US2865287A - Rotary image transfer machine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 23, 1958 'P. B. SIEREICH, sR.. ETAL 2,365,287

ROTARY IMAGE TRANSFER MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 50, 1954 INVENTORS. JOSEPH HRUBY 8 PAUL B. STREICH, SR.

BY M w4 2. 1M

Dec. 23, 1958 P. B. STREICH, sR., ETAL 2,865,287

ROTARY IMAGE TRANSFER MACHINE Filed July 30, 1954 v v 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 vJZ if pf //a Y F/G. 4. mmvroxs JOSEPH HRUBY a PAUL a. STREICH, SR.

BY W, W,i-r%w Dec. 23, 1958 P. B. STREICH, sR., ETAL 2,855,237

ROTARY IMAGE TRANSFER MACHINE Filed July 30, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 5.

INVENTORS. JOSEPH HRUBY 8| PAUL B. STREICH, SR. BY

Dec. 23, 1958 P. B. STREICH, sR., ETAL 5,

ROTARY IMAGE TRANSFER MACHINE Filed July 30, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TORS JOSEPH HRUBY 8x PAUL B. STREICH, SR.

United States Patent ROTARY IMAGE TRANSFER MACHINE Paul 15. Streich, Sin, Maywood, and Joseph Hruby, Deerfield, IlL, assignors to Charles Bruning Company, Inc, Teterboro, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 30, 1954, Serial No. 446,714 3 Claims. (Cl. 101-1325) This invention relates to the art photographic reproduction, wherein a negative image of an original to be copied is produced on the sensitized surface of a photographic member, the surface moistened with a solution which softens the image to be transferred, and the surface thereafter pressed into contact with an image receiving sheet to transfer a positive image thereto. More particularly, the present invention relates to a transfer machine for carrying out this process.

In apparatus of this general organization it is usual to pass the image-transferring photographic member and the image-receiving sheet beneath the level of the moistening solution, thereby thoroughly saturating both sheets, and thereafter guiding them between a pair of rollers to press the image-bearing surface of the photographic member against the surface of the image-receiving sheet to effect the transfer of the image. The present invention pro vides an improved apparatus wherein it is not necessary to pass either the image-bearing photographic member or the image-receiving sheet beneath the level of the liquid.

In the present invention the leading edge of the negative photographic member is fed to a gripper carried by a large cylinder, and the photographic member is carried around part of the periphery of the cylinder, the imagebearing surface facing outwardly. During its travel around the periphery of the cylinder, the image-bearing surface is engaged by a moistening roller which applies the moistening solution to the image-bearing surface. The periphery of the moistening roller is spacially separated from the periphery of the cylinder so that it does not make contact therewith, however, when the photographic member is passing between the peripheries of th roller and the cylinder a meniscus will be formed in the small space therebetween. The meniscus serves to adequately moisten the image-bearing surface of the photographic member without completely saturating the photo graphic member, and since the surface of the moistening roller does not actually engage the surface of the photographic member, there is no danger of smearing or otherwise destroying the image.

After passing the moistening roller in its travel around the periphery of the cylinder, the gripper then carries the photographic member through a given angle to give the moistening solution sufficient time to. soften the image in order to insure that a good transfer will result when the paper and the film are pressed together.

Meanwhile the sheet to receive the image will have been placed in a waiting position, and at the appropriate time in the cycle of the machine, the leading edge of the sheet is advanced into desired registration with the image-bearing photographic member on the cylinder, and the photographic member and the sheet to receive the image are introduced into the bite between a pressure applying roller and the cylinder. The pressure of the roller against the periphery of the cylinder presses the softened image of the photographic member against the surface of the sheet to receive the image, thereby effect- "ice ing the transfer of the image onto the paper. After passing the pressure applying roller, the leading edge of the image-receiving: sheet may be gripped and separated from the image-transferring photographic member, and ultimately the, gripper'is opened to free the leading edge. of the photographic member to facilitate its removal from the cylinder. The machine is; then ready for the next image transfer operation.

Throughout the entire cycle of operation neither the photographic member nor the image-receiving sheet is submerged into the moistening solution, but instead the moistening solution is applied tothe. image-transferring surface. of the photographic member by virtue of the meniscus formed between. the liquid applying roller and the surface. It is possible, therefore, to; transfer the image to the image-receiving sheet without unduly saturating the sheet, either bydirect contact with the solu-. tion or by contact with a saturated image-transferring member, which might otherwise cause the sheet to lose its crisp appearance.

