US2741982A - Tape printing and cutting device - Google Patents

Description

F. J. RQUAN ET AL TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE Aprjl 17, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 22, 1951 fa l I/IIIIIIIIIIIIIJTIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII April 17, 1956 J RQUAN ETAL 2,741,982

TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE Filed Sept. 22, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 fiw/m/S IN fi a/r m "iii ATTORNEY April 17, 1956 J ROUAN E Z 2,741,982

TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 22, 195] ATTORNEY April 17, 1956 F. J. ROUAN ETAL TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 22, 1951 mm 52 RU Y mJ m Z 54 April 7, 956 F. J. ROUAN ETAL TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 22, 1951 .INVE T R5 gage/5 Qua/1 4/ er aflaor/ 63 z 1 e.

ATTORNEY United States PatentO 2,741,982 I 1 TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE Application September 22, 1951, Serial No. 247,892

1 Claim. (Cl. 101-227) This invention relates to printing upon tape, and more particularly to tape controlling and cutting in relation to such printing operations.

The machines to which the invention is particularly applicable are known as metered stamping or mailing machines which print value indicia such as postage either on individual articles passing through the machine, e. g. cards or letters, or on portions of a tape which are severed to form individual stamps for application to articles or packages which are such that the machine cannot handle them for direct printing.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide methods and means for so handling the tape that, cutting off of the next length of tape to be dispensed is effected prior to the printing operation. In this fashion the tape movement can be confined to a forward feed, obviating the supposed need for retracting the end of the tape from its cutoff position back to the initial printing position, or back to a stowage position to avoid interference with the printing of cards, letters and the like, hereinafter referred to as articles.

A feature of this invention is the provision of a novel method for handling the tape so that it is advanced to a ready position adjacent but out of range of the printing mechanism in the rest position of the machine, advancing the leading end into range of the printing and feeding mechanism and cutting off a length of tape before the printing begins, then printing and issuing the tape length and advancing the new leading end of the tape to ready position at the end of the operating cycle.

Another feature is the provision of a simple andefficient means for carrying out the novel methods of this invention wherein the cutter is located between the tape advancing means and the printing point so that the continuous tape is constantly under the control ofthe advancing means.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of a simple interlock associated with the article trip mechanism for rendering the novel tape control means ineffective to feed or cut the tape when an article has been inserted in the machine for printing.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for holding a supply roll of tape, which means includes roll holding slots so configured as to prevent tape breakage or spinning of the supply with the production of loose convolutions of tape, which sometimes occur where feeding involves sudden starts. and stops.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front longitudinal section showing a portion of theprinting machine according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial section of the tape control mechanism taken approximately on line 2-2 of Fig. 5 but including a portion of the casing, and illustrating particularly the tape drive release;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the device of Fig. 5, the

illustrated casing portion being shown in section, and illustrating particularly the tape feeding drive;

2,741,982 Patented Apr. 17, 1956 Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially on line 44 of Fig. 5, but including a portion of the casing, and illustrating particularly the drive for the cutter;

Fig. 5 is a partial plan view to a larger scale than in Fig. 1 of the device of Fig. l with the casing removed and illustrating the tape control mechanisms and driving means therefor;

Figs. 6 to 10 are diagrammatic sections showing the tape control, cutting and printing means and the position of the tape therein at several consecutive times during the cycle of operation;

Fig. 11- is a front elevational detail view of the machine with the casing and parts of the mechanism removed, and showing especially the power drive and both trip mechanisms; 1

Fig. 12 is a compressed end elevation looking from the right and towards the left in Fig. 11, the mounting portions being shown in broken lines and the manual trip lever being omitted;

