US2909266A - Automatic book feeding mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 20, 1959 K. P. MARTIN ETAL 2,999,266

AUTOMATIC BOOK FEEDING MECHANISM Original Filed Feb. 14. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l a D SMN MN m A m KENNETH F2 WALTERF! R BY ATTORNEY Oct. 20, 1959 K. P. MARTIN ET AL AUTOMATIC BOOK FEEDING MECHANISM Original Filed Feb. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS ATTORNE United States Patent 2,909,266 AUTOMATIC BooK FEEDING MECHANISM Kenneth P. Martin, Concord, and Walter P. Rowland, Clinton, Mass., assignorsto The Colonial Press, Inc., Clinton, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Continuation of application Serial No. 487,928, February 14, 1955. This application December 22, 1958, Serial No. 782,323

6 Claims. (Cl. 198-21) This invention relates to a book feeding mechanism, and it comprises an automatic mechanism used in book manufacturing which will feed a book forward while flatwise and properly position it for an operational stage.

One manner of making a paper covered book comprises printing and folding sheets'to make double length signatures and assembling them to form a double length book. This involves the use of only one set of plates to make two books, in which one set, for example,

prints the first pages and the other the last pages of the book. The types of the two portions of each printed signature may face oppositely, so that when ultimately bound in a paper cover each side of the covered book presents both the front and rear covers. This procedure requires cutting the double length book at a median line between the two sections and thus providing two separate books from a single series of printing and assembling operations.

In making a paper covered book of this double size, the various signatures are assembled and their backs glued and the cover applied thereto, after which the book is to be sawed in two and the rough edges of the signatures trimmed off, and often the corners are rounded or the book is subjected to other cutting operations. Heretofore, the covered books have been transferred from the binding stage to a sawing or other cutting tool by means of a skid, transported by a power truck, on which the books are piled manually. The operator of the cutting machine removes. the books from the skid and pushes them manually through the saw. This is a laborious and slow operation and may involve danger. It requires that the books be positioned and fed accurately to a rapidly moving band. saw; and when the operation is performed manually, each book, or a stack of books, must be separately handled with a consequent waste of machine time after one book or a stack has been cut in two and while the operator is reaching for other books located on the skid near him. The term book as used herein applies either to a single book lying flatwise on its side or to a stack of books piled one on the other to a height within the capacity of the feeding mechanism.

One object'of this invention is to provide an auto- Ice which positively pushes books flatwise towards the cutting tool and wherein only one book is delivered at a time to the pusher.

Another object is to provide-such a book cutting machine with a conveyor arranged to feed books progressively to a pusher mechanism which delivers the books serially in a timed relationship as required by the cutting tool. Other objects will be apparent in the following disclosure.

In accordance with this invention, we have provided a book feeding mechanism in which books are fed progressively to a cyclically operated pusher while flatwise or lying on their sides, and only one book is pushed at a time towards a subsequent manufacturing operation. The books are delivered to that pusher by a conveyor, such as a traveling endless belt, on which the books may be placed on their sides but without reference to their spacing. A book cutting operation, such as by means of a cutting tool, including a saw, knives, and the like, requires that the book be fed thereto both flatwise and properly positioned. Hence, the pusher is required both to move the book-forward and to locate it properly for that operation. In order that only one book, or a stack of books, may be pushed forward at a single time, we have provided a releasable stop mechanism which holds the books relative to a preliminary conveyor system and serves to release one at a time and in a timed relationship -with the forward movement of the pusher, so that 1l1e latter may engage the rear edges of the flatwise book and move it forward. Also, the pusher is so moved in a cyclic operation that it returns out of the forward feeding path of the books and appears at the rear of the book just as the released book is presented by the conveyor for that purpose. The book may be cut in two by a saw, or it may be cut by trimming knives which shear off the rough edges of the assembled signatures, or a suitable cutting tool may shape the book corners or perform other desired operations. In our machine, a secondary pusher is provided for feeding the book forward to the cutting tool, and this is likewise controlled automatically so that the progress of the book from the preliminary conveyor to the cutting tool is automatically controlled.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate this'invention as applied to a book sawing machine:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a feeding and sawing machine embodying this invention;

matic feeding mechanismwhich will receive books from and fed forward as required in a second stage pushing operation which insures that only" a single book is fed at a time and the operation proceeds smoothly withthe books in close sequence. 1 1

