US2857160A - Sheet feeder - Google Patents

Description

1958 J. E. VANDEMAN 2,857,1

SHEET FEEDER Filed Aug. 16, 1956 e Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

JAGK E. VANOEMAN fiMM ATTORNEYS 1958 J. E. VANDEMAN' 2,857,160

SHEET FEEDER Filed Aug. 16, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JACK E. VANDEMAN ATTORNEYS Oct. 21, 1958 Filed Aug. 16, 1956 J. E. VANDEMAN SHEET FEEDER 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

JACK E. VANMMAN ATTORNEYS Oct. 21, 1958 J. E. VANDEMAN 2,857,160

' SHEET FEEDER Filed Aug. 16, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

.Max 5. valvasmuv AT MEYs' Oct. 21, 1958 J. E. VANDEMAN 2,357,150

SHEET FEEDER Filed Aug. 16, 1956 s Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR.

JACK E. [IA/WE MAN m x ,4 wzaaw ATTORNEYS Oct. 21, 1958 J. E. VANDEMAN SHEET FEEDER 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Aug. 16, 1956 HVVENTUR.

ATYU AHQCY QSRSUNQ United States Patent SHEET FEEDER Jack E. Vandeman, Berea, Ohio, assignor to Harris- Intertype Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application August 16, 1956, Serial No. 604,445

9 Claims. (Cl. 271-48) This invention relates to a sheet feeder for printing presses and other sheet handling machines. The invention has to do with a method and means for feeding sheets in a stream of underlapped sheets which involves commencing side registration of each sheet earlier in the feeding cycle than has been possible heretofore.

Prior to the present invention, the time required for registering sheets before feeding them to the printing press has had an effect upon the gap size or non-printing area of the press cylinders. When front stops are located above the feedboard as shown in U. S. Patent 2,571,805 to Wood, it is necessary for the tail of a sheet going into the press to be past the front stops before they can descend to intercept the second sheet. This is true Whether feeding in stream or sheet by sheet fashion. The second sheet must be at rest on the feed table for a period long enough to front register the sheet against the stops and to draw the sheet transversely of the sheet path against side gauges to side register the sheet. While the sheet being registered is at rest on the feed table, the preceding sheet is advancing into the press. Therefore the distance between the tail edge of one sheet and the leading edge of the next sheet is controlled by or is a function of the total amount of time allotted to front and side registration.

In a device such as that shown in Backhouse Patent 2,285,076 the front stops intercept the second sheet from beneath the feed table before the tail of an outgoing sheet has passed the front stops on its way to the printing press. With this mechanism the commencement of front registration is not determined by the position of the tail of the outgoing sheet. This eliminates such commencement of front registration from having any effect on or being a function of the distance between the tail edge of one sheet and the leading edge of the following sheet- However, side registration still took place only after the tail of the outgoing sheet passed the point at which side registering mechanism operated on the sheets. The time for side registration, which may be as much as twice the time required for front registration on certain presses, still imposed a limitation on the closeness of spacing between sheets, and consequently on cylinder gap size.

The present invention enables the commencement of side registration beneath the tail of an outgoing sheet, and therefore is independent of the position of the tail of that sheet. This removes the last obstacle of registration time, either front or side, having any effect or imposing any limitation on the gap size of cylinders, and thus upon the spacing between the tail edge of one sheet and. the leading edge of the next sheet.

Ordinarily, the gap size will be reduced through use of the present invention but will not be completely omitted. since room must be provided for operation of gripper mechanisms and since further, plate or blanket cylinders of the printing couple must be provided with spacefor' clamping plates or blankets to such cylinders. However,. since side registration will now have been removed as a factor limiting gap size, advantage of this fact may be taken in any one or any combination of ways well known in the art, for example, (1) the speed of the press and consequently the number of printed sheets produced may be increased; (2) the gap size of the plate and blanket cylinders may be reduced to permit printing sheets of greater length with the same cylinder size; (3) the amount of time of either front or side registration or the total of both maybe increased, or (4) the cylinder diameter may be decreased although the same size sheets are still printed thereby. Other possibilities may occur to one skilled in the art.

