US2348605A - Tucker blade motion for rotary folding mechanisms - Google Patents

Description

W 1944- A. .1. CARPENTER, JR 2,348,605

TUCKER BLADE MOTION FOR ROTARY FOLDING MECHANISMS Filed Aug. 20, 1942 v 3 Sheets- Sheet 1 May 9, 1944a A. J. CARPENTER, 'JR

TUCKER BLADE MOTION FOR ROTARY FOLDING MECHANISMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 20, .1942

May 9, 14410 A. .1. CARPENTER, .JR

TUCKER BLADE MOTION FOR ROTARY FOLDING MECHANISMS Filed Aug. 20, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet I):

Patented May 9, 1944 UNlTlilD STATES TUCKER BIJADE MOTION FOR ROTARY FOLDING MECHANISBIS Albert James Carpenter, Jr., Battle Creek, Mich,

assignor to The Duplex Printing Press Company, Battle Creek, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application August 20, 1942, Serial No. 455,494

19 Claims.

This invention is a novel tucker blade motion for rotary folding mechanisms. particularly adapted for use in connection with the cutting cylinders operating upon webs from newspaper printing press or the like, said folding mechanisms usually consisting of one, two or more tucker blades, or blade assemblies, fastened to a tucker shaft which is rotated with and fastened to a folding cylinder revolving about a central axis, the tucker blade shafts being driven by gearing so that they rotate about their own axes in a direction opposite to that of the folding cylinder by proper selection of gearing, gear speeds, tucker blade length, and location of the position of the tucker blade shaft centers, whereby the outer tips of the tucker blades are constrained to move in a repetitive path to push the paper which has been carried around the folding cylinder off of the folding cylinder, and to tuck the paper between two folding rolls which complete the fold in the paper.

The repetitive path of the tucker blade tips in such mechanisms is usually that generated by a point on a circle, which circle rolls on the inside of a circle of three times greater diameter than the first mentioned circle, and ordinarily a large internal ring gear is utilized within which the smaller gears on the tucker blade shafts revolve. Such mechanisms are necessarily large due to the necessity of using an annular ring gear, and their size presents a hazard often causing injury to pressmen due to the rotating parts.

I have provided a tucker blade drive in which the same repetitive path is duplicated by a novel arrangement of gearing in which the folding cylinder, carrying the tucker blade shaft is rotated in one direction, and in which the blade length from the axis of the tucker blade shaft to the outer edge or tip is one-fourth the diameter of the circle described by the axis of the tucker blade shaft in its orbit about the axis of the folding cylinder, the tucker blade shaft being driven by a gear of selected size which rotates on and in the same direction as the folding cylinder shaft, said gear meshing with a gear of selected size the tucker blade shaft whereby the tucker blade shaft is rotated in a direction opposite from that of the folding cylinder. With proper choice of gear sizes and speed in relation to the folding cylinder speed the tucker blade tip may be constrained to move in any desired repetitive path.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel tucker blade drive which is a distinct departure from those previously used, and which combines smoothness of operation by utilizing gears and parts all operating at uniform rotary speed, together with a compactness and safety not found in other tucker blade mechanisms, thereby reducing danger to pressmen from rotating parts. Moreover, all gearing used in my mechanism being of external type thereby reducing the cost of manufacture over that of the internal gear type of gearing heretofore used in other mechanisms.

Other minor objects of the invention will be hereinafter set forth.

I will explain the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one practical embodiment thereof, to enable others familiar with the art to adopt and use the same; and will summarize in the claims the novel fea tures of construction, and novel combinations o parts, for which protection is desired.

In said drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view illustrating prior art mechanisms utilizing an internal ring gear within which the gear on the tucker blade shaft rotates, and showing the repetitive path followed by the tip of the tucker blade.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating my novel mechanism proportioned to give the same repetitive path for the tip of the tucker blade shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation partly in section, showing my novel tucker blade drive arranged in a rotary folding machine, and showing the arrangement of gearing.

Fig. i is an end elevation of the exposed parts shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5, Fig. 3.

Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views simi lar to Fig. 2 showing some of the various tucker blade motions which may be effected by using different gear sizes in the mechanism.

Fig. 1. shows, diagrammatically, a commonly used prior art arrangement of a tucker blade drive, the tucker blade being indicated at A, and having an axis of rotation at B, said tucker blade being rotated by gear C which itself rotates within an annular ring gear D, the pitch diameter of gear C being usually one-third the pitch diameter of the internal gear D, and the direction of movement of the gear C within the circle being indicated by the arrow F, while the direction of rotation of the gear C is indicated by the arrow G, whereby the path of the tip A of. the blade A will follow the substantially triangular repetitive path indicated by the lines H.

This same path of th tip of the tucker blade may be duplicated by my novel tucker blade drive shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2, in which the rotation of the folding cylinder M and the tucker blade shaft N fixed t0 the cylinder M is assumed clockwise as shown by the arrow M, and the distance from the axis of the tucker blade shaft N to the outer tip or edge P of the blade P is onefcurth the diameter of the circle described by the axis N of the tucker blade shaft rotating about the axis M2 of cylinder M, the tucker blade shaft N being driven by a gear R which rotates on and in the same direction as the folding cylinder M as shown by the arrow R, said gear R meshing with a gear S on the tucker blade shaft N, so that the tucker blade shaft is driven counterclockwise, as shown by the arrow S. By proper choice of gear size and speed, in relation to the cylinder speed of rotation, the tucker blade edge P is constrained to move in the substantially triangular repetitive path indicated by the lines T, which path is a duplicate of the path H of the tip of the tucker blade shown in Fig. 1, the compactness of my drive over that shown in Fig. 1 being obvious.

Figs. 3, 4 and illustrate a folding mechanism provided with my novel tucker blade drive, said folding mechanism being particularly adapted for use in connection with the cutting cylinder receiving a web from a newspaper printing press, the cutting cylinder I, folding cylinder 2, folding rolls II, III), and the drive therefor (not shown) being similar to those used in Duplex folding machines now on the market, the same forming no part of my present invention.

In Fig. 4 the cutting cylinder I is shown to the left of the folding cylinder 2, and thus the folding cylinder 2 would normally revolve in a counter-clockwise direction as shown by the arrow 2a (Fig. 4) so that the web to be folded would be drawn down between the two cylinders I and 2 as is common practice.

In Fig. 3 the folding cylinder 2 is shown mounted upon a shaft 3 journaled in the side frames 4, 4a of the folder, said shaft 3 extending beyond one side frame 4 and fixedly carrying thereon a gear 5 which rotates in the same direction as the folding cylinder 2. Gear 5 carries on its outer face a bevel gear 6 meshing with a bevel drive pinion I carried by a drive shaft 8.

Gear 5 directly drives an intermediate gear 9 (Figs. 3 and 4) rotating freely on a stud 9a carried by the frame 4, gear 9 meshing with a gear III which is fixedly mounted on the shaft Ila (Figs. 3 and 4) of the stationary folding roll II, which roll cooperates with a movable folding roll IIb (Figs. 4 and 5) between which rolls II, I Ib the tip of the tucker blade enters during its repetitive path in the usual manner.

The stationary folding roll shaft Ila is journaled in and passes through frame 4, as shown in Fig. 3, and has fixedly mounted thereon a gear I2 (Figs. 3 and 5), meshing with an intermediate gear I3 (Figs. 3 and 5) freely mounted on a stud I3a carried by the frame 4. Intermediate gear I3 meshes directly with a gear I4 (Figs. 3

and 4) having fixed thereto, or formed integrally therewith, a gear I5 (Figs. 3 and 5), the double gears I4I5 being journaled in antifriction bearings I6 upon the folding cylinder shaft 3 so as to freely rotate thereon independently of the folding cylinder shaft 3 but under the influence of gear I3 which drives the double gears I 4I5 both in the same counter-clockwise direction as the folding cylinder 2, as shown by the arrow I5a (Fig. 5), but at a different speed of rotation than the folding cylinder 2.

