US2833386A - Embossing machines - Google Patents

Description

May 6, 1958 c. J. HUEBER 2,333,336

EMBoss 1NG MACHINES Filed Fep. 24, 1953 9 Sheng-sheep 1 1N VEN TOR.

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May s, 195s Filed Feb. 24. 1953 c. J. HUEBER EMBossING MACHINES 9 Sheets-Sheet. 2

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INVENTOR.

Cor' :Lflueber ATTORNEY@ May 6, 1958 c. J. HUEBER EMBOSSING MACHINES 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 24. 1953 INVENToR, Carl Jlffueber ATTORNEY' May 6, 1958 c. J. HuEBl-:R

EMBossING MACHINES 9 sheets-sheet 5 Filed Feb. 24, 1953 o .IQINVM si .00mm mom umNh INVENTOR. Cnr] ljfueber A TTORNE Y6' May 6 1958 c. J. HUEBER 2,833,386

' EMBossING MACHINES Filed Feb. 24. 1953 9 sheets-sheet e l 5 un 1| l IN V EN TOR.

Carl Jjfueber BY www www ATTORNEYS May 6, 1958 c. J. HUEBER v 2,833,386

' EMBossING MACHINES f Filed Feb. 24. 195s 9 sheets-sheet 7 mill l j LJ L 2 n in a Ul ln m N IN VEN TOR.

TTORNEYJ` May 6, 1958 c. J. HUEBER EMBossING MACHINES 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Feb. 24. 1953 a 1| Il WMI 1111 21----.. @N m Ulli Il. QWIM uw mv, En .3-. lll mm .h wGJV .wwmlmmmmw -mmm HHIH .mm--- e ,--:F| wm E. mdk FEM /nmm NNWN NVENTOR. Carl frueher A TTOR NE YS May 6, 1958 c. J. HUEBER 2,833,386

EMBOSSING MACHINES Filed Feb. 24. 1953 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 5L 15a T 8511 .Im/EN roe Cori J.jfueber yd-/MM A TTORNE Y6' United States Patent EMBOSSING MACHINES Carl J. Hueber, Euclid, Ollio, assigner to Addressograph- Multigraph Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a corporai tion of Delaware Application February 24, 1953, Serial No. 338,341

29 Claims. (Cl. 197-6.6)

l vposition the address plate relative to the punches and dies that operate in the embossing machine to form embossures on the face ofthe plate, and recently it has been proposed to combine a magazine type loader with the embossing machine whereby a supply of the plates 'to be' embossed may be stacked at a station along the path of the movable carriage and selectively fed to the carriage by a means that dispenses with the need for having the operator perform this positioning operation while holding the embossa'ble plate in his hand.

The embossing pressure in the machine is maintained uniform for all characters, and therefore those embossures represented by the smaller or thinner characters are somewhat deeper or sharper than in the case of wider chart acters, as for instance the difference that might exist be tween an embossed i and an embossed m. That is, a particular line or grouping of embossed data may exhibit some lack of uniformityrelative to embossure depth, and consequently the impressions made by these data during a subsequent printing operation will be correspondingly uneven with respect to ink transfer. One method Ifor remedying this condition has been to support the embossed plate at its back (the raised parts of the embossures dening the face of the plate) while running a roller with substantiall pressure across the exposed face of the plate, this rolling out operation serving to bring the raised em. bossures to a common plane, and the primary object of the present invention is to permit this rolling out operation to be performed on an embossed plate of the foregoing type'by means of an arrangement which is also effective to advance an unembossed plate from a loading magazine adjacent the embossing machine to a position Whereat the plate may be loaded onto and picked up by a movable carriage of the aforesaid type. v

ln the present instance, the mechanism that is effective to roll across the face of the embossed plates to even out the embossures operates automatically at a high speed, and the pressure of the roller is substantial, so that it is preferable that it be unnecessary for the operator to at? tempt tofremove from the rolling station, by hand, an embossed plate that has been subjected to a rolling operar' IC@ modation of a progressively increasing stack ofA such rc-V moved plates adjacent the rolling station, so that there is no necessity for directly handling the finished plate at or near. the station where the plates are rolled.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a single mechanism for performing each of the foregoing operations in timed relation one to another, and to permit this mechanism to be mounted in operative combination with an embossing machine of conventional type.

As will be described in detail below, one of the aspects of the present invention is the loading and unloading of, respectively, unembossed and embossed plates in the carriage that moves between the plate loading station and the embossing station. In the present instance, these loading and unloading operations take place without need for the operator to directly handle the plate, and further objects of the present invention are to facilitate these operations and the transportation of an unembossed plate from the loading station to the embossing station, and

of the invention embodying the same or equivalent prin-r ciples may be used andv structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the front of an embossing i machine showing the device of the present invention arranged in combination therewith;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view looking into the back of the machine as shown in Fig. l; v

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation, partly in section, of the deA vice ot the present invention as mounted on the embossing machine, the trackot) `being partly broken away;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially i on the line 5--5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5A is a detail sectional View taken throughthe plate roller station;

. Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially lon the line 64-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 6A is a plan View of the embossed face of a printing plate;

Fig. 7 is a detail elevational view partly in section of the clutch used in the present instance;

Fig. 7A is a View similar to Fig. 7 showing theclutch in a different stage of operation;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view looking down into the plate roller station and taken substantially on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary detail view, in elevation,.of the Fig. l is a detail sectional Viewy taken on the line -10 of Fig. 6 of the means effective to feed the printing plates from the supply magazine;

Fig. 1l is a sectional view taken on the line `11-11 of Fig. 6;

Fig. l2 is a plan view taken substantially on the line 12-12 of Fig. 3 and showing details of the plate packer mechanism;

Fig. 13 is a plan view of the plate holding carriage;

Fig. 14 is a side elevationof the carriage shown in Fig. 13, and l Fig. 14A is a detailed perspective view, broken away, of the upper plate holding jaw` and the cam mechanism for controlling the Same.

General description The present invention is illustrated in Figs; l to 14 as used with an embossing machine having a rotating embossing head 32 in which are located oppositely disposed and paired punches and dies which are adapted to be selected according to a keyboard K at the front of the machine to emboss a deformable article located in the machine. This type of embossing machine is generally well known in xthe art, and is described and covered in detail in prior United States patents such as U. S. Patent Nos. 921,600, 955,116, 1,518,904 and 1,831,103. ln this connection, attention is also directed to Seward ReissueA Patent 23,508, relating to embossing machines, and with respect to which the present invention, in part, is an improvement.

The embossing machine 30 is adapted to emboss thin deformable articles such as address printing plates P of the type illustrated in Fig. 6A, and to this end the embossing machine includes a carriage 80 arranged to travel on a track 60, Fig. l, that extends transversely across the front of the embossing machine. This carriage is adapted, as will be described in more detail below, to advance unembossed plates as Pb, Fig. 1, along a narrow guide or platform 40, Fig. l, that extends past the embossing head 32. These blank address plates Pb are first loaded on to the carriage 80 from the bottom of a supply magazineM which is located at the right hand end of the track 60, and then the carriage is advanced by the operator to the left toward the embossing machine until the carriage is stopped at a fixed location which defines ygenerally the initial embossing relation between the plate Pb which is to be embossed and the embossing head 32. In respect to advancement of an unembossed plate from the magazine M to embossing position, the carriage 80 y in `its operation resembles that of the Seward Reissue Patent 23,508. The plate to be embossed is supported on the platform under such conditions, and embossing operations are then carried out by the operator who depresses the selected key4 on the keyboard K correv sponding to the embossed character which is to appear head 32 and to impinge with vertically directed forces upon opposite sides of the plate so that a raised character is formed on the upper side or face of the plate as viewed in Fig. l. n

In order that successive embossures may be forrned in a single row on the plate, as well as line spacing movements in the event that the plate being embossed is to contain more than one row of embossed data, the carriage 80 embodies means for performing character spacing and line spacing movement. These are movements that are Well known inthe art and the first spacing movement, ,that is the character spacing movement, is provided for in the form of an escapement mechanism which includes a rack 83, Fig. l, secured to the back side of the carriage 80 at the bottom thereof. This rack extends parallel to the track 60 and is normally engaged by a pair of dogs (not shown) which cooperates first to lock the carriage 80 against movement while an embossure is being formed, and then to permit the carriage 80 to feed or shift through a character spacing movement after the formation of the particular embossure and before the selection and operation of the punch and die set corresponding to the next embossure.

