US2816408A

US2816408A - Bottom wrapper feeder

Info

Publication number: US2816408A
Application number: US583240A
Authority: US
Inventors: Powers Richard
Original assignee: Bulletin Co
Current assignee: Bulletin Co
Priority date: 1956-05-07
Filing date: 1956-05-07
Publication date: 1957-12-17
Anticipated expiration: 1974-12-17

Description

Dec. 17, 1957 R. PowERs .2,316,408

BOTTOM WRAPPER FEEDER- Filed May '7, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 RICHARD vPOWERS AT'II'ORNEYS R. POWERS BOTTOM WRAPPER FEEDER Dec. 17, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May '7. 1956 WIYAI x INVENTOR.

RICHARD POWERS ATTORNEYS Dec. 17, 1957 R. POWERS BOTTOM WEAPPER FEEDER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 7, 1956 .S www mP @E A H. mw RY B Lm,

ATTORNEYS Dec. 17, 1957 R. PowERs 2,816,408

' BOTTOM WRAPPER FEEDER Filed May '7, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 R|CHARD POWERS BY 206 Inl FIG. 7.

Dec. 17, 1957 R. POWERS 2,816,408

` BOTTOM 'WRAPPER FEEDER Filed May 7, 1956 5 sheets-sheet 5 v INVENTOA |52 A |90 RICHARD POWERS les Y f BY '94.1 |92 @40g-f ATTO R N EYS United States horror/r WRAPPER FEEDER Application May 7, 1956, Serial No.y 583,246

4 Cllilus- (Cl, 532-209) This invention relates to a machine adapted to feed a wrapper sheet under an article. The machine of this invention has utility, for example, in placing a wrapper sheet under a bundle of newspapers. Since its use in connection with newspaper bundles appears to be typical, this invention will be discussed as applied to newspaper bun dles.

In the modern newspaper publishing plant, the news,- papers, after printing, are placed in bundles which are then protected by the placement of a Wrapper sheet both underneath and on top of the bundle. In view of the great rapidity of the production of the bundles, it is diiiicult to accomplish this. wrapping particularly with respect to the placement of a wrapper sheet under each bundle. The machine of this invention solves the problem of placing a wrapper sheet underneath each bundle as rapidly as the handles are supplied tothe machine.

The objects of this invention become fully apparent on reading the following description in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a. plan view of a machine in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the machine of Figure 1,;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the planes indicated by the line 3T3 in Figure l;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the ma.- chine Shown in Figure Y3;

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated by the line 5-,.-5 in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a front elevation of the knife structure of the machine of Figure 1,;

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the control circuit of the machine of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a vertical section taken on the same plane as Figure 4 and shows an alternative embodiment for holding the wrapper sheet;

Figure 9 is a view taken on the plane 9-9 in Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing a modifica.- tion of the control circuit of Figure 7.

As shown in Figures l and 2, a machine 2 in accordance with this invention has a supporting frame 4 on which is mounted a top surface plate 6. Plate 6 is provided with a plurality of openings 8 through which project a plurality of conveyor rollers 16. Rollers 10, which are driven bydrive shaft V1.2 as will be further described, are mounted on shafts 14 and shaft 16. Each of shafts 14 and 16 is mounted in end bearing plates 13. Shaft 12 is mounted in saddle bearings 26.

A motor 22, through a reduction gear box 24, drives a sprocket 2 6 which, in turn, drives ychain 28 and sprocket 30 which is secured to shaft 12. A sprocket 34 (Figure l) secured to shaft 12 drives a chain 36 which engages sprockets 38 secured respectively to shafts 14 and a sprocket 40 (Figure l) mounted on shaft 42,. Sprocket 44 on shaft 4 2 drives Jchain 46 which, in turn, drives sprocket 48. secured to shaft 1 6. Cover members 5,() and 52 adjacent surface plate 6 cover over the driving chains and sprockets and the ends of the shafts being driven,

arent- O `use An article, for example, a bundle of newspapers can be fed to the machine 2 by a conveyor belt 54 shown mounted on conveyor roller 56. The bundles can be removed by a conveyor belt 58 shown mounted on la conveyor roller 60.

As best seen in Figures l through 3, a spool 64 carries a Wrapper sheet 66 and is mounted on a shaft 68 journaled in saddle bearing 70. Wrapper sheet 66 is led upwardly past guide plates 72 and '74 and has its leading edge 76 passing upwardly through an opening 78 which is transverse to the direction of travel of the conveyor system.