One of the objects of the invention therefore is the provision of an improved method and means for feeding sheets from a moving stream to a rotary press in which side registration of a sheet may be effected while the tail of a preceding sheet overlies the side registering point.

An ancillary object is the utilization of earlier side registration to increase press speed, increase sheet length, increase registration time, or decrease cylinder diameter; or to combine any of these advantages.

Another object is the provision of a method for permitting the side registering mechanism for a given sheet to operate beneath a lifted portion of the preceding sheet while the latter sheet is in motion.

Still another object is to provide side gauging elements which operate on the top and bottom of a sheet to frictionally drive it against a side gauge, the element engaging the top of the sheet being beneath an outgoing sheet at the commencement of side registration.

Another object is the provision of a gauging finger which functions additionally to lift a preceding sheet.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with the description of that embodiment of the invention which, for the purposes of the present application I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmental perspective view of a sheet feeder embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmental elevational view, partly in transverse vertical section, of a feed board equipped with a gauging and lifting finger for carrying out the invention.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the first sheet of a stream just as the feed rolls close on a front and side registered sheet, the sheet still being gripped by the side registering mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the front stops dropped, the registered sheet having been raised to permit a second sheet-to pass beneath the raising means.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the foremost sheet of a stream after it has been taken by a printing press cylinder, the second sheet having passed beneath the gang-' ing finger.

Fig. 6 is a similar view but showing the second-sheet of the stream as it reaches the front stops and is about to be front registered.

Fig. 7 shows the second sheet front registered and being gripped between the gauging finger and a supporting roll, side registration being about to begin.

Fig. 8 is a fragmental transverse view showing the gauge finger at the point of completion of the side gauging operation.

Fig. 9 is a similar view, the finger having traveled outwardly beyond the edge of the feed board.

Fig. 10 is a similar view after the gauging finger has traveled downwardly.

Fig. 11 is a similar view with the gauging finger traveling inwardly beneath the gauged sheet and lifting a portion of it upwardly.

Fig. 12 is a similar view with the gauging finger at the limit of its inward motion and lifted upwardly out of the in .a horizontal direction in this bracket.

scended into contact with the second sheet andgri-ps that sheet against the supporting idler roller. Movement of the finger outwardly for side gauging the sheet is about to begin. N Fig. 14 is a timing diagram.

Referring .to Fig. l, a cylinderfof apr'inting'. press is shown at 15.. Itmay be the impression cylinder oranauxiliaryofeed cylinder, for example. On it-are a series of front gauging pins 1.6.and a number of sheet grippers-17. The feed board 18-of .a .sheet feeder provided with for warding tapes ,19 carries a stream of underlappedsheets forward toward the press. A series of front stops 20 are adapted to be projected upwardly through slots in .the feed board-for front registering the sheets.

After the front and side registering operations .on a sheet .are.complete.d and the preceding sheet has progressed into the press, feed rolls of conventional character grip the .sheet andpush it forward .againstlhe gauge pins 16 on thecylinder 15. These feed .rolls .may embody .driven lower rolls 21 rotating on a fixed axis anddrop idlerrolls 22 which swing upand-down around the .axis .of a shaft 23. The feed rolls will come together shortly after the tail .of the preceding sheet passes between the separated rolls, which condition is illustrated in Fig. 3.

To accomplish the objective of commencing side register-earlier than has been possible on conventional mechanisms of thissort, I provide means forlifting whatis .then the first sheet of the stream to leave clear aspace beneath itfor side registration of the second sheet. Iillustrate'this meansas a lifting and gauging finger 24, which finger is movable 11p and down and in and out. It moves transversely inward while in .its lower position in a slot .14 in the feed board adjacent the side gauge 25 and beneath a sheet S at a time when that is the only sheet .onthe feed board .at that point. The finger then moves up to clear theboard .so thatthe next sheet S may pass beneath the finger. Next the finger moves down to grip 'the'sheet S against .an idler roll 26, after which itmoves out to pull the sheet-outwardly against the side gauge 25. Then it moves out beyond the feed board and downwardly preparatory to its next inward movement.

