US2551468A - Double document control for photographing machines - Google Patents

Description

F. J. SCHUTT 2,551,468

DOUBLE DOCUMENT CONTROL FOR PHOTOGRAPHING MACHINES May 1, 1951 Original Filed March 30, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR y 1951 F. J. SCHUTT 2,551,468

' DOUBLE DOCUMENT CONTROL FOR PHOTOGRAPHING MACHINES Original Filed March 30, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 F. J. SCHUTT r 2,551,468

DOUBLE DOCUMENT CONTROL FOR PHOTOGRAPHING MACHINES May 1, 1951 Original Filed Mafch so, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Ely ATTORNEYS May 1, 1951 F. J. SCHUTT 2,551,468

DOUBLE DOCUMENT CONTROL FOR PHOTOGRAPHING MACHINES Original Filed March 30, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Y INVENTOR' Patented May I, 1951 UNITED STATES OFFICE;

DOUBLE DOCUMENT coNTRoLr Rrnor GBAPHING HIN S;

Friedrich J. Schutt, Brooklyn, N. Y, assignon to em rw Ban Ilia wkiNr a r: poration of Delaware- Original application March 30-, 1944, Serial No. 528,682. Divided and this application January 7, 1948, Serial No. 895

document; feed whenever more than one docut Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailcrossesection taken; ment is fed at one time. substantially on line 6176. of Fig. l showingv the This application is; a division of application double document control mechanism. Serial: No. 528,682, filed March 30, 1944, Patent, Fig. '7, is a vertical cross section taken sup: No. 2,452,497 granted October-26, 1948. stantia lly c ime- 1 :1 of 6.

The sheet feeding means according to the The. general constructing of the document present invention comprises a, pair of. feed rollphotographing machine employing the present ers, at least one of which is drivable, adapted invention isv disclosed in-ccpending application, and arranged to,v grip a sheet for feeding be- Serial No. 528,683; filed on March 30.,'1 -9 l a tween them, one of said rollers being mounted Patent Number 2,377,525datedflune 5,19% and on a shaft at a point intermediate the ends the aforesaid Batent No. 2 e 52r, ,9 and: thesaid thereof, which shaft, on. the rollers encountering general construction; is. illustrated and described an excessive document thickness, is adapted and herein onlyto the extent necessary to describe. arranged to rock about a fulcrum at or near the corela tion betvveenthe structure disclosed one of its ends for operation by substantially its the respective patent and application. other end of a control device for interrupting The document photographing machine dis: document feed. Since the control device is more closed-inthe aforementionedPatentNo. 2,4 2,4 remote from the fulcrum point of the shaft than discloses. a, frame structure for, supportin the is the feed roller of that shaft therefrom, it fol. a o s I GGQQ QSIHS 0f he mewh n having side lows that movement of that end of the shaft Walls at the front. ends of the base portion for remote from the fulcrum is correspondingly supporting the document feed, the illuminating greater than the actual separation of the feed ea s, and. the CQIitrol mechanism for, the mar. rollers thus making it possible to provide a con chine. trol which is very sensitive to varying docuht andleft-h and side; walls, I, and 2 correment thickness and, which is quick; in operation. spond to. the. side wallsshown in the aforemene.

In the drawings; 30 nned appl a ons- Th doc ment feed ma h- Fig. 1 shows the document feed mechanism for n m has nd, P18 1 8 3 mounted in paced Da i a document photographing machine embodying a lel relation, Q upporting a plurality of spaced. the present invention in side elevation looking parallel arcuate guide: bars 4, Fig, 6 to provide from the right-hand side of the machine, the ed. Pa h 0? guiding QQCliIti-ehtfi thereo casing of the machine being omitted for convene om t e op t h iiQm portions thereof ience in illustrating the main drive mechanism at 111 di clos d n the aioresaid- B ent for the document feed. 3 52 E d plates 3 mount a, plurality 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevafeed shaft 5 carrying; documen ieed 5 7 5;- tion of the upper front portion of the. document. id ymounted th eon. n paced; relation and n w feed mechanism of the machine looking from the n p pheries, extending betwe n al enate left-hand side of the machine, the outer casing de bar with a portion or the periphery of; for the machine being omitted. each feed roll extending beyond the outer pee.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary front eleiphe of uat eu de'bars. 4 for neaei gand vation with the central portion of the (10611? feeding cume t W1. h upper Su aces 9i ment feed mechanism omitted, the casing be id: u d bar E fid h flis- 5 are journalled ing omitted for illustrating the portions of the n n lat s 3 nd. at he. gh -hand e ds, main drive mechanism mounted in the side Walls DQ n g 3; the hafts project throng -.a.r 1 at the front of the machine, with the document e i n e Plat 1 indi ated, at 'l V g. 1 feed control mechanism and thickness control where. each shaft carries a small gear 8 re, mechanism shown in front elevation and part, meshing with internal gear- 9 of; main dr ve of the index mechanism being omitted for clarity. gear H1.

