US2779591A

US2779591A - Device for automatically maintaining side registry in traveling webs

Info

Publication number: US2779591A
Application number: US468902A
Authority: US
Inventors: William F Huck
Original assignee: HUCK CO
Current assignee: HUCK CO
Priority date: 1954-11-15
Filing date: 1954-11-15
Publication date: 1957-01-29
Anticipated expiration: 1974-01-29

Description

Jan. 29, 1957 w. F. HUCK 2,779,591 DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY MAINTAINING SIDE REGISTRY IN TRAVELING WEBS Filed Nov. 15, 1954 United StatesPateiit tinerant AUToMATICALLY MAiNTAINING j SIDE REGISTRY IN TRAVELING Wires William F. Huck, Forest Hills,- N. Y assignor to 'HuckCoinpany, New York, N. Y., a partnership ztaincsiibmsvmbei 15, 1954;55 :621 No468902 *3 Elaine. or 271 216) y i o n relates tofnieansfforassuringaccurate registrationota running we bof material, and more partic'tilar'lyto an mproveddevicefor automatically registering and maintaining side registry Ora running Web. I An object of the invention is to provide a simplified fluid-c trolled ineansforinaintaining accurate side registry oftra've liiig"web'siof rnaterial.

Another object is to provide a fluid-controlledfwebregistering tle'vice lof comparativelysimple design and v inexpensive construction," automatic and self-regulating 1n iLts functions, and particularly adapted for use in cornl 'printing establishments. their object the provisi s'ive means toassure accurate side registry and also dampialitiles to "prevent excessive corrections and any to yibratioriof the parts being adjusted er'ob ject istheprovision of a device for-(the registry of traveling webs, andwhicli'inay ily applied to existing printinghnd/orwebguiding "apparatus. i A i p f'ln the dia irgsdepic'ting a preferred'foi'm which the invention assu'r'ne:

"seeti'en; showing the web-controllingrollers,"and with the iing'web in normal or neutral'po sition; Figure 2 is a fragmentaIyJside 'or'end elevationa l yiew,

taken "on line 2 2 of Figure l," and a s viewed in thedirec- Figure 3 is a'fiaginentary planwie wshowing the Web- 1 "Cbntidllinrdllers"autbrnatidallymoved by'the mechanism and effective to retrirnth'Wehto the normal or neutral positionillustratedfinFigure l. i

jInthe printing"industry,where running Webs cf' paper or'other material are printedupon whiletraveling through their respective machines, an important consideration is themainten'ance of'cor'rectalignment of the printed characters on the webiprior to'its subsequent'severing into it pages and the like; ,In multi-color printing, correct alignment of the printed charactersfobjec'ts; etc., is imperative. Numerous devicesf-have been placed on the market, all with a view to the automatic maintenance or accurate {side registry of a; traveling web and consequently of 'the printed characters thereon. However, many of these prior devices [involve comparatively 3 expensive, complieated and frequently bulky equipment. It will be understood that where numerous Webs are, to'be operated upon in a confined space th e use of bulky registering rnechanismgis; generally speaking, not only inconvenient 4 1t o e a rsrb m r t c y vi t e. of h i i t fe rence with th e functioning of the machines with which they are associated.

ine'ans with a "small pressure differential produced' by a 2,779,591 erate evil?? p ice Thpres'entinvention particularly contemplates apneania'tic or fluid control of the position ofa web withirespect to its lateral disposition and withai/iewto the correct alignment ofthe printed characters. The maintenanceof' accurate side registry of travelingj'webs, according to: this inyention; is attained by the utilization of comparatively simpleand directly applied means.

Among the advantages accruing to the present: device is the reduction otjriction toa"minimurn and the attainriienro'f a highly' effective amplification'of the registering slight misalignment or lateral *displacement 'of 'tlie'f running websposition. The-net result is asimplifiedcon struction andan-accurate automatic 'maintenance ofside 12 and lfs. pin oi: 'stud IZZfarranged in the bracket 12, and in" a similar fashion, ajlever or l5 is fulcrumed on a Hst'ud 13a arrangedin thejbraeket 13. iA-pair of spaced beai'ing bl-o'clts Ito, iiT are piVotally supported in paralregistry of th e t ravelingweb. The invention particularly lendsitself foruse imthe-field' 'of newspaper'andkindred jp'rinting whereyin view of the multiplicity of operating components, "the room available for extra or auxiliary devices is limited and must be reserved for the inspection ofthe product; the eonvenience 'of the operators and the best functioning of the machine.