Although not essential to the operation of the machine of this invention, it is desirable to maintain some slack in the sheet 66, particularly if it is desired to use a very large roll of paper. Slack is achieved by means of a belt 80 driven by a pulley 82 mounted on a shaft 14 (see Figure 2). Belt 80 engages pulley 84 secured to shaft 68. Belt 80, which is preferably a V-belt engaging V-sh-aped pulleys, has suicient slack so that it ordinarily will not drive shaft 68. A switch 86 (Figure 3) is mounted on guide plate. 72 and has a control member 88 projecting through an opening 911 in plate 72. When the sheet 66 is taut, it moves operating member 88 to close switch 8.6 and ac tuate a solenoid 9,2 (Figure 2). The actuation of solenoid 92 causes its plunger 914 to move outwardly and pivot lever 9.6 away from solenoid 92. This causes idler pulley 98 mounted on lever 96 to engage belt 80 removing the., slack therefrom and thus causing belt 80 to drive, Shaft 6.3. When slack is provided in sheet'66, switch 8.6 opens and solenoid 92 retracts plunger 94. Solenoid 92 and lever- `9,6 are mounted on |a supporting platiorrn 10i), which, in turn, is secured to frame 4.

The leading edge 76 of sheet 66 is prevented from falling downwardly when not engaged by a bundle of newspapers by means of a brake 1.04 (Figure 3). Brake 104 has a pad 106 of a material having a relatively high c0- eflicient of friction, for example, rubber which is secured to an ariu 19S illounted on shaft 110. Shaft `116 is mounted on bearings 112 (Figure 1) and has secured to it a lever 11.4. (Figure 2,). A tension coil spring 116 has one end secured to leyer- 114 and the other end secured to frame 4. to bias the lever 114, shaft and arm 108 So as to force pad 106 against

sheet

6,6 which is in turn forced against guide 72. A solenoid 118 has a plunger 120 which engages roller 1 22 on lever 114. Actuation of solenoid 118. causes the brake mechanism to be moved so 21S to nieve pad 1,06 away. from paper Sheet 66 As shown in Figures l and 2, in order to cut the wrapper sheet, the machine 2 is provided with a serrated knife 1.2.6y which iS Secured to Plates 123. and -A Blocks 132. and 134. are secured to the underside of

plates

128 and 1,30. and, in turn, are welded to a shaft 136. Shaft 136 is journaled in bearing 138. Shaft 136 is connected to a

link

14,0 which, in turn, is pivotably connected to a

link

14,2,y which is pivotably secured to rod 144 of ram 146.

As best seen in Figures 1 and 2, a cam 143 is flxedly secured toshaft 1.36T and is adapted to engage brake lock out switch 1,52 and ram reset switch 154.

As seen in Figures 3 and 4, a switch 156 which, as will be ydescribed in greater detail later, is adapted to cause the release of brake 104, is secured to plate 72 and is operated by cam 158. As best seen in Figure 4, cam 158 is secured to block 1 60 which is secured to block 162 and together with block 162 forms a saddle around shaft 136, the blocks 16d and 162 being freely rotatable about shaft 136. A coil tension spring 164 is secured to block 162 and plate 128 to bias cam 158 upwardly away from switch 156. At the right-hand end of block 160, as viewed in Figure 4, is secured an upstauding linger 166 which is adapted to. be engaged by an article being conveyed to rot-ate. hloeksv 1.60 and 1 62 about Shaft 13.6,.

The hahahaha sidesef: plates .1.28 and 130, as .viewed 3 in Figure 4, are arcuate in order to act as a guiding surface for the paper sheet 66.

A roller 147 is mounted for rotation in the

blocks

132 and 134 secured to plate 128, roller 147 projecting upwardly through opening 14S to a level slightly above the top of plate 128. Similarly, a roller 149 is mounted for rotation in the

blocks

132 and 134 secured to plate 130, roller 149 projecting upwardly through an opening 151 to a level slightly above the level of the top of plate 130.

The actuation of the ram 136 is initiated by switch 170 (see Figure 3). Switch 170 is actuated by a lever 172 which is pivoted at 174. Lever 172 is provided with a cam end 176 which projects upwardly through an opening 178 in plate 6. The end 176 is adapted to be cammed downwardly by an article being conveyed. The cam end 17,6`is provided with an L-shaped linger 180 which is adapted to engage the bottom of top plate 6 to limit the upper travel of lever 172. A tension coil spring 182 acts to bias lever 172 downwardly against switch 170 to maintain this switch in a normally open position.