E g- 4 is an a ed. f gmenta y e tica seq- Mai r ve sea L6. is ri idly mounted m in tion taken substantially on line 4.4; of Big. drive shaft ll extending; transversely across the l o n t r nside o e lethand, si o to th mach ne betweees de n 2; Walt and eyon the Q ite s de hereoia. shown Fi 5'15 a nl rged ra menta y e ti al; s c;

on aken ub a tiall 1 ine 5: f F1 okin ow rqlthe -esisie r; areaarem all;-

Fig. 1. A main drive pulley I2 is driven by an electric motor, not shown, through belt I3. Pulley I2 is mounted on a stub-shaft carried by side wall I and carries a pinion I4 intermeshing with gear I5 mounted on another stub-shaft carried by side wall I and having clutch controlled driving connection with gear I6 intermeshing with the external gear teeth I! on main drive gear I 0.

The clutch control for the driving connection between gears I5 and I6 has a pair of clutch collar operating arm I8 carried by rod I9 rotatably mounted in bearing bracket secured to the outer side of the side wall I. A lever 2I is mounted on the end of rod I9 at the opposite side of the bearing from clutch collar operating arms I8, as shown in Fig. 1, and has the free end thereof connected with the armature of solenoid 22. The clutch is disengaged when the solenoid is energized. When solenoid 22 is not energized a coil spring 23 having opposite ends secured to lever 2! and side wall I respectively, as shown in Fig. 1, operates lever 2I to rotate rod I9 and maintain the clutch in engaged relation for driving main drive gear II) in the rotation v of main drive pulley I2 by the motor.

Upper and lower document guide units, seen in dotted lines in Fig. 1 at 24 and 25 respectively, have a plurality of arcuate guide bars 26 mounted in spaced parallel relation between and supported by end members 21. Upper and lower guide units 24 and 25 carry a plurality of feed shafts 28 each mounting a plurality of document feed rolls 29 arranged to have the peripheries thereof extend between guide bars 26 in registry with feed rolls 6. As described in the aforesaid Patent No. 2,452,497 the guide units 24 and 25 define a path of travel through which a document to be photographed is fed into and through the photographing position by the cooperating sets of rollers 6 and 29 which (with the exception of the top, or leading set of those rollers, which may conveniently be regarded as the entrance rollers and which are those shown in the instant disclosure), are spring loaded into peripheral engagement for gripping and thereby feeding a document engaged between them through the path defined by the guide units.

A supporting rod 30 extends through the upper front corners of upper guide member 24 and has the free ends detachably-engaged in openings in side walls I and 2 for pivotally supporting upper guide member 24 in transversely extending relation between side walls I and 2. A suitable latch member having latch rods 3! secures the lower rear end of upper guide member 24 in operative position, as shown in Fig. 1. A pair of supporting rods 32 engaged in transversely extending relation through end members 21 of the lower guide member 25 removably mounts the lower guide member in operative position between side walls I and 2. End plates 3 have projecting portions mounted on a supporting rod secured at opposite ends in side walls I and 2 as shown in Patent No. 2,452,497. The right-hand end plate 3 has an aperture in the central portion for engagement over a supporting stud carried by a portion of side wall I projecting toward main drive shaft II as indicated in Fig. 1 at I. This provides for detachable mounting of the main document feed unit between side walls I and 2. The path for feeding documents is arranged in concentric relation to main drive shaft II having roller bearing mountings in end plates 3. Documents enter the feed unit at the top as indicated at A, Fig.