The tucker blade shafts I! are journaled in bearings 21: carried by the end frames 2y of folding cylinder 2, and therefore said bearings 2a: rotate with the folding cylinder. On the end of each tucker blade shaft I1 is a gear I8 (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) which meshes with and is driven directly by the gear I5 completing the drive for rotating the tucker plates I 9 in a direction opposite to the orbital movement of the tucker blade shafts IT, as shown by the arrow I811 (Fig. 5).

Figs. 6, '7, 8 and 9 show some of the various repetitive paths of tucker blade tips obtainable when using my novel drive with proper choice and gear sizes and tucker blade lengths, the path in Fig. 6 being indicated by the lines T6, and by the lines T1 in Fig. 7, lines T6 in Fig. 8, and the straight line T9 in Fig. 9.

As an example, Fig. 6 shows a practica1 blade path T6 common in the rotary folding art, said path being obtained by the mechanism shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 by choice of gear sizes as follows: In Fig. 6 the gear 5 has a pitch diameter equal to the diameter of the folding cylinder 2, and may be of 14 /2" diameter, 15'' diameter or any other diameter to suit the length of the paper sheets to be folded, and thus the gear 5 will have the same peripheral speed and same direction of rotation as the folding Cylinder 2. The gear 9, being an intermediate gear, does not affect the drive speed relations, but may conveniently be approximately one-half the diameter of gear 5. Gear IIl which meshes with gear 9 is selected to be one-quarter the diameter of gear 5 so that its speed of rotation is four times that of gear 5 and in the same direction.

The path T6 of the tip of the tucker blade P (Fig. 6) extends beyond the diameter of the folding cylinder 2 in order to tuck the paper between the folding rolls II, III) (Fig. 4). In order to accomplish this path, the axis of the tucker blade shaft I1 is chosen, and then the distance from the tucker blade tip to its rotational center, i. e., the axis of tucker blade shaft I1, is made equal to one-third the diameter of the circle described by the orbital movement of the axis of the tucker blade shaft II. Then, since one object of the invention is to obtain a compact drive, the diameter of gear I8 is chosen as small as practical which, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 6, is onethird the pitch diameter of the gear I5 with which same meshes, whereby the speed of rotation of gear I8 is three times that of gear I5.

With this choice of gear sizes in order to obtain the correct tip path T6 (Fig. 6), the speed of gear I5 must be two times the speed of the folding cylinder shaft 3 and in the same rotational direction so that the gear I5 will rotate gear I8 through three revolutions relative to gear I5 as the tucker blade shafts I! held in their bearings 2:13 on the folding cylinder 2 make one revolution relative to the machine frame and gear I5 makes two revolutions relative to themachine frame. selected of the same size as gear 5, for the sake of simplicity. Gear I3, which is an intermediate gear, is one-half the size of gear I4 (and gear I5) while the gear I2 is selected of one-half the size of gear I4. Since gear I2 is fixed on the shaft Ila of the stationary folding roll II, gear I2 will rotate at the same speed as the gear II) which, as previously stated, is one-quarter the size of the gear 5, and consequently rotates four times for each revolution of gear 5. Therefore gears I 4 and I5 make two revolutions for each revolution of gear 5, which gear 5 is fixed on the folding cylinder shaft 3.

Figs. '7, 8 and 9 show other tucker blade paths which may be obtained utilizing my drive by suitable selection of gear sizes, but obviously many more paths could be obtained than those shown herein, provided the diameters of circles of the orbital movements of the tucker blade shafts I! are integral multiples of the distances from the To accomplish this, the gear I4 is axes I! of the tucker blades to their outer edges or tips; and provided the speeds of rotation of the double gears M and I are integral multiples of the speed of rotation of the folding cylinders; and provided the gear I5 is of such diameter as to cause the pinions of the tucker shafts to rotate an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the gear I5.