Referring now to the schematic showing of Figure 7, the brake solenoid 118 is connected by

lines

186 and 188 respectively to

power lines

190 and 192. The brake reiease switch 156 is in line 186 and the brake lockout switch 152 is in line 188. Solenoid 92, which controls idler pulley 98 associated with belt 80, is connected to line 190 by line 194 which contains switch 86 and to line 192 by line 196. A iiuid control valve 200 which controls the direction of operation of ram 146 is connected to line 192. Movement of valve 200 in the direction to cause the rain 146 to retract and thus raise knife 126 is caused by the energizing of line 202 which is connected through timer 204 to line 190, the switch 170 being on the other side of timer 204 in line 190. Timer 204 is connected to line 192 by means of line 206. The movement of valve 200 in the direction to cause ram 146 to pull the knife 126 downwardly is caused by the energizing of line 208 which contains switch 154 and is connected to line 190.

Operation ln operation motor 22 is operated continuously to continuously operate the conveyor rollers 10. The leading edge 76 of wrapper sheet 66 is fed up past brake 104 and guide

plates

72 and 74 until it projects upwardly above top plate 6. Slack is maintained in sheet 66 through the actuation of switch 86 when sheet 66 becomes too taut which, in turn, causes solenoid 92 to force idler roller 98 against belt 80 to take up the slack and in turn to cause the belt to rotate the roll of paper. As previously indicated, this arrangement for providing slack is not essential.

As a bundle 210 is advanced from conveyor belt 54 onto the machine 2, the leading edge 76 of sheet 66 is maintained projecting upwardly above top plate 6 by means of brake 104 which is held in braking engagement with paper 66 by means of spring 116.

As bundle 210 is conveyed against sheet 66, it frictionally engages sheet 66 and, at the same time, acts against linger 166 to rotate

blocks

160 and 162 and hence cam 158 into engagement with switch 156 which is thus closed actuating brake solenoid 118 to release brake 104 from its hold on sheet 66.

Sheet 66 is carried along with and underneath bundle 210 rst by being frictionally engaged by the bundle and then by the conveyor rollers 10 directly.

When bundle 210 engages cam end 176 of lever 172, lever 172 is raised over switch 170 thus permitting switch 170 to close. This, in turn, through timer 204 energizes line 202 causing valve 200 to shift and introduce iiuid, for example, air into ram 146 to cause the ram to retract. T he retraction of ram 146 rotates shaft 136 causing serrated knife 126 to be elevated thus severing the sheet 66 behind the trailing edge of bundle 210 which has just passed the knife. This completes the operation of placing a section of the wrapper sheet 66 under a passing bundle 210 which is now conveyed to conveyor belt 58 and thence away from the machine 2.

The rotation of shaft 136 caused cam 148 to rst engage brake lockout switch 152 to promptly deenergize solenoid 118 which is subsequently kept in a deenergized state by the subsequent opening of switch 156 on the moving of finger 166 to its upright position by spring 164. Near the end of the stroke of ram 146, cam 148 cams switch 154 shut to energize line 208 to valve 200. Substantially at the same time, timer 204 opens its switch 210 which deenergizes line 202. With line 208 energized and line 202 deenergized, valve 200 shifts to introduce fluid into ram 146 in a direction to cause the ram to move its plunger 144 outwardly thus causing the rotation of shaft 136 and the movement of knife 126 back into a substantially horizontal position. As the trailing edge of bundle 210 moves olf of cam end 176 of lever 172, spring 182 moves lever 172 and switch 170 returns to its normally open position.

Alternatively, the above described structure can be modified to provide other friction means to prevent the sheet 66 from falling downwardly when not engaged by a bundle. As shown in Figure 8, a friction device 214 hasl lan L-shaped bracket 215 secured to guide plate 72 and, in turn, having secured thereto, a pair of

upstanding members

216 and 218. A lever 220 is pivotably secured to

members

216 and 218 by means of a pin 222. Lever 220 has adhesively secured to its outer end a blade 224 of rubber or the like having a high coeicient of friction with paper which has a chamfered face 226.

A second friction device 228 is placed adjacent the other side of sheet 66 and is identical with device 214 with the exception that it has an L-shaped bracket 230 which is the reverse of bracket 215.

The center line of each blade 224 and each lever 220 extends upwardly and intersects sheet 66. As sheet 66 is moved upwardly, each blade 224 and lever 220 is pivoted about pin 222 thus freely releasing sheet 66 for travel upwardly. When sheet 66 is released and commences to fall downwardly slightly, each blade 224 and lever 220 pivots downwardly about pin 222 causing blade 224 to engage sheet 66 tightly against guide plate 72.