As can be observed from Fig. 6A, the faces of the printing plates P embossed in the machine 30 are characterized by raised characters in mirror reverse, progressing from right to left across the face of the plate. Consequently, it will be appreciated that the character spacing movement of the carriage 80 during embossing operations will be from left to right in the machine as viewed in Fig. 1 for instance. To account for such movement of the carriage 80, a spring-tensioned drum 61, Fig. 1, is located on the track at the right hand end thereof, and this drum is tensioned to turn counter clockwise on an axle 61A under the action of a corresponding spiral spring that is coiled inside the drum. A tape 62 is wound on the drum 61, and this tape is connected at its free end to an ear 82 which projects horizontally toward the drum 61 at the bottom of the carriage 80. From this it will be recognized Vthat the drum 61 is normally effective to pull the carriage from an advanced position at the left of track 60, as viewed in Fig. l, to the right, and this is effective, when the feed dog of the aforesaid character spacing escapement is moved out of engagement with the rack 83, to, advance the carriage 80 a short distance along the track 60 from left to right until the feed dog is automatically re-engaged in a known manner with the rack 83` to again arrest the carriage at the end of a predetermined character spacing movement. This operation is` described fully in Duncan Patent No. 921,600 and the Seward Reissue patent and further description herein is therefore deemed unnecessary.

Under and in accordance with the present invention, a unit FR for handling the plates, both prior to and subsequent to the embossing operation, is located at the right hand side of the machine 30 as viewed in Fig. 1. This plate handling unit includes a supply magazine M in which plates Pb to be embossed are arranged in a vertical stack. The unembossed plates are fed from the bottom of the magazine toward loading position in a forward direction out beneath a pair of upper guide plates L and 185R, Fig. l, toward the track 60and when this feeding operation is completed, to locate the particular plate at loading position, the front edge of the unembossed plate that is thus fed from'the magazine M Vprojects a short distance outwardly beyond the respective guide plates 185L and 185K. This relationship is best shown in Fig. 6 for an unembossed plate Pb-l.

The magazine M is supported in generally vertical re lati-onship -at the top of a main casting 45 which is secured to `the right hand side of the machine 30 as by bolts 43. This casting houses and supports the major parts of the plate handling mechanism FR which embodies the principles of the present invention. The mechanism FR includes a roller station 2608, Fig. 6, where embossed printing plates are subjected to a rolling operation. A carriage 260C, Fig. 5, is mounted at the right hand side of the casting 45 immediately beneath the magazine M and is arranged for reciprocal movement along a horizontal track in the roller station 2608. The carriage 260C supports a pair of rollers 261 and 262, Fig. 5, and is effective to drive this pair of rollers `across the face of an embossed plate such as a plate P, Fig. 6A, located at the station260S with pressure to bring the embossures on the plate P into a common plane. As will be described in more detail below, movement of the plate roller structure, as well .as the feeding of the plates from the bottom of the magazine M, is controlled in such a manner that a plate as Pb to -be embossed is fed Ifrom the magazine M and `the printing plate as P that was last embossed by the machine 3@ is operated on by the roller structure in fa single cycle of operation.

The embossed plate which is to be evened out by the rollers 261 and 262 is positioned accurately at the roller station 2608 by a means which includes a swinging gate 290, Fig. 8, and the opening and closing of this gate is controlled by the combined movements of the carriage 80 and the roller structure. Thus, the opening .and closing of this gate is controlled so that the gate is opened immediately after a rolling operation on an embossed plate is completed. When the gate is thus opened, the embossed plate that was just rolled out drops onto the top of a packer 355, Fig. 6, and in the next vcycle of operation the packer is operated to push the finished embossed plate into la tray T, Fig. l.

As shown in Fig. l, the embossed plates Pin the tray T are arranged in a horizontal stack. The tray T is open at the top and at both ends and is supported on a table 34 disposed at the right side of the machine 30. To this end, the machine 30 is provided with a ledge 36 that extends from rear to front along the right side as shown in Fig. 6. Supporting bars 33, Fig. 6, project from the ledge 36 and support the table 34, bolts as 37 .and 38 serving to secure the table and supporting bars to the ledge 36.

The plate holding carriage and jaws The carriage `that is yused to transport plates as Pb to be embossed from the magazine M to :the embossing station in the embossing machine 30 is indicated at 80 in Fig. 1 and is best shown in Figs. 13 iand 14. As noted hereinabove, the carriage 80 is adapted to slide back `and forth .along the track 60 at the front of the m-achine, and to this end the carri-age comprises a main casting 81, Fig. 14, on which a pair of spaced apart upper rollers 85U are located `at either side of the carriage. These rollers SSU `are journaled to the back of the casting 81 at the top thereof land are disposed -in position to travel along a horizontal rail 60T formed in the track 60. Spaced slightly inwardly of each of the rollers SSU and associated therewith are opposite sets of similar upper rollers SoU suitably journaled at the back of the casting 81, and these rollers are :arranged to ride along the Vertical face of the track 60T. As shown in Figs. 13 and -14 another pair of rollers, lower rollers SSL, are journaled at the bottom of the casting 81 in position to engage the forward face 60F of the track 60, and this lower section of the carriage 81 is formed with :a pair of opposite and spaced apart shoes 81S that engage the underside or lower edge of the track 66 and serve to stabilize the car- Iiage 80 on 4the track 60. By this arrangement of rollers, it will be seen that the carri-age 30 is securely mounted on the track 60 `and is adapted to freely movev therealong in a horizontal direction.

The carriage 80 is automatically fed to the right toward the magazine M and along the track 60 step-by-step during embossing operations a character space at a time, and this movement is atforded by a feed dog and locking dog (not shown) which are arranged on the front of the track 60 to engage a toothed rack bar 83, Figs, l and 14, which rigidly interconnects opposite sides of the casting 81 at the bottom. This character spacing escapement mechanism is fully described in Duncan Patent No. 921,600 to which attention is directed for further `description in this regard, reference being made herein to this character spacing movement simply for the purpose of supplementing the present disclosure to this extent. However, it may .also be pointed out thatin order to render the character spacing escapement mechanism inoperative to permit the carriage 80 to be moved at will in either direction along the track 60, an escapement release bar 120, Figs. l and 14, is extended along the rear of the carriage 80. A pivot pin 121 extends between the opposite sides of the casting S1 in parallel relation to the release bar 120, and the release bar is formed with la set of spaced apart bearing arms 120B which embrace and are free to turn on the pin 121. The left bearing arm 120B is provided with an extension in the form of a thumb release tab 122 and a grip 123 for the operators forenger is secured to the inside of the left member of the casting 81 in position to facilitate manual movement of the thtunb tab 122. As indicated in Fig. 14, a spring 1208 is connected at one end to a pin on the forward side of the release bar, and at its other end this spring is connected to a pin fast on the front of the escapement rack bar 83 at the left end thereof. The spring 120s holds the escapement release ,bar 129` down in an ineffectual position as shown in Fig. 14, but when a downward lforceis applied to the thumb tab 122 by the operator this causes the escapement release bar 120' to pivot on the pin 121 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 14, and this movement lifts the aforementioned feed dog out of engagement wi-th the character spacing rack bar 83 so that the carriage 80 can be advanced at will Ialong the track 60. It might also be mentioned that the finger grip 123 which is stationary on the carriage Si) serves as a handle for moving the carriage on the rail 60 and for holding the carriage 'against the pull of the barrel spring assembly 61.

The plate to be embossed is held on the carriage by a pair of jaws 130 and 131, Fig. 14, and the arrangement is such that these jaws are mounted on the carriage for character spacing movement therewith to accordingly locate the plate held thereby in a proper embossing relation in the die head 32. These jaws, in addition to being mounted for character spacing movement on the carriage S0, are independently mounted on a cross slide for line spacing movements so that several lines of data can be embossed on the plate held in the jaws 130 and 131. As shown and described in detail in the aforesaid Duncan Patent No. 921,600, this cross slide ismounted on the carriage 80 between the opposite sides of the casting 81, and is adapted to advance along a set of guide rods during line spacing movements. Thus, the

casting 31 in the present instance is formed with enlarged in an arm 81C at the front of this forward extension 81A. As shown in Fig. 13, the guide rods 91, 92 and 93 areV each mounted parallel to one another and extend from front to rear in the carriage 80 thus serving as a guide for the cross slide 95.

Formed on the cross slide 95 to correspond to the guide rod 93, and to the'paired set of guide rods 91 and 92, is a forward bearing 96 and a pair of oppositely spaced apart rear bearings as 97. The bearings 97 are located on opposite sides of the cross slide 95, Whereas the bearing 96 is located in a forward extension 94 of the cross slide 95.

In order to permit the cross slide to be advanced at will along this set of three guide rods, the forward extension 94 is provided with a depending Atab or thumb lug 94T which may be pressed by the operator to exert advancing forces in a line spacing direction to the cross slide 95. For normally resisting such advancing forces, a spring 95S, Fig. 14, is connected at one end to the rear of the cross slide 95, as shown in Fig. 14, and at its other end is connected to a pin P so that the spring 95S tends to locate and hold the slide 95 in what may l be termed an initial or established line position.

From this it will be recognized that the guide rods 91,

92 and 93 constitute a direct connection between the main casting of the carriage 8G and the cross slide 95 so that the cross slide is carried with the carriage 80 during character spacing movements. On the other hand, a line spacing movement of the cross slide 95 as may be yinstituted by the operator applying sucient advancing force to the bar 94 through the thumb/tab 94T, is manifested 7 in an` advancing movement of the forward bearing 96 and the two rear bearings as 97 along the respective guide rods. To assist in advancing the cross slide 95 in a line spacing direction, a finger grip 94A is attached to the right side of the carriage 80 just below the ythumb tab 94T as shown in Fig. l.