Fig. 13 is a detail section taken substantially on line 13-43 of Fig. 12; and i Fig. 14 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but with parts broken away, and illustrating the manner in which the tape feed is prevented when an article is being printed upon.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the machine of the invention comprises a base unit 11 above which is mounted a rotary printing drum 13. in the case of a metered mailing machine, the latter constitutes part of a meter unit which is detachable from the base unit 11. An impression roller 15 is mounted for rotation by means of a shaft 17, andis located directly beneath the printing drum 13; The impression roller shaft 17 is suitably connected (e. g. by an intermediate flexible coupling, not shown) with the drive shaft 19, Figs. 11 and 12. On the shaft 19 is rotatably mounted a drive sprocket 20 which is driven bya toothed belt 21 from the sprocket 22 of the motor shaft 23. A suitable disableable one-way clutch mechanism 24 normally connects the sprocket 20 and the shaft 19 for driving rotation in a forward direction. The printing drum 13 is also driven from the shaft 19 by a gear 25 fixed thereon and meshing with gear 26 connected to the printing drum. The gearing 25, 26 may have any suitable ratio, corresponding to the rotation ratio of the impression roller 15 and printing drum 13, and in the form shown the gear 25 rotates three times for each rotation of the gear 26. Associated with the drive mechanism for shaft 19 is a stop mechanism which is not shown in detail but includes the gear 27 fixed to shaft 19, and stop arm 28 fixed to the rock shaft 29 and positioned for movement into the path of a projection on a stop disk 30 for disconnecting the clutch 24. Suitable gearing (not shown), driven by the gear 27 may be caused to drive any suitable actuator which makes one revolution for each revolution of the printing drum 13 and which thereupon rocks the shaft 29 into stopping position to disconnect the clutch 24 and cause the stopping of the printing drum after exactly one complete printing cycle (i. e. one complete revolution) each time it is started.

In order to start the printing cycle, the machine is provided with a trip mechanism including the dog 33 which is fixed to'one end of a rockable operating shaft 35. A spring 37 (Fig. 13) urges the tooth of dog 33 down into latching engagement with one of the steps 39 or 40 on the stop arm 28. A spring 42, anchored at a suitable fixed point on the base 11, tends to draw the stop arm 28 away fromstopping position, except for the intervention of the latch dog 33. Affixed to the other end of operating shaft 35 and remote from the dog 33 is an operating lever 41 provided with a cam surface 43. It will be seen that rocking of the lever 41 upwardly in Fig. 11 will rock shaft 35 and lift the dog 33, permitting spring 42 to withdraw the stop arm 31 from stopping engagement with the pro- 3 jection on the stop disk 30. This permits the clutch 24 to engage and to drive shaft 19 until the cycle of exactly one revolution of printing drum 13 is complete before arm 28 is again moved into stopping position by the stop mechanism and the dog 33 again drops down onto step 39 under the influence of spring 37.

The operating arm 41 may be rocked by either of two tripping actuators which can be used to start the cycle. An article which is to receive direct printing will strike the article trip arm 45 (Figs. 2, ll, 12 and 14) which rocks with its shaft 47 and arm 49 (Figs. it and 12)to draw a pitman 51 towards the right in Fig. ll. The pitman is connected to a sliding plate 53 which carries a projection 55 so positioned as to strike cam surface 43 and rock the operating arm 41. If, however, a printing on tape is desired rather than on the article itself, manual trip means is provided which comprises a pivoted manually actuatable lever '7 and carries a projection 59 arranged to strike the cam surface 43 and rock the arm 41 when the finger piece 61 is depressed.

Turning now to the tape printing aspect of the machine, and referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, the base 11 carries a tape roll support, indicated generally at 63, and a guide plate 65 leading from the roll support 63 to the impression roller 15. An opening in the guide table accommodates a feed roller 67 opposite which is a spring pressed backing roller 69. A second opening in the guide table receives a rotatable serrated cutter element 71 cooperable with an adjustably fixed cutter element 73. Between the cutters 71, 73 and the impression roller 15 a leaf spring retainer 75, mounted on the base 11 presses against the plate 65. The delivery chute 77 strips the printed length from the impression roller surface and conducts the same to the delivery rolls 79 and 81, which may be driven in any convenient manner, e. g. by a belt drive from a pulley 82 afiixed to shaft 17 and seen in Fig. 5.

