US2860573A

US2860573A - Type slug feeding, inking, and print control means in address printing machines

Info

Publication number: US2860573A
Application number: US500428A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fox Ray Marsh
Original assignee: DESKFINDER Co
Current assignee: DESKFINDER Co
Priority date: 1955-04-11
Filing date: 1955-04-11
Publication date: 1958-11-18
Anticipated expiration: 1975-11-18

Description

Nov. 1a, 1958 2,860,573

R. M. FOX TYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKING AND PRINT CONTROL Filed April 11. 1955 MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES 7 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 -1. L. 3.1 A? km f u a 73 160 i 192 I HI'IH l 10 A 2 11a 3L 20 v 75 )1 521 f! I J17- J72 104' J2, 9 Q if? 2 .JQAyMA/es/JI'x,

INVENTOR.

Fiat

V 1958 R. M. FOX 2,860,573

TYPE swc FEEDING. INKING AND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTINGMACH1NES r 7 Filed April 11. 1955 e Sheets-Sheet 2 RAY M42674 .Fx,

IN V EN TOR.

R. M. Fox

Nov. 18, 1958 TYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKING AND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN' ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 11. 1955 N S I i N w 1mm mm Nov. 18, 1958 R. M. Fox 2,860,573 TYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKING AND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 11. 1955 0 Nil N\ J55 RAY Mwsw fi'x,

INVENTOR.

Nov. 18, 1958 R. M. FOX 2,860,573

TYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKING AND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed April 11, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 m, x w Q. R% h m MN 0 r M a W my W/ N m mm R S V s &\ w R mn\ & G g mm SN w. e d 1 x qi \N i A E N I 4 fig lrL a IIIRVIT Nb mm .u. AN 5, m M v All V1 A 0 M M c n M. FOX TYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKING AND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES Filed April 11. 1955 Nova 18, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 W wk United States Patent Ray Marsh Fox, Laguna Beach, Calif., assignor to The Deskfinder Company, Costa Mesta, Calif., a corporation of California Application April 11, 1955, Serial No. 500,428

19 Claims. (Cl. 10157) This invention relates to improved printing presses of a type adapted to print different individualized markings on a series of sheets of paper or the like. For instance, a press embodying the invention may be utilized to individualize a series of advertising brochures, blotters, circulars, or other papers, by printing the name of each customer on the particular item which is to be sent to him. Also, the press may be employed for printing, reserved seat numbers or designations on a set of theatre tickets. The present application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial Number 302,380, filed August 2, 1952, on Printing Press Employing Constantly Changing Slugs, now abandoned.

To allow for such individualizing of a series of printed items, I employ as the printing elements a number of individual slugs of cast lead or other metal, such as are produced by conventional linotype or other slug casting machines. These slugs are initially held as a group in a :supply magazine, and are fed successively from the magazine to a printing location. Each of the slugs has a printing face to which ink is applied, and which is brought into contact at the printing location with one of the :sheets of paper to be printed, to print a desired marking on the paper.

The magazine may be a channel like guideway, prefer- :ably forming an inclined chute. The slugs should be posi- .tioned in this guideway with their printing faces directed transversely of the direction of slug advancement, so that the printing face of one slug is not engaged and damaged by the next successive slug. Where the guide way is an inclined chute, the slugs may all have their printing facesdirected upwardly. V

The slugs may besuccessively advanced laterally from :an end of the machine and to the printing location by a reciprocating feed member. or bar, which may be movtable along :a bed plate, and :with which there maybe :associated an inking roller for applying ink to the slugs in the feed chute. At the printing location, the work sheet may be held on a suitable support, preferably a plate tover'lying the printing slug and containing an aperture tthr-oug'h which an overhead platen or head coacts withthe sing to perform a printing operation. The platen may be sreciprocable ttoward and away from the printing slug to press a work sheet against the slug. Also, the work holding plate may itself be retracted preferably upwardly during each cycle of operation of the machine, to allow movement of a slug into printing position, 1 t

In utilizing a press of this type, it is highly important that no slug be passed through the machine without having performed a printing operation, i. e. without having impressed the'desired marking on one of the work sheets. Consequently, a further feature of the invention resides .in the provision of means for automatically preventing :a slug from being passed through the apparatus when there is no work sheet at the printing location. For this purpose, I employ a control system which is responsive to positioning of a sheet of paper at the printing location, and will stop the machine short of a printing operaice tion if no such sheet is present. This control system may include an electrical contact which is electrically engageable with a work supporting plate, and is held out of engagement with that plate when a paper is placed on the plate of the printing location. This contact may be connected in series with a second contact which is responsive to movement of a slug toward printing location, so that if a slug moves toward that location where no paper is in printing position, the apparatus will stop.

An additional feature of the invention has to with an improved type of guide or stop structure for properly positioning a work sheet on the worksupporting plate. This guide structure may include a plurality of guide elements against which the work sheet may abut and which are selectively connectible into any of a large number of different openings in the plate, to allow for the positioning of the guides for holding different sizes of paper sheets. An additional and more precise adjustment of the guides may be attained by mounting each of the guide elements for individual eccentric adjusting movement relative to the plate when connected into any one of the apertures.

The above and other features and objects of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the typical embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a printing machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of Fig. l, but showing the printing head in its upwardly retracted position;

Fig. 5 is a plan view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 77 of .Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section through the adjustable cam follower unit for actuating the printing head;

Fig. 9 is a view taken on line 99 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of the contact unit which supports the work holding plate;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged plan view, partially broken away, of the slug engaging electrical contact;

Fig. 12 is a section taken on line 1212 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged perspective view of the electrical contact which engages the work holding plate;

Fig. 14 is a view taken essentially on line 1414 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of one of the work guides carried by the work supporting plate;

Fig. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary partially sectional view taken on line 16-46 of Fig. 17;

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary perspective View showing certainof the parts of the slug feeding mechanism;

Fig. 18 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the horizontally movable carriage;

Fig. 19 is a fragmentary perspective view of the slug ejecting apparatus;

Fig. 20 is an enlarged fragmentary end view, partially broken away, of the base plate, horizontal carriage guide structure, and associated parts;

Fig. 21 is a diagramrepresenting the electrical control circuit of the apparatus;

' 22 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the cast printing slugs;

Fig. 23 is an exploded perspective of the forward portion of the slug feed chute;

Fig. 24 is a perspective view of the feed bar;

Fig. 25 is a section taken on line 25-25 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 26 is a section taken on line 2626 of Fig. 4.

The printing press represented in the drawings utilizes as the actual printing elements a series of conventional linotype slugs (see Fig. 22) cast from lead alloy by a conventional linotype or other machine. Each of the slugs 10 is elongated, and is typically represented as of solid rectangular configuration, though the present apparatus is also adapted to handle slugs whose bodies may contain any of various types of recesses for reducing the amount of metal required for each slug. Along the upper elongated surface of each slug, there are formed the raised letters or other markings, 11 which are to be used for printing a piece of paper, cardboard, or other work material.

