US2929318A - Carton printer - Google Patents

Description

March 22, 1960 R. A. PANNIER CARTON PRINTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1957 #man mwU u Wm A. u. H, a? I. @RT F March 22, 1960 R. A. PANNIER 2,929,318

CARTON PRINTER Filed Aug. 5, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEIN TOR. RALPH A. PAuu/se BY H/s Arr-caves# March 22, 1960 R. AfpANNll-:R

CARTON PRINTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 5, 1957 INVENToR. @ALPHA PA/.w/Ee BY H/.s A rra/euev CARTGN PRINTER Ralph A. Pannier, McCandless Township, Allegheny County, Pa., assgnor to The Pannier Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 5, 1957, Serial No. 676,163

1 Claim. (Cl. 101-231) |This invention relates generally to printers for marking collapsed cartons and more particularly to a printer that marks one or both sides of a collapsed carton passing under revolving dies.

A manufacturer of products that are stuffed in cartons has the difficult problem of finding space for the storage of collapsed cartons that are printed and ready for use. Invariably there are many different products to be shipped and they may take the same or different sizes of cartons for shipping the different brands they manufacture or broker. lt is not advisable to keep collapsed printed cartons in storage too long or they age and become spoiled. The solution to this problem is to maintain a limited number of different sizes of unmarked or unprinted collapsed cartons in storage and print them as the orders are drawn. This requires a different mode and apparatus to print these unmarked and folded cartons. The cartons taken from storage then represent the order of new cartons to replenish the stock and the period to deliver these newly ordered cartons determines the ultimate quantity required for storage, with a factor of safety. The carton printer of this invention permits the manufacturer or broker to always have freshly printed cartons of the selected size and the storage supply is thus kept to a minimum.

The principal object of this invention is a printing device to print one or both sides of a collapsed carton and having a revolvable die that may be changed readily for the printing of cartons of different sizes and for different products.

Another object is the provision of a printing device having a quick drying ink that wets the die only when it is about to transfer the same onto the object to be printed but the inking device is at all times ready to ink the die.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the following description and claim.

The accompanying drawings show for the purpose of exemplication without limiting the invention and claim thereto certain practical embodiments illustrating the principles of this invention wherein:

-Fig. 1 is a view in vertical section of the printing device.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the roller drives;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic View of the control circuit.

Referring to the drawings the housing is provided with the bottom 1 made up of the spaced cross channel member 2 and the plate 3 secured to and spanning the space between the cross channels. The vertical side plates 4 and 5 complete the housing. The upper end of the side plates of the housing are connected by the box conveyor 7 at the feeding end and by the rod 8 above the tray or table 10 at the discharge end.

Each side plate has tive windows which are aligned with each other and support a bearing to receive the ends of ve shafts namely the upper and lower die drum shafts 11 and 12, their respective backup roller shafts 13 and 14 and the ink transfer roller shaft 15 for the lower-die drum 16.

The die drum 17 mounted on the shaft 11 has its bearings at both ends, and is adjustable vertically by the screws 18 to adjust this die roll relative to its backup roll 19. The backup roller 20 of the lower die drum 16 has its shaft 14 mounted in bearings at both ends that are adjustable vertically by the screws 21. Angle irons 22 extend over the slots in the sides 4 and 5 to receive the adjusting screws 1S and 21.

The upper and lower die drums and their respective backup rolls provide the two printing stations or throats 23 and 24 which are at the same elevation and fix the height of the box feeding conveyor andthe discharge tray or table 10 at opposite4 ends of the printing device.v

Angle irons 25 and 26 are secured to the sides 4 and 5 to support the ink wells 27 and 28 for the lower and upper die drums respectively. Each ink well is in an enclosure 30 slidable on its angle iron support and having journaled therein the rubber ink pickup roller 31 and the knurled transfer rolls 32 in lineal contact engagement. Screws 33 are provided on each ink well to adjust the pressure between its respective rubber ink pickup roll 31 on its knurled transfer roll 32. These transfer rolls are lightly knurled by eighty lines per inch in thecross pattern characteristic of all knurled rolls. The adjusting screws are effective on the shaft housings of the bearing carrying the ink `pickup rolls 31. By maintaining the proper pressure between the ink pickup roll and its knurled transfer roll, the proper amount of ink for one printing is transferred. The transfer roll'will take only that amount of ink required for one printing and no more and the ink is picked up and enters the bottom of the contact between the pickup and transfer roll. Thus in Fig. l the ink pickup roll is both instances is rotated counter-clockwise as indicated.