Tape feed Inasmuch as the present invention provides new methods whereby the tape can have a unidirectional feed, no reversing mechanism is required and the feeding motion of roller 67 is obtained from the shaft 19 by a chain of mechanism comprising a main tape control gear 83 which is mounted on and drives a timing shaft 84 and meshes with the gear 85 on shaft 17 to be driven thereby. Fixed to rotate with shaft 84 are a cooperating mutilated gear 87 and geneva wheel 89, the gear carrying axially extending geneva pins 91 and 92. Mounted on shaft 93, which drives the feed roller 67, are a mutilated gear 95 and a geneva wheel 97 connected for movement together, the former cooperating with gear 87, and the latter with the geneva 89 and pins 91 and 92. The gear 83 and shaft 84 are designed to make one complete continuous revolution per printing cycle as does the printing drum 13, and the gear 87 and geneva wheel 89 rotate continuously with shaft 84. The gear 87 has a short toothed portion 87a and a longer toothed segment 87b adapted to engage the short portion 95a and the long segment 95b respectively of the gear 95. Thus the shaft 93 and its attached parts will norm ally be rotated through one complete revolution for each revolution of shaft 84, but the motion will be intermittent with periods of dwell interspersed, the shaft 93 being held against rotation during such periods by the choking action of the geneva movement 89, 97. A gear 99 on shaft 93 meshes with gear 101 connected to the backing roller 69, and their ratio is appropriately selected with respect to the feed roll and backing roll diameters so that an equal forward feeding movement of the roll surfaces result, and the backing roll 69 moves whenever the feed roll 67 is rotated.

Cutter drive Also fixed to the shaft 84 with gear 87 and geneva 89,

are a mutilated cutter drive gear 103 (Fig. 4) and a choke plate 105. The gear 103 is designed to mesh with an unmutilated gear 107 fixed to shaft 109 which carries the rotary cutter member 71. Shaft 109 also has fixed thereto a disk 111 which is provided with a peripheral recess 113 for engagement with the choke plate 105. The toothed segment of gear 103 is so disposed that the gear 107 and cutter 71 are rotated only when the tape feed roller is held stationary by the geneva movement 89, 97, and the length of the segment of gear 103 is such as to turn the gear 107 through one revolution. At such times as the gear 107 is not being turned, the choke engages in the recess 113 and prevents movement of cutter 71.

Disabling of tape feed by article trip When an article A such as a card or letter is inserted in the machine for printing, the tripping of the mechanism by the article trip lever 45 would engage the clutch 24 and commence the drive, and unless some means were provided to defeat the normal tape feed operation, a length of tape would also be fed forward by the series of elements described immediately above, including the feed roll 67. By placing a clutch in the feed roll drive and making the same releasable in response to the actuation of the article trip lever, this eventuality is prevented. This is illustrated especially in Figs. 2 and 14 of the drawing wherein the gear 83 is shown as rotatably mounted on shaft 84 adjacent a clutch disk 115 which has a peripheral notch 117 and which is afiixed to said shaft. A dog 119 is pivoted on the gear 83 and has its tooth 121 urged into engagement with the notch 117 by spring 123 which is also carried by the gear 83. Normally the engagement of tooth 121 in the notch 117 is suflicient to connect gear 83 with shaft 84 to drive the same and the elements connected thereto. The article trip lever 45, however, is provided with a cam extension 125 arranged to swing into the path of a follower pin 127 on the dog 119 as the lever 45 is moved to tripped position as shown in Fig. 14. As the gear 83 starts to rotate due to the rotation of gear 85 on shaft 17 the dog 119 moves upwardly, but before it can drivingly strike the wall of the notch 117, its follower pin 127 engages the cam 125 so that the tooth 121 is cammed radially outwardly and thus withdrawn from notch 117. The parts are shown in Fig. 14 just before the gear 83 has moved enough to cam the tooth 121 to fully withdrawn position. With a slight further movement the tooth 121 will be fully withdrawn and thereafter the gear 83 will rotate idly through one revolution without driving the shaft 84 or its connected mechanisms, and hence with out feeding or cutting the tape. As the gear 83 approaches the stopping position at the end of the cycle, the article A will have been fed beyond the trip lever 45 so that the latter will have returned to the Fig. 2 position allowing the tooth 121 to snap into the notch 117 ready for tape driving at the next tripping of the machine if necessary.