The function of the idler roller '26 is to provide a rolling surface against which the sheet bears while the gauging finger .24 is moving outwardly to side register the sheet. The roller 26 may have a small up and down movement to bring it into operative and inoperative positions, or it may be mounted to turn upon a fixed axis with its top :surfacelevel with the top surface of the feed board, in which latter event the movements of the gauging finger 24-.must compensate for the lack of movement of the ,idlerroll.

As indicated in Fig. 2 a portion'27 of the frameofthe machine supports a vertically slidable bracket28 :which is suitably guided to prevent movement other than vertical movement. The gauging finger 24 is transversely slidable In case the roller 26 is supported upon the bracket 28, as in Fig. 2, it may be mounted upon an arm 29 which is pivoted at 30 to the bracket and'is urged upwardly resiliently by a compression spring 31. An adjustable stop 32 bearing against the lower surface of the feed board prevents the roller from rising beyond the level'illustrated in Fig. 2.

Bracket 28 carries a follower roller 33 which runs upon a cam :34 that is securedto a shaft 35 which turns once for each-cycle ofthe press. This cam has a 'high'spot'to raise the gauge finger to the position indicated in Fig. 12, a low spot for positioning it as indicated in Figs. 8, 9 and 13, and a second still lower spot for the position illustrated inFigs. and 11.

As a means for producing the in and out movementsof the gauge finger I may provide an operatinglever 36 pivoted at '37 to a frame bracket. A roller follower 38 on this. lever runs in the groove of a barrel cam-3.9 mounted upon-andfixed to shaft 35. The upper end .of the; lever is pivoted to one end of a link 40, theotherend of which cylinder.

is pivotally carried by a downturned outer end of the gauge finger. Thus, in and out movement may be imparted to the gauge finger, the timing being dependent upon the shape of the cam.

0peration.1n Figs. 3 and 4 the first sheet S of the stream has been gripped by the feed rolls 21, 22 and is about to be started forward toward the gauge pins 16 on the cylinder 15 to be taken byzthe sheet grippers 17 on the At this time the gauge finger 24 moves out beyond the side of the feed board, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Immediately thereafter the gauge finger begins .its inward travel, it being so shown in Fig. 11. The point of the finger enters the slot 14 somewhat below the level of the feed board and deflects a portion of the sheet S upwardly. The finger then rises to the position of Fig. 12, lifting the side edge portion of the sheet S still further while the succeeding sheet S moves forwardly beneath the finger. After sheet S reaches and is front registered against the front stops 20 asshown in Fig. 6, the finger 24 descendsand presses sheet S against the supporting idler roll 26. The finger 24 then starts to move outwardly to .drawzthe sheet S sidewise against the side gauge 25 to effect side registration as illustrated in Fig. 7. Since it was I previously necessary in commercial registering mechanisms to wait until one sheet had completely passed-the point .of side registration before the next sheet could-be side registered, it is obvious that the present invention accomplishes .a valuable result, for in accordance with it that Wait or delay is eliminated. Side registration may take placeimmediately after front registrationis effected, even though the previous sheet overlies the side registering point of the sheet to be side registered. Thelifting of the side portionof the overlyingsheet by a fingerinserted beneath the moving sheet makes possible the earlier operation ofthe side registering mechanism, and as soon as side registration has been completed the sheet may be moved forward to the grippers on the first cylinder of the printing machine. Of course a sheet can be advanced to the press only when the press is ready .to take it and in a rotary press this can. occur onlyafter the gap in a printing cylinder has passed a given point following the printing portion of the cycle. In registering mechanism embodying feed rolls which effect final registration against gauge pins on a cylinder, I prefer to utilize :the gain I have. achieved to lengthen the time for side registering a sheet. I'find that I can increase the time available in degrees of press rotation as much .as thirty percent over what waspreviously possible with the same mechanism but without the taillifting feature.

The timing of the front stops, the feed rolls and the gauge finger is shown in Fig. 14. The gauge finger 24, it will be observed, is inwardly of the side gauge and in its up position the greater part of the cycle. Its period of downward and outward movement and of movement back to in and up position occupies a relatively small portion of the cycle.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of stream feeding sheets toward a printing press or other. sheet handling machine, which comprises forwarding a first sheet toward the sheet handling machine, lifting .a side portion of the moving first sheet as a second sheet travels therebeneath, front registering the second sheet against front stops raised from beneath the stream of sheets, grasping the second sheet from aboveby transversely movable means and below at a pointadjacent said lifted .side portion of the first sheet while the first sheet overlies said side gauging point, and side gauging the second sheet with said transversely movable means.