A still further object is to provide a book cutting machine with an automatically operated .mechanism Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine;

Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly broken away to show details;

Fig. 4 is a wiring diagram for the automatic control of the book feeding mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram for the automatic control of the saw operation; and

Fig. 6 is a detail of a modified book release mechanism.

In the construction illustrated, the books are fed to a correct position for movement intoa cutting tool, such as a saw, by means of a cyclically operated, continuously moving pusher 1i), and the books 11 are delivered to that pusher in a required'timed relationship from a preliminary conveyor, shown as a power driven endless belt 12. The

' pusher 10 may be a peg moved progressively in a cyclic path by a power driven endless belt orchain 13-. As shown, the chain is mounted'above the path of book travel and the pusher 10 depends vertically therefrom. The cutting tool is shown as an endless band saw 15 0f standard construction and driven by'power mechanism as is well understood, and which issuit ably mounted for a vertical downward movement through a narrow opening -16 in the horizontal tabletop 17 over which the books areto bepushed by a pusher 20 which is mounted for sliding movement over-the table?- The pusher 20 is a vertical plate having a stop plate 21 adjustably connected at right angles thereto, which provides a locating corner in which a book of any length may be positioned accurately for the sawing operation. A piston rod 22, moved by a fluid pressure actuated device 24 mounted above the table 17, serves to draw the pusher 20 forward to a final position, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, just short of touching the saw and to feed the book either entirely through the saw or to a position where the next book in the series will push the one ahead of it to its final sawed condition.

The power driven belt 12 may be of standard construction, such as a woven cotton belt, suitably mounted on axles or rollers 26 (Fig. 3) which are driven by a suitable power mechanism, comprising a motor driven gear or pulley 28 fixed to the shaft of one of the rollers. The power drive for this belt may be a suitably mounted constant speed electric motor which will drive the books forward at the same rate or at a greater. speed than that of the pushing movement of the peg 10.

A major feature of the construction comprises the cyclically and progressively moved peg which travels in such a path that it may engage an edge portion of the horizontal book and thrust the book forward into the locating corner of plates and 21. The pusher peg, as shown, depends from the chain 13, and the latter is suitably mounted to travel around sprockets 29 fixed on vertical axles 30 which are mounted on a plate 31 ad justably positioned on the framework of the machine above the book traveling space. on brackets 32 (Fig. 3) suitably carried by the machine base, and the plate and brackets have elongated slots (not shown) arranged at right angles and connecting bolts in the slots which provide for adjusting the plate and moving the chain and its peg either longitudinally or transversely of the path of book movement. The plate 31 carries a constant speed electric motor 33 of suitable characteristics which is belt connected to a suitable reduction gear systern 34 arranged to drive the right hand shaft 30.

The pusher peg 10 is so mounted on the endless chain 13 that it travels in an endless path in such a position that it engages the rear corner portion of a book fed thereto by the traveling belt 12. That is, the belt moves the book forward in a flatwise condition, i.e., on its face, and thrusts it onto a platform 36 beneath the peg driving chain 13 and to the full length of the book beyond the right hand end position of the peg 10 as it is moved around by the endless belt 18, whereby the peg may engage the rear of the book and shove it over the bottom plate 36 and onto the plate 17 constituting the platform of the sawing machine.

