US3064513A

US3064513A - Sheet punching mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3064513A
Application number: US736066A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harry L Hershey
Original assignee: WO Hickok Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: WO Hickok Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1958-05-19
Filing date: 1958-05-19
Publication date: 1962-11-20
Anticipated expiration: 1979-11-20

Description

Filed May 19. 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l I: \lfllllllllllllllllllll lllll TJ 4 T 7 T W L M m m m N: A W 9 T3 9 i.l.|. .l i II 3 MHIIII WWI \\ V Illllll" HARRY L. HERSHEY ATTORNEY Nov. 20, 1962 H. L. HERSHEY SHEET PUNCHING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 19, 1958 INVENTOR.

HARRY 1.. HERSHEY T AL- ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,0 fi45l3 Patented Nov. 20, 1962.

due

3,064,513 SHEET PUNGHING MECHANISM Harry L. Hershey, Harrisburg, Pa, assignor to W. G. Hickok Manufacturing Company, Harrisburg, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May 19, 1958, Ser. No. 736,066 16 (Ilaiins. (Cl. 83345) This invention relates to a sheet punching mechanism, and more particularly to a continuously operative mechanism for punching paper webs.

In the art of paper punching, it frequently is the practice to simultaneously punch two or more thicknesses of paper due to the difliculty of securing a clean punching operation through a single thickness of relatively thin paper. Moreover, due to necessary manufacturing tolerances, it is impossible from a practical standpoint to secure perfect registration of the die elements, especially in the case of rotary punches carried by wheels or rollers between which a web of paper is continuously fed. The inaccuracy in the exact registration of the die elements results in the marring of one of the punch elements, which ever is softer, which marring takes place to a limited extent upon each engagement of the die elements. Thus the damage to the parts progressively increases with the result that the die elements are extremely short-lived.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a novel sheet punching mechanism, which is particularly practicable for use in punching openings in a single thickness of a paper web moving continuously between rollers carrying the punch elements, and wherein the punch elements are so constructed as to provide, after the first rotation of the parts, a perfect registration of the die elements.

A further object is to provide an apparatus of the character referred to wherein one punch element of each mating pair is so mounted as to permit it to shift its position into exact registration with the other punch element of the pair, thus permitting the apparatus to be continuously operated over long periods to provide for the clean punching of openings through a web of paper without damage to the dies.

A further object is to provide an apparatus of this character wherein one punch element of each mating pair is adapted to shift its position to permit it to perfectly register with the other die element of the pair, and wherein friction means is employed for holding the shiftable die member in any position which it has assumed upon the first mating of the die elements.

A further object is to provide a punching apparatus of this character which embodies the inherent characteristic of permitting the shiftable die member to shift as may be necessary after long continuous operation of the apparatus through which the wearing of the driving gears otherwise would cause a mis-alinement of the die elements.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawings I have shown one embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view through a portion of a machine embodying the present invention, one set of die-carrying wheels being shown in solid lines and others in broken lines to indicate that any number of such wheels may be employed;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a similar view on line 44 of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed perspective view of one of the male punch elements; and

FIGURE 6 is a similar view of a holder for one of the female punch elements.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the numeral 10 designates a pair of main side rails of the machine with which the present invention is associated. Upper and lower shafts 11 and 12 are journaled respectively in bearings 13 and 14 carried by the frame members. The shafts 11 and 12 are shown as being provided respectively with meshing gears 15 and 16, identical with each other, whereby the two shafts will be driven in opposite directions at the same speed. Outside one frame member 10, the shaft 12 is shown as being provided with a driving gear 17 adapted to mesh with any suitable gear (not shown) driven from any source of power which may be available.

The shaft 11 is provided with a spline groove 20 and has mounted thereon the hub 21 of one or more Wheels or rollers 22. One such wheel has been shown in FIG- URE l, but as indicated in broken lines, any number of the wheels may be mounted on the shaft 11. As shown in FIGURE 2, the hub 21 is splined on the shaft 11 as at 23. Each hub 21 is provided with a lock screw 24 engageable with the associated spline 23 to clamp it in the groove 20. Upon the loosening of the screw 24, the wheel 22 may be moved longitudinally of the shaft 11 to any desired position, whereupon the screw 24 will be tightened.

