US2659304A

US2659304A - Moistening mechanism for rotary duplicating machines

Info

Publication number: US2659304A
Application number: US284153A
Authority: US
Inventors: Henry P Keil
Original assignee: FIXTURE HARDWARE CORP
Current assignee: FIXTURE HARDWARE CORP
Priority date: 1952-04-24
Filing date: 1952-04-24
Publication date: 1953-11-17
Anticipated expiration: 1970-11-17

Description

Nov. 17, 1953 I K 2,659,304

MOISTENING MECHANISM FOR ROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed April 24, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l R if.

M J5 45 Z2, 7

INVENTOR.

Q RQ Q 2/6777" D/(ZIL H. P. KElL Nov. 17, 1953 MOISTENING MECHANISM FOR ROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 24, 1952 INVENTOR. Hflzr 0 (gzl H. P. KEIL Nov. 17, 1953 MOISTENING MECHANISM FOR ROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed April 24, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. fizrzry 0 (a l Nov. 17, 1953 H. P. KEIIL MOISTENING MECHANISM FOR ROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 24, 1952 INVENTOR. 772227 2 Kez' Z BYM Atty.

Nov. 17, 1953 H. P. KEIL 2,659,304

MOISTENING MECHANISM FOR ROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed April 24, 1952 5 SheetsSheet 5 INVENTOR. 4 F/wz 7 (41' BY W Patented Nov. 17, 1953 AYES PATENT FFWE MOISTENING IVIECHANISM FOR ROTARY DUPLICATENG MACHINES Henry 1?. Hell, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Fixture Hardware Corp The present invention is directed to improvements in a duplicating machine wherein copy sheets are moistened on one face with a solvent liquid and then pressed against a master sheet which has the material to be copied printed thereon in reverse with hectograph ink. In machines of this character it is customary to mount the master sheet on the drum by means of a suitable gripping device and to press the copy sheet against the master sheet on the drum by means of a small resilient pressure roller. The copy sheets are fed between two feeding rollers which are intermittently operated from the drum and one of the feeding rollers has its surface moistened with the solvent liquid by means of a roller which runs in a trough containing a supply of the solvent liquid and a second roller which transfers the solvent from the roller in the trough to the moistening roller.

In machines of this character it is necessary that the roller surfaces remain truly cylindrical in order to obtain the best copies. If a roller be comes flattened it will adversely aifect the distribution of the solvent to the copy sheet. It is the purpose of my invention to provide a novel construction for supporting and controlling the several small rollers which moisten and advance the copy sheet to the drum and press it against the drum, whereby the rollers are brought into contact with each other only when the machine is operating and whereby they may be separated from each other in a simple fashion whenever a particular run of copies has been completed.

It is also a purpose of this invention to provicle a novel. assembly of the moistening rollers in combination with a drum cam for intermittently driving the rollers, which combination reduces the shock of engaging the cam with the driving wheels that are provided on the transfer roller of the moistening group so as to make the drum easier to turn and to make the driving Wheelsself adjusting with respect to the cams on the drum.

It is also a purpose of the invention to provide an improved means for supplying liquid to the trough or fountain in which one of the rollers operates, which facilitates cleaning of the liquid inlets, and maintenance of the moistening mechanism.

The nature and advantages of this invention will appear more fully from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. It should be understood however, that the drawings and description are illustrative only oration, Chicago, KlL, a

and are not intended to limit the invention except insofar as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan sectional view taken substantially on the line l-l of Figure 8 with part of the drum being left in place to show its relation to the operative mechanism and the remainder of the drum being broken away to show the parts beneath it;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, showing the parts in a changed position from that shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 3-Q of Figure I;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detailed view partly in section looking at the left hand end of Figure 1, but showing the connection between the solvent bottle holding unit and the tubes which lead to the liquid trough in cross section;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line $-t of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a View in side elevation of a duplieating machine embodying my invention, looking at the machine from the left hand end of Figure 1; and