A side wall 37 and an adjustable plate 38 form with the bottom plate 36 a trough within which the book is pushed. The adjustable vertical side wall 38 is a plate pivotally mounted at 39 on a vertical pin carried by the base. It is adjusted by a nut and screw combination 40 suitably cooperating with a vertical lug 41 on the framework, so that the plate 38 may be adjusted to present a narrowing trough of required width for the moving book. The outer left hand end of that plate 38 carries a brush 42 having its bristles projecting into frictional engagement with the book. This is intended for use when books are piled carelessly one above the other in a stack, so as to provide enough friction against the rough uncut edges of the books to hold each book back against the pusher peg 10 and thus present the books to the pusher 20 in substantially vertical alignment.

The chain 13 and peg 10 are so adjusted that the pusher peg will move the book into the corner between the pusher plate 20 and the side wall 21. The wall 21 is also adjustable for different book sizes. That is, a plate 42 (Fig. 2) is fixed at right angles to the pusher plate 20 and the plate 21 is adjustably carried by plate 42 and suitably spaced therefrom by a suitable nut and screw 43 and a compression coiled spring 44 which serve to The plate 31 is mounted support the plate 21 in a desired position and provide a slight yielding against the thrust of an oversized book. The screw provides for adjusting the position of plate 21 for various sizes of books.

A further feature of the invention involves a releasable stop mechanism which temporarily holds a book stationary on the belt 12 moving therebeneath until the pusher peg 10 is ready to feed the book forward to the pusher plate 20, after the latter has returned to its inoperative position for receiving another book to be sawed. The mechanism shown particularly in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, comprises a stationary plate 45 projecting out over the belt '10 and in a position where a book cannot pass the stop plate until the book has been released. To make sure that the book cannot escape past the stop accidentally, an adjustable swinging plate 46 (Fig. 2) is pivoted on a vertical pin 47 and adjusted to a suitable position by nuts 48 suitably carried by a threaded member 49 pivotally connected to the plate and engaging opposite sides of a lug 50 projecting upwardly from a base plate 5 1 of the feeder mechanism. This plate 46 and a similar swinging plate 52 are mounted the same as the plate 38 and each is so positioned as to insure a correct position for the book. The plate 52 is so adjusted as to permit the book to be moved laterally off the stop 45, when it is to be released. The plate 46 thrusts the books laterally towards the near side wall 54 (Fig. 2) so that each book is directed against the stop 45. The operator of the machine may thus feed books to the endless belt 10 without reference to the action of the pusher peg 10 and each book will come up against the stop 45 and stay there until released.

The releasing of the book past the stop plate 45 may be effected by a pusher 56 which shoves the book laterally from behind the stop. As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the pusher is a vertical plate parallel with the side wall 54 of the trough in which the books are fed and inside of the plate 58 forming a continuation of wall 54. That plate 56 is carried on a sliding piston rod 59 passing through the fixed wall 58 to which the stop 45 is attached. The plate 56 rests in a recess in that wall 58 when inoperative. The stop release pusher is moved by a suitable fluid pressure mechanism, such as one comprising the piston 60 which, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4, travels within a suitable piston cylinder 61 and is moved one way or, the other by fluid under pressure, such as air or oil, as permitted by a valve control mechanism. When the fluid pressure actuated piston 60 is moved to thrust the plate 56 outwardly, this shoves the book out from behind the stop 45 and permits the continuously traveling belt 12 to feed it forward for a further movement by the peg 10.

It will be noted by reference to Fig. 2 that the traveling belt '12 will thrust the book over the table 36 to a position where it is at the left of the right hand position of the peg 10 as it travels in its cyclic path on the chain 13. That peg 10 thus is intended to travel around in a book thrusting direction while engaging the far rear corner portion of the book, and the peg then returns in an inoperative position outside of a vertical wall plate 37. That wall plate is almost in line with the end of the stop '45 and so positioned that when a book is released from the stop 45 it will necessarily travel to the far side of that plate '37. Hence, when the book has been thrust forward to a peg pushing position by the traveling belt 12, the peg 10 will come from behind the vertical plate 37 and pass to the rear of the book and so engage and push it forward as the peg makes its effective cyclic motion. The plate 38 is therefore so adjusted that it permits the book to pass between the plate 37 and the brush 42 on the end of the swinging plate 38. The latter will of course be adjusted to a position which requires the book to sweep across the brush and be held substantially against the plate 37 and so be properly directed into the corner of pusher plates 20 and 21.