The ` jaws 130 and 131 which are adapted to grip and hold a plate to be embossed in the carriage 80 are mounted on the cross slide 95 in a manner to be described presently, but it should first be pointed` out that the er tent of a line spacing movement is determined by the spacing between the teeth of a pair of spaced apart racks as 95R, Fig. 14, located at opposite sides on the bottom of the cross slide 95. As described in the aforesaid Duucan Patent No. 921,600, these racks as 95B. face downward, and a corresponding pair of feed dogs are operatively arranged therewith to regulate and control line spacing movements. Accordingly, and as shown in the aforesaid Duncan Patent No. 921,600, a pair of spaced apart dogs are mounted on corresponding arms on a carrier 110, Fig. 13, and these arms are arranged in spaced relation so that the dogs are positioned directly beneath the oppositely disposed racks 95K. The carrier 110 is free to pivot on a pivot shaft or pin 112 which extends between the opposite sides of the casting 81.

The carrier 110 for the line spacing dogs is spring biased so thatthe dogs are normally firmly held in engaged relation with the corresponding racks. It will be recalled in this connection, that attention was earlier directed to a pin 110P, yand it will be observed in Fig. 14 that this pin projects from the underside of the carrier 110 so that the same spring 95S which tends to resist line spacing movements of the cross slide 95 also serves to pivot the carrier 110 in a'counterclockwise direction about the shaft 112 as viewed in Fig. 14 to hold the feed dogs on the carrier 110 in engagement with the teeth on the racks 95R.

As shown in Fig. 13, a pin 94P projects laterally from bar 94 of the cross slide 95, and the projected path of this pin is aligned with the guide pin 91 as can be seen .in Figs. 13 and 14. As the cross slide 95 advances along the guide rods during line spacing movements, pin 9drJ eventually engages `the forward end of the guide rod 91 so that the cross slide 95 can no longer be advanced, and in this manner pin 94P serves to define the limit of line spacing movement for the cross slide 95'.

To permit the cross slide 95 to return to its zero or initial position, and also to permit this cross slide to be moved 'through line spacing movements at will, the can rier 110 isprovided with a manual release by which the operator `can pivot the feed dogs for the racks 95K out of engagementtherewith and hold the feed dogs in a released position iff'desired. This manual release in vthe present instance is in the Iforni-of a vertically extended lever 115, Figs. 13 and 1,4, which is secured to the under` side of thercarrier 110. lt will readily be recognized that the carrier 110 can be turned in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 14 simply by pressing in on the lever 11S, and this will be effective to lower the'feed dogs out of engagement with the feed racks 95R against Vthe action of the springs 95S, whereupon the cross slide 95 will undergo a snap return movement from any advanced position in the guide rods 91, 92 and 93.

As shown in Fig. 13, lthe release lever 115 extends ali the way beneath the carriage to the rear thereof whereat the release lever 11.5 is formed with a right angled extension 116 which is disposed in a generally horizontal plane. This extension 116 has a downwardly bent end 116E, and as will be pointed out below, constitutes part of a means for automatically releasing the cross slide as the carriage 80 is moved to the right along the track 69.

The jaws 130 and 131 which are effective to locate the plate in proper relation in the die head 32 are carried at the rear of the cross slide 95 in a manner to be pointed out below, and these jaws can be opened and which are formed on the cross slide in an upright rc-y ation. ln this manner shaft 150 will move with the cross slide 95. The lower jaw 131 is mounted on the shaft 150 and in turn carries a hinge pin that affords a connection between the two jaws and 131 so that they can move as a body. Thus, the lower jaw 131 is provided at one end with a yoke-like bearing member 139 from which project a pair of spaced apart bearing lugs 139B, and the openings in these bearing lugs are adapted to receive shaft 150. has another bearing member 141 in which the opposite end of the shaft 150 is journaled. Located on the lower jaw between the two bearing members 139 and 141 are a pair of central bearing lugs 14L and 1401?. at the ends of which are bearings as 149B, and the openings in these bearings as B also journally receive the shaft 150. In this manner, the lower jaw 131 is mounted on the cross slide 95, and at the same time shaft 150 is free to turn in the ve bearings that are afforded by the lower jaw 131.

As shown in Fig. 13, the hinge pin 15:3 for the upper jaw is carried in the bearing members 139, 149 and 141 of the lower jaw, and this hinge pin passes through a pair of .spaced apart bearing openings formed in bearings 136, Fig 14A, that depend from a pair of spaced apart bearing lugs 130B of the upperjaw 130.

The upper jaw is relatively elongated, as shown in Fig. 13, and is shaped generally complementary to the lower jaw so that these jaws together Will cooperate to` properly grip an unembossed plate disposed therein. The bearing lugs 130B in the upper jaw extend back toward shaft 150, the lugs 130B have flat under sides 130F which constitute the cam followers of a cam action afforded in theV present instance to permit the jaws 130 and 131 to undergo an opening movement. As shown in Fig. 14A, sections of shaft 150 corresponding to the cam follower surfaces 130F are attened at 150C to provide corresponding cam sections. The relationship issuch that the rear edge portions 130B of the follower surfaces 13)F normally rest on the forward edges of lthe cam surfaces as 150C with these cam surfaces sloping downward at an angle to the follower surfaces 13013. As will be pointed out below, the jaws 130 and 131 open when shaft 15) isA turned to dispose the cam surfaces 150C in parallel relation to the followers 13013, and in this respect the jaws are similar in operation to those disclosed in the aforesaid Seward Reissue patent.

The jaws 130 and 131 are normally held in a closed relation by the cam shaft 150, and in order that the jaws will automatically open when 'the position of the cam shaft 150 is altered accordingly, a coil spring 133, Fig. 14, is seated in the lower jaw. Thus, the spring 133 normally tends to `force the upper jaw in an opening direction counterclockwise about the pivot pin or shaft 155. The manner in which the cam shaft 150 is turned to permit the action of the coil spring 133 to take place will be described below.

From the above it will be recognized that the relationship between the shaft 150 and the plate fielding jaws is such that the latter are carried by the cross slide 95 and are normally held closed. The jaws are, however, free to turn orpivot as a body on the shaft 150, and in order that thejaws will be normally disposed in a characteristic location relative to the carriage 80, a torsion spring 156, Fig. 13, is coiled about the portion of shaft 150 which is located between bearing 99 on the cross slide 95 and bearing 139B projecting from the lower jaw 131. One end of this spring 156 is tensioned on the top side of the cross slide 95 and the other end of the spring is i At its other end, the lower jaw 131 tensioned on the yoke-like bearing lug 139 of the lower jaw 131 so that the torsion spring 156 is effective to urge the jaws downward as a body. A screw and lock nut assembly generally indicated at 135, Fig. 13, is mounted in the bearing lug 141 of the lower jaw 131, and the screw 135S of this assembly projects (Fig. 14) from the underside of the bearing lug 141 so as to be positioned above and normally in engagement with a rear end portion of the cross slide 95. This screw 1353 is adjustable in the bearing lug 141 and constitutes a stop which holds the jaw assembly in a proper horizontal position under the influence of spring 146. As will be described below, the jaw assembly can be pivoted in an upward or counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 14 against the action of the torsion spring 156, and this movement is also limited by a screw and lock nut assembly 134 which is mounted in a block at the side of the barrel 160 as can be seen in Figs. 13 and 14. For this purpose there is provided a relatively narrow plate 89 mounted on the cross slide 95 so as to extend'transversely from one side to the other. The plate 89 is disposed immediately beneath the screw and lock nut assembly 134 so as to constitute an abutment for engaging the screw 1348 to limit the upward pivoting movement of the jaw assembly about shaft 150.

Opening and closing of the plate holding jaws is dependent upon movement of the shaft 150 and a trigger 162 which controls the turning of this shaft. The barrel 160 for the trigger is of a generally at shape, and is formed hollow in order to accommodate a relatively long link 165, Fig. 14, which is connected at one end to the trigger 162. The link 165 is connected at its other end, as best shown in Fig. 14A, through a suitable pin to an ear 166 carried by a collar 167 which is fast on the cam shaft 150. A small plate 161 is secured to the link 165, and a spring 161S is connected at one end tothe plate 161 and at its other end to a pin 161P, Fig. 14A, which extends between opposite sides of the barrel. The spring 161S is effective to place the trigger 162 under tension and hold the trigger in the position shown in Fig. 14. It will be seen that a pull exerted kon Vthe link 165 by means of the trigger 162, as viewed in Fig. 14A will be transmitted to shaft 150 through the collar 167, and accordingly the at cam surfaces 150C will be turned clockwise, as seen in Fig. 14A, to register with the follower surfaces 130F. This turning action bythe cam shaft 150 permits the coil spring 133 to be effective to force the upper jaw in a similar or opening direction about the hinge shaft 155 until a fully open position for v the plate holding jaws is realized just as the cam surfaces and follower surfaces arrange themselves in parallel relation to one another. A handle H at the end of the barrel 164) permits an eiective pull to be exerted on the trigger 162 when it is desired to open the plate holding jaws.