Figure 8 is a view in side elevation of the duplicating machine, looking at the right hand end of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, my invention is shown as embodied in a duplicating machine which comprises supporting side frames is and l and sliced tray at l2 on which copy sheets may be advanced. A drum i3 is mounted between the side frames it and it and has its shaft it journalled for rotation in the side frames. The drum is rotated by a handle l5 which is shown most clearly in Figure 8 of the drawings, Any suitable master sheet clamping mechanism such as that shown in my rior application, Serial No. 760,538, filed July 12, 1947, for Duplicating Apparatus, Letters Patent No. 2,597,804, dated May 26, 1952, may be used for securing a master sheet to the drum it. A portion of this clamping mechanism is illustrated at E6 in Figure 3 of the drawings. The details of this clamping mechanism are not illustrated herein as they form no part of the present invention. A pressure roller E? is utilized to press copy sheets against a master sheet secured on the drum it. In order to feed the copy sheets to the drum and to supply them with a suitable so1vent, I employ a lower copy sheet feeding roller |8, a moistening and feeding roller l9, a fountain roller and a transfer roller 2|. The fountain roller 26 runs in a fountain or trough 22 which is supported between the side frames HI and H in front of the drum l3 and over an upwardly inclined guide lip I20, on the copy sheet feeding platform 52.

The construction and arrangement of the supporting mechanisms for the several rollers just described is such that when the parts are in the resting position, as illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, the several rollers are spaced apart and entirely free of each other so that there is no tendency for one roller to flatten another even though they may be left without operation for a long time. A simple mechanism is provided whereby the several rollers may be moved into operative engagement with each other under suitable pressure and the-pressure roller |1 may be brought into pressure engagement with the drum I3 by operating a hand lever 23 which is shown at the right hand end of Figure 1 and in the lower right hand corner of Figure 8. Preferably the transfer roller 2| is a metal roller with a hard surface that is finely grooved for distributing the liquid solvent on the moistening roller l9. It is particularly important that this hard roller be prevented from resting on the relatively soft synthetic rubber rollers l9 and 20, as such engage ment would form depressions in the softer rollers.

According to my invention I mount two cams 24 and on the drum at the opposite ends thereof. These cams are adapted to engage

driving wheels

26 and 21 which are provided on the ends of the roller 2|. In this way the rotation of the drum will impart to the roller 2| a limited rotation while the

cams

24 and 25 are in engagement with the

wheels

26 and 21. The roller 2| is supported at its ends by two

bars

28 and 29 and these bars are mounted on the ends of the trough 22 in such a fashion that they have a limited movement up and down and are yieldably urged toward the drum by springs 30 and 3|. The construction by which this mounting of the roller 2| is achieved is the same at both ends of the trough 22 and is best illustrated in detail by Figure 4 of the drawings.

Referring now to Figure 4 of the drawings, the bar 29 is shown as provided with an elongated aperture 32 and a slot 33 to receive two

mounting pins

34 and 35 that are threaded into the end portion 22a of the trough 22. This end portion 22a has two

slots

36 and 31 facing toward the rollers 20 and I9 respectively. A spring 38 is seated in the slot 36 and yieldingly presses a bearing sleeve 39 on the shaft 20a of the roller 20 upwardly. The roller |9 has a bearing sleeve 46 on its shaft |9a and this bearing sleeve is guided in vertical movement by the slot 31. A pin 4|, seated in the end 22a of the trough, limits the downward movement of the bearing 40 in the slot 31. The roller 2| has its shaft 2 la mounted in a bearing sleeve 42 that is seated in the bar 29. The mounting of the rollers at the other end 2211 of the trough is the same as that shown in Figure 4, and the bar 28 is mounted by

pins

34 and 35 at the end 22b of the trough in the same manner as the bar 29 is mounted. The parts are shown in Figure '4, in the position that they occupy when the three rollers I9, 20 and 2| are separated from each other and the roller H3 is lowered out of contact with the roller l9. This is the resting position of the mechanism and is the same position as that shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. The spring 3| is seated in a recess 43 in the end of 4 the bar 29 and bears against a shoulder 45 that is formed on the end portion 22a of the trough 22. A like shoulder 44 forms a stop for the spring 39 which is seated in the end of the bar 23.

When the

cams

24 and 25 engage the

wheels

26 and 21 on the transfer roller 2|, the

bars

28 and 29 can move endwise against the pressure of the springs 36 and 3|. Also the bars have a limited movement up and down so as to permit the roller 2| to seat properly on the rollers :9

and 20.