' teristics.

The fixed plate 37 is arranged well forwardof the inoperative position of the pusher plate 20 so as to make sure that the book will fall into position in front of that pusher plate. In order to make sure that the book goes into the corner between plates 20 and 21, the peg and its associated chain 13 are arranged so that the peg engages the far rear corner (Fig. 2) of the bookand thus tends to push the book sideways as soon as ithas moved beyond the plate 37. Hence, as indicated bythe dotted outlines in Fig. 2, the left hand position of the peg is such that the peg sweeps across the end of the book and thus carries the near rear end of the .book directly towards the plate 20. If desired, a series of pegs may be mounted on the chain' 13, one back of the other, so that each peg will sweep across the rear book edge and make sure that it is thrust up into position against the plate 20 and into the corner of plates 20 and 21. These pegs may be made of suitable material which will provide the necessary frictional eflortfor the purpose. Hence, that cyclic motion of the peg around the left hand'sprocket pusher peg '10 and the release of the book from the stop '45, the peg 10 is arranged to strike a suitable electric switch, such as a micro-switch, which acts'through solenoids 64 and 65 (Fig. 4) to govern the position of a valve stem 66 provided with suitable valve pistons 67 and 68 arranged thereon within the valve piston chamber to control the in-flow of fluid under pressure, such as compressed air or oil to one side or the other of the pistons. The micro-switch, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4, comprises a spring urged swinging switch member 70 which is adapted to be moved by peg '10 or other contact member on the chain 13 so as to swing from a neutral position into engagement with a contact 69 and complete a circuit to the solenoid 64, between the electric lines 'L and L of suitable direct currentcharac- When the peg '10 starts in a book pushing direction (see the arrow in Fig. 4), it strikes the switch arm 70 and momentarily closes the circuit against the urge of spring 71. This energizes the solenoid 64 and draws the piston rod '66 towards the left and s0 causes fluid under pressure to be admitted, as indicated by the arrows and fluid passages, to the rear of piston 60 and so thrust the piston rod 59 and the pusher plate 56 out- 'wardly to move the stationary book from behind the stop 4'5. The switch arm returns to a broken circuit position.

The return movement of the stop releasing pusher 56 is effected by means of a stationary contact member 74 mounted on the end of a rod 75 which slidably passes through a hole in the plate58. The contact element 74 on that rod is so located that when the plate 56 reaches its forward position to thrust the book from behind the stop 45, a spring urged switch arm 76 (Fig. 4) of another micro-switch is thrust against the contact 77 to complete a circuit between the power line and the right hand solenoid 65, as indicated by the dotted lines. This moves the valve stem 66 to the dotted line positions of the pistons 67 and 68 and thus permits the fluid under pressure to enter the left hand passage and so travel to the rear of the piston and thus move the book releasing plate 56 to an inoperative position. This swinging arm 76 is spring urged toa neutral position as soon as the contact 74 moves out of the way and thus breaks the circuit and leaves the valve stem ready to be moved by the other solenoid 64. Hence the pusher 56 is operated in timed relation with the movement of the traveling peg 10.

The micro-switch is so mounted that the peg 10 will 1 'i 6 purpose and that the platform 31 carrying the chain and peg will be adjusted to a proper position for this timing relationship. It will also be understood that various valve and switch constructions may be employed within the knowledge of one skilled in the art for effecting these desired purposes, the principles of which are set forth herein. After the book has been pushed away from the stop 45, it is moved'forward by the traveling belt 12 until it is far enough to the left for the pusher pin 10 to pass to the rear of the released book and move it forward across the stationary platform 19 of the saw table into the corner between plates 20 and 21.