A series of differently impressioned slugs 10 are placed in an inclined elongated chute 12, with their printing faces 11 directed upwardly away from the bottom of the chute, and are successively and individually ejected laterally from the lower portion of that chute by a reciprocating feed bar 13. On each operation, this feed bar 13 displaces the lower one of the slugs 10 in chute 12 to the left as seen in Figs. 1 and 6 and to a location beneath an opening 14 in a work supporting plate 15. Prior to the time that an individual slug reaches this printing location beneath opening 14, an operator places a piece of paper or other sheet of work material on plate 15 at the location of opening 14. As the slug reaches its printing location beneath opening 14, plate 15 swings downwardly through a short distance, and a printing head 17 moves downwardly to press the paper 16 against the slug to thus mark the paper as desired. Prior to its lateral ejection, the slug has been inked by an inking roller 18, which receives its supply of ink from a plate 19. After delivery of a slug to the printing location, feed bar 13 returns to the right as seen in Fig. 1 to engage and displace the next successive slugs. Also, after heat 17 has performed a printing operation, this heat retracts upwardly, as does plate 15 through a short distance. The operator may then remove paper 16, and place a second paper on plate 15 to be printed by the next slug. As each slug moves into printing position, the feed bar displaces the previous slug farther to the left to a location from which it may subsequently fall into a forwardly extending discharge tray or trough 20, within which the accumulated used slugs are progressively advanced forwardly by an ejector member 21.

The various working parts of the machine are carried by a stationary rigid frame,'which includes two parallel spaced vertically extending and similarly shaped leg members 22. Between upper portions of these leg members, there extends a forwardly inclined rigid plate-like frame member 23, which is rigidly secured in any suitable manner to legs 22. At its upper end, member 23 has an integrally formed cross piece or head 24, to whose inclined upper surface 25 there is attached a bed plate 26, this attachment typically being effected by a number of screws 27 (see Fig. 4). Bed plate 26 extends across substantially the entire width of the machine (from left to right as seen in Figs. 1, 6, and 17), and is inclined downwardly and forwardly. This bed plate acts as a support for many of the moving parts of the apparatus.

The slug feeding chute 12 includes a fiat sheet metal member 28 which is attached at its lower end by screws 29 to the upper side of a central portion of base plate 26 (see Figs. 17 and 23). The sheet metal floor member 28 of chute 12 extends rearwardly and upwardly at an inclination corresponding to the inclination of base plate 26. The slugs are positioned in chute 12 in parallel relation, with the slugs extending transversely across the chute, and with each slug resting angularly downwardly against the next lower slug. At its left side, the sheet metal floor member 28 of chute 12 has an upturned flange 30, which movably carries an adjustable side wall 31 for engaging and positioning the left ends of the slugs. Wall 31 extends longitudinally of the trough and is guided for only longitudinal adjusting movement by screws 32 attached to wall 31 and extending through longitudinally extending slots 33 in flange 30. One or more of these screws 32 is adapted to be tightened to releasably retain wall 31 in any desired position relative to flange 30. This longitudinal adjustment of wall 31 allows for adjustment of the width of a gap or space 34 (see Fig. 11) between the lower or forward end of wall 31 and later-to-be-described member 35, through which gap the slugs 10 are ejected laterally from the chute to the printing location. As will be apparent, adjustment of wall 31 toward or away from member 35 allows for passage of different thickness slugs through the space 34 and to the printing location, and also assures that for any particular thickness of slug the lower portion of wall 31 will be so positioned as to prevent the simultaneous ejection of more than one slug from the chute and to the printing location.

Along the right side of chute 12, there is provided a second side wall 36, which is spaced from and parallel to first side wall 31. This second wall 36 is carried by a mounting bracket 37, which projects laterally and forwardly to a location beneath bed plate 26. Bracket 37 contains an elongated slot 38 extending transversely with respect to chute 12, and through which there extends an adjusting screw 39 connected intothe underside of bed plate 26. When screw 39 is loosened, bracket 37 and the carried side wall 36 of the chute may be adjusted laterally toward and away from side wall 31, as permitted by slot 38, to thus vary the width of the feed chute between

walls

31 and 36. This allows for adjustment of the chute width to correspond to the different lengths of various different sized linotype slugs.

The righthand side wall 36 is also capable of adjustment longitudinally of the chute and between two differ ent positions, this adjustment being effected by virtue of the provision in bracket 37v of a pair of openings 40, adapted to register with a pair of openings 40a in one position of the wall 36, or with a second pair of openings 41a in wall 36 in a second slightly longitudinally offset position of wall 36. This adjustment allows for varying the spacing 42 between the lower end of wall 36 and the previously mentioned member 35 (see Fig. 6) to accommodate either of two different widths of feed bar 13, for handling different size slugs. Each of these different sizes of feed bar 13 is capable of harm-- dling several different sizes of slugs, so that the provision of two different feed bars allows for handling by the apparatus of virtually any conventional size of slug.

Referring now to Fig. 16, the slug feeding chute 12 is supported along the center of its underside by a support member 43, which is suitably attached as at 44 to the frame of the apparatus. This figure also shows a swinging stop member 45, comprising a bell' crank pivoted by a screw 46 for swinging movement about an axis extending transversely of chute 12. Crank 45 has one arm extending generally parallel to the underside of chute 12, and carrying a number of pins 48 which are capable of projecting upwardly through registering apertures 49 in the floor of chute 12. When crank 45 is swung in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 16, pins 48 extend upwardly through openings 49 to the broken line position of that figure, in which position the pins are adapted to retain the forwardmost slug in the chute against movement forwardly, beyond the po sition of slug 10a of Figs. 5 and 17. Crank 45 is adapted to be swung between its full line retracted position of Fig. 16 and its broken line active position by a swinging control arm 50, which is pivoted to the frame of the machine at 5 1, and has an arcuate recess 52 within whichfthe end of the downwardly projecting arm 53 of crank 45 is received. Recess 52 is defined at its opposite ends by a pair of shoulders 54 and 55, which engage sides of crank arm 53 to actuate and crank belWCcn its two positions. An overcenter spring 56 is connected at its opposite ends of screw 46 and to arm 50 at 57, and acts to yieldingly retain crank 45, arm 50, and pins 48 in either their active or inactive positions. This overcenter action of spring 56 is of course obtained by positioning part 57 to whichthe spring is attached in a manner such that this pin moves past a center position of alinement with pivot points 46 and 51 in shifting crank 45between its two positions. The purpose of the slug stopping structure represented in Fig. 16 is to hold the slugs out of a position for feeding to the printing location when the machine is first started, to permit proper inking of the lower slugs before they are allowed to print.

The feed bar 13 is horizontally elongated, and along most of its length is rectangular in vertical section. This feed bar 13 rests on, and extends and moves along, the lower edge portion of bed plate 26. The path of movement of said bar 13 extends directly transversely across the lower end of feed chute 12, so that the feed bar may successively displace the slugs laterally from the forward end of the chute to the printing location.

In order that leftward movement of the feed bar may effect corresponding leftward movement of a forward slug 1% in chute 12, the left end portion of feed bar 13 contains a rectangular recess 58, which extends forwardly into the rear side of the feed bar, and also opens toward the left end of the feed bar. Recess 58 is defined along its forward side by a wall extending directly transversely of chute 12, and extending directly perpendicularly with respect to the bottom wall 28 of the chute. At its right end, recess 58 is defined by a shoulder 59 which extends transversely of feed bar 13, and therefore extends directly parallel to

side walls

31 and 36 of the chute. The recess58 is of a length to extend across the entire width of chute 12. As feed bar 13 moves to the left as seen in Fig. 17, and assuming that stop pins 48 are retracted, the forwardmost slug in chute 12 is received within recess 58 in the feed bar, so that shoulder 59 at the end of the recess abuts against the left end of that lowermost slug and causes the slug to be displaced laterally from the feed chute and to the printing location as a result of the leftward movement of the feed bar.