Figure 2 illustrates the position of the parts when the rollers l1 and I8 are lowered away from contact with the drum l4 and the roller l9 res spectively. The feeding roller I8 is supported on two

arms

46 and 41 that are pivoted on a cross tie rod 48 that extends between the side frames I0 and H. These arms have recesses at their free ends to receive bearings 59 that are journalled on the ends of the shaft |8a of the roller H3. The

arms

46 and 41 are constructed alike except that one is for the left hand side and the other is for the right hand side of the machine. The roller H has bearings 5| journalled on the ends of its shaft Hot and these bearings fit in recesses 52 that are provided in lever arms 53 which support the roller H. The lever arms are pivoted to the side frames l6 and H by pivot pins 54 that extend into bosses 55 provided on the side frames. The lever arms 53 have adjustable stop members 55 at their lower ends and these stop members bear against eccentric cams 51 that are fixed on a shaft 58. The shaft 58 is journalled in the side frames l6 and H. The hand lever 23 is affixed to one end of the shaft 58. At the other end of the shaft 58, a bracket 59 is secured to the side frame l6 and is provided with lugs 60 and 6| which are positioned to engage a pin 62 that is fixed on the cam 51 that is adjacent to the side frame H]. The pin 62 limits the movement of the cams 51 to approximately 180 degrees. When the pin 62 engages the lug 69, the roller [1 is raised into pressure engagement with the drum l3. When the pin 62 is engaged with the lug 6|, the roller I1 is lowered away from the drum l3 as illustrated in Figure 2.

In order to apply operating pressure of the roller l3 against the roller I9, I provide a spring 63 between a pivoted block 64 on each lever arm 53 and a pivot block 65 on each arm 41. The springs 63 yieldingly press the arms 41 upwardly so as to cause the roller l8 to engage the roller |9 and lift it until it contacts the roller 2| and lifts the roller 2| so as to move the

bars

28 and 29 upwardly against the heads of the pins 35. This is the position illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawings. It is obvious that when the parts are in this position, engagement of the

cams

24 and 25 with the

wheels

26 and 21 will force the roller 2| against the roller 26 so that the rotation imparted to the roller 2| will also cause rollers 29 and I9 to rotate to feed and moisten a copy sheet that is fed between the rollers l8 and |9. When the cams 51 are moved to allow the levers 53 to lower the roller |1 away from the drum, this relieves the pressure on the springs 53 so that the

arms

45 and 41 may drop and allow the roller l8 to separate from the roller l9. The roller l9 will drop down until its bearing 49 rests on the pins 4| and the roller itself is spaced from the roller 2|. The roller 2| is then free to drop with its

bars

28 and 29 and the springs 30 and 3| move the

bars

28 and 29 endwise to separate the

rollers

20 and 2|.

The pressure of the roller 2! against the roller it when the earns 24 and 25 engage the wheels 25 and 2'! will depress the roller 2! against the springs 33 but as soon as the pressure on the roller 2i ceases, the roller 28 will be moved up by the springs as. The engagement of the cams and 25 with the

wheels

26 and 21 exerts a downward force on the wheels and on the roller sufficient to overcome the friction of the bars 253 and 29 against the heads of the pins 34 and so that during the driving movement of the roller iii, the roller and its

bars

28 and 29 are, in effect, floating under the horizontal resilient pressure of the springs 3B and Si and the upward resilient pressure from the roller is. This floataction allows the rollers to adjust themselves to each other and reduces the drag on the rotation of the drum to a minimum.

The liquid trough 22 has a liquid inlet opening in the end 22s. This opening is illustrated at in Figures 2 and 6. A. drain opening El is provided below the level of the opening at. These two openings are utilized to fill and drain the trough 22. A pipe nipple 68 is threaded into the trough end $4.11 and extends outwardly through the adjacent side frame ll] of the machine. A similar pipe nipple G9 is threaded into the trough end wall 22 around the opening 3?. These pipe nipples utilized to removably mount a valved bottle holder it. The bottle holder It has seats ii and for the ends of the nipples E8 and 69 and sealing rings is of a suitable resilient material such as neoprene rubber, are provided on e to releasably secure them and seal a in the recesses H and '72. The bottle holdor it is further secured against displacement by the provision of a laterally extending arm hi thereon which is fastened by a screw E5 to the side frame it. It is believed to be evident that upon removal of the screw 15, the bottle holder 5E3 can be pulled off the

nipples

63 and 59 so as to make it easy to clean out the inlet and outlet openings for the trough 22.