Another advantage. of the present invention over transfer machines wherein the image-transferring and imagereceiving sheets are guided beneath the surface of the moistening solution is. that the level of the solution in the storage tank is not critical, as long as the level is high enough to wet the moistening roller. Also, the size and capacity of the tank need not be as large.

The present invention will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in the detailed description of the invention which follows.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is. a top plan View partly in cross section of the machine of the present invention;

Pig.v 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a view taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, looking in the direction .of the arrows; and

Figs. 6 to 9, inclusive, are illustrative views representing the cycle of operation of the machine.

Referring to Figs. 6 to 9, inclusive, and especially to Fig. 6, a photographic member a having a sensitized surface upon which an image has been photographically exposed is placed, image-bearing surface down, upon a feed table 10, and the leading edge of the photographic member is fed to the open gripper 11 carried by a large cylinder 12. With the leading edge of the photographic member accurately registered with respect to the gripper, the gripper is closed into locking engagement with the leading edge of the member a and the cylinder 12 rotated in counterclockwise fashion.

As the cylinder 12,is rotated, the leading edge of the photographic member a is carried around the periphery of the cylinder and through the small gap between the surface of a rotating liquid applying roller 13 and the periphery of the cylinder 12. The rotating roller 13 is partially submerged in the moistening solution 11 within the reservoir or tank 14 of the machine, so that a film of the liquid b is carried on the surface of the roller. The surface of the roller 13 and the periphery of the cylinder 12 are separated by a small gap, which gap is adequate to prevent the surface of the roller from wetting the surface of the cylinder when the cylinder iscarrying the photographic member a. The gap is also adequate to allow the photographic. member a .to pass freely between the cylinder 12 and the roller 13, but as indicated in Fig. 7, the additional thickness of the photographic member is sufficient to cause the liquid film on the roller 13 to jump the gap and form a meniscus .x between the roller and thesurface of the photog p i m th eby wetting the image-bearing surface of the photographic member a with the moistening solution.

Meanwhile, the sheet upon which the image is to be transferred is fed upon the curved platform 17 toward the bite between the sheet feeding rollers 15, 16. The leading edge of the sheet 0 is inserted into the bite between the feed rollers, however, the feed rollers are stationary and no rotation is imparted to them until the appropriate time in the machine cycle when it is desired to advance the sheet 0. Thus, if the sheet 0 is placed in position with the leading edge in the bite between the feed rollers at the beginning of the cycle, the sheet will be advanced automatically at the appropriate moment in timed relation with respect to the position of the cylinder 12 and the photographic member a thereon.

After the photographic member passes the liquid applying roller 13 and the active surface is moistened thereby, a time interval is necessary to allow the coating on the film to become thoroughly softened by the moistening solution, so that a good transfer will result when the surfaces of the sheet c and the photographic member a are pressed together. This time interval is provided for by driving the cylinder 12 at the proper speed and by the distance which the photographic member must travel between the liquid applying roller 13 and the pres sure applying roller 18.

At the appropriate point in the cycle of operation, the feed rollers 15, 16 are driven to advance the sheet 0 and .the leading edge of the sheet is guided by the guide plate 20 toward the bite between the pressure applying roller 18 and the periphery of the cylinder 12.

The leading edge of the sheet c should overlap or lead the leading edge of the photographic member a to prevent the surface of the squeeze roller 18 from being wet by the moistening solution, therefore, the operation of the feed rollers 15, 16 should be timed to insure the delivery of the leading edge of the sheet 0 to the bite between the cylinder 12 and the roller 18 slightly before the leading edge of the photographic member a.

As shown in Fig. 8, after the photographic member a and the sheet 0 have passed between the pressure roller 18 and the surface of the cylinder 12, the pressure therebetween causing the image to be transferred from the photographic member to the surface of the sheet 0 to form a positive image thereon, the leading edge of the sheet may be gripped between the thumb and index finger and separated from the photographic member by pulling the paper upward as the cylinder continues to rotate. The photographic member a, of course, remains gripped to the cylinder until the gripper member 11 is released, as shown in Fig. 9, which may be either during the same cycle of rotation of the cylinder 12 during which the image is transferred, or in the case of the manually operated machine, inasmuch as the operators attention will be in the main concentrated upon the removal of the image-receiving sheet 0, during the subsequent cycle.