The pusher plate 20 is operated automatically when the book engages a spring urged lever (Figs. 2 and 3) of a micro-switch which projects through a hole in the table 17 near the book locating corner and is so arranged that the sliding book throws the switch when it comes to a proper, pushing position. The micro-switch thus completes a power circuit with a solenoid 82 (Fig. 5) which actuates the valve stem 83 of a valve arranged to direct fluid under pressure to the rear side of the piston in the fluid pressure-mechanism 24 indicated by the positions of valves and passages in Fig. 5. This causes the piston rod 22 to draw the plate 20 forward and thrust the book in its fiat position against the saw 15. The micro-switch returns to. a neutral position when released by the book moving forward toward the saw. I

The return stroke is caused by another micro-switch. The plate 20 has an arm 86 (Figs. 1 and 5) which moves on'the stationary guide rod 88 and carries a contact 89 so arranged as to throw the spring urged switch arm 90 of the micro-switch when the book has moved forward into the saw. makes a power circuit with the solenoid 92 which shifts the valves on stem 83 to the dotted line positions and causes a return movement of the plunger plate 20 to a book receiving position. The spring in the micro-switch breaks the circuit when the part 89 is withdrawn. The book may be guided in its passage into the saw by a suitably adjusted swinging plate 94 as indiably located over the belt 12 and in the path of the traveling books thereon. When a book is to be released, actuation of the coordinated micro-switch 70 (Fig. 4) causes the operating piston in the chamber 102 to withdraw the stop. This requires reversing the valve and solenoid mechanisms of Fig. 4 to pull the stop rearwardly instead of thrusting it forward when the valve solenoid is energized. As soon as the stop has been pulled back and the book has passed, the piston returns the stop into the path of the next oncoming book.

The operation of the device will be apparent in view of the above disclosure. Books are deposited on the continuously traveling belt 12. Each book is normally directed against the stop 45 by the swinging plate 52 and it is held there on the moving belt until released. The book pusher 10, as his moved in a forward book pushing direction at a constant speed by its supporting belt or chain 13, strikes the movable arm 70 of the micro-switch which is suitably mounted for that purpose. This causes anfelect'ric circuit to, energize the solenoid 64 and move the controlling valve stem 68 to permit fluid under pressure to enter behind the piston 60 and thrust the pusher plate 56 outwardly and so release a book from the stop 45. As the book releasing plate 56 moves the book away from the stop 45, the contact member 74 moved by the plate 56 causes the arm 76 of another micro-switch (Fig.

"7 4) to energize the solenoid 65 and reverse the valve positions, so as to draw the pusher plate 56 back to an inoperative position and permit another book to be received by the stop.

The released book is guided by the adjusted swinging plate 52 to a position at the far side of the trough Wall 37 (Fig. 2) which projects upwardly from the fixed table top 36. The endless belt 12 projects far enough to the left, so that the book is forced by the belt to move over the table top 36 to a position where the peg 10 after its return passage outside of the wall 37 may move to the rear of the book and engage it near a corner. If several books are piled in a stack, the friction of the brush 42 against their side edges will aid in moving all of the books back snugly against the pushing peg 10. Since the book is being pushed near its rear corner, then, as shown by the dotted line positions of two books in Fig. 2, the books are thrust over the table 17 of the sawing machine and the off-center thrust of the peg 10 will force the book to move laterally up into the corner between the pusher plate 20 and the adjustable plate 21. As the peg 10 swings around the left hand gear 29, it wipes across the end edges of the book and so swings that book fully against the pusher plate 20.

While the book is being positioned in the corner of the pusher plates, the micro-switch arm 80 projecting upwardly through a hole in the table 17 is moved to energize the solenoid 82 (Fig. and thrust the valve stem to such a position that the fluid under pressure is introduced at the rear of the piston in the cylinder 24. This draws the plate 20 forward and forces the book into the saw. When the pusher and sawing movement has been completed, the arm 89 carried by the pusher closes the micro-switch 90 and energizes the solenoid 92 and thus causes a reversing movement of the valve stem and the introduction of fluid under pressure to the opposite end of the piston chamber which will cause the pusher plate 20 to return to its original inoperative position. The various parts of the pusher mechanism are operated in timed relationship, and that timing is preferably caused by the movement of the book or-of the pusher associated therewith. These parts are so arranged that only one book may be fed at a time and each pusher will be in an inoperative position when the book is presented to it so that it may perform its function unhampered.