Tape supply holder A further important feature of the invention is the novel tape supply holder illustrated in Fig. 1 which comprises a pair of spaced upstanding brackets 129, only one of which is shown since they are substantailly identical. Each of the brackets has an L-shaped slot consisting of a downwardly extending entrance portion 131 and a slightly upwardly sloping terminal portion 133 which projects in the direction of tape feed. A shaft 135 which supports the roll 137 of tape T is extended between the brackets and allowed to rest at the bottom ends of slots 131. The tape T is led from the back of the roll over the top and into the nip of the tape feed rollers 67 and 69. A weighted friction member 139 is pivoted on the base 11 and rests against the roll 137.

When a tape is intermittently fed with quick starts and stops, there is a pronounced tendency for the supply roll to hang back due to inertia at the start of a feeding g p a stroke thus straining the tape and possibly tearing it, and to spin or overrun at the end of a feeding stroke thus throwing loose loops of tape which are again especially susceptible to tearing at the next start. These tendencies are greatly reduced by the present invention.

wherein the initial resistance to roll rotation is reduced by allowing the shaft 135 to roll up the incline provided by slot portions 133. This avoids the necessity for overcoming sliding friction, thus giving an easier, more gradual start, and at the same time places the roll 137 in a position of gravity potential so that when the pull on the tape T is relaxed, the tendency of the roll to spin forwardly is largely counteracted by the gravity pull tending to rewind the tape slightly by causing the shaft 135 to roll down the slot portions 133 to initial position.

Cooperating with the displaceability of the roll is the particular configuration of the friction member 139 which is so curved as to provide a large surface of contact with a roll of full diameter when the shaft 135 is in the rest position at the bottom of slots 131. This is the maximum friction position, and when the roll moves forwardly in the slots 133, the area of contact of the friction member 139 with the roll periphery becomes progressively smaller and produces reduced frictional effect. Thus when the roll rotation is being started up and the roll starts to climb the incline of slots 133, the friction effect of member 139 is desirably reduced to permit a quick start, and when the tape tension stops and the roll settles back to the Fig. 1 position, the friction is desirably increased to assist in the prevention of overrun.

While there is also some reduction in the area of contact of member 139 with the roll periphery due to the diminishing roll diameter, this is also desirable, inasmuch as the importance of the control exercised over the roll decreases as the diameter and hence the rotative inertia decrease. The friction reduction due to this cause proceeds much more gradually than the reduction due to roll displacement described above. Preferably the friction member is pivotally mounted on a cover 141 which closes the supply roll compartment forming part of the base 11, and which is hinged to said base 11 by a pin 143. The cover 141 thus simultaneously forms a closure for the tape supply and a guide plate for articles being fed to the printing point. A stop 145 mounted on the cover 141 prevents excessive swinging of the friction member 139, so that the latter is always held in the proper position for engagement with a roll 137 while the cover 141 is being opened or closed. The stop 145 also prevents contact with the roll 137 after it reaches a diameter such that the inertia of the roll is insuflicient to require any friction control.