The wheel 22 is radially bored at one or more points as at 28 (FIGURE 3) and any number of such bores may be provided at circumferentially spaced points depending upon the number of punches desired within the circumference of the wheel 22. In FIGURE 2, four of the bores 28 have been illustrated. A plunger 29 is mounted in the bore 28 in FIGURE 3 and is biased radially outwardly by a spring 30. At its radially outer end, the plunger 29 is provided with a male punch element 31 normally projecting beyond the periphery of the wheel 22 as shown in FIGURE 3. Adjacent the punch element 31, the plunger 29 is provided with a shoulder 32 engageable by a disk 33 having a stem 34 threaded in the wheel 22. The disk or head 33 operates in a recess 35 of substantial depth as shown in FIGURE 4. The purpose of this is to provide for the screwing in of the head 33 to move the associated punch element 31 radially inwardly of the wheel 22 to render it inoperative, when desired, for performing a punching operation.

It will be apparent that the same structure is employed for each of the punches associated with the wheel 22. Accordingly, any one or more of these punches may be rendered operative or inoperative.

On the shaft 12 is mounted one or more wheels 49, one such wheel being shown in solid lines in FIGURE 1, and two being shown in broken lines to correspond to the broken line showings of the wheels 22. Each wheel 40 is provided with a hub 41 having a spline 42 mounted in a spline groove 43 formed in the shaft 12. The hub 41, as in the case of each hub 21, is provided with a clamp screw 44 for clamping the spline 42 in its groove 43, the screw being adapted to be loosened to adjust the wheel 40 along the shaft 12, as will be obvious.

The wheel 43 is provided with a relatively thick circumferential flange 46 (FIGURES 3 and 4) having radial openings 47 therethrough corresponding in number and circumferential spacing to the radial bores 28. The flange 46, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, is provided with a shoulder 48 engageable with an annular flange 49 formed on a die holder or carrier 50.

The holder 50 (FIGURES 4 and 6) is provided with a shoulder 52 engageable with a head or disk 53 carried by a screw 54 threaded in the flange 46. The head 53 engages solidly against a shoulder 55 formed in the flange 46, it being unnecessary to move the holder 50 radially inwardly of the wheel 40 to render inoperative the die element associated with the holder 59, as will become apparent.

The holder 50 is provided in its outer portion radially of the wheel 40 with a bore 58. The other end of the holder 50 is provided with a larger bore 59 opening into the bore 58 through a conical shoulder 60.

A female die element 62 is mounted in the bore 58 and is of smaller diameter than such bore, for a reason to be described. The die member 62 is provided in the bore 59 with an annular flange 63 formed hemispherical or otherwise annularly curved to engage the shoulder 60 and permit the die member 62 to rock slightly out of aXial alinement with the bore 58. The flange 63 is held in relatively tight fractional engagement with the shoulder 60 by a spring 64, seating against a plug 65 threaded in the open end of the bore 59.

The present apparatus is particularly intended for use in a machine for punching a continuously moving web of paper, and a portion of such web is shown in solid lines in FIGURES 3 and 4 and indicated by the numeral 68, the web being shown in broken lines in FiGURES 1 and 2. Such web of paper, as will become more apparent below, is punched at desired intervals longitudinally thereof and may be punched transversely of the paper strip at spaced points.

Operation In the actual use of the machine, a relatively wide paper web is punched in rows transversely of the paper at longitudinally spaced points, and such web may be split longitudinally and severed transversely to form, for eX- ample, sheets of a pack to be used in loose-leaf notebooks. The apparatus is driven by driving the gear 17, thus rotating the shafts 11 and 12 in opposite directions at the same speed. The splines and spline grooves of the two

wheels

22 and 40, or the sets of such wheels, are so placed that each mating pair of die elements is brought as nearly exactly as possible into registration when the die elements assume the positions shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. Due to necessary manufacturing tolerances, as stated above, it is impossible from a practical standpoint to secure exact registration of the die elementsSl and 62, as a result of which one edge portion of the die element 31 necessarily at least lightly strikes the adjacent edge portion of the die element 62. If such misalinement of the die elements continues, at least one punch element, whichever is softer, will be progressively damaged and in a relatively short time the dies will be rendered useless for cutting clean openings through the web.