As the feed bar moves to the left, it moves along the rear side of the previously mentioned member 35. This member 35 is elongated and of rectangular transverse section, and is attached by screws 60 (see Fig. 4) to the forward edge of bed plate 26. Member35 projects upwardly beyond the upper surface of bed plate 26, to act as a guide for feed bar 13 and the laterally ejected slugs. Member 35 extends laterally from the left end offthe machine to a location directly forwardly of the farthest position to the right to which chute wall 36 is movable. Near its right end, member 35 rotatably carries a roller 61, which is received in a recess in the upper side of member .35 and is rotatable about an axis extending perpendicularly to bed plate 26. The rear portion of roller 61 projects slightly beyond the rear side of member 35, to engage the forward surface of feed bar 13, and thus serve as a low friction bearing for the feed bar during its horizontal movement.

After the feed bar and a carried slug have moved to the left to the end of the feed bar travel, and after the slug has been caused to perform a printing operation by virtue of downward movement of printing head 17, the feed bar 13 then returns to the right to engage the next successive slug in the chute. During such rightward movement of feed bar 13, the slug which has just performed a printing operation is retained against returning movement with the feed bar by means of a re- .ing movement about an axis perpendicular to the base plate. This hook is sufficiently heavy to be normally .urged by gravity to the forward or lower position represented in Fig. 6. Along its right side as seen in that figure, hook 63 has an angular cam surface 64 which is engaged by a slug as it moves to the left with feed bar 13, so that the slug deflects hook 62 upwardly to allow the slug to pass the downwardly extending end of that hook. When the feed bar starts its rightward movement on a return stroke, the transverse shoulder 65 at the left side of hook 62 engages the right end of the slug to hold it against rightward movement with the feed bar. In order to allow the hook to thus engage the right end of the slug, the feed bar has a groove or elongated recess 66 formed and extending horizontally along the vertically central portion of its rear side,and extending rightwardly from recess 58, so that the lower portion of hook 62 may fit Within this recess or groove 66 for engaging and holding the slug.

To the left beyond the slug engaging portion of hook 62, there is attached to base plate 26 a defiectible guide member 66, which is attached to the base plate for movement toward and away from member 3 5, the attachment being effected by a pair of screws 67 connected into base plate 26 and extending through slots 68 in member 66. Element 66 has a forward upturned flange 69, presenting an angularly extending entrance throat or camming portion 70 which a slug being advanced to the left by the feed bar engages, to deflect element 66 rearwardly or upwardly. The slug and feed bar are received between flange 69 and member 35 at the end of a feed bar stroke, and at that time are located directly beneath opening 14 and work supporting plate 15. After a printing operation has been effected with the first slug in place, and after the feed bar has returned to the right, element 66 is urged forwardly by gravity, to hold the slug against member 35; and upon the movement of the next successive slug into printing position, the leading end of feed bar 13 displaces the first slug farther to the left and to a location above a recess 71 in base plate 26, through which recess the slug subsequently falls downwardly between elements 72 and 35 into discharge tray 20 (when permitted by retraction of ejector 21, as will later appear). Guide 72 has a flange 73 at its forward side turned downwardly to direct the slugs as they fall into discharge tray 20. Guide 72 is adjustably mounted by screws 74 attached to the base plate and extending through slots in element 72. The adjustment of guide element 72 toward and away from member 35 allows for adjustment of this portion of the apparatus to receive different size slugs.

The slug discharge tray20 (see Figs. 17 and 19) comprises a horizontally extending channel shaped member projecting forwardly from a location beneath guide 72. On each operation of the machine, the slugs that have already accumulated within tray 20 are displaced forwardly a short distance to provide for reception of the next successive slug, so that the slugs are accumulated within tray 26 in a parallel series, and with their printing faces all directed upwardly and out of engagement, and thus in the same condition and sequence as that in which they were originally held within feed chute 12. As seen best in Fig. 1, discharge tray 20 may be inclined downwardly toward one of its sides, to assure that all of the slugs will move toward that side of the tray and thus into properly alined relation one with the other.

The slug feeding bar 13 is reciprocated horizontally by means of a horizontally moving carriage 75 (Fig. l) which is movable along a pair of parallel horizontally extending spaced guide rails 76. As seen. in Figs. 3, l8 and 20, these guide rails 76 may be of square transverse section, and carriage 75 includes a part 77 which is confined between rails 76 and acts to partially embrace those rails in a manner effectively guiding part 77 for only longitudinally sliding movement relative to rails 7 6. The

upper of the two horizontal rails 76 may be located near th forward edge of bed plate 26, while the second rail second portion received between flattened parallel end portions 80 of rails 76. This latter portion of mounting bracket 78 may be attached to the ends 80 of the guide rails by means of screws 81.

At their left ends, rails 76 may be attached to base plate 26 by a second mounting bracket 82, which may be constructed essentially the same as the previously described bracket 78. At the right side of bracket 82, there may be carried a bumper element 83, typically formed of rubber, which is engaged by the left end of carriage member 77 at the end of each leftward stroke of the carriage, to limit the movement of the carriage. To describe the carriage part 77 somewhat more specifically, it may comprise two horizontally spaced head portions 84 and 85 engaged and guided by rails 76, with a reduced dimension horizontal portion 86 extending between and rigidly interconnecting these two heads. The bumper 83 acts to engage a directly transverse end surface 87 of one of these heads 84 (see Fig. 18, which is a rear perspective view of part 77 and the guide rails).

In addition to part 77, the horizontally movable carriage 75 includes a second part 88, which is rigidly attached to part 77 by screws 89. Part 88 projects upwardly from part 76 at the forward side of the guide rails,

' and carries at its rear side a connector member 90 (see Fig. 6), which forms the connection between carriage 75 and feed bar 13. Connector member 90 may be a casting having a relatively thin portion 91-attached at one end by a screw 92 to carriage part 88, and having an enlarged portion 93 at its opposite end which carries a pin 94 selectively receivable within any of a series of transverse recesses 95 (see Fig. 24) formed at spaced locations along the underside of the right end portion of feed bar 13. Pin 94 has a diameter substantially equal to the width of slots 95, so that when the pin is received in any of these slots a positive connection is formed between the carriage 75 and feed bar 13. Positioning of the feed bar so-that pin 94 is received within the different slots 95 effects an adjustment in the positioning of the feed bar, so that the feed bar may be positioned to pick up any of different lengths of slugs from the feed chute 12, or to place slugs shorter than maximum length in a variety of positions under platen 154. That is, if pin 94 is received within a left one of the slots 95, as seen in Fig. 3, the feed bar will move to the right as far as possible, to thus pick up from the feed chute the longest possible slug for which the machine is adapted. For shorter slugs, pin 94 may be positioned within others of the slots 95. The feed bar may be adjusted relative to part 90 by merely lifting the right end of the feed bar and then letting it drop with pin 94 received in the desired slot 95.