2. The method of stream feeding sheets toward a printing press or other sheet handling machine, which comprises front .and side registering the first sheet of the stream, forwarding said first sheet toward the sheet -handling machine, raising front stops from beneath the sheet stream, lifting-freely aside :portion of the moving :first sheet as a second sheet travels therebeneath, front registering the second sheet of the stream against said raised stops, at least commencing side gauging the second sheet from beneath the lifted portion of the first sheet before the rear edge of the first sheet clears the gauging point, dropping the front stops, and feeding the front and side gauged second sheet forward toward the sheet handling machine.

3. The method of stream feeding underlapped sheets toward a printing press or other sheet handling machine which comprises forwarding a first front side registered sheet toward the sheet handling machine with sheet forwarding means, and gripping said first sheet with gripping means on a cylinder of said machine to carry the sheet into the machine, discontinuing the forwarding action of said forwarding means after said gripping means receives the sheet, lifting freely a side portion of the moving first sheet with side gauging means to permit a second sheet to travel beneath said means, front registering the second sheet of the stream against front stops raised from beneath the sheet stream while maintaining said first sheet in lifted position, engaging the second sheet with the side gauging means at least from above and side gauging the second sheet upon completion of front registration, commencement of the side gauging occurring while a portion of the first sheet overlies said side gauging means, graping said sheet from above and below with said forwarding means after completion of side registration and after the tail end of said first sheet has passed said forwarding means, and forwarding said second sheet toward the sheet handling machine.

4. The method of stream feeding sheets toward a printing press or other sheet handling machine, which comprises forwarding a first sheet toward the sheet handling machine, lifting a side portion of the moving first sheet as a second sheet travels therebeneath, front registering the second sheet against front stops raised from beneath the stream of sheets, grasping said second sheet from above and below at a point adjacent said lifted side portion of the first sheet, and commencing pulling said second sheet transversely of the direction of sheet travel through said machine while said first sheet overlies said grasping point to side register the second sheet against a side gauge.

5. In a sheet feeder, a feed board, bottom front stops, a side gauge on one edge of said board rearwardly of said front stops, and means for conveying a stream of underlapped sheets forwardly toward said stops, means adjacent the side gauge for moving an edge portion of a first sheet upwardly with respect to a second sheet traveling therebeneath and functioning while the said edge of said first sheet is so elevated to commence side registration of said second sheet before the tail of the first sheet passes the side gauge.

6. In a sheet feeder, a feed board, bottom front stops, a side gauge on one edge of the board rearwardly of said front stops, means for conveying a stream of underlapped sheets forwardly toward said stops, a transverse finger movable in and out and up and down, means for causing said finger to move in beneath a first sheet and up to lift that sheet above a second sheet traveling therebeneath, then down to operatively contact said second sheet and outwardly to draw the second sheet against the side gauge, at least the commencement of the outward movement occurring before the tail of the first sheet has passed said finger.

7. A sheet feeder substantially as defined in claim 6, said feed board having a slot therein extending inwardly from the side gauge side of the board, said finger movable inwardly into said slot from an initial position beneath the level of the feed board and then upwardly to lift a portion of the first sheet, then down to contact the second sheet, and out to commence drawing said second sheet against said side gauge before the tail of the first sheet passes said finger. I

8. A sheet feeder substantially as defined in claim 7, comprising a roller projecting into said slot from beneath said board, the upper surface of the roller lying at substantially the same level as the upper surface of the board and serving to grip the sheet in cooperation with said finger as the latter moves outwardly.

9. A sheet feeder substantially as defined in claim 8, wherein the upper surface of said finger is inclined downwardly and inwardly to assist in lifting the first sheet preparatory to front and side registering the second sheet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,008,165 Wormser July 16, 1935 2,011,745 Wormser Aug. 20, 1935 2,182,023 Harrold Dec. 5, 1939

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