When it is desired to locate a plate as Pb in the car riage 80, the latter is simply advanced to an accessible position and the jaws 130 and 131 are opened by pulling the trigger 162 against the action of its spring 1618. Having located a plate `to be embossed in the carriage 80, the carriage can then be advanced to the left along .the track 60 to present the plate to the embossing head 32. Character spacing movements of thecarriage occur as an incident to embossing operations, but in the event that it is desired to release the carriage from the character spacing escapement thumb tab 122 isv depressed and held down until the tape 62 has moved the carriage the desired distance to the right along the track 60. Line spacing is a manual operation that occurs through the cross slide 95 by pressing in on the thumb tab 94, and of course the plate holding jaws and the barrel 160 advance together with the cross slide.

For a purpose that will appear below, the plate holding jaws are adapted to forcibly eject any plate gripped-thereby when the trigger 162 is operated to open the jaws, 1n-

sofar as the ejection or unloading operation itself is concerned, the same is practically identical to that disclosed in Seward Reissue Patent 23,508, and thus the ejector` in the plate holding jaws is in the form of a relatively long and narrow spring 145, Fig. 13, which is somewhat C-shaped in outline and which extends from one end of the plate holding jaws to the other. The distance between the ends of the spring 145 corresponds substantially to the length of one of the printing plates from the magazine M, and when such a plate to be embossed is located in the plate holding jaws of the carriage 80, this is done in such a manner that the spring 145 is placed under tension, and when the jaws are closed on the plate this tensioned condition is maintained. On the other hand, when the jaws open, the spring 145 is released and acts against the plate to forcibly eject theksame from its location between jaws 130 and 131. Thus, the spring 145 in its untensioned condition is illustrated in Fig. 13, and is formed with an indentation 142 at its midpoint, this indentation corresponding to a small mounting pin 143C mounted in the lower jaw 131. Other mounting pins 143A and 143B are arranged in spaced apart relation in the lower jaw 1731, and these latter two side pins together with the center mounting pin 143C serve to retain the spring 145 in position on the top side of the lower jaw 131. A somewhat long but small bead 148 is formed on the upperside of the lower jaw 131 in parallel relation to the lip of the jaw and is spaced back p from the lip of the plate to be gripped between the jaws. The ends of the spring .145, as shown in Fig. 13, extend out in front of the bead 14S a slight distance such that when a printing plate is located in the jaws against the bead 148, these ends of the spring 145 are pressed back and the spring thereby placed under tension. When the trigger 162 is released to permit the jaws 130 and 131 to grip the printing plate along the marginal edge thereof v between the lip and bead of the lower jaw, the tensioned condition of the spring 145 is maintained. Accordingly, when the jaws 130 and 131 are opened the printing plate therein is no longer gripped and the spring 145 releases and springs back to forcibly eject the printing plate.

At the completion of an embossing operation, the carriage 80 is `advanced from the embossing position in the machine to the plate loading position at the right of the machine so that the embossed plate positioned in the plate holding jaws may be ejected from the carriage 80 and a new or unembossed plate Pb located in the plate holding jaws.

In order that this ejection action may take place and a new or unembossed printing plate may be loaded on .to the carriage 80, the cross slide 95 must be in its zero or first line `position shown in Figs. 13 and 14. To thus path of the lever end 116, being mounted on a bracket assure that this condition may prevail in the carriage S0, an automatic release dog for cooperating with the rear extension 116 of the cross slide release lever 115 is located at the front of the machine 30. VThe dog 66 lies in the 68. The dog is free to pivot on its mounting pin clockwise, as viewed in Fig. l, against the action of a return lspring 67y associated therewith; However, the dog 66 cannot move counter-clockwise out of the position shown vin Fig. l, and consequently it engages the end 116B of the release lever 115 as the carriage 80 moves past in its travel to the right along the track 60, and this, of course, assures that the cross slide 95 is in its zero position as the carriage 8%) approaches loading position at the front of magazine M.

At embossing position, on the other hand, a stop is alforded to limit movement of the carriage duringV character spacing action to the right along the track 60, and when it is desired to have the tape 62 move the carriage 80 all the way to the plate'loading position near magazine M, it is necessary that thisstop be cleared. Thus a stud 63,- Fig. 1, projects from the track 69 at the front thereof in a normal relation, and this stud is l'provided at its forward enti with s notch 64. The stud 11 63 is aligned with bar 120 which permits manual release action for the character spacing mechanism as above described, so that the end `of stud 63 which is provided with shoulder 64l is normally engaged by the corresponding end of the bar 120 at the end of a particular character spacing movement. This engaged relationship serves to define the right hand limit position of the carriage during embossing operations, but by ,pressing down on the thumb tab 122, bar 120 is elevated toits release position, and at the same time is lifted into alignment with the notch 64 so that the bar 120 canV clear the stud 63 and permit the carriage 80 to advance in a right hand direction along the track 60.

The action of the spring-urged tape 62 is relatively strong, and once bar 120 has cleared stud 63, the operator applies a `braking action so that the carriage 89 is yieldingly urged along track until the carriage is stopped by another stud 65 on the track 60 just below the plate loading magazine M. The stop 65 is accurately located on the track 60 so that the plate holding jaws can he accurately positioned relative to a chute 50, Fig. 6, into which any embossed plate carried by the carriage E() at this time maybe ejected or unloaded to drop into the roller station 2608, Fig. 6.

This unloading position for the carriage 8) also coincides generally with-the plate feeding path leading from the magazine M. Thus, it can be observed in Fig. l that when at its right limit position on the track 60, as defined by the stud 65, the carriage is immediately in front of the magazine M. As best shown in Figs. 3 and 6, the

plate holding jaws `on the carriage 80 will be disposed horizontally at the bottom of the supply magazine, and of course it becomes ynecessary that the jaws be tilted up somewhat in order to grip Lthe plate Pb last fed from the magazine M. However, further description in regard to this upward tilt of the jaws and 131 toward the supply magazine M will be had later in connection with the unloading of a printing plate carried bythe carriage 80, and the description to follow immediately will be restricted to the manner in which an unembossed plate is loaded on to the carriage 80.

T he plate feed means and the clutch 2-00 The magazine M is mounted at the top of the casting 45, and is inclined or tilted in a generally forward direction for a purpose that will Zbe described later. lt will vbe noted that the magazine M is arranged in a generally vertical direction and includes opposite sides 18@ and 1&1 Y

and a rear side 182. Brackets 183 secure the side members in position, and the rear side member 182 is adjnstablysupported between the side members 18d and 181, adjusting screws as 178, Figs. l and ll, being registered in corresponding slots in the rear member 18.2 to permitthe latter lto be adjustably located to accommodate plates Pb of different widths.

During the course of operation, plates as Pb are automatically fed from the bottom of the vertical stack in the magazine out ltoward loading position, and the means whereby this is accomplishedI includes a reciprocable feed plate 191'iwhich is adapted to slide back and forth beneath the stack of printing plates in a guideway 'which is inclined forwardly to the same degree that the magazine M is inclined forwardly. Thus, a pair of spaced apart slots 190L and 190R, Fig. 4, constitutes guides for the corresponding marginal edges of the `feed i plate 191. These guides are afforded yby arranging guide plates 1S5L, 1861. and 185R, 186K at the left and right sides respectively at the top of the casting 45. `The inner edges of the upper plates 185L and 185K overhang the inner edges of the plates 1,36L and 186K, and the sets of plates are separated 'by spacer plates as 187, Fig.' 2, to thus define the opposite guide slots `L and 190K. As shown in Fig. 1, the spacer plate at the left of the casting 45 terminates short of the forward end of theassociated guide plates 185L and 18'6L. This leaves a side space or guide v 12 slot 188 .at the front of the magazine M through which an unembossed plate may be carried to the left by the carriage 80 toward the embossing head 32.

