigidly secured in any suitable manner to adjacent portions of the fixed frame.

The operation of the device may now be summarized as follows:

Assuming the pressure cylinder 56 has been preadjusted to a position effective for obtaining the desired curvature in a printing plate when oper ated on by the device and that the motor 4| is energized and the coacting gears 21, 28 and 34 and their respective shafts l6, l1 and 35 are rotating and consequently, that the cylinder 56 and pressure rollers 51 and 58 are likewise rotating and that the strip of metal 12 is interposed between the said rollers, a printing plate P may now be slid from a platform 84 secured to the casing l4 and then inserted between the said metal sheet 12 and the roller 56 in such wise that the face of the said plate will be impinged against the flexible sheet, the softer metal of the said sheet preventing injury to or defacement of the characters on the face of the printing plate. During the process of bending, the springs 11 will yield sufiiciently to permit the sheet 12 to move with the printing plate in the passage of the latter between the rollers, after which the sheet 12 will be automatically returned to the normal position shown in Figure 2 by the said springs. The degree of curvature imparted to the printing plate will, of course, be governed by the extent of translational movement of the cylinder 56 transversely to the axes of the rollers 51, 58. It will be obvious from the foregoing description, and as clearly indicated in Figure 6, that any degree of curvature may be imparted to a printing plate within the limits of the dimensions and disposition of the three. rollers.

It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described comprising a frame, a plurality of rollers rotatably supported by said frame, one of said rollers being movable relatively to and away from the others of said rollers while maintaining a substantially equal spaced relation between, it and each 'of the other rollers, a sheet of backing material movably mounted on and interposed between said adjustable roller and the other rollers, means for normally maintaining said sheet material in operative position to engage a printing plate when interposed in between the said rollers, and power means for rotating all of the said rollers in order to subject a printing plate to pressure by the same.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame, a plurality of rollers supported substantially in vertical parallelism upon the frame, means for bodily moving one of the rollers relatively to a pair of the others of said rollers while maintaining a substantially equal spaced relation between it and the said pair of rollers, a sheet of backing material movably connected to said frame and interposable between the said last mentioned rollers, resilient means for normally maintaining the sheet of material inoperative relation to the rollers and a prime mover for actuating the rollers to operatively engage and bend a printing plate.

In a'device of the character described, the combination of 'a frame, a plurality of rollers supported upon the said frame, said rollers having their axes, arranged substantially in parallelism, manually'operable means for bodily moving one of said rollers relatively to a pair of the other rollers, sheet material interposed between said last mentioned three rollers, rockingly mounted means for supporting and moving said sheet material between the said'rollers; and other means including a prime mover for simultaneously rotating all of said rollers to operatively engage a printing plate located betweenthe sheet material and a roller on one side and a pair of rollers on the other side. i i v 4. In a deviceof the character described comprising a plurality of; rollers arranged in vertical parallelism, a manually operable means for moving one of said rollers bodily relatively to a pair of the other of said'rollers, gear means operatively connectingall of said rollers together for rotation in unison, sheet material arranged between said last mentioned three rollers, power operated means connected to the gear means for actuating the same, andagauge for indicating the extent of bodily movement of one of said rollers rela tivelyto'the said pair of rollers, said gauge being connected to and actuated by the first mentioned roller.

5. In a device of the character described, the

combination of a frame, a plurality of rollers and a cylinder arranged in parallelism on said frame, sheet material arranged between a pair of rollers and the cylinder, resilient means for normally 'maintaining the sheet material in'a position effective for being conveyed between the rollers, manually operable means connected to the cylinder at the upper and lower ends thereof for bodily moving the same, and spring means for maintaining a biasing pressure on the cylinder.

6. In a device of the character described for" acter described, the combination of a frame, a

plurality of rollersarranged in vertical parallelism and rotatably secured on said frame, one of said rollers being bodily movable relatively to a pair of the others of said rollers, sheet material operably mounted'on said frame and normally positioned between the pair of rollers and the other roller, means for moving the one of said rollers relatively to the pair of rollers while maintaining an equal spaced relation between it and the said pair, and power means for rotating all of said rollers simultaneously, whereby when a pr'inting plate is interposed between said material and said pair of rollers, the said printing plate may be bent when said power means are actuated. V r i 8. In a plate bending mechanism of the character described, the combination of a pair of rollers,'a third roller movable relatively to the pairof rollers, flexible material interposable between the pair of rollers and the third roller, means secured to said flexible material for normally maintaining the same in position to be carried between the third roller and the pair of rollers, and manually operable means for bodily moving the third roller relatively to the pair of rollers while maintainingan equal spaced relation between it and the said pair while said rollers are rotating. 7