Tape control and cutting-Operation With particular reference to Figs. 6 to 10, taken in conjunction with Figs. 1 and 3 to 5, the operation of the tape control mechanism will now be explained. When the finger piece 61 (Fig. 11) is depressed, a manual tripping of the clutch 24 is effected and the machine begins to operate with rotation of shaft 17, and consequently of the printing drum 13 and impression cylinder 15. The initial portion of the rotation produces no printing or tape feeding action at the impression cylinder since the printing drum 13 is a segment (Fig. 1) and hence comes into contact with the impression roller only after about degrees of rotation from its Fig. 1 stopping position. During this time, however, the timing shaft 84 is being rotated through its connection with gear 83. During the first 40 degrees of rotation of the shaft 84, the pin 91 and the gear teeth 87a drive the shaft 93 through a partial revolution thus feeding the tape T from the Fig. 6 position up to a position where the leading edge overlies the impression roller 15 and is ready to be grasped for feeding forward and printing by the printing drum 13 (Fig. 7). The next sector of movement of shaft 84 amounts to about 160 degrees during which time the shaft 93 is held immobile by the geneva elements 89, 97. At the 25 degree point, just before the shaft 13 and feed roller 67 stop rotating, the gear segment 103 meshes with cutter gear 107 and starts the cutter 71 rotating, so that cutting actually occurs just as the movement of feed roller 67 and tape T ceases (Fig. 8) after about 40 degrees of rotation of the gear 83. Thereafter the gear teeth of the segment 103 continue to rotate the cutter until it is returned to its initial ready position, which occupies the next 140 degrees of movement. During this time, and commencing at about the 80 degree point, the feeding surfaces on the printing drum 13 pick up the leading edge of the severed piece of tape which is being held in readiness by the spring finger 45, and feed the severed tape length forward to print the desired information thereon. This movement goes forward and continues even after cutter rotation is complete at the 180 degree point and the cutter positioned and locked by the choke engaging in the recess 113, the feeding and printing of the tape lengthoccupying about 220 degrees of movement from 80 degrees to about 300 degrees. At the 200 degree point when the printing and feeding of the severed tape is about half completed, the toothed portion 87b of the gear 87 engages the tooth portion 951) on the tape feed gear 95, with the assistance of the pin 92 engaging the geneva member 97. Then through the next 110 degrees, the tape T from the tape supply 63 is fed forward simultaneously with the feeding of the cut length at the impression roller (Fig. 9). When the leading edge of the new tape from the tape supply has reached the ready position of Fig. 10, the gear teeth 87b are disengaged from the gear teeth 95/5 at about the same time that the severed length of tape is fed out from between the printing drum 13 and the impression roller 15. During the remaining 50 degrees of rotation no tape feeding occurs, the parts merely being returned to stopping position in preparation for the next cycle. When this condition is reached the clutch 24 is automatically disengaged and rotation of the printing drum, and of the shaft 17 and timing gear 83 ceases.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that the operation of the invention is exceedingly simple, for the leading edge of the tape supply T on the roll 137 is never conducted beyond the printing point. Therefore the tape can be fed forwardly at all times with no need to retract the leading edge to ready position to avoid conflict with articles whose printing might be conducted at the same location by the drum 13, or to avoid waste of the tape between printings. The improved operation is brought about by the fact that the cutter is located ahead of the printing point and that a severed length of tape is handled for printing instead of the leading end of the tape supply itself.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is:

In a tape printing device; a tape printing and advancing means; a feed roller having a drive shaft and disposed ahead of said printing means for transporting tape to the printing means; a mutilated gear fixed to said feed roller shaft; a geneva element having drive surfaces and stop surfaces also fixed to said feed roller shaft; a rotary cutter having a drive shaft and disposed between said feed roller and said printing means; a gear and a stop plate fixed to said cutter shaft; said plate having a peripheral stop recess therein; a power driven timing shaft; and four elements mounted coaxially on said timing shaft and connected for simultaneous rotation consisting of a mutilated gear meshing with said feed roller gear and carrying pins engageable with the drive surfaces on said geneva element, a plate having surfaces engageable with the stop surfaces of said geneva element, a mutilated gear engageable with the cutter gear, and a choke plate having a surface engageable with the recess in said cutter stop plate.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Rouan et a1 June 8, 1943 8 Pequet June 8, 1948 Hoppe Aug. 8, 1950 Wockenfuss Sept. 5, 1950 Ledig Dec. 16, 1952 Uhl Dec. 16, 1952

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