To feed the lowermost unembossed plate from the bottom of the stack, the feed plate 191 advances in the direction of the carriage 80 at the front of the magazine M. The feed plate 191 is relatively long, as can be seen in Fig. 6, and constitutes the bottom of the magazine M; that is, the feed plate 191 in its forwardmost position, as shawn in Fig. 6, supports the stack of unembossed plates in the supply magazine. The feed plate is formed with a cut away portion at its forward section, so that a shoulder 191s, Fig. 6, extends across the feed plate at the front thereof and from one side to the other. This cut away portion and shoulder 1915 are of such depth as to permit a plate suchas an unembossed plate Pb-1, shown in Fig. 6, to bc located on Vand at the `ront of the feed plate 191, and the relationship is such that whenythe feed plate 191 reciprocates rearwardly in the guides 190L and 190R apoint is reached whereat the shoulder 1915 slides just to the rear of the rear edge of the lowermost unembossedV plate Pb in the magazine, whereupon this lowermost plate drops into the aforementioned forward or cut away section of the feed plate. The movement of the feed plate 191 is timed so that this dropping movement of the lowermost plate coincides with the rearwardmost position of the feed plate 191, and in its next advancing movement in a forward direction this unembossed plate is carried in to the position shown for the plate .Pb-1 whereat the front edge of the unembossed plate next to be loaded on to the carriage 80 projects justvbeyond the forward ends of the guide plates 18SL and 185K. This constitutes the forwardmost advanced position of the feed plate 191, and the feed plate i921 remains in this position until the unembossed plate located at the front section thereof is picked up by the plate holding jaws in the carriage S0 and until after the latter commences its return movement along the track 6-0 toward embossing position. On the other hand, during a particular -cycle of operation when the feed plate is actuated the feed plate reciprocates to the rear, picks up an unembossed plate and then immediately reciprocates back to the position in Fig. 6.

The reciprocable action of the feed plate 191, and also of the roller structure 260, as will appear below,\is under the control of a clutch 200, Fig. 2, which, inturn, is controlled by the movement of thecarriage 80 passing beyond a certain point on the track `60 during its movement from right to left to carry an unembossed plate from the plate loading station or position to embossing position. This point on the track 60 whereat the 4clutch 201) is engaged to drive the feed plate 191 and theroller structure 260 is defined by a clutch engaging lever 205, Fig.

l. This lever 205 is formed with a vertical shoulderv 2058 which is adapted to `be engaged by the depending lip 79L, Fig. 9, of a spring plate 79 attached to the bottom SdB ofthe carriage 80, the relationship being such that an opening is afforded in 80B for the lip 79L. The lever 205 has a one-way action so that the spring lip 79L simply rides across the top of lever 205 as the carriage 80 moves toward plate loading position at the front of magazine M Whereas on the other hand the lip 79L is effective to engage the shoulder 2055 and .1 Vtrip the lever 265 during return movement of the carriage 80 back to embossing position along the track 60. The lever 205 is mounted at one end of a clutch control shaft 210 which extends in a generally rearward direction to the back of the machine, as best shown in Fig. 5. Tripping of the clutch actuating lever 205 is accompanied by a counter clockwise turning of the shaft 210, as viewed in Fig.l l, and this causes the clutch 200 to engage, whereupon the feed plate 191 is driven from its forwardmost ward or return direction back again to its advanced position to feed a new plate from the magazine M and 13 locate the same as indicated in Fig. 6 in position to be` picked up `by the carriage S0. It'will be recognized from this that the normal location for the feed plate 191 'is at the front of the guideways 190L and 190R (as vshown in Fig. l) and that the rearwardmost position of the feed plate 191 is an actuated or transient one.

The clutch 200 is adapted to lbe driven from the main source of power in the machine which is'supplied by a constantly driven fly-wheel 31, Fig. 2. YThe driven element of the clutch 200, in the form of a sleeve 219, is driven through a gear train, Fig. 4, which, in turn, is driven from a main drive shaft 35 that is turned by the y wheel 31.

The clutch 200 is of the one-revolution type illustrated in United States Patent No. 2,359,850 and thus includes an intermittently driven element in the form of a hanged disc 220, Fig. 2. For coupling the driven to the driving element, a clutch dg214 is pivotally mounted on a pin 214P carried on the inside of the driven element. The clutch dog has a tooth as 214T at either end, and the driving tooth of this set is adapted through a spring (not shown), to operatively engage a corresponding notch 219N formed in the driving element when the clutch engages. The stop tooth 214T at the other end of the clutch dog projects out through an opening in the driven member 220, Fig. 2, where it is normally held in such a manner as to maintain the clutch vengaging tooth out of engagement relative to the notch 219N in the driving element. For this purpose lever 216 is pivotallymounted on a shaft 217 that projects from the rear face of a mounting plate 207 secured to the back of the casting 45. A spring 213, Figs. 2 and 7, is connected to a pin on the lever 216 so as to be effective to hold the catch 216H at the lower vend of the lever 216 in toward the stop tooth 214T of the clutch dog, and in this manner lever 216 is effective to maintain the clutch 200 in a normally disengaged relation, as best shown in Fig. 2. l

It will be seen that if the lever 216 is rocked counterclockwise as viewed in Figs. 7 and 7A so that the clutch 216H is moved away from stop tooth 214T, the clutch dog 214 will release and the clutch- 200 will engage. This is accomplished by a linkage arrangement which includes a relatively small horizontal link 211 fast on the end of the clutch operating shaft 210 opposite the clutch actuating lever S. This link 211 is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 7, Where the clutch 200 is disengaged, by a spring 203 tensioned between one end of the link 211 and another pin '206 projecting from the rear face of the mounting plate 207. Av vertical link 212 is connected at the other end of link 211, and the upper inner edge 'of this link is formed with a notch that affords a horizontal shoulder 212S, Fig. 7A.

The lever 216 is somewhat in the form of a bell-crank and carries a square pin 216R at its outer end. The shoulder 212s on the link 212 is normally held in against this pin 216R by a spring 204 so that when the link 212 is forced'up by a counter-clockwise turning of shaft 210,

as viewed in Figs. 7 and 7A, shoulder 212S is effective to pivot the lever 216 in a similar direction away from the catch tooth 214T on the dog 214. In other words, as will be recognized from the above, when carriage 80 is moved from its loading position in front of magazine M to the left along track 60, the stud 79 eventually trips the lever 205,'turning yshaft 210 counter-clockwise as aforesaid, and causing the clutch 200 to engage as the result of the catch 216H being moved away from tooth 214T.

In order to assure that the clutch 200 is maintained engagedY for a single cycle of rotation of the driving element 219, means are alorded to latch and hold the lever 216 in its clutch engaging position. This means includes a latch arm 215 pivotally mounted on a pin 218 which projects from the rear faceof the plate 207. This latch arm has a latching tooth 215L at one end and is normally held down by a spring 213, Fig. 2. The top edge of the arm of lever 216v which carries pin 216R is formed with a notch 216N near the shaft 217 on which lever 216 pivots, and when the latter is forced in a clutch engaging direction by upward movement of link 212, the latch tooth 215L and the corresponding notch 216N engage, and in this manner spring 213 is eifective to hold lever 216 with its catch 216H out of the path of the catch tooth 214T on dog 214.

Disengagernent of the clutch 200 at the end of a single revolution of the driven member 219 is elected by another lever 208, Figs. 7 and 7A, which is operated by the driven member 220 of the clutch and which has opposite arms extending from the shaft 217 on which the lever 208 is free to pivot. Lever 20S is urged in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 7 and 7A by a spring 202 which is attached to the pin 206. One arm of the lever 208 has a nose portion 208N that projects into the path of a pin 2121 carried on the vertical link 212 adjacent the shoulder 2125, and a pin 2151 projecting from the back of the latch arm 215 normally rests on the top side of the other arm `208A of the lever 208.

The pin 2MP which is eiective to mount the dog 214 on the driven element of the' clutch is adapted to engage the underside of arm 208A during the course of rotation of the. driven element 220, thus causing the lever 208 to pivot in a general clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 7. This movement of the lever 208 causes the latch arm 215 to be pivoted upward away from notch 216N by arm 208A pressing on pin 215P, and at the same time the nose portion 208Nrof lever 208 engages pin 2121 and shifts the vertical link 212 out of the path of the pin 216R. Since the lever 216 is unlatched and the shoulder 2125 moved away from the pin 216K, lever.216 shifts clockwise on the shaft 2,17 under the inuence of the spring 213, and the catch 216H advances into the path of the stop toe 214T which is being carried clockwise with the driven element 220 as viewed in Figs. 7 and 7A. rEngagement of the stop toe withv catch 216H causes the clutch 200 to disengage, and it will be seen from this that the clutch 200 is a one-revolution clutch in that clutch disengaging actions occur Within the same cycle of revolution in which the clutch engages.

The driven member 220 of the clutch carries a plate 221 which rotates therewith, and to this rotatable plate 221 is secured one end 231, Fig. 5, of a connecting rod 230. The connecting rod is adapted to impart driving movements to the .feed plate 191 and to the roller structure 260, and accordingly a vertically extended drive shaft 239 is mounted for rotation in a pair of spaced apart arms 41 and 42 which project from the rear right hand corner of the casting 45, as viewed in Fig. 1. At

a generally central location on the vertical driving shaft 239 is an arm 235, Fig.l 5, which is formed with three lobes'. The first lobe 235A affords a connection between the arm 235 and the other end 232 of the connecting rod 230, asv shown in Fig. 5. At the other end of the arm 235 is a second lobe 235B, and a third lobe intermediate the iirst two lobes carries a pin 238 to which is pivoted a relatively small drive arm 236.