1, and after passing through a semi-circular path past the photographing position are discharged at the bottom of the unit at B.

The double document control mechanism which is the essential feature of the present invention is associated with the shafts 5 and 25. The entrance rollers 6 and 29 on their respective shafts 5 and 29, as distinct from the remaining cooperating groups of such rollers on the other shafts forming part of the document guide units 24 and 25, are deliberately spaced so that there is clearance between their registering but non-contacting peripheries. The shafts 5 and 28 furthermore differ from the other shafts in that the uppermost feed shaft 5 of the main feed unit is provided in the central portion of its length with a center metallic feed roll 64 as shown in Fig. 6, whereas the upper feed shaft in the upper guide unit 24 arranged in paired relation with the shaft 5 has a centrally located metallic feed roll 65 thereon for peripheral engagement with feed roll 64 while the remaining feed rolls on this upper shaft do not have peripheral engagement with the corresponding feed rolls 6, as shown in Fig. 6. Opposite ends of the uppermost feed shaft 28 are mounted in bearing sleeves 66 carried by slidable blocks 6! engaged between the spaced plates of end members 21. Guide slots 68 in the plates of end members 2! slidably mount bearing sleeves 66 for movement of the shaft 28 with its rollers 29 and 65 towards and away from the shaft 5 with its rollers 6 and 64 and laterally extending pins 69 project laterally outwardly through the guide slots 68 in end members 21.

At the right side of the machine the free end of pin 69 engages one end of a bell crank lever I0 pivoted at II on a stud projecting inwardly from the inner face of side wall I while the upper end of bell crank ID has a projection I2 engaging a thickness control cam I3. Thickness control cam I3 is mounted on the inner end of an adjusting shaft I4 having the central portion rotatably mounted in a bracket I5 secured to the outer face of side wall I. The outer end of adjusting shaft I4 carries a member I6 adapted for manual rotation to adjust the position of eccentric I3. A ratchet wheel 1 I is mounted adjacent the inner end of member I6 and has the free end of a spring actuated pawl I8 resiliently engaged therewith for normally holding adjusting shaft I4 against rotation. Pawl I8 is pivotally mounted on bracket I5, as shown in Fig. 7.

There are ten teeth on ratchet wheel I! in order that pawl I8 will operate to normally hold the ratchet wheel against rotation by member IS in a predetermined position for each adjacent pair of teeth until the spring pressure of pawl I8 is manually overcome by positive manual rotation of member I6. Member I6 is in the form of an annular disc having a knurled periphery, as shown in Fig. 3, with a cylindrical portion adjacent the disc provided with indicia at I9 showing the position of thickness adjustment of member I6. The numerals indicating the adjustment run from one to ten and represent thickness adjustments for sheets determining positions of adjustment where sheets of different thickness will be either fed through the machine or prevented from being fed by stopping the feed.

A bell crank lever 80, Fig. 5, is pivoted against the inner side of right-hand side wall I in front of the upwardly extending arm of bell crank lever ID, as shown in Fig. 5, on a stud projecting assumes inwardly from side. wall. I. One. arm of bell: crank;

80 extends upwardly and has a pin 81. on the. upper end extending. laterally and, engaging, the forward edge. of the. upwardly extending. arm of bell crank 10. The other arm of bell crank 80 extends rearwardly and has one. end of, a. coil. spring 8.2 connected to the end thereof. The opposite end of coil spring 82' is. connected to one. end of lever 83 extending radially from document straightening shaft 84 carrying document straightening fingers 85 for engaging the leading edge of a document immediately after. it is fed. into the feed mechanism between rolls 64 and 6 5. It will be noted. that the periphery of the roll 65 is. convexly arcuate, having line.