Connector part 90 is purposely made as a sheer or fracture part, whose thinnest portion 91 is sufiiciently weak to break before any of the other parts of the slug displacing mechanism, in the event the mechanism becomes jammed or for other reasons bar 13 will not advance properly. In this case, part 90 breaks, to protect the rest of the portions of the apparatus against damage. The entire apparatus may then be repaired by merely correcting the difficulty which has caused the jamming condition, and then replacing only the sheer part 90. Preferably, sheer part 90 is formed of cast aluminum.

The horizontal carriage 75 and other parts of the apparatus are power driven by a continuously operating electric motor 96 (see Fig. 1) typically attached to the frame by a stand 97 carried by a rod 98 extending between the lower portions of the legs 22. The shaft of motor 96 carries a pulley 99, which drives a flywheel 100 by means of an endless belt 101. Flywheel 100 is rotatably mounted at the right side of right leg 22, by means of a shaft 102 extending through an opening in the leg 22 and journaled within bearing 103 attached to the opposite side of the leg (see Fig. 14). A vertically extending essentially circular housing or cover member 104 may extend across the outer side of flywheel 100, and be suitably attached to the leg 22 by screws 105 and 44 (Fig. 2).

At the rear of frame member 23, shaft 102 drives an electric clutch member 106 (Fig. 14), Whose output in turn drives a reduction gear 107. Clutch 106 is controlled by opening and closing of an electrical circuit, which includes two

contact elements

108 and 109 electrically engaging two slip rings 110 and 111 on the clutch. When the circuit to

contacts

108 and 109 is closed, the resulting energization of'clutch 106 causes the clutch to transmit power to reduction gear 107. Breaking of the circuit to

contacts

108 and 109 of course breaks the drive connection through the clutch to reduction gear 107 (see Fig. 21).

Referring now to Fig. 4, the reduction gear 107 at the rear side of member 23 drives a shaft 112 which extends forwardly and downwardly at an inclination corresponding to that of bed plate 26, and through a bore 113 in member 23. At the forward side of member 23, the rotatively driven shaft 112 carries and drives a wheel 114, whose outer peripheral portion 115 (Fig. 1) is pivotally and eccentrically connected to a connector rod 116 at 117. Connecting rod 116 is attached at its opposite end by means of a lost motion connection to the horizontally moving carriage 75, to effect horizontal reciprocation of carriage 75 in accordance with the rotary motion of Wheel 114.

The connection between rod 116 and carriage 75 includes a U-shaped bracket 118, having a first portion 119 which is pivotally attached by a screw 120 to the forward face of head 85 of carriage member 77. A pair of spaced parallel arms 121 project forwardly and downwardly from portion 119 of part 118, and contain alined openings 122 through which threaded rod 123 slidably extends. Rod 123 is threadedly connected into the end of, and forms in effect an extension of, connecting rod 116. At its right end, threaded rod 123 has an enlarged diameter head 124 with a coil spring 125 being provided about rod 123 and bearing at its opposite ends against one arm of element 118 and head 124. Spring 125 is preferably at all times under compression, to yieldingly urge part 118 to the left relative to connecting

rod

116, 123, and against a stop nut 126 (Fig. 3) which is carried at a fixed location on rod 123. Preferably, rod 123 is adjustable longitudinally relative to rod 116 by virtue of the threaded connection between these parts.

Nut 126 is adjusted along rod 123 to a position at which, with part 118 held against the nut by spring 125, the bumper 83 (see Fig. 3) will engage part 77 and thus halt the leftward movement of carriage 75 slightly before the connecting rod 116 has reached its extreme leftward position during a slug displacing operation. When bumper 83 thus stops the leftward movement of carriage 75, the further leftward movement of connecting rod 116 causes that rod to move a short distance to the left relative to carriage 75 and part 118 which is attached to the carriage. This relative motion is effected against the tendency of spring 125, and serves to partially compress that spring. In Fig. 3, the specified relative displacement between the connecting rod and part 118 is represented by the very small gap 127. Thus, at the very end of the slug feeding stroke of carriage 75 and feed bar 13, the carriage and bar, as well as the carried slug, remain entirely stationary for a short interval even through wheel 114 and the connecting rod continue to move. It is during this interval that the head 17 completes its motion downwardly into engagement with the paper 16 on plate 15, and causes the slug held by the feed bar 13 to print the desired impression on the underside of the paper. The manner in which -130 in parallel relation to bed plate 26.

this movement of the head is effected will be described at a later point.

On each leftward movement of carriage 75, ink is applied to a lower group of the slugs within chute 12 (Fig. 1) by means of roller 18. This roller 18, as well as two ink distributing rollers 128 and a handle 129, are all carried by a plate 130 which is movably attached to carriage 75. Plate 130 is attached to part 88 of the carriage by means of a pair of spaced screws 131 rigidly attached to and projecting upwardly from member 88 in parallel relation. Screws 131 extend through a pair of oversized openings within plate 130, with a pair of coil springs 132 received about the screws and urging plate 130 upwardly toward heads 133 of the screws. Roller 18 is rotatably carried by a shaft 134 projecting rearwardly from plate Ink distributing rollers 128 are similarly mounted about shafts 135 which extend angularly toward the left and right sides respectively of the machine as they extend rearwardly and upwardly. The

rollers

18 and 128 all rest on the conventional inking plate 19, which is mounted on the upper side of bed plate 26 to the right of feed chute 12.

As carriage 75 moves to the left on each cycle of operation, roller 18 picks up ink from plate 19 and rolls the ink onto a lower group of the slugs in chute 12. For this purpose, the upper surface of inking plate 19 is laterally alined with the upper printing faces of the slugs in the lower portion of thechute. The same movement of carriage 75 causes rollers 128 to distribute ink evenly over the inking pad 19, by virtue of the angular mounting of these rollers. The weight of the rollers and plate 130 is sufiiciently great to partially compress springs 132 in normal operation, so that the rollers are somewhat resiliently supported and yet some of their weight actuallyrests on the inking plate and slugs.

When the machine is not in use, it is desirable to hold

rollers

18 and 128 in an upper retracted position out of engagement with inking plate 19, since these rollers are of a very soft and deformable material such as is customarily used for this purpose. To thus hold the rollers in retracted positions, handle 129 is mounted for axial movement within bore 136 in plate 130, and when the handle is actuated forwardly within that bore (with plate 130 held in an upper position against screw heads 133), the forward end of handle 129 is received above and engages a lug 137 on member 88, in a manner releasably holding the plate and handle in their upper retracted positions (see broken lines in Fig. 20). Handle 129 may be yieldingly urged toward an inactive rearward position by the coil spring 138, and may be retained in its forward active position by a detenting reception of head 1290 on handle 129 within a recess or notch 137a in lug 137.

The work supporting plate is flat or planer and formed of an electrically conductive material, such as chrome plated steel. The opening 14 in this plate through which the printing is effected is elongated laterally and typically of rectangular configuration, and is of the size to allow for handling of any of the various sizes of slugs which may be encountered. Aperture 14 is of course located directly above the position in which the slugs are held during printing, that is a position between flange 69 and member 13 in Fig. 6. There are formed in plate 15 a large number of small circular openings 140, which extend directly through the plate and are alined in closely spaced'rows extendingboth transversely across and from frontto rear along plate 15. These openings 140 are all threaded, so that there may be threadedly connected into any of these openings a screw 141 for attaching to the upper side of the plate 15 a work guide element 142 (see Figs. 1 and 15). Several of these work guide members 142 are employed, usually three as seen in Fig. l, and these elements serve as stops against which the paper or cardboard .16 is positioned for a printing operation.