, Referring now in particular to the dlrawings'wherein invention, i1 and ila aresupporting frames arranged in spaced paralielism' andto which are fastened brackets A belbcraiiklever 14 isfulcrumed on a Between theframes 11 and 31a, an upperroller 18 has roller iii has'i'ts'opposite ends iturnably accommodated in theflo er "portion otthe said-bearing blocks 16, 17. A"iveblof "niatei'iali' w,as bestshown in Figure 2,

- i is engagc'dz or led under I the lower roller 19 and? thence over the upper roller 1?). Further inspectionoffFigure l will'discloseithat bracket12 has a dep'endingextension 121) that isfastenedyas by:the screws'20, toone of fthe cover'plates,"in this instancexthe upper cover plate 26,

'of an-assembly'designated: generally atzland effective to shift the rollers 13, 1'3 to'eorrect misaligrnnents of; the

WE'O W. i p

I The-assembly 21 comprises 'a cylindrical body portion "122 havingacomparativelyi large. central bore,'as at 23,

"'z'indarbintegrally formed thickened wall portion, as at24,

which is apertured to provide a comparatively narrow elongated passageway therethrough, as at 25. Cover plate 26,;1nentioned above, and the lower cover plate 27 sealingly close Ethe bore passageway 25 The upper cover q plate 2%. has a short duct 26a'op'ening into a counterbore 26b for a purpose that will appear hereinafter.

The lower cover plate 27'has an exteriorly-projecting 'annularffiange 28 providing a recessor cavity. The cavity;2 9 is normally closed by adorne-shaped lid or the-recess 29 and clamped between the annular flange, 28

and th e dome-sl'iaped lid 30 is aiflexible diaphragm 31 havingan elongatedvalve stem fastened toits centre, as

- by the nut 33 and washers34. The valve stem-,32,, as

best shown inFigured, is slidably mounted in the passageway 25 and has its-lower threaded, portion accommodated in a pocket 35 formed integrally with the lid 30, the pocket fifigbeing normally covered by a cap 3fiithreadedly-secured t to the lid 30; and having .an air-'admittanceopening 337.

i The pocket 3 5 accommodates acompressionflspringin 25 and the upper part of the hollow body portion 22.

confined between the bottom of the pocket and a washer 39 slidably retained on the valve stem 32 by a nut 40 threadedly engaged on the lower portion of the said valve stem. The valve stem 32, in the manner indicated, is urged downwardly, as viewed in Figure 1, by the biasing action of the spring 38.

. It will be understood that the force or downward urge of the spring 38 may be regulated or graduated by means of the nut 40. The nut 40 may be turned on the threaded valve stem to increase or decrease the degree of compression of the said spring with a view to maintaining the diaphragm 31 in the normal fiat or undistorted condition shown in Figure 1, except as hereinafter described when undesired deviations of web alignment occur, which are corrected by this device.

A passageway or duct 41 extending through the lower cover plate 37 from the cavity 29, registers with a duct 42 having a bafile 42a and located in an outer section 43- of the thickened wall portion 24 of the assembly 21. The duct 42 communicates with another duct 44 arranged transversely between adjacent surfaces of the said outer section 43 and the thickened wall portion 24. The passageway or duct 44 communicates, as by the pipe 45, with an evacuating or pressure source (not shown) of conventional design.

A short passageway 46 arranged transversely to the passageway 41 is connected to a pipe 47, passing through a filter 48 and communicating at its upper end with a tube 49 supported in the frames 11 and 11a.

The passageway 25 is in alignment with the short duct 26a and counterbore 26b, and is closed at the top and bottom by valve bodies or heads 32a, 32b on the valve stem 32. Adjacent the upper end of the passageway and communicating therewith and with the counterbore 26b when the valve stem 32 is moved to raise its valve heads 32a, 32b from their seats, is a somewhat irregular-shaped duct or recess 50 normal to and joining the passageway In a somewhat similar fashion, a lower duct following a zigzag path 51, communicates with the passageway 25 and with the lower portion or chamber of the bore of the hollow body portion 22. It is to be understood that passageway 25, below the lower valve head 32!), is normally at atmospheric pressure by means of a small orifice 51a arranged in the thickened wall portion 24 and communieating with the outer air.