As best shown in Fig. 5, a relatively large crank-like lever 240 is formed at one end with an enlarged head 240H that is rotatably mounted on the vertical drive shaft 239 just above the multi-lobed arm 235. The lever 240 is adapted to be driven directly by the small arm 236, and to this end the head 240H is formed with a notch 240S which is normally engaged by a drive pinV 237 mounted centrally on the arm 236. A strong spring 236s is connected at one end to the arm 236 and at its other end is attached to the forward lobe 235B of the arm 235. Spring 2368 is of sucient strength to assure that the drive pin 237 drivingly engages in the notch 2408 so that as the connecting rod 230 is eiective to carry arms 235 and 236 clockwise about shaft 239, as

viewed in Fig. 5, the driving pin 237 forces the head of the lever 240 in a clockwise direction about shaft 239. The lever 240 has a right angled ann 240A which is adapted to drive the roller structure 260 in a manner to be described below, and it may also be pointed out that the manner in which the link-like arm 236 is pivotally mounted on the lobed arm 235 affords an overdrive release in the event of jamming at the roller station.

The vertical drive shaft 239 constitutes the main drive means for the feed plate 191 which slides back and forth at the bottom of the magazine M, and linkages are afforded to translate the rotary rocking movement of the drive shaft 239 into linear reciprocal movements for the feed plate 191. Thus, the lobed arm 235 which is driven directly by the connecting rod 230 is fast on the drive shaft 239 so that the latter is rocked back and forth in the supporting arms 41 and 42 of the frame casting 45 during the course of reciprocal movement of ther connecting rod 230. To this end, an intermediate drive arm 194 is secured to the upper end of the drive shaft 239 and is provided with an arcuate slot 194S, as shown in Fig. 10. A main drive arm 193 extends from the intermediate arm 194 in toward the feed plate 191, as best shown in Fig. 2,. where Va vertically disposed drive pin 192, carried at the corresponding end thereof, is seated in a slot 191G, Fig. l1, at theback of the feed plate 191. The other end of the main drive arm 193 is also provided with a pin, and this pin is mounted in the slot 1948 in the intermediate arm 194. It will be seen that the arms 193 and 194 are effective to translate the rocking movement of the shaft 239 into reciprocal back and forth movements of the feed plate 191.

As was noted hereinabove,` the feed plate 191, which is effective to advance unembossed printing plates one by one in the bottom of the magazine M, is normally located in a forwardmost at-rest position -relative to its guide slots 190L and 190R. This position of the feed plate 191 corresponds to a disengaged condition of the clutch 200, and this relationship is shown in Figs. l and 2. Engagement of the clutch 200 causes the connecting rod 230 to be reciprocated in the direction of the vertical drive shaft 239, and this, of course, drives the arm 235 clockwise, as seen in Fig. 2, and the shaft 239 is driven or rocked thereby in the arms 41 and 42 in a similar direction. This clockwise turning of the shaft 239 causes the intermediate arm 194 to be carried to the rear, pulling the drive arm 193 in` al similar direction to carry the feed plate 191 back beneath the stack of unembossed plates PbI in the magazine M. Continued rotation of the driven element 220 of the vclutch 200 carries the connecting plate 221 thereon past its half cycle position, whereupon the connecting rod `230 reciprocates away from the .vertical drive shaft 239, as seen in Fig. 2, and this is effective to turn the vertical drive shaft 239 in the opposite or counter-clockwise direction to force the driving arms 1.93 and 194 in a forward direction. disengaging lever 216 is automatically released by the latch arm 215 to cause the clutch 200 to disengage, the feed plate 191 will again be located at its forwardmost advanced position in the guide slots 196i and 190R.

It will be seen fromthis in a single cycle of operation of the clutch 200, `the feed plate 191shifts-from an advanced forward position rearwardly beneath the lowermost unernbossed plate in the magazine-M andfat the end of its rearward stroke advances in a forward direction tocarry this unembossed plate to the loadingposition.

In order to adjust the effective stroke of the drive arm 193, a-bar 195, Figs. 3 and 6, is mounted in a trans-verse relation on the inside of the casting-45 below the niagazine M. The drive pin 192 mounted at the forward end of the drive arm 193 extends downward through the drive arm 193,` as best shown in Fig. 4, and affords a connection to one end of another arm 196. The arm 196 which is attached to the drive pin 192 projects through an open- When the clutch j ing in the right side of the casting 45, as seen in Fig. l, and is journaled on a pin 197 which, in turn, is supported in a vertical relation on a mounting arm 47 projecting from the casting 45. It will be recognized that the arm 196 will shift back and forthwith the drive arm 193.

An adjustable screw 198, Fig. l0, is mounted on the bar 195 so as to lie within the path of the inner end of the arm 196. Accordingly, the screw 198 can be adjusted to stop the arm 196 in its forward movement with the drive arm 193, as viewed in Fig. l1, and this, in effect, also stops the drive arm 193. When the drive arm 193 is thus stopped by the screw 198, the feed plate 191 is located in its forwardmost position in the guide slots 190L `and 190K, the slot 194S in the intermediate drive arm 194 being of a length sut`u`cient to permit an overdrive between the arms 193 and 194.

Loading and unloading operations with the carriage 80 withits edge abutting the bead 148, Fig. 13, in the lower y the plate holding jaws.

jaw 131, as above described. Thus, it will lbe appreciated that an embossed plate as P, Fig. 6A, located in the jaws and 131 must rst be ejected before the new or unembossed plate is to be picked up by the carriage, and for the moment it can be assumed that such ejecting action has occurred through the releasing action of spring in the lower jaw 131 and that the plate holding jaws are therefore conditioned for the positioning therein of a new plate to be embossed. This new plate will, of course, ybe represented by a plate such as the plate Plv-1 in Fig. 6 which has been advanced forward bythe feed plate 191. This plate as Pb-l is held down on the feed plate 191 by spring lingers 179 at the front of the magazine M, Fig. l, the forward marginal edge portion of the plate projecting just slightly beyond the forward edge of the feed plate 191 as is best shown in Figs. l() and 11, and it is this exposed marginal edge of the unembossed plate which constitutes the portion to be gripped by the plate holding jaws 130 and 131. Once the plate as Pb-l is located in the plate holding jaws of the carriage 80, it will be recognized that the next movement of this unembossed printing plate will be with the carriage 80 to -the left along the track y60 toward the embossing head 32, and-to permit this movement to `be executed the guide plates 185L and 186L are arranged, as best shown in l, to provide a feed slot 188 at the left side Vof the magazine M through which the unembossed plate located in loading position at the front of` the magazine M can 1be moved. The feed slot A188 has a downward tilt that corresponds to the downward tilt of the magazine M and the feed mechanism associated therewith.

The disposition, with respect to horizontal, of the plate holding jaws in order to properly eject the plate last embossed and held therein is illustrated in Fig. 6, and

it will be noted that under such conditions the jaws are 1 effective to locate thisernbossed plate P in a true horizontal plane immediately beneath the aforesaid unembossed plate as Pb-l which is next to be picked up by Accordingly, it will be recognized that after the plate P has been ejected, the jaws 130 and 131 will need to be tilted slightly upwardly and then advanced'a slight distance directly toward the direction of the magazine M in order that the forward exposed marginal edge of the plate next to be embossed may be gripped and located in the carriage 80. This tilting action of the jaws 130 and 131 is accomplished by the operator forcing the barrel 160 down about the pivot therefor that is afforded by the shaft which yis mounted in the cross slide 95, Fig. 13. This tilting movement continues for an instant until the bottom of v v 17 V the adjustable screw134S engages the stop plate 89, Fig. 13, screw`134S having an adjusted position such that the limit of upward tilt of the jaws 130 and'131 places the latter immediately in front of the exposed i marginal edge of the unembossed plate which is located at loading position. When the jaws 130 and 131 are thus disposed in `a plate gripping relation in this manner, the operator then Iactuates the trigger 162 to present the jaws in an opening relation to theforward edge of the unembossed plate, and at the same time the lbarrel 160 is pressed. forward to'thereby advance the line spacing cross slide 95 and the jaws 130 rand 131 together as a unit toward the edge of the unembossed plate at loading position. It should be pointed out in this connection that the line spacing cross slide l95 has some lost motion to the extent that the line spacing racks 92 and the corresponding dogs therefor can slide relative to one another, against the action of the cross slide return spring 95S, without `a line spacing movement occurring, at least so long as this sliding movement is insuicient to advance the particular tooth on the line spring rack beyond the point where the feed dog engages a new tooth.

Therefore, after an embossed plate has been ejected from and when a new plate is to be located in, the carriage 80, the jaws at loading position are tilted up, opened and moved toward the exposed marginal forward edge of the plate last fed from the magazine M. This movement of the jaws toward the magazine M inl a loading direction is a forced one and ceases when the forward edge of the new plate abuts against the mounting bead 148 in the lower jaw 131, whereupon the trigger 162 is released to cause the jaws to grip the plate. The carriagev zine M, the plate feed mechanism and the feed slotr188, i will now be apparent as being conducive to a proper v removal of an unembossed plate from loader position. Thus; for the jaws 130 and 131 to grip such a plate, it is necessary that they be tilted up from horizontal, about 5 in actual practice, and the unembossed plate at loading position is given a similar inclination to facilitate its unencumbered movement to the left outV through the side guide Slot 188.