contactv with the upper force of a. document engaged between it and the roll 64. Thus, if a document. is fed between the rolls 6.4 and 65. with its leading edge not truly transverse to the direction of feed, the more advanced end. of the leading edge willengage. the straightening. fingers at. that end to be momentarily arrested. Meanwhile the line contact of the roll 65 with the. document. permits. it to. swing until the entire leading edge engages all of the fingers. 85 when further feeding of the document will move fingers 85 and rock shaft 84 against the tension of spring 82 until. the straightened document passes. under the ends of the fingers. The straightened docu ments will then be guided through the feedmechanism with the leading edges in transversely extending relation. Coil spring 82 also. operates. simultaneously to maintain. bell crank 86 with pin 81 in engagement with the upper end of bell crank 10 for maintaining projection 12 in constant engagement with the surface of eccentric 13. The lower end of bell: crank 10 extends rearwardly and the rear free thereof engages above laterally extending pin 69- at the righthand sideof the machine on slidable block 61' for holding the slidable block against upward movement. The spring 82, being operatively connected between the bell crank 8E! and the lever 83 which mounts the straightening finger shaft 84, has an additional function. In that respect, as will be seen from Fig. 5, anti-clockwise rotation of the cam 13 to set the double document control to accommodate thicker documents as will later be described, swings the bell crank 1G clockwise about its pivot TI and, since the upper end of the bell crank Hi engages the pin SI of the bell crank 80, it follows that bell crank Bil also. then swings clockwise about its pivot, thereby increasing the tension in the spring 82. Thus the tension of spring 82 increases correspondingly with the setting of the double document control to accommodate thicker documents, thereby tending to prevent premature release of the straightening fingers such as might otherwise occur when controlling the feed of thick documents.

As seen in Figs. 6 and '7 the control wheel 16 is set to accommodate only a single thickness relatively thin document. At that setting should overlapping documents be engaged between the feed rolls 64 and 65 the excessive document thickness will, tend to lift the shaft as a whole but since there is negligible if any clearance between the right hand pin E91 and the under side of the rearwardly extending arm of the bell crank lever 10 the shaft will in effect rock about the fulcrum point constituted by the pin contacting portion of the lower edge of the said, rearwardly extending arm of. the bell crank it]. Since the right-hand pin 6'9 can then rise no further, rocking of the shaft. due. to the excessive document. thickness;

thenmanifests itself as rising movement at the left-hand. end. of the shaft. 28; and. furthermore since. the. roller. 6 5 is. approximately midway along the shaft 28, the; left. end. half ofthe shaft, due to. its. greater distance. from the. fulcrum. point; rises to. a considerably reater extent than. the

thickness of. the. engaged documents... The rising.

movement: of; the. pin 69. at the left-hand end. of theshaftze isutilized to operate switch control bell crank 86 pivotallymounted. on bracket. 81; on. the. outside face. of leftehand. sidewall. 2. A

short substantially horizontally extendin arm 88.

on bell crank, 86. extends. inwardly through an opening in side, wall '2 and is. formed with. an.

extension for engagement. with. the top peripheral portion of the projection 69 on; left-hand slide block; 61,, Fig. 6. A coil spring 89 secured at. ne end to short arm 88 of bell, crank 86 and at; the,

. opposite endto a stud on the inner face of side wall 2; firmly maintains the end of arm 88 engaged with left-hand projection 69 to maintain feed and control roll 65 in resilient. rolling contact with roll 64. The other arm 90' of bell crank 8,6 extends upwardly along the outside of left-hand side wall 2, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, and has. the free end provided with a. lateral projection for engaging the. operating pin of micro-switch 9| mounted on the upper portion of bracket 81, as. shown in Figs. 2, 3 andfi.

In the counter-clockwise rotation of bell crank. 86 through the raising of pin 69- by a document, engaging between feed and control rolls 64 and 65. it will be seen that by controlling the position of the fulcrum for upper shaft 28 at the right-hand end, the amount of vertical, movement at the left-hand endv of the control shaft can. be utilized to actuate micro-switch 9| to close the circuit thereto and actuate control. means. for stopping the feed of documents. whenever the documentthickness is greater than the amount. for which the knob 16. is set. Micro-switch. 9|- is connected in the electrical circuit with solenoid 22', so that, whenever the switch is, closed,

. the solenoid will be energized to disconnect and stop the feed mechanism from operating so, that documents cannot be fed through the feed mechanism beyond rolls 64 and 65..