The assembly 21 has a centrally-positioned, inwardly directed partition 52 which may be considered as dividing the hollow body portion into two chambers; i. e., an upper chamber 52a and a lower chamber 52b. The partition is centrally apertured to accommodate the adjacent, oppositely-directed, aligned shaft portions or ends of a dual piston 53 having an upper and a lower portion fastened to a reduced section of a piston rod 54, as by the nut 55. Packing rings, as at 56, on the dual piston 53, serve to maintain a fluid-tight seal with the upper and lower chambers of the hollow body portion 22.

The upper and lower chambers of the hollow body portion are filled with a viscous fluid, such as oil 57, and

communicate, one with the other, via the annular space encircling the adjacent ends of the upper and lower portions of the dual piston 53.

The upper portion of the piston rod 54 is slidably accommodated in the centrally-apertured upper cover 26, "and is pivotally connected, as at 58, with a link 59 that,

the adjacent upright 11a. A hand-wheel 63 fast on the stern of the adjusting screw 62 provides convenient manipulation of the latter, when desired, for the lateral adjustment of the tube 49.

A shoe 64 fast on the outer surface of the tube 49, has a small orifice 65 on its surface that communicates with the interior of the tube 49. This orifice is normally located so that a line drawn transversely through the centre of the orifice will be in alignment with the left hand edge of the web W.

it is to be obseryed that the pins or studs 12a and 1311 are located somewhat closer to a line extending longitudinally and centrally between the two uprights or frames 11 and 11a, than

pins

16a, 17a. By virtue of this construction, the

pins

16a and 17a and consequently the adjacent attached portions of the

levers

14, 15 are movable, as indicated by the dot-dash lines. The net result of the movement mentioned may be understood, by way of example, by reference to Figure 3 wherein the two

parallel rollers

18, 19 are shown tilted angularly to an equal extent with the result that the web W will follow the path illustrated in Figure 3.

In further accordance with the invention, the lever 15 may have an extension or fork, as at 15a, that is adapted to engage an arm or finger 66a of an adjacent doubleacting limit switch, of conventional design, indicated generally at 66 and fastened to the frame 11a. It will be understood that means (not shown) connected to the limit switch 66 may permit the corrective action of the abovedescribed mechanism to be transmitted to a preceding web side registry mechanism for an initial or coarse adjustment of the side registry of the traveling web.

The function and mode of operation of the device has been in part indicated, but may be summarized as follows:

Assuming the parts are in the predetermined normal or neutral running position illustrated in Figure 1 wherein the left-hand edge of the web W covers one-half of the orifice 65 of the shoe 64 on the air-conducting pipe 49, and further assuming that a vacuum-creating source (not shown) has been connected to pipe 45, air drawn through the half-closed orifice 65 will flow through tube 49 into pipe 47, duct 42, duct 44 and thence througlrpipe 45 to the aforesaid evacuating source. The orifice 65 is so designed that air flowing into it, when partly obstructed, as by the baffle 42a, will create a moderate vacuum in the cavity 29 tending to urge the stem 32 upwardly. This tendency is counterbalanced by the downward urge of spring 38 so that the diaphragm 31 is maintained substantially fiat, and the valve heads 32a, 32b exactly covering the entrance to the opening 26b and the bottom of the tubular passage 25 which communicates with the zig-zag duct 51 and consequently with the lower chamber 52b.

If the web W should be displaced to the right, as shown in Figure 3, the left-hand edge of the web W would completely uncover the'orifice 65 and ,air would freely enter the latter with a consequent increase of air pressure in the cavity 29 thereby permitting the spring 38 to urge the valve stem 32 downwardly. Under the conditions last-described, the air, freely entering the passageway' 25, via duct 42 and duct 44, will pass into the lower chamber 52b of the assembly casing via the zig-zag duct 51. Simultaneously, air at atmospheric pressure will enter the port or duct 26a in the upper cover plate and thence, through port 26b and duct 50, into the upper chamber 52a. t The dual piston 53 will be urged downwardly by the air pressure last-indicated, but the movement of the said dual piston will be damped or resisted by the viscous fluid designated generally at 57 on either side of the partition 52,- thus preventing unduly quick motions of the said piston and assuring its smooth operation.