I do not limit my invention to the exact form shown in the drawings, for obviously changes could be made therein within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a rotary folding mechanism having a driven shaft fixedly carrying a folding cylinder having tucker blade shafts journaled therein carrying tucker blades; a gear fixedly mounted on the driven shaft; an external gear freely journaled on the driven shaft; means for driving the external gear by the first gear and in the same direction of rotation as the folding cylinder but at a .higher speed; and pinions on the tucker blade shafts meshing with the external gear, whereby the tucker blade shafts will be rotated in a direction opposite from the orbital movement of the said tucker blade shafts.

2. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 1, the diameter of the orbital path of the tucker blade shafts being an integral multiple of the distance from the axis of said tucker blade shafts to the outer tips of the tucker blades.

3. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 1, the speed of rotation of the external gear being an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the folding cylinder.

4. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 1, said external gear and pinions being of such diameter as to rotate the tucker blade shafts an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the external gear.

5. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 1, the speed of rotation of the external gear being an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the folding cylinder; and said external gear and pinions being of such diameter as to rotate the tucker blade shafts an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the external gear.

6. In a rotary folding mechanism having a driven shaft fixedly carrying a folding cylinder 5 having tucker blade shafts journaled therein carrying tucker blades cooperating with movable and stationary folding rolls; a tucker blade drivecomprising a gear fixedly mounted on the driven shaft; means for rotating the shaft of the stationary folding roll by the said gear; an external gear freely journaled on the driven shaft; means for rotating the external gear from the stationary folding roll shaft and in the same direction of rotation as the folding cylinder but at a higher speed; and pinions on the tucker blade shafts meshing with the external gear, whereby the tucker blade shafts will be rotated in a direction opposite from the orbital movement of the said tucker blade shafts.

7. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 6, the diameter of the orbital path of the tucker blade shafts being an integral multiple of the distance from the axis of said tucker blade shafts to the outer tips of the tucker blades.

8. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 6, the speed of rotation of the external gear being an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the folding cylinder.

9. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 6, said external gear and pinions being of such diameter as to rotate the tucker blade shafts an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the external gear.

10. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 6, the speed of rotation of the external gear being an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the folding cylinder; and said external gear and pinions being of such diameter as to rotate the tucker blade shafts an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the external gear.

11. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 6, said means for rotating the stationary folding roll shaft comprising a third gear on said roll shaft; and an idler gear meshing with the first gear and with the third gear.

12. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 6, said means for rotating the external gear comprising a fourth gear on said folding roll shaft, and an idler gear meshing with the fourth gear and external gear.

13. In a rotary folding mechanism having driven shaft fixedly carrying a folding cylinder in which tucker blade shafts are journaled carrying tucker blades cooperating with movable and stationary folding rolls. a tucker blade drive comprising a gear fixedly mounted on the drive shaft; means for rotating the shaft of the stationary folding roll by the said gear and in the same direction of rotation as the folding cylinder; an external double gear freely journaled on the driven shaft; means for rotating one gear of the double gear from the stationary folding roll shaft and in the same direction of rotation as the folding cylinder but at a higher speed; and pinions on the tucker blade shafts meshing with the other gear of the double gear, whereby the tucker blade shafts will be rotated in a direction opposite from the orbital movement of the said tucker blade shafts.

14. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 13, the diameter of the orbital path of the tucker blade shafts being an integral multiple of the distance from the axis of said tucker blade shafts to the outer tips of the tucker blades.

15. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 13, the speed of rotation of the double gear being an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the folding cylinder.

16. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 13, said other gear of the double gear and pinions being of such diameter as to rotate the tucker blade shafts an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the double gear.

17. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 13, the speed of rotation of the double gear being an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the folding cylinder, and said other gear of the double gear and pinion being of such diameter as to rotate the tucker blade shafts an integral multiple of the speed of rotation of the double gear.

18. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 13, said means for rotating the stationary folding roll shaft comprising a third gear on said roll shaft; and an idler gear meshing with the first gear and with the third gear.

19. In a folding mechanism as set forth in claim 13, said means for rotating one gear of the double gear comprising a fourth gear on said folding roll shaft; and an idler gear meshing with the fourth gear and the said gear of the double gear.

ALBERT J. CARPENTER, J R.

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