The frictional engagement between the transfer and ink pickup rolls is sufcient to squeeze out the excess ink and let it flow back to its well as well as to drive the latter roll from the former. Thus a pulley 34 is provided on each shaft of the ink transfer roll 32 and they are both engaged by the same chain drive 35 which may be traced to pass the idler pulley 36 and the drive sprocket 37 on the shaft 38. The opposite end of shaft 38 is provided with the gear 40 which engages the gear '41 that is in turn mounted on the shaft 42 having also the sprocket 43 driven by the chain 44 from the drive sprocket 45 on the motor shaft 46 of the electric motor 47. Thus the inking rollers including the pickup rolls 31 and the knurled rolls 32 are rotated all the time that the motor 47 is energized and are constantly supplied with ink.

The motor shaft 46 is connected to one side ofthe combination clutch and brake structure 48 such as show n in Patent No. 2,629,322, the output of which is represented by the driven section 50 which has the brake applied immediately thereto when the clutch is opened to uncouple the shaft 46 from the driven section 50.

The output of the clutch driven section 50is mounted on the shaft 5,1 which carries the gear 52 Athat-meshes with the gear 53 on the shaft 54 to drive the feeder.

A sprocket 55 on the end of the shaft 51 has the chain 56 that passes over the idler sprocket 57 and engages over -the inside of the sprocket 58 to drive the lower die 'drive 16 on shaft 12 and then on to the sprocket 60 on the backup roll 24) on the shaft 14, then continues over the sprocket 61 on the shaft 11 to drive the upper die drive 17, and thence down over the inside of the sprocket 62 which drives the backup roll 19 on the shaft 13 and then passes around the inside of the idler roll 63 and back to the sprocket 55.

The sprocket 64 on the end of shaft 54 has the chain Patentecl- Mar. 22,

, 3 (i5-passing around the 'sprocket 66 on the shaft 67 that drives the chain 68 having two spaced feed abutments or dogs 70 that travel between the shafts 67 and 71 and pass under the stock bin on adjustable stock guides 72, pick up a folded carton and feed it into the printing throat 23 between die drum 17 and its backup roll i9 which prints and Vfurther feeds-this folded carton stock to the printing vthroat 24 between the die drum 16 and its backup roll 20. Thus bot-h sides of the folded carton are being printed simultaneously.

VThe shafts 67 and 71 are journaled the table '73 which is fastened to side plates 4 and 5 and is supported by the outward-ly extending braces 74. The tabletop 75 is a fiat plate with a slot down the center to permit the abutment or dog 70 to 'pass from one end to the other. '-Irhe shaft 67 is made lower so that the -dog 7G drops from the 'plane 'of the carton.

Each of the 'respective die drums 16 and 17 have dies 76 and 77 'mounted thereon. These are thick rubber di'es and come into surface engagement with the constantly rotating respective transfer roll 78 on the shaft 15 and the transfer roll 32 only when the die drums are rotated and that is when the clutch is energized to drive the output 50 and the shaft 51. Once the die drums are started by the pushbutton 80 shown in Fig. 4 the micro switch 81, which is held open by the cam S2 on thedie drum 17 at the normal position of rest of the die drum as shown in Fig. 1, is immediately relieved and closes to maintain the operating circuit closed for one complete .revolution of the drum and until the cam 82 again opens the switch 81. Thus single folded cartons may be inserted to operate the die drums.

As each die 76 and 77 engages its respective ink transfer roll, picks up the ink on the surface of the letters on the die and travels through approximately eighty-tive degrees before engaging the folded carton. When the 'carton is in the printing throat the die and the backup roll both cooperate to drive it through, the die trans- Vferring its inked impression onto the carton which takes the ink oif the printing surface of the die leaving it dry. The ink being a fast drying kind is dry before the next consecutive carton can be fed from the machine. Due to this vfast drying ink the die must be wet only a very short time before it prints the carton 'and one inking is good for only one printing.