As shown in Fig. 9, the pressure roller 18 may be translated away from the surface of the cylinder 12 (in the direction indicated by the arrow d) to permit the photographic'member a to be pulled between the space In the direction indicated by the arrow e without wetting the surface of the roller 18.

The operation of the machine has been described in a general way in connection with Figs. 6 to 9, inclusive, and with this operation clearly in mind the structure of the machine will now be described in greater detail below.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, the side frames 22, 23 of the, machine are held together by means of two tubular reinforcement members 24 (Fig. 3). As shown in Fig. 2, the cylinder 12 is supported upon a shaft 26, and the shaft 26 is accommodated in slots 27 formed in the side frames. The slots 27 may, if desired, serve to facilitate the location of the periphery of the cylinder 12 with respect to the surface of the applicator roller; 13 to per mit the spacing between the periphery of the cylinder and the surface of the roller to be carefully regulated. The slot 27, of course, also serves to facilitate the removal of the cylinder and to provide access to the various operating mechanisms of the machine.

Although the machine may, if preferred, be a motordriven unit, the apparatus shown in the drawings is adapted to be driven by a hand crank 30. The hand crank is attached to one end of a transverse shaft 31 extending between the side frames of the machine, and the end of the shaft opposite the crank end is provided with a sprocket wheel 32. The sprocket wheel 32 drives a chain 33 which passes around and engages .the teeth of another sprocket wheel 34 (see Fig. 3). The sprocket wheel 34 is mounted at the end of a transverse shaft 35, which also is supported between the side frames of the machine, and the other end thereof (the right end as viewed in Fig. 1) carries a small pinion 36 (see Fig. 2) mounted inside the frame 23 and a large gear 37 mounted outboard of the frame. The small pinion 36 drives the large gear wheel 38 mounted on the cylinder-supporting shaft 26, thereby rotating the cylinder 12, whereas the gear 37 drives a small pinion 40 mounted at the extreme right end (as viewed in Fig. 1) of the transverse shaft 41 which carries the liquid roller 13.

It may be noted that both the cylinder 12 and the applicator roller 13 are driven by the operation of the hand crank 30, and, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 7, both are driven in the same direction, that is to say, in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in that figure. The directions of travel of the surfaces of the roller 13 and the surface of the photographic member a are, of course, opposite. The amount of liquid transferred to the surface of the photographic member a by the surface of the roller 13 may be varied by the speed at which the roller 13 rotates, or that is to 'say, by the ratio of the gears 37, 41.

As mentioned above, the leading edge of the photographic member a is adapted to be firmly engaged by the gripper 11 carried on the large cylinder 12. When the cylinder 12 is in the position represented by Fig. 6, and the gripper 11 open, the photographic member a may be easily delivered to the gripper by the feed tray 10which guides the leading edge thereof directly into the bite of the open gripper. The gripper, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, extends between the side faces of the cylinder 12, and is pivotally mounted on pins 11a.

The grippers may be opened and closed by means of a knurled wheel 45 mounted on a rotatable sleeve 46 which is supported on the shaft 26 just inboard of the side frame 22. The sleeve 46 carries a cam element 47 (as best shown in Fig. 5) which, when the wheel 45 is rotated, contacts a spring urged arm 48 to pivot the transverse shaft 49, and the shaft 49 carries at approximately the center thereof a slotted collar 50 (see Fig. 3) which engages a plate 500: and thereby controls the opening and closing of the gripper 11. A spring 51 acting on the arm 48 normally urges the shaft 49 to gripper closing position, whereas the rotation of the cam 47 as controlled by the knob 45, pivots the shaft 49 in a direction opposite to the tension of the spring 51 and pivots the gripper 11 to open position.

During the rotation of the cylinder 12, the arm 48, by

virtue ofits engagement with the notch 47a'of the cam 47, maintains the arm 48 and cam 47 in fixed relative position, in spite of the fact that the sleeve 46 is free to rotate on the shaft 26.

The liquid applying roller 13, as mentioned above, is supported by a shaft 21 rotatably journaled in the side frames 22, 23 of the machine, and the roller 13 is so disposed with respect to the tank or reservoir 14 that it rotates partly submerged beneath the normal full level of the liquid b contained therein. The roller 13 is located so as to provide a gap between it and the periphery of the cylinder 12. The roller, therefore, does not wet the 5 surface of the cylinder 12, however, when the gap is diminished by the passage of a photographic member a therethrough, the liquid film on the surface of the roller jumps the gap, thereby effectively moistening the coating of the photgraphic member.