If thicker documents are to be fed, the adjust mentwheel, 16 is turned anti-clockwise as viewed in Figs. 5 and 7 to bring a correspondingly higher portion of the cam 13 into engagement with the projection 12 of the bell crank 10. The resulting movement of the bell crank 10 lifts its rearwardly extending arm off, the. pin 69 at the right-hand end of the. shaft 28. and a corresponding increase of separation of the feed rollers 64 and 65 is then necessary before the right-hand pin 69 engages the. rearwardly extending arm of the bell crank 10 and before the shaft is constrained to rock about the fulcrum for actuation of the switch; 9|. Whatever the setting of the double thickness adjustment, the fact remains that due to the. distance of the left-hand end of the shaft 28 from the fulcrum point being so much greater than the distance. of the feed roller 65 from the same fulcrum point, the rise at the left-hand end of the. shaft is much greater than any exces sive. document thickness encountered between the feed rollers 64 and 65. Consequently an extremely sensitive control is provided which is so quick in. action that. only the leading edge ofv documents of a greater thickness than that for I which the control is set will engage. between feed and. control rolls 64 and 65 before the feed mechanism actually stops. This provides for convenient manual removal of the documents at the top front portion of the feed mechanism by the machine operator resulting in the feed mechanism being restored to operation so the operator can again feed the documents into the machine in proper order. The mechanism prevents the feeding of two or more documents simultaneously and also the feeding of documents that are folded or of a greater thickness than is provided for by the setting of control knob '56. The control mechanism may control the operation of the feed in any suitable manner such as just described and shown in either of the copending applications hereinabove mentioned whether the feed of documents be manual or mechanical.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a document photographing machine, document feed means for feeding documents through a photographing position, drive means for oper ating said document feed means, and means for controlling operation of said document feed means by said drive means having a shaft extending transversely to the direction of document feed, a document engaging member mounted on said shaft intermediate the ends and engaging a part of said document feed means and movable away from said part by the thickness of a document, a support at one end of said shaft providing a fulcrum for said shaft, and means movably supporting the opposite end of said shaft for engaging and operating said controlling means for stopping the document feed when documents of greater than a predetermined thickness engage between said member and part.

2. In a document photographing machine, document feed means for feeding a document through a photographing position, drive means for operating said document feed means, and means for controlling operation of said document feed means by said drive means having a shaft extending transversely to the direction of document feed, a document engaging member mounted on said shaft intermediate the ends and engaging a part of said document feed means and movable away from said part by the thickness of a document, bearings rotatably mounting said shaft at opposite ends, a support slidably mounting said bearings, means at one end of said shaft for controlling slidable movement of said hearing to provide a fulcrum for the movement of said shaft at one end thereof, and means operated by the bearing at the opposite end of said shaft for operating said controlling means to stop the feed of documents when documents greater than a predetermined thickness engage between said engaging member and said part.

3. In a document photographing machine, document feed means for feeding a document through a photographing position, drive means for operating said document feed means, and means for controlling operation of said document feed means by said drive means having a shaft extending transversely to the direction of document feed, a document engaging member mounted on said shaft intermediate the ends and engaging a part of said document feed means and movable away from said part by the thickness of a document, bearings rotatably mounting said shaft at opposite ends, a support slidably mounting said bearings with opposite ends of said shaft for movement radially relative to said part of said feed means, slide members movable with said bearings and the ends of said shaft on said support, a lever engaging one of said slide members for limiting sliding movement at one end of said shaft, means for holding said lever in adjusted position, and means operated by the slide member at the opposite end of the shaft for operating said controlling means to stop document feed when documents exceeding a predetermined thickness engage between said member and part.

4. In a document photographing machine, document feed means for feeding a document through a photographing position, drive means for operating said document feed means, and means for controlling operation of said document feed means by said drive means having a shaft extending transversely to the direction of document feed, a document engaging member mounted on said shaft intermediate the ends and engaging a part of said document feed means and movable away from said part by the thickness of a document, bearings rotatably mounting said shaft at opposite ends, a support slidably mounting opposite ends of said shaft and bearings for movement radially relative to said part of said feed means, slide members movable with the ends of said shaft on said support, a lever engaging one of said slide members for limiting sliding movement at one end of said shaft, a cam rotatably mounted on said support engaging said lever and operable for changing the position of said lever, and means operated by the slide member at the opposite end of the shaft for operating said controlling means to stop document feed when documents exceeding the thickness for which said cam is set engage between said member and part.