The downward movement of the piston 53 alluded to will angularly move or rock the bell crank lever 14 on its fulcrum pivot 12a and consequently tilt or move

rollers

18, 19 and the web W engaged by them, from right to left, as viewed in Figure 3, to an extent sufficient to halfcover the orifice 65. This will return the parts to their normal running position and the web W is then in correct running position.

If the web W should be positioned too far to the left thereby completely covering the orifice 65 and thus preventing entrance of air, the vacuum in cavity 29 will be accentuated and the diaphragm 51 then urged upwardly so that the attached valve stem 32 will correspondingly move upwardly to displace its upper and lower valve heads 32a, 32b from their normal positions, as illustrated in Figure 1. i it By this movement of the valve stem 32, the upper valve head 32a will initially uncover and place duct 50 into communication with the passageway 25 which meanwhile has been maintained in a state of partial vacuum via the exhausting pipe 45. Simultaneously, the lower valve head 32b will uncover the zig-zag duct 51 into communication with the lower portion of the passageway 25, which portion is at atmospheric pressure, as above-indicated, by virtue of the orifice 51:: leading to the outer air.

The combined effect of the partial vacuum communicated to the upper chamber 52a plus the introduction of air at substantially atmospheric pressure into the lower chamber 521) via the now open zig-zag duct 51, lower portion of the passageway 25 and orifice 51a, will urge the dual piston 53 upwardly. This upward movement of the piston 53 will rock the bell crank lever 14 in a clockwise direction and consequently move the

rollers

18, 19 and thereby the web W from left to right. This will partly uncover the orifice 64 in the shoe 64 to the neutral midposition and therefore restore the state of equilibrium of the diaphragm 31 that previously existed, and as described above. The web W will now be restored to the normal or neutral position illustrated in Figure l.

While the device has been described and illustrated in its preferred form as operating through the intermediary of a vacuum-creatingsource, it is also equally operable by fluid pressure in excess of atmospheric pressure. For this last-mentioned mode of operation, no change in the design or construction of the device is required, but the spring 38 is withdrawn from the pocket 35 in the lid 30, placed within the cap 36 under the washer 39 and seated on the floor of the said cap.

This is effected by merely removing the threaded cap 36 from the lid 30, and the washer 39 and nut 40 from the end of the valve stem; then threading the nut 40 back on the valve stem sufficiently to permit the valve stem to accommodate the spring 35, then sliding the washer 39 up on the valve stem and into contact with the pressureadjusting nut 49, then inserting the spring 38 within the cap 36, and then threadedly engaging the latter with the lid 30. The spring 38, now seated on the floor of the cap and compressingly confined between it and the washer 39, will communicate an upward thrust or urge to the under side of the washer 39 and consequently to the valve stem 32 with its attached valve heads 32a, 32b.

As previously described with reference to the operation of the device by vacuum-creating means, the urge of the spring 38, in this instance an upward urge, may be varied by turning the nut 40 on the threaded valve stem in order to maintain the diaphragm 31 in the normal flat condition shown in Figure 1 or until deviations of web alignment occur and which require corrections that are performed by the instant device.

The operation of the device from a fluid pressure source instead of the previously-described vacuum creating source, is as follows:

With the parts, including the web W in the normal position illustrated in Figure 1, air under pressure will flow through the pipe 45 from the pressure source (not shown) into the passageway 25, past the bafile 42a and through duct 42, into the recess 29 with a pressure drop as it enters the latter which communicates with the outer air via the pipe 47, tube 49 and orifice 65. The orifice 6 65, as shown, is normally half-covered by the edge of the web W. I

If the orifice 65 should become more exposed by movement .of the web W to the right, an increased flow of air will take place and the pressure in the recess will decrease. The spring 38, in this instance, by virtue of its normal upward thrust against the under side of the washer 39 abutting the nut 40 threaded on the valve stem 32, will overbalance the downward pressure in the recess 29 imposed by the compressed air on the flexible diaphragm 31, and will move upwardly the valve stem 32 with its attached valve heads 32a, 32b. The compressed air pressure will enter the upper chamber 52a via the now exposed duct 50 from the passageway 25. Simultaneously, air at atmospheric pressure will enter the lower chamber 52b of the casing assembly 21, through orificeSla zig-zag duct 51. The dual piston 53 will now move downwardly, thereby rocking the bell-crank lever 14 in counterclockwise direction and consequently moving

rollers

18, 19 and web W to the left sufiiciently to cover the orifice 65 to establish the corrective action described above with reference to the operation of the device by means of vacuum-creating instrumentalities.

