US2583188A - Addressing and like printing machines - Google Patents

Description

1952 T. E. F. SANDERSON 2, 83,188

ADDRESSING AND LIKE PRINTING MACHINES Filed April 15. 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Inventor THOMfl-f EDNHRD Hen/v05 SANDERSON W1 ine A from ey Jan. 22, 1952 T. E. F. SANDERSON 2,583,188

ADDRESSING AND LIKE PRINTING MACHINES I Filed'April 15. 1949 2 SHEETS,SHEET 2 \T ow 3 1 m Ina/WWW THOMAS EDWARD FRHNC/S SmvDERso/v N Q E w Patented Jan. 22, 1952 ADDRESSING AND LIKE PRINTING MACHIN Thomas Edward Francis Sanderson, Ruislip, England, assignor to Adrema Limited, London, England, a British company Application April 13, 1949, Serial No. 87,223 In Great Britain February 5, 1948 4 Claims. (Cl. 101-47) This invention relates to addressing-and like printing machines in which a succession of printing plates are fed one at a time to the printing positions of the machine. In existing machines the plates to be printed from are stacked in a vertical hopper or guide, which projects upwardly from the flat top or table of the machine to the right of the printin position. The plates in the hopper drop successively on to a horizontal track, which extends transversely of the machine, and are fed along this track to the printing position by a reciprocating shuttle.

In the machine of the present invention the stack of plates to be printed from is placed in a horizontal hopper with the plates vertically disposed, the hopper being located, below the level of the table of the machine. The table of the machine is thus left free from the obstruction formed by the usual vertical hopper and it becomes possible to arrange for the feed of paper to the printing position to take place from right to left of the machine or vice versa, instead of from back to front or vice versa. Such an arrangement offers particular advantages in cases where the paper feed is efiected automatically. The feeding means of the machine operate successively upon each of the plates to turn it into a horizontal attitude and advance it along a horizontal track to the printing position of the machine.

In the preferred arrangement the horizontal track along which the plates are fed to the printing position extends tranversely of the machine, the hopper extends rearwardly to the line of the rear edge of this track and at such a level that the upper edges of the plates are on the level of the track, means are provided for moving the plates in the hopper to the rear end thereof and the feeding means operate to displace the rearmost plate transversely in its own plane out of the hopper, then to rotate the plate about its upper edge so as to bring its lower edge into alignmentwith the front edge of the track and then to feed the plate along that track to the printing position.

The mechanical means provided to produce these movements of the plates may clearly take many different forms and the invention is not limited to any particular construction of the mechanism. One particular and at present preferred construction is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of parts of an addressing machine, taken from a view point behind and to the right of the machine; Figure 2 is a plan view of parts of the feed mechanism of the machine; Figure 3 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of the machine taken at right angles to Figures 2 and 3 showing details of these figures.

Referring first to Figure l, a pack of vertically disposed printing plates 4 is placed in a horizontal hopper or guide 5 which extends rearwardly at the right hand side of the horizontal table 6 of the machine and is situated below the level of that table. By means to be described later the plates are fed towards the rear of the hopper and during each operating Cycle of the machine the rearmost plate is displaced in its own plane out of the hopper into the transfer compartment 1. On entering this compartment the upper part of the front face of the plate is engaged by the free rear edges of the spring plates 8, 9. A swinging arm Ill comprises a straight portion which is pivotally supported at its upper end upon a member H, forming part of the stationary frame of the machine, and a curved portion 12, which projects forwardly from the lower end of the straight portion and can pass through an opening in the frame member ll. As the printing plate nears the inner end of the transfer compartment 1, the arm l0 swings forwardly into the position shown in the figure, the tip of the curved portion engaging the lower part of the rear face of the plate and moving it forwardly and upwardly. The upper part of the plate is restrained by the spring plates 8 and 9, so that the plate is constrained to rotate about its upper edge into a horizontal position in which it is aligned with the horizontal track l3 along which the plates move to the printing position I4. Figure 1 shows the parts in the positions which they occupy at this stage of the machine cycle, but the printing plate which has just been turned into the horizontal position is omitted from the drawing so as to allow the interior of the transfer compartment 1 to be seen. During the next machine cycle, while the following printing plate is being displaced from the hopper into the transfer compartment, the plate in that compartment is moved into the track l3, forcing the printing plates 4a already in the track further along it and delivering the foremost of these plates to the printing position M, where it is printed from in the usual way by the action of the printing head l5.

It will be seen from Figure 1 that the flat top 6 of the machine is left clear and entirely unobstructed by the plate storing the feeding means.

Moreover, the disposition of the plates in the hopper makes clearly visible to the operator any index or signal tabs, such as l6, which may be carried in well known manner upon the upper edges of the plates. The operator's control of the printing or skipping of given groups of plates is therebyfacilitated.

The rearward feed of the plates in the hopper is eiiected by the longitudinal reciprocation of a rack bar l'l, operated through a yielding connection l8 from a suitable oscillating point in the machine drive. The rack engages a tooth l9 projecting downwardly from a carriage 20, which is supported upon a counterslide 2| and supports an arm 22 extending in front of the last plate in the hopper. The tooth I9 can be withdrawn clear of the rack, to permit free movement of the carriage 20 along its counterslide, by means of a lever 23. A bracket 24, sliding friction tight on a rail 25 engages behind the rear-most plate in the hopper and serves to support the pack of plates during insertion and withdrawal. When the plates are at the extreme rear end of the hopper, as they must be for feeding to be effected, the bracket 24 is accommodated in a recess 26 in the frame mem ber ll.