The several rollers il-2l are easily removed for cleaning or replacement. When the rollers and it are in the lowered position shown in Figure 2, they can be lifted out easily. In order to remove the rollers I9, 20, and 2!, the

pins

34 and 35 can be removed, after which it is a simple matter to lift the rollers I 9 and 28 out of the trough in portions 22a and 22b. The bars 28 and 2t slide oi? the ends of the shaft 2 la. The trough 22 can be completely removed by removing bolts to that secure the trough onto brackets is that are secured to the side frames id and l! by screw bolts H.

is believed that the nature and advantages of invention will be apparent from the foregoing description.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheet holding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pres sure roller for pressing copy sheets against the drum, a liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported in the trough, a second roller alongside the trough, end. portions on the trough, the second roller having bearings mounted for movement up and down on sa end portions, a third roller beneath the second roller, spring means yieldingly urging the third roller upwardly and causing it to support the second roller above its lower limit of movement with respect to the trough, a transfer roller above the wall of the trough between the first roller and the. second roller, means mounting the transfer roller for movement laterally toward and away from the first roller, said mounting means holding the transfer roller spaced above the second roller when the second roller is at its lower limit of movement with respect to said end portions, said mounting means including stop-s limiting the upward movement of the transfer roller when the second roller is moved up against it by the third roller.

2. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheet holding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pressure roller for pressing copy sheets against the drum, a liquid trough mounts. in the frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported in the trough, a second roller alongside the trough, end portions on the trough, the second roller having bearings mounted for movement up and down on said end portions, a third roller beneath the second roller, spring means yieldingly urging the third roller upwardly and causing it to support the second roller above its lower limit of movement with respect to the trough, a transfer roller above the wall of the trough between the first roller and the second roller, means mounting the transfer roller for movement 1aterally toward and away from the roller, spring means urging the transfer roller away from the first roller, mounting mean holding the transfer roller spaced above the second roller when the second roller is at its lower limit of movement with respect to said end portions, said mounting means including stops limiting the upward movement of the transfer roller wine the second roller is moved up against it by the third roller.

3. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a maste sheet holding drum rotatabiy mounted in the frame and having a pressure roller for pressing copy sheets against the drum, a liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported in trough, a second roller alongside the trough, end portions on the trough, the second roller having hearings mounted for movement up and down on said end portions, a third roller beneath the second roller, spring means yieldin ly urging the third roller upwardly causing it to support the second roller above its lower limit of movement with respect to the trough, a transfer roller above the wall of the trough between the first roller and the second roller, means mounting the transfer roller for movement laterally toward and away from the first roller, spring means urging the transfer roller away from the first roller, said mounting means holding the transfer roller spaced above the second roller when the second roller is at its lower limit of movement with respect to said end portions, said mounting means including stops limiting the upward movement of the transfer roller when the second roller is moved up against it by the third roller, and manually operable means for holding the third roller down out of contact with the second roller.

4. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheet holding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pressure roller for pressing copy sheets against the drum, a liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported in the trough, a second roller alongside the trough, end portions on the trough, the second roller having bearings mounted for movement up and down on said end portions, a third roller beneath the second roller, spring means yieldingly urging the third roller upwardly and causing it to support the second roller above its lower limit of movement with respect to the trough, a transfer roller above the wall of the trough between the first roller and the second roller, drive wheels fixed on the ends of said transfer roller, cams on the drum positioned to engage the wheels and rotate the transfer roller during a portion of each revolution of the drum, means mounting the transfer roller for movement laterally toward and away from the first roller, said mounting means holding the transfer roller spaced above the second roller when the second roller is at its lower limit of movement with respect to said end portions, said mounting means including stops limiting the upward movement of the transfer roller when the second roller is moved up against it by the third roller.

5. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheet holding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pressure roller for pressing copy sheets against the drum, 9. liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported in the trough, a second roller alongside the trough, end portions on the trough, the second roller having bearings mounted for movement up and down on said end portions, a third roller beneath the second roller, spring means yieldingly urging the third roller upwardly and causing it to support the second roller above its lower limit of movement with respect to the trough, a transfer roller above the wall of the trough between the first roller and the second roller, drive wheels fixed on the ends of said transfer roller, cams on the drum positioned to engage the wheels and rotate the transfer roller during a portion of each revolution of the drum, means mounting the transfer roller for movement laterally toward and away from the first roller, spring means urging the transfer roller away from the first roller, said mounting means holding the transfer roller spaced above the second roller when the second roller is at its lower limit of movement with respect to said end portions, said mounting means including stops limiting the upward movement of the transfer roller when the second roller is moved up against it by the third roller.

6. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheet holding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pressure roller for pressing moistened copy sheets against the drum, a liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, feeding and moistening rollers for transferring liquid from the trough to a copy sheet and advancing the sheet to the drum, inlet and outlet nipples projecting from one end of the trough through the frame, a valved bottle holder fixed to the frame and having lateral seats for said nipples into which the nipples are slidable, sealing rings on the nipples, and means to secure the holder to the frame.

7. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pressure roller mounted in the frame for pressing copy sheets against the drum, means for moistening and feeding copy sheets to the drum and pressure roller comprising a liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, a liquid supply roller positioned in the trough, a transfer roller positioned between the supply roller and the drum and spaced laterally and above the liquid supply roller and moistening roller spaced laterally from the supply roller toward the drum and below the transfer roller, means mounting the feed and moistening roller for movement up and down into and out of engagement with the transfer roller, a second feed roller spaced below the feed and moistening roller and movably mounted in said frame for up and down movement, means operable to raise the second feed roller to bring it in contact with the feed and moistening roller and to move the last named roller into engagement with the transfer roller, movable supports for the ends of the transfer roller including spring means urging the transfer roller away from the liquid supply roller toward the trough, a feed and the drum, drive wheels on the ends of the transfer roller and cams fixed to the drum at the ends thereof and positioned to engage the wheels as the drum rotates and force the transfer roller into driving engagement with the liquid supply roller against the pressure of the springs.

8. In a. duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a drum rotatably mounted in the frame, and a pressure roller for pressing copy sheets against the drum, a liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, a roller in the trough, said roller having bearings at the ends and said trough having slots in the ends thereof in which said bearings will move up and down, springs in said slots supporting said bearings, said trough having end portions extending laterally toward the drum outside the trough, slots in said end portions, a second roller between the trough and the drum having bearings at its ends movable up and down in the slots in said end portions, 9. transfer roller above the first named rollers and adapted to engage both of them to transfer liquid from the roller in the trough to the second roller, laterally movable supporting means mounting the transfer roller for movement into and out of engagement with the roller in the trough, spring means urging said supporting means in a direction to hold the transfer roller out of engagement with the roller in the trough, means on the drum operable as the drum rotates to move the transfer roller into engagement with the roller in the trough during a portion of each rotation of the drum, a sheet feeding roller movably mounted in the frame and normally spaced below the second roller, and means to move the sheet feeding roller upwardly against the second roller and operable to raise the second roller into engagement with the transfer roller.

9. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a drum rotatably mounted in the frame, and a pressure roller for pressing copy sheets against the drum, a. liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, a liquid feed roller in the trough, bearings at the ends of said roller supported by the ends of said trough, said trough having and portions extending laterally toward the drum outside the trough, a second roller between the trough and the drum having bearings at its ends, the bearings being mounted,

for up and down movement in said end portions, a transfer roller above the two first named rollers and adapted to transfer liquid from the feed roller to the second roller, bars extending transversely of the trough at the ends of said transfer roller, the transfer roller being journailed for rotation in said bars, means mounting said bars for limited movement toward and away from the drum, springs urging the bars toward the drum normally to hold the transfer roller spaced from the liquid feed roller, a sheet feeding roller spaced below the second roller and movably mounted in the frame for vertical movement to engage the second roller and lift it, manually 5 operable means for raising the sheet feeding roller and the second roller to bring the second roller into engagement with the transfer roller, and means on the drum operable to move the transfer roller and said bars away from the drum and bring the transfer roller into engagement 1 with the liquid feed roller during a portion of each rotation of the drum.

HENRY P. KEIL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Rockhill Oct. 10, 1944 Peterson et a1 Sept. 20, 1949 Jagger Jan. 2, 1951 Keil Dec. 23, 1952