When the friction means 214 and 228 are employed, it is not necessary to have brake 104 in engagement with sheet 66 during all of the time that it is not engaged by a bundle. Thus, when

friction devices

214 and 228 are employed, the control circuit of Figure 7 can be modiiied as shown in Figure l0. The modification, as shown in Figure l0, simply involves eliminating switch 156 in line 186. In all other respects the control circuit of Figure 7 is unmodified.

The modification of the control circuit permits the elimination of the structure used to actuate switch 156 as well as the switch 156 itself. Thus, as will be seen from a comparison of Figures 4 and 8, which are taken on the same vertical plane, it is possible to eliminate switch 156 and the associated mechanism employed to actuate switch 156, including cam 158, blocks 160 and 162, spring 164 and linger 166.

It will be evident that in this alternative embodiment, brake 104 will engage sheet 66 only while switch 152 is kept in the open position by cam 148. Y

It is not desired to be limited except as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A machine adapted to feed a wrapper sheet underl an article comprising: conveyor means adapted to convey an article, said conveyor means having an opening transverse to the direction of travel of the conveyor for the passage of a Wrapper sheet upwardly above the conveyor, brake means to hold a wrapper sheet with an opstanding edge projecting through said opening and above the conveyor, said brake means engaging said wrapper'- sheet, means responsive to an article being. conveyedy to release said brake means after an article has engaged the Wrapper sheet, said conveyor being adapted to convey said bundle into engagement with said upstanding edge of the sheet and subsequently to convey the bundle and sheet together to draw the sheet under the bundle, a knife in advance of the opening for the sheet, means to operate said knife and means responsive to an article being conveyed to actuate said knife operating means after the bundle has passed the knife to cut the wrapper sheet.

2. A machine adapted to feed a wrapper sheet under an article comprising: conveyor means adapted to convey an article, said conveyor means having an opening transverse to the direction of travel of the conveyor for the passage of a wrapper sheet upwardly above the conveyor, brake means to hold a wrapper sheet with an upstanding edge projecting through said opening and above the conveyor, said brake means normally engaging said wrapper sheet, means responsive to an article being conveyed to release said brake after an article has engaged the wrapper sheet, said conveyor being adapted to convey said bundle into engagement with said upstanding edge of the sheet and subsequently to convey the bundle and sheet together to draw the sheet under the bundle, a knife in advance of the opening for the sheet, means to operate said knife, means responsive to an article being conveyed to actuate said knife operating means after the bundle has passed the knife to cut the wrapper sheet and means operated by said knife operating means to deactivate said brake releasing means.

3. A machine adapted to feed a Wrapper sheet under an article comprising: conveyor means adapted to convey an article, said conveyor means having an opening transverse to the direction of travel of the conveyor for the passage of a wrapper sheet upwardly above the conveyor, means to hold a wrapper sheet with an upstanding edge projecting through said opening and above the conveyor, said conveyor being adapted to convey said bundle into engagement with said upstanding edge of the sheet and subsequently to convey the bundle and sheet together to draw the sheet under the bundle, a knife having a serrated cutting edge in advance of the opening for the sheet, said knife lying at rest in a plane substantially parallel to the top of the conveyor and being adapted v to be swung upwardly to sever the wrapper paper behind an article being conveyed, means to operate said knife and means responsive to an article being conveyed to actua ate said knife operating means after the bundle has passed the knife to cut the wrapper sheet.

4. A machine adapted to feed a wrapper sheet under an article comprising: conveyor means adaptedto convey an article, said conveyor means having an opening transverse to the direction of travel of the conveyor for the passage of a wrapper sheet upwardly above the conveyor, brake means to hold a wrapper sheet with an upstanding edge projecting through said opening and above the conveyor, said brake means normally engaging said wrapper sheet, means responsive to an article being conveyed to release said brake after an article has engaged the wrapper sheet, said conveyor being adapted to convey said bundle into engagement with said upstanding edge of the sheet and subsequently to convey the bundle and sheet together to draw the sheet under the bundle, a knife in advance of the opening for the sheet, means to operate said knife, means responsive to an article being conveyed to actuate said knife operating means after the bundle has passed the knife to cut the wrapper sheet and means to reset the knife in its original non-operative position.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,711,228 Duvall et al. Apr. 30, 1929 2,636,654 Sykes Apr. 28, 1953 2,651,899 Ackley Sept. 15, 1953 2,724,225 Haidegger Nov. 22, 1955 2,737,002 Demler Mar. 6, 1956 2,739,431 Griswold et al. Mar. 27, 1956 2,746,224 Wollett May 22, 1956 2,775,085 Kottmaun Dec. 25, 1956 2,778,176 Haase Jan. 22, 1957