Referring now principally to Figures 2 and 3, the means for feeding the plates from the hopper into the transverse horizontal track I3 comprise a shuttle assembly, which is reciprocated longitudinally of the track of the usual plate feeding drive of the machine. This shuttle comprises bars 21 extending along the track l3 beneath the printing plates, which are not shown in Figures 2 and 3. -At their outer orright hand ends the bars 21 are connected to a vertically disposed transfer plate 28 which slides in a shallow groove in the face of member H and can pass behind the rearmost printing plate in the hopper. This transfer plate 28 carries at its outer end a forwardly projecting spring mounted pawl 29 and at its inner end an upwardly projecting spring mounted pawl 30. Secured to the rear face of the transfer plate and sliding in a deeper groove 3| in member H are a guide block 32 and a wedge member 33.

The swinging arm I0 is biased into the forward position shown in Figure 1 by a torsion spring 34. It is moved to the rearward position shown in Figures 2 and 3 by the engagement of a cam surface on the head 36 of a vertical rod 3! with a pin 35, projecting laterally from the arm Hi. The rod 31 passes slidably through a bore in the frame member II and is secured at its lower end to a horizontal rod 38 which lies in a vertically elongated slot in member II and projects forwardly into the groove 3!. The rod 38 is held in the raised position shown in Figures 2 and 3, thus holding the swinging arm in its rearward position, by a latching bar 39, slidably secured in the groove 3| and biased into latching position by a compression spring engaging forwardly projecting flange 40 at the inner (left hand) end of the latching bar.

Figures 2 and 3 show the parts in the positions they occupy when the shuttle is at the outer (right hand) end of its stroke. As the shuttle moves inwardly, pawl 29 engages the outer end of the rearmost plate in the hopper and displaces it in its own plane into the transfer compartment. During this movement, the wedge member 33 passes beneath the rod 38 and in front of the latching bar 39, but just before the shuttle reaches the inner end of itsstroke it engages printing plate is being brought from the hopper to the transfer compartment, pawl 30 engages the rear part of the outer end of the plate which was turned into horizontal position during the previous cycle stroke and moves that plate into the transverse horizontal track l3 leading to the printing position. This movement of the plate effects the advance of the plates already in the track, but to effect the advance to the printing position of the last plates of a batch, the bars 21 carry at spaced intervals equal to the length of a plate further pawls, one of which is shown at 4|.

What is claimed is:

1. In a printing machine having a printing position for printing sheets by means of printing plates, comprising in combination a horizontally disposed track adapted to receive slidably a succession of horizontally disposed printing plates, a horizontally disposed hopper adapted to receive a stack of vertically disposed printin plates, the hopper extending rearwardly to the line of the rear edge of the track and at such a level that the upper edges of the plates in the hopper are on the level of the track, means for moving the plates in the hopper to the rear end thereof, a shuttle reciprocating longitudinally of the track, means carried by the shuttle and operative at each inward stroke of the shuttle for engaging the outer end of the rearmost plate in the hopper and displacing that plate out of the hopper, a swinging arm pivotally mounted about an axis adjacent and parallel to the rear edge of the track for engaging the lower part of the rear face of the plate which has been displaced out of the hopper by the shuttle and moving the lower part of the plate forwardly and upwardly, means for resiliently engagin the upper part of the front face of the plate during each movement of the swinging arm so as to constrain the plate to rotate about its upper edge and means carried by the shuttle for engaging the outer end of the plate which has thus been turned into horizontal position and moving it into and along the track during the next inward stroke of the shuttle.

2. A machine in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising means biasing the swinging arm into its forward position, means carried by the shuttle and operative during the outward stroke thereof for moving the arm rearwardly, latching means for retainin the arm in its rearward position and means carried by the shuttle and operative towards the end of the inward stroke thereof for releasing the latching means to permit the arm to swing forwardly..

3. In a printing machine having a printing position for printing sheets by means of printing plates, comprising in combination a horizontal table for supporting the sheets to be printed, said printing position being in the table, plate guides extending horizontally and substantially in the plane of the table past the printing position, transport means for moving a succession of horito the printing position, a storage hopper positioned wholly below the plane of the table, said hopper being arranged to receive vertically disposed printing plates, and means for operating successively upon each of the plates in the hopper to turn substantially each plate into a horizontal attitude, raise it to the level of the guides and feed it into the guides.

4. In a printing machine having a printing position for printing sheets by means of printing plates, comprising in combination a horizontal table over which the sheets to be printed are fed, said printing position being in the table, a horizontal track extending transversely across the table along which the printing plates are to be fed to the printing position, a storage hopper dis- 1 posed below the table and extending rearwardly to the line of the rear edge of the track, said hopper being arranged to receive vertically disposed printing plates, moving means for moving the printing plates in the hopper to the rear end thereof with the upper edge of the rearmost printing plate aligned with the rear edge of the track,

and feeding means operative to displace the rearmost printing plate transversely in its own plane out of the hopper, then to rotate the said plate about its upper edge so as to bring its lower edge into alignment with the front edge of the track and finally to feed the said plate along the said track to the printing position.

THOMAS EDWARD FRANCIS SANDERSON.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 301,471 Aregood July 8, 1884 511,745 Barry Jan. 2, 1894 1,733,329 Bottle Oct. 29, 1929 1,823,161 Payne Sept. 15, 1931 1,875,423 Daniels Sept. 6, 1932 2,113,902 Radice et a1 Apr. 12, 1938 2,372,736 Phillips et a1 Apr. 3, 1945

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