As the carriage 80 travels along the track 60 Afrom loading position, the downwardly projecting spring lip 79L at the bottom of the carriage eventually engages and trips the clutch actuating lever 205 to rockthe clutch actuating shaft in a counter-clockwise or clutch engaging direction. Accordingly, the clutch engaging lever 216 is withdrawn from its locking position relativeto the clutch dog 214 whereupon the clutch 200 engages and the feed plate, from which the unembossed plate last fed from the magazine M has just been withdrawn to the left through the guide slot 188, reciprocates to the rear of the magazine, receives a new unembossed plate and advances immediately in a forward direction to locate this unembossed plate at loading position at the front of the magazine M.

As was noted hereinabove, an embossed plate located in the plate holding jaws at loading position at the front of the magazine M must rst be ejected or unloaded from these jaws before the printing plate next to be embossed can be loaded on to the carriage 80. In accordance with the present invention, such an embossed plate is ejected or unloaded into a roller station 2608, Fig. 6, where forces are elective to improve the printing qualities of the plate, and the ejector mechanism, comprising the spring 148 in the lower jaw 131, is eifective to perform this operation as described above. The loading and unloading positions for the carriage 80 are'coincident one with the other, as will be recognized from the foregoing description, and the unloading operation for the plate last embossed is characterized by ejectingy such a Y 18 V 1 printing plate into a vertically disposed chute 50, Fig. 6, located directly beneath the magazine M. The chute 50 has a generally straight-up-and-down back section 51, and the section 52 of the chute 50 extends from the bottorn of the chute vertically upward in spaced parallel relation part way with the back 51 where it is flared out in a forward direction so that the'top-of the chute 50 is relatively wide as can be seen from Fig. 6. The front section 52 of the chute 50 is formed with a vertical lip 52L on its top edge, Fig. l, and is also formed with a relatively large opening 54 through which the interior'of the chute 50 can be inspected by the operator at thefront of the machine. These front and back sections of the chute 50 are mounted to the inside of the casting 45 by means Vsuch as brackets 51B and 52B, Fig. 3. i

The forwardly llared arrangement for the front section of the chute 5t) affords a relatively wide throat 53, Fig. 6, into which an embossed plate as P is first directly'ejected or unloaded by the ejector of the plate holding jaws. This throat 53 narrows into a narrow vertical portion 53N where the front and back sections 51 and 52 are disposed in spaced parallel relation to one another, and it will be seen that as an embossed plate is ejected from the carriage into the chute 50 the plate will assume a vertical position with its long side transverse to the.

throat 53 as it drops by gravity ydown into and through the narrow throat section 53N. It will also be understood that the face of the embossed plate on whichthe raised characters are disposed will face to the rear kas viewed in Fig. 6, and this relationship is necessary in The plate rolling station and related rrrechanisml j The chute 50 opens at its bottom directly into the rolling station 260S, Fig. 6, whereat the printing plates areI each .treated to be made more perfect, and it might be mentioned herein that the opening 54 in the front side of the chute 50 referred to above permits an inspection of the interior of the chute S0 to determine if any jamming has occurred in the chute and whether or not the ejected plate dropped all the way down through the chute 50 into the plate rolling station 260S.

The arrangement at the roller station260S between the anvil 280 and the yieldable guide channel lmembers 283 is shown in detail in Fig. -5A. The anvil itself constitutes a rigid and unyieldingstructure and includes a face plate 2801 rigidly secured thereto by studs 280B' which extend through the forward cross brace 44 of the casting 45. The guide channel members are slotted and shiftably mounted on corresponding studs 284 located at either side of the anvil 280. The distance between these members 283 corresponds, of course, to the length of- Vtion is positioned accurately in a vertical plane between the guide channels 283C as shown in Fig. 5A. Under this condition, the back of the embossed plate is disposed against the face plate 280P of the back-up anvil 280., Y' y The guide channel members 283 are shiftably mounted at the ends of the anvil 280 so that they may be shifted back to permit the embossures on the face of-the embossed plate to be evened out. Thus, mounting openings 285 are formed in the cross brace 44 on which the anvil i 280 is mounted, and these openings serve to locate shifti able heads 282 by means ofwhich 'the guide channel aerienne` `1E) members 283 are shiftablyrelated to the anvil 280. The heads are eachformed with shoulders as 288 which are adaptedto engage complementary shoulders 287 provided in the mounting openings, and the ,heads are biased by springs l2828` so as to normally locate the guide channels 283C in front of the face plate 280? a sutcient distance to receive the embossed printing plate. Therefore, any forcesapplied to the guide channel members 283 in the direction of the anvil280 will cause the guide channel members "to shift back toward the face plate 280P, and when this force takes the form of the roller 262, the

channel members 283 are shifted back to let the rollerr 262 pass across `the face of the embossed plate on the gate 290. j p 1 The structure which is elective to roll across the embossed faces ofthe embossed plates at the roller station is generally indicated at 260 in Fig. 5 and this structure includes a reciprocating carriage 260C. The rolling station itself is generally indicated at 2608, Fig. 6, and is defined by avertically disposed anvil 280, at the bottom of which is locatedda swinging gate 290. This gate is adapted to swing inopening and closing directions relative to the roller station and thus is pivotally mounted on a pin 297, Fig. S, which in turn is mounted in a bracket arm 296 that is secured to the casting 45 just beneath the spring drum 61 as best shown in Fig. l. The gate 290 is operated from the carriage 80 and the roller carriage 260, and this operation will be described below.

As -best shown in Fig. 5A, a pair of yieldable guide channels aredisposed at either side of the anvil 280 and these guide channels are Yaligned generally with the vertical throat section 53N of the chute 50 so that as an embossed plate drops by gravity down through the chute 50, it exits from the latter directly into the roller station 260s Where it is stopped in this downward travel by the gate 290. The travel of the embossed plate from its initial unloading position in the wide portion of the throat 53 into the plate roller station 260S is relatively short, as can be appreciated from the drawings, and this coupled with a forcible ejection from Vthe plate holding jaw permits the embossed plate to come to rest at the plate roller station almost instantly following its ejection from the carriage 80 at unloader position. In any event, relatively long prior to the time that a new plate is gripped by the plate holding jaws, the embossed plate which was last positioned in the plate holding jaws, is at rest at the roller station with its bottom longitudinal edge resting on the gate 290.

Consequently, advantage `is taken of this condition tol actuate the roller structure which includes the reciprocating carriage 260C simultaneously with the plate feeding operation that is characterized by reciprocable movement of the feed plate 191 at the bottom of the magazine M, and from this it will be recognized at once that the plate feeding operations and the plate rolling operations are each controlled by the same clutch actuating lever 205. As will be shown below, the gate 290 remains closed A until the carriage 260C has reciprocated from its normal at rest position, indicated in the drawings, to the left and then back as viewed in Fig. 5, and immediately as the carriage 260C comes to its normal position at the end of a` platerolling operation, the gate 290 is opened and the embossed plate -on the roller station 2608 drops vertically downward to a packer which is effected subsequently to arrange thisembossed plate in a horizontal stack.

The carriage 260C comprises a pair of vertically spaced plates 265 and 266, Figs. l and 4, which serve to rotatably mount and support a pair of pressure rollers 261 and 262, the latter which is adapted to roll directly across the raised embossures on the face of the embossed plate at the roller station. In `its reciprocable movements, the carriage 260C is guided on a track which includes a pair of vertically spaced rails 273 and 274, Figs. l and 5. These tracks 273 and 274 project from the right side of the casting 4S as can be best seen in Fig. 1 and extend into the casting 45 in transverse relation there to where they are secured to a rear anvil 275 mountedl on the transverse `casting brace 46 by means asstuds 275B, Figs. 5 and 6. The rear anvil 275 and the rails 273 and 274 thus constitute a relatively rigid track along which the carriage 260C may move, and "at the same time the anvil275 represents an unyielding back for the rollers 261 and 262 so that the latter may effectively 'even out the embossures on the face of the embossed plate with substantial pressure.

As Vshown in Fig. 5, the carriage 260C is extended back behind the rails 273 and 274 where a pair of guide rollers as 268, Fig. 3, are journaled in spaced relation at the top plate 265 to travel at the rear of the track. To further guide carriage 260C in its travel, a pair of vertically spaced guide rollers 269 and 270 are journeled on a vertical shaft 271 that extends between the plates 265 and 266, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to travel at the front of the track, and this arrangement of guide rollers together with the pressure rollers 261 and 262 serve to mount the carriage 260C for its reciprocable movements.