The provision of a large number of the openings 140 in. the plate 15 allows for positioning of the various stops 142 at any of numerous different locations for acconinid dation of different sizes and shapes of work pieces. Also, a further adjustment in the positioning of elements 142 is allowed by forming these elements of cylindrical configuration, and then providing bores 143 for passing screws 141 downwardly through elements 142 at eccentric locations. Thus, each of the guides 142 may be rotatably adjusted about its attaching screw 141 to vary the position of the work engaging surface of that element 142. Preferably, the adjustment thus afforded by rotation of the various elements 142. is sufficiently great to allow for a continuous minute adjustment of the edge of the paper between. any pair of the adjusted positions allowed bya change in position of a screw 141. For this purpose, .the difference between the smallest radius r and the largest radius R of each eccentric element 142 is equal to at least one half the distance d between successive apertures in plate 15 (see Fig. 15).

The rear or upper portion of work supporting plate 15 is positioned on the machine by means of an electrically non'conductive elongated mounting member 144, which extends along and is rigidly attached to (as by screws 145) the upper edge portion of bed plate 26. Along its upper side, member 144 (see Fig. 10) carries an electrically conductive strip of metal 146, which has a pair of upwardly projecting electrically conductive pins 147 near its opposite ends receivable within a pair of openings 148 in the upper edge portion of plate 15. Conductor 146 and the rear portion of plate 15 are electrically insulated from the rest of the machine by means of the resinous plastic element 144. Member 146 is connected by a wire 149 to a slug engaging contact 150 whose construction. and functioning will be discussed at a later point. Pins 147 form an electrical contact between element 146 and plate 115, and are a somewhat loose fit within openings 148 to allow a limited upward movement of the lower or forward portion of plate 15 for passing the slugs into printing positionbeneath opening 14. That is, plate 15 swings slightly upwardly about essentially an axis defined by the

elements

146 and 147 to which its upper end i movably attached.

The printing head 17 is carried by an elongated rigid member 151 which extends angularly upwardly and forwardly at the forward side of frame member 23 (see Figs. 1, 2 and 4). Member 151 has an upper rearwardly curving portion 152, which rigidly carries a transverse element 153 forming a portion of printing head.17. A platen member 154 is adjustably attached to the underside of element 153, and has an elongated portion 155 dimensioned to be at least as large in a plane parallel to bed plate 26 as is the largest slug 10 for which the apparatus is designed. This portion 155 of platen ele.- ment 154 carries a tympan sheet 156, which is removably and tightly clamped in any suitable manner to part 155 in a position of extension across its underside. The underside of the tympan paper bears downwardly against the paper 16 during the printing operation, to press that paper 16 against the inked upper surface of a slug 10, to cause the slug to print on the undersurface of the paper 16. Platen member 154 is adjustable relativejto element 153, this adjustment being allowed by virtue of a number of studs 157 rigidly attached to and projecting upwardly from element 154. Studs 157 movably extend through openings 158 in head element 153, with nuts 159 being threadedly carried about studs 157 and tightenable against the upper and lower sides of element 153 to retain the studs and platen element 154 in any adjusted position relative to head153. This adjustment allows for regulation of the positioning, of platen head 154 in its lowermost position, to assure a proper printing action. 1

Member 151 and its carried printing head 17 are mounted for upward and downward reciprocal move- 11 ment parallel to member 23 and at right angles to bed plate 26. Such mounting of member 151 and head 17 is effected by means of a pair of inclined spaced parallel guide rails 160, whose construction is similar to the previously discussed horizontal rails 76, and which are attached at their lower ends to a frame carried bracket 161 at 162 (Fig. 2) and are attached at their upper ends as by screws 163 to a forward portion of head 24 of member 23. As best seen-in Fig. 7, member 151 carries near its upper end a rearwardly projecting guide enlargement 164, having oppositely facing right angle recesses165 embracing the inner sides of the two guide rails 160. At its lower end, member 151 carries a second rearwardly projecting enlargement 166 having guide recesses shaped the same as those shown at' 65 in Fig. 7, so that

projection

164 and 166 act to guide member 151 for sliding movement longitudinally on guide rails 160. Member 151 is yieldingly urged upwardly to its retracted Fig. 4 position by .a coil spring 167, which bears upwardly against the underside of projection 164, and bears downwardly against an enlarged lower head 168 on a rod 169 received within the spring. Rod 169 extends upwardly through the spring and through an opening 170 in projection 164, and rigidly connects to portion 24 of member 23 at 171.

Member 151 is actuated downwardly on each cycle of operation of the machine by means of the wheel 114, whose peripheral portion 115 presents a radially outwardly facing cam surface 172 (Fig. 1). This cam surface engages and actuates a cam follower roller 173 (Figs. 4 and 8), which is rotatively carried at the end of an elongated shaft like member 174. This shaft like member 174 has an externally cylindrical portion 175 extending through a cylindrical transverse bore 176 in the lower enlarged portion 166 of member 151, and carrying a rotary handle member 177 at its forward end. At its rear end, element 174 has an externally cylindrical portion 178 carrying roller 173 and which is eccentric with respect to the rest of element 174, so that rotation of the latter within bore 176 adjusts cam follower 173 upwardly and downwardly relative to member 151. This adjustment affords a very quick and easy regulation of the lowermost position to which head 17 is actuated by cam wheel 114, to compensate for different thicknesses of work sheets 16. A set screw 179 is tightenable against element 174 to retain it in any desired adjusted position. As will be apparent, element 174 extends through portion 166 of member 151 at a location between the two guide rails 160.

Upwardly beyond its guide rail engaging projection 164, member 151 adjustably carries an externally cylindrical electrically non-conductive roller 180 (see Fig. 4), which may be formed of a suitable rigid non-conductive resinous plastic material, and which acts to position and vertically displace the lower or forward edge portion of 1 work supporting plate 15. As seen best in Fig. 26, this member 180 is carried about an eccentric portion 181 of a screw 182 which is connected to member 151 and is adapted to be tightened by a nut 183 to a condition retaining the screw against rotation. A will be apparent, screw 182 may be loosened and then adjusted to vary the position at which plate 15 is held relative to member 151, the screw being held in any adjusted position by tightening of nut 183. Roller 180 engages the underside of plate 15, and supports plate 15 in a manner such that it is electrically insulated from every part but contact 146 and pins 147.

The cam surface 172 of wheel 114 preferably extends at a constant and reduced diameter along most of its circular extent, and progressively rises to an enlarged diameter at only one localized area 184 (see Fig. 3). When cam follower 173 is engaged by this raised portion 184 of the cam surface, member 151 and printing head 117 are cammed downwardly to press paper 16 across a slug 10 at the printing location. This downward movement simultaneously allows downward movement of work supporting plate 15 to a printing position in which .the upper surface of plate 15 is substantially alined laterally with the uppermost portion of the printing face of the slug. During all other portions of a cycle of operations, that is, while the cam follower is in engagement With the reduced diameter portion of cam surface 172, the head 17 and plate 15 are in their upwardly retracted positions, to allow movement of a slug into printing position, and to allow the positioning of a work sheet on plate 15 by the operator. Preferably, wheel 114 turns in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 3. The cam follower 173 of course engages the raised portion 184 of cam surface 172, for effecting a printing operation, only while carriage 75 is in and near its leftmost position, so that the feed bar 13 and a carried slug will be in proper printing position. At this point, it should be noted that the vertical height of the slugs is substantially greater than the vertical height of feed bar 13, member 35, and guide flange 69, so that these latter parts will not interfere with the movement of plate 15 downwardly to its printing position.