The tank or trough 14 which holds the moistening solution is detachably mounted between the side frames 22, 23 of the machine by brackets 52 (see Fig. 3).

As explained above, the sheet upon which the image is to be transferred, may be placed on the guide tray 17 at the beginning of the cycle with the leading edge of the sheet inserted into the bite between the feed rollers 15, 16, and the feed rollers will advance the sheet c at the appropriate time toward the bite between the cylinder 12 and the pressure roller 18.

The upper feed rollers 15 are suitably spaced upon the transverse shaft 54, and the shaft is supported at each end in slots 55a of side arms 55 attached to the inside .faces of the side frames 22, 23. The rollers 15, therefore, due to ther weight and the effect of gravity maintain pressure contact with the surface of the lower feed roller 16. The lower feed roller 16 is carried by a shaft rotatably mounted between the side frames of the machine, and the shaft carries at one end thereof (see Fig. l) a gear 61 by which the rolleris intermittently driven.

The feed rollers 15, 16 advance the sheet 0 toward the bite between the cylinder 12 and the pressure roller 18 in timed relation to the travel of the photographic image-bearing member a about the cylinder 12, the timing being such, as explained above, that the forward edge of the image-receiving sheet c slightly leads the forward edge of the photographic member a. The distance traveled by the photographic member a between the liquid applying roller 13 and the pressure roller 18 and the speed of travel of the cylinder 12 should be such as to give the moistened surface of the photographic member sufiicient time to become softened by the liquid.

The intermittent drive of the roller 16 is controlled by a segment 56 (see Fig. carried by the left side face of the cylinder 12. The segment 56 frictionally engages a rubber ring 57 which is carried in a groove of the hub 58a of gear 60, the hub being rotatably mounted on a stub shaft 58 attached to the side frame 22 of the machine. The gear 60 meshes with a gear 61 carried at the end of the shaft of the feed roller 16. In order that the friction between the segment 56 and the ring 57 may be properly maintained, the shaft 58 is accommodated in a slot in the frame 22 and a stud 57a locks the shaft in the desired adjusted position in the slot. The position of the segment 56 with respect to the gripper 11 is such that the friction surface of the segment frictionally engages the rubber ring 57 at the appropriate time in the machine cycle to drive the feed roller 16. The light pressure applied by the rollers on the upper surface of the sheet c insures proper, smooth feeding of the sheet.

The extreme right end of the feed roller 16 may be provided with a manually controlled knob 63 to permit the feed rollers to be turned over by hand.

Referring to Fig. 3, the pressure roller 18 is rotatably supported between a pair of pivotal arms 70 having their fulcra on studs 71. The arms 70 are adapted to be pivoted under the control of a crank handle 72 at the lefthand side of the machine, so that the pressure exerted between the roller 18 and the cylinder 12 may be regulated by the position of the handle 72.

The crank handle '72 is mounted at the left end of a shaft 73 rotatably mounted between the side frames 22, 23 of the machine, and the shaft 73 carries a downwardly disposed arm 75 at each end, the lower ends of which are connected to the rearward ends of the arms 70 by links 76. As the crank handle 72 is turned in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, the rubber pressure roller 18 will be raised out of contact with the periphery of the cylinder 12, and as the handle 72 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, the. roller will be moved. into contact with the periphery of the cylinder 12 with increasing pressure. 7

In order to permit the pressure of the roller 18 against the surface of the cylinder 12 to be incrementally adjusted, a curved plate 8t) containing a plurality of spaced locating holes therein is mounted to the outside face of the side frame 22, and the knob 72a of the arm 72 is pro vided with a spring-urged locating pin 72b which may be inserted into the desired locating hole of the curved piate hit to maintain the arm in the set position. The pin 72b may, of course, be withdrawn from the hole merely by pulling the knob 7211 against the pressure of the spring 72c, and the arm 72 is thenagain free to be rotated to change the pressure or to lift the roller 18 away from the periphery of the cylinder 12.