With the present machine, when it is first set up as accurately as possible, the web is fed through the machine by any suitable feed means as the Shafts 11 and 12 are rotated. The slight mis-alinement between the

die elements

31 and 62, either circumferentially or transversely of the planes of the

wheels

22 and 40, will be immediately and automatically corrected. Because of the mounting of the die element 62, it can move out of exact axial alinement with the bore 58. Accordingly the die element 62 will automatically correct its position the first time it comes into engagement with the die element 31. It will be noted that the die 31 does notproject materially beyond the thickness of the web 68. Accordingly upon initial operation of the apparatus when the die elements turn beyond their registration point, there is no tendency for the die element 31 to swing the die element 62 out of the position which it will assume when the punching elements are in punching relationship as shown in FIGURE 3. Thereafter, the spring 64 will maintain the firm frictional engagement of the flange 63 with the shoulder 60. Accordingly, at each rotation of the

Wheels

22 and 40, the engaging ends of the

die elements

31 and 62 will exactly register, and damage to the operative ends of the die elements is prevented. Obviously, there can be no progressive damaging of such members due to misalinement of the parts upon each rotation of the

wheels

22 and 49. The die elements can therefore be so accurately sized with respect to each other as to cut cleanly through a single-thickness web of relatively thin paper, and the accurate cutting operation will be performed through long periods of time.

If it is desired to render one or more of the dies inoperative, it merely is necessary to rotate the shafts to render one or more of the screws 34 readily accessible, whereupon an Allen wrench or any other suitable tool may be applied to the radially outer end of the screw 34 and the screw turned to move the head 33 into engagement with the shoulder 35. Under such conditions, no portion of the associated die element 31 will project beyond the periphery of the wheel 22, and such die element and its associated female die element 62 will be rendered inoperative. No portion of the die element 62 ever projects beyond the periphery of the wheel 40, and accordingly it is unnecessary to retract any of these die elements.

As previously stated, any number of pairs of

wheels

22 and 40 may be employed, spaced apart the correct distances along the shafts 11 and 12. Moreover, one or more pairs of dies may be rendered inoperative in the manner described above, thus providing for various spacings of the punched openings longitudinally of the strip. It also will be noted that by turning the wheel 22 to points providing access to the die elements 31, any of these elements may be removed by removing the screw 34 to replace the die elements 31 with die elements of a different size. At the same time, the plugs 65 may be removed to radially inwardly Withdraw the die elements 62 to replace them with die elements of the size corresponding to the die elements 31.

It also will be apparent that for replacement or repair purposes the wheel 49 may be rotated to render one or more of the screws 54 accessible to remove it for the replacement of one or more of the holders 50.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present apparatus is highly practicable for use especially in the punching of a single thickness of relatively thin paper at any desired points for the making, for example, of the pages of loose-leaf notebooks. It will be apparent, however, that the apparatus is not in any sense limited to such use. It also will be obvious that one or more of the die elements 31 may be rendered inoperative merely by turning in the screw-s 34 associated therewith.

Attention is also invited to the fact that in the event of serious initial mis-alinement of mating pairs of die elements, the die elements 31 are free to be moved radially inwardly of the wheel 22 against the tension of the associated spring 30 which functions normally to maintain the shoulder 32 in engagement with the head 33. Accordingly the apparatus is damage-proof and is adapted to smoothly punch openings in paper continuously over long periods of time without undue wear.

The invention has been described particularly with reference to the punching of a Web forming a single thickness of paper since the performance of such operation has been highly difficult with prior structures, as stated. It will be obvious, however, that any number of thicknesses of webs, within reasonable limits, may be fed through the apparatus It is to be understood that the form of the invention shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of the parts may be made as do not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A sheet punching mechanism comprising a pair of supports each mounted to move about a fixed axis, a male punch element and a female punch element carried respectively by said supports, means for operating said supports in synchronized relation to bring said punching elements into punching relation to punch a sheet passing between said supports, said male punch element, when said punch elements are in punching relation, extending only slightly beyond the thickness of the sheet, means for mounting one of said punch elements relative to its support for tilting movement in any direction relatively transversely of its axis whereby such punch element is adapted to shift its position to register with the other punch element when said punch elements are first brought into punching relation with each other, means including frictionally engaging surfaces respectively on said one punch element and its associated support for holding said one punch element in the position to which it will be tilted when said punch elements are first brought into punching relation whereby said one punch element, as said punch elements are repeatedly brought into punching relation, will be aligned with the other punch element, and means tending to hold said surfaces in frictional engagement with each other.