The part 21 for shifting the slugs forwardly within discharge tray 20 (see Fig. 19) is a sheet metal element having an upper horizontally extending portion 192 onto which a slug first falls after reaching the end of its horizontal travel, and a forward downturned slug engaging portion 193 which extends downwardly within tray 20 to locations near its bottom and side walls. The upper horizontal portion 192 of part 21 is attached by screws 194 at its rear edge to an elongated actuating lever 195 which extends horizontally across substantially the entire width of the machine at a location beneath bed plate 26. Lever 195 is pivotally mounted to the frame at a central location 196 for swinging movement about an essentially vertical axis. The left end of lever 195, as seen in Fig. 19, is yieldingly urged rearwardly, to move flange 193 of part 129 rearwardly within tray 20, by a coil spring 197 which is attached at its opposite ends to lever 195 and a portion of the frame.

This left end of the lever 195 is actuated forwardly upon each leftward movement of horizontally movable carriage 75, by virtue of a cam arrangement provided at the right end of lever 195. This cam structure includes a roller 198 mounted to head of carriage part 77 for rotation about a vertical axis, this roller being engageable with an adjustable cam element or extension 199 mounted to the right end of lever 195. Cam element 199 has a forwardly facing cam face 200, which extends at an angle such that leftward movement of the horizontal carriage 75 and its carried roller 198 serves to cam element 200 and the right end of lever rearwardly, to thereby effect a forward slug shifting movement of the lever 195 and the slug engaging part 21. Cam element 199 is mounted to lever 195 by a screw 201, which allows forward and rearward swinging movement of element 199 relative to lever 195 to effect an adjustment of the range of travel of part 21. The cam element 199 is held in any desired adjusted position by an adjusting screw 202, which extends through and threadedly engages an upturned car 203 on lever 195, and bears against the rear side of element 199 to limit its rearward movement relative to part 195 (see Figs. 18 and 19).

At the left end of lever 195, this lever may be pivotally connected to a link 204, whose lower end is pivoted at 205 to a suitable portion of the frame, to retain lever 195 in substantially a predetermined horizontal plane during its limited slug advancing swinging movement. The pivotal connection at 196 must of course be sufliciently loose to allow for slight vertical movement of the left end of lever 195 during the horizontal swinging movement, in view of the fact that the left end of the lever is connected to link 204. The forward movement of part 21 upon each leftward movement of horizontal carriage 75 13 must of course be sufficiently great to shift the r'earmost slug in tray 20 forwardly to a position in which it will not be in the falling path of the next slug which will drop into the tray.

In using the present machine, it i desirable to make certain that under no possible circumstances can any of the slugs be run through the machine without perform ing a printing operation. For this purpose, I have provided a control system, which automatically stops the machine if feed bar 13 commences to displace a slug to the left toward printing position before a sheet of paper or other work material 16 has been placed in position on plate 15. This circuit includes a first electric switch which is opened by placement of a sheet of paper on plate 15, and a second electric switch which is closed by movement of a slug toward printing position, with these two switches being connected in series so that if both are closed, a circuit is closed to stop the press.

The switch which is responsive to positioning of a paper on plate 15 includes an electrical contact element 185 (Fig. 13) which is mounted by an electrically nonconductive member 186 to the upper side of plate 15, the attachment being effected by a screw 187 extending through member 186 and threadedly connected into one of the openings 140 in plate 15. Contact 185 is resilient and yieldingly bears downwardly against plate 15 to form an electrical connection therewith. This contact 185 is so positioned on plate 15 that, when a sheet of work material on paper 16 is placed in position against stops 142, the paper is received beneath contact 185, to break the electrical connection between that contact and plate 15. In order to allow the paper to slip under contact 185, this contact may have an upwardly curving outer end portion 188. Contact 185 is connected to an upper terminal 189 by a screw 190 extending vertically through non-conductive member 186, and a wire 191 is connected to terminal 189 to connect contact 185 into the electrical control circuit in a manner to be brought out later. When guides 142 are moved or adjusted to receive changed sizes of work sheets 16, member 186 and contact 185 are correspondingly moved so that the work sheets when then placed in position on plate 15 will be certain to break the contact between element 185 and plate 15.

With reference now to Figs. 6, ll, 12 and 17, the electrical switching apparatus which is responsive to slug movement includes a contact structure 206, which is adapted to electrically engage and form a circuit through a slug as that slug is advanced to the left toward printing position. Contact unit 206 includes an electrically non-conductive body 207 which is attached, as by screws 208, to the lowermost portion and left side of chute side wall 31. Body 206 may be essentially rectangular, and terminate forwardly at a face 209 which extends perpendicularly to bed plate 26 and is alined transversely of the machine with the lower or forward end of chute wall 31. At a vertically central location, the non-conductive body 206 (typically formed of a suitable rigid resinous plastic material) contains a recess or groove 210, which extends rearwardly into body 206 from its forward edge, and extends entirely across the width of body 206.

A relatively thin elongated electrical contact 150 is movably received within recess 210, and is yieldingly urged forwardly relative to body 206 by a pair of coil springs 212 which bear against the rear edge of contact 150 and extend into bores 213 in body 206. A forward planar elongated surface 214 of electrical contact 150 acts to electrically engage a slug 10 as the slug is moved to the left past contact structure 206 and toward the printing location. This closes an electrical circuit from contact 150 through slug 10 to the frame of the machine, which is electrically conductive and is connected to one side of a control circuit.

The forward movement of contact 150 is limited by i a pair of screws 215 which are carried by and extend 14 vertically through and beyond contact 150, and whose upper head portions are received within circular recesses 216 in the upper portion of body 207. Recesses 216 are sufliciently large to allow limited forward and rearward movement of contact relative to body 207, so that the contact 150 can be yieldingly retained in circuit closing engagement with the slug; 10' as the slug moves past the contact. Since body 207 is carried by side wall 31 of slug feed chute 12, the previously discussed forward and rearward adjusting movement of Wall 31 to allow for the handling of different sized slugs also automatically adjusts the positioning of contact 150 for proper electrical engagement with the different sizes of slugs. Contact 150 may of course be formed of any suitable electrically conductive material, typically brass. In order to prevent contact 150 from ever closing an electrical circuit by engagement with feed bar 13, contact 150 is sufficiently thin to be received within recesses 58 and 66 without engaging the feed bar, as the bar moves to the left past contact 150 (even though no slug 10 is in recess 58).

Fig. 21 represents diagrammatically the electrical control circuit for the press. In addition to the electrical components already discussed, this circuit includes a push button type start switch 217, a stop switch 218, a main control switch 219, a power converter 220 for the elec trical clutch, a transformer 221, and a start and stop control relay 222. Power is supplied to the circuit through a pair of leads 223, typically at 110 volts A. C. Converter 220 acts to rectify and reduce the voltage of a portion of the current fed into the device through leads 224, and to feed out from unit 220 and through

contacts

108 and 109 to the electric clutch 106, a direct current of proper voltage, usually about 90 volts. The input side 224 of the rectifying and voltage reducing unit 220 is connected to power supply 223 in series with the maincontrol switch 219 and the contacts of starting and stopping relay 222. When switch 219 and. relay 222 are both closed, clutch 106 is energized to drive the various moving parts of the apparatus. Breaking of this circuit at either switch 219 or relay 222 of course stops the operating parts. Motor 96 is connected to power supply 223 in series with the main control switch 219, so that as long as switch 219 is closed, the motor runs continuously.