In connection with the description above regarding the manner in which the feed plate 191 is driven at the bottom of the magazine M, it will be recalled that attention was directed to a crank arm 240 journably mounted on the vertical drive shaft 239. This arm constitutes a drive for the roller structure 260, and as can be seen in the drawings, the arm 240A is connected to the carriage 260C by means of a link 241, one end of which is journaled to the shaft 271 which journably supports the guide rollers 269 and 270 and the other end of which is connected to the arm 240A by a pin 242.

The carriage 260C is normally at rest in the normal position shown in Fig. 5 wherein the rollers 261 and 262 are removed to the right of the roller station, and this condition will prevail as a plate is ejected at the unloader position to drop into the roller station and be interrupted in its travel by the gate 290 which is closed at this time. Theisame conditionwill prevail until the-carriage is effective in its travel along the track 60 to trip the clutch actuating lever 205, and as the clutch 200 engages under this condition, the roller structure 260 is driven from right to left as viewed in Fig. 5 and then back. Thus, as the connecting rod 230 is driven to the right during initial clutch engagement as viewed in Fig. 5, arm 240 is turned clockwise about the shaft 239 through the action of the driving pin 237. The carriage 260 is forced to travel to the left on its track and this brings the pressure roller 262 to bearV on the embossures on the face of the embossed plate located at the `roller station 2608. In this connection, it will .be realized that the roller 261 travels along the forward face of the anvil 275 and thus serves to back up the pressure yroller'262 in its evening out action. A complete roller operation is characteristized by travel or the roller 262 in one direction across the face of the embossed plate end then back, return movement of the carriage 260C occurring simultaneously with reciprocable movement of the connecting rod 230 to the left as viewed g in Fig. 5. In the event that an embossed plate at the roller station 260S should lbet Iout of line or otherwise cause a jamming condition whereby the carriage 260C cannot move, the driving pin 237 which is carried on the arm 236 rides out of the slot 2405 to permit the connecting rod 230 to complete its normal movement.

The plate packer ltechansm After the roller structure 260 is effective at the rolling station to even out the embossures on the face of a printing plate, such plate in position on the gate 290 can be looked upon as being in a iinished condition suitable for eitecting reproductions in the usual manner, and therefore it only remains to deliver this finished plate to a collecting station which, in the present instance, is represented by a horizontally disposed collecting tray T, Fig. l. This delivery operation is instituted by the opening of the gate 290 to permit the embossed yprinting plate located at the roller station to drop by gravity on to the top 3551 of a ``packer 355, Fig. 3, and subsequently the packer 355 is Z1 actuated in a particular manner from the vertical drive shaft 239 to permit the plate to drop further into the tray T at the rear thereof. With the embossed plate thus located in the collecting tray, the packer is then operated in a manner such as to pack this plate into a stack of plates P, Fig. 1.

The gate 290 is pivotally mounted on a bracket arm 296 which extends to the right of the casing 45 as viewed in Fig. 1, and under and in accordance with the present invention means are afforded to open this gate immediately as the roller carriage 260C completes a plate rolling movement.

The gate 290 may be looked upon as representing a trap door at the bottom of the roller station 260S, being one which normally interrupts the downward travel of an embossed plate entering the rolling station from the upper chute 50. Directly beneath the gate 290 is another or lower vertically disposed chute 310 which is aligned with the guide channels 283C at the roller station, so that when the gate 290 is opened the plate at the roller station will drop into and down through the chute 310. This chute 310 includes a back guide as 312 extending up from the table 34 and a forward guide 311 supported by spaced apart mounting plates as 315, Fig. 1. Under normal conditions, the packer 355 is located immediately beneath the lower opening of the chute 310 to arrest an embossed plate passing down through this chute.

, As viewed in Fig. 8, opening movement of the gate 290 occurs in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot pin 297, and in view of this the gate 290 is formed with a forwardly sloping or canted edge 290B so that the gate 290 in its opening movement will open all at once, so to speak, relative to the bottom edge of the embossed printing plate resting thereon. Secured to the underside of the gate closely adjacent to the pivot pin 297 is a fixed ear or `lug 306 which has a beveled rear edge 306B. Associated with the, beveled lug 306 is a dog 305 that is pivotally mounted on a pin 304 attached to the roller carriage 260 just opposite the'lug 306. This dog 305 has a one Way action such that it is free to turn on the pin 304 in a counterclockwise direction only as is seen in Fig. S. The relationship between the lug 306 and the one way dog 305 is such that on the movement of the carriage 260C to the left the dog simply engages and rides past the lug 306, pivoting counter-clockwise, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 8. However, upon return movement to the right of carriage 260, the complementary beveled edges 3058 and 3068 engage, and since the dog 305 has a one way action only, this engagement is unyielding. Consequently, continued movement of the carriage 260C causes the dog 305 to electively bear against the lug 306 and the gate 290 is forced in an opening direction about the pin 297. The canted edge 290E of the gate accounts for the embossed plate at the roller station dropping evenly down through the chute 310 on to the top 355T of the plate packer where it is arrested.

It will be seen, therefore, that when the carriage 260C once again comes to rest at the completion of a roller operation, gate 290 is open and there 1s no printing plate in the roller station 2608. Of course, the gate 290 does not open in any event until the clutch 200 engages to drive the carriage 260C in the iirst place, and it follows that the gate 290 is open during the time that any particular plate is being embossed. v This, however, is immaterial inasmuch as the next plate to be located at the roller station will normally be the one that is presently being embossed. In order. that this next embossed plate may be properly located at the roller station, it is necessary that the gate 290 be operated in a closing or clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 8, so that it will be disposed once more in a trapping relation beneath the guide channels 283C at the roller station. This closing movement of the gate 290 is directed by the carriage 80 as it moves to the right along the track 60 after the completion of an embossing operation. Thus, Ythe embossed,

plate located in the carriage -`80 at this-time, and

carried toward unloading position, represents what will be the next embossed plate to be located at the roller station.

To close the gate 290, a lug 75, Fig.l 3, is carried at the bottom of the carriage 80. The gate 290 includes a vertical extension 295, Fig. 1, which extendsv upwardly in front of the track 60, and a triangular projection 295B is formed at the top thereof. The left hand side 294 of the triangular portion 295B of the open gate vprojects into the path of the lug advancing to the right on the track 60, and accordingly this lug will ride along the edge 294 on the gate and turn the latter clockwise, as

viewed in Fig. 8, to close off the bottom of the plate rolling station 260Sl It will be appreciated that when the gate 290 is fully closed, the lug 75 isfree to pass the triangular portion 295B of the gate in either direction.

FromV the foregoing, it will be recognized that many of the actions and operations afforded by the plate treating and conditioning unit FR, Fig. 1, of the present invention are controlled in accordance with the movement of,` the carriage along the track 60. When the carriage 80 is located at embossing position to present a printing` plate to the embossing head 32, the various operating combinations in the unit FR are disposed in normal or at rest position, and under such conditions an unembossed plate is located on the forward section of the feed plate 191 in loading position at the front of the magazine M, the last embossed plate, if any, has been cleared from the roller station and rests on the top of the packer 355, and the roller structure 260 assumes the position shown in Fig. l wherein the roller 262 is located in removed relation with respect to the roller station 260S. v After the completion of the embossing operation, the carriage 80 is advanced to the right along the track'60 to loading,

position where the embossed plate carried thereby j is ejected by pulling on the trigger 162, the gate 290 being closed before the carriage comes to rest. The embossed plate thus ejected drops on to the closed gate 290 at the roller station, and the plate holding jaws and 131 are then tilted from unloading position up to loading position to locate a new plate in the carriage 80. The carriage 80 is then moved along the track 60 to the left toward the embossing head 32, and the lever 205 is trippedl during this movement or" the carriage 80 to cause the clutch 200 to engage. `Instantly, and simultaneously in the same cycle of operation of the drive shaft 239, the feed plate 191 moves back and then forward to feed a new plate from the magazine M to loading position, the roller carnage 260C carries the pressure roller 262 in one direction and then back across the face of the embossed plate located on gate 290 at the roller station, and immediately as the roller 262 moves into its normal position at the completion of the cycle of operation the gate 290 opens and the lfinished printing plate vdrops down through chute 310 to the packer 355. p Thus, it will be seen that in one cycle of operation a new or unembossed printing plate is advanced from the bottom of the magazine M to loading position, and the printing plate that was last embossed in the machine 30 is rolled out and ejected from the roller station 2608. However, the nished plate thus ejected from the roller station and passing to the plate packer in a particular cycle of operation is not stacked and arranged in the tray T until the next cycle of operation, as will now be described.

The packer mechanism which includes the packer 355 and which is effective to stack finished plates as P in the tray T is best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 12. The packer 355 is in the form of a U-shaped block which is formed at the forward end of a one-piece packer plate 350. This packer plate 350 is adapted to slide back and forth along the top of the table 34, Figs. 2 and 12, and

is guided in this movement by a pair of oppositely dis-y posed guide plates 348 and 349 which are suitably se,v cured .to the table 34 and appropriately recessed along-

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