2. A mechanism according to claim 1 wherein one of said frictionally engaging surfaces is on said female punch element, said male punch element being arranged radially of its support, a spring biasing such punch element radially outwardly relative to its support, and means for limiting such radially outward movement of said male punch element, such means including a screw operable for moving said male punch element radially inwardly against said spring to render such punch element inoperative.

3. A mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said associated support is provided with a carrier forming a part thereof, said one punch element being arranged within said carrier, said frictionally engaging surfaces being respectively on said one punch element and said carrier.

4. A mechanism according to claim 3 wherein said carrier is arranged radially of the axis of said associated support and is provided with an axial bore into which said one punch element projects, such bore being of larger diameter than said one punch element, said carrier and said one punch element having engagin annular shoulders on which said frictionally engaging surfaces are formed, one of such surfaces being substantially hemispherical to provide for the tilting of said one punch element into alignment with the other punch element.

5. A mechanism according to claim 4 wherein said means tending to hold said surfaces in frictional engagement with each other comprises spring means tending to prevent relative movement between such surfaces.

6. A sheet punching mechanism comprising a pair of rollers mounted for rotation on parallel axes and having peripheral portions movable in substantial engagement with each other and between which a sheet to be punched is adapted to pass, means for driving said rollers in opposite directions at the same speed, a male punch element carried by one of said rollers radially thereof and normally projecting beyond the periphery thereof a distance only slightly greater than the thickness of the sheet, a female punch element carried by the other roller radially thereof and having its radially outer end terminating substantially flush with said other roller, said punch elements being so mounted on their respective rollers as to be brought into punching relation with each other upon each rotation of said rollers, means for mounting one of said punch elements in its associated roller for tilting movement thereof in any direction transversely of its axis whereby such punch element is adapted to shift its position to register with the other punch element when said punch elements are first brought into punching relation with each other, said last named means including frictionally engaging surfaces respectively on said one punch element and its associated roller for holding said one punch element in the position to which it will be tilted by engagement with the other punch element when said punch elements are first brought into punching relation, whereby said one punch element, as said punch elements are repeatedly brought into punching relation, will be aligned with the other punch element, and means tending to hold said surfaces in friction-a1 engagement with each other.

7. A mechanism according to claim 6 wherein said associated roller is provided with a carrier forming a part thereof and in which said one punch element is arranged, said frictionally engaging surfaces being respectively on said one punch element and on said carrier.

8. A mechanism according to claim 7 wherein said carrier is arranged radially of the axis of said associated roller and is provided with an axial bore larger in diameter than and into which said one punch element projects, said carrier and said one punch element having ongaging annular shoulders on which said frictionally engaging surfaces are formed, one of such surfaces being substantially hemispherical to provide for the tilting of the radially outer end of said one punch element into alignment with the other punch element.

9. A mechanism according to claim 8 wherein said means tending to hold said surfaces in frictional engagement with each other comprises spring means tending to prevent relative movement between such surfaces.

16. A mechanism according to claim 8 wherein said means tending to hold said surfaces in frictional engagement with each other comprises a spring radially inwardly of said one punch element for biasing the latter radially outwardly and for urging said frictionally engaging surfaces into engagement with each other, whereby, upon substantial misalignment of said punch elements when they move into punching engagement with each other, said other punch element will move said one punch element into said carrier against the loading of said spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 844,171 McAnulty Feb. 12, 1907 1,466,001 Metzner Aug. 23, 1923 1,581,236 Speer Apr. 20, 1926 1,975,350 Davis Oct. 2, 1934 2,017,247 Hodge Oct. 15, 1935 2,085,863 Lindbom July 6, 19 7 2,771,309 Clark Nov. 20, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 627,356 Germany Mar. 13, 1936