Relay 222 is energized by the output from voltage reducing transformer 221, whose input leads 225 are connected to power supply 223 in series with main control switch 219. The output of transformer 221 may be 24 volts A. C. Relay 222 has two

coils

226 and 227, the first of which acts when energized to displace movable contact 228 of relay 222 to circuit closing position to thereby energize clutch 106 and start the moving parts of the machine; and the second of which (coil 227) acts when energized to shift movable contact 228 to an open position, to thereby de-energize clutch 106 and stop the printing and slug shifting mechanism. The starting coil 226 is connected to the output of transformer 221 in series with start switch 217 through

leads

229, 230 and ground connections at 231 and 232. Similarly, the stop 'coil 227 of relay 222 is connected to the transformer output in series with stop switch 218. Thus, by pressing the push button control of switch 217, an operator closes the circuit to relay coil 226, to thereby close the relay contact 228 and energize clutch 106. This places the moving parts of the printing and slug displacing apparatus in operation (assuming the main switch 219 is closed). The closing of stop switch 218 energizes coil 227, to open the relay and stop the printing and slug shifting apparatus. A second stopping circuit may be closed through the previously discussed paper and slug controlled contact elements and 150. For this purpose, a stop coil 227 of the relay 222 can be connected in series with these contacts to the output of transformer 221 through a circuit including lead 191, contact 185, work supporting plate 15, conductors plate 15. If a paper is present, the auxiliary stop circuit is broken between Contact 185 and the work supporting plate 15, so that the apparatus will continue in operation. To describe now a cycle of operation of the machine,

assume that switch 219 is closed, and that motor 96 is therefore continuously operating. Also assume that clutch 106 is de-energized, so that the motor is ineffective to drive the various slug feeding and printing parts of the apparatus. A supply of slugs are of course contained within chute 12, and the lowermost one of these slugs is preferably held in the non-feeding position of slug 10a in Fig. by means of pins 48. With the slugs thus retained in positions in which they cannot be fed to the printing mechanism, the start switch 217 may be closed to energize relay coil 226 and close contact 228 in a manner closing the supply circuit to rectifying and voltage reducing unit 220. This unit then energizes the clutch 106 to cause the motor to drive wheel 114 through reduction gear 107. As the wheel turns, say in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 1, connecting rod 116 acts to horizontally reciprocate carriage 75 along rails 76, and cam surface 172 of wheel 114 acts through follower 173 to vertically reciprocate member 151 and printing head 17. The horizontal movement of carriage 75 causes roller 18 to transfer ink from plate 19 to a lower group of the slugs in chute 12, to ink their upper printing faces. Simultaneously, the angularity of rollers 128 causes these rollers to alternatingly advance rearwardly and forwardly across ink plate 19, to distribute the ink evenly over the plate.

After the lower group of slugs within chute 12 have been inked in this manner to 12 slugs usually being inked on each stroke), the operator places a sheet of paper or cardboard 16 of predetermined size on plate 15 against stops 142, with the paper being received beneath contact 185 to break the circuit between that contact and plate 15. Next, the operator swings control handle 50 (Fig. 16) downwardly to the full line position of that figure, to retract pins 48 downwardly and allow the sings in chute 12 to slide forwardly and downwardly into engagement with feed bar 13. On the next leftward movement of the feed bar, the forwardmost slug is received within recess 58 of the feed bar and is displaced to the left with the bar. As the carried slug moves to the left, it first engages contact 150, and then moves beyond that contact to deflect hook'62 and element 66'rearwardly, so that the slug may be received at the printing location between element 66 and recess 58 in feed bar 13. The engagement of the slug with contact 150 of course has no effect unless the operator has failed to place the paper 16 on plate 15, in which case engagement of the slug with contact 150 causes the slug advancement to immediately stop.

During the leftward movement of the slug and feed bar, printing head 17 is retracted upwardly by spring 167 (Fig. 4), and the electrically non-conductive roller 150 on head carried arm 151 acts also to hold a forward portion of work supporting plate 15 in an upwardly retracted position (the full line position of Fig. 4). As the slug nears its printing position beneath aperture 14 in plate 15, cam surface 172 of wheel 114 acts by virtue of its raised portion 184 to displace member 151 downwardly, to correspondingly move printing head 17 and the forward portion of plate 15 downwardly. When these parts reach their lowermost positions, the printing head acts to press the paper 16 against the upper printing face of slug 10, which is at that time in lateral alinement with the upper surface of plate 15, to effect the desired printing operation. At this instant, the slug and feed bar 13 are entirely stationary, since the apparatus is so timed 16 that the previously mentioned slight amount of lost motion represented by gap 127 in Fig. 3 occurs at the instant of printing. Further rotation of wheel 114 after a printing operation acts to retract carriage and feed bar 13 to the right, to engage the next successive slug 10 for feeding to the left in the same manner as the firstdiscussed slug. The first slug is retained against retraction with the feed bar by means of book 62, and the feeding of the second slug into printing position acts to displace the first slug laterally to a position over recess 71 in the bed plate, to fall downwardly a short distance onto the upper surface of .portion 192 of ejection part 21 (which is in a forward position when a slug first reaches the location of recess 71). During each rightward movement of carriage 75, part 21 moves rearwardly under the influence of spring 197, and as permitted by movement of roller 198 to the right along the cam surface of element 199 (see Fig. 19). As part 21 is thus moved rearwardly beyond recess 71, the slug supported on upper portion 192 of part 21 (and positioned between parts 73 and 35) is freed to fall downwardly along the forward side-of portion 193 of part 21 and into tray 20 at a location behind the previously accumulated slugs. Upon each leftward movement of carriage 75, the parts shown in Fig. 19 act to shift the previously accumulated used slugs forwardly in tray 20, by virtue of the engagement of roller 198 with cam element 199, to swing lever 195 in a manner displacing slug engaging element 21 forwardly.

I claim:

1. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a channel like guideway for holding a series of said cast slugs with said faces directed upwardly, a reciprocating feed bar moving transversely across an end of said guideway and acting on each reciprocation to displace an end one of said slugs laterally from the guideway to a laterally offset printing location, an ink roller reciprocating with said feed bar and acting to engage and apply ink to said faces of the slugs while the latter are in the guideway, an ink supply member at a side of said guideway engageable by said roller to apply ink thereto, a base member along which said slugs are advanced by said feed bar, a work supporting plate for holding a work sheet above a slug at said printing location, a printing head above said plate reciprocable toward and away from a slug at said printing location to press said work sheet thereagainst, and power driven means for actuating said feed bar and said printing head.

2. A printing press as recited in claim 1, in which said guideway comprises an inclined chute along which said slugs advance toward a lower end thereof, said base member comprising an inclined plate at said lower end of the chute and extending transversely thereof, there being a guide member projecting upwardly along a lower portion of said base member and along which said feed bar moves to displace the slugs.