9. In a deviceof the character described,,-the combination of a frame, a platform and a plurality of brackets secured to the frame, a pairof shafts arrangedbetween said platform and one, of said brackets, a plurality of rollers arranged between the plurality of brackets and adapted to engage a printing plate to bend the same, driving means for the rollers and shafts,

- said driving means being secured to the platform. 7

means operatively connecting the driving means, shafts and rollers together, and sheet material interposable between the printing plate and at least one of said rollers, said material serving as a guard to prevent injury to the printing plate and parts coacting therewith. V

10. In a device of the character described, the combination of ,a frame, a pair of rollers and a cylinder rotatably supported in parallelism by said frame, a protective sheet resiliently supportcylinder, manually operable means for adjusting the cylinder with respect to the rollers, and gear means for driving the rollers and the cylinder at substantially the same peripheral speed.

11. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame, a pair of rollers, a cylinder rotatably supported in said frame, a sheet of backing material reciprocatingly supported in the frame and biased toward starting position, said sheet being adapted to move between the rollers and the cylinder, and manually operable means for adjustingthe cylinder relatively to the rollers.

12. In a machine for bending printing plates, a frame, a pair of rollers rotatably supported in the frame with their axes substantially in parallelism, a cylinder rotatably supported to coact with both of said rollers, a backing sheet interposed between the rollers and the cylinder, and means for moving the cylinder relatively towards or from the rollers while maintaining a substantially equal spaced relation between the cylinder and each roller, whereby a printing plate placed between the backing sheet and the cylinder and passed between the cylinder and the rollers, may be bent to a uniform curvature that is variable by adjustment of the cylinder, and may be removed from the machine without moving the cylinder or either of the rollers bodily.

13. In a device of thecharacter described, the combination of a frame, a pair of rollers and a cylinder coactingly associated and rotatably supported with their axes in parallelism in said frame, a sheet of backing material hingedly connected to the frame and adapted to move between the rollers and the cylinder, resiliently biased bearing blocks for said cylinder, and manually operable screw threaded means for moving said blocks and thereby said cylinder relatively to the rollers.

14. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame, a motor operably secured to said frame, a pair of rollers, a cylinder rotatably supported in the frame in cooperative relation to the rollers, a sheet of backing material reciprocatingly supported in the frame and biased toward starting position, said sheet being adapted to move between the rollers and the cylinder, 2. train of gears and shafts operably connecting the motor to the rollers and cylinder, one of said shafts having a flexible coupling, and means for bodily moving the cylinder whereby it may be adjusted relatively to the rollers.

15. In a device of the character described for bending a printing plate, a frame, a plurality of rollers rotatably supported by the frame, one of said rollers being relatively adjustable towards and away from the others of said rollers, said rollers being adapted to accommodate a printing plate therebetween, and a sheet of backing material permanently connected to said device and interposable between a single one and others of the rollers, the said sheet material being directly engageable with a printing plate when arranged for bending between the sheet material and the single roller.

16. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame, a plurality of means rotatably mounted on said frame, said means being adapted to engage and bend a printing plate, a sheet of material reciprocatingly mounted on the frame and interposable between the said means, said sheet material and 'means accommodating a printing plate therebetween, the face of said plate being juxtaposed against the sheet material, and other means to mechanically connect all of said first mentioned means for operation in unison.

17. In a device of the character described for bending a printing plate, a frame, a plurality of rollers rotatably supported by the frame, one of said rollers being relatively adjustable towards and away from the others of said rollers, said rollers being adapted to accommodate a printing plate therebetween, a sheet of backing material permanently connected to said device and interposable between a single one and others of the rollers, the said sheet material being directly engageable with a printing plate when arranged for bending between the sheet material and the single roller, and indicating means for denoting the degree of adjustment of one of said rollers.

18. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame, a plurality of means rotatably mounted on said frame, said means being adapted to engage and bend a printing plate, a sheet of material reciprocatingly mounted on the frame and interposable between the said means, the said sheet material and means accommodating a printing plate therebetween, the face of said plate being juxtaposed against the sheet material, means to mechanically connect all of the plurality of means for operation in unison, means resiliently maintaining the sheet material in operative position, and other means connected to one of the said plurality of means for indicating the movement of the said one means relatively to the others, whereby the degree of curvature imparted to a printing plate arranged between the rollers may be accurately determined.

WILLIAM F. HUCK.

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