5. In a document photographing machine, document feed means for feeding a document through a photographing position, drive means for operating said document feed means, and a shaft for controlling operation of said document feed means by said drive means, a document engaging member mounted on said shaft intermediate the ends and engaging a part of said document feed means for document feeding cooperation therewith and movable away from said part by the thickness of a document, means rotatably mounting said shaft at opposite ends for sliding movement toward and away from said document feed means, a fulcrum means for one end of said shaft, a cam rotatably mounted on said mounting means and operable to adjust said fulcrum means for said shaft, and means operated by the opposite end of said shaft for operating said controlling means to stop document feed when documents exceeding the thickness for which said cam is set engage between said member and part.

6. In a document photographing machine, document feed means for feeding documents through a photographing position drive means for operating said document feed means, operating control means for said document feed means including a shaft extending transversely to the direction of document feed, a document-engaging member mounted on said shaft intermediate the ends and engaging a part of said document feed means and movable away from said part by the thickness of a document, bearings rotatably mounting said shaft at opposite ends, a support slidably mounting said bearings, means on one end of said shaft for controlling sliding movement of said bearings to provide a fulcrum for the movement of said shaft at one end thereof, and control means operated by the other end of said shaft responsive to the engagement of a document exceeding a predetermined thickness between said document-engaging member and said part of said document control means for moving said mem- 9 her from contact with said part to stop feed of documents engaged with said part.

7. In a document photographing machine, document feed means for feeding documents through a photographing position, drive means for operating said document feed means, and means for controlling operation of said document feed means by said drive means having a yieldably mounted shaft extending transversely to the direction of document feed, a document engaging member mounted on said shaft intermediate the ends thereof and engaging a part of said document feed means and movable away from said part by the thickness of the document, means limiting the yielding movement of one end of said shaft and control means operated by the amplified yielding of the other end of said shaft responsive to engagement of a document exceeding a predetermined thickness between said document engaging member and said part of said document feed means for stopping document feed.

8. Sheet feeding means including drive means, feed means drivable by said drive means and cooperative to grip and feed sheet between them, control means for controlling said feed means by said drive means, and a document engaging member engaging a part of said document feed means and movable away from said part by the thickness of a document for operation of said control means to interrupt the feed when a sheet of greater than predetermined thickness is engaged between said part and said member, characterized by the fact that said document engaging member is mounted intermediate the ends of a yieldably mounted shaft selectively pivotal about one end and having its other end operatively connected with said control means.

9. In a document photographing machine, document feed means for feeding a document through a photographing position and drive means for operating said document feed means, the combination of means for controlling operation of said document feed means by said drive means having a yieldably mounted shaft extending transversely to the direction of document feed, a document engaging roller mounted on said shaft intermediate the ends thereof rotatable by and in substantially point contact with a document engaged between said roller and a part of said document feed means. said roller and said shaft therewith being yieldably movable away from said part by the thickness of the document, means limiting the yielding movement of one end of said shaft control means operated by the amplified yielding of the other end of said shaft responsive to engagement of a document exceeding a predetermined thickness between said roller and said part for stopping document feed, and thickness control adjustment means operable for adjusting the operational relationship of said shaft with respect to said control means for normally feeding documents of less than predetermined thicknesses, with document straightening means comprising fingers spaced transversely across the path of document feed and normally intersecting said path in advance of said photographing position, means mounting said fingers for swinging out of said path about an axis transverse to the direction of document feed, and resilient means resisting said swinging movement of said fingers until all of said fingers are engaged by a leading edge of a document in said path, said resilient means being operatively connected between said thickness control adjustment means and said fingers to increase resistance of said fingers to said swinging movement in proportion to the thickness of documents engaged thereby.

FRIEDRICH J. SCHUTT.

REFERENCES orrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,129,230 ONeil Sept. 6, 1938 2,196,741 Schubert Apr. 9, 1940

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