A second micro switch 83 is placed on the discharge tray or table 10. This switch is normally closed but if a carton just having been printed is resting on this switch it is kept open which would open the clutch circuit when the micro switch-81 was again opened by the cam 82 as these switches are in l-rnultiple This circuit is designed to require that the printed carton be removed from the tray before the next carton can enter as it it v undesirable to have the second carton push the first carton olf the t-ray or table.

Since the feed chain 68 and the feed abutment or dog 70 are driven'from the same clutch 48 the control of the drum also controls the feed. The eighty-five degrees of rotation by the die drums is also important in the timing of the 'positioning of the carton. While the drum' is traveling through this are the carton is being fed from the bottom of the pile of folded cartons in the guide 72.

As 'previously mentioned the top roll in ea'ch printing throat is'v adjustable, the die drum 17 for the throat '23 and the backup rol-l 20 for the throat 24. Some adjustment is provided for the rubber transfer roll 78 relative to the die drum 16 so that the proper pressure will be provided therebetween to transfer the ink `to the die.

Both ink wells are slidable on their support brackets 25 and 26 to adjust the pressure between the transfer rolls 32 and 78 and the die 76 in one case and between the transfer roll 312 and the die 77 on the drum 17 in the other case. This pressure adjustment is made by the screws 87 and the ink wells are locked by the screws 3S.

The pressure between'the ink pickup rolls 31 and their respective transfer rolls 32 is by the screws 33 which pressure determines the amount of ink permitted to be transferred to the knurled transfer rolls 32. Wells are rotating but the die drums are not, the ink is carried around the transfer roll in readiness.

The switch starts the motor 47 and supplies energy to the stop start switch 86 'for the clutch and brake mechanism which is further controlled by the two micro switches. If there is nothing on the tray or table 10 then the start switch 86 will release the brake and throw in the clutch to start the drums. The drums will then continue to run as long as a printed carton is not left on the table 10 to maintain the switch 83 open.

l claim:

A printing device comprising a frame, a horizontally disposed article feeder supported by said frame, two rotary die carrying printing drums each with a drive sprocket mounted on said frame with one disposed above and the other disposed below a plane followed by the articles Afed by said feeder to print on opposite sides of an article when passing said drums, a printing die on each drum and covering a portion of the surface of the drum, a rotary backup roll with a drive sprocket carried by said frame for each dru-rn to form with each respective drum a feeding and printing -throat through which each article passes when being printed, an inkingmember for 'the die on each drum including an ink supply with a pickup roll and a transfer roll in engagement with each other, the surface of the transfer roll being disposed in the path to engage its respective die just prior to the time that the die engages the article to -be printed, a sprocket on each transferroll, a motor, a drive from said motor to said transfer roll sprockets to maintain them in constant rotation while said motor is energized, electrically actuated clutch-brake mechanism driven by said motor, a chain drive connecting the output of said clutchbrake mechanism with said feeder to operate the same in feeding articles in succession to the first of said printing throats, a second chain drive connecting the output of said clutch-brake mechanism with the sprockets of said drums and backup rolls to rotate the same through a cycle with said feeder, an operating circuit for said clutchbrake mechanism to initiate and simultaneously actuate said feeder and printing drums while said transfer rolls continue to be -driven directly by said motor, a tray at the end of the printing throat to support the printed article ejected therefrom, and switch means carried by said tray to be engaged by a printed article on said tray and connected to open-said operating circuit to prevent the operation of the printing drum unt-i1 the printed article has been removed from said tray.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 542,358 Carter `uly 9, 1895 '1,355,488 McKenney Oct. 12, 1920 1,924,693 Lyman et al. Aug. 29, 1933 `2,645,174 Levin July 14, 1953 2,737,109 Hertsch Mar. 6, 1956 2,767,651 Willsea Oct. 23, 1956 If the ink

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