3. A printing press as recited in claim 2, including a slug discharge beneath and projecting horizontally beyond said base member at a location laterally beyond said printing location in the direction of slug advancement and into which each slug is advanced by movement of a next successive slug to said printing location, and means actuable in timed relation to said feed bar for intermittently advancing the slugs in said discharge tray.

4. A printing press as recited in claim 3, including a power driven cam wheel, a cam follower engaging said wheel and reciprocating said head, means for retracting said work holding plate upwardly to pass a slug to said printing location upon upward movement of the head, and a connecting rod eccentrically attached to said wheel and horizontally reciprocating said feed bar.

5. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for bolding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying ink to said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, and actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, said magazine comprising a chute along which said slugs advance with their printing faces directed upwardly, said ink applying means comprising a roller moving across said printing faces of a leading group of said slugs in the chute and applying ink thereto, and means for applying ink to said roller.

6. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying ink to said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, and actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, said slug advancing means comprising a reciprocable feed member operable to engage a slug and displace it from said magazine to said printing location, there being means connecting said ink applying means to said feed member for movement therewith and along a path to engage and apply ink to said slugs.

7. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying ink to said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, and actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, said magazine comprising an inclined chute along which said slugs advance with said faces thereof directed upwardly, said slug advancing means including an elongated reciprocable feed bar extending and moving transversely and generally horizontally across a lower end of said chute and acting to dis place a leading slug laterally from the chute to said printing location, said ink applying means including an ink applying roller connected to said feed bar for horizontal movement therewith between a position over said chute and in engagement with said faces of the slugs to apply ink thereto and a second position offset to a side of the slug, and an ink supply member at said second position engageable by said roller to apply ink thereto, and there being means for reciprocating said feed bar and roller together.

8. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of diiferent cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying ink to said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, and actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, said slug advancing means comprising a reciprocating feed member operable to displace a first slug laterally in a first direction from said magazine toward said feed location and then return in an opposite direction to pick up the next successive slug, and an element engageable with said first slug for retaining it against returning movement in said opposite direction with the feed member, there being a bed plate along an upper surface of which said slugs are displaced laterally by said feed member, and said element comprising a hook member mounted for swinging movement above and generally parallel to said bed plate surface and engageable in holding relation with a slug to retain it against said returning movement.

9. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of ditferent cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for hold ing a series of said cast slugs, means for applying ink to said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, and actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, said work holding means comprising a plate on which a work sheet may be placed for printing and containing an opening beneath which said slugs are positioned when at said printing location, said platen being located above said opening in said work supporting plate, said actuating means being operable to displace said platen downwardly to press a work sheet on said plate against a slug at said printing location, .and there being means for retracting said work supporting plate upwardly when said platen retracts upwardly and intimed relation to the movement of said feed bar to pass a slug to said printing location.

10. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying ink to said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, and actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a sing at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face of the slug into contact with the Work sheet, said work holding means comprising a plate on which a work sheet may be placed, there being means for actuating said plate between an active printing position and a retracted position for passing a slug to said printing location.

11. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for bolding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying ink to said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancing said slugs fro-m said magazine to a printing location, means for holding one of said. work sheets at said printing location, a platen, actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, and control means for preventing the feeding of a slug through said press unless a work sheet is held 19 at said printing location by said work holding means, said control means including means responsive to the positioning of a work sheet at said printing location, said Work holding means comprising an electrically conductive plate on which a work sheet is placed for printing, said means responsive to positioning of a sheet at said printing location comprising an electrical contact engaging said plate and positioned so that a work sheet on the plate at said printing location is received between and breaks the electrical engagement between said contact and the plate.

12. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying ink to said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printinglocation toward and then away from each other with a Work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, and electrical control means operable to prevent the feeding of a slug through said press if a slug is advanced toward said printing location by said advancing means while no Work sheet is held at the printing location by said work holding means, said control means including a control circuit adapted to stop the press when closed and comprising first contact means for closing a portion of said circuit in response to advancement of a slug toward said printing location, and additional contact means for closing another portion of said circuit and adapted to be opened by placement of a work sheet at said printing location.

13. A printing press as recited in claim 12, in which said first contact means comprise a resiliently deflectable contact engageable by a slug as it is advanced toward printing location by said slug advancing means, said work holding means comprising an electrically conductive plate on which a work sheet may be placed at said printing location, said additional contact means comprising an electrical contact engaging said plate and positioned so that a work sheet on the plate at said printing location is received between and breaks the electrical engagement with said plate.

14. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for bold ing a series of said cast slugs, means for successively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, a movable support for holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween to print on the sheet, and means for moving said work holding support in timed relation to the operation of said Slug advancing means and between an active printing position and a retracted position for passing a slug to said printing location, said work holding support comprising a support plate having an upper surface on which a work sheet may be placed for printing, said plate containing an opening beneath which said slugs are positioned when at said printing location and into which said slugs project upwardly when at said printing location.

15. A printing press as recited in claim 14, in which said means for moving said support plate actuate the plate upwardly to a position in which a slug at said printing location does not project into said opening in the plate, said slug advancing means being constructed to advance the slugs essentially horizontally beneath said plate and to said printing location.

16. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of thecharacter described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for hold-- inga series of said cast slugs, means for applying ink. to said printing faces of said slugs, means for succes-- :sively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a. printing location, means for holding one of said work: sheets at said printing location, a platen, and actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, said slug advancing means comprising a reciprocating feed member operable to displace a first slug laterally in a first direction from said magazine toward said feed location and then return in an opposite direction to pick up the next successive slug, and a movable hook member engageable with said first slug in a holding relation for retaining the slug against returning movement in said opposite direction with the feed member.

17. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with a series of different cast slugs of the character described each having a face with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising a magazine for bolding a series of said cast slugs, a reciprocating feed member operable to successively advance said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen,

' actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward and then away from each other with a work sheet therebetween to print on the sheet, and electrical control means operable to automatically halt the feeding of a slug toward said printing location in the event that none of said work sheets is present at said printing location, said control means including a first switch which is responsive to the presence of a work sheet at said printing location, and including additional electric switch means automatically responsive to advancement of a slug by said feed member toward said printing location but not responsive to advancement of said feed member without a slug.

18. A printing press as recited in claim 17, in which said switch means include a contact positioned to be electrically contacted in a circuit closing relation by a slug as it is advanced by said feed member, said feed member being constructed to avoid electrical engagement with said contact during reciprocation of the feed member.

19. A printing press as recited in claim 18, in which said feed member contains a recess into which a slug fits during advancement of the slug by said member, said member having a portion trailing said recess and having a recess extending along one side into which said contact projects during advancement of a slug by said member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,200,661 Smith Oct. 10, 1916 1,564,221 Duncan Dec. 8, 1925 1,623,542 Johnson Apr. 5, 1927 1,765,859 Bartel June 24, 1930 1,768,917 McCain July 1, 1930 1,769,138 Johnson July 1, 1930 1,786,251 Kohler Dec. 23, 1930 2,002,773 Gollwitzer May 28, 1935 2,035,695 Elliott Mar. 31, 1936 2,594,166 Hennink Apr. 22, 1952 2,705,143 Greenwood Mar. 29, 1955 2,705,917 Ganio Apr. 12, 1955 2,744,347 Verzera May 8, 1956