The invention has been shown and described in a single embodiment only and obviously many modifications and variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the manuallycontrolled crank arm 30 may be eliminated and the device driven by an electric motor. Also, it is understood that means may be provided for automatically discharging the photographic member a and the image-receiving sheet 0 from the machine, rather than by the hand operation described. it is understood, therefore, that the invention is not to be limited to any specified form or embodiment except insofar as such limitations are expressly set forth in the claims.

We claim:

1. In a machine wherein an image is transferred from the surface of one member to the surface of another, the combination of a reservoir containing liquid to be applied to the surface of the member from which the image is to be transferred, means for applying pressure between the members, means for advancing the member from which the image is to be transferred toward the pressure applying means Without submerging the member beneath the surface of the liquid, means for independently advancing the member to which the image is to be transferred toward the pressure applying means without submerging the member beneath the surface of the liquid, a. rotating roller receiving liquid from the reservoir, the surface of said roller in its normal operative position being closely spaced but spacially separated in relation to the path of travel of the member from which the image is to be transferred to form a gap between the surface of the rotating roller and the surface of the member from which the image is to be transferred, the liquid being applied from the periphery of the rotating roller to the surface of the member from which the image is to be transferred by the liquid crossing the gap in the form of a meniscus, and

7 means for driving the rotating roller in a direction so that the surface of the roller will move in an opposite direction to the direction of feed of the member from which the image is to be transferred.

2. In a machine wherein an image is transferred from the surface of one member to the surface of another, the combination of a driven rotatable cylinder, a pressure applying roller in tangential relation to the periphery of the cylinder, a driven liquid applying roller in its operative position being separated from the periphery of the cylinder by a small gap, the direction of travel of the surface of the liquid applying roller being opposite to the direction of travel of the surface of the rotatable cylinder, means associated with the cylinder for carrying the memher from which the image is to be transferred around a portion of the periphery of the cylinder, first between the periphery of the cylinder and the liquid applying roller,

and then between the periphery of the cylinder and the pressure applying roller, and means to advance the member to which the image is to be transferred toward the bite between the periphery of the cylinder and the pressure applying roller, in registry with the image-bearing surface of the member from which the image is to be transferred, the arrangement being such that as the member from which the image is to be transferred is advanced through the gap between the periphery of the cylinder and the liquid applying roller, the liquid will form a meniscus across the gap to apply the liquid to the surface of the said member.

3. In a machine wherein an image is transferred from the surface of one member to the surface of another, the combination of a cylinder, a pressure applying roller in tangential relation to the periphery of the cylinder, at pivotally operated gripper carried by the cylinder to engage the leading edge of the member from which the image is to be transferred and to guide the said member beneath the pressure applying roller, a platform for supporting the member to which the image is to be transferred, a feed roller to advance the member to which the image is to be transferred between the surfaces of the cylinder and the pressure applying roller, a liquid reservoir, a liquid applying roller partially submerged in the liquid, means for driving said roller in the same direction as the direction of rotation of the cylinder, whereby the surface of the roller and the surface to be moistened are moving in opposite directions, said roller in operative position being spacially separated from the periphery of the cylinder, but being in close relation thereto, so that the fluid moves across the gap in the form of a meniscus wetting the image-bearing surface of the member from which the image is to be transferred without contact between the roller and the surface of the member, means to rotate the cylinder, and means to operate the feed rollers intermittently in timed relation to the operation of the cylinder, said means including a rotatable friction ring in driving relationship with the feed rolls and a friction segment carried by the cylinder, the frictional engagement therec-etween imparting rotation to the feed rolls, whereby the members are passed in registry between the periphery of the cylinder and the surface of the pressure applying roller, the pressure therebetween effecting the transfer of the image from the surface of one member to the surface of the other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 22,406 Rockhill Dec. 14, 1943 2,465,160 Levenhagen et al Mar. 22, 1949 2,502,278 Robinson Mar. 28, 1950 2,604,848 Mullen July 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT QEFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 2,865,287 December 23, 1958 Paul B, Streich, Sr, et al.1

It is hereby certified that error appears. in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

In the grant, lines 3 and 4, and in the heading to the printed specifioation, line 5, for "a corporation of New Jersey" read a corporation of Delaware column 1, line 15, after "art" insert of column 5, line 20, for "ther" read their I Signed and sealed this 19th day ofMay 1959 Attest:

M ROBERT c. WATSON Attesting Officer I Comnismiozner of Patents

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