'It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made in this construction in order to provide an intermittently acting pusher, such as the cylically traveling peg 10, which will feed one book at a time forward into a proper position for a further pushing movement towards an operating tool. Also, the preliminary conveyor may be variously constructedto present books to a suitable releasable stop mechanism which is timed to furnish books one at a time to the pusher. Hence, the preliminary feeding and releasable stop mechanisms may be suitably modified for that delivery purpose.

It will also be understood that this mechanism applies to all types of books, whether paper bound or perfect bound and whether the signatures are held by glue or by sewing threads. Furthermore, the apparatus is designed for locating and moving a book-fiatwise into a given position for various types of operations in addition to the cutting operations above specified. Hence, the reference to cutting the book is to be interpreted broadly as applying to various types of subsequent operations for which the mechanism is adapted in its presenting the book in a fiatwise condition to a gauge or to a tool. Furthermore, the pusher may be variously constructed as a body of suitable material, such as metal, wood or rubber, having a plain or a knurled surface, or other types of shaped article, such as a brush having a cylindrical periphery' of bristles, and which will provide the desired frictional contact with'the edges of the books.

The above disclosure is, therefore, to be interpreted as setting forth the principles of the invention and preferred embodiments thereof and not as imposing limitations on the appended claims.

This case is a continuation of our copending patent application'Serial Number 487,928, filed February 14, 1955, now abandoned.

We claim:

1. A feeder for feeding a book to a book cutting tool, said feeder comprising a reciprocable plunger arranged to locate and feed the book fiatwise and accurately, fluid pressure actuated mechanism to move the plunger yieldingly, means including a cyclically traveling pusher arranged to engage the rear of a book and push it to the plunger, a control mechanism governed by the forward movement of the book into position in front of the plunger which causes the plunger to move the book forward, an endless conveyor for moving books progressively into position in front of the pusher, a stop normally positioned in the path of movement of a book to hold it stationary relative to the conveyor, release mechanism to release a book from the stop and means governing said release mechanism in timed relation with the pusher movement which insures that a book is presented in front of the pusher for presentation to the plunger.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the endless conveyor is mounted to move about spaced axes with only one run of the conveyor adjacent to the book path, and the pusher is carried ina depending relationship therefrom, and wherein the pusher is so positioned that it engages only the rear of a book on its forward run adjacent said path.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 comprising walls moved with the plunger which form a book locating corner and relatively stationary guide walls which insure that the depending pusher engages the book off center and near a corner and so wipes across the book during its forward movement and moves it laterally into a correct position relative to the locating corner.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the traveling pusher is arranged to engage a corner edge of the book and to move the book laterally and position it relative to said locating walls.

5. A feeder for feeding a book to a cutting tool, said feeder comprising a reciprocable plunger arranged to feed a book fiatwise, a fluid pressure operated device to reciprocate the plunger, a valve mechanism to control the fluid pressure and cause a forward and reverse movement of the plunger, an electrical control mechanism including a solenoid to operate the valve and a switch engageable by a book presented into position in front of the plunger to energize the solenoid which governs said device, a cyclically traveling pusher to present a book to said reciprocable plunger, a conveyor for feeding books to the traveling pusher and a releasable stop mechanism operated in timed relation with and governed by the traveling pusher to release one book at a time on the conveyor for movement by the traveling pusher.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 comprising a fluid pressure operated book releasing device associated with the stop which moves to release a book, and an electrical mechanism for controlling the book releasing device .including a switch which is operated in timed relation No references cited.

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