If the web W should shift from the position illustrated, to the left thereby covering the orifice 65, the air pressure will obviously increase in the duct 42 and re cess 29, thereby forcing the diaphragm 31 downwardly to admit the compressed air into the lower chamber 52b via the zigzag duct 51. At the same time, the upper duct 50 will communicate the upper chamber 52 with the outer air through the short duct 26a and counterbore 26b. The increased air pressure in the lower chamber 5215 will now force the dual piston 53 upwardly, thus rocking the bell-crank lever 14 in a clockwise direction to move the attached

rollers

18, 19 and the web W to the right, thereby uncovering the orifice 65 until a position of equilibrium with respect to the operating components is reached, as heretofore explained in detail.

It is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for maintaining side registry of a running web, a frame, a pair of web-guiding rollers arranged in opposed parallelism and engaging opposite sides of a running web, a pair of bearing boxes pivotally connected to opposite ends of said web-guiding rollers, a pair of levers hingedly connected to said pair of bearing boxes, a pair of brackets fastened to the frame and rockably supporting said pair of levers, an assembly fastened to one of said brackets and having a piston slidable therein, a connecting rod secured to said piston and hingedly connected to one of the levers, said assembly including a cylinder and valvemeans, said valve means controlling the flow of liquid into and out of said cylinder, a tubular member slidably mounted on the frame and having a fluid-admittance orifice, said orifice being slidably engaged by the running web, manuallyoperable means connected to the tubular member and to the frame, said manually-operable means being constructed and adapted to vary the position of the tubular member with respect to the frame and consequently to vary the position of the orifice relatively to the running web; and other means connecting the valve means to the tubular member and to a source of fluid pressure.

2. In a device for maintaining side registry of a running web, a frame, a pair of web-guiding rollers arranged in opposed parallelism and engaging opposite sides of: a: running web, apairof bearingboxes pivotally connected to opposite ends of said web-guiding rollers,

a'pai'r of levers hingedly connected to said pair of bearing boxes, a pair of brackets fastened to the'fra'me and rockably supporting said pair of levers, an assembly fastened to one of said brackets and having a piston slidable therein, a connectingrod secured to said piston and hingedly connected to one of the levers, said assembly including a cylinder and valve means, said valve means being constructed and adapted to control the flow of fluid into and out of. said cylinder, a tubular member slidably mounted on the frame and having a fluid-admittance'orifice, said orifice being slidably'engaged by the running web, a threaded member engaged in said frame, a bracket fastened to .thethreaded member and to the tubular member, said threaded member being constructed and adapted to shift the last-mentioned bracket and the tubular'member in a plane'normal to the'frame, and other means connecting'the valve means to the tubular' member and to a source offluid pressure.

3. In a device for maintaining side registry of a running web, a support, a pair of web-guiding rollers arranged in spaced parallelism and adjustably mounted on said support, said rollers being engaged with and eflective'to guide arunning'web, a'tubular member mounted on the support and having a fluid-admittance orifice, manually-adjustable means connected to the tubular member'and to the support,'said manually-adjustable means being effective to move the tubular member relatively tothe} support and said orifice being slidable by an edge portion of the running web, an assembly connected to the support, a partition arranged within the assembly and having tanopening, a piston slidably mounted within the assembly and having a connecting rod passing through the opening, a pair of levers rockably connected to the support, a pair of bearing boxes hingedly connected to said pair of levers and rotatably supporting said rollers, a. hinged connection between the connecting rod and one of said pair of levers, a viscous fluid within said assembly and on either side of said partition, said viscous fluid being contactable with interior, opposed portions of the piston and adjacent opposed surfaces of the partition, valve means within the assembly and operable by fluid pressure, and tubular means connecting the valve means to the tubular member and to a source of fluid pressure.

References Cited in the file of this patent I v UNITED STATES PATENTS 632,744